“I’m not surprised,” Alice says, eyes narrowed. “I hate that bitch.”

My jaw drops. Alice throws her hands up. “What? She was mad about you from the beginning. From the literal actual beginning, Bree.”

William sighs. “Just because you’re an outsider—”

“That’s not it and you know it,” I cut him off.

“Look, Tor’s racist. Doesn’t do us any good to deny it,” Alice chimes in, crossing her arms. “Especially not now.”

“I agree with Chen,” Samira says. “We can’t protect Bree if we ignore the forces working against her. How deep they go, how far, how wide.”

“Tor’ll come around,” Gill says.

Alice snorts. “That’s not generally how this works, but if y’all say so.”

“And Felicity?” William whispers.

“She’s struggling.” Gill’s voice is so low in the roar of the cabin that it almost goes unheard. “At least Owen’s there now to help her through the agony.”

“The agony?” Alice asks.

Gill inhales slowly, grimacing. “The agony is what we call the pain and grief from feeling an Oath bond break in battle. For the Scion or Squire left behind… it hurts like nothing you can imagine.”

Silence in the cabin. Gill’s and my eyes go to William, but he’s already turned away from us. A stab of guilt in my heart. He felt Whitty die, too, and he’d never said anything. I hadn’t even noticed, hadn’t asked.

The thought of more deaths sends panic streaking through me. “Gill, the Regents said my dad is under Liege supervision. Is he safe?”

“The Lieges assigned to him are loyal to you, not the Regents. We made sure of it.”

My shoulders soften in relief. “Oh, thank God.”

Gill squeezes my shoulder. “We have burner phones that can mimic your cell number.” She smiles softly. “Figured you’d want to check in. Tell him what you think he needs to know.”

“I have no idea what that is, but yes.” I release a slow breath. “And thank you.” I consider using the opportunity to call Patricia or Mariah too, but decide against it. I need to keep the Rootcraft community as far away from the Order as possible. If their identities are exposed, if it gets out that I broke the Code of Secrecy with them, too… it’s just too dangerous.

“The Lieges are watching my parents too,” Alice says quietly. “Just in case. I told them we were busy with classes and it’d be a while before I could call.” I know she hates lying to her parents. I wish she didn’t have to.