I’ll ask Janta to help me, I decided, switching off the hot water. Stepping out of the shower, I grabbed a fluffy towel and dried off. Janta Urama, the head librarian of Solantha Palace, had been more than helpful in tracking down the Benefactor, the powerful mastermind and financier of the Resistance. With any luck, she would prove equally resourceful in the quest to determine my parentage. Based off past I experience, I could trust her not to tell anyone else whatever she might discover.

Clean and dry, I made my way into my walk-in closet and perused the selection. Since nearly all my possessions had been destroyed when the Resistance set fire to my apartment, I’d ordered a brand-new wardrobe. These clothes were much nicer than anything I’d ever owned before, and yet the gold I’d spent on them was only a drop in the bucket compared to the treasure I’d brought back with me from the pirate island I’d been stranded on. I had new leather jackets and pants, jeans, tops in a variety of fabrics and colors, more shoes and boots than I could count, and even a selection of dresses. Iannis had strongly suggested I order robes as well, but I’d pointedly ignored him—I may have taken Resinah’s advice to embrace my mage heritage, but I still had no desire to dress in boring robes. And besides, I was still an apprentice, which meant that on most occasions, I’d only be allowed to wear those ugly, dun-colored robes anyway.

Of course, once I finished my apprenticeship, I would be required to wear robes on formal occasions. But considering the average apprenticeship took ten years to complete, and that my shifter upbringing and late start put me way behind, I didn’t see any need to cross that bridge prematurely. Right now, I was still primarily an enforcer, and I would continue to dress like one.

With that in mind, I pulled on a pair of leather pants and a teal-colored shirt, then strapped my weapons onto my thighs and my pouch belt onto my hips. Steel-toed boots covered my feet, and I shrugged a leather jacket on over it all despite the summer weather outside. I’d be taking my steambike out later, and it didn’t pay to ride without protection.

Before I left the room, I glanced at my reflection in the mirror and smiled a little. I might have come a long way from where I’d been when I first arrived at Solantha Palace, but I was still Sunaya Baine. And I was going to show the world that I could be Sunaya Baine and a mage at the same time.