I couldn’t fathom it. The way my father talked, the Alanga were a people unlike us, gifted with magic that made them more than mere mortals. They’d ruled the islands hundreds of years ago, and it hadn’t always been a happy arrangement. When the Alanga had come into conflict, they hadn’t just hurt one another. Whole cities could drown in the aftermath. According to the old stories, the Emperor’s ancestors had driven them from our shores. My father had warned against their return; he’d said he was the only one stopping it. I’d always thought if the Alanga returned, they’d come sailing in from some unknown place, and since they looked Empirean, they’d set up roots, infiltrate my people. I hadn’t considered they might be some of my people. If Jovis and I were Alanga, then what were Mephi and Thrana? None of the old paintings depicted creatures like them. If we drew our magical gifts from our companions, and if this was so with the Alanga, why would their beasts never be painted alongside them?

I wanted to retreat to the caves below the palace to scour the books there to see if I could find some clue in the hidden cavern. But there were other duties I had to attend to, and too little time in a day.

The phoenix medallion sat gleaming at my fingertips, and I did my best not to pick it up, not to tap it against the table. Even the habits of one’s predecessor seemed hard to break. The man who sat across from me did his best not to look at it. He’d been vetted by my guards, his background thoroughly scraped over. I’d done my own research too. The fourth son of a governor of little importance, he had an extensive education and claimed to be widely read. Servants had been easy enough to hire, and workers too. A steward was a different matter.

I’d found the phoenix medallion in one of Shiyen’s drawers, wedged so far back I’d had to pry it loose from the wood. My father had gone too long without visiting the other islands, without ensuring their support. I couldn’t make the same mistakes. And the spy construct had taught me: there were things going on with the constructs I needed to attend to. I couldn’t do all of it from Imperial. I needed to see what was happening for myself.

“If I could gain the support of only one other island, which would you choose?”

The man was only a little older than me, with the small, wide-set eyes of a jaguar. “Riya,” he said without hesitation. “After Deerhead, it has the most productive witstone mines. We need witstone to power quick and efficient trade, and keeping control of this resource keeps the citizens in line.”