The Courtesy of Kings | ☑ Queenkiller, Kingmaker #2

10.2

'I will remember this kind offer. But the maharaj comes bearing many gifts and promises today; one must wonder how they are expected to return the favour?'

Kiet smiled. 'I bring with me no such expectations.'

The man right of the Emperor twitched suddenly. It was the first time he moved, Kiet realised. He had been sitting there so still, the maharaj forgot he was there at all. A young man, with something twinkling in his ear. He, too, was robed in green—not the greenish-blue of the Gyok Dynasty, but paler, like frosted winter grass.

'I was hoping, however, to be granted private audience with one of your brothers.'

Gyoseong startled. His eyes darkened. 'Yeungji-himi?'

'No, not the crown prince. My business is with your youngest brother, Hanjeon Gyoseong Haruse.'

'Haruse?' He was so startled, he even dropped the honorific. 'What can he possibly do for you?'

'I hope to find that out once I enjoy the opportunity of speaking with the hanjeon.'

The Emperor looked as though he would have preferred if Kiet had come to conspire a coup with the crown prince instead. Did he know Haruse once courted Dhvani? Did he know his youngest brother was potentially harbouring the queen-killer?

Kiet had consulted the list Khaisan gave him. The only foreign delegates to have attended Persi's tenth namesday had been members of each royal House, and of those, most had brought only their first-born sons and daughters. The only youngest son in attendance had been the prince—or hanjeon, as they called it—of the Gyok Dynasty.

The information Kiet subsequently gathered regarding Haruse corresponded to all Djuro's descriptions. He fit the age, his slew of older brothers matched, his theurgy also confirmed at second-rank. The hanjeon had even stayed the entire harvest season following Persi's namesday, just as Dhvani's secret lover had done.

Gyoseong turned, to Kiet's amusement, not at his brother, but the man on his right, whose theurgy still burned bright at his ear. What was he, an augur? A mind-reader? But Kiet had kept his jii firmly in place since he entered the audience hall, and he sensed no one approaching within a single inch of his head.

He looked askance at Akai. Surely his captain, too, would know enough to keep his mental defences high.

'My brother is a free man, maharaj,' said Gyoseong at last. 'It is not my place to keep him from speaking to whomsoever he wishes.'

You are the Emperor. It is exactly your place. 'Thank you. I shall presume that my request will reach him.'

'He knows where to find you. Even so, I cannot guarantee that he will oblige.'

So he won't come. It hardly mattered. If the hanjeon will not see him, then Kiet would have to find a way to lure him out.

     
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Akai was silent throughout their walk to the castle's second enclosure. Like a petulant lover, Kiet thought wryly, except without the benefits a lover entails.

'That went better than you thought it would,' he said in their native tongue. His words were effective—he knew full well Akai's opinion on the matter, and the man's frown only deepened.

'Better? No disrespect, maharaj, but you should not have been forthcoming with your intention of meeting Hanjeon Haruse.' He started ticking things off his hand. 'You've pushed him into hiding; if the rajini is here, she will quickly be gone; and the Emperor will probably send someone to kill us all in our sleeps.'