---
Luna stepped away from the chrysalis and moved to the devour-rite's edge. She did not cross the rune line; she did not need to see with her eyes. She let her hand hover over the pool's skin and read heat and history the way a good cook reads a pot. Her mouth went small in a way that meant satisfaction without delight.
"They will come mean," she said. "Hungry and angry and sure. Good. A soldier who is only hungry needs to be taught. A soldier who is also sure can be pointed."
Akayoroi's gaze ran down the line of cradles and came to rest on the empty one by the door. She touched the frame with the back of her knuckles. "This one will be hers next time," she said, and did not need to name the her.
Kai let the words sit and then folded them into a corner of his mind where promises go to ripen. He had learned lately to keep that corner organized. A messy promise is worse than none.
