need to get some sleep.’
‘No,’ Crane said suddenly. They stared at him. ‘No more going off alone, Velody. It’s not fair to any of us.’
‘It’s morning,’ she pointed out. ‘I think I can resist the urge to hurl myself into the sky again.’
‘I’ll go with you.’ Kelpie appeared at the gate. She arched her eyebrows at Velody. ‘Or don’t you want my help?’
‘I’d welcome it,’ said Velody. She poked Crane in the chest. ‘Sleep. Thank you for your help this nox. You, too,’ she added to Macready.
‘All part of the job,’ he said.
How intriguing that he was devoting so much energy into not looking at Rhian. Velody had no time to think about everyone’s strange behaviour. She and Kelpie headed south at a quick pace, matching each other.
‘It’s bad when the Lords start leaving the city,’ Velody said in an undertone. ‘Right?’
‘Right,’ Kelpie confirmed. ‘Rats leaving a sinking barge and all that.’
‘I should have paid more attention to Priest. After what happened with that devil that possessed him …’
‘You weren’t here,’ said Kelpie. There was an uncomfortable pause. ‘I don’t mean that like it sounded. Not in a bad way. You can’t expect to have sorted things out when you were somewhere else entirely.’
‘They didn’t do a great job without me, did they?’
Velody was half-joking, but Kelpie turned a serious face on her.
‘No, they really didn’t. I never liked you much. But things are worse when you’re not here.’
‘Even if I brought Garnet back with me?’
Kelpie’s face closed over and she turned away. ‘Don’t know how that’s going to turn out. I cried when the sky took him. Felt like a failure. But it was a relief, too.’
‘It might be different this time. He might be different.’ But Velody couldn’t promise that, could she? ‘I don’t know,’ she sighed. ‘I don’t know who he is, not really. Everything he said and did while we were trapped in that place could have been a lie to make me trust him. I haven’t even seen him since Ashiol tried to drown him in the Lake of Follies. Perhaps he caught a train, too.’
Kelpie shivered. ‘Not him. He doesn’t back down. Not ever. Especially with people he loves.’
They walked the rest of the way in silence. The morning sunlight was clear and bright by the time they reached the Aurian Gate. Despite the daylight, Velody felt something lift off her shoulders as she crossed through to the other side. ‘Oh,’ she said softly. Her animor was still there, pulsing in her veins. She could shape herself into little brown mice if she had to. But something was gone.
‘The sky’s different outside the city,’ Kelpie said quietly. ‘Isn’t it?’
That was it. The sky over the city was something else entirely. It didn’t look any different, but she was free here, just as she was trapped when she was within the bounds of Aufleur.
‘Perhaps we should all get on the train,’ she muttered.
‘You don’t mean that,’ said Kelpie.
‘How do you know?’
‘Because you’re stronger than any of those stupid men.’
Velody laughed. She couldn’t help it. She was still laughing when they stepped onto the station platform and saw Priest sitting there, a courtesa on either side of him and a large trunk at his feet.
‘Wish me luck,’ said Velody.
Velody stepped forward, her buttoned-up boots making a little noise on the platform. A memory came unbidden: of her brother Sage coming out of the steam, of Cyniver waiting at the side for him to notice her, of that last visit home before everything ended. All temptation to step on a train herself and let it carry her away was gone in a moment. Aufleur would suffer the same fate as Tierce if they didn’t stay to fight. Garnet and Ashiol would be at each other’s throats — Garnet’s homecoming had proved that. They needed her.
The gull courtesa, Damson, slid over to the other side of her Lord as Velody approached, making room for her. Priest looked unsurprised at her appearance.
‘My Lady,’ he said with courtesy, though the absence of ‘Power’ or ‘Majesty’ was tangible.
‘Why would you leave?’ she asked. ‘You, of all people?’
‘I seem a fixture among the Court, do I?’ Priest asked. ‘If that is the case, dear demme, you have not been paying attention. I have nothing holding me here.’
‘Nothing but an oath,’ Velody said.
‘Two oaths,’ he corrected her. ‘Both broken by death. Or cancelled out by each other.’
‘I’m not dead,’ she reminded him.
Priest looked her over. ‘You died. It is enough.’
‘Are you so sure