“A—ris—ta?” Degan asked, sounding horse. “What is it?”“A rat bit me,” she said, once again shocked by her own rasping voice.“Jasper does that if—” Gaunt coughed and hacked. After a moment, hespoke again. “If he thinks you’re dead or too weak to fight.”“Jasper?”“I call him that, but I’ve also named the stones in my cell.”“I only counted mine,” Arista said.“Two hundred and thirty-four,” Degan replied instantly.“I have two hundred and twenty-eight.”“Did you count the cracked ones as two?”“No.”

“So,” Royce said, “you want us to escape from this prison, kidnap the king, cross the countryside with him in tow while dodging soldiers who I assume might not accept our side of the story, and go to another secret prison so that he can visit an inmate?”Arista did not appear amused. “Either that, or you can be tortured to death in four hours.”“Sounds like a really good plan to me,” Hadrian declared.“Royce?”“I like any plan where I don’t die a horrible death.”

“You didn’t really hold back on Braga so Pickering could kill him, did you?” Royce asked after the two were left alone in the hallway.“Of course not. I held off because it’s death for a commoner to kill a noble.”“That’s what I thought.” Royce sounded relieved. “For a minute, I wondered if you’d gone from jumping on the good-deed wagon to leading the whole wagon train.”

“Oh my,' Myron said to Hadrian as he twisted to get a better view. 'I don't even think of horses when I look at her.”

“Wait a minute,” Hadrian said. “Was it a beat-up brown leather notebook?About this big?” He gestured with his hands.“Yes,” the Patriarch said.Arista looked back and forth between them. “How do you know that?”“I know it because I have lived in the Crown Tower,” the Patriarchsaid.“And you?” Arista looked at Hadrian, who hesitated.“Ha-ha! Of course, of course. I knew it!” Cosmos DeLur chuckled andclapped his hands together in single applause while smiling at Hadrian.“Such a wonderfully delightful rumor as that had to be true. That isan exquisite accomplishment.”“You stole it?” Arista asked.“Yes, he did,” the Patriarch declared.“Actually,” Hadrian said, “Royce and I did, but we put it back the next night.”

“Hadrian drew two swords from his sides in a single elegant motion. He flipped one aroundletting it spin against his palm once. “Need to get a new grip on this one. It’s starting to fray again.” He looked at Will. “Shall we get on with this? I believe you were about to rob us.”

“There are still eight of us,” Guy pointed out. “Not exactly an even fight.”“I was thinking the same thing,” Mauvin said. “Sadly, there’s no one else here we can ask to join your side.”Guy looked at Mauvin, then Hadrian, for a long moment as the men glared across the ash at each other. Then he nodded and lowered his blade. “Well, I can see I’ll have to report your misconduct to the archbishop.”“Go ahead,” Hadrian said. “His body is buried with the rest of them just down the hillside.”