“Sit, please,” he said after a moment. “You’re making me nervous, and this is hard enough to talk about.”

She stayed exactly where she was to show him who was in charge here. The seconds ticked by.

After it became clear she would do whatever she wanted to do, he shook his head and asked, “What do you know about the magic of blood and earth?”

“I know you might get a slap on the wrist or a few months in prison for it, but anyone from my side of the city will be shot with no questions asked. Isn’t that how justice works in Kosín?”

He grimaced. One hand flinched toward her knife, aching to thrust it through his neck.

“All right, I’ll tell you. Once you left last night, I felt for a pulse. He was still alive, but barely. So I asked an Inosen maid to use magic to save him. He was bleeding out, and the magic can save you from blood loss.”

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes as if he were somehow ashamed. But she had no sympathy for him. Her life was ruined because Steels like him could get away with whatever they wanted. He probably had diamonds lying all over the house in jewelry and decorations, ready to use, so he wouldn’t even need to risk his life purchasing rough diamonds illegally like her parents had used to do.

“You Steels really can afford to be hypocrites, can’t you? As soon as magic becomes useful to you, you’ll use it and get away with it, but otherwise, you’re happy to condemn the poor Inosen and rip their beliefs away to keep them from taking back any power of their own.”

Ryuu’s brow furrowed. “My parents were Inosen. They never received the blessing by Sacoren to be able to use magic, but they still prayed, worshiping the Mothers and asking for guidance. They hid their beliefs once they saw how King Verrain was stirring up trouble, but they still helped the faithful when they could. The maid who helped us, she’s from Natsuda and also Inosen, so my parents took her in to protect her once the war started. They allowed plenty of Inosen to live and work here safely, so my brother and I do the same. Do you think it’s impossible for someone you call a Steel to be faithful?”

“What do you mean, call you a Steel?” she spat. “You are one. You own the diamond mines. You’re rich. All of your inheritance is thanks to the thousands you people killed during the war.”

“I was a child. I didn’t kill anyone—”

“Even if you didn’t personally kill any Inosen during the war, you and your family sat back and watched it, so don’t talk to me like you understand. Maybe your parents let Inosen hide here, but they didn’t do anything to protect the people dying in the streets. My parents were killed for their beliefs because they didn’t have money or high-up friends to protect them. That’s why you’re still breathing after using magic and they’re rotting away in a mass grave with the rest of the Inosen you and other Steels allowed to die.”