“Where is Mother?” Leila asked when she could speak again.
Her father’s face fell. “Dead these last three years,” he admitted. “It was one of her consolations that she would be joining you in the House of Song.”
“Oh.” Leila cast her eyes sadly downward. “I’m only slightly sorry I’ve disappointed her—but time passes quickly in the House of Song, so I’m told, and our reunion will come soon enough for her. In the meantime, I must give you the love I’ve saved up for the both of you.” And she hugged her father even tighter.
When at last the depths of their emotion had been plumbed, the king chose to interrupt. “May I inquire, O shameless niece, about these strangers you seem to have brought with you?”
Leila looked up at her companions standing in the doorway, and saw them as though for the
