one does not grow up in the North without being wary. All the beasts in the northern forests and jungles are said to be part demon.” She smiled tightly. “I would know. My own father sought to unleash their powers on Emperor Khanujin, but…one does not bargain with demons without paying a steep price.”
I bowed my head, hoping it would hide my stricken face. Why was she telling me this?
I stared at my feet and prayed for dismissal, but Lady Sarnai let the silence linger before noticing the stiffness in my fingers. “What is wrong with your hand?”
“I…I was hurt in the fire.”
“Pity. I hope it won’t interfere with your sewing.”
“It won’t.” I stepped to the side and stole a glance at Lady Sarnai’s embroidery. It was only half finished, but I recognized the shape of a tiger—the shansen’s emblem. I flipped my gaze back to the lady before she noticed.
She fluttered her fan at her neck. “I don’t know much about you, Master Tamarin. I was given reports on all the tailors, but the one on you—and your father—was lacking.” She closed the fan. “You are obviously talented. Why have you not tried to make more of a name for yourself?”
“A’landi was at war, Your Highness,” I said tightly. “I was called to battle.”
“In the Five Winters’ War?”
I finished my measurements, rolled up my string. “Yes.”
“Your two older brothers were killed in battle. Minister Lorsa mentioned this to me.”
I said nothing. I had no idea why she wanted to keep me here, asking me questions she already knew the answers to.
“You must hate my father for taking them away,” Lady Sarnai said. “And Emperor Khanujin for sending you to war at such a young age.”
“It was my duty to serve in the war. I hold no anger toward the shansen—or Emperor Khanujin.”
“Then you are a good man. Far better than most.” Lady Sarnai closed her fan and waved for her maids to leave. “I’ve found that most men say one thing but mean another.” She peered at me. “But you don’t lie, Master Tamarin. You hide instead. You have a secret, I sense.”
I was beginning to feel more and more ill at ease. “Your Highness, if there’s nothing else—”
“Keep it,” Lady Sarnai interjected. “I’m not interested in your secrets. The Lord Enchanter’s, however…they interest me very much. And it interests me that he’s noticed you.”
“Only out of boredom,” I said curtly. It was the truth—Edan had told me as much. “I doubt he takes a real interest in anyone.”
“He is a disagreeable man,” Lady Sarnai conceded. “I wonder if you’ll do something for me….” She waited for me to nod. “I noticed you staring at my needlework when you entered.”
“Your work is very fine,” I said honestly. “The Northern style is the one I’m least familiar with. I could not help but be curious.”
“You should take a closer look,” said Lady Sarnai, gesturing at her work. “Tell me what your keen eyes see.”
I walked over to her frame, dreading that I’d find some secret message embroidered into the scene and be blackmailed for knowing she was betraying Emperor Khanujin. But her work was simply a scene of three animals. The elegance and boldness of her patterns surprised me. The Northern style had never been considered one of A’landi’s great schools of embroidery, which were all inclined toward more intricate and layered designs, yet the elegance…
“Describe it for me.”
“A tiger,” I said aloud. “That is your father. And a dragon—Emperor Khanujin.”
There were also the beginnings of a bird; it flew over them, its talons clutching a pearl that both the tiger and the dragon were reaching for.
“You look confused,” said Lady Sarnai. “The pearl represents A’landi, and the bird is causing a rift between the tiger and dragon, you see. Just as magic creates a rift between the North and South.” She leaned forward. “You Southerners and I may have our differences, but we are pious people. The presence of magic in A’landi is unnatural. It brings strife between the emperor and my father.”
I remembered Yindi’s warning about the shansen. “But not all magic is the work of demons, is it, Your Highness? Not all of it is bad?”
A dark look passed over Lady Sarnai’s face, and I wondered what she had seen with her father. “Magic is the root of all that is wicked in this world. And enchanters are at the center of it. After all, what are demons but enchanters who have fallen from grace?”