“I have nothing against you personally. And if you care for your friend enough to seek her in dreams you are unprepared to face, then perhaps you might wish to cooperate with someone else concerned for her well-being.”

Kai pushed against the web again. It did not give. “What do you want with Mara?”

“We met yesterday. She cut our conversation short. She planned to speak with me again, but I have not heard from her since.”

“I saw you with her last night.”

“Ah. Yes. I thought I saw you, vanishing into simulated time. Ms. Ceyla claimed she had information to share with me; she presented the outline of her argument, but left before we could discuss specifics. I thought you scared her off. Hence my surprise to find you scraping dream-paths searching for her.”

“I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

“Not here, perhaps,” Ms. Kevarian said. “But in a Court of Craft, you may be so required.”

“You won’t get me to betray my people.”

“I was hired to uncover the truth behind the death of my client’s idol, and to take action if called for. I have uncovered a series of artful stories, and you—the piece of the puzzle that does not fit. Plagued by misplaced loyalties to superiors who have sidelined and betrayed you.”

“They saved my life.”

“They stopped you from saving a life. And when they tore you from the pool they did you more harm than good. You could have healed your injuries if you remained within the water.”

“If I survived long enough. They wanted to help me.”

“You claim they did. Mind their deeds, not your generous interpretation of their motives. You think because my clients are strange and wicked people that I mean you ill. But my clients have never set foot on your island. They have not injured you and yours. Their murders and vices are strictly onshore. They are not the source of your misery.”

“You’ve trapped me here inside my mind to interrogate me, and now you ask me to trust you.”

Ms. Kevarian rubbed her temples. “You tax my patience.”

Kai hung immobile in the web, and traded gazes with the Craftswoman in the stretching silence.

“What was Mara trying to tell you?” Kai said at last.

“We discussed discrepancies in the Seven Alpha records, before she left.”

“You called her a liar.”

“On the contrary. She was the one who expressed the initial desire to talk with me. She ran when she saw you.”

Kai blinked. If Mara hid the records in the first place, why tell Kevarian? “If Mara ran when I arrived, why do you think I might help you find her?”

“You hunted for her unprotected, in dangerous territory.”

“Maybe I wanted you to see me looking.”