Sorai cursed loudly then rushed out of her suite and into the open gallery, her blue skirts caught up in one hand. She was going to thrash the little beast, she thought as she flew down two flights of stairs to reach the palace’s ground level. Ignoring the moist grass beneath her bare feet, she bolted out of the courtyard and toward the tree Rao had descended.

Beneath the tree, Rao was standing in a square of lamplight streaming down from the window above. As soon as he saw her approaching, he darted down a path that led to the gardens.

“Rao! This isn’t funny!” Every time she thought she had lost him, he would poke his head out from the bushes, goading her further, as though he were playing a game of tag.

Finally, Sorai was face to face with the far wall of the palace complex, with no sazi in sight. “Rao, come out!” she cried. She paced around the small clearing between the ferns, hunting for Rao until a faint sparkle in the grass caught her eye. Her necklace! She heaved a sigh and stooped low, only to find that a link in the chain had been snapped when it was wrenched from her neck. “Oh, Rao,” she fumed.

***

Anoth heard a crashing sound in the leaves behind him. He looked back to see Rao sitting on his haunches, breathless and smug.

“I did it, Fishman! I got my mistress outside!” Rao exclaimed.

A thin smile spread across Anoth’s lips. Had he known it would be this easy, he would have done this much sooner. “Where is she?”

“Um, well, I had to take the necklace you gave her, but she followed me! I left it right over by the wall at the end of that path there. She really seemed to want it back, so you’ll find her there.” Rao extended an open paw expectantly. “I did what you asked. Can I have my fish now?”

Anoth shrugged. “A trade is a trade.” He shifted focus and effortlessly weaved the small, vibrating shadows that appeared into a large fish with red and silver scales. The fish floated momentarily in the air before dropping thickly to the ground.

Rao squealed in delight, snatching it up in his paws. “I’ve never seen this kind of fish before!”

“No, you wouldn’t have. But you’ll see more like it shortly.” Anoth gathered more of the primal matter into a dense ball of energy and took careful aim. The brainless sazi was so preoccupied with his fish that he would never see it coming.

“Rao! You broke my necklace!”

Anoth flinched, his energy ball instantly dissipating, as he heard Sorai’s distant scream of rage.

“You come out here right now!” Sorai’s voice neared quickly.

“Eep!” Rao gulped. Before Anoth had the chance to fully react, the sazi had chomped down on his fish and disappeared with it into the night.

Anoth stood and stalked down the mound, following Sorai’s incensed shouts. He finally found her in the middle of a clearing, an ivy-draped stone wall standing behind her. She was bent low, clutching his jade necklace in her fist. Now was the time to make her his, but he would need to be quick.

He parted the leaves, intent on stunning her with a pattern, but she wheeled around before he could prepare it, her triangular ears twitching at the rustling of the leaves. Their eyes met for the first time, and he knew he couldn’t hurt her while she looked upon him. For a moment, they both stood frozen and unmoving.

Finally, Sorai took a step back, and Anoth willed himself forward. He had expected her to melt to her knees in veneration, instantly recognizing his divinity, but instead her eyes showed only fear and distrust. Perhaps she was confused by the bandana he wore around his forehead to hide his ears and tattoos.

Sorai swallowed visibly. “Who are you? Why are you here?”

“Forgive me for startling you, Empress,” Anoth soothed. “Do you . . . not recognize me?”

“Are you here with one of the provincial lords? Have you lost your way?” Sorai straightened herself, presumably to regain her regal air. “This section of the garden is meant only for members of the imperial family. If the guards see you here, you would be in trouble.”

“My apologies!” Anoth gasped, feigning ignorance. So, she still thought him a stranger. He reached his hand up to his bandana to reveal himself, certain she’d know him at once, but thought better of it.

Sorai stepped forward, drawing close enough for him to take in the scent of her perfume. He recognized it from all the items Rao had stolen for him in the past, but to smell it now, floating directly from her skin, left him feeling intoxicated.

“If you go down this path, it will take you back to the palace.” Sorai gestured to her left. “Take a right at the path’s end and you can find your way back to the guest wing.”

“You’re kind to direct me, Empress,” Anoth said. He extended an arm, hoping she might take his hand and lead him down the path, but instead she just smiled.

“Have a good evening,” Sorai said pleasantly, before she brushed lightly past him to leave without another word.

Anoth’s arm fell slack at his side. This was not going according to plan. She should have thrown herself into his arms, begging to be taken away from this place. He would need to be more bold. “Sorai,” he called out.

She whirled around and stared at him in surprise. She was clearly not used to being addressed so informally.

“I’m sorry Rao ruined my gift to you. I will give you another.” Anoth bowed his head humbly.

Sorai gasped in obvious confusion, looking at the necklace she held. Anoth was upon her before she could react any further, one hand wrapped around her throat and the other pressed firmly against her mouth. She dropped the necklace to the grass and let loose a muffled wail, reaching up to dig her nails into his wrist. Her struggles only angered him further. He tightened his grip, causing her to choke, and shoved her hard against a tree.

“There will be no more screaming,” Anoth warned as he eased off her throat. Beneath his other palm, he could feel her lips tremble in horror, while her chest began to heave with silent sobs against his forearm. It was a typical Naltite response. How disappointing. “No harm will come to you as long as you are quiet. Please don’t try to escape; I’d hate to have to hurt you.” Anoth’s free hand slipped to the back of her head, where he gripped a fistful of her hair.

As Sorai’s spasmodic sobs caused her to wheeze, a pang of compassion pricked Anoth’s conscience. They had to move quickly and quietly out of the palace complex, but he did not wish her to suffer unnecessarily. In a momentary bout of kindness, he removed the hand that was over her mouth, allowing her to breathe in deeply. She repaid his compassion by letting loose a high-pitched shriek.

***

Rao leaned forward to rip another chunk of flesh from his fish when a scream shattered the calm around him. He hunched over his meal for a moment. It sounded like his mistress!

“Mistress? Fishman?” he called tentatively as he poked his head through the ferns. Hearing no reassurance, he wiped the fish juice from his mouth and crept out into the open. He sniffed the air, then darted in the direction of Sorai’s scent, hurrying across the path he had led her down, and crashed through a shrub. There, he discovered his mistress on her knees, entirely helpless as Fishman towered above her with his hands wrapped around her throat.

“Oh, no!” Rao gulped behind his paw before scrambling back into the shrub. Fishman was staring at Sorai the same way Rao liked to stare at rodents he was planning to eat. Why was Fishman doing this?

Shaking with fear and worry, Rao turned tail and tore back down the path. Propelled by adrenaline, he reached the palace much quicker than he expected. But the spacious building was almost completely dark. Everyone had slept through Sorai’s screams. Now what would he do? He was much too small to stop Fishman on his own.

Finally, he saw a small square of light across the courtyard, on the palace’s second floor. A lamp was still burning within his master’s study—Tashau must still be awake! But there was no tree to climb and jump from to grant him entrance. If Sorai was to be saved, he would have to fly up to the window to hunt for his master. “Oh, wings, I promise I’ll lose the extra weight I’ve packed on if you please work for me, just this once!” he begged as he looked back at his ragged, molting wings.

He took a step or two back and charged forward, flapping his wings fiercely. He left a trail of feathers and fluff in his wake as he leapt up onto the ledge of a fountain and jumped as high as he could manage. The weight of his body pulled him down, but he beat his wings frantically to keep himself airborne. He couldn’t give up—Sorai might die! “Please, wings, just a little more!” he yowled.

As if in response to his plea, his spread feathers caught hold of a gush of salty air, which lifted him enough that he was just able to catch the windowsill with his claws. He climbed up, intent on bounding into the study, but met a faceful of glass. Through the fur squished in his eyes, he saw Tashau sitting on the floor at his writing desk, where he was scribbling on parchment with a conical ink shell.

“Master!” Rao screeched. He saw Tashau’s ears twitch up and down, but the thick windowpane must have muffled his cries too much. He immediately took to beating and scraping at the glass, startling Tashau enough that he stopped with his writing and stood.

An instant later, Tashau’s manservant appeared at the window and flung open the hinged sashes, causing Rao to lose his footing and nearly fall. Luckily, the servant was quick and snatched Rao up by the scruff of his neck.

“Rao, what are you doing?” Tashau demanded. He made an irritated motion for his servant to place Rao on the floor.

As soon as the servant dropped him, Rao jumped on Tashau’s writing desk, tipping a bottle of ink all over a pile of papers. “Master, you have to do something! Fish—I mean—there’s somebody outside hurting Mistress!”

Tashau tensed. “What?”

“You have to help her! I don’t know where the guards are!” Rao cried. Tears of panic were pouring down his face. “He’s going to kill her!”

Tashau backed away from his desk and beckoned to his servant before pointing to the door. “Go and find the guards immediately! Wake the whole palace if you must! Rao, show me the way!”

***

Anoth finally released Sorai’s throat when she stopped struggling. She fell back amidst barking coughs.

“Please, let me go!” she wheezed, her voice now too hoarse to scream out. “I-I have a husband and a child!”

“No!” Anoth snarled, envy flooding his mind. How could she look right at him and deny him? He was a god! Where was the love—the adoration? Frustrated, he yanked her up onto her bare feet. “You’re going to be my wife! Mine!”

Sorai flew into a weak but hysterical flurry, proceeding to slap and kick him, each strike doing no damage except to his ego.

“I shouldn’t have to break you like some common thrall!” Anoth bellowed as he shook her, so overcome by his desire to dominate her that the blow to his blind side came as a total surprise. He staggered and fell hard to the ground, the taste of grass suddenly stinging his tongue.

“Tashau!” Sorai cried as Anoth pushed himself up to his hands and knees.

Damn it. Anoth looked over his shoulder to see the emperor of Chalei standing behind him. “Your aim is decent,” Anoth said, wiping his jaw with the back of his fist as he slowly rose. The surprise attack would have crippled any mortal. It appeared that Tashau was well trained in physical arts.

“You made a mistake by laying a hand on my wife!” Tashau snarled as he moved between Sorai and Anoth. A simplistic offensive pattern appeared at his fingertips.

A chuckle skittered from Anoth’s throat. “You are brave or foolish to come here without your kada.”

“My kada?” The pattern Tashau held flickered momentarily.

Anoth regarded Tashau with a bent eyebrow and withdrew the curved dagger from his belt. “No matter. Kada or no kada, I’m going to kill you now and take your wife as my own.”

Sorai cried out in alarm, and Rao, who had been clutched tightly in her arms, darted from them and into the ferns.

“Coward! Make the match even—throw down the knife!” Tashau challenged, still charging his pattern with one hand.

“An even match? If it will make you feel secure, use this!” Anoth threw the dagger, the blade slicing through the air and straight at Tashau’s heart.

Sorai screamed and covered her eyes, rushing back to hide behind a tree, while Tashau dove out of the way, the knife slicing a hole through his sleeve. “Bastard!” he yelled before jumping back to his feet. The pattern swirling about his fingers was lost.

“If it’s a fair fight you want, the dagger is yours,” Anoth pointed at it. “But even with a weapon you have no chance. You’re impotent against me in battle, though perhaps not as much as you are with your wife.”

Tashau’s face reddened with rage. “Don’t you mock me!” He lunged at Anoth, fist cocked back.

Anoth easily blocked or dodged every strike, laughing as each blow flew predictably by. “You should have used the dagger.” He casually found an opening and backhanded Tashau, causing him to reel back and stumble to the ground with a sharp yell. Fighting with mortals was too easy—like flicking gnats. “Get up!” Anoth crowed.

Tashau plucked the dagger from the ground, springing back to his feet and rushing forward, slicing and stabbing.

Anoth evaded every lightning-quick move with ease, slapping his frenzied opponent for sport every time he came close. “Pathetic! I’ll have your wife stripped and pinned beneath me the moment you’re dead!”

Though breathing hard and visibly bruised, Tashau snarled like a savage and dashed in close again, swinging the dagger with surprisingly renewed speed. Anoth laughed and backed up a step, preparing a pattern to finish him off, but all at once the sound of rent fabric and flesh met his ears, and pain leapt through his body. The dagger had finally struck its mark, tearing straight through his tunic and lacerating his chest. He’d been careless. Never in all his years had he been scratched in battle with a mortal. Only Naltena had been able to draw his blood before. To think that his carelessness had allowed this insect to even touch him made Anoth’s very bones crackle with rage.