He had weapons, but he’d prefer to do this without injuring anyone. Any guards at the castle were only doing their jobs. This mess wasn’t their fault—it was well and truly his.

To break open the gibbet cage, he’d managed to gather a few basic tools. It wouldn’t be an elegant job, but the poker from his rooms looked slender and robust enough that it would fit in the keyhole. Add his strength to one end and, Lords and Ladies willing, it would break. Surely the fae would give favour to his attempt to free one of their own.

As for getting to the cage—that would be the same as this morning. No one had seen him there under cover of darkness. With a bit of luck, no one would see him there tonight, either. Now he knew the lay of the land, he could even smother the brazier and any torches he came across. It would be harder for the guards to spot his work or Vee’s escape.

By the time he’d finished all that, the Admiralty’s offices had opened, and he was in full uniform. He was reasonably sure of the result, but he had to try this the legitimate way.

Vice Admiral Yorke, the man who’d helped arrest Vee, had agreed to see him, despite the lack of appointment. That was a positive start.

Unfortunately, it was the only positive note. As soon as he began outlining his argument, the grey-haired man smiled and steepled his fingers. He thought this a lover’s regret or a heartsick young man. Maybe that was why he allowed Knigh to retrieve some of Vice’s belongings from her sea chest in the Admiralty basement—keepsakes of a tragic romance.

Yorke even added a further stab of guilt as he saw Knigh from his offices.

“Now, continue your leave and return once this business is all taken care of and your mind is rested. You don’t want to end up like your friend Billy Hopper, retired from the Navy far too soon, do you?”

The name twitched through him—the night’s revelations had left him too exhausted to smother the reaction.

Yorke smiled and gestured to the door. “Go to the civilian docks if you want a reminder of that fate.”

Billy was docked in Portsmouth.

It was the first time they’d been in the same place since he’d left the Navy and Knigh owed him a visit. Owed him a lot more, in fact.