Now that his feet had healed after his mad run over sticks and stones, and now that he had new shoes, he explored the four smaller towers, confirming his fears that they were uninhabitable. Two of the staircases weren’t safe to climb at all due to heavy debris and towers that were caving in. In one, a few of the metal stairs inside had melted. He wasn’t quite sure what could have caused such a disaster but wondered if it had been the result of dragon fire. In the base of that tower he noticed a few large, black, porous rocks that held on to a terrible stench. Had some smaller bits of the meteors landed here and begun the destruction of this once-beautiful place?

Dev ventured farther outside every day as well to get fish from the river, even though revisiting the place where he’d nearly died made his body shake uncontrollably. He didn’t like to be away from home for too long, preferring instead to be in the cozy library tower with his lookout windows in all directions and his warm fire—he couldn’t seem to get enough of the fireplace lately after his lengthy experience in the cold river.

His ribs healed. Each day was a little better, and Dev grew curious about what lay beyond the palace grounds. On his walks, with his new brown skirt brushing the tops of the long grass, he found several kinds of trees that bore fruit. There was an apple orchard south of the palace that was flourishing, apparently oblivious to the death and destruction surrounding it. Fruit rotted on the ground between the trees, and small animals seemed to enjoy snacking on it without taking too much notice of the new human who roamed about. Dev only collected what fruit he needed for a few days, plus a couple of extra pieces to leave for the foxes. He was careful to respect the animals’ space and tried not to tread on their paths or scare them away.

Daytime was easier for him. At night he looked fearfully out of the windows for splashes of fire in the darkness or other signs of the Revinir. In between these mild panic sessions, Dev tried to soothe his fears by playing the various instruments. He wasn’t very good at any of them, but he was learning how they worked and getting better a little at a time. And he found books that showed pictures of them so he could learn what to call them. Lyre. Piccolo. Sitar. Mandolin. Kanjira. They had regal-sounding names that seemed to fit in with this formerly glorious place.

Dev talked to himself as he went about his daily chores to keep himself company. Not too much to be annoying, for he found he really enjoyed the quiet. But sometimes he preached elaborately to an invisible Thisbe about how she’d abandoned him and tried to plot out what he’d actually say to her if he ever saw her again. Sometimes he was angry with her, but more and more often as time passed he came up with valid reasons for her to have left Grimere without him. He would be hurt, yet understanding.