into the fog of his memory, back to when he’d been bonded, before seeing Josie again had woken him up. Van Gast had stolen a ship, the Sea Witch. That had been the start of everything. The Master had been livid for the loss of bride, of dowry, of pride. He supposed the Yelen were too—the marriage was to have been part of a trade deal between the Remorians and the Yelen. The dowry had been huge—and stolen.
“Ten thousand sharks,” Tallia said. “He’d be turned in for sure, with that much on his head. But Rillen—”
“Who’s Rillen?” Holden asked. “You wouldn’t give me much before, but you know him, that’s plain.”
“Son of one of the council, brother of the man Van shot in Bilsen. He wants to rip Van Gast’s throat out. Or maybe torture him some first. When the mages came and made an offer to the Yelen, they wanted Van Gast too—and Rillen’s father wants Van Gast bonded before they put his head on a pike. It was Rillen after Van Gast in the square. Rillen—I don’t think Rillen connects to anyone. He only pulls them apart.”
Holden remembered Van Gast laughing when Holden said it was too dangerous to come here, brushing off his fears and saying it would be fun. “The square—yes. Gilda told Rillen who Van Gast was.”
“Because she’s Haban’s niece, and I think Rillen offered her his freedom in return for Van. All I did was leave the note from Josie. I swear. I was supposed to leave the ship after that, but I stayed. Because of you.”
He wanted to believe her, he did. Yet he knew he shouldn’t, knew that he was as hopeless at spotting a lie as he was at lying. He’d never had the opportunity to practice. Van Gast had left him here, with her in the brig, and already he’d gone too far letting her out. If she was the traitor…
Think the way you used to, in straight lines. Forget the way she smiles at you, forget the way you want her to keep touching you. The way she makes you want to smile. Remember, back when you were a commander. Order. Answers. Maybe Gilda was the one trying to turn in Van, but there was something else here. Something bad for Van, and for him too perhaps.
“So why were you in the square? Why were you watching Van Gast, following him, because that’s what you were doing, isn’t it?”
“I told you, my family. I went to see them.”
A lie that wasn’t a lie, he’d thought before. “Did you find them?”
A teasing pout from her, half amused, half annoyed. Even now she couldn’t dim her bubbly nature. “You didn’t give me much of a chance. I found Josie for you, for Van, though, didn’t I?”
Finally, she finished dressing the cut and pulled her shirt back down. “Aren’t there other questions you should be asking me, like who Josie is running the twist on, or where Ilsa is?”
“Never mind Ilsa—”
“But I do mind. And I mind that Rillen is the one after Van Gast, because that’s who Josie is trying to con, and if Rillen recognizes him, if he knows who they are before they can try the twist—I promise you, Holden, I may hate Van for what he’s put Josie through, but I don’t want him dead. I just want him to leave my sister alone to be happy. Maybe squirm some first.”
The lamp-lit darkness was soft as velvet when she stopped, the silence a shroud around them. Holden wanted to ask, to blurt out, “Sister?” but didn’t get the chance.
Someone rapped on the door, urgent and insistent, making them both jump. When Holden opened it, Guld scurried into the little circle of light.
“Holden, you—you’ve got to do something!”
Holden started, feeling guiltily ashamed but not sure why. Guld was a wreck—his hands wrung together so hard that the knuckles cracked and his stutter became more pronounced as the words blurted out of him. “It’s V-V-Van—they’ve, um, got him, in the c-c-cells. You have to do something!”
Holden gripped one of Guld’s shoulders, thin, bony beneath his fingers. “Calm down. Deep breath. That’s it. Now, start at the beginning.”
“Van—he asked me to keep an eye on him, um, them. It’s tricky, because the Remorian mages, well, they can do things to block me. Only they’re still quite weak and, um, well… Sorry. Anyway, so I kept an eye on him. The picture was a bit grainy and I didn’t get much sound,