Pilos punched his arm lightly but there was unspoken warning in his eyes that Elaq noted. Such words were dangerous and Enet was wealthy enough to have her own personal Listener. Pilos, on the other hand, was wary enough to assume that he was always being listened to.

‘She thinks to put me on edge,’ he said and shrugged. ‘But she is not the one who has brought back slaves and taken land.’ He almost hoped her Listener might pick up on that; how it would bite at her, like ants on her skin.

‘No,’ he added with a feral grin, ‘I remain secure in the Singer’s favour, at least for now. But anything you can find out, of course, please do so. Enet’s games are nothing if not long and complex and I would prefer to concentrate on honing the Melody through the Wet rather than avoiding the knives aimed at my throat.’

Elaq scowled. ‘That’s what you have me for,’ he said. ‘I’ve knives of my own and the will to use them.’

‘All in good time, my friend,’ Pilos said. ‘All in good time.’

LILLA

Southern Tokoban, near Yalotlan border

150th day of the Great Star at morning

Lilla sat with his back against the bole of a fig tree and rubbed a handful of water over his face and chest, licking it from his lips and chin and fingertips and palm. It was warm, kissed with salt where it had mixed with the sweat on his skin. There wasn’t much left in the gourd, but the nearby tangle of water vine was full, so he enjoyed the small extravagance, closing his eyes as the liquid momentarily cooled his face.

The rest of his Paw sprawled around him, with the game they’d hunted smoking over wide, low fires. The scent carried on the still air, not just to predators but potentially to enemy warriors; they were only three days’ walk from Yalotlan’s border, and although scouting Paws had confirmed the bulk of the enemy had left when the rains started in earnest, the threat of skirmish or ambush was ever-present – even within Tokoban itself these days. Still, they were too far from home to transport the meat before it spoilt and with so many refugees to feed, the jungle closest to the Sky City was increasingly bare of game. Descending Malel and passing the villages scattered at its base for wilder land was their only option to keep the city fed.

Around them, a Yaloh Paw under Kux’s command was concealed in the trees in a wide perimeter, half a stick out, on the alert.