Khepri might have seen him as a king, yet he was stealing into this city like a thief. But then, he’d learned from Anton and Ephyra what a thief could do. Maybe it wasn’t the worst thing to be.

When they neared the Artificers’ and Alchemists’ Quarters, he and Khepri kept their gaits quick and even, like they had somewhere innocuous to get to. Hassan wore a cowl to obscure his face—the last thing they needed was for someone to recognize him.

He was sweating by the time they reached a familiar wine cellar, his heart pounding. It occurred to him, as Khepri twisted the wine barrel revealing the secret passage underneath, that they had no idea what awaited them in the Great Library. What losses the rebels may have suffered since Hassan and Khepri had been captured. Whether Zareen and Chike and Sefu were even still there.

For all they knew, the Witnesses had discovered this place. Were they walking into a trap?

He reached for Khepri in the darkened passage. His anxiety only grew as they crept down the long tunnel and finally reached the door that led inside.

“You still remember the password?” Khepri asked. Hassan nodded, and together they twisted the dials on the door so they lined up.

As they turned the final dial, Khepri’s gaze caught his.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

She nodded. Whatever waited behind the door, friend or foe, they were about to find out.

The door creaked open, and they found themselves face-to-face with the point of a sword.

“Identify yourselves.” The woman holding the sword was not someone Hassan had ever seen before—an older woman, her dark hair streaked with gray and pulled back the way the Legionnaires wore it.

“Uh,” Hassan said helpfully.

Over her shoulder, he could see the Library atrium, bustling with people beneath the gleaming armillary spheres. It looked like over half the rebels were here, although when Hassan looked closer at the people milling about, he recognized few of them.

“Could you possibly put the sword down?” Hassan asked.

“Would you prefer to have this conversation in the dungeons?”

Dungeons? Since when did the Library have dungeons?

“No,” Khepri said quickly. “I’m Khepri Fakhoury, and this is Hassan Seif.”

The woman did a double take. Then her expression darkened, her grip on her sword tightening. “Tell me who you really are and who gave you the password to enter.”

Hassan and Khepri exchanged a glance. “That was the truth. My brothers, Sefu and Chike, can vouch for us. Are they … here?”

She peered over the woman’s head like she might catch a glimpse of them.

“The prince is dead,” the woman said with finality. “And Khepri Fakhoury has been missing for some time, so whatever it is you’re trying to accomplish here, I would give it up.”