“When your life depends on it, you don’t need training,” said Rohan. He peered out of the tunnel at his door. “And speaking of that, I’m surprised no one has come to check on the racket you’ve been making. Where’s Mangrel? He’s been acting different lately.”

“I noticed that as well! Maybe he slept through the noise this time.” Thisbe checked her door too and grew uneasy. “He’d have been here by now if he’d heard, though, right?”

“I imagine so. But with fewer guards around, maybe nobody heard or felt the explosions.”

“Well, then,” said Thisbe, feeling a little more at ease, “tell me whatever you can before it’s time to go back to work.”

“First, may I express how glad I am that you’re alive? I was a little worried about the volcano network.” He gazed earnestly at her.

“That’s a story for later,” said Thisbe. “We ended up in a very creepy place, but made it out all right.”

“Did you find Sky?”

“Yes! She was in our world.”

“Thank goodness.” Rohan settled in. “After you and your friends left, I explained to Maiven everything I knew about the broths and what they did to you—how they affected you. She and I determined that the ancestor broth worked something like an antidote to the dragon-bone broth. And we knew from what you’d told me that the ancestor broth worked only on those with black eyes, like our fellow slaves. So once we got settled and Maiven started feeling better, she and I slowly hatched this madcap plan for me to fake being affected by the Revinir’s roar so I could infiltrate the catacombs and try to get our fellow future rulers back to our side.”

“That was very smart of you,” said Thisbe. “But dangerous, too—what if she forced you to drink the dragon-bone broth?”

“I drank the vial of ancestor broth you gave me as a protectant right before I came.”

“Ooh.” Thisbe leaned forward. “So you see visions now too?”

“Oh . . . ,” he said, seeming suddenly troubled. “Yes. I . . . We’ll get to that later. I wonder if we’re seeing different parts of the same events of the past . . . or if maybe we’re getting slightly different points of view.”

Thisbe was intrigued, but she had a million other questions to get to in such limited time. “How did you come to join this group, though? Didn’t the Revinir suspect something when you didn’t have scales?”

“Ah, but I do have them.” He pulled up his sleeves and showed Thisbe. “Maiven and I stuck them on with a glue she made out of sap. They look real, don’t they?” He pulled a small container of glue and a bag of scales from his pocket. “I have more in case I lose any.”