‘The song, High Feather,’ Citla gasped, clutching her chest. She swayed on her feet and Pilos steadied her. She was clearly exhausted from the journey, but also from being away from the song. A Listener’s life was attuned deeply, almost entwined with, the song’s magic and the sustenance it provided. To be out from under it would be an exquisite agony, as if she’d had her heart torn out while still alive.

It meant that whatever news Citla had to impart must be of the utmost importance. ‘Tell me,’ Pilos said, and his voice was heavy with dread.

‘The song is broken, High Feather. Shattered, defiled. Not just its harmony but its meaning. The song is dying.’

It had taken hours for the runner to skirt the city and bring back Ilandeh after the Listener’s awful, horrifying news. Fortunately, as soon as Citla told the Whisper what had happened – how the song had shattered eleven days before and hadn’t recovered before she’d left its bounds – Ilandeh had cut to the heart of the matter.

‘What do you need, High Feather?’

‘Get back to the Singing City as fast as you can. And I mean fast. Find out what the fuck is going on. Use Councillor Yana and Elaq. I suspect Enet, but be thorough. Cast your net wide and find out what’s happening, then get word to me through the song if you can. And if you can manage it, keep the Singer safe.’

‘As the High Feather commands.’

‘Perhaps the Singer’s ascension is approaching,’ Feather Detta ventured and Pilos shivered.

‘Perhaps. Though what Citla described bears no resemblance to any ascension I’ve ever lived through.’ He looked to the Listener, who was slumped and grey.

‘No,’ she murmured. ‘Not ascension.’

‘And if it was, with Enet being Chosen, that would make her the most likely candidate to become the new Singer. And that fills me with even more fear.’ Eagle and macaw were uneasy at his admission, but it served to emphasise the seriousness of what had gone wrong.

‘I’ll find out what’s happening and then come back if we can’t speak through the song,’ Ilandeh promised. ‘You’ll have finished here by then – they can’t last much longer without water – so I’ll meet you on the road. As for Enet: want me to kill her?’

‘A bold offer, Flight, and I appreciate it. While it may come to that, for now just find out what she’s up to. Stay at my estate, not the barracks. You’ll be safer.’ He flicked a finger at the feather in her hair. ‘You’ll have to take the scarlet out. I’m sorry.’

Ilandeh’s face was neutral; she shrugged. ‘As the High Feather commands.’

He hesitated, knowing it was scandalous, but then untied one of the eagle feathers from the fan in his hair. ‘Wear this. It’ll guarantee you access in the Singing City.’