He shifted, mumbling her name in his sleep, and that undid her entirely. She eased herself from the bed, pulled a robe over the shirt she’d stolen from him, and glided into the hall. The Hawks at guard just nodded as she passed.

This time she caught the familiar watch-hymn sooner and followed it up to the wall that Draga seemed to favor. The master-general stood there wrapped in a thick snow lion pelt, eyes on the west.

“Tavin hummed that at watch,” Fie said. Draga’s gaze flicked to her, then returned to the horizon. “That’s how I figured out you were his ma.”

Draga barked a quiet laugh. “He’s right. It’s truly impossible to slip anything past you. Here.”

She drew a dagger from her sash and handed it to Fie hilt-first. The moonlight drew out waving bands across the blade.

“That’s tiger steel,” Draga said. “It’s stronger than any other metal we know. This blade outlived my mother and her mother, and it will outlive me. But it takes a master blacksmith to forge.”

“Aye.” Fie passed it back. “I saw it once in a Hawk tooth. Rush, and it shatters.” She leaned against the wall. “But leave the blade too long, and it’s rutted all the same.”

“I thought it would be like tiger steel,” Draga said. “The oath. Because you’re right, no Saborian should live as the Crows do. And if we forge something better, the nation will be stronger for it. But if we move too fast…” She sighed. “The fact is, we’re already shattering. How we treat Crows is a liability. The queen’s using it to net herself a throne. And you, a teenage girl, used it to fool the master-general of the kingdom’s armies.”

“No hard feelings,” Fie said with a shrug.

Draga shot her a sharp look. “It’s been a long day and night, Lady Crow. Don’t try me. Especially while wearing my beloved son’s shirt.” Fie coughed, ears burning, and Draga continued. “I’ve had war scholars digging through our libraries for anything on skin-ghasts. We’ve found nothing. There’s no knowing how great a threat we’re facing, but we know the queen means to wipe out people the Hawks are honor-bound to protect.”

Fie took a gamble. “Because no one’s protected us.”

“Because we failed.” Draga nodded, jaw set.

“Pa says change always has a price.” Fie stared at dawn’s edge in the eastern sky. “That even Phoenixes need ashes to rise.”

A moment passed before Draga spoke. “A few hours ago, Corporal Lakima came to my office with five other Hawks. They’ve volunteered to accompany you when you leave.”

Fie blinked.