There was a Mysore that had once been beautiful. The one I had created before I’d introduced Mahishasura to it. The Mysore of circuses and kings and joy, where kids like Suki could grow flowers instead of poisons. I remembered the full, lively streets, the festivals, the jewel houses echoing with happy voices, the kids who got to be kids. I knew there was no such thing as a perfect world in real life, but my Mysore had been perfect before Mahishasura.

And now it would never get the chance to be beautiful again. The quiet, ghostly streets outside, the frightened old man with his coconuts, the hurried footsteps, the fear, the monsters in the sky—that was all the people would ever know. The Crows would never do anything but fight. I couldn’t give any of them a happy ending.

Only an ending.

“Kiki,” Pip whispered beside me.

I looked up, startled. His eyes were on my hands. I looked down and saw that they were clenched around my slice of toast, ripping it into tinier and tinier shreds.

I made myself let go. Pip looked worried. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I said, forcing a smile. I put my hands under the table and squashed them under my thighs to keep them still.

“I’ll be out for most of the day,” Ashwini said brightly, getting everyone’s attention. “And Lej will be in and out as well, so can I trust the rest of you to keep yourselves from getting captured or eaten while we’re gone?”

“You have no reason to worry,” Pip said, in the kind of tone that promised mischief and many reasons for Ashwini to worry. “We’ll be good.”

Ashwini eyed him askance, but clearly decided it wasn’t worth the time or energy to question this.

“Where are you going?” I asked. “Can I help?”

“No, you cannot,” said Pip, before either Ashwini or Lej could even open their mouths. “You have lessons. Here. With us.”

“I’m not going to ask,” Ashwini said, looking slightly concerned. Then she added, “I’m going to the Witches’ Guild. They’re pretty hard to get to, but if I can find them, they may be able to point me in the direction of the Good Witch. Simha didn’t have any luck yesterday.”

“It seems humans do not respond well to lions asking questions,” said Simha huffily.

“Not entirely without reason,” Lej pointed out.

“Hmpf.”

“And I’m heading over to the metalworkers’ quarter,” Lej went on. “Someone there may know how to craft a pair of mechanical wings.”

I looked up in alarm. “I wasn’t serious when I said we could fly to the top of the palace, you know.”

“Sometimes you have halfway decent ideas,” said Lej, and then ruined the almost compliment by adding, “even if you seem to only come up with them by accident.”

“Okay, out,” Ashwini said hastily, probably afraid we’d have a repeat of yesterday’s battle. She got to her feet and hauled Lej to the door with her. “You have places to be, and so do I.” She hesitated, glancing back at me. “Stay put, okay?”