Chapter 5: Part 13 - Persimmon
Rata Sum was quiet. What little light she could see from above told Vasha it was the middle of the day. You'd hardly know it on the lower concourse, though, with its shadowed corners and its inhabitants talking in whispers.
Chapter 5: Part 12 - Make Your Mark
Vasha woke to darkness and silence. Disorientation settled over her, until she could hardly say whether she was staring at the ceiling or the floor. There was a trace of light up there, though, outlining a beam across the ceiling, and there was a hard bed under her.
Chapter 5: Part 11 - Strong Arms and Sharp Minds
Jean's world had contracted to a single point: Vasha's face. He watched the waves of emotion pass over it, fear and determination and exhilaration.
Chapter 5: Part 10 - Mistakes
As she'd charged across the battlefield, Vasha had told herself the lines of this war were already drawn. The Order of Whispers against Yinn ‒ and herself against the rest of the Marauders.
Chapter 5: Part 9 - Tempered Steel
raconis Mons, or the beat of her own heart. She was dimly aware of conversation around her ‒ of Amber issuing orders and of Jean telling her... something. Her mind was so focused, now, that she'd lost the ability to listen to his words. They no longer seemed to matter.
Chapter 5: Part 8 - A Long Way From Civilisation
It came as a relief to Vasha when she and Jean finally spotted another team. They'd been creeping across the dry ground of Draconis Mons for the better part of an hour when Jean hissed a greeting.