Something was different about Hero - disturbingly different - and Hallie couldn't put her finger on what.

Maybe it was because she held herself as if she were a breakable object. As if a single movement could shatter her. Shatter her and unleash a dam of emotions.

Maybe it was because she looked healthier somehow. Healthy and strong and ready to take on the world.

Or maybe Hallie was looking too far into Hero's actions since finding out she was a Blessing. Yeah, that had to be it.

Hero checked the sky and groaned. "Charax is an hour late!"

"He's probably held up or something," Leodes said. "Foot traffic was horrible on my way here."

Hero rolled her eyes. "Yet you're here, and he's not. Unfortunately."

"It is a little worrying," Irene said, trying to distract Leodes from Hero's insult. "He's been early ever since-" she cleared her throat. "Since the incident, getting here before even me. And before that, he always arrived by now."

Hallie bit her lip and leaned back in her seat. Nikas was sitting next to her, but he was too engrossed in the conversation - if you could even call it that - before them.

She didn't tell Nikas about her sister's necklace. She didn't tell anyone. It wasn't like she knew why her vocal cords were so against the idea; she did nothing wrong.

Too much of a revelation, she decided. Nikas would freak out, and Taryn might one day insist they find Auge after a particularly boring day. And as much as Hallie didn't want to admit it, she didn't want to see her sister. One day, but not now.

It was better this way.

"I'm here," Charax said, staggering down the steps, tripping on the final step, and almost face-planting onto the stage.

"Sir!"

Charax straightened and brushed himself off. "I'm fine, Irene. Thank you for your concern."

"Why are you late?" Hero snapped.

"Hero!"

"Don't be so dramatic." She rolled her eyes. "We were all thinking about it. Someone had to say it."

Charax got a strange look in his eyes, a smile tugging at the edge of his mouth. The look didn't suit him at all. It was freaky. Unnatural.

"You're right, Hero. Someone does have to say it." He unveiled his barely concealed smile. Hallie shivered. Freaky. "You're fired."

"What?" Hero shouted at the same time Leodes shrieked with glee. "Yes! I called it! I knew the gods were real!"

Hallie stood there, stunned, as Inachos and Damia exchanged bet money. What was Charax doing? He'd have to have a solid reason, a reason even a Sóma Kardián judge couldn't dispute. Otherwise, he'd never make it out unscathed.

Hero - surprisingly - ignored Leodes and squinted at Charax. Then she grinned. "No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"You're bluffing." Hero strutted up to Charax and pointed two of her fingers at him. "I can see it in your eyes."

Leodes deflated like a balloon. "Is she right, Charax?"

His eyes twitched. "Dang it, Hero! Can't you let me have this one moment of victory before it's all over?"

Nikas sat forward at that. "'Before it's all over?' What does that mean?" He paused and paled. "No."

"Yes..." Charax rubbed his eyes. "She was partly right, Leodes. It's not just her that's fired, it's all of us. Even me."

That whipped the smirk off Hero's face.

"Wh-What do you mean, sir?" Hallie asked. "I-I thought you were the CEO of sorts."

"I am, but I rent the amphitheater," Charax said. "The law doesn't allow over one profitable gathering of workers and clients per month, including plays and other performances. We rely heavily on those shows to bring in a full house. It's the only thing we make money from."

"Not enough people are buying tickets for Friday's show then, right?" Charax nodded, and Nikas continued. "Why?"

"It's my fault," Hero said slowly. "Our major demographic was always Taktikoí. They're the ones who bought most of our tickets. Since I had you fire all the Taktikoí who worked with us, we lost most of our ticket sales."

Charax threw his hands in the air. "Exactly! So, please, I'm begging you, let me hire them back. We can still save this."

"No. I'd rather go out of business."

Irene groaned. "Hero, the only reason you fired them was to protect the Sómata from going under should the Tyrant suppress us. It's different reasoning, but the intention is the same! You can save us."

Hero's face turned cold, her eyes smooth as stone. "No."

---

"It's not the worst thing in the world, I suppose." Nikas kicked a pebble lying in front of him. "I never wanted to stay here forever, anyway."

"Mmm," was all Hallie did to acknowledge she heard.

She had the worst luck. It only took a month, a month spent getting through chaos and disarray and the Taktikós with the knife, to get herself fired. Well, more let-go than fired, but the point still stood.

Nikas wasn't as upset as Hallie thought he'd be. She thought he'd protest more, but that wasn't who he was. To put it mildly, he was indifferent. To be frank, he was relieved. It was almost as if he was waiting for an excuse to leave Kardiá.

"There are plenty more opportunities outside Kardiá," Nikas went on. "And it's not like we're doing our best here. But if you want to stay, we'll stay. I... I don't mind."

"Mm- What?" Hallie asked. "You're willing to stay if I want to stay?"

"Yeah, of course, I am." He smiled. It was strained, pieces of genuineness filtered away from the sadness and bitterness. A lot of nesses.

"Okay, but don't lie to me." Hallie tried to look stern as she wagged her finger at him. She failed. "I know you'll mind. Plus," her voice softened. "You don't have to stay here just because I am."

They stared at each other for a while. They got some weird and freaked-out looks from passersby, but Hallie ignored them. She was too busy gouging Nikas's reaction. He picked up on the wording she used. They both knew what the other was going to do.

To Nikas, Kardiá was a predator, playing with its food before it sat to eat. Any chance he got to leave, he would take. But not without Hallie. She found it flattering, really, that he would risk getting eaten if it meant he could protect Hallie. If that was what his motivation was, anyway.

Nikas was the first to break eye contact. They continued walking - Hallie's attention locked on the ground - until Nikas stopped. Confused, she looked up.

"Is... Is that Perialla?" he asked, baffled. Hallie could see why.

"Yeah... It is. And Miscenus and Kirphis."

Indeed, it was. Perialla was wearing a roúcha made to challenge Tal- made to rival the night. She, herself, shone brighter than the stars, holding herself in the way only a regal tyrant could.

Miscenus was next to her, dressed in similar attire. But he didn't fit the role as effortlessly as Perialla. Perialla looked born for it.

Kirphis looked normal, if tighter sewn around the edges, awkwardly standing to the side of whatever was going on.

But seriously, what in the name of the gods were they doing?

That's when Kirphis spotted them. He waved them over and distanced himself a little more from... that.

"What are you guys doing?" Hallie asked, watching as Perialla approached a stall and slid a drachmí toward the stall's trader.

"Restocking supplies. And to do that-" Kirphis gestured to the bewildered and amused young Sóma trader Perialla was - Hallie kid-you-not - flirting with. She could only hope Taryn was okay with this. "-a Freed must dress up and play make-believe."

"Ah..."

The trader coughed. "Excuse me, you don't have to do whatever this is to get my business. Just give me your best offer."

Miscenus leaned forward. "Wait, aren't you a Kardián?" Then he flinched, ducked his head down, and stepped back.

They shook their head. "No, I'm a Mitec. You all are, too, correct? Kardiáns are greedy, petty vultures; I see why you decided on the route you chose."

Perialla looked dumbfounded and mildly disappointed. "Yeah, we're all Mitecs."

The trader grinned. "Excellent. Now shoot."

---

"I believe I am not wrong in the assumption that this went better than any grocery run before?" Kirphis looked knowingly at Miscenus.

He grinned. "You wouldn't be."

Hallie hummed to herself as she skipped beside the pair, Perialla and Nikas chatting behind them. Despite the early morning event, she was in a good mood. Her day may be good yet.

"Oh, and I meant to ask," Kirphis said, turning to Hallie. "What are you two doing here? I thought you had your job at the kýrous."

Speak of the donkey.

"Oh, we were fired."

Kirphis stopped walking the moment Miscenus tripped. He grabbed the back of his roúcha and pulled Miscenus up, not once taking his eyes off Hallie. "You were what?"

"Fired," Hallie repeated. "All of us."

"The kýrous went bankrupt," Nikas added, him and Perialla having caught up.

"Oh," Kirphis said. "Well, I'm sorry about that."

"It's fine," Nikas replied, waving him off. "We aren't in any immediate danger, and if all else fails, I can always revert to my old job with Hoiples. I could probably squeeze Hallie in, too."

"Speaking of Hoiples, why don't you for food with Hoiples?" Hallie asked. "He does that, right?"

Perialla stepped in. "He does, but he knows we're desperate. There are better prices and more variety in the market. Hoiples is our fail-safe."

"'Fail-safe'," Miscenus said mournfully. "The day I don't have one of those will be a happy one."

"I hear you," Nikas said, matching Miscenus's mournfulness. He was just full of nesses. "Hoiples has us all in his pocket. I wouldn't be surprised if he was everyone's fail-safe."

Miscenus started walking again. "I can't wait to leave this place."

"It's not so bad here," Perialla insisted, catching up with him. "There are a lot of alleys-" She stole a glance at Hallie. "-to hide in."

Hallie ignored the glance. "And most traders come through here."

Miscenus gave Perialla a pointed look. "Look, I get it. You don't want to live in Enkéfalos, but I do. And so does Taryn." Perialla flinched. "Like it or not, it's the only place where we can have a normal life with none of the hassles being a Freed comes with."

Perialla opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by a long, raucous scream.

Hallie whipped around and zeroed in on the source of the scream.

It was a Taktikós Freed at the nearest corner, and with how short there were, Hallie was surprised they screamed for so long. The few people on the street didn't bat an eye, just went about their business. The Freed wasn't fazed either. It was a wonder why they screamed at all until they opened their mouth again.

"Citizens of Kardiá! I have a message from the Tyrant!"

Perialla inhaled sharply, and Miscenus almost fell over again.

A nearby Sóma wearing a sunshine yellow roúcha snorted. "Yeah, right. And why would the Tyrant send you of all people to deliver this so-called message? Much less have a Freed working for him."

Perialla glared at Sunshine. Hallie was proud of that name. "We don't know it's a 'him'. We don't even know what h- they look like."

Sunshine looked back at her sadly, "Who are we kidding?"

The Freed, seeing that Sunshine and Perialla were done, continued. "Rumors are going around that the Tyrant would like to address the validity of," they said, turning a blind eye to Sunshine's question.

"Are they talking about what I think they're talking about?" a Taktikós whispered. Their roúcha was ocean blue. Salty.

Similar murmurs rose from the mini crowd that gathered. Hallie couldn't help but be curious and lean forward. Though that was no surprise. The rumors of putting one of the two abilities in a new social class must have gotten pretty bad if the Tyrant was stepping in to put them to rest.

The Freed clasped their hands in front of themself and tensed as if waiting for a storm made from o Días's fury. "They are true."

Besides Nikas, Perialla lost all the color in her face. Hallie couldn't blame her. She, herself suddenly felt very dizzy. True? What in the gods' names was this?

"Well?" Salty demanded. "Who is it for? Taktikoí or Sómata?"

"Sómata."

Salty let out a shout of triumph at the same time Sunshine let out one of indignation and ire.

"I... I think I'm going to be sick," Miscenus said, clutching onto Kirphis's arm for balance until his knuckles turned white.

Salty cackled. "Hah! I knew the Tyrant is a Taktikós! And a loyal one at that."

"You." Sunshine pointed a shaky finger at the unwavering Freed. "You don't work for the Tyrant, do you? You have no authority. I refuse to accept this."

"You can always go to Enkéfalos," The Freed offered. "Or anywhere else. Kardiá is the only place this is getting considered. Emphasis on 'getting considered'."

Salty dove into another fresh bout of guffawing as Sunshine smoldered and shook.

"Kardiá is my home, and I am not leaving. Especially not to Enkéfalos. I cannot live in the Freed's City."

"A pity."

The Freed turned around and strode away, their gate showing no signs of deceit or mischief.

"Be sure to tell your friends. I'm not announcing this again."