Lovisa heard herself having these thoughts and tried to focus. Her body hurt, so much. The explosion had thrown her, then the crater had opened and she’d felt herself sliding, caught that pillar, clung to it forever, expecting at every moment for it to break off and plummet into the hole, bringing her with it. All the muscles in her arms and hands ached, her entire body felt like a giant bruise, and her ears were ringing. Her mouth tasted like blood.

Katu lay on a sofa near the big sitting room windows, shivering, but lucid. So Lovisa stood beside him, holding his hand. He’d put his ring back on. It slid back and forth on his skinny thumb. Lovisa tried to imagine refusing food to one of her own brothers. She couldn’t. It was unimaginable.

Hava, on a sofa nearby, seemed in good spirits. Probably because Nev had told her she wasn’t going to lose her foot. “Your ankle is broken,” Nev said, “and so, I think, is one of your ribs,” and Hava laughed, a strange laugh that turned into a high note of pain, but a laugh, nonetheless.

With small gasps, Hava told the story of how Lovisa had thrown the explosive egg. “You saved my life, Lovisa,” she said flatly, and then everyone was looking at Lovisa, who didn’t want the attention.

“I killed Linta Massera and two guards,” she said.

“I’m the one who pulled the pin,” said Hava. “I almost killed you.” Then she went on to describe how Giddon had lifted the ladder away from her foot. “I was briefly confused when he started stripping,” she said.

“He didn’t strip for me,” Katu mused, sounding hurt. The queen’s giggles rang out like bells, then Bitterblue left Hava’s side for a moment, coming to Katu. She leaned down and kissed his forehead.

“Welcome back, Katu,” Bitterblue said quietly.

“I’ve never been gladder to see you,” Katu said, giving her the gift of his warmest smile, which made Lovisa’s heart hurt. When he did that, he looked like himself, and grief flooded her for all that had happened to him.

Bitterblue returned to Hava.

“The queen looks thin,” said Katu. “Has she been ill?”

“It’s a long story,” said Lovisa.

“Is she all right?”

“She’s high on rauha just now, but yes, she’s fine. Wonderful, really,” said Lovisa, with that familiar burst of resentment. “She’s in love with Giddon. They’re disgusting together.”

Katu closed his eyes. He seemed to shrink, becoming distant and subdued. Every time he cut himself off like that, he left her alone with these foreigners who kept breaking into rapid Lingian when they spoke to one another, straining her tired mind.