Cassandra stood at the entrance holding a tray of food. The cut on her forehead was gone. Dugan must have gotten to her during his healing marathon.

"Good morning. I thought you would like some food."

"Morning? How long was I out?"

"Half a day," Castille said, moving out of the way to let Cassandra through.

"Any news?"

Cassandra set the tray of food on top of Castille's whetstone on the side table.

"Too much. The fire is finally under control. Three of Lady Kateen's warehouses burned down. Ten of her men died..."

Her face paled. Cassandra had stared down a mob without flinching. Was Kateen that terrifying? I remembered Clarice's empty stare. No, but some of her daughters were.

"Serves her right."

Isla folded her arms, setting her face in an expression that was more defiant than angry. Castille closed the bedroom door and put a comforting hand on Cassandra's shoulder.

"Cassandra, there's more to this, isn't there."

She nodded, her eyes becoming more panicked with each tilt of her head.

"Those warehouses were the main supply of food and water in Steeltown. Without that stockpile, food prices will increase for the next few months. People will go hungry and get angry."

"They'll want someone to blame," I said.

"But it's Lady Kateen's fault!" Isla said.

Her face reddened with guilt. Technically, she started the fire.

Castille shrugged.

"Who cares about the truth? We're the perfect scapegoats. When the hunger sets in, we'll be served up on a platter."

Images of the crowd from yesterday flashed in my mind. Cassandra's panicked expression made sense. The next crowd of Steeltowners in front of the Pit would be bigger, with torches and pitchforks in hand. I thought back to Kateen's cold expression. She'd come to the same conclusion. If her men couldn't finish us off, the townsfolk would.

"We need to move up our timetable."

"Aye. Cassandra, you should go."

Castille guided Cassandra to the door. She hunched her shoulders, waiting for the sky to fall around her. We had done that, and I had made it worse by lying to her. What did she want from me? It's not like I could see the future.

Weak. Pathetic. Use-

No, there was still time—time to finish this quest before the whole town turned on us.

Castille closed the door and shook her head.

"Poor woman. She should make us leave, but she's too indebted to us for healing her girls."

"Maybe we should leave anyway," I said.

"And go where? Do you think anyone will have us now?" Isla asked.

She was right. We couldn't move to a new inn even if we wanted to.

Castille sighed, sheathing her sword.

"From now on, no more splitting the party. We move as a team. Understood?"

"You say that, but Dugan and I are still laid up in bed."

"Speak for yourself."

Castille pointed at Dugan.

He slid from underneath Thor and sat up on his side of the bed. He rolled his shoulders and hopped to his feet with surprising ease.

"How are you moving after a few hours of sleep?" Isla asked.

Dugan patted Thor's side. The boar didn't react; he was dead to the world. Passed out like when we left to look for Arwen.

"He helped."

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Isla furrowed her brows. A moment later, something clicked, and she cocked her head at Dugan with wide eyes.

"You stole his will!"

Dugan scratched at this beard, his face reddening.

"He gave it to me."

"B-but that shouldn't be possible!"

Dugan shrugged.

Castille walked up to him and kissed the short man on the forehead.

"How do you feel?"

"Better."

He turned to me and nodded, walking over to my side of the bed.

"Why is no one else freaking out about this?" Isla asked.

"Why should we?" I asked.

Dugan rested his meaty palm on my forehead, and the sensation of water washed over me like a warm bath.

"Will is unique to every person. You can't just give it to someone else. It's been tried!"

I relaxed against the headboard.

Healing felt... amazing.

"How?"

"There are enchanted objects called will wells that let you store your will for later use. Mages have tried to use will from another person's will well, but it's never worked."

"So, you're saying Dugan and Thor have the same will?"

Isla blinked at me.

"No, but that's a good hypothesis. I need to write that down."

"You can study Dugan later. Right now, we need a new plan," Castille said.

"The new plan is the old plan. Kidnap Arwen and bring him to Reed. Reed gets him to confess to the assassination attempt. Van Lagos gives us access to the Mountains," I said.

"Simple enough, but we can't move freely in the Service Quarter."

"We could accept Reed's help and bring her guards," Isla said.

Castille's grey eyes turned hard. She glared at me from across the room.

"You could have had help to capture Arwen?"

Her voice was the whisper of an unsheathing sword.

Dugan pulled his hand back for a moment to wipe off the sweat pouring down my forehead.

I broke away from her gaze, bunching up the bed's red, silken sheets in my hands.

Weak! Pathetic! Useless!

Isla talked to me about trust and trusted me with her biggest secret. Couldn't I do the same? Is that what a weapon would do? Is that what Sin would do?

No… but I did it anyway.

"Castille, every time I go to Reed and Sanctifiers for help, I... I… feel like I'm selling a piece of myself. And I'm afraid… afraid that one day there won't be anything left. They'll own me, control me—make me their pet. It's stupid, but that's why I turned her down."

I winced.

Why did I do that? What's wrong with me?!

I looked up to meet Castille's grey eyes. She gave me a slow, understanding nod that melted away the tension in my shoulders and arms.

"I can relate."

She smiled.

"Well, there's someone else we can go to for backup: the Lagos brothers."

Isla cringed before something sparked in her eyes.

"As much as I hate to say it, that would allow me to look at the orb in their hall. Examining it may give us a clue about Nostrand Del and the curse."

Dugan stiffened at the mention of the enchanted object. The healing sensation cut off a moment before he pulled back his hand.

"I'm done."

In more ways than one.

I stretched out my leg. It was as good as new. He finished healing a moment before he lost his conviction.

"You're amazing, Dugan."

"Of course he is," Castille said.

She gave us a sweeping stare.

"The day is young. We can ride for the Lagos estate before Steeltown wakes up. The fewer eyes on us, the better. Agreed?"

Dugan and Isla nodded.

"What about him?"

I pointed to the unconscious boar lying on the bed.

"He can stay here."

"So much for not splitting the party."

Castille grinned.

"Sometimes you have to leave the cavalry behind."

# # #

We rode for the Lagos estate as the sun climbed the horizon. Castille and Isla were in the front while I took my usual spot riding with Dugan in the rear. By this time of day, most miners were travelling to the Mountains while the wealthy of Steeltown slept in. We passed their large, rustic homes in the wealthier Residential Quarter. Tall, black iron fences surrounded the houses of brick and unvarnished wood. It made for a clever trap. The more wealth you accumulated, the taller you needed to make your fences and the more guards you needed to keep out potential thieves.

Did they realize they were building their own cages—fancy prisons where they paid for their jailors? Or maybe the prison was also in their mind.

My gaze wandered back to Isla.

The princess of Luskaine.

What kind of prison did she grow up in? How had she broken free?

"Isla?!"

She looked over her shoulder, shouting over the galloping horses.

"Yeah?!"

I paused, a thousand questions on the tip of my tongue. She had her reasons for hiding her identity from Dugan and Castille. If I could keep her secret from Reed, I could keep it from them.

"Um… How are you feeling?!"

"Good! I took the first watch last night!"

"OK!"

I sighed.

I would have to talk to her when she was alone.

In the distance, the squat stone building of the Lagos estate stuck out of the ground like a molehill.

I tapped on Dugan's shoulder.

"We should move up front."

He nodded, pulling ahead of Castille and Isla to meet the two guards at the main gate.

"Hey, it's the elf." one guard said, elbowing the other.

Despite the recognition, they kept one hand on their scimitars.

"I have business with Van Lagos."

"Lil' early for business, don't ya think? Especially armed like that."

The other guard gestured at our weapons.

"Van Lagos won't mind."

"And we're supposed to take your word on that?"

The doors of the main building opened. Three more guards walked out with Lira in the lead.

"Jacob? What brings you here so early in the morning?"

I dismounted off the back of Dugan's horse and walked up to the gate.

"I ran into some trouble in the Service Quarter."

She smirked.

"I heard. What does it have to do with us?"

"I wanted to talk to Van about it."

She looked up at the mounted party behind me, her eye narrowing at something over my left shoulder.

'Whose the blonde?"

I turned to see Isla looking down, fidgeting with her saddle.

She was shy for a princess.

"She's… Uh… a scholar of enchanted objects."

"A little young to be a scholar."

I shrugged.

"She started early."

Lira gave me a tight-lipped smile.

"You're lucky Van likes you. Franko, let them in."

"But Lira, they're armed."

"That shouldn't be a problem, right?"

I flashed her my most charming smile.

"Of course not."

Lira led us through the estate's winding corridors, up a flight of stairs and around a corner to a large set of doors. The two guards stationed on either side gave her a slight nod. She knocked on the door.

"It's Lira. Jacob has returned... with friends."

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