I nodded in agreement, as Cair wrapped it back up before stepping behind me to store it away in my pack. I would have reached out to shake Ivar’s hand then, to show him my gratitude in the only way I knew how, but with a half-eaten pastry in one palm and the crumbed remnants of said pastry on the other, I thought better of it.

I smiled instead. “It was nice to meet you, Ivar.”

“Until next time, Your Royal Highnesses.” He placed a hand to his chest and bowed once more in a gesture of respect. Cair mirrored him with a dip of his head before guiding us away.

We rejoined the flurry, slotting effortlessly in between two couples strolling leisurely beside the stalls. I tried to wait until we were a respectable distance away from Ivar’s shop to let my mouth run away with me, I really did, but the question burst out of me before we even made it fully across the street.

“Soooo, how do you two know each other?”

Cair smirked as if he’d expected it—he knew me too well—before leaning close to murmur so quietly that only I could hear. “Ivar is the oldest and most loyal spy on my payroll.”

“What?” I stopped in my tracks, peering back at the frail old satyr, selling pretty pastries and smiling as if he hadn’t a care in the world. “I never would have guessed.”

“I’m afraid that is the point, pet,” he said, amused, as he ushered me to keep walking. “I have known him since I was a youngling. He worked in the palace kitchens, but retired from the position not long before I left for the human realm. My most recent reports mentioned that he’d set up a cake shop here in memory of his wife. I thought it polite to stop by and formally introduce you.”

“How did he become part of your…” I glanced around, realizing there were too many inhuman ears. “Team?”

Cair guided me to the edge of the market, to a small gap between two shops, away from the bulk of the crowd. I nibbled my pastry as he spoke. “I typically hire those who are the least likely to be suspected and have proved themselves loyal to me, in one capacity or another. Ivar is older, yes, but he was already familiar with the complexities of our family, and he’d always been kind to Teighan. When the other cooks saw fit to deprive my brother of food, Ivar would make sure he was fed first and double. He wasn’t afraid of anything, least of all being punished for favoring the king’s bastard.”

My blood boiled at the mention of Tee’s mistreatment. No one deserved what he’d gone through, but it was at least a little relieving to hear he’d had someone besides Cair willing to fight for him.