“Aye.” Fie nodded. “So twelve Crows need to believe that you’re worth saving, worth bringing into our own. And then you walk our roads.” She twined her fingers with Tavin’s. “I’m teaching the way of it to the chiefs here, and they’ll pass it along to every chief across Sabor.”
Draga sat up. “The order for soldiers to aid Crows is still in effect. Obviously, we’re going to see a shift in attitude toward the Crows, since even the worst wretches in Sabor might find their life depends on it. But the Oleander Gentry didn’t die with Rhusana, and I’m positive that even now, there are still arbiters refusing to light beacons, so I’ll be leaving that order in effect until the roads are safe for Crows.” She gave a crooked smile. “We’ll see how long that takes.”
“What about the supply of Phoenix teeth?” the Crane magistrate asked. “Not to be indelicate, but it seems likely to… diminish.”
“The Well of Grace was a god-grave,” Fie answered. “Technically, mine. It’s the resting place of the Eater of Bones, the goddess of rebirth, and every time I went near it, all the teeth I thought I burned out cameback good as new. I’m the only chief it happens for. So twice a year, on the solstices, I’ll gather chiefs in Dumosa to see to their teeth.”
“And I’m not going to let the Phoenixes die out.” Jasimir shook his head. “The Phoenix priests were barred from having children in the past so the line of succession wouldn’t get murky. We also only allowed marriage and adoption into the caste if someone was joining the immediate royal family. I’m rescinding both of those rules.”
“But the line of succession…” Lady Dengor started.
“Yes, about that.” Jasimir clasped his hands before him. He looked nervous. He looked immovable. “The fact is, we made Rhusana. My father made her, his father made her, and Ambra made her. We made a nation where the only way to be safe and happy was to wrap yourself in money and power and fire, and the only way to reach that was by stepping on everyone you thought beneath you. We made a society where the monarchs could ignore the suffering of their people because it was nothing but an inconvenience, and we punished those who used their position to speak out.”
Lady Dengor ran a finger over her carved ebony knuckles.
Jasimir continued, “Now the Covenant has spoken out. The plague in the palace started with my father, and that’s where it ends.” He drew a piece of parchment from a pocket and unfolded it. It was already signed and sealed. “Today, I am ordering each of you to return to your castes and choose three among you who know your troubles and your strengths. How you choose them, I leave up to you and your people. I will be doing the same.”
Tavin inhaled sharp at Fie’s side.
Jasimir stood. The parchment shook in his hands. “This decree forfeits my claim to the Saborian throne in favor of a governing council. It takes effect a little under a year from now, on the next summer solstice. My reign will only last long enough to establish the council, thelimits of its authority, and the rules by which it governs. I’m sure you all have questions, and some of you may be thinking it’s a fool’s way out. I’m afraid it’s already signed. As for the questions…” He smiled. “We have a year. Let’s get to work.”
The gold circlet in his hair caught the morning light. For a moment, Fie would have sworn it burned like fire.
The Sunrise Pavilion was the eye of a small storm for the next hour, but eventually it dwindled to Tavin, Fie, Jasimir, and Khoda, who had kept his distance and fussed with Mango-Jasifur until the orange tomcat hid under a bench.
When it was just the four of them, Khoda trudged over, distinctly avoiding Jasimir’s gaze. “Officially,” he said, “you are the only survivor in the royal family. Not counting Tavin, since… Crow.” He shrugged.“Unofficially, you should know Rhusomir survived. I’ve been ordered to take him to be raised on Yimesei with the rest of the Swans. It doesn’t seem like he’s a witch, and he’s too young to remember much.”
“You’re going back to the Black Swans, then,” Jasimir said, just stiff enough for Fie to hear a cramp in his voice.
“Oh, I’m almost certainly going to be cast out for”—Khoda waved a hand at the swaths of charred rubble—“all this. Probably for the best.”
Jasimir straightened, startled. “You want to leave them?”
Khoda didn’t answer a moment, throat working. “You were right, you know. Both you and Fie. We helped a monster like Surimir stay in power, and we let everyone else pay the price. And they said it was all to do the best for Sabor, but if that was the best, I don’t want any part of it.” He finally looked Jasimir in the eye, as if he had more to say, then bowed. “Take care of yourself, Your Majesty.”
Jasimir didn’t say a word as Khoda strode from the pavilion.
Fie seized Jasimir by the sleeve. “Tell. Me.Everything.”
His cheeks darkened. He clapped his hands over them, cringing. “It was just—when you sent me to go find Barf in the guest quarters, I was trying to get her out from under the bed, and then Khoda showed up becausehethought someone should save the cats, and we were both scared out of our minds, and.Things.Happened.”
Fie looked at Tavin. Tavin looked at her. Then he looked at Jasimir. “On a scale of one to window seat—”
Jasimir shoved him.
Fie thought of Wretch’s parting words to her when she’d left Pa’s shrine:Just because the lad loves you doesn’t mean he does right.It was easier to forgive Tavin than Khoda, and easier never meant easy… but it might yet be managed.
“You still have to hold Sabor together for a year, you know,” she said. “You could probably use a spymaster.”
Jasimir let out a long breath. “I probably could. Especially since… neither of you can stay, can you?”
Fie shook her head. “It’ll be a hard year. Those outbreaks will have wiped out whole crops, herds… I don’t know if we can put the land to rights like we did here. It might be just the grave, and even here, it needed to burn.”
“And I’m a Crow now,” Tavin said. “There’s something about that, isn’t there? Going where I’m called?”
Jasimir cracked a smile at that. “Then I’ll call you both back when I need you.”
Fie returned his smile. “And we won’t always wait for a call. Though we’ve a lot of ash to harvest first.”
