The chairs and couches in the waiting area were reasonably comfortable, Narcissa thought vaguely. She should remember to commend whoever it was who had chosen them.

The couches were a thoughtful touch. Someone exhausted waiting could lie down. Or someone could sit very close, with an arm around someone else for support.

Kaveri hadn’t left her side since the watch and the hospital emergency response team had arrived on the roof. Mirren, who had woken up as soon as the attackers all surrendered, had similarly attached herself to Narcissa.

They were currently one on either side of her, Kaveri holding her hand, Mirren with an arm around her.

The rest of her household were in their own wing. She should really go to them. But Lysandra lay, anaesthetized, beyond that door over there, while the best surgeons in Phleion struggled to repair the damage. Multiple ribs had broken. One had pierced her lung.

She couldn’t keep her mind from cycling endlessly back through the battle on the roof, the moments just after Lysandra had fallen.

Kaveri had made an absolutely mad leap that had gotten her onto the stag’s back, and had wrenched Thaleia’s lodged knife free and cut his throat just behind his jaw. His violent response had thrown Kaveri clear and she’d landed badly, but Lirit had healed her in moments. The knife clattered across the rooftop. Narcissa retrieved it.

She was a healer. A pacifist. She believed, more deeply than any words, in the sanctity of life and health.

In that moment, she wanted, needed, with a pure animal rage, to kill that stag with her own hands.

He was bleeding, heavily, but still on his feet. Possibly his own fury and frustration were keeping him from noticing the extent of the damage.

With absolutely no plan, no experience with hunting or large animals, only her knowledge of physiology and a prayer to Lirit, she ran at him. Tangling a hand in the rosy fabric still snarled in his antlers, she jerked his head around with all her strength, nearly unbalancing herself, and drove the knife towards one eye the same violet as her own. He’d twisted at the last instant, and she’d scored across it instead of getting it into his brain; the toss of his head as he bellowed had thrown her off her feet entirely. The landing was painful, but only for the space of a couple of heartbeats before cool violet light washed it away. She scrambled to all fours to retrieve that knife again. Kaveri beat her to it and handed it to her.

The half-blind stag made a last try at a charge at the women huddled under the roof.

Pherusa hadn’t just stepped in front; she’d run at him to wrap her arms around his neck, and threw herself sideways, dragging him entirely off his feet. The curse she shrieked at him wasn’t one a respectable widow should even know. Both landed with a loud resonant thump.

He’d barely landed when most of the rest of the supposedly helpless women swarmed him, using anything that came to hand—slashing with broken pottery, pounding with bare fists, some silent and some screaming and some crying. Phaidra went right for his remaining eye with her nails. Iole had even left shy Megaira to tend to Thaleia and tore at the stag’s bleeding throat with a shard of pottery, tears making the black around her eyes run, and Narcissa saw her hiss, “Die!” over and over.

A frantic toss of his head caught Iole in one leg, tearing a cry from her, before Kaveri and Narcissa could reach them—it had all just happened so fast, she’d never realized that could happen in a fight. Kaveri had commanded Pherusa to help her, and they’d seized the antlers to force the weakening stag’s head back, leaving Narcissa a clear shot to ram the knife into his closer eye and all the way to his brain.

With his collapse, the others had faltered. Given the ultimatum to surrender, with so many of them already out of the fight one way or the other and now their commander vanquished, nearly all had done so.

While Oenone and Zenais had left at a dead run for their respective destinations, Acantha and Kaveri had gone in search of Clytie, fearing the worst, and Kaveri had returned quickly to report that the young maid had a bleeding head wound but was alive and about as coherent as one could expect. Acantha had stayed with her to keep her from moving.

Narcissa, desperately trying to keep Lysandra alive, had only discovered later what else had happened on the rooftop.

Mirren had woken up, grumbling to herself about having failed to block that final thrust, and had helped the rest of their protectors to bind the attackers securely with anything that came to hand. Stag, lion, and bird had all changed back to human, still unconscious, making that far easier.

Once all were bound, the “dead” had all roused, the same way Mirren had. Most of them cooperated without resistance; only two, one of them the stag Yegor, had been exceptions, though even those two had been relatively subdued.

Narcissa had informed the stunned watch captain that Tyrel and Madoc had her unequivocal support and he should work with them to find an effective way to confine the captives. The captain had been sceptical at first about the need for extra precautions and safeguards, but only until Tyrel pointed out a Reborn convert among the watch officers he had brought with him. The last Narcissa had heard, they were working on plans to round up the other individuals that Tyrel and Mirren and Kaveri had tracked down, and several of the so-called Reborn were offering other names.

Not one person in her household, save Megaira, was entirely unscathed. Those less-injured had done their best to help those in worse condition until the hospital team had arrived. Oenone had managed to convey the severity of the situation: they’d sent more stretchers than the minimum number, and a nurse with each, and a physician who could keep up as well. Her entire household had been relocated to the hospital, leaving only the cats to watch over the house for the moment. At least they hadn’t been hurt.

On four tireless feet, Kieran would be in Orthia by the time Talir rose full that night so he could change, and Narcissa had made certain he had both materials and information that would gain him access to her brother Agathon immediately and convince Agathon and their parents to listen to him.

There was so much still to do, and she should be doing it, but what if Lysandra died?

What if she died because Narcissa hadn’t even thought of changing her, there on the roof in the moonlight, and wasn’t sure that it was what Lysandra would want anyway?

A nurse in sky-blue with a red stripe, someone from Makarios’ temple who specialized in assisting with surgery and care afterwards, came out of the room and approached them. She squatted in front of Narcissa. Narcissa felt her own breath catch in fear.

“Your Serenity?” she said gently. “Your cousin is alive. We were able to close the hole in her lung and tie off some other internal bleeding. So far, so good. If the gods smile...”

“Which gods?” Narcissa asked wearily. “I think I have had enough of gods. They don’t do enough when we need them most. Is she awake?”

“Not yet. She’s breathing acceptably well, and her heart is beating regularly. We can’t find an injury to her head. We hope she’ll wake soon, but we don’t know. She’s very strong and healthy but her body has been through a tremendous shock. It might be better if she doesn’t wake immediately. We’ll be watching her closely, of course.”

Narcissa nodded. “Thank you.” The words sounded empty.

“Will you be here in the hospital?”

“I... I need to go out briefly. I have a responsibility. I’ll return as soon as I can.”

The nurse nodded. “I understand. We’ll be moving her to the same wing as the rest of your household, with your permission. For safety, since the watch are guarding the doors.”

“Yes, that’s fine. I... yes.” Narcissa waited until the nurse rose, then got to her feet. “I’ll be back soon.”

Kaveri and Mirren fell into step with her promptly.

“Where do you need to go?” Kaveri asked.

“Home, briefly, to change. And, I suppose, to make certain that the cats are fed. Then to the agora. I need to tell Phleion. Secrecy feeds our enemies. They cannot work in secret if Enodia knows they exist and knows what to watch for. I imagine the others will be angry that I’m not waiting for more guards, but I need to do this now.”

“We’ll keep you safe,” Mirren said. “Do what you need to do.”