“But I could stay here, Katsa, and hide someplace nearby if I hear them coming.”

And what hiding place had he sensed nearby? “Po—”

“I wonder if there’s a pond anywhere near?” he said. “Come with me, ladies. I’m sure I hear water running.”

There was no sound of water that Katsa could hear, which meant that Po could hear none, either. She sighed. “Yes,” she said. “I think I hear it, too.”

They moved across the grasses behind the cabin. Po leaned against Katsa, and Bitterblue led the horse. Soon Katsa actually did hear water, and when they topped a brownish rise and the grass gave way to boulders, she saw it. Three great streams clambered down from the rocks above, joined together, and poured over a ledge into a deep pool. Here and there at its edges the pool overflowed, and a number of streams trickled downward and eastward toward the Monsean forest.

Very well, Katsa thought to him. And where’s the hiding place?

“There’s a waterfall like this in the mountains near my brother Skye’s castle,” Po said. “We were swimming one day, and we found a tunnel underwater that led to a cave.”

Katsa knew where this was going, and Bitterblue’s puzzled look—no, it would be more accurate to call it her suspicious look—suggested that Po had already said more than enough. Katsa sat Po down. She pulled off one of her boots. “If there’s a hiding place in this pool, Po, I’ll find it for you.” She pulled off her other boot. “But just because a hiding place exists doesn’t mean it’ll do you any good. You can’t get from the cabin to this pool on your own.”

“I can,” he said, “to save my life.”

“What will you do? Crawl?”

“There’s no shame in crawling when one can’t walk. And swimming requires less balance.”

She glared at him, and he looked calmly back, the slightest hint of amusement on his face. And why shouldn’t he be amused? For she was about to plunge into near-freezing water to search for a tunnel that he already knew existed, and explore a cave of which he already knew the exact size, shape, and location.

“I’m taking my clothes off,” she said, “so look away, Lord Prince.” For she could at least spare her clothing; and if this entire episode was a performance for Bitterblue, then they might as well also pretend Po was in no position to see her with her clothes off. Though Katsa didn’t suppose Bitterblue was any more fooled by that pretense than by the others. She stood beside the horse and kept her own counsel; and her eyes were big and childlike, but they were not unseeing.

Katsa sighed. She pulled off her coat. Point me in the right direction, Po.

She followed his gaze to the base of the waterfall. She threw her trousers onto the rocks beside her coat and boots. She clenched her teeth against the cold and stepped into the pool. Its bottom sloped steeply, and with a yelp she was submerged. She dived.