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“Is he, um, aware that you’re a girl?”

She rolled her eyes. “I think I mentioned it before we got naked and screwed.”

“Oh. And he’s…?”

“He’s nicer than he comes across at first.”

“He’d have to be,” I said. “The first time we met him, he tried to kill us.”

“Yeah, we had a big laugh over that when I let him know. Heck of a meet-cute, right?”

“A meet-cute?”

“Look, he wasn’t doing that because he wanted to,” Yudit told me earnestly. “He hated all the violence and political machinations. But he had to act like he was following the emperor’s orders. Nikidik was devastated when his spell started turning people into radishes. And he didn’t go through with any of the assassination missions in the north. He kept up the pretense, but made sure they were survivable injuries. It was a coincidence that the Doge of Pulik choked on a chicken bone.”

“He threw a lightning bolt at my head!”

“And missed. He was trying to be convincing.”

“It worked, then.” I was dubious. If the wizard had deliberately missed me with that lightning bolt, then he possessed an unnerving sense of theatrics. It had come alarmingly close. “Your boyfriend could have turned against the emperor sooner,” I griped.

“He’d always been undermining Osvald’s plans in secret,” Yudit said. “I just had to give him that, you know, final push to get it out in the open.”

Well. Given that he’d resigned his position and risked his life to help us tonight, I was a bit more inclined to give the wizard the benefit of the doubt. Besides, my sister liked him, and when all was said and done, I trusted her judgment.

“You should know, um…” I began, then paused. “I’m sorry about everything I said.” I wanted to get it out now, in case the guards rushed in and started screaming that we’d murdered the emperor. “Back when we were in the swamp.”

“Me, too. I think we were just stuck together for too long, you know?”

“I do.” Although I was surprised by how much I’d missed her when she was away.

We sat in silence for a little while, but it was a more comfortable silence again.

“Hey,” she said. “You’ve really got the flowers under control?”

I nodded. “Ilyana’s ring. I only wore it for a little while, but I learned a lot.”

“Then if the war is actually over, I might go back to the Crimson City with Nikidik. See how things work out with him. You and I could stand to live our own lives for a while. Maybe I’ll ask the king and queen if they need an ambassador there.”

“What?” That caught me completely by surprise. “But I…you…”

She was puzzled. “You can sleep by yourself now, right?”

“Yes, but won’t you still want me around? So you don’t kill off the crops.”

“The crops.” Yudit gave me a level look. “The many, many crops in the middle of the Crimson City.”

Oh. Right. A stone metropolis in a wasteland where magic was needed to pull food out of the ground.

I’d always known that I needed Yudit more than she needed me. Until that very moment, though, I’d never realized quite how unbalanced it was. If she hadn’t been by my side every night, I would have died. Meanwhile, she’d only had to find a city that wasn’t particularly dependent on urban agriculture.

She’d put up with a lot to save my life.

“Thanks,” I said.

“For what?”

“Everything. Love you, sis.”