After she woke, she collected Jayden and they headed to the monastery. This time she didn’t waste energy trying to sneak up on the monks. The news of their approach reached the monastery well before they did. When they arrived, Hanif waited for them in the surface building.

“How’s the baby doing?” Shyla asked.

“Not well. My healers are not sure what’s wrong with him so I’ve sent for Zhek.” He studied them. “Any news on the babe’s parents?”

“Not yet. We need to take a look at those torques. Can you retrieve them for us?” she asked.

Now she received a shrewd appraisal. “I’m just about to assess three acolytes. If you’re willing to help me out, I can spare some time to fetch them for you.”

A niggling sensation warned her that this wasn’t going to be that straightforward. “All right. What do you need?”

Seeming way too happy about her acceptance, Hanif led her down to the training room on level seven. “These three acolytes are almost ready to take the oath. They all arrived at the monastery over a short period of time four circuits ago. All on different sun jumps, but it’s a bit odd for us to get that many so close together.”

Ah, she sensed where this was going. “And you suspect they might be spies.”

“Yes. We’ve had them in the past. Over the last twenty circuits, the people in power have sent a dozen or so of their loyal supporters to infiltrate us, hoping they’d become monks and steal all our secrets.”

“The vagrants have the same problem. How do you catch them?” Jayden asked.

“We keep a close eye on the acolytes. They tend to reveal themselves by being just a bit more curious than their fellows, a bit more observant, a bit more…standoffish as if they’re better than the rest of us. They also tend to be found in places that are off-limits to acolytes. These three, though, have not shown any of those signs, but the timing of their arrival also coincides with when the current Water Prince came into power.”

“You want me to read them,” Shyla said.

“Yes.”

An uncomfortable twinge gripped her stomach. On the one hand, she wanted to help Hanif and keep the Water Prince from learning about the monks and, by association, her, but on the other hand, what if they were innocent? She’d hate to invade their privacy.

“Do they know she has woken The Eyes?” Jayden asked.

“Unfortunately, everyone in the monastery knows.” Hanif shrugged. “Something that momentous can’t be kept a secret for long.”

“Then as soon as they see her, they’ll know you don’t trust them. You might lose three good people. But if they’re working for the Water Prince, they might try to kill her.”