The East Palace was a disaster zone of half-packed wooden trunks and scattered silk, but for the first time since we arrived in this cursed city, the air actually felt light.
"Do we have to pack the ugly vases?" Rin asked, struggling to shove a massive, gaudy porcelain urn into a crate. "They look like angry frogs."
"Leave the vases," I laughed, tossing a stack of northern woolen tunics into my own trunk. "The new Emperor can keep his ugly frogs. Just pack your winter boots, Rin. It's going to be freezing when we get back to the fortress."
"I am not going to the North," Yuki announced from his silk cushion. The cat-boy was currently eating a piece of dried fish, looking incredibly smug. "I am a deity of temperate climates. Snow is bad for my fur. I demand to be left in a tropical temple with a dedicated fish chef."
