“Something’s changed,” she said.
“Yes, I think so.”
She reached out and fastened one of his buttons, which he’d missed as he dressed in the dim chamber. Nyx blushed, and she raised her brows at him.
“Interesting,” she said with a smirk. She turned on her heel, whistled, and started walking up the air as though ascending an invisible staircase. Nyx almost wanted to check if she’d actually made one, but he didn’t want to risk tripping and looking more of a fool than he already was, so he settled for taking the long, winding path out of the Crypts.
When he passed the glass statues of the old witches and reached the main entrance, the palace was buzzing with activity. Courtesans were whispering in their sunrooms, servants in the white-and-gold livery of the imperial household milled in the halls, and a group of musicians who usually played by the stairs hunched over their instruments, talking quietly. They glanced at Nyx as he passed, and dread stirred in his chest as he wondered what he had to fix this time.
When he made it to his bedchambers, the problem was waiting for him by the door.
“Don’t say anything,” Lamont said, as Nyx pinched the bridge of his nose. Nadia was standing next to him, wearing agownof all things, with little pearls pinned in her hair. She gave Nyx aDon’t even startlook, and Nyx turned to Lamont.
“What?”
“It’s Father.” Lamont looked at Nadia, who made a gesture with her hand that Nyx guessed was supposed to be subtle. “I’ve asked—that is. Nadia is. We both.” He cleared his throat. “Nadia is not of noble birth, and Father wants me to make her a concubine.”
“A… what? Nadia, did you agree to this? Why would he want that?” Nyx searched Nadia’s face, trying to piece the puzzle together, and Lamont groaned.
“Because he doesn’t want her to be mywife,” Lamont said, with a hint of his usual whine.
Nyx drew back. It was one thing to suspect they were together, but to hear Lamontsayit was another matter entirely. Nadia had heard enough horror stories from Tyr and Nyx that she’d only agree to marriage if she truly believed Lamont wasn’t secretly a little shit dressed up in expensive clothes, but it was still a shock.
“We need your help,” Nadia said. “You and Lamont have never gotten along, I know that—”
“And not without reason.” Lamont looked down, rubbing his wrist. “Nadia and I have been talking, and I understand that I… could have been better.” Nadia gave Lamont a stern look, and he sighed. “I was a brat. You’ve always been Father’s star general.”
“No.” Nyx held up a hand, and frustration flashed across Lamont’s features before he quickly smoothed it away again. “I’m just a soldier. You’re his son.”
“I didn’t realize that.” Lamont took a deep breath. “Or it didn’t matter. I don’t know. But if he can see that we’re united in this, that you support me, and that it was Nadia who reconciled us…”
Nyx could feel a headache building in his temples. It had been such a nice day, before this. “If this is what you want,” he said to Nadia.
“It is,” she said, taking Lamont’s hand. “And youcanreconcile, Nyx. You both can, if you want to.”
Lamont and Nyx eyed each other, and Lamont shrugged. “Given time.”
“Yes,” Nyx said slowly. “In time.”
“Then we’ll go now, before he thinks we agreed to his ridiculous plan.” Lamont squeezed Nadia’s hand, and Nyx had no choice but to follow them up the stairs to the emperor’s rooms.
Emperor Andor was in bed, sweating while a young man fanned him. He blinked slowly when Lamont towed Nadia into the middle of the room, and his mouth worked as though he were trying to recall Lamont’s name. Nyx hadn’t seen the emperor since before he left for his last deployment, but despite the rumors of his failing health, it was unsettling to see his skin so gray, his breath wheezing between yellowing teeth, and the tremor in his hands.
“Boy,” Andor said to Lamont, then looked to Nyx. “General.”
Lamont’s mouth hardened, and for the first time, Nyx almost pitied him. Andor hadn’t called Tyrson,either, favoring Lamont over his illiterate firstborn, but to be referred to asboyhad to sting.
“Your imperial majesty,” Lamont said, bowing. “Your general is here to make a case for Nadia to become my wife.”
And just like that, what little pity Nyx had for him crumbled to dust. The weasel wanted Nyx to put in the work, as usual. Perhaps he was less of a spoiled brat around Nadia, but no man could transform completely over the course of a few months. Nyx sighed and bowed to Andor.
“Imperial majesty,” he said. “Nadia has facilitated—over the course of our time at war—talks between Lamont and me. We’ve settled our old differences.”
“Oh. Oh, that’s nice.” Andor blinked again. “She will make a good concubine for you, Lamont, but an ambitious one. You should take something of hers, to remind her of her place. A finger, or an eye.”
Nadia paled, and Lamont gripped her hand tight. “Suggest that again, Father, and Nyx and I will be arranging a coronation in the morning.”
Nadia gasped, and Nyx stared at Lamont, horrified. The man fanning the emperor drew back, shaking, but Andor just raised his brows. “You would do that? Kill your father for apeasantgirl, a soldier?”
