The palace wavered, but that was nothing new. The columns moving back and forth, tilting one way and then another, was how this place had always been known for. Silver towers adorned with white spires.

It was a very vertical place.

Mai didn’t like it. She didn’t care what other people claimed. It all looked ready to fall over, as if someone was trying to balance a match on its head. This was not the type of place that she wanted to leave her charge, not for any amount of time.

Zlhna’s dark eyes were wide as she stared up at it.

Mai couldn’t protect Zlhna against a building. A building had no blood to stop. A building had no desires. A building would just follow the whims of the earth.

“We aren’t stopping here.”

“Oh, but Mai. We must.”

Unclenching her muscles, Mai followed her mistress into the danger. As she always did.