Big folk always had their noses in the air. They never learned to look down. If they did, they might have noticed what Tanya had seen every day since the Full Moon.

  The mists of the voidpit down in Zav level were shrinking. Every day, the mists grew lower.

  Tanya had a feeling that the New Moon Festival was going to be a special one. She’d already had everything prepared for the Full Moon Festival before the poor children had their plan discovered. She’d already had everything she needed for a good festival. For the next two weeks, she baked.

  Tanya was proud of her biscuits. Oh, she tried to be modest, of course. But everyone knew her biscuits were the best. And these, filled with her special custard creams, were extra special. She watched carefully over those two weeks, making mental notes on everyone in Hellfrost. She needed to make proper sure that there were the right amount for both groups: the Naughty and the Nice.

  Danys Akra was a Nice one, to be sure. Even when Yvris ordered harsher punishments for the quarries, Akra never went too far. And her lovely husband was the one to give Tanya such a good deal on the homemade buttermilk, so Tanya had to take extra care for hers. Tanya sniffed the amorleaves before stirring them in with a nostalgic sigh. Tanya had taken those leaves herself when trying for her first. And Ron had turned out so healthy.

  Zadrine, on the other hand...that one was Naughty as it gets. The tricky part was that an ashkari wouldn’t mind spice. Even something stronger wasn’t likely to work any better than when she’d tried paying Erdrak back for what he’d done to Ena.

  Yvris was even trickier. The dezar was such a zealot that he abstained from all treats himself. Well, at least he had the decency to deny himself some pleasures that he viewed as evil in others. Of all the areas of false righteousness that the executor chose, perhaps it was credit that there was at least a hint of sincerity mixed in with that batch of hypocrisy. Or maybe the poor man was so twisted that he couldn’t even enjoy anything proper wholesome anymore. That was a sad thought. Tanya let herself pity the man even while hating him. Just because she wished every day he’d have a sudden aneurysm didn’t mean there wasn’t also room in her heart for a bit of pity.

  But that would just have been too convenient. On with the baking. The biscuits had to be ready.

  * * *

  Two weeks after Aven died, Esherah woke to the Thorn’s twisted touch. Even now, Yvris hadn’t grown bored with sending those searing flashes of pain at random. He didn’t bother with bringing Esherah in for confessions. The Thorn itself was enough punishment, apparently. In fact, Esharah hadn’t been out of her cell in all that time. Every day, the walls seemed to press closer. For the first week, Yvris had forbidden her any food. Tanya had sneaked in an occasional small roll or morsel, but even so the gnawing hunger had become a companion as constant as the Thorn.

  The guards took Logash away that morning for the public display. He’d returned an hour later on shaking legs, clearly victim Yvris’ cruelty. When the guards left Logash, Tanya followed with her cart.

  “I’m very sorry for that,” Esharah heard the minari talking to Logash. “Here’s an extra bowl to keep your strength up. One of the big ones for you.” An exaggerated whisper, “Yvris ordered them burned, but I managed to save a few in the kitchens for you. A big boy needs an extra large bowl. And a special biscuit too.”

  A weak chuckle and thanks from Logash, and Tanya moved on to Esharah.

  “Good morning, dear,” Esharah could hear the smile in her voice.

  There hadn’t been good mornings for a long time from Esharah’s perspective. None that she could remember.

  Tanya didn’t seem to hold Esharah’s lack of reply against her, “Make sure you eat up. I saved a special biscuit for you as well. You’re getting so thin. You’ll need your strength.” A pause, then a conspiratorial whisper, “Especially need it tonight.”

  Esharah finally glanced over her shoulder at the minari, “Why’s that?”

  The minari winked, “Just a feeling. Call it an old widow’s intuition.”

  Esharah had never felt anything unusual in Tanya’s emotions. Sympathy. Simple joy in cooking and caring for others. Even when Tanya had related the tales of what Yvris and Erdrak had done to her family, the only thing she’d felt was the expected anger. Now, looking at Tanya without the benefit of her Empathic Sense, she wondered if she’d ever really seen the minari at all. The meal was the same as usual. Watery porridge. Stale crusts. That extra biscuit in the middle was the only special part.

  There was a twinkle in Tanya’s eye as Esharah took the bowl.

  “What are you doing?” Esharah asked.

  Tanya just winked at her again and moved on.

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  Esharah stared at the bowl.

  “You’ll need your strength,” she said. Why?

  What difference did it make? Whether Esharah starved or lived?

  Does it matter?

  There wasn’t hope to be found in Hellfrost. That had died along with Aven. Tanya’s cryptic mutterings weren’t anything approaching hope.

  Still, Esharah ate.

  * * *

  With the Full Moon Festival of Octem cancelled, most of the celebrations that usually took place had been moved to the New Moon. As a child, Danys had never appreciated the New Moons. Time for contemplation, peace...all of that was lost on a rambunctious child. The excitement and wild revels of the Full Moon were far more appealing.

  Now, she found herself wishing for the usual peace. If peace were possible under Yvris’ new regime. Trirem was the month of Harmony, a time to gather together as spring transitioned to summer. That Ideal meant little when Yvris’ “Harmony” meant silencing all other voices. The Festival of Still Waters at the new moon ordinarily was a time for sharing music by the river. It was that very festival two years ago that Ciarhan had proposed...

  Instead of that peace, the acolytes of the town temple led the revelry of the Great Dance, the full moon festival of Harmony.

  With the Wardens overseeing the quarries now, neither guards nor prisoners had any rest. Now, Danys was still assigned to guard duty. Up here atop Hellfrost’s walls, the lights of the town below were all she could see. Ciarhan was down there somewhere among those lights. With extra guard duty these past days, Danys had scarcely had chance to be with her husband. Harmony did not, apparently, include giving husbands and wives time together.

  The sound of Tanya’s cart jerked Danys out of the bitter thoughts.

  “Ooh, it’s cold up here!” the minari housekeeper remarked, spooning a ladleful of hot soup into a bowl and handing it to her. “Hard luck not to be able to enjoy the festival, isn’t it?”

  Danys thanked her and took the broth. Even just as hand-warmer, it was welcome, “Duty calls.” Complaining about the empire was a soldier’s greatest pastime, but Danys had enough sense to keep the seething thoughts to herself.

  “Duty aside, festivals are special nights,” Tanya remarked. “Times best spent with loved ones not out on guard duty.” She held out something, “Biscuit?”

  Danys gratefully took the treat, noting Tanya watching closely as she bit into it, the expression of every cook anxious to see how their creation was appreciated. The custard-cream filling hit her taste buds just right. Danys sighed. Almost worth everything. The heat seemed to go right to her belly.

  “It’s delicious, thank you,” Danys said.

  Tanya smiled broadly, “Glad to here it, dear.” She winked, “Festivals should be times of enjoyment. I certainly wouldn’t tell anyone if a lonely sergeant went off to see her husband during such times.”

  Danys barked out a laugh. Tanya’s sense of humor was certainly refreshing in Hellfrost, “If only, eh?” she said, turning back to look at the lights of the town below. A part of her longed to follow that suggestion, to simply abandon the keep and go. To run and hold her husband in her arms and forget about duty, and orders, and the empire, and just spend a festival night in the embrace of someone she loved.

  When Tanya rumbled on, the thoughts stayed with Danys. The heat of the soup and the spicier warmth of the biscuit’s cream feeling stayed in her.

  The heat moved lower. It only made the cold of the night air worse.

  Damn Yvris. Damn Hellfrost. Damn the guard duty that was keeping her up here. Why was she up here freezing her arse off, anyway? To protect Hellfrost? From what? She wasn’t even watching for voidspawn. Her guard post overlooked the town, as if the threat to Hellfrost came from those trying to live peacefully in its shadow. More a taunt than a duty. Showing her what she could not have, a reminder that Yvris could deny even the most basic of pleasures to anyone who gave the slightest sympathy to prisoners.

  Fuck it. Hang them all. There might be punishment waiting in the morning, but tonight, Danys didn’t care. The spear clattered on the stone ledge as Danys dropped it and turned away.

  Tonight was a festival, and Danys needed to find her husband.

  * * *

  Maddox looked gloomily at the crystal in front of him. All was quiet, no matter which side of the many-faceted rock he looked at. All the eyes saw the same quiet scenes.

  Out in the town, people were enjoying themselves, and he was still stuck here on watch duty. It wasn’t fair.

  Maybe that was best, in a way. He winced, feeling the mark on his cheek that Zadrine had left. Should’ve known better. ‘Course that Esharah was just pulling a prank, claiming that Zadrine might be interested in him. The dezar was a traitor anyway, and traitors probably did lots of pranks like that.

  On a festival night, though, even Maddox could dream of getting a bit lucky.

  Fantasies of such luck were vivid enough that when the door creaked open, Maddox almost expected it to be Zadrine as she appeared in those fantasies. Instead of an uncharacteristically dressed ashkari, reality instead gave him a middle-aged minari wheeling a cart.

  “Hullo, Tanya,” Maddox sighed.

  Tanya gave him a cheerful wave, “Hello, dear! I’m sorry that you had to spend tonight in this dark little room.” She held up a bowl of soup, “But at least I can bring you some warm broth and a biscuit.”

  Maddox accepted it with a nod. The broth was a nice bit of heat. The biscuit was better. Tanya always made great biscuits. Almost as good as Ma’s. ‘Course, Maddox hadn’t had one of Ma’s in years on account of being thrown out of the house for being a good-for-nothing layabout.

  “Quiet night?” Tanya asked.

  “All quiet,” Maddox sighed, giving the crystal a passing glance again. ‘Course it’d be quiet. None of the other prisoners were stupid as that voidtouched one. Since Yvris made the consequences clear, not one of the others had tried anything so dumb. Best keep it that way. A quiet night was best. At least on quiet nights, he could imagine a better reality than the one fate stuck him in.

  Maddox bit into the biscuit again. That custard cream had a funny aftertaste. More like medicine than sweets. Not bad, though. Actually, it was kind of relaxing.

  Falling asleep was a bad idea. It meant beatings...if anyone found out. They didn’t always find out. Maddox sometimes got away with quick naps. And it was a quiet night. Maddox gave a last glance at the crystal, spinning it slowly to see each of the views of the Eyes. All quiet. Even on Zav level...

  That was strange. There was something moving down there. Was that the pit?

  Maddox blinked and rubbed his eyes. Bah. The night was getting to him. Seeing things. All was quiet. Nothing to worry about. Just a quiet festival night.

  Putting aside the cares, Maddox laid his head down and closed his eyes.

  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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