Nove and the rest of the children were ready and waiting by the time they got back, much to Kano’s satisfaction. Had the Red Company been a positive influence on them? They certainly seemed to have become more disciplined. Although, she reflected, as the two groups of children rushed together to form a tangled mess of little bodies, it wasn’t as if they’d had much in the first place.

Still, there were more important things than discipline, and they listened well enough when it counted. At least for the most part. She glanced at Forty. That one had a surprising degree of backbone, more than she’d expect from a ghoul. The difference between her and the other children was striking.

Thirty-Six had been brave in her own way, Kano had no doubt about that. But Forty had a different kind of determination about her. Maybe it was just the result of her being something of a leader among the children, whereas Thirty-Six had been more independent. Had their personalities been that different from the start? Or was it the way they’d lived since coming to the surface?

It was strange to think that Forty might have turned out like Thirty-Six if Kano had chosen her as a guide instead. If that had been the case, maybe there was nothing special about Thirty-Six relative to the other children. It didn’t change what had happened between them, but it did make Kano want to protect the other children. If they had that kind of potential, then she owed it to Thirty-Six to keep them safe.

Once the children had finished greeting the new arrivals, Forty’s group went inside to get their things.

“How have things been going with the children?” Kano asked Nove while they waited.

“Fine. Living here has been a bit of an adjustment for them, but they seem to like it.”

“What about you?”

Nove’s thick, leathery eyelids fluttered. “Me?”

“What’ve things been like for you?”

“Can’t really complain. Looking after the children isn’t easy, though they seem to need less and less of that as time passes, but it’s a lot easier than fighting necromancers or whatever other dangerous things you’ve been doing.”

No surprise there; of course Kano’s work was harder. Still, it was good to hear that there was nothing wrong on Nove’s end. At least one of them was having an easy time of things. Would she trade places with Nove given the choice? Probably not. Nove was more suited to this sort of work than she was. And she could hardly trust the abomination with something as important as monitoring, and if need be, combating the necromancers.

Yet somehow she felt like she was missing out. Had Nove watched as Forty changed and became a leader? And what about the other children? How had they changed? Kano hadn’t given it much thought before, but she found herself wanting to see what happened to them. It would have to wait until she was finished with the current crisis, but for once she had something to look forward to. All the more reason to get this over with swiftly.

“Come on, then, hurry up,” she said once everyone was outside. The children were getting underway when one of the Red Company ghouls emerged from the barracks and approached. Kano was so focused on the children that it took her a moment to recognize Urick. “Oh, you’re still alive?”

“Of course I fucking am. Where are you all going?”

“To the citadel.”

“Why?”

“To avoid impending doom.”

“And you were just going to leave me here?” There was a high-pitched whine to his voice that made Kano wished she’d left without encountering him.

“I’d say that was the idea, but I mostly just forgot about you.”

“Then I can come?”

“If you must. Just stay out of the way.”

He nodded and moved to the back of the line as the march began. There wasn’t much reason to take him along, but she couldn’t think of any reason why she’d leave him behind. He might be able to assist Nove with whatever tedious caretaking tasks were required or some other menial task.

The children did their best to move quickly, but they were far slower than Kano was, even when they weren’t burdened with their meagre possessions. Frustrating as it was, she forced herself to keep pace with them rather than going on ahead. Maybe Nove’s life wasn’t much easier after all. Kano hated waiting around like this. It felt entirely too much like work, rather dull work at that.

When they were nearing the citadel, Kano called for them to stop. Closing her eyes, she concentrated, trying to see if any vestige of necromantic energy had reached this far. There was a little, but it was too dispersed to be any threat. At Kano’s command, the children resumed their march until they reached the area around the citadel where the energy was concentrated.

Closing her eyes, Kano sensed the energy permeating the air before them. She reached her awareness out toward it and willed it to move. Without delay or difficulty, it moved just as she’d desired. After a few moments of reshaping, she’d created a passage that stretched all the way to the Citadel’s door.

Satisfied, she opened her eyes and turned to address the children. “Okay, you guys are going to need to form one tight line and follow me. If you don’t follow carefully, you’ll die.”

Without waiting for questions or comments, Kano took her first step toward the citadel. Then she waited, watching out of the corner of her eye, until the children had done as they were told before taking the next.

Alternating between glancing back to make sure no one was straying and monitoring the energy to make sure it remained clear of them, Kano soon found herself feeling strangely hot and restless. Had she somehow missed something and some of the uncontrolled energy had crept in? She stopped, but she couldn’t sense anything of the sort. Only after she’d triple-checked did she continue walking, and yet her feeling of unease only seemed to increase.

Why had she thought this was a good idea? It would have been much safer to just evacuate the children along with the rest of the ghouls. Now if something went wrong and something terrible happened to one of them, or more, it would be completely her fault. She never should have brought them here, but it was too late to give up now. Reminding herself that she’d been through worse than this, Kano did her best to ignore her growing unease and continue.

The farther she went, the worse she felt, but by some miracle she found herself at the entrance to the citadel without losing anyone. Once everyone was finally inside the citadel, she felt such a flood of relief that she had to catch herself on the wall to avoid stumbling.

“Are you okay?” Nove asked.

“I’m fine. It’s just hard to concentrate for that long.”

There was no way she was taking them through the energy again if she could avoid it. All the more reason to resolve things with the reactor once and for all. She directed Nove to take the children to somewhere on the ground floor. It was probably about as far as they could get from the reactor and the necromancers’ labs.

“Well, I’m bored,” Ren announced, slithering off. “I’ll be back in my room if you need me.”

Kano shrugged. “Okay, bye.”

While Nove was getting the children, who were occupied with taking in their new surroundings, in order, Forty walked over to Kano. “Are we going to be safe here?”

“Yes,” Kano replied without a moment’s thought.

“Are you sure? I thought the citadel was a dangerous place.”

“Well, it is, but you’ll be fine. Just stay with Nove.” Here she was, questioning Kano. It was more novel than anything, though it was slightly irritating having someone doubt her like this. Especially when she’d worked so hard on the children’s behalf.

“What’re you going to do? Aren’t you going to stay with us?”

Kano wasn’t sure if she sounded hurt or annoyed. “Not right now, I’ve got more important things to do.”

“Oh.” And with that, Forty went back to the others, leaving Kano scratching her head. Had Thirty-Six been so difficult to read? Maybe Kano just hadn’t paid her enough attention to find out. Shaking off a sudden sense of melancholy, Kano went to find An.