She hesitated. “Not good,” she said. Despite her larger size, she didn’t have as large a vocabulary as Mephi did, nor as good a grasp of grammar. She would go anywhere for me, but she hated the cave in which she’d been confined. While Mephi was free-spirited and everyone’s best friend, Thrana was shy around others, especially men. I’d noticed that when men raised their hands in front of her, for whatever reason, she shrank away.

My father had struck Bayan too.

I’d told Jovis I’d saved his life, but he’d also saved mine, much as I didn’t want to admit it. Without his distraction, I wouldn’t have been able to get close enough to dismantle my father’s monstrous construct. I needed Thrana with me in case I encountered anything else. How long had that beast been down in that room, hungry and waiting?

The two Imperial guards outside my room snapped to attention as soon as I opened the door. They fell into line behind me as I made my way to the stairs. I never thought I would miss my days of isolation, the scattered few servants wandering the halls. Now, the palace grounds bustled with activity – nearly as much as in the city itself. Always someone was demanding my time or attention, asking questions or needing my input. A steward would help field those duties at least.

The eyes of the Alanga were still open. I stopped in the entry hall to look at them, peering at their faces, uncaring of what the guards behind me might think. The paint was faded, rendering each face in similar contours. Their eyes stared toward Imperial’s harbor, as though they were waiting for someone to arrive. The servants all hurried past this mural, avoiding the gazes of the Alanga as if by doing so they could escape their wrath.

I wished I knew what sort of magic did this. I wished I knew what it meant.

Downstairs, servants dodged our party, carrying laundry and baskets of produce from the city. I could hear the bustle of the kitchen through the thin door, smell the garlic, scallions and ginger lingering in the air. Toward the back of the palace lay the shard storeroom, right up against the mountain where the palace was nestled.

“You can wait for me here,” I told the guards.

They exchanged glances, and the woman on the right licked her lips. “We’re supposed to accompany you for your protection.”

I gestured to Thrana. “I have protection,” I told them. “Besides, there is only one entrance and exit here.” Not true, but they didn’t know that. “Keep an eye out and I’ll be safe.”

Without waiting for a response, I unlocked the door and slipped into the darkness, my beast on my heels.