“Just ash,” I whispered. “Seven gods.”

“At least five thousand more were injured, but most of them should make it. Healers have been working day and night to treat burns and injuries from collapsed buildings. And again, it would have been much worse without you and Aaru.”

The numbers swarmed around my thoughts. So many people dead because of one man. “And Paorah?”

“He wasn’t on the ships.”

I swore.

“I know.”

“And neither was your mother, I’m afraid.”

My throat went dry. I wanted to ask more questions—like if anyone from the islands knew where Mother was—but I didn’t dare. If she was dead, I didn’t want to know yet. If she was alive but Paorah had her . . . I didn’t want to know yet.

“I’m sure she’s fine,” Ilina said.

“She always is.” The words felt wispy and uncertain, though.

My wingsister joined me at the wardrobe and pulled out the first thing she saw. “It sounds like they intended to catapult one noorestone into the city, then send their demands to the empress, with the threat of another attack. But Aaru silenced the rest of the noorestones on their ships, and the harbor guard subdued them quickly. There were mutinies and arrests, and it turns out Paorah is still on Anahera because he’s an absolute coward who won’t fight his own battles if he can talk someone else into doing it.” She thrust a dress at me. “Put this on.”

I shimmied out of my nightgown and stepped into the dress, half wishing I had time for a bath. But I had to speak with Apolla. Now. About the dragons, what she’d seen me do, and what she intended to do with the people who’d come from the Fallen Isles.

What if she planned to punish everyone on behalf of Paorah?

“Empress Apolla sent the ships she’d promised,” Ilina continued. “Even with the attack, she made sure to keep her end of the bargain, and she expects you to keep yours as well.”

Heal the dragons with the giant noorestones? Impossible. But I put that worry aside for now. “When will her ships reach the Fallen Isles?”

“They should arrive along the eastern shores of Darina any day now. From there, they’ll spread out among the islands and search for survivors. But I have no idea how they’ll persuade everyone to come aboard when we’ve always hated the empire, or how they’ll choose who gets to come on and who doesn’t.” She shivered. “I can’t believe that we’re here, surrounded by all this, and everyone at home is just waiting to be next.”

“They must feel so alone.” I closed my eyes, wanting to pray, but not sure how to do it around the fear that Darina or Damyan might have been the last one to rise.

Ilina hesitated. “There’s more.”

I didn’t think I could take any more, but I nodded for her to say it.

“The islands after Idris were Bopha and Harta.”