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“Tomorrow, we ride for Paradum,” Lyros said.
“I don’t remember the way,” Cassia lamented. “Do you, Solia?”
She shook her head. “I never went there, only knew of it.”
“Then we’ll search for it,” Lio said. “With the magic at our disposal, it can’t be that difficult to find.”
“We’ll have to approach with caution, though,” said Mak. “Even if the king isn’t likely to pay us a surprise visit, it’s still one of his keeps. The last thing we need is for his steward to alert him that we’ve been there.”
Cassia paused to think. “A lesser lord used to manage the game for him, and his wife kept the household. I spent more time with Agata than my hosts, who preferred not to be in the company of a bastard. Even so, I’m sorry for what happened to the lord and lady. I’m not sure whom he chose to replace them after the epidemic.”
“If this is the safe place Thalia mentioned,” Solia said, “there must be a way to get you to the letting site there without alerting the king.”
Lio rested a hand on the scroll he now always brought on their searches. “She described the arrival of each of her affinities as a vigil that lasted for a night and a day. Perhaps there’s a hidden location like the Changing Queen’s passageways where you can wait out the awakening of your magic.”
Cassia found a smile for him, even though she was afraid to get her own hopes up.
He looked more encouraged than he had in weeks. “We’re closer. This could be it. Only a few more d—”
Lio broke off, and Cassia felt what had startled him. A gleam of magic. Everyone turned in the direction of the spell.
“Is that Kyrian healing magic?” Cassia asked.
“Yes,” Lio answered, “but Ariadne and the Semna said nothing about visiting any of the villages tonight. There’s something odd about the spell. It doesn’t feel quite like the Temple of Kyria.”
“An apostate?” Solia wondered.
“An apostate healer hardly sounds dangerous,” Mak said. “Should we leave them be?”
“Might be best not to meddle in things that don’t concern us,” Lyros agreed.
Cassia, Lio, and Solia exchanged a glance.
“I think we should at least find out what’s happening,” Cassia said.
“If someone’s life is in danger,” said Lio, “the apostate might need help.”
Solia nodded. “Let’s simply ensure all is well before we return to Patria.”
“It’s our duty to keep you three safe,” Lyros said, “so we advise against this, as the Hesperine delegation’s bodyguards.”
“But as Hesperines,” said Mak, “we feel the same way.”
They guided their horses down a side lane toward the spell. It was emanating from a small, tidy cottage at the edge of the village. The shutters were so tight that no light leaked from inside.
“Too close to the edge of the wards for comfort,” Lio murmured. “Surely there’s no reason for the Collector to target this stranger, or for him to test our wards over one mage, but…”
Solia nodded. “I’m thinking of Pakhne, too. I hate to imagine him adding one more healer’s magic to his collection.”
Cassia glanced over the village wall and saw a small, dark shape lying on the ground. Knight trotted up to the nearest gate and went into a warning stance. His growl rumbled through the night.
Despite the powerful hum of the Hesperine magic in the ward, a chill went down Cassia’s spine. “What is that?”
They rode as close as they dared to the perimeter, and Lio sent a spell light out to hover over the black form. It was the stiff, bedraggled body of a dead crow. Seeing the Eye of Hypnos drawn on its breast in blood, Cassia tried not to gag. A trail of feathers led from the bird to the gate, halting abruptly at the edge of the ward.
Lio’s magic fortified her mind. “He didn’t get past the ward.”
“But he was here,” Cassia said. “Perhaps he still is.”
