“Hello, Jude,” a familiar voice echoed out from the sphere. “I’m glad you could finally make it.”

Lady Bellrose. She really had been expecting Jude, then.

“I wish we could speak in person, but I have some other urgent business that needs attending to,” she continued. “So I hope you’ll forgive the impoliteness in coming to you in this manner. But I need your help. Or, I suppose, you could think of it the other way around—I am here to help you.”

Hector and Jude exchanged a glance. This was too good to be true.

“I know that you seek a way to return to Pallas Athos,” Lady Bellrose went on. “And perhaps more critically, a way to free the girl, Beru, from Pallas’s control. As it so happens, I can offer you both. Listen closely. The Archon Basileus of Pallas Athos has recently been arrested by Pallas’s men. His execution is scheduled for the autumnal equinox. It is the perfect opportunity to get to Beru, as we’ll know exactly where she’ll be and when. The Lost Rose will help you as much as we can, but the task of her rescue will fall to you.

“I can offer the following—a ship, currently docked here in Tel Amot, that can take you to Pallas Athos. Forged documents that will get you inside the city without detection. Once you’re there, I have the name of a trustworthy ally with valuable knowledge of the citadel’s inner workings, and an alchemist with ties to the Lost Rose who can aid you with whatever you may need.”

Jude glanced at Hector, who caught his eye with an expression of disbelief.

“I hope all of this will be of use to you,” Lady Bellrose said. “I wish there was more I could do. As for what to do with the girl—and the god—once you have them, well—let’s just say I’m working on it.”

The glow of the sphere faded as the room was plunged back into silence.

“What,” Hector said after a long moment, “just happened?”

Jude palmed the sphere, eyes flicking back to Zinnia. “Can I take this?”

“All yours,” she replied. “Oh, almost forgot.”

She went back to the chest, picking something else out of it. When she returned, she held out her hand. A gold ring sat in her palm, with the symbol of a compass rose carved into it. “Show this to the captain of the Longswallow.”

Jude stared down at the ring, feeling overwhelmed. He’d come to the slyhouse with one purpose: find Anton. But instead, he had all of this dropped into his lap. A way into Pallas Athos. The beginnings of a new plan to get the god out of Pallas’s control.