Chapter 2

Vanya dressed with care the next morning for the meeting with the Tovanian ambassador and the Solarian diplomatic corps that had traveled west over the ocean to the Tovan Isles. The robes laid out for him were white and gold, the filigree on the crown he wore wrapped around large rubies. The vault where the Imperial jewels were held had been one of the few parts of the old Imperial palace that had survived, solely because they had been located underground. Taisiya seemed pleased with his presentation when he met with her after separate morning meals.

"Your ambassador said they would meet us at the dignitary room," Taisiya said. She wore a shimmering blue-green gown today, with a sheer pale gray robe over it. The ensemble resembled the colors of white-capped waves in the harbor, a quiet nod to the guests who awaited them. Her hair had been tied up, hidden beneath the stiff blue-green headdress she wore, its flat top embroidered with silver thread.

Vanya offered her his arm, and she curled her hand around his elbow, allowing him to escort her down the wide hallway. "I've read the brief Ambassador Grethe delivered yesterday afternoon and spoke with her before dinner. What do you think of the report she delivered?"

"I think the Uri has made a wise decision, which we will do our best to reciprocate, but it will bring unwanted attention from the Daijal court."

"We've uncovered many rionetkas." It had galled Vanya when he'd received the report on the numbers of Solarian citizens whose lives had been stolen and controlled by the enemy. Learning just how deeply the rionetkas had entrenched themselves in the government and Houses had been a quiet sort of horror over the last many months.

The bitterest loss was Amir, former vezir of the House of Vikandir. Vanya had considered the man a friend, an ally, and a confidant. Knowing that Amir now lived with a ticking time bomb in his chest, unable to oversee his House anymore, was a devastating blow to the House of Vikandir and the counsel Vanya had sought.

"We don't know if we've found all of them. I fear this alliance will cause Eimarille to attempt further infiltration." Taisiya raised her free hand to briefly touch her chest, over her heart, lingering in the space where vivisection scars would cross if she carried them on her skin. "I would feel safer in a palace and the walls it comes with."

Vanya grimaced, thinking of the timeline stretching out on the rebuild of the palace. "The Imperial estate here in Oeiras will have to do for now."

Taisiya hummed at that but kept her peace. The rest of the walk to the dignitary room was made in silence, only the sound of their footsteps and those of the praetoria legionnaires' guarding them echoing in the air. When they turned the last corner, he saw a group of people huddled outside the door to the dignitary room, Caelum amongst them. One of them turned at the sound of their approach before bowing deeply.

"Your Imperial Majesty," Grethe said. "The Tovanian delegation awaits you."

"You've done well as my voice," Vanya said.

Grethe was a decade older than him, tall and lean, with an oval face dominated by a strong nose. Her blonde hair was bleached white from the sun rather than age, and her brown eyes were creased deeply at the corners from laughter. She took the praise with a faint nod of acknowledgment. "I did what I could for Solaria."

"As always."

Last night, she'd handed back the Imperial writ he'd given her before she'd taken the voyage to Port Avi on the Tovan Isles. It had enabled diplomatic talks to finish quicker rather than sending ship-cities and airships across the seas between the two countries. Of the ambassadors he could have sent, Grethe had been the most trustworthy, and his faith in her had proved itself.

"Shall we?" Caelum asked, gesturing at the doors a praetoria legionnaire was pushing open.

This time, no press was invited to document the meeting between two nations. Vanya escorted Taisiya inside, seeing the Tovanians were already settled on the floating cabana. Akeheni stood at their arrival, her gaze intent as Vanya and Taisiya approached the saltwater pool. The clothes she wore for today's meeting were far more elaborate than they had been in the past, the collar of her shirt cut in such a way as to show off the vibrant black ink tattooed over her collarbones and up her throat.

The Tovan Isles' Uri wore no crowns, as they governed similarly to how the Comhairle nan Cinnidhean did in E'ridia. In lieu of clans, Tovanians claimed their ship-cities and the long-held names attributed to those vessels. Akeheni's facial tattoos indicated she was a captain of one such ship-city, as well as an ambassador. The tattoos she revealed now indicated she had been granted a seat on the Uri, given the title of chief for one of the six sub-nations that spanned the crews of the ship-cities. It was as good a sign as any the Tovan Isles were serious about the treaty on the table.

"I see congratulations are in order, Uri'ka Akeheni," Vanya said, inclining his head out of respect to another ruler.

Akeheni nodded just as regally. "Well met, Emperor. The Uri thought it prudent to show our resolve to this alliance. The matriarch of my ship-city's crew nation allowed my mother to cede her seat to me, and I take up her duty with honor to speed things along."

"I've heard from my envoy only good news brings you to our shores."

"Indeed. The Uri felt your request was prudent to our shared goals."

"So it seems."

Vanya escorted Taisiya to a low cushioned seat at the edge of the pool. The one reserved for himself was far grander than the others, but he stayed standing for the moment, willing to meet Akeheni on the same level. He turned to face the Tovanian. "To be frank, I was anticipating a much longer wait. What changed?"

He'd sent his envoy across the waves back at the beginning of Sixth Month. It was Seventh Month now, summer heat rising like the Lion constellation in the night sky. It was the Dawn Star's season, though Vanya had yet to direct any prayers toward Solaria's guiding star.

Akeheni pursed her lips, the tattoos around her mouth pulling tight as she crossed her arms over her chest. "We discovered a rionetka in one of the lower circles of the Uri amidst the talks that were happening regarding the treaty. It was…eye-opening."

Vanya grimaced, well aware of the physical toll taken on the body when one was turned into a rionetka and the political fallout that could happen after they were discovered. "Do they still live?"

"Your ambassador counseled us against attempting to undo the magic powering the clockwork metal heart, that it would kill the victim through a self-destruct spell. The rionetka could not give the Uri an answer on who performed the operation or who they were feeding information to. The ship-city they hailed from had a manifest with a history stretching back to Second Month showing ports of call in Helia, Oeiras, Seaville, and other smaller seaside towns. There is no telling where the operation would have occurred."

"My condolences to the crewmate in question. I well know the travesty of a life caught up in the strings of a rionetka."

"We've instituted physical checks, and foreigners are barred from Port Avi without proper clearance. But it prompted the Uri to agree to Solaria's proposed alliance when it comes to patrolling your shores in exchange for the production of munitions built to our specs. I am here to sign that treaty on behalf of the Uri."

Vanya raised an eyebrow. "You Tovanians have your own production facilities on your main island. I'm not against the request, but Solaria's Legion is dug in at our northern border and fighting to retake a vasilyet. I would be happy to go over the request with my military aides, but your favored weapons are not ours, and reconfiguring a production facility is an undertaking they may counsel against."

"The rionetka had access to the supplies their ship-city traded for and bought, which included components for the defensive arsenal. We can't risk using it until it's been subjected to a thorough and extensive review by our engineers and magicians. Rather than trade for hard materials, the Uri would rather Solaria produce it for us at a discount. Considering we will be patrolling your shoreline, it will be used in your defense."

"I'll impress upon my military advisors that your request is a fair trade. Daijal won't see it that way once they learn of our treaty."

Akeheni's smile was a sharp thing. "The Uri does not care."

Vanya nodded. "Very well, Uri'ka. Then let us discuss about how our countries might aid each other."

Both of them got settled as Caelum and Greer facilitated the talks with their Tovanian counterparts. Caelum eventually summoned the handful of military aides who had followed them to Oeiras. At some point, he brought over the telephone that rested on the side table, enabling Vanya to call General Chu Hua, who was back in Calhames.

Taisiya left at the lunch break, off to see to Raiah, while Vanya continued the finalization of the treaty. He didn't need the Senate to vote on it, as Solaria's borders were under Vanya's authority. Getting approval from the Legion, while not required, kept everyone happy.

"We can spare the production facility between Oeiras and Calhames," Chu Hua eventually said, a rumble of approval around her from the other officers she'd summoned for the call echoing through the receiver into Vanya's ear.

"Agreed," Vanya said. A final flurry of chatter across the line finished up with Chu Hua tendering a farewell. Vanya set the receiver back in the pronged cradle and focused on Akeheni. "My advisors are agreeable to the location, as am I. We will set the treaty signing ceremony for tomorrow."

He would need to send word to the Senate about what was being agreed to, and Caelum would need time to round up the press for the ceremony so that news could be distributed via broadsheets in all cities. Overall, the alliance would be worth the anticipated headache he would endure over the next few days, but Vanya didn't believe the Houses would find his decision made in bad faith.

Akeheni stood, pressing a fist over her heart and bowing her head. "May our countries ever have calm waters when we sail together."

"My household has prepared a celebratory meal for us tonight," Vanya said.

"We'll gladly join you."

The meeting broke up, and Vanya exited the dignitary room, swept up in Caelum's political needs. Vanya led the way to his office but found his way blocked by a welcome distraction.

"Papa!" Raiah exclaimed, launching herself at him.

Vanya smiled, gathering her into his arms and holding her close. She was warm, skin sun-kissed from being outside. "Did you convince your governess to give you lessons in the garden today?"

Raiah nodded enthusiastically as he carried her into his office, her braids brushing against his cheek. "I had riding lessons today."

"So it appears."

Vanya carried her to his desk while Caelum handled the files and dealt with the aides that had followed them. He sat in the chair, settling Raiah in his lap. She immediately leaned forward and started going through the items and papers scattered on the desktop, careful not to make a mess but curious as she always was. Vanya spoke with Caelum about the evening schedule, focused on the dinner set to occur in just a couple of hours, when Raiah piped up again.

"Papa, you're missing a photograph."

Vanya waved the others off, not watching them leave the office as he turned his attention back to his daughter. "All the ones of you and your valide are here."

The photographs in question were neatly arranged at the corner of his desk in stand-up frames, with others perched on the bookcase behind him. Raiah craned her neck around, blinking her big brown eyes up at him with a frown on her little face. "But you're missing the one with Soren and me. I thought you said you would find it for me?"

Vanya's gaze darted to the tintype photographs, knowing exactly the two she meant. One had been of Soren with Raiah when she was younger, taken of the pair together in the gardens there in Oeiras' Imperial estate before the threat of rionetkas was known to them. The other had been of Soren by himself, sitting relaxed in a private room, his gaze focused not on the camera but on Vanya, who had been the one to take the photograph.

He'd taken others of Soren over the years, many of which were scattered across the various Imperial estates, along with some that had always traveled with him. But after Soren had left—after the lies were revealed and the hurt of betrayal had lodged itself in the center of Vanya's chest—he hadn't been able to look at the photographs without wanting to break them at times.

Eventually, he'd taken them down and sent them off to his personal storage, hiding them away, as if he could ever hide the gaping hole that existed in his life these days where Soren once stood. Raiah had been persistent lately in finding them again, but he knew it would be best if she learned to forget about the warden.

Vanya cleared his throat. "I'll ask the servants where they've gone. But I believe it's time for your bath."

She frowned stubbornly at him, but Vanya knew the best way to ward off an argument was to distract her. Handing Raiah off to her governess with a kiss goodbye and a promise to see her before her bedtime staved off another tantrum.

Finally alone in his office, Vanya rubbed at his forehead before reaching for the telephone perched on the side of the desk. He put the receiver to his ear and pressed a button, immediately being connected to the Imperial estate's operator. "Put me through to the wardens' governor."

"Certainly, Your Imperial Majesty," the operator said.

It took time, knowing it was a later hour in the east than it was in Oeiras, but eventually, the wardens' governor joined the call.

"Governor Delani," Vanya said. "We need to discuss the tithes my country owes you."