Shyla hid her smile as Mojag rushed from the room. Folding her legs under her, she sank gratefully into the square of softness. The short walk from Rendor’s office had drained most of her strength. He shot her a concerned look, but she gave him an I’m fine shake of her head. No doubt food and water would revive her. She hoped.

“How long was I asleep?” she asked. She had lost all track of time since her capture.

Rendor frowned. “About three hundred angles. Zhek ordered that no one disturb you.”

No wonder she was starving. “He’s here?”

“Everyone’s here,” Gurice said. “Good thing we have the entire level at our disposal to house everyone. We have recovering prisoners, Invisible Swords, and all the guards. Once they learned that nothing is going to change with the new regime, well besides no more torture, killings, and corruption, they were happy to work for us.”

“Not all are here,” Rendor corrected. “About four dozen are in the city on patrol. And those that relished carrying out the prince’s bloody orders have been arrested.”

Ah. “And how is the prince enjoying his new accommodations?”

“He’s not.”

She shared a smirk with Rendor. Then she considered Gurice’s report. “Did you release all the prisoners?”

“No. We freed the Invisible Swords and the vagrants, but we need to go through the prince’s records about the rest. We don’t want to free a dangerous criminal by mistake.”

Smart. “How many Invisible Swords survived?”

“Twenty-three!” Then she grudgingly admitted, “I guess Jayden did save lives.”

“Where are they?”

“In the empty rooms of the guards’ quarters,” Rendor said. “Timin’s been taking care of them.”

“Where are the guards’ quarters?” she asked.

“Their quarters are in the southwestern section of the prince’s level right above the prince’s special rooms.”

“What else did I miss?”

“Mojag just reported that the rumors about the priestess preparing for an attack are hot. His words not mine,” Ximen said. “We might not have as much time to get ready as we’d thought.”

“How soon?”

“Four, maybe five sun jumps at most.” Ximen picked up one of the torques and waved it in the air. “What we really need to know is how you countered this. Assuming that’s what happened. Timin was sketchy on the details. Did you wield magic?”

She explained what happened. “Once I realized the symbol on their torques didn’t match our new symbol, it no longer blocked my magic.”

“All you need is faith that it’ll work?” Gurice asked. “That seems, no offense, too easy.”