They’d thought they’d hunted down all the constructs on Nephilanu. Clearly, given the attack on the Emperor’s maidservants, that wasn’t the case. Phalue had insisted on sending the guards out on patrol again. If they started shipping caro nuts, the Shardless Few would redouble their efforts to take Nephilanu. To take Phalue’s life.

She lingered on the steps to the cellar, one foot up and one foot down.

“You’ve stopped drinking wine,” she heard Phalue say.

“I don’t really see the point in it down here,” her father responded. A pause. “I appreciate the books and the lamp you brought me. I know you didn’t see me read much when you were a child, but I did when I had the chance.”

“When you weren’t busy.” The words were flat. Ranami knew that tone – Phalue only ever used it when she was disappointed in someone.

“Yes, well I didn’t use my time the way I should have. I can see that now. I should have… I should have spent more time with you.” He coughed.

She shouldn’t be listening in on this. Phalue had invited her down to these visits more than once, but Ranami couldn’t quite gather the courage. Not to face Phalue’s father – she had no fear of him – but to see the pain on Phalue’s face. Much as she hated the old governor, she understood that Phalue’s experience of him had been different. Ranami only knew the effects of his actions: the increased caro nut quotas, the harsh punishments, the lack of any system to give back to the farmers. She didn’t know him as a person. She certainly didn’t know him as a father.

“There are a lot of things I should have done differently,” he was saying. “I won’t say I regret everything. And I can’t agree with how you’re running things. Are you really thinking of sending caro nuts to the poorer islands? You’ll be breaking your truce and you won’t even be paid that well for it.”

“You’re sick,” Phalue said. “I’ll have a physician see you, bring you some caro nut oil. And there has to be a way we can make it a little less damp down here.”

For a moment, Phalue’s father didn’t speak. “That’s more kindness than I would have shown any of my prisoners. Thank you.”

“You’re still my father. You just… Ah, why didn’t you think for just a moment about what you were doing? You lost sight of everything except your own vanity.”

“I can try to do better, if you’d just let me prove it.”

“It’s too late for that.”

Ranami backed up the stairs. She didn’t want to walk in on this conversation. Maybe another time she’d visit Phalue and her father, but this felt too personal.