I sat between Sanjeet and a shy Ji Huan. The boy king laid his palm in his silk-robed lap, examining the now-faded scar where he had combined his blood with mine. He seemed surprised when I placed an arm around him. Why are you scared, Ji Huan? It’s just a party.

He blinked. Sorry. I didn’t mean to tell you that. He flushed pink. Even before I was anointed, I talked to you in my head all the time. I guess now I Ray-speak by accident.

Well, your secret’s out. I nudged him in the ribs. What are you afraid of?

The boy picked glumly at the colorful wax-dyed tablecloth, piled high with sweet plantains and suya meat skewers. We’re all together now, he said at last. But soon, we’re all going back to our home realms. Our council—it isn’t like your other one. Jealousy seeped into his voice as he eyed my original council siblings, who crowded together, laughing at one end of the table. We don’t all get to live together in one big palace. Soon I’ll be back in Moreyao, alone again. I’ll get sick. He shivered, and suddenly I felt cold too, thinking of my years in an icy bubble at Bhekina House.

I touched Ji Huan’s cheek, willing him courage through the Ray bond. That’s council sickness for you. But we can speak across the distance with kuso-kuso, remember? And Moreyao borders the Blessid Valley. You’ll see Chief Uriyah all the time.

And you’ll visit me too, he added firmly. When you come back from the Underworld.

My throat closed up.

The certainty of his tone sent thrills of panic up my spine. Immediately, the table went quiet, twenty-one sets of eyes turned on me. I winced—my anxiety had been so strong, they’d felt it through our Ray bond, even with my mental shields up. It must have shown on my face as well—Adukeh, Da Seo, Ye Eun, and Woo In also looked concerned, even though we weren’t bonded through the Ray.

Sanjeet’s hand closed over mine. “Is it the ojiji?”

I shook my head, forcing a grin to calm my party guests. “No. Just—ah—running through my training from Ye Eun. Strange that in a matter of weeks, I’ll meet literal Deaths. Kind of exciting, when you think about it.”

Nervous laughter all around. “If you get scared in the Underworld,” suggested Ai Ling after a pause, “just look at your mask. You’ve beat so many deaths already.”

I lifted the obsidian lioness, smiling wryly at the glittering rainbow stripes. “Funny—in all my rush to pass edicts and prepare for the Underworld, I’ve barely tried out my immunities. Maybe I should jump off a battlement. Or provoke a blueblood into stabbing me. Or spend a night in the Bush and see if I get hexed.”

“Don’t say those things,” Sanjeet grumbled. “Not even as a joke.”

“Sorry.” I replaced the mask beneath my wrapper. “It’s just weird to think I’m immune to more than burning. Like, if I went swimming in the ocean, could I breathe underwater?”