An image of Declan rises in my mind. His bright green eyes dancing with laughter. Color flooding his pale cheeks the first time we kissed.

“The last time I trusted someone, he got my mother killed.” I turn away to find a cluster of Breakers looking back and forth between me and Bram with curious expressions.

Behind me, Bram starts to say something more, but then one of the crew members comes past us carrying a bundle of tangled fishing net. “Could I get a hand with this?”

“Of course.” Bram hurries forward and whatever he was going to say is forgotten. Our ship arrives in the middle of the night. The harbor is lit by a full moon and puddles of pale yellow light from the oil lamps lining the pier. It’s quiet, except for the occasional screech of the Watcher-controlled birds that circle overhead.

Ivory Hall gleams in the distance like a diamond against a velvet sky.

Norah meets us onshore. “Saskia,” she says, catching my hands in hers, “I’m so relieved to see you.” Her silver hair glimmers in the moonlight, and is twisted into a knot at the back of her head.

“It really wasn’t necessary to send so many people to travel with me.”

She gives me a tight smile. “I assure you, it was.”

A chill goes through me, and I pull my gray cloak more tightly around my shoulders. The Grand Council’s search for Latham must not be going well.

Norah’s gaze sweeps over the group of Breakers and lands on Bram, who is standing a few steps closer than the others. She turns to him. “I’d like to speak with Saskia alone. Why don’t you go on ahead? I’m sure you’re exhausted.”

Bram’s eyes meet mine just for a moment. He lifts one hand in a silent farewell before jogging toward the broad lane that leads to Ivory Hall. All but one of the Breakers follow him, and I’m left alone on the pier with Norah and a huge man with chiseled features and dark hair cropped close to his scalp. He wears a black cloak with a thick white stripe on the sleeve.

“This is Rasmus,” Norah says. “He’ll be assigned to you for the duration of your training. You’ll be safe enough within the walls of Ivory Hall, but if you need to leave for any reason, Rasmus will accompany you.”

I swallow. “A bodyguard?” Being constantly watched on the trip here was bad enough, but the thought of someone following me for months makes me feel like boarding another ship and sailing straight back to Midwood. “Am I in that much danger?”

“It’s out of an abundance of caution,” she says. But her worried expression tells a different story. She touches me lightly on the shoulder. “I assure you, Rasmus will be discreet. You’ll barely know he’s there.”