Torran’s expression remained flat, but the tiniest of flickers proved that I was on the right track. What could kidnappers want that a literal empress would refuse to provide in return for her grandson? Empress Nepru had the collective might of the Valovian Empire at her fingertips. She was smart and resourceful. The FHP delegates had underestimated her and paid a steep price.

So the kidnappers had asked for something extraordinary. And whatever it was, Torran wasn’t allowed to say.

I rubbed my face. “Investigating would be so much easier if you could talk to me. Why would you agree to promises that make finding your nephew harder?” My eyes narrowed in anger. “Does someone not want him found?”

Torran stared at me for long enough that I thought he wouldn’t answer. “Finding Cien is our main priority,” he said at last. “But the situation is delicate and my options are limited. I had hoped to return to better news.” His hands clenched on the edge of the desk, frustration etched into the tense lines of his body.

“What can you tell me?”

“Cien has been gone for too long. I need you to find him. Soon. I know you took this job only for the money, so I will double your completion bonus if you find him in the next ten days.”

For now, I ignored the question of how he knew about my financial situation and focused on the important part of his statement. “What happens on day eleven?”

Torran’s expression turned bleak, but he didn’t answer.

I sighed and stood. “I’m going to finish cooking dinner because my team needs to eat. After that, I expect a comprehensive brief of everything you’ve learned so far. We’ll get everyone together to go over the data, because maybe talking through it will reveal something new.”

Torran’s lips pressed into a grim line, but he nodded. On impulse, I reached out and touched his arm. “We’ll find your nephew,” I said as gently as I could. “My team is good at finding lost things.”

His eyes were as desolate as I’d ever seen them. “I hope so,” he murmured.

Dinner was a decidedly subdued affair. The Valoffs didn’t eat with us, despite the fact that it was dinnertime in standard time and midday local time. We’d gotten used to eating with Torran’s team, and we all felt their absence.

Outside, the sky was dark. I would never get used to a “noon” that was in the middle of the night. I couldn’t decide if the two-day cycle was better or worse than a single short day, but my body was certainly on team “sleep when it was dark,” even though it wasn’t that late in standard time.