“What happened all those years ago matters,” Lilia said. “I thought I was mad, or misremembering, but whatever happened that day is the reason these people are after me, isn’t it?”

“You should tell her,” Gian said.

“Yes, I must,” Kalinda said. “Your mother led a resistance against the Kai, and powerful people wanted to destroy her and take you. They thought you might be powerful too, someday.”

“The sanisi thinks that,” Lilia said. “But I’m not gifted.”

“Someday you might be,” Kalinda said. “Your mother was supposed to send you and six other children here that day, so we could protect them. But only you showed up. I came back to look for the others after I brought you home, but there were none. I suspect the other side has them now. You’re all we have.”

“We?” Lilia said.

“The resistance,” Gian said. “Against the Kai.”

“But what’s the Kai done?” Lilia said.

“It’s complicated,” Kalinda said.

“It’s not the Kai you know,” Gian said. Kalinda shushed her.

“We need to hide you again,” Kalinda said. “The sanisi will easily find you here.”

“No more hiding,” Lilia said. “Take me to the place on the map.”

“We can’t do that,” Kalinda said. “There’s nothing there.”

Lilia got angry. She was exhausted and bleeding from her trek through the seething forest, and it felt like a betrayal. “I came here for your help. If you can’t help me, I’ll go back to the sanisi.”

“You’re as stubborn as–” Kalinda broke off, started again. “This isn’t some duck chase, child.”

“I’m not a child. I’m far past the age of consent. I won’t consent to go anywhere or do anything until you take me to that place on the map. That was my home, Kalinda.”

“It’s not what you think it is,” Gian said.

“That sanisi may be just behind you,” Kalinda said, “or, worse, his attackers. Let’s leave this place together. We can discuss our destination on the way.”

Lilia hesitated. It was her best option. She nodded curtly.

“Good girl,” Kalinda said.

But as Kalinda withdrew, Lilia felt the same way she did when the sanisi asked her to trade her freedom for Roh’s life. It was as if she had been offered a choice that was not a choice at all.

Kalinda and Gian moved around Lilia as if she wasn’t there, busying themselves with packing and preparing. They left her alone with the flame flies. Standing in the dark while the world moved around her, while others made decisions about her fate, had been a constant her whole life. She felt pulled in every direction, with no control over any of them.