A Memory Called Empire

Chapter 6 opens with excerpts from reports of danger: The first describes the subsequent closing of the subway after the bombing, and the second records Lsel Station being threatened by imperial ships, unable to do anything other than fine them. Mahit receives a poetic reply from Twelve Azalea, asking if she’s a prisoner of Nineteen Adze, and a cold reply from Ten Pearl, suggesting a public meeting. She replies to Twelve Azalea in verse, saying she is safe and free. A third message arrives, an automated response from Dekakel Onchu to Yskandr, warning him that the imperial court has requested a replacement ambassador—and that his replacement will receive an outdated imago device.

After sending replies, Mahit goes to Nineteen Adze’s library and sees Five Agate with her son Two Cartographer, also called Map. Five Agate brags that she gave birth to him rather than using an artificial womb, an impossible privilege on Lsel Station, as no one can afford to stop working for a pregnancy. As she sends Map away to work on math, Mahit questions her about the Empire and imperial intrigue. She describes Emperor Six Direction’s three heirs: Thirty Larkspur, Eight Loop, an aged contemporary of the eighty-four-year-old emperor, and Eight Antidote, a ninety-percent clone of the Emperor in child form.

Nineteen Adze interrupts them, telling Mahit that Three Seagrass has arrived and wants to see her. Mahit and Three Seagrass discuss their situation, as Three Seagrass vacillates from fear and respect for Nineteen Adze to assuming she’s holding Mahit prisoner. Three Seagrass describes the strangeness of the City, its empty streets and spaces, as another memory from Yskandr surfaces: Yskandr asks Ten Pearl about the technology that controls the city. Ten Pearl swears it works without flaws, despite it malfunctioning in the present. As Mahit loses herself in Yskandr’s memory, Three Seagrass continues to describe strange events in the City, including a human sacrifice made in a sun temple for victory in war. The conversation turns to military movements. They discuss the Palace banquet taking place the next day.

Dekakel Onchu, who sent a message to Yskandr in Chapter 6, investigates a ship-like weapon that has hunted ships near the Anhamemat Gate, near Lsel Station. Constructed of two wheels, one within the other, the weapon does not follow the ships back to the space station. One survivor of a recent attack makes it back to the station, and Dekakel relays their information to the ship’s pilot, knowing she will have to remember his descriptions of the weapon. Dekakel worries that Heritage, council members entrusted with imago devices, can’t be trusted. Determined to protect Lsel Station and Yskandr in the capital, she decides to inform Lsel Station councilor Darj Tarats of the weapon.

Chapter 7 opens with an anti-imperial flyer found after the subway bombing, declaring solidarity with the insurrection at Odile, and a report commissioned by Heritage councilors on Lsel Station that describes the need for native literature. At the Palace banquet, Three Seagrass announces Mahit as they enter. Mahit asks Three Seagrass to introduce her to a poet, who composes similarly to Three Seagrass and doesn’t like Nineteen Adze—Nine Maize. He acts the part of a patrician, insulting Mahit, who tells him that she doesn’t know his work. Mahit notices Thirty Larkspur, one of the three heirs to the Empire. Thirty Larkspur takes her to another part of the ballroom, where he announces the “deal is off” (165). She feigns knowledge of the deal and says she accepts his decision.

As Three Seagrass discusses the deal with Mahit, they see the throne rise, driven by three hydraulic engines. The elderly Emperor Six Direction appears in the center of the throne. Mahit offers her hands in a gesture of supplication, and he takes her hands. She wonders what Yskandr did to create this kind of relationship. She recognizes the Emperor has a fever.

Mahit sees Ten Pearl, and they have a public meeting. As they exchange formalities, Ten Pearl slips, warning Mahit to be careful, telling her that she and Yskandr have much in common. Three Seagrass asks her to listen to an ongoing poetry contest. Nine Maize gives an oration that’s critical of Thirty Larkspur, who has increased imports to the Empire. As Three Seagrass and Mahit discuss the speeches, Mahit appraises the Empire, comparing it to an animal that consumes other worlds. The Emperor declares an unassuming poet the winner of the contest, a clear condemnation of Nine Maize.

Chapter 8 opens with news relaying the withdrawal of forces from the Odile insurrection and a brochure’s explanation of the pilots’ guild on Lsel Station, aimed at youth. Three Seagrass and other partygoers compete informally, taking the last line of the winning poem to start a new one. Mahit observes Three Seagrass create a poem about the City’s infrastructure, and realizes she doesn’t understand it. Inebriated, she comes across Gorlaeth, the ambassador from Dava, a recently conquered place. They briefly talk before Mahit, offended by Gorlaeth’s unsolicited political advice, leaves and becomes lost. Finding herself in an interior garden, she sees Eight Antidote, another heir to the Empire. They chat about birds, before he advises she leave this part of the Palace. Mahit leaves and finds an empty bench, and soon, a man named Eleven Conifer sits beside her. Openly hostile to Thirty Larkspur and respectful of One Lightning, a general or yaotlek, he turns against Mahit when she asks about One Lightning’s lack of military victories. He shakes her, until Thirty Larkspur intervenes. Mahit rejoins Three Seagrass and says she saw a room of birds when asked where she’s been.