‘Do you like to gamble, honoured guests?’ she asked. ‘There is a fighting pit just ahead and I do so enjoy an entertainment. Come, let us visit. You can use my jade, bet on whoever you like. It’s only to first blood today, but it can still be exciting.’

‘First blood?’ Tayan asked. ‘What do you mean?’

‘She means that they force slaves to fight to the death for their entertainment. Don’t you?’ Betsu said. She was running her fingers over and over the fine beadwork on the gifted shawl and didn’t look up as she spoke. ‘Blood,’ she whispered, as if to herself, ‘this entire society is built on it, one way or the other.’

Enet laughed and raised an eyebrow at Tayan, inviting him to share her mirth. ‘Oh, my friends,’ she said expansively. ‘Every society is, and anyone that tells you different is lying. Come on, let’s place some bets. I promise it will be fun.’

XESSA

Sky City, Malel, Tokoban

156th day of the Great Star at morning

Xessa sat on the step of her house, looking over the city and down across Malel, hazy with mist and the coming dawn, just a splash of blue and the tiniest hint of red at the lip of the world. The rest of the land lay shrouded in darkness, only pinpricks of firelight below indicating the earliest risers.

The air smelt of growth and green, the heavy stink of rich soil from the garden and the sharpness of wet stone. Xessa sucked it in and let it soothe her. Rain beaded on her hair and face; it sat proud like stars on the blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

She bit into a guava and let the juice flood her mouth as she watched the dawn blossom. Smoke tickled her nostrils as someone lit their morning fire just below and she felt the city begin to wake, a tingle through her nerves, a taste on her skin. She grinned at a memory of Tayan telling her she was more shaman than he would ever be. It was magic, he’d said, and there was an end to it.

Her smile faded and her appetite with it. He’d be in Pechacan by now, meeting with their elders and doing all he could to persuade them to end their aggression. Persuade them that what they already had was enough. Too much. Xessa made herself eat the rest of the guava and then a thick piece of pepper-stuffed cornbread. She was due at the water temple in an hour, to work the handle and keep the peace among the citizens coming to collect their ration while Toxte braved the Swift Water.