54

The coastal cities had always been more diverse than landlocked ones, but Anzi’s knowledge of the various cultures within the continent was stunted by the degree of their relevance: if it didn’t help Imperial soldiers fight and defeat their enemies any better, they never learned it. All she was certain of was that in seaside Lumenera, humans still reigned at the top of the hierarchy while inhumans took up their positions at the foot. At least in the Imperial City, outright discrimination and abuse of the mixed-blooded was outlawed. Here, they had no such protection.

So why was this girl so fiercely loyal to the men who cared so little about her?

Anzi stared down at the urchin from earlier, unimpressed by the ferocious scowl on her pointed face. She was skinny and small, swimming in the gray and brown rags she wore, and her badly cut dark hair was cropped so close to her head it couldn’t even curl. Dirt smudges and bruises all over, to