Kyra turned her head to see Tristam and Malikel next to her bed. The movement made her skull pound, and she closed her eyes again.

“Can you understand me, Kyra?”

A woman was bending over her. Kyra moved her head in her best approximation of a nod.

“You’re very lucky to be alive. Are you thirsty?”

Her jaw felt rusted shut. “Aye,” she finally managed to say.

The world spun as Ilona helped her sit. The healer waited a few moments before holding a cup to Kyra’s mouth. The water washed over her dry lips. Some made it into her mouth, while the rest splashed onto the blankets.

Ilona turned to the two knights. “I suppose you won’t wait to speak with her.”

“We’d wait if we could,” said Malikel.

Silence hung as Ilona gathered her things. When she left, Kyra turned her head to look at the knights. It took some effort to focus on their faces. Her gaze briefly met Tristam’s. The suspicion was gone from his eyes, and Kyra realized she no longer feared him.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Thank Ilona. She’s the one who saved you.”

Malikel leaned toward her, speaking slowly so she could follow. “The guards last night were drugged. All of them woke a few hours later and reported in, save one, who has disappeared along with his family. He was also the one to pass around the drugged water to the rest of them. He could have acted alone, but his methods suggest the Assassins Guild.”

Tristam shook his head. “He’d been in the guard force for twenty years,” he said. “We had no reason to think…”

“Maybe they threatened him,” said Kyra.

Both men turned to look at her. “What do you mean?” asked Malikel.

“That’s what they did to me.” Kyra gasped as she followed that train of thought. “Bella, Flick, did you—”

“They’re safe,” said Tristam. “We found them after you were attacked, and they’re under guard. What do you mean, the Guild threatened you?”

She closed her eyes in relief. As long as they were safe. “I wanted to leave the Guild. James—the head—wouldn’t let me. He said he’d kill them if—” She stopped abruptly.

“He wanted you to kill Sir Malikel, didn’t he?” Tristam said.

Kyra avoided their eyes. After all the stalling and the games, it was finally out. “I had a flask of poison I was supposed to put in Malikel’s herbs. I dumped it when I couldn’t carry through.”

There was a moment of silence as the men digested this.

“How long have you been with the Guild?” asked Malikel.

“A few months.” Kyra’s speech was starting to slur. Her eyelids felt heavy.

“Why did you join them?”