I’d thought I would never forget her face, yet the edges of it were blurring, the exact texture of her hair uncertain. In my mind’s eye, she looked my age, but I knew she’d only lived to nineteen. It was as though the person who had known Emahla, who had loved her – no longer existed. I wasn’t the man now that I was then, and I wondered if she would even recognize me. Thinking of her had always centered me; now it sent me skittering along an unknown path, searching for answers in the dark.

Lin’s face swam to the forefront of my mind unbidden. Hers I knew clearly – the expressive eyes, the pointed chin, the secretive lips.

Mephi’s head came to rest in my lap. “You are doing the best you can.”

I cracked an eye open at him. “I’m beginning to think you may be a bit biased.”

“Never,” he said innocently.

“She wants to use bone shard magic again,” I said. “And she wants us to fight.” I pulled the letter I’d written to the Shardless Few out from my sash pocket. I should send it. I should. Then why hadn’t I done it yet? “Mephi, she’s not who anyone thinks she is.”

“You don’t know if she’s a good or a bad,” Mephi said slowly.

“She’s not the Emperor. Or, at least, she shouldn’t be. But she’s trying.” Like I was.

A knock sounded at the door. Before I could respond, Lin let herself in. I tucked the letter beneath the bed sheets, my throat tight and my heart kicking at my ribs. Too close.

“I need to tell you something,” she said, her palms pressed against the door. “And I need to tell you before we go into this battle. You’re right; I’ve been keeping things from you.” Her gaze went to the floor, a loose piece of hair shadowing her face. “I’ve been asking you to trust me, but trust goes both ways.”

“Wait—” Dread clawed its way into my belly. Some part of me knew that what she was about to say was irrevocable – too terrible and too secret.

But she was already speaking over me. “I thought I was my father’s daughter, but she died when she was young.”

I tried to form words, but couldn’t, my mouth dry.

“He made me. I’m not a construct; I’m a replica, just like the replica of Shiyen I tried to bargain with. He tried to rebuild my mother, more than once.”