But she was. She hurled herself forward, arms outstretched. In an instant she was gone, carried down the slimy passage on a wave of muscular contraction. Gyre could have sworn he heard her shouting excitedly, like a child on a slide.

“So many bad ideas today,” Gyre muttered, and followed.

Chapter 18

They let Maya sleep in her own room, which she hadn’t expected.

She wasn’t free, by any means. She didn’t have her haken back, and two Legionaries waited just outside the door. But challenging the centarchate apparently afforded her a bit of formal status, at least until the challenge was resolved.

Practically the moment she’d left the Council chamber, she’d felt the adrenaline draining out of her, replaced with wobbly-legged fatigue. By the time she got to her own chamber, it was all she could do to collapse into bed. But sleep eluded her for some time, as the day’s events replayed themselves in her mind. Eventually, she must have passed out, because when she sat bolt upright, heart pounding, the gradual dimming of the Forge’s sunlamps told her it was early evening.

Maya put her hand on the Thing and made herself breathe, feeling the muscles in her chest work, the blood rushing through her veins. Jaedia had tried to teach her to clear her mind, to focus on the rhythms of her body as a way of maintaining her calm. It was not something Maya had ever been very good at.

Jaedia. I’m coming. She felt better now that her feet were planted on a new path. It might be treacherous, but it was a way forward. All I have to do is keep moving.

Here and now, that meant beating Tanax in the dueling ring.

When her pulse no longer roared in her ears, she got up and went to the door. Two blank-masked Legionaries waited outside, and Maya asked if she could have some dinner. One of them nodded and went to summon a servant. The food, when it arrived, was plentiful, roast chicken and thick soup and some of the doughy dumplings Marn liked so much.

Marn! A stab of guilt went through her. I never even asked what happened to Marn. As far as she knew, he’d gone with Jaedia on her mission. Which still doesn’t make sense. Had he made it home, or … Jaedia couldn’t have killed him. Not her own agathios. She shook her head, swallowing hard. Chosen defend, none of this makes any sense. I hope he’s all right.

There was a soft knock at the door. “Yes?” Maya said.

“It’s Beq.”

“Beq!” She pushed her tray aside and scrambled across the room. She’d been ready to throw her arms around the arcanist, but Beq stood awkwardly between the two flanking Legionaries, and Maya paused. “Is it all right if she comes in?”