Incredibly, the orphan slid away from her grasp, leaving Phalue’s fingers feeling only the whisper of burlap. Then she was darting away, out of the kitchen, faster than Phalue could follow. She’d known the girl was quick, but not that quick. Desperation, it seemed, could lend one more than the ability to write presumptive letters.

Phalue dodged past the servants in pursuit, shoving open the kitchen door. “Ayesh, wait!”

The girl hesitated only a moment at the sound of her voice. And then she was running, sprinting down the hall, quicker than a gust of wind. It was like chasing a fish through the ocean.

By the time she reached the doorway to the courtyard, the girl was weaving between the few petitioners left and servants carrying food trays. She snatched a steamed bun from a tray before disappearing into the shadow of the gate.

“Ayesh!” Phalue tried one more time before slowing.

If Ayesh heard her, she gave no indication. And then Phalue noticed her wife standing between the pillars, in heated conversation with a man. With an eyepatch. Gio dared to show his face here? Now? Was he just here to check whether or not his rabble-rousing had succeeded? This was the last thing she needed in a day that had already gone from bad to worse. She felt like a wolf set loose in a well-kept home, shattering anything she came into contact with.

She understood the appeal that wine held to her father now.

Phalue marched over to them, wishing she’d taken the time to buckle her sword back on.

“… shouldn’t forget where you came from, now that you live in a palace,” Gio was saying.

“How can I forget I came from the gutters when people like you are always here to remind me?” Ranami snapped back.

“You’ve started to smuggle shipments of caro nuts out of Nephilanu,” Gio said. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed. You’ve broken your side of the agreement. I’ve no incentive to continue mine.”

“Is that why you sent people to assassinate my wife?” Ranami took a step closer to Gio, daring him to back down.

He shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Ranami scoffed.

Phalue made her body a wedge, forcing them apart. “I don’t want a conflict with you, Gio, or your Shardless Few. I know you’re gathering a force of rebels on Khalute, and I know you could do some real damage to Nephilanu if you wanted to.”

“Then stop the shipments.”

“When I took this position as governor, I did so knowing I wanted to rule differently than my father. I won’t care too much about myself and not enough about other people. I can’t be blind to the suffering my actions cause. What about you, Gio?”

He clasped his hands, his expression dark. “What do you mean?”