Jovis spoke up from behind me, his tone dry. “Do your elders know you are here?”

“Ha ha,” Ragan said, breaking into a smile again. “You are a funny man. Of course they know. They sent me. Yes, I know you are both Alanga.”

Hearing him say it aloud made me want to stuff something in his mouth just to shut him up. Was there anyone within hearing distance?

“But!” He held up a finger again. “Here is the news: so am I.”

27

Jovis

Imperial Island

I’d forgotten what it was like to be alone (or “lonely”, Mephi isn’t sure). Ylan reminds me of my life before becoming an Alanga. Everyone I’ve known from that time has long since passed away. I’d forgotten what it was like to feel like every small thing mattered.

And maybe he’s right. Maybe the small things do matter.

—Notes from Jovis’s translation of Dione’s journal

Imperial didn’t feel like the respite it should have been. Ragan had kept his mouth shut about being an Alanga at Lin’s request, but in spite of the absence of a beast at his side, there was an oddness about him. A cloudtree monk out and about? In Imperial? More than one scholar had requested to meet with him, inquiries Lin had all denied.

Pressure for Lin’s abdication was mounting – it was what I’d wanted when I’d joined the Shardless Few. Now, though, I found myself hovering outside her bedroom door at night, pretending not to hear her frustrated crying, but wondering if I should knock, ask her if she was all right, offer some words of comfort.

When I’d told Lin what I thought of her, I’d been thinking of my mother’s hands on each side of my face. The truth.

She didn’t deserve this.

I swung my staff harder than I intended, sweeping the feet clean out from beneath the guard I was sparring with in the courtyard. She fell onto the cobblestones with a grunt, the wind knocked out of her. I cringed at her gasping, and then put out a hand to help her up once she’d caught her breath. “I’m sorry, that was too rough of me.”

She gave me a weak grin. “That’s just how we get stronger.”

No, I thought to myself, that’s how I accidentally kill you. Around me, guards clashed with blades and staves.

“That’s it,” I called to them. “We’re done. Keep alert. Constructs are running about wild, looking for any opportunity. And remember: some of the constructs may look like people. Don’t hesitate.”