Yet Maldynado stood outside the captain’s cabin, with his fist raised. The steamboat had turned off the Goldar River earlier that night and would reach Lake Seventy-three before long. This might be Maldynado’s last chance to leave the emperor with a good, or at least amenable, impression of him. He’d also, after doing some mental wrestling with himself, had decided that Sespian would be better for Amaranthe than Sicarius. Maldynado knocked. Not many seconds passed before the door opened. Darkness bathed the interior, and Maldynado, standing next to a lantern on the exterior of the cabin, didn’t see anyone at first. After a moment, his eyes adjusted and he picked out a dim shape. “Sire?” Maldynado said. “I came to see if… uhm, Yara said I should talk to you.” Not exactly, but that might get him an invitation in. “I see,” Sespian said. That didn’t sound inviting. Maldynado was trying to think of something else to say when a match flared to life inside. Sespian set a dagger down on a table and lit a lamp.
