And Morgan Danfey held the key. Was there any way to steal it from him? Or to wheedle him into setting her free? She had no idea. But both notions were worth pursuing while she was trapped beneath his roof.

For I’m only truly a prisoner if I think of myself that way. If I stop fighting, if I surrender to their brute authority, I might as well have bound myself.

Master Rumm returned, in one hand carrying a heavy stoneware plate burdened with buttered grain bread and cheese topped with a generous dollop of sharp pickle. In his other hand he held a stone mug.

“Eat,” he said, putting plate and mug on the kitchen’s table. “Then you’ll make yourself useful.”

It took every skerrick of self-control she possessed not to fall on the food like a ravenous wolf. “I can’t cook,” she told him, around a glorious mouthful. “Whatever I set my hand to gets burned to a cinder. If you don’t believe me, you can ask my brother.”

Rumm raised his eyebrows. “You’re mad if you think I’d trust you with his lordship’s meals. Never fear. I’ll find plenty to keep you busy.”

She had no doubt of that. But the warning to Rumm reminded her she had unfinished business. “Master Rumm, I have to tell my brother what’s happened. I’m his only family. I can’t leave him to fear for me.”

“If you’re his only family, Mage Lindin, and have a care for his feelings, I’d say you’ve a strange way of showing it.”

The mug was full of sweet cider. Washing down the bread and cheese, Barl made an effort to loosen her clutching fingers. “Are you going to let me tell him, or aren’t you?”

“The decision’s not mine,” said Rumm. “What you can and can’t do here is up to Councillor Danfey. And his lordship, of course.”

Of course. With another gut-wrenching effort, she humbled herself. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be difficult.”

Another raised-eyebrow look from Rumm. “Given your current predicament, Mage Lindin, I find that hard to believe.”

She put down the mug of cider. “Master Rumm, I am not wicked. And no matter what anyone says, I’m not dangerous. All I did was try to set right an injustice. But there are mages in Dorana who take that as a threat. Justice be praised that Councillor Danfey’s not one of them. If he hadn’t helped me…”

“Helped you?” Rumm stared at her, openly skeptical. “It’s my understanding he bound you.”

“He did,” she agreed. “To stop the others from doing worse. Believe me—believe me—I’ve no grudge against your master.” She managed a small, trembling smile. “If I did, I wouldn’t have warned you I can’t cook.”