“Oh, I’m sorry,” Matthias said, turning on him. “Does Bellamy have a child I’m unaware of?” Pain spasmed across Hektor’s face and Matthias looked contrite. “I apologize,” he said. “That was cruel.”

“It was the truth, Matthias,” Ambrosine said. “Don’t lose your spine now that you just seem to have grown one.” She nodded to Agnes. “Your visit with him must have been inspiring. I’ve never seen him so . . .” She looked her son up and down. “Bold.”

Leo and Agnes had been mostly bystanders throughout this conversation, but Leo felt now was the time to speak up.

“We came here to get Sera to Braxos,” he said. “Not to torture our father or turn Agnes into a princess or . . .” He swallowed. “Or anything else. She doesn’t belong here.”

“Oh, but doesn’t she?” Ambrosine said. “I know she has been speaking with my mertags in the mornings. And my Arboreals. Did she think she can go anywhere on this estate without being watched?”

Leo’s neck grew hot.

“She has a connection with Culinnon the same as you two,” Ambrosine continued. “Why you both are so insistent to get her to this tether, I can’t understand.”

“So she can go home!” Agnes cried.

“Yes, I know, my dear,” Ambrosine said. “And I said I would help get Sera to Braxos. I will not break my word.”

Matthias opened his mouth but Ambrosine stood. “We will leave for Braxos in two days’ time. I have called the Malleys and the Callases to Culinnon. If the Renalt arrives, we will be ready for her.”

“And what about our father?” Leo asked.

“One night in the caves won’t kill him,” Ambrosine said. “Hektor, make sure Xavier and Ezra have water, and food if they want it, though I doubt they will. Matthias, come with me.”

Hektor strode out of the room, Ambrosine on his heels. Matthias paused and bent down to whisper to Leo and Agnes, “There’s a surprise for you on my ship. Wait until dark, when everyone’s asleep.”

Then he was gone.

Agnes wrung her hands. “What do we do, Leo?”

Leo felt as helpless as she looked. “I don’t know,” he said. He wasn’t particularly surprised that Ambrosine was reluctant to let Sera go—but the fact that she had imprisoned his father in a horrible-sounding place left a queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. “I think for now, all we can do is get on that ship and see what Matthias brought us.”

The night was cloudy as Leo met Agnes in a little copse of trees near her room. Both of them dressed in black, and they took a roundabout route to the dock, avoiding the front door to the estate.