“So it is,” the soldier said, not even pretending to read the documents. “Go on through, then. You’re holding up traffic.”

The boy mouthed something at Maya, who made an obscene gesture in return as the cart clattered forward through the gate in the unmetal wall. Outside, another pair of guards waved them onward, down a rutted dirt road flanked by high hedgerows. The loadbirds picked up the pace a bit, and the cart shuddered and bounced over the uneven ground.

“Ungrateful bastards,” Maya said, looking over her shoulder at the looming bulk of Bastion. “It’s not fair.”

“No?” Jaedia held the reins loose in her hands, adjusting the birds’ pace with an occasional low whistle.

“We might have saved their whole plagued city. Chosen know what Hollis would have done if we hadn’t stopped him.” She shook her head. “And they don’t even know it happened.”

“You’d like a parade, perhaps? Streets strewn with roses?”

“A little courtesy wouldn’t be too much to ask for,” Maya muttered. “They treat us like—”

“Anyone else?”

Jaedia gave an enigmatic smile. At the moment she didn’t look very much like a centarch. They all wore drab travelers’ garb, dull and practical, with Jaedia and Maya concealing their haken under shirt and coat. But up close, Maya thought no one would ever confuse Jaedia for a peasant. She had thin, delicate features, deep, knowing eyes, and a smile that quirked just so and implied that every conversation was part of a lesson. That smile had been a constant in Maya’s world almost since before she could remember. Jaedia’s patient, leading questions had taught her to read, to ride, to draw her power, to understand the Order, her place in it, and their place in the world.

Maya loved Jaedia with all her heart. But, she had to admit, there were times when she found her mentor as exasperating as Marn. Well. Let’s not go too far. Nobody is as exasperating as Marn.

“We’re helping them,” Maya said, trying to clarify her thoughts. “Hollis was a dhakim—for the Chosen’s sake, he was kidnapping people and taking them to bits! Why should we have to sneak out of the city in disguise and bribe some jumped-up night watchman who should be groveling at your feet?”

“He probably would grovel, if he knew who I was,” Jaedia said. “But out of fear, not out of gratitude. And once we were out of sight …” She whistled, and the birds picked up speed. “How would you feel, if you were the local dux? A centarch comes to your city and says they’ve shut down a dhakim cult, killed a few people, and now they’re moving on.”

“I’d feel happy,” Maya said obstinately. “And embarrassed I hadn’t found out about the dhakim myself.”

“You don’t think you’d be a little frightened?” Jaedia said.