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and dove toward her. He fell too, drawn along in the bird’s wake.
    He seemed to hover above the ground in the midst of armored nomads, as the bird alighted upon the wrist of a woman. She was a noble of the remote East, dark hair proudly worn high and shiny with a coating of animal fat; yet she was no ornamental figurehead. He took note of her muscular figure, even hidden as it was by a thickly draped, sky-blue robe. More than that, he took note of an imperiously eager look to her gaze.
    “Meat!” she called, and the language was none he knew, yet somehow within this dreamscape he understood her. “Meat for my falcon! And summon the khatun. Tell her I have interesting news.”
    Soon the bird was snapping down chunks of flesh, and out of the crowd came a similarly dressed woman, a little younger than the first, though her hair was piled and coiled more elaborately, and yellow makeup emphasized her brow. Her smile worried the unseen boy. “I am here, elder sister. I hope you are ready to define ‘interesting.’”
    “Qurca has returned. He’s found the one I sought.”
    The younger sister’s eyes narrowed. “You are sure?”
    “I’ve seen the image in my bird’s mind.”
    “Where is he?”
    I’m right here, he thought, but tried not to think it too loudly.
    “In the Bladed Isles,” the elder sister said.
    The younger sister nodded. “What the locals call Kantenjord. ‘The Edge-lands.’ I know it. I have allies and spies there. This is auspicious. The Great Khan’s council is even now debating how to apply a pincer campaign against the Eldshore. The northern route is clear. The southern prospects are murky. But thanks to you, sister, there is another way.” The younger sister gestured at the fleet of balloons. “Your inventions can carry a force across the waters. We can subdue the primitive island-dwellers and have a base for harrying the Eldshore from the west.”
    “Not my inventions. They are the work of Haytham ibn Zakwan—”
    “It is charming how you wish to credit outlanders. Yes, ibn Zakwan’s craft can carry a force to a new stronghold, and over the months of winter we can build up an army. The Westerners fear a winter campaign, as we do not. Yes. We can conquer the Bladed Isles by spring and assault the Eldshore in summer.”
    The elder smiled a trace. “You may be overconfident. And how does finding Innocence Gaunt suddenly make the Bladed Isles a good target?”
    “As I said, I have allies there.” The younger gestured toward two soldiers, who led forward her horse. “Not all of them human. One of them will know how to use the boy’s power to our advantage. And I have you. You have yet to regain the khan’s full confidence.”
    The elder sister’s smile vanished, and her face darkened with anger as her falcon rose and shrieked. Meanwhile the younger sister’s horse sniffed, whinnied, and bucked. The invisible wanderer did not understand the animals’ behavior, but it worried him. The elder sister said, “Our mother sided with me in our dispute over Xembala.”
    “And her word carried great weight,” said the younger sister, grabbing the reins. “Nevertheless, my husband is the Grand Khan. He agreed you were justified in your actions, arranging trade with the Xembalans rather than conquest. But nonetheless you undercut me.”
    “It was you who subverted my mission.”
    “Calm, calm, Aughatai,” said the younger sister to the horse, but Innocence thought the words were equally meant for the elder. “Hunt down this Innocence Gaunt for me, Steelfox. I know you mean to inform his parents, whom you lent your inventor ibn Zakwan and your shaman Northwing. I do not wish you to break your word. Tell them. But surely a Karvak princess will be a more formidable huntress than a pair of lunatics from the world’s edge. Join my invasion of Kantenjord. And bring Innocence to me, that I might honor the chosen of the Heavenwalls.”
    “Control him, you mean.”
    “And if that is the