Adonissian lay in bed, staring up at the darkness as rain pattered against the stone and shutters. Denault snored softly, his arm slung across Adonissian's chest.

  One job among dozens. Nothing personal in seducing a married man and kidnapping his child, merely another sacrifice so the most powerful people in the Book could stay safe. Don't think about that, just frame this as last bit of unpleasantness and then freedom from his contract.

  Attempts to disentangle Denault failed. Adonissian lay still again, worried he might wake the man up if he moved too quickly. Dawn's first light edged the outlines of the shutters. Little time remained, but he waited to try again until he was sure Denault slept soundly.

  As he forced himself still, Adonissian writhed inside. Until Hassani's rejection, he'd done his duty. Sure, parts were distasteful and people got hurt, but people got hurt anyway. If he didn't do it, Rega would send someone like Kass or, worse, her pet monster Ghulen to get it done.

  Sure, problems and issues came up, but he'd always won through in the end. Damn Hassani. If she'd given in like everyone else had, he wouldn't be here forced to these distasteful means. She was to blame for this more than he was.

  He pulled himself carefully out of bed, stifling a groan at the soreness in his back and throat. Hauling his belongings across several verses to get here, too little sleep, too much spicy fish stew, and last night's extended sexual activity all finally caught up to him.

  Dressing silently, Adonissian forced himself to not look at Denault. The man might be an entitled ass, but he loved his daughter fiercely. No parent deserved what Adonissian was about to do much less what he'd already done, but Hassani forced his hand so here he stood. Damn her again.

  Avani's room connected to her father's by a short corridor. Padding its length quickly and quietly, he thought about how he'd convince her if she awoke. Fortunately, the girl trusted him instinctively from the moment he introduced himself when he 'bumped into' her father again.

  Since becoming a Phero, he'd avoided children whenever possible, worried that they might fall for him as Kass crudely suggested. Luckily, it just made them like him. Trust him.

  Calling the little girl's room a mess was generous. While Denault kept the common areas tidy and presentable for company, he'd surrendered all pretense at the boundary of Avani's room. Dirty clothes and colorful toys littered every scrap of floor space all lit by a dim white lambent crystal glowing faintly on its hook above the girl's oversized crib.

  Placing his bare feet carefully to avoid stepping on anything fragile, pointy, noisy, or all the above and especially to avoid crushing that damn 'pillar, he stalked to the crib and pulled the girl's blankets away.

  "Adda?" the freakishly Pale girl mumbled sleepily, clutching at a rag doll that still resembled Hassani in spite of the wear and tear inherent in living with a toddler.

  "We're going on a little trip, Avani," he said softly, brushing her platinum-white hair back before hefting her to his shoulder.

  She slumped over it and wrapped an arm around his neck, burrowing into him. "O'tay."

  Retracing his steps took even longer than the way in. By the time he reached Denault's room again, dawn's faint light lit the edges of the shutters and the hallway beyond.

  "I'm sorry, Denault. For all of this," he said softly to the man's sleeping form. "I'll see that she's cared for and returns unharmed once Hassani comes to heel."

  Denault rolled over and Adonissian's gut tightened. Denault coughed, rolled back, and pulled a blanket over his head.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  Adonissian turned and walked towards the doors, grateful for the rumble and crash of the waves against the stack, the rain pounding down, and the distant rumble of thunder to cover any sound he might make. Nearing the entryway, he squinted into the darkness in search of his sandals.

  Right when he began to relax, he stepped on something bristly and squishy. Stumbling in surprise, he slammed Avani into the wall and landed heavily on the bench by the door.

  The girl awoke screaming as Adonissian pulled himself to his knees, staring in horror at the white glint of bone jutting from his forearm. This couldn't be happening.

  "Avani, what in the Ascendant's name are you-" Denault roared, rushing naked through the doorway and stopping in shock.

  "She was out here so I picked her up to... I know it looks like... but it isn't." Adonissian gestured weakly towards where the girl curled up in a ball screaming. A lot of blood. His mind numbly noted that at least the blood seemed to be his and not hers. His eyes locked on his mangled arm and he couldn't look away.

  "You bastard! You damnable Wretch!"

  Denault leapt on him, slamming him to the stone floor and raining blows down. Adonissian tried to cover himself with his good arm, but most got through, battering him to the edge of senselessness as Avani crawled away wailing.

  He stopped resisting and took his punishment. If this killed him, maybe it made a fitting end. Justice for all the people he'd corrupted, all the families he'd torn apart.

  The door flew open, cracking into Denault's head and throwing him off Adonissian. In the doorway, Kass took in the situation in a glance.

  Denault came up roaring. Kass raised her bow and put an arrow into him at arm's length then bent to haul Adonissian to his feet as Denault fell away.

  "You definitely still got it, Ado," she said, dryly. "Good thing you got the husband and not the wife; if he did this much to you she'd have torn you to tiny, stinky pieces."

  "Get the girl." He swayed on his feet, drooling blood. He pointed with his good arm into the apartment where Avani still screamed.

  Kass stepped over Denault's legs as the man slumped against the wall, clinging to the arrow protruding from his ribs. His eyes met Adonissian's, overflowing with pain and hate. "You're a monster."

  "Your wife said something similar." Sharp pain shot through Adonissian's jaw. He explored his mouth with his tongue to find a tooth missing and several more loose. "When she comes, tell her to find me in Jadeye. If she plays by the rules, you'll get your girl back and be a happy family again."

  "She'll kill you first," Denault spat blood. "Slowly. Leave the girl and maybe you'll live."

  Dizziness overwhelmed Adonissian. He leaned heavily against the door. Almost threw up. Worried more teeth might come out with it if he did. "Right now, death sounds like a bargain."

  The screaming crescendoed as Kass returned, a thrashing Avani slung over her shoulder. Kass grunted and nodded to the door, slipping on the mangled body of Avani's Sect-bred pet that had nearly killed Adonissian.

  "Don't take her you bastards." Denault pleaded now, trying to get up and failing. He reached for Avani as Kass slipped by.

  "Let's go before a neighbor gets curious." Kass adjusted her grip. "Stop moving, kid, or I'll drop you on your head... again I guess."

  Kass quirked an eyebrow at Adonissian. "You messed up so bad from fighting her or him?"

  "The 'piller mostly." As Kass passed, Adonissian saw the massive lump on Avani's forehead, blood streaked through her near-white hair. "Sorry kiddo, this has nothing to do with you."

  "She's Jaxekin, you idiots," Denault wheezed. "Take her and Jaxe himself will hunt you down for the insult, hack you to pieces with that great awful sword of his!"

  "He'll have to go through Rega first," Adonissian said, brushing Avani's cheek with his fingers. "Shh now, shhh."

  The girl's wailing subsided to a whimper, her pale blue eyes fixing him with a look of confused pain. "Adda hurt? Nissanan hurt?"

  "We'll be okay. It'll all be okay." Adonissian closed the door, unwilling to look back at Denault, struggling to ignore the man's wheezing, pained curses at his back.

  "I don't wanna go, Nissanan," Avani said as they walked quickly down the dark corridor lit only by a lambent candle Kass had snatched up on their way out and handed to Adonissian.

  That Avani couldn't help but trust him even after what he'd done lodged in Adonissian's chest like Denault's arrow.

  "It's okay, we're going to see your Amma." Adonissian struggled to stay upright, squinting through the eye not already swollen shut and clutching his shattered arm tight.

  "Amma don't like me. Adda said tha's why she goes 'way." Avani sniffled and clutched her head. Snot, tears, and blood ran down her face. "My head hurts. I wan' my 'pillar."

  I killed it too, Adonissian almost said as they wound their way up a the large, spiraling staircases. He wiped her face with his sleeve as they reached the rain-lashed streets.

  "It'll all be okay," he lied. "Just be quiet and we'll get you somewhere safe."

  As they bowed their heads and barreled out into the storm, Adonissian felt numb, dazed, and not just his arm.

  He struggled to keep up with Kass, mumbling. "Just stay quiet, kid. Stay quiet and let the monsters take you away."

  Next Chapter: Aida is forced to pick allies... or, more realistically, pick her enemies.

  Characters and terms

  Characters (alphabetical)

  Adonissian: a Phero who poses as a traveling musician

  Aida: MC. Mother of Exiles. "Ender of Verses?" "Savior of Dynasties?"

  Aj: a long-slumbering, powerful being which annihilated Inro's Sunset Legions. Also "almost destroyed the Dynasty single-handedly six-and-some centuries ago"

  Aliasara: servant at Ocyl's villa who befriends Aida

  Arca: chief of the tribe that "adopted" Inro

  Avani: Hassani's daughter, an albino

  Broadaxe: large, axe-and-shield-wielding Feral protecting Aida

  Cairin: Arca's sister

  Deai: Hassani's swordmaster, renowned for killing a Paragon

  Denault: Hassani's husband. Shipwright, Kin.

  Eth: a young Imminent

  Ghillie: a 3rd Feral who wears a primitive Ghillie suit. Carries cross between kunai and acupuncture needles

  Ghulen: Rega's "pet monster"

  Goboro: a fat, amiable scribe friend of Hassani's in Libriam

  Goldilocks: twitchy, spear-and-javelin carrying Feral guarding Aida

  Fallon: Aida's Seneschal

  Fetriene: Ocyl's soresearer

  Hassani: Inviolate agent of the Black Court, sent by Fractious Fraction?

  Huspara: minor bureaucrat in Libriam

  Inro: Dynast formerly ruling Sunset

  Izbali: a silent tribal shaman

  Janali: Ocyl's elegant Seneschal

  Jaxe: Dynast of Stacks. "Young", wealthy. Also has "the Pale" (an Albino)

  Kass/Kassenia: mercenary attached to Adonissian

  Ocyl: Dynast of Heaven's Tread, powerful and unpredictable

  Parathas: Aida's skinscribe. Also a mountaineer.

  Reck: Dynast of Chalk, "not witty enough to be clever and takes himself too seriously to be ironic"

  Rega: Inro's sister, Dynast

  Riccaro: majordomo of Ocyl's estate

  Rustrovan/"Rusty": Eth's old, gap-toothed skinscribe

  Ryk: "the most beautiful man Aida had ever seen"

  Sava: Dynast of Libriam

  Semon "Goldtongue": white-haired, one-eyed master of cults

  Stiller: serving boy at Ocyl's estate

  Vanyen: crippled young woman striving to create a cult

  Venner: Grandmaster of Optimimes in Jadeye, "best in the entire Book"

  Wake: Dynast of Graves, marries even though they all die

  The Fallen

  "Braid"; a thug who accosted Aida in Jadeye. His face gifted to Aida by Ocyl.

  Feral: a bone-masked woman of violence (Feral) in Aida's service. Knife wielder. Killed by Ghillie in Jadeye.

  "Toothy": leader of a group of thugs who accosted Aida in Heaven's Tread. Killed by Feral in Jadeye

  Valeer: a mentally challenged, unkempt individual able to manipulate Thorns. Died in Jadeye to "Braid".

  White Spiral: an older Feral in Aida's service. Archer. Died protecting Aida in Jadeye

  Terms (alphabetical)

  Adventures of Bubo, The: popular kids story

  All, The: ?

  Ancients: a major Dynastic Chapter, an "elite number", "own Ziggurat" and "run the great bank that is Monopolis"

  Anchorites: individuals capable of creating anchor points affixed to nothing.

  Annalis compound: sprawling complex in Libriam, heart of The Book's bureaucracy. Arrivals 'Dirt' home to new dispatches, Archives 'Dust' storage for old material. Paths and Ways storage for 'nails.

  Arborian: gardeners from Groves?

  Ascen, The/The Ascendant: divinities "watching over every verse"?

  Assessor: census-taker

  Audits/"Diggers": Libriam internal affairs

  Aze: swordmaker?

  Black Court: a realm of pure darkness. Also, those who rule there. Where Partaking happens.

  Black Court Tribunal: localized Black Court authority?

  Blood, The: imbibed at Partaking, transforms one into a Dynast if they survive

  Book of Verses, The: the 1,000 verses ruled by the Dynasty. "The Kiloverse"

  Broadcliff, Tallmarket: cities in Stacks

  Century Thread: additional threads appearing elsewhere on the body every century a Dynast lives

  Cerebrist: creator of slavants

  Chalk/"Vistas": verse entirely made of chalky cliff, belongs to Reck

  Chant, The/Sacrosanct Chant: some sort of law in the Dynasty?

  Chant of Inoculation: chant supposed to protect against disease, "Mudra of Cleansing"

  Chapters: power groupings among the Dynasts of the Book: predominantly The Ancients, the Fractious Fraction, and Isolates.

  Circular Sea: an ocean abutting the Jadeye segment of Heaven's Tread

  Clock Priest: priests from Gears who track and tell time religiously

  ConMach: convoy? courier?

  Crowmen: buy corpses to return them to life and service as rotters

  Cupola Thorn: the main Thorn in the city Jadeye in Heaven's Tread, a stone dome built over it

  Currence: something valuable inside old coins? "harder than currence"?

  Current: some form of energy that powers "artifices"?

  Donative, The: Black Court taxes?

  Dusa: people with manipulable hair of silver wire, from Gears

  Dynast: individual given rule of a verse if they survive Partaking. Ageless and hard to kill. Regenerative. Sustained by "the Blood"; no food or water necessary.

  Dynasty: the Dynasts who rule the Book

  Ebon: founder of the Dynasty and Black Court

  Ebonese: the language of the Book

  Echoseer shells: devices to allow one to "see" in the Black Court

  El: semi-insubstantial snake/remora-like creatures that follow gods (and sometimes Dynasts) around

  "Emperor of Everything": popular kids story about Inro turning down becoming emperor, then crushing those who elevated a different Dynast

  Feral: bone-masked bodyguards who require the essence of their master to survive. "Damned to Ferals" as a form of capital punishment. "the damned", "damned to a Feral"

  Fetalist: Imminent faction who believe the future is unchangeable

  First Thread/Primus: a fresh Dynast/the first luminescent silver thread etched into their foreheads.

  Fractious Fraction/"DissatisFaction": a major Dynastic Chapter who "hate everyone including each other", "entice every freemancer and Lineage Master" ... "to Berujat"

  Gates, The: ?

  God, A: unique, "undying" creatures of immense size, The First Ones

  God's Rote: child's first memorization, what gods are

  God-dwellers: "monks" who live on a god

  God-touched: those who have physically touched a god (and lived)

  Gonist: organ dealers and traders

  Gons: self-sustaining organs capable of living outside a host

  Graves: a verse "Made of the dead by the dead for the dead".

  Heaven's Tread: a verse "inside a hollow rolling pin", host to Jadeye, the largest city in the Book

  High Parser: officials from Ink

  Imminent: seers?

  Imminent Prophecy: something about a barbarian Dynast, Ender of Verses and/or Savior of Dynasties?

  Inevitables; faction of Imminent who believe it is their sacred duty to ensure the future comes to pass as seen

  Ink: home verse of the Skeinry and Keens

  Innoculist: doctors who teach chants "brought from Logos" to cure disease

  Inviolate: agents of the black court who "serve the Black Court, protect the Dynasty, uphold the Chant, root out corruption."

  Inviolate Vial: carried by Inviolates as badge of office

  Iode: substance that ignites when crushed

  Iris: the giant portals leading between one cylinder of Heaven's Tread to the next

  Isolates: a major Dynastic Chapter with a "unified stand for independence", "cheat the Donative, stockpil[e] currence and watter" "hire Keen mercenaries" "raise own private Legions in secret"

  Jade Eye, The: the "giant emerald" at the middle of Ocyl's Spire in Jadeye

  Jadeye: the largest city in the Book and major trade hub, in Heaven's Trade

  Jaxeday: holiday in Stacks with boat carvings, feasts, games of Fishhead, dances, and storytelling

  Jaxestack: a whitewashed stack on Stacks home to Jaxekin

  Jutland Reach: a verse with guns?

  Keen: Ink warriors wearing impossibly-heavy iron armor whose power source drains color from the area about it.

  Kin: descendants of a Dynast

  Kiss, The: disease that wiped out "hundreds of verses", also name for the time period when Aj became active last and destroyed 100s of verses before halting in Sunset

  Letch: sect bred leech-like creature designed to stop bleeding on wounds

  Libriam: a swampy verse home to the Annalis, heart of The Book's bureaucracy

  Libwe: tribe possessing the "holy" Limn clay bed.

  Limn: "infused clay" bearing some sort of internal power, used by Ebon to found the Dynasty

  Lineage: ?

  Linemen: workers on the Stacks trolleys who pull the cars along the lines

  Logos: "the thought realm"

  Machine Curse: ?

  Mancers: "no mancers arc (could) affect it"

  Menial: common folk

  Molt: person able to shed skins (see skins)

  Mon, The: ?

  Mourne, The: something dangerous that lurks in the Vale, "the why we do not tarry"

  Mune: someone from the Collective on Dost?

  Nameday: when children are named

  Ocyl's Preserve: a garden "beyond the Circular Sea" in Heaven's Tread?

  Ocyl's Spire: the tower home to the court of Ocyl, Dyanst of Heaven's Tread

  One-Eighth Shithole: Aida's verse. Unfortunately. A desolate place home to volcanoes and a giant dead turtle

  Optomime: gadgeteer

  Pale, The: light-skinned people, conquered by Ebon during the founding of the Dynasty. Alternately, albinism

  Paragon: warrior who can see the future

  Partaking: the ritual that creates Dynasts (or kills those who try). Performed by some unknown, large creature in the Black Court.

  Phero: Lineage whose scent creates overwhelming attraction

  'pillar: fuzzy Sect-bred giant caterpillar pet

  Porcelain Guard: Ocyl's white-masked Ferals

  Pure Priest of the Ascen/Blind Priests: priests praising the Ascen and back the Black Court

  Reachers: massive, Sect-bred creatures that direct traffic and rescue unfortunates in the Sighted Path in Jadeye

  Reconquest: time four-hundred years ago when Inro "drove [tribals] back into civilization's fold at spear point"

  Rotters: sack-clothed, crudely-masked 'zombies' uses as pack-beasts and simple laborers. Created/sold by Crowmen.

  Royal Strider: giant striders which carry carriages of the wealthy slung underneath them

  Sect, The: breeders of useful insectoid- and/or sauroid-like creatures

  Seericide: seers capable of Knowing everything as they die

  Seneschal: chief servant of a Dynast, bear permanent strings allowing them to speak and understand any language

  Shale: a verse famous for its expensive stone

  Shrineway: religious section of Jadeye "brailled prayers along the walls ... [and] cobblestones"

  Sighted Path: the zero-g road down the center of Heaven's Tread

  Sixth Tier Rebellion: last major uprising, in Ziggurat a century ago when "half the legions rose up"

  Skeinry: iron-plated communication centers where Skeiners translate vibrations sent by wyre from other verses

  Skin/Hollow: animate skin of a molt able to move, talk, and share snatches of its experience with its molt

  Skinlife: living tattoos

  Skinscribe: individuals brailled with lore, walking libraries

  Slavant: an individual who "loses much" to be implanted with an ability

  Soresearer: individuals capable of "healing" by cauterizing wounds with their hands

  Stacks: An ocean verse comprised of tall pillars jutting up from the seas. Trolleys run on long ropes between them "affixed by Anchorites to airy nothing"

  Striders: "stilt-legged gray-skinned insect-lizard"s used as fast mounts, large enough to carry several riders

  Strings: worn or implanted wire devices that translate speech

  Subterrane, The: travel route accessed by Ebon via Limn?

  Sunset: the verse where Aj was 'contained', formerly protected by Dynast Inro. The "Prison of Prisons"

  Sunset Legions/Vault Legions: Inro's Legions, wiped out by Aj in Sunset

  Surgon: person able to remove organs

  Terminus:a verse?

  Thorn: huge, curling thorns which Valeers can use as gateways to the Vale, doorways between verses. Grow into verses over centuries

  Thrum: guide in the Black Court

  Twine: "one soul threaded through two bodies"

  Unkillable Swordsman: a Paragon killed by Deia long ago

  Vale: "The Place Between". A realm of high-contrast black and white full of thorns and Thorns.

  Vale Walkers: discoverers of verses

  Valeer: people capable of activating Thorns, barely functional of anything else

  Valeer's 'nail: crystals containing wafers that allow travel within the Vale to specific verses without a Valeer

  Venger: muscle man?

  Verse: a pocket universe or world

  Verser Lord/Lady: agents of an individual Dynast who rule part of a verse at the whim of their Dynast

  Vibrant: color-changing individuals from Ink?

  Watter: an energetic liquid

  Weeping Falls: Jadeye Iris flowing with waterfalls

  Wicker Way: towers of stone, wood, and rope that connect opposite far sides of Jadeye

  Wiz of Berujat: multi-minded?

  World Spear: an immense stack on Stacks

  Wretch: untouchables forced to walk on all fours, "the human refuse that cleans up the literal waste piles"

  Wyres: lines run through the Vale between verses that allow communication between

  Ziggurat: the verse basing the Legions