“There’s still the risk of infection,” Weysh said again, willing his voice not to tremble. He took her hand, pulling her inside. “Come, I’ll magic you a bath.”

Weysh set Yoben’s Rainfall above his bathtub while Yenni stood shivering next to his commode. He took her gently by the shoulders. “All right, lovely, from the beginning.”

“Someone tried to kill me, and I think they may try to kill you,” she said.

“Someone—” Weysh pinched the bridge of his nose, struggling once more to suppress his alarm for Yenni’s sake, but it was no use. The idea that someone had tried to hurt his Given made him want to roar, to rip and tear. He bared his teeth and growled.

“Oh!” said Yenni. “I did not know you could make that noise as a man.”

“Yenni,” said Weysh. “Who. Tried. To kill you.” He would know, and he would incinerate them.

“I don’t know.” She explained the nature of the attack, and how her adversary had run off. Weysh’s head spun and swam. He felt like he wanted to crawl out of his own skin as he took in Yenni, bloody and shivering. Who would dare attack her on academy grounds? How was he to keep her safe? Especially if he could no longer track her scent?

One thing at a time. “Source-drawn rain cease and remain.” He cut off the rainfall, grabbed a washrag, and dipped it in the bath. “You should get yourself cleaned up,” he said, wiping her blood—Yenni’s blood—off his skin. “I’ll leave and give you some privacy.”

“Stay close,” she said quickly.

Byen, was she afraid? “As you wish, but you’re not concerned I’ll see you disrobed?”

“No, it’s more important that I know you’re nearby.”

“All right, my heart.”

Weysh leaned, arms crossed, against the wall outside his bathroom, listening to Yenni wash and splash as the light of sunrise filled the hallway. Who, by all that was holy, could want her dead?

It couldn’t be Carmenna. She had too soft and sweet a heart, in spite of everything. Could Montpierre have hired someone? No, he wouldn’t dare. He had to know that Weysh would slash him to ribbons, Maman or no Maman. Montpierre was far too smart for that. What of those thieves? The ones who’d attacked Yenni in the alley? Perhaps they were free and seeking revenge. Or—the hair raised all along Weysh’s arms—Noriago was still out there somewhere.