The monk frowned. “The Ishien are unpredictable. In their long fight against the Csestriim, they have carved away much that made them human, not least of which is their own ability to trust. The Ishien believe the Ishien. Everyone else is a fool or a threat.”

“But you were one of them,” Kaden said. “Will they listen to you?”

“It will depend almost entirely on who leads them.”

“Who does lead them?”

Tan frowned. “A northerner named Bloody Horm, but he has been gone from the Heart for decades.”

“Gone?” Kaden asked, shaking his head.

“Hunting Csestriim,” Tan replied, “among the Urghul or the Eddish. What matters is who leads the Ishien now, in his stead.”

He paused, considering Triste. She watched him with frightened eyes, the way a hare watches the hunter when he comes to pluck it from the trap. “Regardless, bringing her may purchase a measure of respect. Fewer Csestriim walk the world than in the past. The Ishien find them very rarely.”

“She’s not some sort of token for us to barter,” Kaden said.

“No. She is far more dangerous than that.”

“I’m not what you think,” Triste said quietly, hopelessly. “I don’t know how I walked through that gate, but I’m not what you think.”

Tan watched her for a while. “Perhaps,” he said finally, then turned to Kaden. “You should remain here. It will be safer. I will bring the girl and speak with the Ishien.”

Kaden stared at the windswept island. “Safer?” he asked, raising his brows. “Any one of your Ishien could walk through these gates at any time. If they will distrust me arriving with you, they might murder me if they find me here unexpectedly.” He shook his head. “No. I started this. I will see it through. Besides, I need the Ishien. You might learn what I need to know, but I need to talk to them, to forge some sort of relationship.”

He had no idea how Triste had passed the kenta, no idea how Tan’s former brothers would respond to her sudden arrival or his own, no idea what he would do if it turned out Triste was lying, but the old fact remained: the Csestriim were involved in the plot against his family, they had killed his father, which made Kaden Emperor. He didn’t rule Annur—not yet—but he could do this.

“I’m going,” he said quietly.

Tan studied him for half a dozen heartbeats, then nodded. “There is no safe path.”

“Please,” Triste begged quietly. “Before I came through the gate, you were trying to convince Kaden not to go.”

“It is because you passed the kenta that I changed my mind.”

“Why?” she whispered.

“There is no other place where I am more likely to learn the truth about you.”

Triste turned to Kaden, eyes wide and frightened.

“Kaden . . .”