That was too many. There were only thirty-four surviving members. She glanced at Rendor. Would he be number thirty-five?

After everyone left, she continued working on the list of deceased guards. At one hundred and seventy-five, it was considerably longer than the Invisible Swords. And they hadn’t dug through all the rubble yet. Twenty-two guards were still unaccounted for and are presumed dead. That left one hundred and three survivors. Seventeen prisoners died along with a dozen servants. If she included the missing, the total equaled two hundred and sixty-four.

Fatigue and overwhelming grief pressed on her. For Ximen, Elek, Lian, and the others. Its crushing weight made every breath a colossal effort. Heartsick, Shyla hunched over the desk, staring at the names. The Invisible Sword had won. They’d overthrown the Water Prince and Heliacal Priestess and stopped the horrors. So why didn’t it feel like they’d won?

Angles later, she dragged her battered and bruised body from the desk to the sleeping cushion. She pulled back the fur and froze.

Rendor stared at her. His gaze was clear and focused. “We have to stop meeting like this.”

And just like that, her energy returned in one blazing rush. “I agree.” She hugged him. Hard. He grunted in pain but squeezed her back with equal fervor.

“I thought you were a dream,” he whispered in her ear. “The floor swallowed you like a mythical sand beast. No one could live through that.” He slid his hands along her back as if reassuring himself of her presence. “You’re alive.”

“I am equally surprised.”

“What happened? How—”

Shyla silenced him with a kiss. “I’ll tell you the entire saga later. For now, I want to just be in this moment. With you.”

“I’m all yours.”

They buried the fallen in batches of roughly forty people at a time. Family members gathered, tears were shed, hugs were exchanged, stories told, and festivities were thrown to bid the deceased a fond farewell and best wishes for their next lives with the Sun Goddess. Kaveri officiated the seven mass burials.

Shyla, Rendor, and Hanif attended all the ceremonies. Hanif was anxious for a replacement Water Prince and wished to return to his duties at the monastery. Unlike Kaveri, who had embraced her new role and went from “filling in” to becoming the new Heliacal Priestess.

When all the people had been buried, Shyla focused on her next task. She gathered with Gurice and Jaft—her new seconds—and Rendor.

They sat in a conference room on level ninety-seven. Cleanup and repairs of the water pipes was ongoing, but it would take a few circuits for the complex to be fully restored.

“We need a new Water Prince or Water Princess,” Shyla said. “Hanif doesn’t want the job. Do you think Orla would be a good choice? Her commune is not only the biggest but the most organized.”