And how he wanted to get the vrondi to bring the Imperial hostages as well.

Isla had frowned at the first, but she scowled at the second. “Kordas!” she exclaimed. “What are you thinking? You have no right to ‘save’ them by kidnapping them! They aren’t your children! I understand why you’d feel like this, but—!”

“I was thinking that they are children,” he said simply. “I was thinking that they are there through no fault of their own. I was thinking that even vipers can be tamed. And I was thinking about your brother.”

Isla pressed her lips tightly together and said nothing.

“I’m doing this, Isla,” he said, in tones that suggested that arguing with him was going to be like hitting one’s head against a rock. It would do no good, and the rock wouldn’t notice.

She sighed. “All right. How do you propose to do this?”

“If a Doll stands at a Gate and holds a talisman for our Gate to it, that will keep it open for as long as the Doll is there—” he began, but Star interrupted him with a hand on his shoulder.

“We are charged with replicating the Gate talismans,” it whispered. “You merely need to give this one a single talisman, and we can, in secret, replicate as many as are needed. We will not need separate talismans for the hostages. We will render them immobile and carry them across ourselves.”

Kordas looked taken aback for a moment, as if he was revising his plans.

“And before you leave us, Great Lord, this one will slip you a talisman for one of the Gates only Dolls use here in the Palace,” it continued. “Then you may return at your will, and pass your talisman to us.”

“Well!” Kordas said. “That’s sorted, then.”