And then she was gone, walking up the gangplank with Tythus, leaving the scent of cured leather in her wake. Ranami curled her fingers into her palm, aware of the emptiness there, the coolness of the air rushing in to fill the space her wife had been.

“I love you,” Phalue mouthed to her as the crew set about pulling up the gangplank and hoisting the sails.

Ranami barely managed to mouth the sentiment back. She was watching her heart, her life, sail away on that boat. Even with Ayesh, even with the servants, the palace would feel empty tonight – a seashell discarded on the beach.

White smoke billowed from the brazier on deck, bringing with it a breeze that filled the sails. Three other accompanying ships set their witstone ablaze, and soon they were skimming forward across the Endless Sea, intermittent rays of sunlight turning the cresting waves to gold.

Ranami watched until she could no longer see the faces of those on board, and then she could no longer make out the people at all. Only sails and wood and an ache in her belly and in her chest. Finally, she turned to make her way back into the city and to the palace. There was still work to be done, no matter how much she wanted to just curl back into bed and smell Phalue’s waning scent.

She passed the old flat she used to live in, above the merchant who sold steamed buns. He nodded to her and smiled. “Sai,” he said. It still felt odd and uncomfortable to be referred to thus, though she smiled back.

This was where it had all begun, where she’d written to the Shardless Few, hoping to help them, hoping they could help her. She’d believed so stridently in their goodness, in their willingness to do whatever it took to make things right. When she’d turned down their plea to help them remove both Phalue and her father, she’d thought that was the end of it.

And then Gio had tried to have Phalue killed.

Ranami curled her fingers into fists. How could she still have faith in the Shardless Few or the man who led them? Gio was so single-minded, so focused on the idea of bringing down the Sukai Dynasty and installing a Council in its place. He would see Phalue removed not because they saw things differently, but because the paths they wanted to take to get there diverged. How utterly foolish!

It surprised her only a little when she found her feet turning onto the path out of the city, past the Alanga ruins, toward the Shardless Few hideout. She shouldn’t go alone. Phalue had once told her that she saw Ranami as a soft, delicate thing she couldn’t touch too firmly, lest she cut herself on the blades hidden beneath. She felt all the sharp edges of herself protruding now, like quills raised on a porcupine’s back.