Her eyes skip to Tessa, and the two share a glance—as if neither of them knows what to make of me and they’re each looking to the other for an answer. Something hot and angry sparks in my chest.

“I don’t know off the top of my head, but even if I did, I couldn’t tell you. It’s against policy to share that information with apprentices. At least until the bone games are over. Now, if there’s nothing else, I better get going on this lecture before everyone leaves.” She pats my arm. “Rasmus will meet you at the pier tomorrow.”

“What was that about?” Tessa asks as soon as the two of them are out of earshot.

I’m not sure if she means me questioning Norah or Norah assigning me a bodyguard, but I’m not really in the mood to talk about either one.

“Saskia?”

“I forgot about Rasmus,” I say softly. “We’ll never be able to slip away now.”

“Of course we will. There’s only one of him and six of us.”

“And he’s trained in magic that we’re not.”

She smiles. “Yes, but we’re also trained in magic that he’s not.”

“Where was this rebellious streak a few days ago when it could have saved Jensen?”

Tessa’s expression falls. She takes a step back as if I’ve slapped her and she needs a bit of distance for safety. “Saskia, you know that was different.”

I lift one shoulder and let my gaze slide away.

“So will you never forgive me?” Tessa’s voice is small. Vulnerable. And it melts the last of my anger.

“There’s nothing to forgive,” I tell her. “I just wish for a different world sometimes, that’s all.”

“I know,” she says. “I do too. But someday we’ll be the ones with power—for real, and not just for one trial—and we can change it.”

I don’t tell her the truth—that I won’t ever have power in Kastelia. Soon I’ll either be dead or in prison. I’m relieved that Tessa wants to change the world, but she’ll have to change it without me.

The next morning, we stand on the deck of a small boat and watch Ivory Hall fade into the distance. Leiden is north of the capital, and not far from the coast. The journey would normally take a few weeks, but Norah has commissioned a small wing-fleet vessel that can get us there in less than one.

We’ve been given no information about what kind of challenge might be waiting for us when we arrive.

Tessa sidles up beside me and rests her hand on the railing. “I think we need to let Bram in on our plan,” she says softly.

“We don’t have a plan,” I say.

She nudges my shoulder with hers. “Good point. Let’s make Bram do that part.”