Seth's fingers clenched in Mau's fur. On the carriage seat across from him, Benjamin watched him calmly, the lights from the street lamps alternately lighting his face and passing into darkness. Beside Seth, Owen was slumped against the other carriage window, still unconscious. The window there had the curtain drawn, leaving that side of the carriage dark.

Seth focused on his breathing for a few moments, trying to get a handle on his thoughts, his emotions, and himself. He wanted to believe in Benjamin, that he wouldn't harm any of them. That the betrayal of Saben was a misunderstanding. That Benjamin was actually a good person and a good friend to their father.

He wanted to believe that. But he didn't. The anger and sharp hurt at the betrayal were nearly overwhelming.

Unloading those emotions on Benjamin right now would be stupidly dangerous. He needed a distraction, something else to talk about until he could be calm and clear headed. He looked down at Mau.

That was a safe topic, and an important one.

"Do you know what is wrong with them?" Seth asked. "I did a diagnostic on them, but it only came back that they'd been envenomed. Will they be all right?"

Benjamin studied Owen. "I did check his pulse, and it didn't seem to me that he was in distress. You mentioned scorpion summons? Can you describe them?"

Seth described the scorpions, and Benjamin asked specific questions about the shape of the claws, how flat the body was, if the tail had spines, and more.

Finally Benjamin said, "There generally aren't scorpions here in the mountains. The winters are too cold. But there are some that get imported regularly. I wasn't able to find where your friend had been stung, that would have confirmed it, but I think these were an enlarged version of a sleeping scorpion. They are typically used by assassins and kidnappers to render their victims unconscious without harming them. They are expensive and seen as a status symbol among criminals, so it doesn't surprise me that a member of a street gang could have seen one before."

That made sense. It might also be how Blaise was taken. If she'd been stung while in the store, taking her would have been easy. "Selendrith cast a healing spell on him. I thought a general healing would cover basic venoms."

Benjamin hummed. "Healing spells take a couple of different forms. There are some that could have countered the venom if used quickly enough, or are strong enough. What is Selendrith's talent? If it isn't aligned with healing, it would be unlikely to have cured venom without a specific spell."

"I don't–" Seth didn't know Selendrith's talent and realized she'd been deliberately hiding it. She didn't get her tree image read, she almost never cast spells unless absolutely necessary, and when she did cast, as far as Seth could tell, they were only structured spells.

He didn't want to tell Benjamin anything about her talent or anyone else's. Anything Seth told Benjamin could be used against his friends. Their talents could be stolen. He didn't know what to say. He took a deep breath.

He needed a different, safer, topic. Benjamin knew a lot about magic. More than Seth would have expected from a merchant without a talent of his own.

"I didn't know the Flow cantrip could work like that," Seth said instead. "I never would have thought it possible for water to not leave things wet. How did you know it could do that?"

Benjamin didn't resist the change of topic, to Seth's relief. He just smiled faintly, knowingly. "I've always been fascinated by magic. There are so many things it can do. As for the Flow cantrip, it basically is just making water move. There is no reason not to move all of it. And water itself will help. There is a tension on the surface of water that makes it want to stay together. As long as Flow is working with that tension, no water would be left behind."

Seth had never heard of something like that before. "Would that work for wind spells too? Can Breeze move all of the air out of a room?"

Benjamin chuckled. "No. Nature abhors a vacuum. As the spell moved air out, other air, not affected by the spell, would move in."

"Saben never told me about stuff like that." Thinking about how air moved got him thinking about his talent. That was not a calm topic.

"Saben was never the best student," Benjamin said dismissively. "If it wasn't something he was directly interested in, he never bothered with it."

"He only had one year of magic school," Seth said in defense of his brother. He was offended at how disdainful Benjamin was, and upset at Saben's situation. Saben should have still been in school, not Seth. Seth's talent didn't belong to Seth. He was an imposter. Seth had replaced Saben in school, taking over the life that should have been Saben's. Seth couldn't suppress the guilt and shame that came with that thought.

"Why do I have Saben's talent?" The words burst out of his mouth before he could stop them. "Why did you take it from him?"

Benjamin didn't tense, blink, or react at all. He remained sitting calmly across from Seth, his arm resting on the carriage window sill.

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"I didn't take anything from Saben," Benjamin said.

"You knew, and you arranged it. This bracelet isn't just an affinity bracelet. It's a stabilizer and recorder. You used me as a test subject for stealing people's magic."

"You had the bracelet examined." Benjamin sounded faintly impressed and not at all angry.

His lack of reaction both confused and alarmed Seth. Seth was suddenly keenly aware of the body at the back of the carriage, and knew that it would be no more trouble for Benjamin if both Seth and Owen were to join Ned.

But he couldn't let it go. Everything had built up too much, too hard, too sharp.

"Why? Why would you do that to him? He never did anything to you."

Benjamin tapped the window sill. "You don't know what Saben was doing."

"He was in school! What could he have been doing to mess you up? If Dad hadn't died… You were Dad's friend! How could you do that to his son? To Saben? You ruined his life!"

"I saved his life!" Benjamin snapped, speaking sharply for the first time.

Startled, Seth jerked away from Benjamin, but had nowhere to go.

"I saved his life," Benjamin repeated more levelly. "He had gotten mixed up with some very dangerous people. It was only a matter of time before one of them decided it was too risky to let him be and cut him out."

"What was he doing? Who was after him?"

"I will tell you right now, Seth, that I have never lied to you, and I never will. I made a promise with your father to look after both you and your brother. I have and will continue to do exactly that."

That statement both reassured Seth and enraged him. Benjamin didn't feel threatening anymore, but he sat there lying right to Seth's face.

Seth narrowed his eyes. "You said you didn't take Saben's power. I know that's not true. You've lied to me already."

"I didn't lie. I didn't take his power. You did."

Seth bristled. "I would never do that. Saben is my brother, I would never do anything like that to him."

The carriage passed into an unlit part of the city and Benjamin's face was nearly hidden in the darkness. "Oh, but you did. It wasn't even something difficult to do. For some reason, you idolized him. When asked if you wanted to be like him, you said yes. When asked if you wanted a wind power, you said yes. And when you were asked to imagine yourself with his power, you did."

Seth felt like he couldn't catch his breath. There was the slightest niggling of a memory. They'd been drinking, and then… "I don't remember this. I don't remember anything like this," he denied, but he wasn't sure if he was trying to convince Benjamin or himself.

"You already figured out where it happened. I know you had gone there. You probably remember the night too. You were eager for it to happen, Seth. You wanted that power."

"I wouldn't do that to him." Seth's voice was a whisper.

"You know how magic works. It's one of the first things they teach you. Intent. You need to have intent in order for magic to do anything. You needed to have the intent to take his power in order for the magic to work. You wanted it. You took it."

A single streetlight shone into the carriage, blinding Seth.

"What's more, Seth, is that Saben knows that too."

"Saben knows I have his power?" Seth felt panic budding in his chest. He hadn't had the chance to talk to Saben yet.

"No. But when he finds out, he'll know you did it intentionally."

"But I wouldn't… I couldn't have done it, not alone. I don't remember what happened, but I know I couldn't have done that. You were there, weren't you?"

Benjamin was quiet for a moment. "Yes. I was there."

"Why? Why do that to him?"

"As I said, I did it to save his life. I tried to get him to leave well enough alone, but he wouldn't. I don't know what your father had told him, but he was very determined. He was poking around some very powerful people with very high connections. And he was making their operations difficult." Benjamin shifted his gaze out the window. "I tried to get him to leave school, to apprentice with a reputable master instead, anything to get him out of the city. He refused."

"He loved school."

"He did. There was no way he would willingly leave the city, and staying was going to get him killed."

Seth remembered that Saben had been really stressed at the time. He was anxious about a lot of things, but kept telling Seth not to worry about it.

"You prevented him from getting accepted to the Combat Academy."

"I did," Benjamin acknowledged. "Staying in Rosia was too dangerous for him. I told him this multiple times, yet he still tried to stay."

"Why? Who was going after him?" Seth couldn't imagine anyone wanting to harm his brother. Saben was a good person and didn't deserve any of that.

Benjamin was quiet for a moment. "I'm not going to tell you that. Saben can tell you if he wants, but that is his business. He consistently refused my help."

Seth snorted. "Your 'help' included his magic power getting taken away. I can't say that I blame him."

Benjamin glared at Seth. "That was a last resort. Keeping a headstrong and opinionated teenager from damaging himself and his brother is no small task."

Seth thought about the trouble he'd been involved in lately.

Benjamin sighed. "I did what I could to influence the outcome. The power moved to you, not some random stranger. Saben is an apprentice to a professional delving team and he can explore the Below. I know that was always a goal of his."

It was. They'd both wanted to explore the wider reaches of the world.

If what Benjamin was telling him was true, then he was in fact attempting to look out for both of them. And Saben, although having lost his power, was doing something he always wanted to do.

"Will the power go back to him?" Seth asked. "Will Saben get his talent back?"

Benjamin shook his head. "At this time, the only known way for a power to return, is the death of the one who has it. Likewise, if Saben were to die, you would lose the talent."

They already knew that. Hellena had said as much in the cave. "There's no other way? What about the artifact you use to do the thefts?"

"I'm not going to talk much about that. I will say that how the device works is still being investigated. The more you know about it, the more dangerous things will become for you."

"Dangerous for me," Seth repeated. "I don't understand any of this. Why are you stealing powers? And so publicly? You're not trying to hide anything. Why are you doing this?"

"I have my reasons."

"No. You're messing with mine and my brother's lives. I don't see how this benefits you. If I figured out you're involved, the authorities will figure it out, too. There have to be people looking for you."

"There are. There's a reason I haven't been in the city lately. But the reason I'm doing this is the same reason your father was involved."

"My father was not a thief! He was not stealing powers!"

"No, he wasn't. But he was looking for someone. I'm looking for that same person."

"Who?"

"The person who murdered your mother."

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