“I’m sure that’s true,” said Malachi smoothly. “So let’s not discuss the past. We three are all that remains of the Council. The future is ours to shape. Let us see what can be done.”

The grey world that passed for sleep peeled away. Murky lamplight granted shape to the sparse furnishings of her chapterhouse quarters. Limbs creaked as Rosa tested them against the weight of blankets. There wasn’t any pain, not as such – just the abiding soreness of old wounds.

“So you are alive?”

Muscles protested as Rosa pushed herself upright. Sevaka sat at the bedside, her face bruised and blonde hair almost grey with ash. But her eyes shone brighter than ever.

“Ask me again in an hour.” Every breath carried the bitter taste of soot.

“I don’t understand. You should be dead thrice over. When they said you didn’t bleed, I thought it was some trick to gull the masses. But it’s not, is it?”

The words shaped accusation, but Rosa found only curiosity in Sevaka’s face.

“Something happened to me when Kas was murdered.” She felt sick just thinking about it. “It’s kept me alive since.”

“I see.” Sevaka stared down at her feet. “So the night we were attacked?”

Beneath the blankets, Rosa clenched her fists. The night she’d beaten Aske Tarev to death. “She ran me through. I should have died.”

“What are you?”

There it was. The note of fear. The newfound distance.

“I don’t know.” Rosa stared at Sevaka, willing her to listen – to understand. “I’ve made so many mistakes since Kas died. Sometimes, I feel so lost I want to scream. But I’m still who I was before. It’s just that I’m something else as well.”

“You were named a demon.”

Something withered in Rosa’s soul. She’d lost her. Sevaka, who’d anchored her enough that she’d found the strength to reject the Raven, now set her adrift once more. “Maybe it’s true.”

Fingers gripped the rough weave of the blanket tight about hers.

“I don’t care,” said Sevaka. “You’re my friend. Let the rest go hang.”

It took a moment before Rosa heard the words for what they were. She felt a grin steal across her face. “Thank you.”

“We can always burn you if I change my mind.”

Rosa winced at a new concern. “Or if the physicians tell the provosts about me.”

“The physicians haven’t seen you. They wanted to, but Josiri got involved, which meant that Captain Izack got involved.” She waved a lofty hand. “So I need you up and about. I expect to earn quite the reputation for your miraculous recovery, what with me nursing you back to health.”