I would have never guessed that one day I would find myself at a coronation. Or, I decided on second thought, as someone invited to a coronation. Sneaking into one and stealing things was something I could easily imagine myself doing.

Deorun's throne room looked much better. The hoards of art had been distributed back into the castle. A few pieces had been left-a large tapestry on the far wall depicting the four pyramids, a few paintings of old kings and queens and two statues of Roe. Fresh air blew through new, pale red curtains. It was almost possible to forget what had happened in this room, and who had reigned in it for so long.

Valkiros stood in front of the throne, dressed in an elaborately embroidered red tunic and beige pants. It really wasn't that different from what he had been wearing the first time I'd seen him offering the old king a tray of treats. But things had changed. Instead of standing on a lower step, off to the side, he was front and centre. He stood tall and looked confident, although I suspected that was mostly for show.

On his left, Queen Navire was wearing the same kind of wraparound orange dress she had worn in Navire. Her wrists glittered with bracelets, and a slim gold crown had been braided into her dark hair. I still had no idea how old she was.

Tandrin was on Valkiros' right, dressed like a noble Telt. His cloak was gold-the colour of Zianna-but underneath, his tunic was a rich blue for West Draulin. He wasn't wearing a crown. He wasn't, I remembered suddenly, even King Zianna yet.

My gaze found Tannix next, standing on Tandrin's side of the dais, a few steps down. As always he was dressed in blue, but he didn't stand out as much as he had in Navire. Although the Navirians and Deoruns in the room favoured warmer colours, there were plenty of Telts dressed in nearly every colour possible. Mayah stood out to me, sitting near the front in her green dress. The knights were scattered around the room in blue. But there were other blues, other greens and purples mixed in with the warm reds, oranges and yellows.

I had been offered a seat near the front, amongst the important nobles, advisors and generals of all three kingdoms. I could see the chair sitting empty, and hoped none of the monarchs would be upset that I wasn't sitting there. It would have been too much. Too much attention. Too much praise. I was happier standing near the edge of the rows of chairs, with the less important guests, guards and servants.

Kor and Ender had given me odd looks when I joined them instead of taking my seat, but neither of them said anything. They knew me well enough to understand.

Despite the crowd, the room was silent. So when Valkiros started to speak, his voice easily carried. Although I couldn't understand a word he was saying, I could hear the way his voice changed as he spoke. He sounded firmer and more sure of himself with every sentence. Maybe because he had no practice addressing such a crowd. Maybe because the longer the audience paid attention, the more confident he felt. He finished his speech with a triumphant raising of his arms, and the people in the room who understood Deoran cheered.

Tandrin had the benefit of a translator. A young woman stood behind him, dressed in dark colours so she wouldn't attract too much attention as she whispered to him. The rest of us didn't. I exchanged a glance with Kor and Ender.

"Guess he was convincing," Kor said with a shrug.

"Oh, he was."

I shouldn't have been surprised when Kassia stepped out of the crowd and squeezed her way between me and Ender. I shouldn't have been surprised because she wasn't on the dais with Valkiros, nor had I seen her in any of the chairs. Of course she would seek me out.

But I was determined to not let her presence disarm me. "Care to translate?"

"Oh, it was all about repairing and rebuilding." Kassia waved her left arm, causing the bracelets on her wrist to click together pleasantly. "We have to repair Deorun's economy. We have to rebuild Deorun's cities. We have to restore our relationship with our neighbours. It was a pretty speech. He didn't write it, but..." She shrugged one shoulder. "He's new to all this. He doesn't have Avaloni's experience or Tandrin's charisma."

"Are you allowed to call them by name?"

"I'm the only reason this is working. Every Deorun in this room is here because I supported Valkiros' claim about who he really is. I think that earned me the right to call them by name, yes. I'm surprised you aren't being paraded around, actually."

I turned back to watch as Queen Navire stepped up and began a speech of her own. "Are you?"

"Well, no." Kassia admitted. "There's part of you that still wants to hide, despite everything that's happened. We're both products of our childhoods, aren't we? Pieces of how we grew up are buried deep in our personalities, and maybe they always will be. Maybe you'll always be a thief who wants to hide in the shadows."

Maybe I would be, but Kassia was saying it as if it was a negative thing, and I disagreed. "I don't want attention, and there's nothing wrong with that. I feel safer in the shadows. And my skills are more useful when they aren't paraded around."

"You want to be underestimated. I said it before, and I suppose I can respect that."

Queen Navire's speech came to a close, and everyone who could speak Navirian started to clap.

I looked at Kassia again. She wasn't dressed up nearly as nicely as I expected. Her clothing looked expensive, but instead of a dress she was wearing pants and a dark tunic. "What part of your childhood is buried in you?"

She met my gaze and smiled. I got the feeling she had wanted me to ask. "You were shaped by circumstance. You stole to survive. You had to perfect those skills, or you would have died. You didn't have a choice. I was shaped by training. I was taught languages, politics, how to fight and how to kill. The thing is, I didn't have a choice, either. It was learn, or be killed. Everyone's capable of forgiving your criminal past because you had no choice. Nobody thinks about me that way."

"I didn't kill anybody," I said. "That's the difference. And you didn't answer my question."

"Hmm." She nodded. "Every part of me was sculpted by the Associates. I was born into the organization. The parts of my childhood that are buried in me are the parts they planted there. My... inability to properly care about people, for one."

"You care about Valkiros."

"I do." She nodded again, but the action was smoothly followed by a shrug. "The way Idavari treated him infuriated me. He had so much power, and Valkiros had none. Powerful people preying on anyone who can't fight back disgusts me."

Tandrin was making a speech now, and even though I could finally understand what was being said, his words faded into the background. Kassia's words, on the other hand, I heard and understood. They explained the way we had met. Her jumping in beside me to protect Castin from Arow.

And yet, "You assassinated Tannix's father in his sleep. He couldn't fight back."

"It isn't the same thing. Don't ask me why. You'll just argue with any explanation I give you."

But I didn't need to ask. My thoughts were rushing ahead, flipping through everything I had ever noticed about Kassia. Every conversation I ever had with her. Everything I had ever heard about her. Her interest in me. And some of the information fit together in a new way.

"Your mother was-"

She cut me off sharply. "Parts of our stories are very similar. Let's just say that my mother wasn't paid for her service."

Not for the first time, I felt like I was getting somewhere with Kassia. "Was she an Associate?"

"Don't you remember? I can't talk about the organization."

"So, yes. If she wasn't, you'd tell me."

Kassia shook her head. "Such a clever boy. I hate you, have you puzzled that out? As much as you interest me, and I like you, I also hate you. Not because you keep thwarting me and escaping, but because of who you are. And who you refuse to be. And maybe, partially, because I don't have that kind of option. Goodbye, Finagale. I doubt this'll be the last time we cross paths, but a break would be nice, don't you agree?" She leaned in and kissed my cheek before I knew what was happening. Then she slipped into the crowd and effortlessly disappeared.

I was still trying to spot her in the crowd when Kor muttered, "She's trouble."

"She is," I agreed, turning back to watch the ceremony again. "But I don't think she's trouble for us. At least not now."

"She's a weapon," Ender said. "She just isn't currently aimed at us."

"As long as she's with Valkiros, I don't think we have to worry," I said truthfully.

Every time I spoke to Kassia, my feelings towards her got more and more complicated. Nothing would every justify killing Tannix's father. But there was more to Kassia, and she kept giving me small pieces of herself to prove it. Maybe one day, I'd have enough of the pieces to get the full picture, but somehow, I doubted it. Sharing was like a game for her, and she was going to make me work for every tidbit.

I pushed the conversation to the side and tried to focus on the coronation. On the dais, Valkiros was front and centre again. Facing his people, he dropped onto one knee. From an ornate box, Queen Navire picked up a thick crown. The same one I had seen King Idavari wearing.

She held it out so Tandrin could take one side. Together, they stepped closer to Valkiros and placed the crown on his head. Then the Queen took one of Valkiros' hands, and Tandrin took the other. They helped him to his feet.

Queen Navire spoke. I imagined it was the same declaration three times. First in Deorun, then Navirian, and finally Teltish.

"As our patron gods are siblings, so too are our countries," she said, her voice ringing across the throne room. "We will learn to work together as we once did. Navirians, Deorans, and Ziannans-be they Zian, Teltish or Crelan."

I suspected she added that last part just for her Teltish translation. The crowd cheered.

Then went silent when Tandrin raised his hand. Kassia's comment about his charisma came back to me unbidden.

"With the authority given to us by every goddess or god who rules in our countries, it is our pleasure to crown King Valkiros Deorun!"

Nobody needed to translate that. The cheering intensified as all three monarchs bowed together, still holding hands.

The celebration went long into the night. Tannix excused himself and all of us as early as he could manage without being rude, so that we could all get some sleep before leaving Deorun the next day

But it wasn't enough sleep. I was still tired the next morning as I sat on the stairs that lead up the quarterdeck on the Draulin Guardian. Tannix was at the top of the stairs, talking to Roland. The knights were moving things into a few rooms belowdecks. Mayah had already disappeared into the captain's quarters with Jalor.

Castin and Kovin sat on either side of me. Castin, with his arms crossed tightly over his chest, was staring at the city with open hostility. Kovin just looked happy to be on a ship, even if Roland had immediately ordered him to not actually do any work.

Bored, I tried to strike up a conversation. "This trip will be better than our last one."

They both looked at me. Castin shook his head. "That's a terrible joke."

I laughed. "We'll be home before you know it."

He looked at the city again. "If this is the farthest I ever get from Zianna, I'll be happy. I'll be happy to stay in one city for the rest of my life. And to never step on a boat again."

Kovin chuckled. "Not one for adventure, then, Soldier?"

Castin raised an eyebrow. "This was enough adventure for me."

Kovin considered that, and nodded. "Aye, fair 'nough. Rather not have any more adventures like this, myself. Lookin' forward t' some quiet tradin' trips, once my arm's in order."

"Do you even have a home to go back to, Sailor?" Castin asked.

"You just said it, mate. 'm a sailor. The ocean is my home, 'long as I've a good ship under my feet, aye?" Kovin said. "So what, you're retirin' from the army, then?"

"As soon as I can," Castin said with a firm nod. "First, I'll see this through with you, Finn." Then he cracked a smile and nudged me. "Lord West Draulin is still paying me a lot to be your guard."

"You've more than earned it," I said.

"I agree." Tannix came down the steps behind us. "And the pay is yours as long as you stay with us, Castin. Kovin, I'd like to offer you some money as well, for your part in the escape."

Even though he'd been hanging around me ever since being released from the medic's tent, Kovin still wasn't used to Tannix. His eyes went wide as he scrambled off of the steps. "Um, aye. Thank you, my lord."

"I understand Roland has offered you a permanent job on the Queen of Crele," Tannix continued. "That's a very good posting for a navy sailor."

"'m not a navy sailor, really, sir," Kovin said. "Well... reckon I enlisted for the war, but... um, aye. Yes. He did offer me the job. I've accepted, only 'm not allowed t' work right now."

Tannix smiled. "Good. Roland will be lucky to have you. After you recover, of course. There's no rush. Finn?" He walked past me down the last few steps, and I got up to follow him. He led me a little way away from Castin and Kovin, and leaned on the bulwark. It wasn't a habit I was particularly fond of, given the water right below us, but I stepped forward to join him. We were already drifting away from the dock as Roland shouted orders to his men.

We were quiet for a while. I wasn't sad to see Deorun get smaller as we sailed out of the bay. I wasn't going to miss the city or the camp or the desert. There wasn't a single thing about this country that I was going to miss.

"We're finally going home," Tannix said softy, as the Guardian sailed out of the bay. "There are... going to be some decisions to make."

He didn't elaborate, and for once I couldn't bring myself to press for more information. I wasn't sure what to make of his tone.