Maya breathed in the scent of the mist, clean but for the faint tang of coal smoke— purity that clung to an edge of corruption. It told her she was home. Maya Algara returned as a princess thought dead. What no one in the City of Althandor knew was that she came to conquer.

    This city, this kingdom, and all the Continent would be hers.

    To rise was the greatest privilege and chief responsibility of every mortal. Maya could not call herself an Althandi woman if she did any less. She would rise as high as she was able and prove to the world that she deserved to stand at the pinnacle.

    Maya had often seen the city from on high as she stared down at it from the heights of the Palace of Towers. It was far more grand from higher up where she could see the whole of it. The dozens of spires, each hundreds if not thousands of paces tall, emerged from the depths of eternal mist. Gaslights illuminated the city with an unearthly glow in the late hours, and the sound of steam engines powering trains and carriages could be heard in an ever-present clamor. Skybridges and high walkways spanned the distances between spires in an interconnected web at every level. While walking, it could appear as a chaotic tangle, but from high above on the back of a dragon, the order of it could be seen.

    Northrun, Southrun, Eastrun, and Westrun, the four main burroughs of the city, surrounded the Palace of Towers at the center. It had been over a month since the disaster in Westrun. The devastation following the collapse of the Sanguine Tower left a blackened scar across the landscape where even the mist didn't venture. The tower's destruction caused the collapse of other spires, and a host of smaller towers were crushed. Tens of thousands of lives were lost, and more died in the days that followed.

    Maya clenched her jaw as her Executioner flew over the scar Elise had given her beloved city. She crouched close to Zanda's scales through their flight. It grew cold at high altitude, and she wore only her assassin's armor and the wolf head cowl. A warmth spell made the journey more comfortable.

    She didn't want to admit it, but Maya was exhilarated by flying. It was difficult to understand why Enfri and her knights did this with crews of as many as thirty. Alone in the sky, dragon and bonded mortal, the world seemed a far more peaceful place.

    Zanda murmured an incantation in the Aeldenn Tones. She spoke two lines of five words of power. The spell echo from Zanda's couplet pulsed against Maya's mind, and her sorcerous ethersight was able to see how it affected the Weave. Light essence resonated throughout the threads surrounding the two of them, warping and distorting the normal flow. It was a ward crafted through the school of illusion, an invisibility spell, and it hid them from sight. The ward extended in a sphere around them; anyone inside it was visible to one another while those outside would see nothing.

    Maya gave over a large measure of ether to help fuel the spellcraft. Invisibility required prohibitive costs and was a taxing spell for anyone but a hierarch to utilize. Maya's stores of ether weren't quite to a hierarch's level, but she was close. She had enough that Zanda's spell would only drain a fraction of what they carried between them.   

    As they dropped closer to the ground, Maya began to see the people milling around the massive piles of rubble in Westrun. They walked along trails cleared through the debris. Others clambered atop the broken mounds remaining of the destroyed towers. They marked remnants of stone and metal to be cleared away, the process long and laborious so as to prevent further collapse. Maya then saw handlers following trained hounds sniffing through the rubble, seeking out the scent of buried corpses.

    It'd been too long for there to be much hope of finding survivors, but the families of the fallen deserved the chance to place their dead on a pyre. Rows of bodies were laid out in one of the larger clearings while priests and surgeons searched over them for a chance to identify who they once were. Many were already burning upon stacks of wood and kindling, often five to twenty bodies to a pyre.

    The relief efforts continued. They'd likely continue for months to come. All day and throughout the night, they worked to set right the tragedy inflicted upon the kingdom.

    In moments, Westrun was behind them. The Palace of Towers, Maya's home, lay ahead.   It was the tallest structure in the Spired City. The tallest in all the world. Five spires, four at every point of the compass surrounding the tallest central spire, stood at the center of the city with massive skybridges connecting them.

    Invisible to any sentries who might see, Zanda rose to the highest levels, and Maya used her grip on Zanda's scales to steer her towards the top of the western tower. At the highest level, the uppermost ten stories, the royal family of House Algara kept their quarters. Maya's chambers lay on the northern face of the tower on the second to highest floor. A large balcony awaited, but as large as it was, it wasn't wide enough to accommodate a dragon.

    Zanda came in to land, and Maya unhooked her harness from the larger one encircling Zanda's upper chest. Before touching down, Zanda's body became mist as she changed forms. Together, the two of them dropped onto the balcony. Zanda's harness carried through her polymorphy, automatically entering into a similar state as being placed into a holding spell. At the same time, a pink dress came out to cover her body.

    Zanda's human form was purposefully unremarkable. She appeared as a young Althandi woman. Tilted and narrow eyes with an epicanthic fold, delicate facial features, fine and black hair worn at shoulder length, pale skin, and a slight build. Pretty yet unassuming. Her usual pink coloring was disguised behind her polymorphy.

    Maya mused that if she'd met Zanda among the nobility of the Five Kingdoms, she wouldn't have hesitated to take her on as a handmaiden if it became an option. Thus far, she was satisfied with the dragon Ban and Enfri chose for her. Maya cocked her head to indicate for Zanda to follow her inside. With a few words, Zanda unlocked her incantation and dropped the invisibility cloaking them.

    A tug on the glass doors leading into her chambers revealed that they'd been locked in Maya's absence. The doors were spellwrought and warded against spellcraft focused on the locking mechanism. Irritating, but far from insurmountable. Maya had picked up a useful little spell from Lady Starra, and she'd been waiting for an opportunity to test it out.

    Maya knew both the balcony and the inside of her suite like the back of her hand. More than enough to facilitate teleportation across the short distance. Once the spell was complete, Maya stood inside her bedchamber. The only sign that she'd teleported was the gaslight fixtures rattling in their housings. Maya then returned to the balcony door, threw the latch, and let Zanda inside.

    "Arriving at the palace was the first objective," Zanda said without preamble as she entered. "Have you already a second in mind, or is it yet to be determined?"

    The main room of Maya's suite was elaborately furnished, the decor predominantly cerulean and silver. Upholstered armchairs and sofas were arranged around a spellwrought marble brazier pit in the middle of the room. There were fresh pine logs in the brazier, and Maya ignited them with a spell to get some light.

    Maya looked to Zanda then removed her cowl. She handed it over to her. The dragon furrowed her brow in confusion, and she only grew more perplexed as Maya began removing the rest of her armor.

    "I see," Zanda said once Maya disrobed completely. "It has been a long journey, and you wish to bathe. Shall I attend you, Your Highness?"

    Maya beckoned for Zanda to follow her. Maya's bath was within a small chamber of polished marble and glass, and the copper tub had sigil-enhanced plumbing to provide her with running hot water. Once the bath was drawn, Maya allowed Zanda to take her hair out of its ponytail, but wanted her attention on more important things than washing her.

    It'd been days since Maya last spoke. She would rather continue in silence, but planning a coup took precedence over her pride. Settling into the bath, Maya began without ceremony. "The next objective is to secure my current position within the palace."

    Zanda folded and set aside Maya's smallclothes. "There are possible complications. It is most likely known by your house that you are still alive. The Akazewis are assured to have reported your presence in Leyrshore to your father. You will be asked to explain your absence."

    "Vengeance," Maya said. "For Josy. She was killed within the Sanguine Tower. I pursued Elise to exact retribution."

    "That, too, bears a complication. At least one person within your house knows Duchess Josenthorne still lives. Heron Algara, commander of the intelligence coterie, contacted her by sending on your journey from the Spired City to Sholis. She gave her word she would not reveal you or Josy lived."

    "Heron can be trusted," Maya said. "Krayson proved to me she isn't in league with Vintus."

    "Which makes contacting Heron the first step towards the next objective," Zanda concluded. "From there, you can begin consolidating your support within House Algara."

    Maya dampened her hair and draped it in front of her. She took up a brush and began working out the tangles accumulated over the flight. There weren't many since it'd been tied up in a ponytail, but Maya had a lot of hair to sort through; her hair would fall below her hips if she wore it free. Brushing it all took a significant amount of time.

    Zanda didn't assist Maya further. Maya wouldn't have wanted her to in any case. The dragon preoccupied herself by exploring the rooms and occasionally whispering incantations to examine the spellcraft in place around the suite. "There are many wards," she said once she completed her inspection and returned to the bath. "My witch sight can detect their presence and some of their purpose, but not all."

    "Protection against divinations and evocations," Maya explained. "The royal family would be targeted by scries around the clock otherwise, and a single blast of spellfire aimed at the top of the palace could cause disaster for the kingdom."

    "After the death of your younger brother, I imagine palace security was tightened."

    Maya felt her lip curl in anger. Blustering lizard had a lot of gall to say that. But it was true. "The wards weren't as extensive before Roan was killed," she said.

    A sound from outside the bath caught Maya's attention. The door into her suite was being unlocked with a key. Zanda stood straight and alert.

    I'd hoped to have a few moments before it started, Maya thought. Someone must have had my rooms under watch.

    "Assist me," Maya said as she rose from the bath. She held her arms out while Zanda snatched a towel and patted her dry. By the time the door unlocked, Maya had pulled on a silk robe. She exited the bath and entered into the suite's foyer to confront the intruder.

    It proved to be intruders, two of them. Tension melted off Maya's shoulders once she saw her handmaidens, Valess and Ceruna, creep in through the door with anxious expressions. Both were in nightdresses and must have come up from their apartments on the floor below. They entered Maya's suite as if expecting to find a twisted fiend lurking in the dark. When their eyes fell on Maya, still damp from the bath, they let out startled gasps before scurrying towards her in a rush.

    They pulled short just out of reach, and their voices overlapped each other as they competed to speak.

    "Your Highness, is that you?"

    "We heard a terrible noise, like thunder."

    "Thought there must've been a prowler."

    "When did you return?"

    "Winds, Your Highness, we feared you were..."

    Before Maya could get a word in edgewise, both of them were sobbing hysterically. At once, an immediate feeling of remorse came upon Maya. She'd neglected to tell either of them about her plans for leaving the City of Althandor, and she hadn't sent word she'd survived the Sanguine Tower. It was thoughtless and unforgivable for her to disregard them when their livelihoods were dependent on her. Maya's handmaidens were the closest thing she had to real friends and deserved better.

    Maya reached out and put a hand to their faces, then pulled them into an embrace. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

    That only made them cry harder. If the silly twits didn't stop, Maya might start up blubbering, also. She masked the unwelcome emotions by pulling away and gesturing for Zanda to approach.

    "These are my handmaidens," Maya said in introduction. She first indicated the taller one with black hair and a narrow face. "Valess Borlyn, eldest daughter of the Borlyn." Then, the one with hair a shade closer to brown, a heart-shaped face, and a fetching mole at the corner of her mouth. "Ceruna Andromian-Tiélda, third daughter of King Julian the Andromian of Primus."

    Zanda raised an eyebrow. "You are a princess, my lady?"

    "His Lordship's daughter by a mistress," Ceruna said, while curtseying. "Acknowledged, yet still a bastard. I hold no title."

    Both girls looked to Maya.

    Drat. And this is why Jin had a point when she said I don't think things through.

    "My name is Zanda," the dragon said, coming to the rescue.

    "Zanda?" Valess asked, clearly expecting more than a single name.

    "Just Zanda," she said. "No house, no family, and no vocation to speak of."

    Except as an executioner, Maya thought wryly, though she supposed she never received a clear answer on whether a dragon's name represented anything beyond aesthetics or not. "I collected Zanda in the south," Maya said. "I was waylaid in a rural area and took her on to attend to me while I was in her village. I was impressed by her ability and so offered to take her on in a more permanent arrangement."

    "A-attend to you?" Ceruna stuttered.

    "Permanent?" Valess gasped.

    Maya winced. It'd been so long since she last procured handmaidens that she forgot how heated the competition to attach oneself to a prominent patron could become. She hadn't just introduced them to a new pair of hands. She'd given them a rival. The way Ceruna and Valess were eyeing Zanda up and down, they might have already been weighing and measuring the threat she posed to their positions.

    Zanda gave Maya a flat look with slightly raised eyebrows— a completely neutral expression that still conveyed a healthy measure of dissatisfaction.

    No point in dwelling on mistakes. Maya drew her handmaidens' attention back to her. "If you are willing, prepare a fresh uniform from my armory. I must announce my arrival to my father."

    "Arrived how?" Valess asked but was promptly shushed by Ceruna.

    "Of course, Highness. At once."   

    The two hurried through a set of doors into another room of the suite, leaving Maya alone with Zanda. Before Maya could follow, a hand on her arm stopped her.

    "That was unwisely planned, Your Highness," Zanda said.

    "The plan was always for you to play the part of my handmaiden," Maya muttered. She looked to where Zanda held her. "Will you remove your hand or shall I?"

    Zanda didn't let go. "You didn't present me as a handmaiden, Highness," she said in a falsely sweet tone. As if she were addressing an unruly child. "The nobility uses exactingly specific terminology; you could teach slate dragons a thing or two about innuendo. But the terms you chose didn't mean what you meant to say." Zanda sneered. "Permanently attending to? For a handmaiden, you would say an indefinite arrangement. That I assisted you or attended rather than attended to you. Those hatchlings now think I am your secret mistress."

    "That's absurd," Maya whispered. "They both know full well my courting preference is solely for men."

    "Beware the pitfall of societal expectations," Zanda said. "Same-gendered relationships are seen as exceptional and pure in Althandor, are they not?"

    Maya didn't need to be reminded. It had always bothered her how the court saw Jin as some paragon of femininity for preferring women while they whispered of Maya's presumed promiscuity. If the rumor-mill was to be believed, Maya could have mothered a legion by the number of men she seduced to her bed.

    The truth was, the actual number was only four. Derek Ulbrecht didn't count. If a plow had a dull blade, the field couldn't be tilled.

    Too late, Maya realized she was blushing. "Winds take expectations. Valess and Ceruna know better. I prefer men."

    Zanda brought her face closer. She tilted her chin back to look down her nose at Maya. The grip on her arm traveled to behind her back and down to her waist. "Do you really?"

    Maya squinted at her. "I've no interest in women at all."

    Zanda hummed.

    "Don't provoke me, dragon," Maya warned. "I endured Starra. I will not endure you."

    "Intended or not, this is the role you've given me." Zanda stepped into Maya and pressed their chests together. She rested her free hand delicately on Maya's shoulder. "Not ideal as it will place me under more scrutiny, but it carries the advantage of making me easier to dismiss."

    "Making me a skulk," Maya growled.

    "I'm not familiar with the term."

    "A liar pretending to prefer their own gender for social advantage."

    "You're attempting to overthrow a kingdom, Highness. Did you really think it would get done with your honor intact?"

    Maya clenched her jaw and scowled. "My honor isn't your concern. We may be bonded, but I'm not your Beryl Knight."

    "No, you aren't," Zanda murmured. She removed her hand and stepped away. "Be thankful for that, Your Highness."

    Maya glared and wondered what Zanda meant. She felt she'd heard in passing about Zanda having a bond before. A fallen Beryl Knight, and Enfri had said something to the effect that what happened to him hadn't been Zanda's fault. An opinion the rose dragon didn't share.

    Ceruna and Valess returned with the components of a freshly oiled suit of studded leather armor carried between them. Zanda went to stand behind Maya and removed the robe from around her shoulders, assisting with getting the princess equipped.

    Once Maya was given smallclothes, Valess secured a padded gambeson over Maya's torso. Maya put on her own leggings, then Ceruna began laboriously fastening hardened leather plates to her thighs and hamstrings. Zanda put on the breastplate, then she and Valess tightened the buckles down either side of Maya's body. Ceruna put a low-rise belt around her hips and attached a scabbard holding a new, virgin sword— a single-edge blade with a slight curve. Maya stepped into knee-high boots with steel shin guards.

    To complete the outfit, Maya requested her raven-feather shawl. It hadn't been worn in a long time, and she wished for the extra sense of drama it provided. She didn't use it to cover her hair in the manner of the goodfolk and instead let it drape across her bare shoulders. As Ceruna and Valess worked together to order Maya's long hair into a tail, Maya held out her hand to Zanda. The dragon gave over the wolf's head cowl, and Maya set it into place.

    A long process, but a necessary one. She'd promised herself long ago she wouldn't face her father as anything other than a wolf until she'd found vengeance for Dashar. That Cathis hadn't planned his death hardly mattered anymore. He was still responsible. Maya looked to Zanda.

    "The king," Zanda murmured, like she was only then realizing who they had come to confront. She glanced towards the others. "Will he be at court?"

    Valess and Ceruna exchanged worried looks before shaking their heads. "Not today," Ceruna said, "and not at this hour. His Grace and the queen are in the southern tower."

    Maya frowned. The southern tower housed the dormitories for the royal guard. It was also where Gain's branch of the family kept quarters. She wondered what Cathis and Maebh would be doing.

    Maya went to her door and walked through.

    "Your Highness," Ceruna called after her.

    "Shall we accompany you, Your Highness?" Valess asked.

    Maya stopped to shake her head. She gave her handmaidens one last glance before walking back towards them and taking them both into an embrace. "Thank you," she whispered, "for staying. I won't leave like that again."

    They fought back sniffles as they returned Maya's hug.

    "Go back to your rooms. I'll be here in the morning." She released them and beckoned for Zanda. "Come."

    Zanda offered the handmaidens a slight bow before following Maya into the corridor. Once they'd gone several paces, she watched Maya out of the corner of her eye. "You did not strike me as the kind to show affection. Why to them?"

    Maya turned her head away.

    "Remorse, then?" Zanda asked. "Another thing I did not think you capable of."

    Maya flashed her a brief glare before facing forward.

    Zanda let out a breath. "At last, I believe I understand you, Maya Algara. A simple puzzle once deduced, laying all the things I've witnessed of you bare now that I have the key."

    Maya scowled. The dragon was definitely beginning to get on her nerves. Perhaps she wasn't as pleased with her as she'd first thought.

    "Don't worry, Your Highness," Zanda continued. "I won't reveal the truth of you to anyone. Not even my beloved. Perhaps if you ask nicely, I'll tell you what I've figured out."

    As far as Maya was concerned, Zanda could just keep whatever she thought she knew to herself. More people than she cared to count had claimed to understand her anger, her so-called arrogance, and her volatility. Zanda was no different. Another self-righteous fool who claimed wisdom they didn't possess. However, Maya didn't accept a dragon bond for a counselor. She needed an assassin of the mighty.

    If not for that, Maya thought she might reclaim the royal assassins' original mantle as dragonslayers.

    Traversing the Palace of Towers could take a long time, and it would be easy to get lost. Fortunately, Maya was as familiar with the halls, stairs, and walkways as it was possible to be. She'd wager the treasury on there not being a single stone of it she hadn't seen at some time in her life. When they were young, she, Jin, and their cousins had spent hours chasing each other, playing tag or find-the-monkey. The path she and Zanda took through the central tower passed by where Josy used to host her extravagant galas with her and Jin's dolls as the attendees.

    Maya gave the circle of benches within a garden a longing look as she passed. More often than not, Princess Tarim had joined the young Algara girls for their games of make-believe. Dashar's wife had taken great joy in announcing the dolls' entrance into the party, coming up with elaborate lineages and fanciful dynasties for each. Tarim would sit with them and laugh along until her illness caught up with her and demanded she return to the surgeons.

    Those days were gone.

    Maya had never known nostalgia to be a painful emotion before that moment. It was another thing lost she could never get back, innocence, a time when her family had been happy, and there was little hope to experience anything so wonderful in the future. The Palace of Towers hadn't heard the laughter of children in a long time, and Maya didn't know if it ever would again.

    The servants and minor officials in the palace gawked as Maya swept by them. Some called out to her, exclaiming their relief to see her alive and well. Others offered to send word to the Highest King. Maya ignored them all and continued on. After crossing two skybridges, countless hallways, and taking a number of steam lifts, she at last arrived at the southern tower. Afterwards, she only needed to follow the trail of royal guardsmen to find where her father had gone.

    The topmost floors of the tower housed Prince Gain's suite. As Maya approached, she saw a welcome sight awaiting her outside the steel doors into the prince's rooms. Maya picked up the pace and planted herself in front of Captain Falar of the royal guard.

    "Your Highness?" Falar breathed in shock. "We feared you were dead."

    Maya felt much the same. She'd heard Falar's voice shouting commands during the Home Legion's assault on the Sanguine Tower. There hadn't been a doubt in Maya's mind that Falar had been killed by Elise's pyromantic flare or the spire's collapse afterwards.

    Falar was a towering figure in her full plate. Though Althandi, she was tall and broad enough to be mistaken as an Altieri man until she showed her face. She had blunt features, hard and severe, that insecure fools would disparage as looking like a horse. Her hands were strong and had thick fingers that could crack walnuts with ease. Maya admired her.

    "Your Highness, how did you survive the Sanguine Tower?" Falar asked.

    Maya considered the captain a stalwart protector and a valued retainer. For her, the oath of silence would bend. She'd even tell the truth, or at least a version of it. "I rode a dragon out."

    Falar blinked. "You what?"

    "One of Elise's," Maya said. She was glad to have the cowl hiding her eyes. Josy once said she squinted when she lied. "I pursued them as they fled. How did you survive?"

    Falar shook her head. "Naught but blind luck, Your Highness. Many of my men cannot say the same. What of the duchess?"

    Maya looked down at the ground and let that serve as her answer.

    "I see," Falar whispered.

    "I would hear your whole account later, Captain. I must report to my father. What brings him to the south tower?"

    "Good tidings, Highness," Falar said, a small smile arriving on her face. "With your return, nothing short of all these rebels and invaders dropping dead in the same moment could be more welcome news." She looked past Maya to Zanda. "And this?"

    "A new handmaiden," Maya replied. "I will vouch for her and take responsibility."

    "Yes, Highness. The king and queen will be overjoyed to see you back. Please, go in."

    Falar opened the door to Gain's chambers. Maya nodded to her as she led Zanda inside. The foyer was little different from Maya's. There were more swords hanging on display racks along the walls as well as a number of trophies taken across Gain's long and storied career. Her uncle had an odd habit of decorating his rooms with paintings of hunting hounds. It was a choice of decor Maya never questioned.

    Gain liked dogs. There wasn't much more to it than that.

    Maya hadn't gone more than five steps into the suite before she was spotted. In the next moment, she was enveloped in the arms of her mother. Maya stiffened before returning the embrace. She was mostly surprised by how she hadn't noticed Queen Maebh until she was already within her clutches.

    "Blustering girl," Maebh whispered. "Why in the embrace of hellfire would you ward yourself? We couldn't scry you. Couldn't contact you. Damn it all to the brothels of Hell, we thought you were dead."

    Maya opened her mouth to speak, but the words died in her throat. She saw the other figure approaching.

    Cathis looked even older than he had when Maya last saw him. The gray had reached his beard and was near to overtaking the black in his shoulder-length hair completely. His cerulean doublet looked rumpled, and his face bore a few more wrinkles. Even so, he stood straight as he came to a stop behind his queen's back.

    Maebh pulled away and narrowed her eyes as she looked on the cowl. She, unlike Cathis, appeared as young as ever. It almost made Maya wonder if she was secretly marked by some unknown elder bloodline, but it had more to do with frequent exercise and the best skin care available. Her blue, double-breasted coat of an Althandi knight even seemed to be freshly pressed. "Still wearing that thing," she said in disapproval.

    Maya gave a curt nod, then took a step back when her father reached forward to touch her face.

    Cathis froze when she recoiled from him. "Maya?"

    She fought to keep her hand away from her sword. At the same time, she longed to feel his fingers brush her cheek— to be taken into his arms where he was the most warm. Deep inside her, a beast formed of hatred and rage had been set free, and now that it was loosed from its chains, she didn't know how to shackle it again. Maya met her father's beast-like eyes and didn't say a word.

    Cathis lowered his hand. "Where have you been?"

    Maya frowned as she let Zanda explain.

    "Pardon, Your Grace," she said, curtseying. "Her Highness pursued the Aleesh, Elise of Eastrun, after her attack on the Sanguine Tower. Her wards against divinations were to thwart the spellcraft of her prey."

    Cathis looked at Zanda as if just noticing her for the first time. "And who are you?" he asked in a sharp tone.

    "Zanda, Your Grace, a retainer of Her Highness." She kept her eyes lowered as she spoke. Somehow, she even managed to inject a nervous tremor into her voice.

    Maebh scowled. "Since the princess won't speak, might you answer for her then?"

    "As best I can, Your Highness."

    "Where exactly has she been for the last month?"

    "A long route through Southern Althandor, into the kingdoms of the Great Leyr, and into Sholis before turning west towards Nadia. It was there the trail of Elise went cold and she bade us return to the City of Althandor."

    "And Leyrshore?" Cathis demanded.

    Maya clenched her fists. So he did know she'd been through that hamlet.

    Zanda glanced at Maya sidelong. "There was an incident..."

    "We're well aware," Maebh interrupted. "My daughter saw fit to send six of my greatuncle's armsmen to the surgeons and assault the children of Adeyemi. Don't say another word, dear girl. I would hear the explanation from my daughter's mouth."

    Maya stubbornly kept her silence, and it was all she could do not to gnash her teeth at them. How dare they? How dare they speak as if they possessed a shred of moral authority after what they'd done to Jin?

    "Your pardon, Your Grace, Your Highness," Zanda said, risking their wrath by speaking after being told to stay quiet. "I was with Princess Maya in Leyrshore. At that time, she was still grieving the death of Duchess Josenthorne Algara. She was not herself."

    Maebh gasped and covered her mouth.

    Cathis took on a stricken expression. "Josy... isn't with you?"

    Averting her gaze, Maya shook her head.

    "I was told she fell in battle against the dragons, Your Grace," Zanda murmured.

    Cathis raised a hand to his forehead. "When Omolade gave her sending, we hoped... you had both..." He turned his head. "I am so sorry, Brother."

    The heart in Maya's chest felt like it stopped beating. Slowly, she turned her head to look at the man her father addressed. No, not a man. The demon thrall.

    Vintus Algara came into the foyer from the inner rooms. He was a compact man, slender and well-muscled. His hair had no sign of gray in it and was shaved short on either side of his head in a Nadian style. The rest was pulled back into a tail. He looked at Maya through narrowed eyes, as piercing as Josy's.

    "My daughter?" he asked. "She truly is dead?"

    I'm surprised you care, Uncle, Maya thought venomously. You left us there to die.

    Maebh went to Vintus and lay her hand on his arm. "Vintus, I'm so sorry. It isn't fair Josy hasn't returned when our children have."

    He took her hand and looked her in the eye. "Thank you, Sister. If you'll excuse me, I must tell Shaén and the children."

    Cathis nodded. "See to your wife, Brother. We will pray to the Lord of Bones for Josy's soul together after."

    Vintus nodded to him and strode through the foyer. He inclined his head to Zanda, then paused as he passed Maya. "We will speak later, Niece. I need to hear everything."

    Maya nodded to him. Count on it, Uncle.

    Once he left the suite, Maya's knuckles cracked as she unclenched her fists. She then felt Zanda gripping her arm. Glancing towards her, she saw the dragon had gone still, rigid as a plank of wood. Her pupils had contracted into tiny specks, and she didn't breathe. Through the bond, Zanda gave over a measure of strength.

    Between her manner, Falar's words, and what Maebh had said to Vintus, Maya finally understood what brought everyone to Gain's quarters. She was unable to stop her hand from gripping the hilt of her sword.

    Gain stood at the mouth of the foyer, and beside him was a slender man. The man's skin was pale as moonlight, and pronounced muscles covered the arms left bare by his assassin's armor. He had a wide mouth and broad nose, features Maya had almost forgotten. Matted shoulder-length hair covered his head, and his beast-like eyes burned scarlet. All that was missing was the cowl Maya now wore.

    "Two returned from the dead," Cathis said softly, "but I cannot call it a joyous day when it isn't three."

    Maebh took his hand. "In such days, we must accept what gifts from the spirits we can, husband. Winds know, there will be more blood before this is over."

    Maya couldn't hear them.

    The beast deep within her howled its fury. More than anything, she wished to tear her sword from its scabbard and leap across the foyer to strike the monster in front of her down. Slice it into ragged meat and burn what remained to ash with furious lightning. Hate, pure and untarnished hatred, flared to life in her blood and threatened to consume her with its power. She'd been warned, but no mere words could have prepared her for the horror of seeing this monstrosity, this abomination, this utter desecration of her beloved cousin. Dashar stood before her, but it wasn't him. Only his flesh. Maya knew it for what it truly was.

    Skindancer.