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know the secret, in case anything happened to him. Sir Alrik gathered the remaining magic items that had been found, leaving just enough of the less valuable stuff for Pollard to find.” He gave a wan smile. “The items we left for Pollard might not have been as powerful as what he wanted, but they were good enough to make him wonder if there might be more if he had time to search harder. That’s why he set traps to keep other people out, and didn’t just destroy the castle.”
    “And it’s a good thing Lynge and Alrik took you into their confidence, considering what happened,” Jodd added.
    A chill went down Blaine’s back. Dillon met his gaze evenly. “Lynge sent us away when Lord Reese laid siege to the castle. We didn’t come back until we heard Lord Reese had been defeated.” He looked down. “We found Lynge’s body—laid him to rest.”
    “Thank you for seeing that he got a proper burial,” Blaine said. “He deserved a better end.” He paused. “Have you told Commander Theilsson about the traps?” Blaine asked.
    Jodd looked pleased. “Absolutely! Told him as soon as he arrived, and took him and his men around to show them what we’d found.”
    “Good work,” Blaine replied. He turned to Dillon. “Tomorrow I need to go into Castle Reach, but after that, I’d like to get back to Glenreith. We’ll need provisions for the road, and fresh horses.”
    Dillon nodded. “I’ll get started on it,” he said, and turned back toward the castle, taking Jodd with him.
    Blaine staggered as the vertigo struck again. “Sorry, lost my footing.”
    Kestel looked at him with concern. “Is the magic still affecting you? We need to figure out how to stop that from happening before we’re in battle.”
    “I suspect that when I anchored the magic, I got tied up in the bond.” Blaine replied. “So it’s not just breaking me out of the bond—it’s making sure that getting me untangled doesn’t affect the magic.”
    Kestel gave him a no-nonsense look. “You mean, making sure that if you get killed, it doesn’t destroy the magic again.”
    “Yeah,” he said. “That, too. And I’m sure Pollard and Reese would like to make both those things happen.” He could see the worry in her eyes. “But we’re jumping to conclusions. Let’s see what Dagur or the other mages come up with.”
    Kestel nodded, and glanced past Blaine. “Just as well. Niklas is headed our way.”
    “What happened?” Blaine asked as Niklas approached.
    Niklas muttered curses. “The mages tried to use another artifact. Good thing they were warded this time, or they might have done more than set off an explosion—although it made that wall fall. As it is, there are two people down with minor burns, and a man with some broken bones from the wall collapse, but Rikard and Dagur seem to think the exercise went well, all things considered.”
    “How long do you think it’ll take to finish securing the grounds?”
    Niklas turned to look back at the ruins. “A few more days at most.”
    “Can you hurry it up?”
    Piran laughed. “You put him in charge of your army for a reason. He’s good at what he does. Maybe we should let him do it.”
    Blaine glowered at Piran, then nodded to Niklas. “Just make sure you don’t drag it out longer than necessary.”
    Piran headed back to the wall, and Blaine turned to look at the remaining tower and wing, silhouetted against the sky. “The last time I was at Quillarth Castle, I was in chains,” he said quietly as Kestel came to stand next to him. “I never thought I’d outlive either the king or the castle.”
    It had been nearly seven years since Lord Blaine McFadden had come before King Merrill to be tried for the murder of his father, Ian McFadden. To the court, it did not matter that he had killed Ian for dishonoring his own daughter, Blaine’s sister. Merrill exiled Blaine to the Velant prison colony. After three years as a convict and three more as a colonist in the brutal arctic