MY MESSAGE. MY LAWS. MY EDICTS. WHAT THEY WERE TO DO AND WHAT THEY WERE NOT TO DO. BUT UNRULY BEASTS—THEY WOULD NOT DO AS I SAID.

So you punished them?

PUNISHED? The god did not seem to understand this, either. THE ONES WHO FOLLOWED MY LAWS WERE ALLOWED TO CONTINUE. AND THE ONES WHO DID NOT WERE ENDED.

Beru shivered. The god thought only in absolutes. Nothing was justified, because there was no need for justification. It was chilling to consider the world that way. To realize that the god’s wrath was not borne of callousness and cruelty, but utter ignorance of even the concept of empathy. Of self and other. Of love, and pain, and suffering.

Perhaps it was fruitless to try to explain to the god the truth of its creations. Maybe a creature like this, something so vast and limitless, wasn’t capable of seeing the world the way humans did.

That is what punishment is, Beru said. You hurt them because they disobeyed you.

I FIXED THEM.

You made them suffer.

“Beru, isn’t it?” a voice said, jolting Beru from her thoughts.

She attempted a polite smile as the face of the Herati Legionnaire girl swam before her. She hunted around in her mind for the girl’s name.

“It’s Khepri,” the girl said, clearly interpreting Beru’s blank smile correctly.

“Sorry,” Beru said.

Khepri waved her off. “It’s fine. I know you probably have a lot going on in your mind.”

Beru’s smile turned a little brittle.

“That came out wrong,” Khepri said. “We haven’t really spoken before and here I am—all I’m saying is, I know you’ve been through a lot.”

“We all have,” Beru said, tucking a wayward curl behind her ear. “You were held captive by Pallas, too, weren’t you?”

Khepri glanced back at her, considering. “Pallas, huh. I still don’t quite believe it. The Hierophant is a Prophet. It figures, though. He always seemed like he was way too used to having people worship him. That must warp you a little bit, don’t you think? Certain people … must be easy for them to get obsessed with keeping that power.”

Beru thought of the god, and its need to shape the world precisely to its liking.

“There’s a reason you came over here to talk to me, isn’t there?” Beru asked.

Khepri’s lips curled into a rueful smile. “No point in pretending otherwise, I guess. Hassan told me not to.”

“Not to talk to me?” Beru asked. Khepri didn’t seem afraid of her—maybe a little wary, but not afraid. Beru supposed it would be hard to believe that in her body lurked an ancient being so powerful it could reduce an entire city to rubble unless one had seen it for themselves. “He told you I was dangerous, didn’t he?”