Uneasy, I shifted away, knowing I was an unwanted stranger during this private moment, though not before I read the plain carvings on those round stones. Daisy Pahlavi, said one. Polaire Ishina, said the other.

The Dark asha’s sobs quieted, stilled. Finally, she found enough breath to speak, and when she did, she talked as if she had never left, as if she had not just grieved. “Heartshare. Parts of Kalen remained with me even when he died, because Heartshare never completely leaves. His blood is on my heart, like Dancing Wind’s was on Blade that Soars’. Stained with his lover’s blood. That’s the answer, isn’t it?”

She addressed the stones. “Is that why you refuse to return, Polaire? Or are you still angry at me?”

“Tea.” Lord Fox’s low timbre broke her focus.

She looked up at him.“You honored my request to have Daisy buried here, among the ashas’ graves.”

He nodded.

“A pauper’s grave is my fate, or a dishonorable cremation.” She bent down and pressed her lips against the smooth rock, marking her farewells with red lipstick. “Did Mykkie raise her after I left?”

Lord Fox nodded again, his expression unreadable. “Yes.”

“I’m sorry. That must have been hard on you. On Mom and Dad, on the others. I don’t think I could have borne it in your place.” She leaned back. “Are they well?”

“They’re all in Knightscross, safe.”

“Good. What did—what did she say when Mykkie resurrected her?”

“Why don’t you raise her yourself, so she can tell you in her own words?”

Tea’s hands formed dainty fists. “I can’t.”

“You can’t or you won’t? Are you afraid of what she might tell you? Are you afraid to acknowledge that you killed her?”

“I don’t remember!”

“It doesn’t matter! She said you did it! I saw you! What other proof do you need?”

“What did you see?” Her voice was quiet, but the wind carried it anyway. “You never told me what you saw.”

He looked up at the sky, then back at the city. His voice shook. “I woke and realized something was wrong. Your mind was closed to me. Nothing I did could tear past the Veiling. I don’t even remember which one of us had set it up. I knew Kalen was on patrol, that he wouldn’t be back till midnight.

“So I returned to check on you. You weren’t in your cell, so I went to find Daisy—and arrived just in time to see you stab her. She…” Lord Fox’s voice broke. “She didn’t know why you did it. She died never knowing why. She was our sister, Tea.”

A fresh sob swelled from the dark asha’s throat. “I don’t know.”