Time would only dull my teeth if they fell from my gums. She replied in a haughty snip, striding beside her son step for step. Her tail bobbed faintly over her haunches, as cool eyes swept their surroundings. At the very least, Shen had found them somewhere without the muck of the swamp behind them, and for that she could be somewhat grateful. She tipped her head to the side to look at her son’s jawline, before she strode a few steps ahead, forever a bulwark against the world.

Are you going to tell me who all is here? Or am I going to have to guess? You told me of the boy spat out by death, but have any other faces found you? Call it nosiness, or a mother’s inherent desire to know everything about her son. But Bailu knew she would have to cobble together her spy rings all over again, and that brought an itch right up her spine. She had worked so hard on it, stole it right out from under the previous spymaster’s nose, and now she would have to rebuild it all.

Do not worry. I won’t scare them. Much.