“I have not. But I have brought Mai foods that will strengthen her blood.”

Priya took the infant to wrap it, and Mai sat on the wall an arm’s length from Anji and ate the food he had brought, rich butter, voluptuous yoghurt, stingingly strong fermented mare’s milk, while he related the tale of the skirmish and the fate of the Red Hounds.

“We killed all of the riders, except for two we took as prisoners. However, they did not talk. As for the agents in place within the settlement, three for sure we killed.”

“Who were they?” She shuddered. “I hate to think of walking past such men every day and never knowing.”

“Posing as laborers. I am sure there are others. We remain vigilant. My brother the emperor will attempt to strike again. He sees me as a threat to his position, more so even than my cousins.”

“Although they are the ones who have challenged him over the throne.”

“At the moment, my brother is the one who stands in the way of their ambition. Although it’s hard to imagine that they can defeat the rightful heir, the one the priests have sealed as legitimate. Now, of course, this boy likewise, a new grandson of the former emperor. So I’m not sure what to do with you and the baby, Mai.”

“Build me a cottage in this valley. Then it would be hard for the Red Hounds to reach me, neh?”

He surveyed the whitecapped mountains and the spilling water, inhaling the scent of sweet flowers, of extravagant leaves, of moist air. The deep cleft might harbor an entire village, and no one ever know.

“But I don’t really want to live here forever,” she added hurriedly, brushing a hand over the links of gold that weighed on her chest. “You know how I love the market. And I miss Miravia, if I’m ever to be allowed to see her again.”

He sat, saying nothing as he regarded the ripples in the pool with an expression so even that she began to grow nervous, thinking maybe he was very angry.

“Anji?”

“Marshal Joss told me a disturbing tale. Is it true?”

“That spirits attended the birth? I think so. I don’t know what to call them, truly, for they were like strands of silk more than spirits, but I felt such calm and protection at their presence. Now they’re gone. Sometimes I wonder if I dreamed it.” But when she turned to regard the waterfall, white skirts of mist rising where the water met the pool, she knew she had not.

“That he entered the chamber of birth,” said Anji.

Chief Tuvi whistled under his breath.

“The marshal brought me here safely. If we hadn’t turned back, I’d have lost the baby over the sea, for it came that quickly. Miyara—the other reeve—told me it is traditional for an aunt and uncle to witness the birth.” She watched him closely, not sure how to interpret his steady expression, but he glanced at the chief and shrugged as if to dislodge a weight, his shoulders relaxing.