Enfri urged Spider to ride at a trot.

    Spider was a giant among horses. His shoulders went higher than Enfri's head, and he ate more than two horses of smaller breeds. He was older than most horses in the legion, older than a good number of the armsmen, in fact. However, Gaulatian steeds were almost as well-known for their longevity as for their size and strength.

    He was a seasoned veteran from the previous Lord Merovech's stable of warhorses, he was among the few warriors on the Continent to have bested a royal assassin in single combat, and he had a brief stint in the service of Althandor's crown prince. Even though the last twenty years of Spider's life had been spent as a cart horse, Enfri thought he seemed to enjoy being in an army again. He was certainly livelier than she remembered him being when he belonged to the Smiths of Sandharbor.

    Ban rode alongside her. He wasn't armored for this mission and wore one of his fine silk shirts. His short, auburn hair was freshly trimmed, and he'd shaved the stubble from his face. When he cleaned himself up, Ban could look rather dashing. It didn't hurt that he had a bold brow and chiseled jawline to make a damsel swoon, and Enfri caught herself admiring his roguish good looks now and then. In addition to his fine clothes, he wore an endearing grin that left little mystery as to why Rippling Moon fell for him.

    "Excited?" he asked her.

    "Bet your last penny."

    Ban laughed and looked ahead. The wagons of Calton's people were coming into sight.

    His horse was a white beauty, an Altieri charger named Arnln who had the most disinterested demeanor Enfri had ever seen in a horse. Completely unflappable and indomitable, Arnln would charge headfirst towards spears, arrows, and dragon fire without batting an eye. He, too, was an impressive warhorse, though he appeared to be just a foal while riding alongside a Gaulatian guerrier like Spider.

    Splitting the difference in size between the two was Scorpion. He was another Gaulatian, though one bred for speed rather than strength. He was black as midnight except for his white mane and the feathering around his fetlocks. Scorpion had once been the preferred mount of Crown Prince Dashar Algara, and he'd been serving Jin since Dashar's death. Now, however, his rider was a nervous Aleesh shepherd who bounced around on the saddle as if he'd never ridden a horse before.   

    "He's a tad fiery," Calton said under his breath. He was a lot less frightening when he wasn't looking like a drowned rat. Enfri liked his face, wide-eyed and clean-cut. He wasn't much older than she was, maybe twenty or so. And his height was something else. He might have had an inch over Ban.

    "Scorpion's a sweety," Enfri said to reassure him.

    "Sweety?" Calton murmured. "Aye, as you say, I suppose."

    It was strange to see someone other than Jin riding Scorpion. His breed was normally reserved for the assassins of House Algara. At Reyn's prudent suggestion, Jin wasn't coming along to meet Calton's people. The last thing anyone wanted was to frighten them needlessly. Better if these goodfolk were warned of what to expect before finding an osteomancer where they hoped to find safety.

    They rode along the beach of Leyr Ishan, keeping the large lake on their left and the coarse, dark sand underfoot. Kora and Lord Dahvid Corwyn, Enfri's second officer, accompanied them along with the twenty-five armsmen of Deebee's crew. Deebee herself was nearby but currently out of sight. She and the other dragons were keeping a low profile at Enfri's request.

    Enfri had asked for Rav and Grellin to limit the number of dragons in the air for the time being. The mighty had a way of making folk skittish, and Enfri wanted these people— her people— to feel welcome.

    Ban gave a low whistle as he counted the wagons and carts arranged in a circle about a quarter-league ahead by the water. "Waves, there's a lot of them. Thirty wagons?"

    "Thirty-four," Colton said.

    "Look a bit road-stained. How far have you all come?"

    "Changes, one of us to the next. Hondo, Rook, Althandor, Vayl, and pretty much anywhere from the east coast to here. The one what started all this is Landon Marchand. You could call him our leader. The folk listen to what he has to say, at least, and near half of these are his wagons. Landon and his brothers are from Gaulatia, just off the Gulf of Teularon. They picked up and headed off to collect all of us he knew of, and some of us knew where to find more. Most needed convincing to leave our homes and livelihoods behind, but Landon says we can't just wait for the black hounds to sniff us out one by one. Time for a change, and if the talk of a Dragon Empress in the south is true, we should find her."

    "It was an awfully big risk," Enfri said. "Not just if I wasn't real, but so many Aleesh traveling together must have gotten noticed at some point along the way."

    "Aye," Calton said, touching his hat. "We had our share of frights over the past month. Near lost our heads roundabouts Leyrshore when we found out a black hound was seen there recent. Folk started to panic and began thinking things weren't so bad back home, wherever that might be for them. Landon said to hold the course. Most of us did, and here we are half a Continent later."

    "You said something about a guide," Ban said. "This Landon?"

    Calton waved his hand in denial. "Nah, Kai isn't Aleesh. Picked him up right when everything about fell apart. Althandi fellow, we think, and he's blind as anything. He knows the trails better than anyone I can imagine. We think he must've been a soldier or gamesman before he lost his eyesight."

    "A blind guide?" Enfri asked, incredulous.

    "You'll understand when you meet him, Majesty. Kai has a way about him what makes you forget he can't see. Truth is, I'm not sure he even knows we're all Aleesh. Not like he can see us, and it's not really something we gossip about around the campfire. All he knows for certain is we want to get a look at the Dragon Empress ourselves. Kai seemed to think that funny and said he'd help us along for some food and a little coin."

    Ban shrugged. "Well, most goodfolk wouldn't know Aleesh from a fairy tale in any case. Or even that you're considered an enemy of the state just for living."

    "True enough," Calton said. "Whatever he does or doesn't know, Kai pointed us to sparsely settled roads and to passes like what we took through the Nadian Ridge there. Can't see beyond his eyelids, but he sees the map in his head plain as day."

    "A knowledgable guide makes all the difference," Ban agreed. He turned in the saddle to face Calton more directly. "Strange as it may seem, a group like yours would have an easier time of making your way through the center of the Five Kingdoms than chancing heading south through the Protectorate. That area's halfway to full anarchy if it hasn't plunged over the cliffside already."

    "Aye, my lord. Kai said as much. Truth is, none of us were much willing to head south anyway. You Altieri folk have odd notions of what counts for summer."

    Ban laughed. "So, where are you from, Goodman Shepherd?"

    Calton cleared his throat. "Closer than most of the others. Eastern Althandor, my lord. Near a town called Breakcask on House Borlyn land. My family's worked herds up in the hills overlooking the Shadeshome for the last ten generations, or so pa said."

    "And you're all Aleesh?" Enfri asked.

    "Aye, but not for so long as that. My great-grandmother and a few others came in and settled nearby. Married into the family, Aleesh kept marrying into it, and now most of us are more her people than anything else."

    Enfri made a thoughtful sound. "From what I've heard, most Aleesh don't know what they are. I know I didn't."

    "Old Indri came from a place where they kept the knowing of it alive," Calton explained. "Lots of the others with us just... remembered, I guess. Passed down from cradle to pyre that we're to hide the green and gold, as we say. When word spreads of folk with golden hair and green eyes, the black hounds come to call."

    Ban looked down at the colors of House Karst's crest on his shirt. "Green and gold? Waves, all this elder magic and never made that connection. Hey, Enfri, Fate's mucking with my head again."

    She covered her mouth with a hand. "I'll be sure to lodge a complaint if I meet him." She turned back to Calton. "So how have you managed to hide? I was in the middle of nowhere by the Espalla Dunes with spells erasing me from people's memory."

    "Nothing so grand, Your Majesty. We go through a lot of hair dye, and my pa never let us go with him to take the herds into town. He hardly looked it that he was Aleesh at all, and he tried to work up a Shotoese accent to cover it more." He swallowed and made a show of fretting with his reins. "Don't always work. Every now and then, folk we send letters to stop writing back, and we don't try to get in touch again. Means they'd been found out, and the black hounds are savvy as demons. They keep an eye on the post coming for those they killed."

    Ban watched Calton sidelong. "You did well to stay hidden. The royal assassins aren't easily fooled, and you all managed to fool them for six hundred years."

    Calton kept his eyes lowered as he nodded.

    "You don't need to anymore," Ban added. "We're fast approaching the days when Aleesh will no longer need to hide."

    Calton sat a little higher in his saddle. "I'd like to think that's true, my lord."

    "Waves see it so," Ban said with a good-natured smirk. "And if the spirits don't, I will. My house is sworn to our beloved. House Karst stands for Shan Alee and the Aleesh."

    Enfri would give a great deal to learn how it was Ban could win people over so easily. Calton quickly started grinning along with him. The two began to laugh and carry on as if they'd been drinking partners since boyhood. It gave Enfri heart to see it. Ban had suffered so terribly while he was separated from Kimpo, and now he was back to his old self again.

    I think you're too eager, Sunny.

    Enfri blinked as Yora came into her head. He'd been relatively quiet since the Deep Palace, so his arrival startled her.

    Too eager? How do you mean?

    I can tell you for certain none of these people are marked. None of us in the in-between place knew about them. Can't see the world through them. Even so, did you catch what the lad said about his great-grandmother?

    Enfri thought back on it. She nodded in understanding. She arrived in Breakcask in much the same way your mother came to Sandharbor. It sounded like she and the people she came with were refugees.

    Which means they might've been running from the enclave in Ejasta, where my sister came from. Look, there's plenty of that lot in here with me. My old man... well, he's a real piece of work. Suffice to say, I'm glad I take after ma.

    Enfri felt her spirits dampen. The Ejasta enclave produced Elise, so she could only assume a lot of what made the old empire a blight on the world had survived because of them. They passed down the method to turn dragon bonds into torturous shackles. They taught that Aleesh were the superior race who deserved to rule all others. Disgusting, vile doctrines could be traced to that enclave.

    I'll be mindful, Papa. Thank you. I'd rather they be what I hope they are, but I shouldn't blind myself to something that might work against what I want Shan Alee to be.

    A different voice spoke, one Enfri felt apprehensive to be reminded existed in there. It was the voice of an elder, weathered by time and many worries. He spoke gently. Kindly. His was the voice of a beloved grandfather.

    It is good to be careful, Inwe said, but a little eagerness can be forgiven. Allow yourself to hope, my empress. Faith in the best of humanity is never a vice.

    Inwe's words carried a warmth of spirit with them. It never failed to amaze Enfri how a man who lived through some of the darkest years the world had ever seen managed to hold onto such ideals.

    Never a vice, but a potential danger, he said more sternly. Faith is one thing. Delusion another. Heed your father's advice and keep your eyes as open as your heart.

    Enfri agreed. She much preferred these two to the last gaggle of spooks who spoke to her. I hear you, Grandfather, she thought to him. And, if I may ask, how much longer can I expect to have you? Papa said there's an ebb and flow to where you are, and Shoen will inevitably come back.

    Sooner than you would wish, I'm afraid, Inwe sighed, but not as soon as you may fear. Our strength is at its zenith, but with the waning of our voices, the later emperors shall wax.

    Which Enfri took to mean that she was around the halfway point of having her father and the earliest emperors in the forefront. Shoen and his ilk could return as soon as one or two weeks. Enfri didn't look forward to it, but she could endure it even for the extended period they enjoyed if it meant she would hear her father's voice again.

    We'll conserve our strength to give us more time together, Yora said. Good luck, Enfri. Stay strong.

    The wagons were close enough that Enfri could see figures darting between them. They must have seen Enfri's party coming by now, and it appeared that the sight of so many armsmen was putting them on edge. What people she could see were staying in cover behind their wagons, only peeking out briefly.

    "Jumpy," Ban murmured as he signaled the riders to slow to a halt. "Best not just ride up on them. There could be a few dozen knocked bowstrings in there."

    Calton held his hat to his head while trying to bow in the saddle. "If it pleases you, Majesty, they're likely waiting on word from me. Might I should go on ahead and give them the good word?"

    "Entirely necessary, I think." Deebee, in a kitten-sized version of her true self, swooped down from above and alighted on Enfri's shoulder. "Wouldn't you agree, my Huntress?"

    Kimpo, similarly sized, landed on top of Ban's head. Her Ruby Knight got a flat look at how he was being ridden but didn't complain. She curled up her charcoal-colored body as she reclined in his hair, and she preened the scales of her crimson markings. "I do, my Storyteller. Squirrelly as black dragons in springtime, I should say. Half think they should abandon their wagons and flee back east, and the rest think they should make a first strike to show they'll stand up for themselves."

    Deebee held out a forelimb and admired the sheen of her silver hide. "Mmm. A fair assessment, I should say."

    Enfri narrowed her eyes. They were both behaving oddly, preening and making a production of their arrival. "What in the name of the king..."

    "Floundering lizards are showing off," Ban muttered, then cocked his thumb in indication towards Calton.

    Enfri looked to her side and had to stifle a laugh. As Calton looked between Deebee and Kimpo, his eyes were even wider than they'd been when he caught a glimpse of Reyn's bare backside.

    "Baby dragons," Colton gasped. "We heard you had, well, real ones."

    "Rude!" Kimpo exclaimed. She hopped to her feet and stamped a claw.

    Ban winced.

    "We're precisely as large as we need to be, thank you very much," Deebee said with her snout in the air.

    Enfri put a hand to Deebee's wings to calm her pique. "Dragons are shape changers," she explained. "These aren't their truest forms. At five hundred or more years old, these two are some of the biggest dragons in the world when they wish to be. Deebee is actually Eldest of silver dragons, and Kimpo is Eldest of reds. That means they're like the head of house for their... what did you settle on calling it again?"

    "Our chroma," Deebee said proudly. "Now that we're mingling with mortals, we can't abide our coloring being associated with dog breeds any further. It isn't the same, and it is not comparable."

    "It's comparable, my Storyteller," Kimpo sighed. "Don't be such a snoot."

    Deebee sputtered her indignation.

    "Isn't 'chroma' just a big-headed word for color?" Ban asked.

    "That it is, love," Kimpo yawned. "But the silvers and golds seem pleased with it, and I do like to keep the Imperials happy. One in particular."

    Deebee's scales rippled down the length of her body in much the same way a bird would ruffle its feathers. Enfri had always interpreted that as Deebee's way of blushing. The tiny silver muttered about insufferable red dragons and bone-headed Rubies before addressing Enfri again. "Never mind all that, love. What's important is that those Aleesh goodfolk ahead are nervous as dragonets with untethered ether. If you continue to ride at them in this manner, they're liable to scatter."

    Enfri nodded. "As you say. Goodman Shepherd, I'll leave this in your hands."

    "Aye, Majesty. I'll tell them it's safe." Calton gave Scorpion a tap of his heels and rode ahead.

    Enfri fiddled with Spider's reins as she watched him go, then some more as she waited for something further to happen once he rode into the ring of wagons. She was about to ask Ban if he thought something had gone wrong when the two wagons nearest them were pushed aside.

    "Looks like that's meant to be our invitation," Ban said. He signaled the detachment to press onward.

    Lady Kora and Lord Dahvid brought their mounts to either side of Spider. They didn't say anything, only placed themselves to act as shields in case of the worst. Enfri wished they wouldn't. Neither of them had on any more armor on than Ban did. Kora had a severe look on her youthful face, and Dahvid would always be imposing at nearly seven feet tall.

    The armsmen of her crew were the only ones coming in full gear. They had light chain and plate hauberks and open-faced helmets. Most had their goggles lowered over their eyes as they rode with the sun ahead of them. Their swords stayed in their scabbards, but readied crossbows were cradled in their laps.

    Ban raised a fist as they passed into the ring of wagons. The armsmen reined in and held position outside the wagons while Enfri and her officers followed Ban inside. Kimpo relocated to Ban's shoulder in the interests of preserving her Ruby Knight's dignity.

    Enfri looked from side to side as she rode into the ring of wagons. She saw brown-skinned faces gaping at her from every direction. The men wore hats, and the women wore shawls. Any visible hair was more likely to be black than anything else, but Enfri spotted hints of gold at the roots of those few with bare heads. But it was their eyes Enfri saw most.

    "Deebee," Enfri whispered.

    "Yes, love?"

    "Let's show them who we are."

    Deebee gave a pleased hum before leaping into the air to take wing. Kimpo joined her, and the pair circled each other as they rose higher into the sky. Dozens of pairs of green eyes followed their flight.

    Once high above, they assumed their truest forms. Each of them sixty paces from shoulder to haunches. Two hundred paces from one wingtip to the other. Deebee had four horns sweeping from the back of her skull over her neck, and Kimpo had two great, curving ones like a longhorn bull. One dragon bright and the other dark. The silver of slender grace, and the red of raw strength.

    Enfri watched them circling overhead and listened to their subdued roars. If they roared for all they were worth, there would've been shattered ear drums because of it. Enfri's eyes snapped back down to the ground in shock when she heard the most wondrous sound she could ever remember hearing. She saw children coming out from behind their mothers' skirts and pointing up into the sky while laughing in delight.

    Oh, flames... Inwe gasped as he looked on those little faces. Flames take me. My empress, I was wrong. This can be nothing else but hope.

    Deebee and Kimpo roared again in unison, loosing dragon fire from their throats in a brilliant display. The Aleesh gasped and shouted in amazement at the sight.

    "Showoffs," Ban groused quietly, though he was grinning as he said it.

    Enfri tapped her heels to Spider's flanks to urge him further in. She left her retinue behind and approached the center of the circled wagons. Calton and a small group of others walked forward to meet her. A tall man in his early forties led them. He hadn't dyed his long hair and left it its natural golden color. He was stunningly beautiful, his features elegant and defined. His green eyes were wide as he looked at her.

    "Majesty," he said. He bowed but couldn't take his eyes from her. The added inflection of the last syllable suggested he had a Gaulatian accent that'd be a match for Reyn's. He must have been Landon Marchand.

    Enfri dismounted. Taking a deep breath, she decided she couldn't hold it back any longer than she had. Hiking up her skirt, she dashed forward and threw her arms around Goodman Marchand's neck in a tight hug, as if she were greeting a brother she hadn't seen in years.

    Part of her was aware the crowd had gone quiet when their attention came back to her. She knew they were drawing closer. Enfri didn't know how she knew while her eyes were shut tight to hold back tears, but she knew. She could feel them. She'd wished for them for as long as she could remember and only now realized it. This was what her life had lacked until now. Other mortals who could fully understand the life she'd lived. Faces she saw herself reflected in. A people to truly call her own.

    Landon got over his surprise and hugged her back. Enfri felt his shoulders shake as he laughed and wept at the same time.

    "Welcome home," Enfri said.

    Ban laughed his blustering head off as she was swarmed by Aleesh.

oOo

    Reyn heard the legion cheering. They clapped their hands, whistled, and raised a general ruckus as Empress Enfri returned at the head of a line of wagons. She thought it strange they'd be so ecstatic over this. Until a month ago, many of them barely knew what an Aleesh was, and now they believed the appearance of a hundred or so of them was the greatest thing in the world.

    Humans, it seemed, were incredible at adapting to new and strange circumstances.

    Reyn removed her spectacles and tucked them into the breast pocket of her vest. She was a little farsighted— her eyes were better adapted for aquatic environments— and writing for extended periods could become a strain. Her time since Enfri and Lord Ban left had been spent transcribing letters received by courier onto more legible documentation. Dreadfully mindless work, but no one else seemed able to read each of the various scripts and dialects the different houses sworn to Shan Alee used. Reyn would have given a lot to divest herself of this scribe position, but Pacifica's cover story for her had become truth in the end.

    More armsmen would be arriving within the next few hours. The remainder of the soldiers House Karst and House Yora left to aid in the defense of Ecclesia, along with an additional twenty dragons, would put further strain on the legion's supplies. It was going to be difficult managing so many soldiers while Shan Alee was still in its infancy. Few holdings and no home soil to support them. It was a logistical nightmare. Reyn had every intention of bringing this to the table once again when the Dragon Lords next met.

    It would have to wait until the evening. This business with the Aleesh would demand the empress' full attention at least until then, and Lord Bannlyth would have his hands full administrating the coming armsmen. Not to mention that Pacifica had likely taken Starra to go negotiate with King Fen's representatives already.

    Reyn wasn't happy about that, Pacifica going back to work. The fool girl was going to get herself killed again by working herself to the bone this way. She was also unhappy that Starra had thoroughly attached herself to the princess.

    Obliged to mentor the heir to her master's bloodsong, indeed, Reyn thought sarcastically. Wishes to badger yet another unattainable woman with her unsubtle flirting, more like.

    Yes, Reyn knew she was being petty and jealous. No, she didn't care to let it go. Just because she couldn't have Pacifica, it didn't mean some tart of a vampire could swoop in and try to poach her.

    The only consolation was that Starra was unlikely to succeed if seducing Pacifica was truly her aim. It probably wasn't even the case. Once Reyn calmed down and gave it honest consideration, she admitted Starra had been straightforward where her late master's bloodsong was concerned. Reyn's frustrations came from a different source.

    She tapped the nib of her ink pen against her desk with pent up energy. After the previous night's excitement, any relief she might have found from Komali's professional touch had vanished. In short, Reyn ached for intimacy, and she wasn't feeling particular on who it was with.

    It bothered her that the first face to come to mind was Jin's. She'd prefer to avoid losing her head to Empress Enfri's first order of execution.

    Rubbing her eyes, Reyn stood up from the writing desk at the back of her tent. She raised her arms over her head and stretched with a weary groan. It was poor luck that Duchess Josenthorne chose that moment to show up at her tent.

    "Winds, you've more going on for you than just legs, eh?"

    Reyn turned to see Josy eyeing her. An idle thought of what the duchess' courting preference might've been came and went in the span of a heartbeat. Josy was an Algara, and that was the extent of what Reyn wanted to know about her. She lowered her arms and curtseyed. "May I be of assistance, Duchess?"

    Josy remained just outside the tent, keeping enough etiquette to not enter without leave. Her arms were crossed, and the oversized gauntlets she favored as weapons hung from her belt. Josy wore her hair differently again. Today it was down and loose, hanging to mid-back, with lengths framing her face. The leather armor she wore was barely worthy of the name, exposing more than it covered. Her toned and hard body was near a match for Jin's, and she wasn't at all shy about showing it off.

    "I heard you had quite the night after we parted ways."

    Reyn kept her face impassive. "As did we all."

    "No, you in particular." Josy looked pointedly at the ground in front of her then back up to Reyn.

    "Please, my lady, do come in." Reyn gestured to the one chair in front of the writing desk. She took a seat on the cot and folded her hands in her lap. Sitting straight with legs crossed and chest out, Reyn tried to appear as dignified as she could. In her experience with nobles, royals especially, that tended to go over better.

    Josy plopped down in the chair. Her knees splayed wide, and she draped an arm lazily over the backrest. "Heard you bagged Nkeoma right as she was about to drop some kind of new fey on us."

    "I had significant aid from Brother Joshuan."

    "Yeah, the blood runner can be useful when he wants to be." Josy grimaced as if she'd just said something distasteful. She masked it by digging at her ear with a finger.

    The ear picking didn't bother Reyn. Peering at what she excavated and flicking it away, however, did. Reyn wished to hurry this encounter along and get back to her transcriptions.

    "Are you here on behalf of Princess Maya?"

    Josy shook her head. "No, Maya's long gone. She and her new dragon left for the Spired City as soon as the dust settled. Didn't want to risk Nkeoma seeing her here."

    Reyn blinked in surprise. If Maya and Zanda the Executioner had already gone, they must've left without informing either Enfri or Jin. There were protocols to follow when it came to lieges and vassals. Reyn was irritated enough that she almost overlooked the obvious. "You are not joining her?"

    Josy smirked. "Disappointed you're not rid of me? No, staying here with Jin is part of the plan. The king and my father think I'm dead, and it's going to stay that way. Me being a corpse gives Maya a valid excuse for being out of contact for this long."

    Reyn pursed her lips and wondered just what this plan was. By her estimations, Princess Maya wasn't the sort to implement a coup with anything approaching subtlety. She could only hope the Executioner would keep Maya from doing anything brash. "If not Her Highness, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

    Josy's eyes traced up and down the length of her. "Something I wanted to ask you, Legs."

    "What might that be?"

    "Before, with Garret, I got the impression it was more than just questioning him on the sky woman's behalf."

    Reyn raised an eyebrow. "If by 'sky woman' you mean 'the empress'?"

    "The girl drugged me once and owes me a drink. I can call her whatever I want, and you're dodging the question."

    "My lady, you have not asked a question."

    Josy ground her teeth together. "Fine. What's your problem with Master Deveaux?"

    Reyn wanted to clench her fists but managed to stop herself. "He is an ally of the renegade Elise Alinwe."

    "Don't give me that," Josy snapped. She leaned forward in her seat. "What I saw wasn't state business. That was personal."

    Reyn narrowed her eyes.

    "Spit it out, Legs, or should I ask your empress why you'd be roughing Garret up?"

    "My lady," Reyn said softly, "this is not an avenue you will find much success upon. While it is true I did not have Her Majesty's explicit authorization, this attempt at blackmail will lead to nothing. Empress Enfri is already aware I am the sort to ask for forgiveness rather than permission. She finds value in that quality."

    Josy scowled. "So sure of that?"

    "Quite." Reyn cocked her head to the side. "Was there anything further?"

    The frustration on Josy's face was as prominent as her cheekbones. Also, the indecision. She made as if to stand, stopped herself, then stopped herself a second time before she spoke again. "He did it to you, too?"

    Reyn swallowed, and she found that she could only speak in a whisper. "Yes."

    A part of her was surprised to hear herself answer truthfully. Another was relieved, as if she'd been beneath the water's surface without Breath and at last received a gasp of air.

    Josy's eyes were on the ground, and her voice had become a tiny thing. "What did he make you do?"

    Nothing, Reyn thought. He put his spell on me, and it was taken away a moment later.

    She felt... guilt. Garret dominated her, but he hadn't forced her to betray loved ones. He didn't use the magic to coax out information that could be used to destroy what she cherished. Garret hadn't touched her as if she were no more than a doll to be used for his enjoyment. By what right could she claim the injury he'd done her to be equal to what he did to Josy?   

    It had been a moment only. A moment when she was nothing. A moment when she belonged wholly to his will over her own. She would have done anything for him, given anything to him, allowed him everything he might have taken from her, and she wouldn't have thought it wrong.   

    "He took my choice away," Reyn whispered. She raised her eyes to Josy.

    The duchess was trembling. "How do you forget it?"

    "I will never forget it," Reyn said with a little more strength. "I will never forgive it. May all the spirits serve as my witness, I will watch that filth die."

    Josy crossed her arms again, though it seemed less the posturing it had been before and more like she was trying to hide herself. "Will it go away when he's dead?"

    Reyn nearly gave the automatic answer that it would. She didn't, because as soon as the words reached for her lips, she recognized them to be lies of the worst kind. The lie you told yourself. "I expect not."

    Josy snarled as she got to her feet. "Then what's the point?"

    "Revenge," Reyn murmured. "Some say it is an unworthy thing to desire. I disagree. Often, it is all one has left."

    "And once that's gone? Once Garret's dead and you have nothing?"

    Reyn thought of Elise. Of Vintus Algara and the Highest King. Of the unjust world where tyrants conquered nations, where shifters weren't free from fear of humanity. "There is always something to avenge."

    "That's not living," Josy said. "I want to live again."

    She left Reyn's tent, but her words hung in the air. Reyn listened to their echoes until even that faded.

    "Live?" she asked the empty tent. "For some that is no longer an option."