Hesi peered at the hand-drawn map given to her by a scout. Berheqt might be free of the Mayaware, but the world outside wasn't. After the fall of the High King, the demons in the royal capital fled west into the Steel Fortress.

Even after Festophis passed, felled by Tagara, the sneaky vermin sorted through his succession and established his son as supreme commander. Now, it was up to her and her allies to root out the Steel Fortress who controlled much of Ser-Djare.

The scout she sent yesterday returned with a more detailed structure of the fortress and its current state. Knowing how his father perished in Berhet, the new commander didn't take any chances. Their numbers increased in the last few months, and it would cause her problems.

They needed to find more sources of huurshe. Quickly. No doubt the Steel Fortress also pulled their strings to ensure no human bested them again, and this battle would bring them to Ser-Methon—the next region rumored to host a hidden vat of huurshe ores. If they defended it against the Mayaware, they would be unstoppable.

A strong breeze picked up from the east, sending the scarf around her head to billow. She tucked it behind one ear and turned to Asrate who peeled a citrus fruit with a fighting knife. "How is the situation in Ser-Tehra?" Hesi asked.

The woman raised an eyebrow, making the gold rings stuck to it clink. Ever since the trials ended, she began poking herself with metal with Tagara's help. Together, the two looked as though they were morphing into gold. "Better than ever," Asrate answered with a curt nod. "Uzare has been carving their numbers all week. I suspect it won't be another before they surrender."

Hesi blew a breath and brushed off the particles of sand that had gathered over the map. It wasn't even here that long. Damned wind and damned sand. "Good," she replied. "Any news on the conquest to Ser-Methon?"

"I have something about that." An unknown voice huffed as she piled into the command center—the old communal room Hesi shared with them during tribulation. They both turned to find Barteset striding towards them. Her belly looked as though it was about to explode. Has it been that long? "They found a large underground cavern and will explore it the next day. I imagine they already reached it considering the three-day delay between correspondences."

"Also good." Hesi chewed on her lip. "Any sightings of Mayaware spies?"

A dark cloud passed across Barteset's face. "Two," she answered. "All part of Rehuphis' fortress."

Hesi scowled at the mention of the Steel Fortress's commander. "Send a few of our own," she said, knowing Otraqte could handle reconnaissance better than anyone. "Tell them not to engage and to protect. Getting the scouts back alive and in one piece is our priority."

She was about to ask another question when she heard frantic scratches of sandals against stone. Someone was running at full speed. What happened? A breathless Tagara zipped past the open windows and swung around the open doorway. "The captives from the farms," the woman reported. "They arrived."

Every other thought in Hesi's mind flitted off in various directions. She was out of the room in seconds, tramping after Tagara. They tore through the command center's familiar halls and reached the gates. Up the keep, voices chattered in glee, moving in agitation to get the gates to open. Chains clinked, and rock groaned. She pushed past the gathering, but she found out she didn't need to. They parted for her like reeds along a riverbank.

A sea of faces entered the floodgates, all craning their necks up and marveling at Berheqt's wonder. Hesi didn't care the least bit about it. Her eyes peeled out only for two people among the crowd. She forgot how many breeding farms she had Petra and Khono attack in search for her siblings. And each time they seized control and shut operations down, they brought the captives to Berheqt. So far, none of them contained who she searched for.

She wandered around, elbowing people and never muttering a decent apology. She stood on her tiptoes and inclined her head. Where were they? Her ears strained for any sound that might tell her her siblings were among the batch. She put her hands on either side of her mouth and yelled their names.

She did it until someone called back from a distance. "Hesi?"

Her eyes widened. "Pai!" she called again. "Unsu! I'm here!"

As if by magic, the crowd ebbed, giving way to two children in their midst. Only, they weren't children anymore. "Pai," Hesi breathed as she took in a dashing woman with the richest bronze skin and blackest locks she saw. Within seconds, she was running. She slammed into Pai, throwing her arms around her sister's shoulders. Dear gods, did she grow taller too?

"Hey, what about me?" a deeper voice demanded. It was no longer the shrill pitch Hesi remembered.

She edged out of Pai's grip and looked down to find Unsu staring up at her. A little grimy and gaunt, but it was still her brother. His hair grew shaggier, and he stood up to Hesi's arm now. "Unsu!" she cried and crouched. Her brother's face disappeared into her embrace. "You have grown so much!" She looked at Pai again, who smiled as though she didn't spend the past year in a breeding farm. "Both of you."

"Hesi." Pai sniffed and swiped at the budding tears in her eyes. "I missed you. I never thought this day would come."

Hesi's tears broke free and scalded her cheeks. "But we're here now," she answered. "There are a few chinks to work out, but we're here. We're free."

Unsu wrapped his arms around her midsection, almost toppling her to the ground. "You did it," he said. "You said so, and you did."

She ran a hand down his hair and smiled. "Yeah," she said. "Have I ever lied to you?"

Before her siblings could answer, Hesi turned to Pai and removed the scarlet scarf around her head. More tears broke free from her sister's eyes as Hesi wound it around Pai's neck. "I saved it," Hesi whispered. "I'm sorry if it smells like Mayaware guts. I did my best to wash it in the Simela, but the odor won't come off. You're the one who knows how to make it exude flowers."

Laughter replaced Pai's tears. Hesi put a hand on her sister's shoulder and the other on her brother's. She steered them away from the crowd as Asrate, Tagara, and Barteset moved around to accommodate the refugees. "I'll introduce you to everyone," Hesi said. "You'll love them."

Pai raised her head up at the huge stone arches, towering columns, and expansive gardens on their way towards the command center. "How did you snatch a place like this?" she asked. "What did you do for a year?"

Hesi paused, causing Unsu to almost run into her. She glanced at her brother, then at Pai. "It's a long story," she replied. "One I'm sure cannot be told without a drink."

She changed course, gearing for the only place that had a supply of the wine perfect for the tale her siblings had to hear. They went inside the royal palace which has been converted to a refugee shelter. Tents flanked their way, tied with twine and fastened into the columns peppering every inch. So many people fought to get into Berheqt, and so many more remained out there.

Pai was strangely quiet, even though Hesi knew the girl was dying to know everything about this place and how they drove the Mayaware out. Perhaps, she also sensed the melancholy in these halls and remained respectful. Hesi, herself, took a long time before going down the flight of stairs without feeling as though her chest would collapse on itself. Every memory spent in this place was too...painful.

Her fingers wrapped around the door's handles, cold despite the heat in the desert. With a slight push, she swung the basement's door and ducked inside.

Everything was exactly as he left it. The palthes still bloomed with his plants and flowers. The shelves remained stacked to the brim with potion ingredients. Sheets of parchment with his chicken-scrawl littered the worktables. Every corner contained his shadow, his smell, and his memory. It still hurt, but she pursed her lips and snagged what she came here for.

Her fingers closed around a ceramic jar's thin neck and strode out of the room, locking it behind her. Pai and Unsu never entered, reduced to loitering by the entrance. She smiled at them, although it never reached her eyes, and waved the bottle at them. The liquid inside sloshed heartily.

Together, they left the royal palace and came to the inner sanctum where the ultimate battle happened. Splatters of black blood decorated the floor, accentuating the newly added stone markers over them. Rows of markers bore the names of everyone who passed and remained in the memory of everyone who lived in Berheqt.

One was Kharta's.

She took Pai and Unsu there and had them sit before it. Then, she uncorked the jar and poured a steady stream down the marker, watching the torrents race to the ground. Her siblings watched without a word, familiar with the dead and what it entailed. She took a deep breath and a swig of the wine. It was bitter, but she was used to it now.

Then, she told a story.

When she finished, Pai stared at her hands. Unsu lost interest and played with the lilies by the pool instead. Eventually, the boy would fall in, and they must fish him out.

Pai reached out and laid a hand over hers. "I'm here," her sister said. "It was never your fault, Hesi. They made their choices. For you."

Hesi wished she could believe that. She really did. Instead, she jerked her chin at Pai. "What about you and Unsu?" she said. "Has your moon-cycle arrived yet?"

"On the journey here," Pai admitted. "An immense relief."

"It is," Hesi replied.

Pai chuckled. "Compared to what you went through, mine and Unsu's were milder," she said. "We spent our days in cages. The demons brought us food—not good ones, by the way—and waited until we were plump and savory. They took some kids from my batch, and they never returned. We lived in fear each day that we might be next."

"I'm here." Hesi squeezed Pai's hand. Her sister gave it a gentle squeeze back. "I will not let that happen to you again."

"I know," was all her sister said.

A tremendous splash echoed behind them, and Hesi turned to see Unsu's head disappear into the water. As expected. Pai shot up and cursed all the way to the pool. Hesi got up and followed. A few refugees in the outer courtyard came to inspect what the commotion was. Pai reached out, her fingers wrapping around their brother's ankle. Then, she and Hesi pulled.

Unsu splattered onto the stone floor, gasping and flailing like a fish out of water. "I'm never doing that again!" he yelled. His teeth chattered when a stray breeze blew by as though to tease him.

"Oh, dear. I've never seen someone fall into the pool." Petra's voice rang from a distance. Hesi turned to see the woman sauntering towards them in large strides. "Perhaps, we should put a warning. Next time."

Hesi regarded her comrade. "No need," she said. "My brother is an idiot by nature. Only he would not think twice to fall into any body of water."

"Brother?" Petra's eyes twinkled as she took in the sopping mess of a boy on the ground. "Are these your siblings?"

Hesi snorted but bobbed her head. Petra gasped and clapped her hands together. "This is excellent!" she said, for reasons Hesi could never fathom. The woman yanked Pai and Unsu away, the latter demanding clothes and the former looking to Hesi for help. "Come, come! Oh, we will have so much fun!"

Hesi chuckled, and let Petra have her way. After losing Semret, they weren't the same. She would gladly lend Pai and Unsu for a while to give them their much needed closure. Because she, too, has to give herself one.

As Petra's ecstatic tittering faded out the courtyard, Hesi wove through the maze of markers until she came before the one that shouldn't be here. Through her insistence, she eventually won, and soon, a name etched onto stone, never to be erased.

Mezophis. A friend.

He was many things, but that was the facet Hesi recalled him as. And it was the only facet that mattered. She had seen his forms, faced his most rabid sides, and through everything, she saw what many didn't.

She saw something human.

The bottle lightened when Hesi upended the remaining wine over his marker. "Would you have wanted to see a world where we could be free?" she asked aloud. She replaced the cork in the jar's mouth, a sad smile pulling her lips apart.

She turned away, and only the soft brush of the wind answered.