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licked his lips. “I—”
    â€œWe’re starting a revolution, Eel. Prove yourself to Lord Dark. No one will miss this dog. They assume he’s deserted already. We saw to that.”
    â€œDo it,” Sharlot said, positively ecstatic.
    Eel took the knife. The nameless Guard shook his head frantically.
    â€œEel,” Ferrin said, that honeylike quality to his voice again. “He’s a loyal servant of Selenay. Your father went to the border and died, and when he died, it was under orders from a man not unlike this one. This dog—” He kicked the Guard, who grunted. “—is as complicit in his murder as your so-called Queen is.”
    â€œYes,” Eel whispered, a glitter in his eye as he knelt down.
    â€œDo it,” Sharlot repeated.
    Eel raised the knife and swung down. The Guard spasmed and shrieked, writhing and trying to roll away as the knife rose and fell, rose and fell.
    It took far too long for him to die.
    Wil pulled out of the vision, finding himself once more in sunlight. Amelie crouched nearby.
    :Chosen?:
    He didn’t answer Vehs. Couldn’t answer. Words failed.
    â€œWil?” Amelie asked worriedly.
    Wil stood up slowly, brushing his palms on his breeches as he turned his mind toward his Companion.
:Things are about to get interesting.:
    :You know how much I love interesting.:
    â€œWe’re going back to the inn,” he said. “For now.”
    â€œAnd then?”
    He started down the stairs.
I’ll arrest Ferrin and drag him by his thumbs back to Haven,
he wanted to say.
    â€œI need a plan.” He scooped up Ivy and put her on one shoulder. “I need to think.”
    â€¢Â â€¢Â â€¢
    :Can’t we drop an army on them?
:
Vehs asked.
    Wil sat in the loft with Ivy, slowly brushing her hair free from its braids as he discussed his plans with his Companion.
    :Gods. I wish,:
he thought.
    :That sounds like a “no.”:
    :There’ll be a bloodbath if we pull the Guard in on this.:
Wil shook his head.
:Ferrin will rally his side. It’ll be no contest, but it’ll make the Queen and her agents look like oppressors.:
    :Which is what he wants.:
The backlash of war—even a necessary one—couldn’t be avoided. People lost loved ones, or loved ones came back permanently changed physically and mentally. Ferrin had tapped into this resentment, given it a focus, and then fanned the flames with his Gift.
    The streets of Highjorune would run with blood if Wil didn’t stop him.
    :He also mentioned a “Lord Dark,”:
he thought.
    Vehs’ unease matched Wil’s.
:Yes. I . . . don’t like the sound of that name.:
    :So, we need him alive so we can interrogate him about who “Lord Dark” is. And we need him alone.:
    :Get him when he sleeps?:
    Wil shook his head.
:He shares his bed with Sharlot. Eel sleeps outside his door.:
Wil had wandered the inn several times after midnight and had seen the stableboy curled up outside Ferrin’s door.
:The boy thrives on crumbs of praise.:
Wil felt a shadow of pity for the young man, but then he remembered the terrible fervor with which Eel stabbed the Guardsman to death. Wil’s sympathy withered.
:It’s no accident Ferrin picked him.:
    Aubryn’s voice shouldered into the conversation.
:His rides to the castle.:
    She’s eavesdropping.
He wanted to be annoyed, but her suggestion matched what he had been about topropose.
:Yes. That’s our best opportunity. Vehs, I have a job for you.:
    :Yes?:
    Wil settled back, drawing Ivy close to him.
:Go up the castle road. Be my eyes. I need to see it again. Every way to the palace . . . every hiding place. Every secret passage.:
    â€¢Â â€¢Â â€¢
    Ferrin had been wearing a mask every month since he came to Highjorune nearly a year ago.
    It had only been him and Sharlot at the castle that first Masque. But now—through word of mouth and careful