Now all of the dissidents were hanging on the chainlink, breathlessly staring at him, some in disbelief, some in desperation, but the rest with growing hope in their eyes.

Star went rigid, consulting with the rest of her kind. “We . . . think not. There are only two Innovator mages left. Until three years ago, there were four, but their laboratories collapsed, and they were felled by debris. And the two that are left are not the two who worked on the Trap and the Dolls.”

“So . . . if we break the Trap, we free those of you who are already caught,” Kordas said slowly. “And if we break the prison and free the bait, there won’t be any reason for vrondi to be attracted here, and those that are freed to flee can warn the rest of your kind. That will at least buy you time to get out of range of another Trap and never return. Right?”

“But what if the Emperor figures out some other Elementals—” Beltran began.

“Stop!” Kordas begged. “Just stop! I’ve already made more promises than I think I can keep! I won’t be able to do anything if you keep trying to think of more things I should be doing! I’m not superhuman! I’m one man with bigger ideas than he can pull off alone, more scared every day, and only my friends old and new to save me. To save me while I save others. I know it can all be done, but it just keeps getting more dangerous. And anyone I can’t save, I’ll have killed them by failing them.”

Beltran’s mouth fell open in shock for a moment at his vehemence. Then he closed it, and slowly nodded, blushing a little with embarrassment.

The discussion lasted most of a candlemark without a single warning from Star that they were being watched. So Star was right. No one was scrying this place. No one cared what happened here. People lived, and probably died here, and no one cared except to drag away bodies or shove more people in the cage. And probably the dissidents weren’t at all amusing to watch. After all, even if someone had a personal enemy in here, Kordas had the impression that such passive revenge was nothing like bloody enough for the rapacious weasels that inhabited the Court.