“Before Kiki and I headed toward the Keep, I thanked my friends.“For what? We didn’t do anything,” Janco grumbled.“For caring enough to follow my guards. And the next time, I might need the help.”“There better not be a next time,” Ari said, giving me a stern look.“How touching,” Janco said, pretending to wipe his eyes.“Get going, Yelena. I don’t want you to see me cry.” He faked a sniffle.“I’m sure your ego can handle it,” I said. “Or will you need to beat up some trainees to feel like a man again?”“Very funny,” he said.”

“A little present from my run-in with a sword. Or should I say from when the sword had a run-in with me?” His eyes lit up.“Want to see the scar? It’s cool.” He started pulling his shirt out of his pants.“Janco,” Ari warned. “We’re not supposed to be fraternizing with the Sitians.”“But she’s not Sitian. Right, Yelena? You haven’t gone south on us, have you?” Janco’s voice held mock horror.“Because if you have I can’t give you your present.”I took my switchblade out, showing the inscription to Janco. “What about ‘Sieges weathered, fight together, friends forever’? Does that change if I become an official southerner?”Janco rubbed the hair on his chin, considering. “No,” Ari said. “You could change into a goat and it would still apply.”

“I shook my head at Janco. “I’ve got the situation under control. Go back to the Keep, I’ll meet you there.”Janco stared at me in astonished silence. Ari, though, trusted me. “Come on, she doesn’t need our help.” Ari sheathed his sword. Janco recovered. He flashed me one of his mischievous grins. “I’ll bet you a copper that she’ll be free in five minutes,” he said to Ari.Ari grunted in amusement. “A silver on ten minutes,” he countered.“I’ll bet you both a gold coin that she kills him,” Valek saidfrom behind them. They moved aside and he entered, still dressed in his Adviser Ilom disguise. “The only way to take care of your problem. Right, love?”

“We need to talk.”“I’m just – Look,” I said, as he took a step toward me. “I’m just going to give Cee Cee a call and maybe we’ll go to the beach or something, because I really … I just need a day off.”Another step toward me. Now he was right in front of me.“Especially,” I said significantly, looking up at him, “from talking. That’s what I especially need a day off from. Talking.”“Fine,” he said. He reached up and cupped my face in both his hands. “We don’t have to talk.”And that’s when he kissed me. On the lips.”

“I have this friend, Jake," Mr. Mitchell says, sitting on the edge of his desk. "One day, I needed a favor. It wasn't a big favor, but I called him and told him I needed something. Know what he said?" We shake our heads."He said, 'Sure.' Before he eve knew what i was going to ask him. You know why?"We shake our heads again. "Because he trusted me not to ask him to do something he couldn't or wouldn't want to do. He knew that whatever i asked for, he would help me simply because he was my friend and I needed help. That's true friendship.”

“What the hel—”“Finally! I can talk!” Janco said.Ari turned. Janco held the Sandseed’s scimitar in his hand. The man lay on the ground, unconscious.“Care to explain?” Ari asked.“Didn’t you see my signals?”“Yeah. But they didn’t make sense. Five into one and it’s an intrusion.”“It’s an illusion! Five of them are an illusion.”“That’s not the signal for illusion. This is.” Ari demonstrated the proper signal.“That’s what I did.”“No, you didn’t. You did a weird twisty thing with your pinky.”“I had a scimitar at my throat. I’d like to see you try signaling under those conditions.”Ari opened his mouth to retort, but thought better of it. They could argue for weeks and not resolve a thing. He changed tactics. “You did very well. You knocked him unconscious and stopped his magic.”As expected, Janco preened.”