Wheeling Gull Isle but sleep won't set me free

Her jaw slackened a little as he spoke of Bes. It brought to mind a conversation she'd once had with her hunchbacked brother, while they cleared the skeletons from Blackfeather Woods' closet—literally.

"If they liked fear so much, you'd think they would love us a lot more than they did. Especially with my face how it is now."

"Perhaps they knew they would be surpassed because they could not control fear the way they hoped to, and we could if we so chose."

"Let them think we're a freak show. Those who see past it and know what we're really like are welcome; those who can't can just leave."

Trapped in her memories, Maegi lost half of his description of Amun, only catching herself drifting as he uttered his final Amun-asha-renu. I like this Bes, she murmured, indulging herself a little, and then shifted her focus. Amun rich in names. I've had many names, too.

She stared at him, smiling. You still haven't given me yours.