One of the bookcases swings outward. A tall man, dressed in a black shirt, vest, and trousers, steps forth. A silver bird is embroidered on his velvet vest. His expression is drawn back in a permanent state of anger and distrust. I know that look well—it’s the same one my father has worn since his command was taken from him. It’s the look of a man who would not wait to get what he wanted. At a moment’s notice, without a thought for consequences, he would grasp for it.

The man crosses the room slowly as if trying to read me. He pours a bit of golden liquid into a wide, clear glass, then comes over to me.

“I am General Marchess,” he says.

I bite down hard on my tongue and concentrate on all the ways I could possibly kill him. He repeats his name to make sure I get it.

“I am a soldier like you. Now I am leader of this town. I take care of my people. Do you understand?”

His Leonodai is boorish and simple, but I do understand him. I keep my gaze set straight ahead. “What is your name?”

I think about the swords on the wall.

“You can tell me,” he says.

The curved shortsword. That would look best cutting through this human’s neck.

When I don’t answer, General Marchess sighs dramatically. “I am not like a lot of people. The humans who brought you here have heard stories of Leonodai snatching children from their beds at night since they were children themselves. But I know you are not like that. You are worse.” Then he lunges forward, his fist catching me square in the jaw. Lights dance in my eyes as I choke back a staggering cough. “The Leonodai are liars. Do you see these?” He motions to the skulls. “One is human, one is Leonodai. Can you see the difference?”

When I don’t look at the skulls, he grabs a fistful of my hair and makes me. But I already knew the answer. Our bones look the same. I knew it was true, but my magic screams in protest.

“We are different,” I say finally. “We would not have let children die.” Too late, I remember what Rowan said about the peace offers we’d turned down.

“Oh, but you already have,” he replies. “You deny my people enough food to support themselves. Deny us peace. Now your king comes with an offer of his own, begging us for help. Well, the time for kindness has passed. I have only done what he himself did before. I stood my ground.” He puffs his chest. “If I am to have the magic isle, I will have it all. That is what I’ve promised the starving faces that come to me each day.”