“Malachi didn’t kill his father,” Nomi replied. “Asa did. He framed Malachi for the crime, then stabbed him and sent him to Mount Ruin to die. He used me in his machinations, and then he made me disappear so I couldn’t tell anyone what I saw.”

“And he sent me away to die too,” Maris added. “Because I saw what he did.”

“But none of us died,” Nomi said. “Not yet anyway. Malachi is gathering troops and will take his rightful place as the Superior soon. And Asa will die tonight.” She got up and paced again, ignoring the food Angeline pressed upon her.

Cassia cast her gaze to the floor. “Your story sounds like the sort of thing that should surprise me, but it doesn’t.” She looked up, her mouth pinched into a straight line. “The new Superior is cruel. I never expected this palazzo to feel like a prison.”

Nomi had always seen it that way. But there were, she was learning, different degrees of captivity.

Ria drew her limbs together, curling herself into a ball. As if she could protect herself from these revelations, or from Asa himself. “I just want to go home,” she whispered.

“There’s a secret passage,” Nomi said. “In the hall that leads to the bathing pool. Count ten panels down on the left, behind a fern. It leads to a bakery on the other side of the canal. If I fail… if Malachi doesn’t come, sneak out of here and go home. Get as many of the girls out as you can.”

Ria’s eyes widened. Cassia ran her hands through her hair.

Angeline pushed a pastry into Nomi’s hands. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

By twilight, Nomi had taken to staring out the window. She watched the excruciatingly slow sunset as the last streaks of pink faded to a dark, inky blue.

Cassia and Maris had gone back to their rooms.

Ria sat at the dressing table, her hands quiet in her lap. She looked so young, her limbs too long, her face still round and soft. Asa hadn’t demanded her presence yet, but she lived in fear. Nomi could see it in the hunch of her shoulders, the way she hid behind her reddish-blond hair, just like Maris used to.

“Is it time for you to go?” Ria asked, looking toward the darkening sky.

“Not for a while.” Nomi climbed down from the high cloud-like bed. She wished she’d been able to sleep more. At least the food Angeline had forced upon her had revived her. She would need all her strength tonight.

She used the washroom and changed back into her prison clothes. The pants gave her more range of motion and made her feel closer to Serina. Next she put on Renzo’s cloak. It would help her blend into the darkness.