The Spear Cuts Through Water

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, graphic violence, and animal death.

The grandchild recalls the night their father left. Lola had died, and the father became obsessed with the ongoing war. Eventually, he abandoned his children to join the war effort. The grandchild remembers, “Your father was gone in one willful movement, and you heard a small snip, somewhere inside of yourself, which was the sound of your life untethered from this earth” (189). The grandchild understands how the Red Peacocks feel as their father’s body falls into the water. The eldest jumps in to retrieve the body.

On the boat, the empress mourns her son. She recalls that when he was six years old, he snuck down to her prison and tried to speak with her through the door. The emperor caught and punished him, and he never came again. She knows that all three triplets yearned to be near her, but none were ever permitted.

Keema and Jun fight again but cannot explain why. Jun thinks that honor dictates that he must fight for his father’s sake. Keema thinks that Jun’s true identity requires that he retaliate. However, they are overcome with grief, fear, and even exhilaration, and “[t]hey [fight] because it [is] the easiest language they sp[eak]” (192).