“Hiding a known criminal, and collusion, whatever that means. Yates said if the monks told him where the sun-kissed is hiding, he’d let Hanif go. The other monk was arrested for obstruction.” Mojag perked up a bit. “Good call on not telling them where we are.”

“What about the King? Has he been informed?” Jayden asked.

“They sent a messenger. And the monks said they argued with Yates that he didn’t have the power to arrest them, that he used up his one exemption. But he said that it was used to search for the sun-kissed, which also meant the monks had to cooperate and, when they didn’t, he was within his rights to arrest them.”

“I’m surprised the monks allowed the guards to leave,” Ximen said. “From what I’ve seen, they’re more than capable of handling them.”

“Hanif told them not to fight. He said to contact the King.” Mojag rubbed his arms with short agitated strokes. “Do you think the King will send his army? What if they side with the Water Prince?”

“It will take at least seventy sun jumps for a message to reach the King,” Shyla said. “I doubt he’d do more than send a message back ordering Hanif and Kaveri’s release, which will take another seventy sun jumps if the King responds right away, otherwise it could be even more.” Any amount of time was unacceptable to her.

“Do you think the monks would be willing to help us?” Jayden asked her.

“Help us how?”

“We need more people. The monks are well trained. We could join forces and attack the Water Prince.”

That would be wonderful. “They might want to, but they’re not permitted to interfere.”

Jayden pounded his fist on the table. “That’s just an excuse.”

“They work for the King.”

He was not appeased. “Then we can’t help Hanif. Not yet.”

Shyla wasn’t going to give up. “We managed to get to the prince before. We can do it again.”

“The only reason that worked was because the Water Prince thought you had The Eyes. This time, he’d just overwhelm us with sheer numbers. And that is if we even get down there. If the priestess hears we’re on the warpath, she’ll send Arch Deacons after us.”

“We can wield magic and remain hidden.”

Jayden leaned forward. “It’s too exhausting. The Invisible Sword’s leaders brainstormed various strategies to overthrow the prince. The best they came up with is tricking him with The Eyes.” The unspoken and you ruined it flared in his pointed gaze.

“He’s right,” Ximen said.

“But you didn’t have a leader who woke The Eyes. I’m—”

“Still learning how to use your magic,” Jayden said.

She wilted. True.

Mojag yawned and left to get some rest. Shyla watched him go. “You might have more students to teach.” She filled them in on the results of her test.