“We do. It’s small, but it will provide enough for the monastery if the Heliacal Priestess ever decides to cut us off.”

Excited now, she asked, “Can you show me?”

Hanif hesitated. “I suppose. Why do you want to see it?”

“I’m curious.” She told him about her plan to start one in their headquarters, which wasn’t as original of an idea as she’d thought.

“All right. We can grab that other torque and swing by the Fourth Room of Knowledge on our way.”

“After she eats,” Rendor said. Then to her, “You’ve been asleep for an entire sun jump.”

Now that he mentioned it, her stomach growled with hunger. Although she was quite capable of standing up, she let Rendor pull her to her feet. He frowned when she wobbled.

“Didn’t Jayden tell you where I was going?” she asked him.

“No. Only that you’d be back soon. I woke him up when you failed to return by darkness.” He crossed his massive arms.

Boys. To say the two of them didn’t get along was being kind. Jayden considered Rendor to be a low man in the Invisible Sword’s hierarchy. Rendor was used to giving orders, not taking them.

There was nothing she could do about it at the moment. The three of them stopped in the empty dining cavern for a meal. Since they were alone, she asked Hanif about the water. “Do you have your own well, too?”

“No.” He squirmed then sighed. “We exaggerate our numbers to the Water Prince so he sends us more water than we need. We stockpile the rest just in case. If he cut us off, we have enough to last until we can get word to the King of Koraha.”

That explained why he could spare a few jugs when the Invisible Sword moved to their new location. “Smart.”

“Not if the prince figures it out,” Hanif said, glancing at Rendor.

“The prince doesn’t keep track of things like that,” Rendor said. “The water accountant does. As long as you’re not being greedy, he probably won’t pick up on it.”

“That’s good to know.”

“I wonder if the Heliacal Priestess does it as well,” Shyla said. “She can’t be happy relying on the prince for water.” The two of them were supposed to share equal power in the ruling of Zirdai, but the prince held a slight advantage since people couldn’t last more than three sun jumps without water. He also lived one level deeper than the priestess—another sticking point.

“I suspect the priestess has tapped into the aquifer,” Rendor said.

“Can we tap into it as well?” she asked. Being able to access the underground cavern filled with water would solve one of their many problems.

“No, we can not.” Amused, he leaned back as if waiting.