I went through my Pantheon winnings, dumping them onto the bed. I set aside all the money for Raven, the jewels and the box with the meowing cat for Annin, and a little knife for Morah, mostly because it reminded me of her. It had a strong and appealingly simple blade, with an edge to reckon with, and a hilt so intricately wrought with gold over steel that it was difficult to follow the path of the pattern. I uncorked the little metal vial, noting the slosh of its contents, and sniffed. It smelled like water. I didn’t see why anyone would bother to put such a small quantity of water in a vial—this was no canteen or flask. It fit in the palm of my hand. After encountering silver wine and pleasure dust at the party, I wasn’t about to taste anything I couldn’t identify. I took it to the bathroom and dribbled some of the vial’s liquid into the sink. It was a faint pink.

I remembered where I had seen something like that before.

I glanced into the mirror. The faded burn on my cheek had returned. It wasn’t a cream or the dressmaker’s mirror that had made the burn disappear for a night. It had been Madame Mere’s pink tea.

“Well?” she said when I entered her shop. “Was it a triumph? Which dress did she like best? Was it the final dress, right before it came off?”

I held out the little metal vial. “Is this yours?”

She looked at it, then at me quizzically. “No.”

“Is what’s inside yours? What is this liquid?”

She took the vial, opened it, and sniffed. “Oh, that,” she said, and smiled.

“Why are you smiling?”

“Because if I didn’t already know before that you were Half Kith, I would know now.”

My pulse stuttered. My face must have betrayed me. Madame Mere said, “Only someone raised behind the wall or a traveler like Lady Sidarine would ask about elixir.”

“You knew?” Fear coursed through me. “Why did you pretend you didn’t?”

“My little kithling. I run a business.”

“You’re saying that you stayed silent in order to keep Sid as a customer.”

“No. I have plenty of customers. I turn many away, and dress only those who intrigue me.”

“Do you intend to blackmail me? I have nothing to give you.”

“I know you don’t. That is why I said nothing, and never will. Have you not noticed that most High Kith do not work, and that I do?”

I felt foolish for having thought she was blind to the obvious—that I was Half Kith—because of her assumptions. I had been the one to miss what was in front of my face.