“I know,” Magda whispered to her. “I know.”

“I owe you both my life,” Naja said to Magda and Merritt. “Everyone here does. My trust is the least I can offer in return.” At last, she pulled back from the brink and gave Magda a nod to continue.

“Who is she?” Magda asked Lothain as she gestured to Naja. “Tell everyone here who this woman is and what her duties were before coming here to the Keep. Tell us what you know about her.”

Lothain looked out at the crowd watching him and answered without hesitation. “She is a defector from the Old World. She came here to help the cause of the Midlands. She was Emperor Sulachan’s spiritist. She knows about the ways of the wizards in the Old World. She knows how they have been able to use the dead to serve the ends of Emperor Sulachan. She knows how we are able to control the souls of the dead in order to use their corpses to do our bidding. She knows, too, about the half people and how we steal their souls as well.”

Cries of terror broke out as near panic washed back through the people watching. The true dimension of the threat from the Old World was sinking in. Most of these people had never heard of such things.

“And what did you do when she defected and came here to help our cause?” Magda asked him.

“I had her chained in the dungeon and tortured.”

“Why did you put her in the dungeon?” Magda asked.

He leaned in eagerly at the question, happy that he was able to answer her, to be able to please her. “To make sure that she couldn’t help the wizards and sorceresses here at the Keep who work to defend the Midlands and counter the weapons being created in the Old World. We didn’t want her to stop what we were secretly doing with the dead, or with assassinating important people.” Tears welled up in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Mistress. I meant you harm, too.” He fell to his knees again, clutching at the hem of her white dress. “Please, forgive me!”

“Stop that and look at me.”

He immediately came to attention on his knees.

Magda suddenly went cold with dread.

She had forgotten to take it into consideration.

She looked down at Lothain. “You know about the dream walkers?”

“Yes, Mistress.”

“Are there dream walkers here, now, secretly hiding in people’s minds, watching us right now?”

“Yes, Mistress.”

She hadn’t considered that. She had been so worried about getting Lothain to confess in front of everyone, so determined to expose his treason, that she hadn’t thought about dream walkers watching along with everyone else.

A man, his eyes wild, his hands clawed, screamed with murderous intent as he ran toward the dais, toward Lothain.