“There was nowhere to hide,” Bryony countered. “Under the bed perhaps?”

It was true, the place was small and there weren’t exactly a plethora of crawl spaces for even a young girl to squeeze into. And yet something about the way Bryony’s footsteps had sounded when she’d followed him had tickled his instincts. He pressed a finger to his lips and pointed back the way they’d come.

Silently they stole up the steps. Huddled shoulder to shoulder, they waited outside the main room to avoid creaking a floorboard. Peered inside. A wall of silence met them. And then:

Creeak!

The floor itself swung upward right next to the now empty chest. Dresses and other bits of clothing slid away as gravity took hold. A small head popped out.

“You little rat!” Bryony shrieked, sprinting forward and grabbing the girl by the collar, lifting her the rest of the way free and shoving her roughly toward her bed. “What do you know about the Fire Eater? What did you see in the woods?”

“Gods help me,” Ludo muttered, following after her, stepping between Bryony and the girl. “She’s scared half to death. Calm yourself.”

“I’m not scared,” arose a rather defiant voice from behind him.

Ludo turned, lowering himself into a crouch to make himself appear smaller, less intimidating. True to her words, the girl sitting on the bed showed no signs of fear, her jaw stuck out, her body still and calm, her green-eyed gaze steady and unwavering. She had long dark hair configured into braids that matched her doll’s. She was as pale as the whitewashed walls that surrounded them. Her build was slight, all straight lines and sharp angles. “Then why were you hiding?” Ludo asked, his voice a little higher-pitched than usual. Behind him, Bryony snorted.

“Da told me to.”

“Your father is Guard Crandon.”

“Of course he is. Everyone knows that. Said I shouldn’t come out until he said it was safe.”

“Then why did you?”

“Air smells funny down there. Don’t like it.”

“And why aren’t you scared of us?”

“Should I be?”

“No, but that’s not an answer.”

The girl shrugged. “I’ve seen you together before.”

Ludo finally tore his eyes away from the girl, looking back over his shoulder. Bryony’s frown met his own, but she joined him closer to the floor, kneeling. “When have you seen us? Where?” she asked.

“In the forest.”

“The forest is miles away from here. And we’ve only been together in the forest once before. Not for very long. No one else was there.”

“Not that part of the forest. The other part. Where the black flames are.”

“Did you say black flames?” Ludo said, his heart skipping a beat.

“She knows,” the girl said, turning the entirety of her sharp-eyed stare on Bryony. “You see them all the time, don’t you? Even now.”