There would, of course, be a massive search for the missing, but it would all be centered here. Records would be combed through, but the Dolls were in charge of the record-keeping, and as thorough as they were, he was positive they had either erased those records or never made them in the first place. So actually, the longer he stayed here, the longer it would take to associate Valdemar with the missing.

He’d probably send me home . . . wait, no he wouldn’t. As soon as he got horses into the stables, he’d need someone who knows how to care for them. And that would be me.

He buried his face in his hands, head aching, thinking. But the more he thought about it, the surer he was. The best thing he could do for Valdemar was stay here.

All right; got to think this through. I’d never heard of the Dolls before I got to the City, so it stands to reason they’re never seen outside of it. Everyone is going to be at the Regatta once that yellow toad gets heaved into his golden-chariot-throne and hauled there to observe. And that was when we were going to leave anyway.

So, I’ll be there instead of running off. The Dolls leave, and the only people who notice are the Palace servants. They won’t know what to do about it, or who to report it to. Will the mages go to the Regatta? Probably not, but they won’t notice the Dolls are leaving until it’s too late, and anyway, what could they do to stop them? And who would they tell? Who would they send? They might be able to send a message magically, but would anyone pay attention to it? Probably not; the way things run around here, it would probably get dismissed to be looked at after the Regatta was over.

So far, so good.

At the worst, someone will send one of the people working in the kitchen as a runner with a message. By then, the Trap will be shut down, or even destroyed, the dissidents will be gone, the hostages will be gone, and the Dolls will be gone.

What then?

Well, people being people won’t believe that the Dolls have gone. They’ll probably assume only some of them have left, or that they got herded into a room somewhere in this heap and locked away. Only when they’ve figured out that their slaves have slipped their chains will they look further . . . or will they?

The most likely thing is that people will start blaming each other. And meanwhile, the Emperor will be furious, and the longer he goes without being waited on, the more furious he’ll be.