“Her and the other asha. Likh.” Lord Balfour was the quietest, almost sad, and currently the soberest Yadoshan of the lot. Lord Aden told me he’d been to see Lord Khalad, but said little of how their exchange had gone. “Prettiest I’ve ever seen.”

Lord Aden downed his ale and shifted uncomfortably. “Say, you don’t think Lady Tea would go back to Yadosha and set it ablaze too, do you?”

“She had a vendetta against Kion,” Lord Fox assured him, “not with Stefan. The chances aren’t very likely.”

“But why would she turn her back on this city? Last I heard, she was friends with your girl, Fox—beggin’ your pardon, Her Highness—and loyal to your empress. She left most of Ankyo alone, but she laid waste to the bulk of the Willows, if my eyes don’t deceive me.”

“There was a reason.” Lord Fox stared into his goblet. “She didn’t betray Kion. Not in the way one thinks of betrayal. Some days, it almost feels like Kion turned her back on Tea first.” Like mine had, his silver heartsglass seemed to glitter. “Did she say anything about Kion while she was with you?”

Lord Knox paused. “Not explicitly, no. But she said some things about wanting to leave and be someone else. To travel the lands without the need for a name. Where she could carve out her own peace, her words were. I remember, because she’d looked so sad and vulnerable. With all due respect, Lord Fox, it was easy to admire her, even knowing the damage she could do, even knowing how Kalen would beat my arse. Maybe the danger was a part of her attraction.”

“We all admired her, Knox.” Lord Besserly raised his glass. “Let’s raise our glasses to the Dark asha. As strong and mighty as we are, able warriors one and all—may nothing we do piss her off.”

“Hear, hear,” the rest of the table chorused, and that made Lord Fox crack a smile.

12

There were minimal injuries from the daeva hunt, no thanks to the Yadoshans or their leader. The man the nanghait had first attacked would live with a broken leg—and despite the injury, still attended the party later that night where we were made honored guests, ignoring my pleas for rest.

“It wouldn’t be much of a celebration if the people we were celebrating weren’t present,” the minister pointed out. “Tomorrow is as good a day to sleep as any. But tonight, we drink!”