"Slow down, Hinata!" "Princess, if you trip I will strangle you with your ribbons," Hinata shot back, breath loud in the alley. I ran anyway. My skirts flared, the silk whispering against my legs, and the moon cut a silver path along the lacquer roofs. Patrol lanterns swung, faces turned, but I kept my shoulders loose and my grin sharp. "You're impossible," Hinata panted, hands clamped around the satchel at my hip. "You promised Father—" "I promised no such thing," I said, ducking past a cart. The steward who smelled of pomade and importance blocked my path. "Annalise May," he said, voice all thin silk and authority. "You are late for inspection." I touched the jade at my throat in a meaningless way and let my eyes misbehave with mischief. "Late? For what? A nap with the governor's cat?" His nose wrinkled. "You will not speak that way to me." I smiled. Then I slapped his hand away and stepped beyond him. He opened his mouth. I didn't wait to hear the rest. "Get back here!" he shouted after me, indignation trailing like a banner. I kept walking, faster. A patrolman lunged to block me in a narrow cut between shops. He reached out. I slid past his grasp and bumped the cheek of the pompous steward with the flat of my hand. My palm made a soft sound against his jaw and his expression folded. He clutched at his face more offended than hurt. "That was