“I didn’t know about Kirana’s quarters in Garika,” Nasaka said. “By the time I arrived to clear them out, he’d already done it. I had no idea she was meeting with the Garikas behind my back. But our deal still holds.”

“What?” Kirana glanced back at her. “Yes, of course. So long as you control him, he’s no threat to me. You can have the boy. To be honest, I was always surprised you asked for nothing else.”

Nasaka sometimes wondered how different things would be now if her Kirana had been the sort of leader this one was. But their worlds were different. Her Kirana had not been raised in a world that would produce such a person. But it produced me, Nasaka thought. It was I who failed. I should have raised her to be a soldier. A fighter. If I had raised her to such a vocation, we wouldn’t be in this place.

“I’ve seen how you deliver on your promises,” Nasaka said.

Kirana raised her brows. “You got your boy on the seat. That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it?”

“You asked me to kill a good many people and lie and betray far more to get there.”

“It’s not as if lying is a new exercise for a woman in your position.”

“Kirana’s death nearly split the country apart,” Nasaka said.

“That was her fault,” Kirana said. “She should have parlayed. Instead, she chose the coward’s way.” The air between them wavered. “I don’t have much time. Will the harbor gates be open or not?”

“I need time.”

“I thought you controlled Ahkio,” Kirana said coolly. “If you can’t control him, he’s not necessary. I can have him easily replaced with any number of my own people.”

“Like Yisaoh?”

“Yisaoh?” Kirana seemed genuinely surprised, then laughed. “I am often heartened by the amount of ignorance you display in these conversations, Nasaka.”

Nasaka gripped her sword hilt hard. The willowthorn branch snaked out, wrapping around her wrist. She bared her teeth. “He’ll do as I ask.” And if he wouldn’t, his wife would.

“Good.” Kirana pulled her gauntlet back on and barked something at her generals in the Dhai dialect they used. Nasaka had picked it up over the decade of their discussions, but the gate between them was becoming unstable, and the words were garbled.

“My son,” Nasaka said, loudly. “He’ll do as you ask.” Just in case she had not heard.

Kirana glanced back at her and flashed a grin. It was a confident, reassuring grin that Nasaka had seen her own Kirana employ while charming clan leaders and Oras alike. It squeezed at Nasaka’s heart.

“I know he will,” Kirana said.

The air pressure suddenly decreased. The air shivered. The rents between the worlds snapped shut.