“Sieges weathered.”

“Sieges weathered, fight together, friends forever.”

“A little present from my run-in with a sword. Or should I say from when the sword had a run-in with me?” His eyes lit up.“Want to see the scar? It’s cool.” He started pulling his shirt out of his pants.“Janco,” Ari warned. “We’re not supposed to be fraternizing with the Sitians.”“But she’s not Sitian. Right, Yelena? You haven’t gone south on us, have you?” Janco’s voice held mock horror.“Because if you have I can’t give you your present.”I took my switchblade out, showing the inscription to Janco. “What about ‘Sieges weathered, fight together, friends forever’? Does that change if I become an official southerner?”Janco rubbed the hair on his chin, considering. “No,” Ari said. “You could change into a goat and it would still apply.”

“Oscove?" Valek paused. "He didn't have the stomach for it.”

“One, and two, and three, four, five. Keep fighting like this and you will die," Janco sang.”

“I peered deeper and found my soul. A little tattered and with some holes, but there all the same. It had always been there, I realized with shock.”

“Your fear remains strong. You are not ready to face your story, preferring instead to surround yourself with knots. Someday, they will strangle you.”