26 VIOLYA V floated in the cool water of Inaly Lake. The sun was shining, and the city was warming up. Five weeks had passed since the stone army battle. She couldn’t remember the aftermath, had spent much of the journey home and the following weeks flitting in and out of consciousness. That morning she’d woken early in a strange bed with Emmo snuggled against her side. It had taken her a while to realise she was in the Melokai apartment in Riaow. She’d last been in these rooms with Gwrlain clutching the dead bodies of Melokai Ramya and the baby Terya. It had been scrubbed clean, aired, made fit for the new Melokai. Although V had specifically said she’d sleep in the barracks, she knew her councillors had made the best choice by bringing her here to recuperate. Her presence in the b

