“That’s exactly what I mean,” said Thisbe, sitting up. “Me too.”

“But he certainly isn’t trying to help us escape,” Rohan said bitterly. “Not him or the soldiers. They have the power to help us, but they have no inclination to do it. I wonder how they are human at all.”

Thisbe slumped again. “I’ve wondered that many times.”

“If they don’t support what the Revinir is doing, they are too cowardly to stand up and speak out against it.”

“Unfortunately, unlike them, we can’t afford to be cowardly,” said Thisbe. Her eyelids drooped, but one question remained unanswered. “How were you planning to get the other black-eyed slaves back on our team when you weren’t able to make ancestor broth?”

Rohan lolled his head sleepily to one side to look at her. “I was still trying to figure out how to cook a secret batch when the Revinir called us to assist with the mission to capture you and Drock. So your timing, Miss Thisbe, was impeccable.”

They dozed side by side, cradled by the curve of the circular tunnel walls. Before Mangrel could discover them in the morning, Rohan snapped awake. He crawled carefully over Thisbe so as not to disturb her and built her bone pile to cover the view of the tunnel. Then he did his own before gently waking her and sending her down to the floor to await the crypt keeper’s arrival. The ancestor broth, simmering in the kitchen, would be finished and ready to bottle.

But when Thisbe arrived in the kitchen, Dev was already there. And her cauldron of ancestor broth was empty.

One Vial at a Time

Dev!” hissed Thisbe. “What have you done?” She ran over to her cauldron and stared inside. It was clean and empty.

“You made a mistake,” said Dev evenly. “The servant, Rohan, gave you the wrong bones. I had to dump it out.”

“Oh,” said Thisbe, crestfallen but trying to regain her composure. Inside she was throwing a fit. Outwardly she fought to control her frustration. “I am sorry for my mistake.”

Dev didn’t respond and turned to his station, starting his new batch for the day. Thisbe looked around helplessly. Where had he dumped it? Was it salvageable?

“I bottled and shelved several before I saw that the bones were wrong,” Dev said. “You should remove them from the throne room. They’re the ones on the far end.”