“Everyone speaks of assassins and disgruntled governors, and no one speaks of the dangers of refuse piles.” Relief made me giddy. He wasn’t trying to kill me, and I didn’t think he’d seen much before following me down the ladder. Something told me he’d be treating me a fair bit differently if he’d seen Shiyen lying in the pool. If he’d understood what that meant.

I still didn’t trust him.

“So when were you going to tell me about Mephi and Thrana?”

The moon peeked out from behind a cloud, limning his profile as he ran a hand through his hair. “I probably wasn’t,” he said. “It’s not an easy thing to talk about. I’d just sound mad.” He stopped. “Here, this way is shorter.” He pointed down a side street. “I don’t think anyone will be looking.”

I forgot sometimes that even though he was from Anau, he’d studied at the Navigators’ Academy and had been to Imperial before. There was little I knew about him except what the songs said.

I took his suggestion – it would be a bit shorter of a walk, and less filled with garbage. A couple of lamps were still lit outside shops, their owners having forgotten to put them out. They cast the buildings in a wan glow, barely brighter than the light of the moon. We’d passed a tiny pastry shop before Jovis spoke again.

“I don’t know who you are either,” he said. “And you hired me to legitimize your rule with the people, which means by working for you I’ve given you my tacit endorsement. It’s a lot to put on the shoulders of a smuggler. How can I know you’re not like him?”

I knew who he meant: my father. “I’ve halted the Tithing Festival. Is that not enough?” Of course it wasn’t. First I’d sought to prove myself to my father; now I was seeking to prove myself to everyone else. The knowledge that I was still not enough stung my pride. But I thought of the paper crane, now sitting on the desk in my study. The work of Numeen’s daughter, Thrana – who’d died by my father’s order. No matter what I was, I’d grown beneath such a man’s care. Jovis was right to doubt me. I sighed. “My father didn’t care about the people. I do.” I watched his face soften out of the corner of my eye and I knew what to say next. “I had a friend outside the palace. A blacksmith. My father murdered him and his entire family. I did not get along with my father.” I did not tell him how I’d still yearned for his love, his approval. My relationship with Shiyen had been… complicated.