“And this Dokyi helped you to do this?” The emperor had retreated behind his blank, official mask suddenly. “He showed you how to shatter rocks?”

Evvy screwed up her face and shrugged. Briar nudged her to remind her where she was. “Oh, no, Your Imperial Majesty,” she said, bowing swiftly. “No, he said he never tried it my way. He uses spells, and puts the spell on stones. I don’t see why. He could probably do it like I do, but he thinks stone is dead.”

The emperor laughed, so those who could hear them did so as well. Evvy had that effect on people.

“Did you enjoy your time in Garmashing?” Weishu asked Evvy. “It is a very old and mystical place, I am given to understand, with much that is unusual in the way of temple art.”

Evvy bowed. “It’s very cold, Your Imperial Majesty,” she said as she straightened. “And it’s harder to breathe than it is here. The mountains were splendid.” Her face lit up. “Granite and other stones, scratching at the sky. Have you seen them, Your Imperial Majesty?”

“Sadly I have not,” the emperor told her gravely.

“When my family went west, we took the north caravan route, so I didn’t see them then,” Evvy explained. “We came to Garmashing the same way. It was snowing so bad that nobody would let me get any closer to the mountains than the cliffs along the Tom Sho River, but I caught glimpses on clear days. Now I believe the books that said they’re the tallest mountains anywhere.” Evvy shook her head. “I wish we’d seen the Drimbakang Sharlog on the way here, but your messenger was in such a hurry, and there were storms that your weather mages were holding off us. I couldn’t see anything but the storms overhead. I thought I could hear the mountains, though!”

The emperor clapped his hands with delight. “Dedicate Initiate Rosethorn, it is wonderful that you have brought Evumeimei and Briar to visit us. I must ensure that Evumeimei has a suitable companion while we absorb ourselves in the wonders of the palace gardens.”

The rippling bang of a small gong interrupted every conversation in the room. The emperor looked toward the entry with a frown. Everyone else turned that way with interest except for Rosethorn. Briar saw that she was looking the room over, paying special interest to the plants.

An emerald-robed eunuch, his face painted white like that of the Master of Presentations, stood by the entry with a small gong in his hands. “His Most Glorious Excellency, the War Lion of the Empire, the Sword of the Emperor, Defender of the Long Throne, Terror of the Foreigners, Commander of the Imperial Armies, Great Mage General Fenqi Hengkai!”

A short, stocky man in iron-scale-and-leather armor under a scarlet robe strode across the room without so much as a glance for any of the courtiers. His square, blunt-nosed face was marked with scars and cruelty. He carried a pointed metal helm and wore no weapons. Once he reached the foot of the dais, standing near Evvy, he set his helm aside, went to his hands and knees, and touched his forehead to the floor.

The emperor stood. All of the Yanjingyi courtiers went to their hands and knees, as did Parahan and those who shared the top of the dais with Weishu. Foreigners bowed deep, including Rosethorn, Briar, and Evvy.

“You have met my captive Parahan, have you not, Dedicate Initiate Rosethorn, Nanshur Briar, Student Evumeimei? He will entertain you now,” the emperor said, motioning to Parahan. The big man sat up on his knees with a jingling of chains. “He might have been the king of Kombanpur, in the Realms of the Sun, one day — if his uncle had not sold him to me.” He looked at his mages. “The leash may come off.” To Rosethorn, Briar, and Evvy, he said cheerfully, “Once his uncle captures Parahan’s twin sister, I will have a matched set. Now, Mage General?”

The emperor snapped his fingers and led his mages down the far side of the dais. His general walked around to meet him there while every courtier nearby backed off in a hurry. That left only Parahan, Rosethorn, Evvy, and Briar near the throne. No one else was within earshot. Briar would have liked to meet some of the other courtiers and listen to the local gossip, but he was not going to get the chance. Everyone had drawn away from Parahan and his foreign companions. If Briar tried to amble away, anyone who looked in their direction would notice, and no doubt report it to the imperial snoops. Briar hated being without information in a strange place, but for now he would simply have to smile and play the part of an overwhelmed imperial guest.

Parahan’s leash drew away from him to curl itself at the foot of the throne, snake-like. Evvy glared at it, then asked the man, “Does he keep you chained up all of the time?”

“Evvy!” Rosethorn snapped.

Parahan rested a hand on Evvy’s shoulder. “It’s all right,” he said. “Evumeimei —”

“Evvy,” she interrupted.

“Evvy,” Parahan corrected himself with a grin, “reminds me very much of my sister Soudamini. She is full of questions, too. No, at night I am returned to my cage,” he told Evvy.

Evvy’s face fell. “It isn’t a joke? They really put you in one of those things?”

“I do not joke about the many torments Yanjing has developed over its centuries,” Parahan replied, a shadow passing over his face. He smiled abruptly. “My lot has improved since my first days as the imperial captive. Now, if the emperor is receiving guests or out and about, he takes me along. I believe you will see a great deal of me during your visit, particularly if someone grows tired of gardens.” He winked at Evvy.