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across so many of the houses. He held up his hands, looking up at the sky. “How can they even remember? We have worked so hard for so many years to erase such knowledge.”
    Reisil rubbed her fingers over her arm, wincing, frowning as his words sank in. “I didn’t know that. Why didn’t I know that? ”
    Sodur turned a look of aggravated impatience on her, sliding his fingers roughly through his hair. “Demonballs, Reisil! Because you don’t look. You don’t pay attention to what’s right in front of you. Sometimes I wonder if you can really be that naïïve. One wonders how you’ve survived this long.”
    Reisil stiffened at the contempt in his voice. He was looking at her like she was something smelly he’d stepped in. Her teeth clamped together and she faced him, her expression tight. “ Am I naïïve, then?”
    “Like a child hiding in her mother’s skirts.”
    Reisil recoiled. She’d been abandoned as a child, raised by charity. There had never in her life been anyone to protect her. She’d never had the choice to hide in her mother’s skirts or anywhere else.
    “Maybe you should educate me,” she said, biting off each word as she folded her arms across her stomach.
    “Would that you could see it for yourself,” he returned. “Open your eyes! You are never going to survive if you can’t see what there is to be seen. Being ahalad-kaaslane means standing on your own, making your own decisions.”
    At Reisil’s continued look of hostility, Sodur flung out a hand and explained grudgingly.
    “The Iisand has been a supporter of the ahalad-kaaslane all his reign, but he’s unusual. Many Iisands have rebelled against our authority. The ahalad-kaaslane have the power to gainsay the nobility. The Iisand and the Arkeinik rule Kodu Riik, but only so far as we allow them. It sticks in their craw. Since the founding of Kodu Riik, there has been a constant push to limit the influence of the ahalad-kaaslane .” He snorted and shook his head. “All they needed was an excuse. Upsakes gave them one. Now our heads are truly on the block. Our warnings fall on deaf ears; our protests are dismissed as self-serving, greedy or treasonous. The nobles begin to move openly against us. Even to murder. They no longer believe the Lady watches and judges.”
    “And you think She does?” Reisil said.
    His lip curled. “She always watches. But they forget, just like you.” He gestured at the scrawled curses and hexmarks. “Seeing that filth, can you doubt what I say? Why do you think I spend so much time in the palace? Why do you think—?”
    Sodur broke off abruptly, his cheeks red. Reisil stood very still. A quiver began deep in her chest. Her mouth went dry. She felt as if she were standing on the edge of a precipice, a vast darkness looming before her.
    There was something—Something she should see .
    And then it came to her.
    For a moment she couldn’t breathe. Everything inside her turned sere and cold and hard. The pain was like a needle through her brain. Her knees sagged. With great effort she caught herself, standing firm. No. Not in front of him. Never, ever again. Naïïve? Not anymore. Nor trusting.
    She took a step back, her voice uninflected, giving no hint of the storm raging inside. “It was you all the time. You sent anyone away who might be my friend, who might tell me what’s going on. And the rest of the ahalad-kaaslane —you told them to avoid me. Convinced them they couldn’t trust me.” It wasn’t really a question, but she hoped with all her heart that he would protest.
    Sodur said nothing, his lips pursing.
    Pain tightened around her throat like hot copper wire. It was all she could do not to spit at him. “All the time you said not to worry, they’d come around, and all the time you were sabotaging me. Why?” Reisil bit the tip of her tongue, welcoming the pain.
    Reisil’s voice cracked, and she spun away. She paced down the street, her gait stiff and graceless. She managed a dozen