“You just ran off!” Viola hissed. “I looked everywhere, and I’ve been waiting for ages.”

“You have?”

After Barclay had stormed out of the bookshop, he’d doubted she wanted to see him. Especially when he seemed to be the only person in this town not showering her with praise and gifts.

“Of course I have,” she huffed. “Sycomore isn’t like Dullshire. You could get into trouble on your own.”

Barclay nervously glanced over his shoulder, but Soren was far, far behind him, on the other side of town. Barclay had learned his lesson; he wouldn’t leave Viola’s side again.

“Speaking of trouble…”

Barclay told her about what had happened while they’d been separated, including every detail of his frightening encounter with Soren.

“I don’t understand,” Barclay sputtered. “He must have been breaking the law. He tried to steal my Beast! He tried to kill me!”

Viola hesitated, then gently said, “Of course he was breaking the law. But around here, I’m not sure the law is very important.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Woods has a reputation for being… how do I put this nicely… rustic?”

“Rustic?” Barclay repeated, confused.

“Backward? Bumpkin? Middle of nowhere? Sycomore isn’t just the largest town in the Woods; it’s the only town in the Woods. The other Wilderlands have cities and monuments and universities, and the Woods has… trees. That’s why the Guild House looks so rundown—the chapter here doesn’t receive much funding. And I’ve heard that the man who runs Sycomore doesn’t care much about rules or lawbreakers.”

Barclay had never heard something so ridiculous. He didn’t care about rules? Dullshire had too many rules, certainly, but not all of them were silly. No wonder Sycomore was chaos.

“Then how do you stop people from doing bad things?” he asked fretfully.

She put a comforting hand on Barclay’s shoulder.

“I don’t know, and I don’t like the way things are done here, same as you. Because you’re not a Lore Keeper and you’ve bonded with a really powerful Beast, people will try to take advantage of you. And we can’t let them.”

Viola had said “we.” He still didn’t want her money, and she might have been the person who got him bonded with a Beast in the first place, but he was grateful for her help. It was nice to know that he wasn’t alone.

“So come on,” Viola said. “Let’s go find someone who can really help you remove your Mark.”

When Viola turned to enter the Guild House, she glanced up and frowned at the tattered Exhibition banner.

“I didn’t realize this was happening so early,” she said. “No wonder it’s so crowded with travelers here. I wonder if…” She shook her head, suddenly fidgety. “No. He wouldn’t be.”

“Is there a problem?” Barclay asked.

She plastered on a smile that looked quite fake and straightened several of her pins and brooches that had gone crooked.

“No, this is good. Removing Marks isn’t common knowledge, so it’s lucky for us that a number of accomplished Lore Masters are in Sycomore right now.”