I was dealing with this the way my father might have. I needed to back down, to work collaboratively, to soothe both my anger and my pride. “You might be able to. But is it so wrong of you to work with me until the crisis has passed? See how I handle this. See how I handle other problems. I’m a capable leader and I do only want what’s best for this Empire. I am not my father. I don’t want anyone to suffer. Think it over. Messages can be sent through my envoy stationed by the docks.”

I looked to Jovis, who waited at my elbow with Mephi. “Did anyone call for a physician?”

“Yes, Eminence, although I don’t know how much she can do for the girl who’s the worst off.”

I placed my hand over my heart and inclined my head to Phalue and Ranami. “I’m sorry to leave so abruptly.”

Jovis, Mephi and Thrana followed me out of the dining hall.

Rain began to fall by the time we made it into the courtyard, though I couldn’t bring myself to care. I’d suffered the damp before and I was just… tired. I shook wet hair from my eyes as we took the switchbacks down to the city; it had started to come loose from the elaborate knots. Despite my exhaustion, my bones hummed. The war constructs could still be out there. I felt each droplet of water in the air. I’d put the power of bone shard magic behind me, but now had magic of an entirely different kind.

I wondered if this one had consequences, too.

We reached the edge of the city, the street opening up at the harbor. I was eager to get back to the ship, to find out how my handmaidens fared, to offer them what comfort I could. But then, without warning, Mephi dashed off to the right.

“Mephi!” Jovis called after him.

Thrana followed soon after, like a dog that scented a rabbit. “She’d behave better if it weren’t for him,” I said.

Jovis only rolled his eyes. “I think we’re both at fault here. Come on.”

We hurried after them. They wove between people like they were swimming through the waves, and we had to dart past startled city inhabitants to keep up. They both slowed and stopped just a short way off the main road. There was a refuse pile there, which both beasts were sniffing at happily.

“He’s not usually this disobedient,” Jovis murmured. “They must be really hungry.”

But Thrana had eaten dinner with me. And then I saw something in the pile. A chunk of white stone. A face.