This time he seemed to focus on her for a moment. His brow furrowed. “Thisbe?” he said softly.

Thisbe froze. “Dev!” she said in harsh whisper. She grabbed his arm. “Do you know me?”

But then his eyes glazed over again, and all recognition was gone. Thisbe dropped her hand, and he turned away to his station, methodically stoking the fire.

•  •  •

That evening, when Thisbe and Rohan met in the tunnel between the crypts, they felt a renewed sense of urgency.

“Dev had a moment of recognition after taking one dose today,” Thisbe reported. “I wonder what’s happening to the others. We’re going to have to get to them somehow before the Revinir notices.”

“She already noticed the first time,” said Rohan grimly. “She’s definitely going to notice this time too. Especially since she ordered us to take two. I actually had to swallow one of them while the soldiers watched, because I didn’t have anywhere else to go with this first dose before I had to down the second bottle. Please tell me it was the ancestor broth. It looked golden like the other one you gave me, and I didn’t get any scales.”

“It was! And this new batch has lots of dried herbs floating in it, so that should help you tell the difference too. Future bottles should look the same.” She paused, then said sheepishly, “It was me who told the soldiers to give the double dose. The idea just came to me as a way to speed up the process. I figured the soldiers would believe anything I say, and it worked.”

“Be careful, pria,” Rohan warned. “If that gets back to the Revinir, she’s going to know something’s wrong.”

“I didn’t think it through,” said Thisbe. “You’re right—that was a mistake.” They were both silent for a moment, wondering if there would be any ramifications. Then Thisbe brightened. “But I feel good about how our meeting went with her in Dragonsmarche this morning. I felt like I was on my game.”

Rohan tilted his head. “On your game? I’m not familiar with that phrase.”

“Oh—sorry. It’s a thing Kaylee says sometimes. Anyway, it means I was really confident about how I answered the Revinir, and she totally believed me—it was like I had a gut feeling about how to answer her questions. And I got them right.”

“I assumed you were just answering truthfully,” said Rohan. “You tricked me as well.”

“And then she said to dump the old broth out, which was what I was thinking and concentrating on. I wonder if I sort of . . .” Thisbe stopped and laughed quietly. “Never mind.”

“What?”

“I just wonder if I sort of, somehow . . . I don’t know.”

“Sort of somehow what?” said Rohan, truly curious.

“Planted that idea in her head.”

“Um . . . ,” said Rohan, frowning slightly.

“I know, I know. It sounds ridiculous when I say it out loud.”