Though it’s a cool night, I’m damp with sweat beneath my cloak. This entire evening feels like a bad fever dream. Part of me wants to cower here the rest of the night, but Dineas is waiting for me, and I’ve already lost precious time.

I’m much more careful the rest of the way, listening for people approaching, and freezing at the slightest movement. My muscles are cramped from nerves by the time I reach the corner of the compound. It’s hard for me to tell the time, as it’s too far from the gate to hear the watch bells. I back into an alcove, ready my weapon, and wait. The heat of my walk is seeping out of my cloak when I hear a flutter of wings around me. A crow lands on my shoulder.

“Is Dineas here?” I whisper.

The bird takes off again. A few moments later, a dark shape climbs over the wall and drops to the ground. He stays in a crouch, looking left and right.

“Over here,” I call. He looks in my direction, then runs over, trailing a cloud of dust. I never thought I’d be so glad to see him. “I was worried when I didn’t hear from the crows.”

He snorts. “Some horse traders took me prisoner for a day, but it’s all settled now.”

Horse traders? “How much did they learn about you?”

“They were suspicious, but I don’t think they figured out what I was. They don’t strike me as the type to confide in the empire.”

It’s not the most reassuring of answers. “I hope you’re right.”

“Me too. Is it safe to talk here?”

“It’s the best I can do.” I decide not to mention my encounter with the gang on the way over. “I’m living in a house with Arxa’s daughter, and I’m working in the hospital. Tal was right about the sick being left outside the walls. It happens every day, and the guards cart them in.”

“That’s good, right? Let’s move on with the plan, then.”

“We can,” I say. “But…”

“But what?”

“I don’t think the plan will work.”

Dineas laughs under his breath. “Zivah, we knew coming here that this probably wouldn’t work.”

“No, I mean…” I hesitate again, trying to put words to my thoughts. “I spoke to Commander Arxa this morning. He suspects that Dara is collaborating with the Shidadi. If someone with your skill shows up so soon after I arrive…it’s too suspicious.”

Dineas shifts in the darkness; I can see his shadow hunched over in thought. “What we need is some other story for him to believe. If we can lead him to have his own ideas about where I came from, if there’s some way to draw his thoughts away from the Shidadi…” His breath catches. “I might have an idea. Maybe.”