“Mostly we left Artimé because we were afraid the Revinir would attack our people. I assumed the Revinir wouldn’t have stopped until she found me.”

“You’re right,” said Rohan. “She was prepared to attack anything in her way. And she would have sent us in to find you—that’s why we were along for the ride. I was determined to get to you first and convince you to come. She’s not going to kill us. She just wants our loyalty.”

“We thought that too.” Thisbe almost smiled. How cool it was that she and Rohan had been thinking so similarly while they were apart. But her thoughts returned to the Revinir. “She’s greedy, and she won’t stop until she has everything and everyone. Drock and I believed that if we gave ourselves up, she’d be satisfied and leave Artimé alone. And thank goodness she did, because we weren’t prepared to fight dragons.”

“You did the right thing.”

“The problem is that I hadn’t expected her to want Fifer, too, since she’d hardly seen her and never had her working for her before. But I should have known better. She and the pirate captain have had their eyes on us since we were toddlers.”

“You were smart to tell her Fifer was here. That was quick thinking.” Rohan looked admiringly at Thisbe.

Thisbe felt her face grow warm. “Thanks, but I’m worried for when she figures out I lied.”

“The good thing is that as long as she believes you’re under her mind control, she won’t be expecting you to lie. So you should be able to continue tricking her if you don’t make a mistake.” Rohan shifted. “And we’ll just take things one day at a time. Keep sounding certain that Fifer is in this land somewhere. That’s how we’re going to get through this. Besides, didn’t Fifer and your other friends hide out in the forest for a long time before this?”

“Yes.”

“Then it’ll probably be a while before the Revinir starts to become suspicious.”

“I hope so.” Thisbe suppressed a yawn. It had to be very late, but she didn’t want to sleep. “How are we going to explain the tunnel to Mangrel?” She waved her hand at the opening in the wall.

“Same as last time. I think just piling up bones to cover the view of the hole is our best option. He won’t be expecting it, since we are supposedly fully obedient while under the Revinir’s spell.”

“I’m starting to grasp that—and I think it can work in our favor.” Thisbe nodded slowly. “Do you think Mangrel is . . . maybe . . . I don’t know . . . sympathetic? A little bit?”

Rohan looked sidelong at Thisbe. “It’s funny you noticed that too. When I arrived, I think he was truly troubled to see me back here.”