Palamedes begins to retrace his steps back towards the maze. With any luck, getting back to town won’t take as much effort as coming to the cemetery did—but if they find themselves hopelessly lost, then maybe Gideon will just punch her way through the shrubbery. She looks like the type of person who would try.

“Do you remember much about the Cohort?” he asks, curious about this part of the Empire that dances at the very edge of his memory. In The Necromancer’s Marriage Season, people were always talking about the Cohort’s latest victories, and there seemed to be plenty of noble war widows and orphans running around, but it didn’t say much about what the military was actually like.

Besides, asking about something that Gideon clearly takes pride in seems like a decent way to stay on her good side.