We send word to Ronin once we’re safe, and to my relief, he agrees to retrieve us from Sab Hnou. From there to Spinner’s End is a four-hour walk. After the last few days, we’re exhausted and hungry. But we’re also eager for a bath, a warm meal, and a soft bed, so we march the last leg of the journey through the Dead Wood in tense silence.

Saengo greets us inside the gates. She looks pale and anxious. When she sees me, she releases a long exhale. The same relief rushes through me, easing muscles I hadn’t realized were clenched tight.

She’s trimmed her short hair so that the ends are now even. I hope it means she’s feeling more optimistic. She’s dressed plainly, with a high-collared tunic and loose pants, but the sash around her waist is knotted in the distinguished style of a reiwyn lady.

The moment we’re back in our rooms, Saengo claps a hand over her mouth and mumbles, “I went snooping.”

I pause in shucking off my travel-worn shirt. “Don’t leave me in suspense.”

She lowers her hands, looking quite pleased with herself. There’s a giddy sort of energy to her that fills that pit in my gut. “I sneaked out through the library window and found my way back to Ronin’s study.”

My brows rise. “Are you vying for the job of Shadow?”

She gives me a sly grin. “Are you frightened?”

“Terrified. Go on, then.”

She sits on her bed while I finish undressing. “Apparently, if I’m wearing a spidersilk gown and rushing about the castle like I belong here, no one questions me.”

“It’s also the way you walk,” I say.

“What’s wrong with the way I walk?”

“Nothing’s wrong with it. It’s just that you carry yourself the way all the stuffy reiwyn ladies do. Like you know you’re more important than everyone else.” I duck into the bathing chamber, laughing, as she throws a pillow at my head.

“Anyway,” she calls out, louder so I can hear her as I fill the tub. “Ronin is an excessively organized man. Finding his ledgers was rather easy.”

“Anything important in them?” I lower myself into the tub. The hot water is pure bliss on my aching muscles. I lather up a wedge of soap and begin the work of washing off nearly a week’s worth of dirt and sweat.

“The usual stuff, like the expenses of running multiple estates. Apparently, he earns quite a bit of income from the spidersilk he exports all over the world. He absolutely has a Spinner or two. That’s the only explanation for where he gets his supply of spidersilk.”

Confirmation that Ronin is in possession of a Spinner. That’s something, I guess.