“What a Kumru-spurned fucking fiasco,” Frill said.

“Well, we’ll appeal it,” Smistria said. “Obviously! We’re not going to just . . . roll over like that.”

“Our chances . . .” Nupolo shook vir head. “No. No immediate appeal. But . . . if we split up for a while . . . tried to maintain at least dyads or triads, just . . . for the meantime . . .”

“Oh, Fift Brulio,” Arevio said, vir eyes filling with tears.

Diners at the snack-veranda were standing, pointing. Fift’s hearts pounded. 8,934,190 active viewers and climbing. Ze ran.

Miolasia and Umlum were in the anteroom by the front door. Miolasia ran vir sharp, jeweled claws through vir crimson hair. And then they were through the door, and gone.

“Rev—your garden—” Nupolo said, in the meeting room, turning to Arevio. Ve stood, brushing vir hands awkwardly over stiff blue fabric. “If there’s anything you want to take . . . I’ll . . . how about if I help?”

“I just want to look at Fift Brulio,” Arevio said. “While I still can.” Tears dripped from vir chin.

Fift shivered. Ze tried to meet Arevio’s searching, stunned gaze, but ze couldn’t. In the breakfast room and the meeting room, ze looked down, squeezed zir eyes shut. Ze couldn’t think of what to say, and zir throat was too tight to speak.

Ze concentrated on running.

In the breakfast room, Squell began to shriek in Grobbard’s arms, a scratchy, desperate, keening sound.

“Here’s what I say: we had a good bout,” Frill said. Ve stood up abruptly from the meeting room table, crossed to the door, and hovered there, half turning back. “We made it sixteen years, and whatever they say, whatever anyone thinks, I say we didn’t do such a bad job of it.” Ve looked at Smistria, at Nupolo. “We were only nine, and only two Staids! And Fift . . . Fift is a wonderful kid, even if in the end”—ve put vir face in vir hands—“even if we couldn’t really handle . . . couldn’t really give zir what ze needed . . .”

“Fift,” Grobbard murmured, “I wish I had words of more comfort for you. All I can tell you is that life is long. Your . . . zeal . . . once it is tempered, with time . . . will be a virtue. In your . . .” Ze looked at the table. “In your new life.”

Frill sobbed.

Smistria pulled Frill against vir chest with one hand, tugged on vir beard with another. “Kumru’s blood, Pip, I would have thought . . . I mean, you know these Midwives . . . I was expecting you to . . .”