Tenkai walked down the corridor, Tarubi strolled right beside him, stroking his beard.

"I told him we'd cut the trade route entirely if he hiked the grain tax again," Tenkai said. He rubbed the back of his neck. "The man's an idiot. He really thinks I won't do it."

Tarubi chuckled. "He's testing the waters, Your Majesty. Let him freeze in the winter. He'll drop the tax by spring."

"I'll give him a month." Tenkai sighed. He stopped at the edge of the courtyard. The cold wind bit at his face. "I have to look at them, don't I?"

"It's tradition," Tarubi reminded him, smiling easily. "The lords sent them as tribute. You just need to walk past the line, nod, and leave. You don't actually have to speak to anyone."

Tenkai hated this part of the job. The lords constantly sent him beautiful girls, hoping to buy influence in the capital. He fired his father's entire harem a year ago, and they still kept trying to fill the empty rooms. He needed reliable generals, not teenagers wrapped in silk.

He stepped off the wooden walkway. The new concubines knelt in the courtyard.

"I swear to you, she wasn't this ugly yesterday! Something's wrong here!" a high-pitched, panicked voice echoed across the stone path.

Kohana stepped right into the screaming girl's space, grabbing her arm. "Quiet," Kohana whispered, her amber eyes flashing with a sharp warning. "Keep your voice down."

Tenkai approached the group. Tarubi stayed a few paces behind, his amusement fading into a respectful, professional calm. Ruri spotted the Emperor first. The bubbly redhead dropped into a deep bow, pulling Kohana down with her. The entire line of girls scrambled to press their foreheads to the freezing stone.

"Your Majesty," Kohana said smoothly, keeping her head lowered. "We welcome you."

"Stand up," Tenkai said.

Kohana stood, smoothing out her robes. She stepped closer to him, lowering her voice so the trembling girls wouldn't hear.

"We have a slight issue, Your Majesty," Kohana murmured. "One of the tributes from the conquered lands is... peculiar. I apologize for the disruption. The guards barely processed them."

Tenkai raised an eyebrow. "Peculiar how?"

"Just... prepare yourself," she said softly.

Tenkai walked down the line. Most of the girls kept their eyes glued to the floor, shivering. They smelled like expensive jasmine perfumes. He ignored them. He just needed to get to the end of the line and leave.

Then another smell hit him.

Rotting cabbage. Tenkai forced his expression to stay completely neutral. He was the Emperor. He slowed his pace, stopping directly in front of the source.

He looked down.

Gods above.

It was a freak. A massive, twisted hunchback ruined her posture. Her skin looked awful, covered in weeping, unnatural sores. When she took a breath, he caught a glimpse of black teeth.

Tenkai stared. They sent me a monster.

In any other province, the commoners'd stone a creature like this in the dirt just for sport. The foreign lords who sent this batch of tributes probably threw her in as a sick joke to insult him. He felt a sharp wave of anger at the disrespect, quickly followed by heavy, uncomfortable pity. She looked incredibly pathetic, crouching on the stones like a beaten pup.

He wanted to walk away, wash his hands, and take a long bath.

Tenkai looked over her head, catching Kohana's eye. He kept his voice steady.

"Poor creature," Tenkai said stiffly, gesturing vaguely toward the far side of the courtyard. "Go. Find her a place in the back rooms. Keep her away from the others."

He took a step back, putting some distance between himself and the stench.

"And get Momoka," Tenkai added, his voice dropping into a firmer, authoritative tone. "Let the physician check her first. I don't want the whole palace catching whatever she has."