“The ministers will be skeptical,” Ehri said. “We need the temple to give our words weight.”
Neyar. One of the Six Soldiers, the sacred protectors of Shu Han. Mayu knew this temple. She’d been reminded of it when she’d seen the six-sided hall at the Little Palace. It was built as a hexagon, the six entries guarded by slender garnet columns, the statue of Neyar holding her famous sword, Neshyenyer, beneath a roof open to the sky. This was where Mayu had taken her oath when she’d been inducted into the Tavgharad. And this was where she would break it and betray a queen.
They approached through the eastern entry. The ministers were waiting with guards in tow.
“You vowed to come alone,” said Tamar.
Minister Nagh recoiled. “What is this treachery?” he demanded. “You bring Ravka’s trained attack dog beneath the roof of one of our temples?”
Everyone in the Shu government knew of the kebben who served first the Sun Saint and then a Ravkan king. Tamar’s tattoos, her axes, her short hair, all made her instantly recognizable.
“She is the enemy,” said Minister Zihun, and punctuated the statement by spitting at the floor near Tamar’s boots.
Tamar didn’t react, but her golden eyes narrowed, and Mayu wondered at the arrogance of these politicians. Tamar was not someone she would seek to provoke, and Ehri seemed to agree.
“Friends,” Ehri said sweetly, shyly, “I do not believe you think Tamar Kir-Bataar is a threat. If you did, you would never speak to her thus. Not when you know she is a Heartrender. Not when she wears those silver axes as another woman might wear jewels. She has put her life at risk to save mine. I hope you will hear me out.”
“To save your life?” Zihun sputtered. “What is the meaning of all of this, Princess? The queen was supposed to be attending your wedding this very day. Have we sent her into a trap? You must explain yourself.”
“The trap is of the queen’s own making,” said Tamar.
“You dare—”
Ehri stepped forward. “I will explain. If you will only give me the chance. That is why Tamar escorted me here.”
We’re lost, Mayu thought. Ehri had none of Makhi’s authority, none of her mighty presence.
Minister Nagh sniffed. “And what does the traitor get from this?”
“A chance to see two windbags in a temple,” Tamar muttered.
“What was that?” the minister snapped.
Tamar plastered a smile over her face. “I said, a chance to see peace thrive.”
“Please,” said Ehri. “As a Taban princess, I ask you to hear me.”
The ministers exchanged a glance and gave the barest nod. They couldn’t very well deny her, but they didn’t intend to be won over.
“Gentle friends,” the princess began, using the formal address, “my story is a sad one, but I hope you will hear me.”
Ehri didn’t speak like a politician. She told her tale in the cadence of the great poets. It was like listening to someone play music, as if she had her hands on the khatuur at this very moment and was plucking out a melancholy song, each verse revealing a new tragedy: a cunning plot to kill a king, a failed assassination, a sister’s betrayal. No, Ehri didn’t have Makhi’s fire. There was a sweetness in her, a softness that Mayu had never liked. But now she couldn’t help but think of the legendary generals who feigned a weakened flank to lure their enemy closer. Mayu watched as the ministers’ expressions shifted from rigid suspicion to stunned disbelief to outrage and then to fear. Because if Ehri’s story was true, they had no choice but to challenge Makhi.
Mayu felt an ache in her throat. Her own story was woven in with Ehri’s words, a silent counterpoint, a harmony that would go unheard. What it had meant to wear another woman’s clothes, another woman’s crown, to believe she had fallen in love with a king, to be forced to choose between the funny, gentle boy she’d known she could never have and the brother Queen Makhi had stolen away from her.
It was Isaak’s story too. A boy who had given up his heart to an impostor, who had given up his life for his king. Mayu had no right to grieve for him. She’d chosen Reyem. She’d driven a knife into Isaak’s heart. Sometimes she wished her aim had been better and she’d died that day too. But then who would remain to fight for Reyem? She had to find her brother, or it was all for nothing.
Mayu gave her testimony when Ehri called upon her to do so. Her words felt shapeless in her mouth, blunt soldier’s talk after Ehri’s eloquence. Still, it was no small thing for a Tavgharad guard to speak against her queen. Then Tamar showed them the note Makhi had sent, and Mayu told them of the coded message within it.