The carriage came to a halt less than an hour after their departure. Eluvie knew that that was not long enough to reach their destination. It was barely long enough to exit the city. She tried not to seem too excited as the doors opened and the others stepped out.

  Leaving the carriage took her back to her first escape, to the day she’d finally seen the sun. She could not say what she had expected their surroundings to be when she exited, but she was disappointed nonetheless. The ground was just as barren as it had been inside the palace; barren and dry. They stood on the shores of a great ocean, so the land closest to the water was muddy and reddish. But, just a few meters from the water, it transformed into a cracked, dry mass that would likely break any enterprising hoe.

  She turned away from the ocean to look at the city, hoping that it would be better. It was just as disappointing. The landscape sloped down toward the water, so she could only see a little of the city, but what she saw was depressing. The line of buildings closest to the water were little more than shacks. Some rose several stories high, but none were more than shabby, crumbling buildings.

  “I want to see something,” she said to Lady Mirab, then rose into the air.

  “Hey!” Someone called. “What are you doing?”

  Eluvie ignored the voice and continued rising until she could see more of the city. None of it was good. The road they had come down was a thin, stone path pressed upon by towering buildings, and it was the best-maintained part of the city. The best of the buildings were stone apartments with dust-covered windows and worn-out wooden doors. The worst were wooden buildings seemingly on the verge of collapse. But, worse than all of that were the people. A quick estimate told her that there was not nearly enough housing for them, and that was evidenced by the countless number she saw sleeping in alleys, on roofs, or in the middle of the streets. She had often heard her attendants complaining about their housing, but she had never before truly understood their predicament.

  She stayed in the air until there was nothing more to see, then she slowly sank back to the ground.

  There, Lady Mirab stood watching her with an annoyed expression. “That was incredibly dangerous, Eluvie,” she said. “Someone could have shot you down. Did you not think of that?”

  Eluvie frowned. “Who would shoot me?”

  “Do you think everyone is your friend? Half of the vagrants on the street would do it out of boredom alone. The other nations would do it to harm our alliance. And the war has barely ended. Almost everyone you meet will hate you just for being an Illrum. Did you think we rode out in a closed carriage because I hate fresh air?”

  Eluvie almost felt chastened. That was the power of Lady Mirab’s acting. But she called to mind everything that she had endured and the feeling disappeared.

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  “I apologize,” she said. “I’ll be more careful.”

  Lady Mirab eyed her for a moment, then she shook her head and sighed at the same time. “How can I fault your curiosity? Let’s go before you get into even more trouble.”She pretended to forget the matter, and Eluvie pretended that she had not noticed the guards preparing to shoot her down. Their web of lies was so fragile that she could not guess how much longer it would last.

  Eluvie walked ahead of Lady Mirab toward the enormous ship waiting on the water while ignoring the caged feeling that the surrounding guards gave her. She focused on the ship instead. It looked far too large for their company. Its hull was easily two houses tall, and the boarding ramp was almost as long as the ship.

  Eluvie boarded it carefully. She did not recall ever being on a ship, but if she had, she knew that she had not enjoyed it.

  When they had boarded, Mirab gave Eluvie the option of retiring to her room or remaining on deck with the rest of the company. She chose to remain on deck. She had no desire to be in a cramped space with whatever number of guards would be sent with her. More importantly, the wait on deck provided her with enough time to inspect the company. She recognized the other rulers, but there was a new company of people she had never met. They kept to themselves and occasionally spoke in a fluid language that she could, strangely, understand. One of them, the best-dressed and most guarded, kept stealing unabashed glances at her. So, she stared freely at him in return.

  Hours later, after she had napped in a chair, eaten a full meal, and napped some more, the ship began moving. She watched the shore as they pulled out. The voices bid goodbye to her; it was strange but also strangely heartwarming.

  "What are you smiling at?" Eluvie jumped at Amu’s voice. He stood beside her lounging chair, looking more tired than he had the previous night. She vacillated between lying to him and ignoring him and finally settled on a misdirection.

  "What were you lot discussing below deck?"

  "Nothing you won’t find out soon," he said. Then he turned and watched the retreating shore with her.

  They stood there for several minutes, until the voices had faded completely. Despite their departure, the world did not go silent. In fact, it seemed louder than it had before they left the shore, and it was getting louder as they got further out. Eluvie stared around the ship, trying to find the source of the noise. It sounded like a constant hum emanating from every direction at once.

  "What’s wrong?" Amu asked.

  "Do you hear anything?" she asked, regretting the question as soon as she asked it.

  He frowned. "Just the waves and conversation."

  Eluvie gave no reply. She strained, hoping to pick out the direction from which the sound was strongest. That was of no help in determining a direction, but it did clarify the sound. As she strained, the hum resolved into words: the same word, repeated over and over and over again.

  Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die.

  "Eluvie," Amu waved a hand in front of her face. "Are you well?"

  She ignored him, rose to her feet, and went to the boat’s edge. Her guards followed some of the way.

  She leaned over the edge, using only her head so they would not worry about her jumping.

  The sound was coming from the water.