Alice was about to say that her master sounded perfectly awful, and only stopped herself when she considered that this might be one of the “impure ideas” that could get Soranna in trouble. Instead, she nodded.

“What do you plan to do now?” Soranna asked.

“We have to find the rest,” Alice said. “Isaac and the others.”

“You think they’re still alive?”

“Garret is probably not,” Alice said. “But you were, and compared to you, the others seemed like—” She looked for a way to put it delicately. “More experienced fighters.”

“I’m not a fighter at all,” Soranna said. “I shouldn’t be here. If—” She stopped, and shook her head. “Never mind. How do you intend to find them? We got separated after Garret . . . I’m not sure I could retrace my steps.”

It’s worse than you know. “I may have a way to get to them. I won’t know until I try it, though.”

“Is it the same way you brought us here?”

Alice nodded.

“An ability of one of your bindlings? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

By “bindlings,” Alice assumed the girl meant her bound creatures. She nodded again, cautiously. It was true, more or less, even if the nature of that creature was unusual. This power to manipulate the labyrinth must belong to the Dragon. Now that she knew it was a labyrinthine, many things fell into place. It felt different than using her other powers, but that could be because the Dragon, an intelligent creature in its own right, was actively granting her its assistance.

What she couldn’t figure out was why, or more precisely why now. If he’d only helped me earlier, I might have been able to get them off that bridge. Garret might still be alive.

She took up the Dragon’s thread, briefly. I don’t suppose you’ll answer now, will you? There was no response, though she hadn’t really expected one.

“I’ll need to concentrate,” Alice said. “And it may take some time. I need you to keep watch here, on my real body, while I go looking.”

“But . . .” Soranna looked at Alice, wide-eyed, and then down at her knees.

“What?”

“Why would you trust me to do that?” the girl whispered. “I could easily kill you while you were helpless.”

It was such an absurd question, delivered so earnestly, that it was all Alice could do to keep from laughing. She shook her head.

“For the moment,” Alice said, “I’ll rely on your sense of gratitude.”

Chapter Fourteen: The Swarmers Go Forth

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

THE SWARMERS GO FORTH

“WELL,” ALICE SAID. “Here goes nothing.”