“It came in through the spy entrance to Ilith’s lair, then. We won’t catch it down here. We can intercept it in the courtyard if we hurry. It has wings – once it takes flight, things will get difficult.”

We didn’t speak after that, and I let her lead the way through the winding tunnels, the lamp jolting in her hand and nearly extinguishing more than once. Mephi ran at my side, never questioning where we were going or what we were doing. He might sass me about cards, but when it mattered, he was always there for me.

She slammed through the cloud juniper door, and then through the outer one so hard I was sure her shoulder must be bruised. She didn’t even wince, just kept running.

The entrance hall felt ominous at night, only the two lamps by the main doors still lit. It took her a little longer to open one of those, and I added my strength to hers, our shoulders touching, our hands pressed to the wood.

We both nearly tumbled down the stairs as it gave way. I forgot sometimes to compensate for my newfound strength, to pull back when the occasion called for it. But Lin caught her feet beneath her, taking the steps down two – and then three – at a time. She ran straight for the garden.

The palace grounds were dark, the lamps outside all blown out. A drizzle of rain gathered beads on my face and eyelashes. I leapt down the bulk of the stairs and followed her.

“A boulder,” she called to me, her voice strangely steady. I’d thought she’d be more out of breath. “The entrance to Ilith’s lair is beneath a boulder next to the cherry tree.”

I didn’t think I’d be able to identify a cherry tree in the dark, so I just pulled my staff free as I ran, hoping I’d be prepared.

The archway into the garden led straight into a waist-high wall of hedges, which Lin wove easily around. I vaulted over and heard Mephi do the same. The garden felt even darker than the rest of the courtyard, but I followed the sound of Lin’s footsteps, nearly tripping at each step down on the path I couldn’t see. The path opened into a circular clearing, a tree and a boulder in the middle.

Something fluttered up and into the night sky.

“Shit!” Lin said.

I wasn’t sure why – after four locked doors, a cavern beneath the palace and a giant construct – this would be the thing that surprised me. An Emperor swearing like a smuggler.

She stamped her foot, and the ground shook. Mephi pressed his shoulder against my thigh. All the suspicions I’d been carrying since I saw Thrana, since that first discussion I’d had with Lin when she’d asked me to be Captain of her Imperial Guard, rushed back in.

Thrana was like Mephi.