The Tyrant's Law (Dagger and the Coin)

love you more than anyone I’ve ever known. All this time that I’ve been running Aster’s kingdom and fighting to protect the empire, it’s been a way to distract myself from you. From your body. Does that sound crass? I don’t mean it to be. Before that night, I’d never touched a woman. Not the way I touched you. Since I had your letter, I can’t deny it anymore. I want you back with me. I want to sit up late at night with your head resting in my lap and read you all the poems we didn’t have when we were in hiding. I want to wake up beside you in the morning, and see you in the daylight the way we were in darkness.
    I love you, Cithrin. And it’s such a relief to say it here, I feel lighter and purer and better already. I believe in you. I don’t need to ask if you’ve been as true to me as I have been to you. I know in my heart that you have.
    Please, dear, when you can, come back to Camnipol. Let me shower you with roses and gold and silk and whatever else crosses your mind. I am well on my way to bringing peace to the whole world, and there is nothing I want to do with my power more than make you as happy as your letter made me.
    And Aster! You should see him, dear one. He already looks like he’s halfway to manhood. When he ascends to the throne, and I’m not Lord Regent anymore, I will be free to—
    Magistra?” the courier asked again.
    Cithrin looked up. The man stood in her office like a ghost from a dream. His hair was still damp with sweat from his ride, and he stank of horse and the road. She tried to draw a breath, but her lungs felt like they’d been filled with glass.
    “Yes,” she said. “I’m here.”
    “Orders were I wait for your reply,” he said.
    “There isn’t one. Not now,” she said. “This will … take some time.
    “Yes, Magistra.”
    He hesitated. She was on the edge of shouting at him to get out when she realized he was waiting for a coin. She fumbled with her purse, her fingers awkward and numb, drew out a bit of metal, and gave it over without looking to see what it was. The man bowed and went out. Cithrin sat on the divan, the leather creaking under her, and put her head in her hands. She felt trapped in the moment between being struck and feeling the pain of the blow. Everything had taken on a lightness and unreality. Her stomach was slowly, inexorably knotting itself, the anxiety settling deep in a way she knew meant sleeplessness for weeks to come. Months.
    Geder Palliako thought he was in love with her. Love, like something out of the old epics. He’d spilled a little salt with her, and now they were soul mates. She went back to the letter. See you in the daylight the way we were in darkness. Yes, she knew what he meant by that.
    “Well, shit ,” she said to no one.
    But, on the other hand, I’ve given orders that you and the agents of the bank aren’t to be bothered .
    She tucked the letter away and pulled herself to her feet. The world still felt fragile, but she could walk and speak, and if she could manage that, she could do anything. She stepped out of her office and down to the guard quarters. Low clouds pressed, threatening an early snow. Enen and Yardem were sparring in the yard, blunted swords clacking against each other. Their focus on each other was intense, and she had to call their names before they stopped.
    Yardem strode over. In his leather practice armor, he looked like a showfighter. His ears twitched, his earrings jingling. Enen pulled off her vest. She’d taken the beads out from her otter-slick pelt, and it was dark with sweat.
    “Is there a problem, ma’am?” Yardem asked.
    “Several,” Cithrin said, “but they aren’t at issue right now. Where do we stand on the evacuation?”
    Enen scowled. It wasn’t something they talked of openly. At least it hadn’t been.
    “It’s progressing,” Yardem said. “We had half a dozen children and their mothers out last week.”
    A crow called from the wall of the yard, as if offering its opinion.
    “I’m going to have orders soon,” Cithrin said. “I’ll want the two of you to carry them.”
    “Orders for what, ma’am?” Enen asked.
    “I want to get a hundred more children out this week.”
    Yardem and Enen exchanged a glance.
    “Not sure how we can do that without asking for trouble,” Yardem said.
    “We have an advantage,” Cithrin said. “It seems we’re above the law.”
    T he snow began in the middle of the afternoon, small hard dots that tapped against the