My pulse raced, and I touched the mask beneath my clothes. I had thought that with a council of thirteen siblings, I would be inoculated against death—unless I stayed in the Underworld, dying eventually of old age. I now felt foolish for my hubris.

“Well,” Zuri droned into the terse silence, “it seems you and your friends have a lot to talk about. So I take my leave. Don’t thank me, please. Bringing your Songlander friends was the least I could do, after the impression I made at your Peace Banquet.” He bowed once to Dayo, then lingeringly to me. “I look forward to sparring, Empress Redemptor.”

He leaned to take my hand, kissing my palm again as he had in his private rooms. Then with a wave of sharply sweet cologne, Zuri was gone.

I faced Woo In, demanding without preamble, “How do you know him?”

An odd expression crossed Woo In’s face. “It’s . . . a long story,” he said at last. His voice was quiet, gossamer—the same reverent tone he had once used around my mother.

My skin pricked with unease. “I’m assuming you know he’s the Crocodile?” I had already broken my promise to Zuri by telling Dayo, though I didn’t think that counted.

“Yes.” Woo In sighed heavily, and a shimmering breeze stirred his silk cape. “Tarisai, there’s something you should know.”

“And?”

“And I can’t say. I gave him my word.”

I snorted. “Since when does the king of Djbanti control you?”

“He doesn’t. But . . .” Woo In sighed, rubbing his temples. “I took something from him, not too long ago. Something I can’t give back. Just like I took something from you.” He winced, and we both shifted uncomfortably beneath the weight of my mother’s death. “I’m sorry, Tarisai. I didn’t know the knife was poisoned. The Lady anointed me, and I loved her. I never would have—”

“I know, Woo In,” I murmured. “And I forgive you.”

He nodded glumly. “I need Zuri to forgive me too. There is . . . honor between us.”

“You and Zuri are friends?”

He clenched and unclenched his hands, choosing his words carefully. “I have associated with Zuri for many years.”

The emphasis was meaningful, but the hidden message was lost on me. At my blank stare, Woo In shrugged and spread his hands. “Look. Insufferable as he may seem, I can tell you that Zuri means no harm. He is safe to anoint as a council member—even if your motives may not always align.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose, shaking my head. “None of this makes sense. Why are you even here?”

“Like Zuri said: to bring Ye Eun. I’d train you for the Underworld myself, but my mother is uneasy with the idea of me staying at An-Ileyoba. Guess she’s afraid I’ll get sucked into another Arit conspiracy.”

I raised an eyebrow. “I thought you hated Queen Hye Sun. For how she treated you when you returned from the Underworld.”