“Lady Mykaela had been subjected to this insanity in the past,” Khalad said wryly. “It’s why she killed the nanghait without alerting the Yadoshans the last few times, although that’s never deterred them. I’ve heard of people camping out by the burial mound in the days leading up to its resurrection.”

“But don’t people die from this behavior?”

“There have been casualties. Buried with full military honors, even. Tea will need to put down the nanghait quickly, before any mishaps occur.”

“That’s easier said than done, Khalad!” I protested. “If Mykkie has been actively trying to discontinue the practice, then surely there won’t be as many participants this time around?”

I was wrong. As it turned out, a lot of Yadoshans had traveled to Thanh solely for this event, which was why I was seeing so many citizens armed to the teeth. “Thanh doesn’t have this many residents,” Lord Besserly told me.

I was aghast. “You consider this a celebration?”

“We celebrate life in different ways, Lady Tea. Yadoshans come from a long line of warmongers. We used to rule over the parts of the continent that’re now Odalia and Kion, until they decided we were right bastards and rebelled. I was told you grew up in Knightscross, milady. That’s as obviously an Odalian name as any, eh? We were too busy fighting each other to notice them break away until they’d amassed a good ol’ army of their own!

“We’ve given peace a chance for nearly three hundred years, and we’ve been liking it, but every now and then we get the urge to smash something. This is one of the best ways to go about it without causing anyone else too much trouble.”

“But I’m not going to let you be maimed or worse!”

“We’re all big boys, Lady Tea. We all know what we’re getting into.” The Lord Besserly was in his sixties, but the grin he shot my way was forty years younger than the rest of him. “We’re not used to having other people do our dirty work, but we don’t have much of a choice with daeva. We’ll stay out of your way—mostly. Who knows? We’ve made for good distraction for other Dark asha in the past. Maybe we’ll be of use to you too.”

“Are we really going to do this?” I asked Kalen as we led our unlikely and unwanted “army” out of the city, toward the nanghait’s last reported sighting.

“You’re not going to get them to change their minds,” Kalen grunted. “Focus on the nanghait. Whatever happens to the Yadoshans will be on their heads, not yours. They’re right about one thing—their ability to distract, not just the nanghait, but you.”