The Lynx. The Menagerie’s sharpshooter and scout. Anji recalled a sweltering day with her mother at the Linura docks, waiting for her father to arrive and moor their little boat for the night. As they sat amid the bustling harbor, her mother reading a thick book and nursing a thin cigar, a ship adorned in Rolandrian’s house colors had sidled up to the dock, attracting a murmuring crowd. The Lynx had strode down the ship’s gangplank with a tattered prisoner in tow, tall and lean, wide shouldered, and masked like he was now. The crowd had parted like wind-blown branches as he walked silently away from the ship, whispering and jostling for a closer look—some had even given the odd cheer. Anji had been as swept up as everyone else, waiting to see if any other Menagerie members would appear, but her mother had only glared at the man’s back as he’d met with gathered Senate officials and guards at the top of the ramp leading into the city. Before Anji could see anything more, her mother had led her to the dock’s far end, away from the noise and excitement.

The man before her now was certainly tall, but much larger around the waist than Anji remembered. He walked closer to the fire, the campfire and lightening sky revealing gray tufts of thinning hair around the top of the mask.

“Hawk?” The Lynx chortled. “Look at you! Back at it. Bear will be tickled to hear it. She’s been moping about you for months. I kept telling her you just needed some time. Heals everything, I always say—”

“Lynx—”

“What are you doing all the way up here? Why aren’t you masked?” He took another step, his mask tilted toward Anji. “Who’s that you’ve got?”

The Hawk flicked her green eyes to Anji and back to the Lynx. “Nobody. Where are the others?”

The Lynx stopped within twenty strides of their camp, towering head and shoulders above the Hawk. He waved a hand southward. “Still on their way, I expect. I was headed to Olangar for a separate job when I got the notice to change assignment. Didn’t Bear fill you in?” He began walking toward the Hawk, but she held up a hand. The Lynx stopped, but his posture stiffened.

“Why are you—”

“You haven’t seen us, Lynx,” said the Hawk. “Go back to your horse, back to the others, and report the northern territory clear.”

A muffled chuckle issued from behind the Lynx’s mask. “Come on, Hawk, what is this?” He shifted toward Anji, then pointed at her. “Hang on. Is that her? The one who killed—”