I chanced a smile at Alusha. “We’ll be good.”

Her mouth pulled into a frown. “This way.” Without waiting to see if we were coming, she turned on her heels and marched down the stairs. At the bottom, a flagstone path led to a covered patio and a wide double door, guarded by two dark men in steel armor and pale green tabards, emblazoned with the imperial insignia. It must have been hot inside all that metal and linen, but if they minded, their expressions didn’t betray them at all.

“You’d better go,” Nine said. “She won’t wait while you gawk.”

No one had offered to carry our bags, but that was probably for the best; none of us would have been willing to give up any part of our homeland, even temporarily.

“Thank you for all your help, Nine.”

After the others made hasty good-byes, we hurried after Alusha, Ilina and I holding tight to our dragons as they strained to look around.

Then, it happened so fast I hardly realized—

My foot landed on Algotti ground.

There was no rush of feeling, no thrum of my heart speeding faster, nothing to mark the enormity of the moment of not only leaving the Fallen Isles, but stepping onto enemy land for the first time.

Instead, we just strode down the flagstone path after Alusha, and the guards pulled open the doors to grant us admittance into the imperial palace.

One last look at the obsidian dragons that marked the mouth of the River Akron. One more prayer—give me peace, give me grace, give me enough love in my heart—and then, at last, I stepped inside.

LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE in the palace, our apartments were extravagant.

1. One grand entrance hall, bright with gold drapes and glass mirrors, and small obsidian dragon figurines—not as detailed as the pair on the river, but impressive nonetheless.
2. One public parlor with a domed ceiling, twenty marbled columns, and a fountain set into the very center of the mosaic floor. Its splash filled the room, loud enough to mask our footfalls—or anyone else’s.
3. One formal dining room, large enough to seat thirty, with gold and blue silk tapestries hung along the walls. A small doorway on the far side led to a kitchen, but we weren’t permitted back there.
4. Ten “smaller” guest suites, each with their own private parlors, bedroom, dining room, washrooms, and servant rooms. One had been assigned to each of us—except for Chenda and Gerel, who insisted on sharing—along with a wardrobe full of clothes and an attendant to keep our rooms clean and help us dress.

Alusha said we’d been given apartments reserved for the empress’s most esteemed guests, but it felt like a grand house, big enough that anyone who lived here didn’t have to see another human for days if they didn’t want to bother.

“You could get lost in here.” Ilina stood in the public parlor, gazing at the fountain where LaLa and Crystal zipped between streams of water, chasing and splashing each other. “And we’ll never get them out of that.”