Dex’s silver swords, she said, belonged to a holy warrior she called a caryatid. She used another creature that she called a “moon-sprite” to generate clouds of milky-white stuff, like solidified moonlight. She could sculpt and spin it into any form she wanted, as soft as cloth or as strong as steel. At Alice’s prompting, she crafted pillows and thin sheets for all four of them, fluffy and white and very faintly glittering, like clouds flecked with silver dust.

Just the sight of the bedding made Alice realize how tired she was, and the others apparently felt the same way. Soranna checked Dex’s bandage one more time and then curled up, making a tight ball under her moon-sheet, and Dex herself stretched out, careful with her injured leg. Alice found herself yawning, and was just trying to decide whether or not her stomach would stretch for one more flaky meat-pastry, when Isaac touched her shoulder.

“Alice.” He kept his voice low. “I think it’s time for that answer I owe you.”

Chapter Twenty: Isaac’s Confession

CHAPTER TWENTY

ISAAC’S CONFESSION

“I HAVE TROUBLE believing what Soranna told us,” Alice said as they walked to the other end of the tent.

“I don’t,” Isaac said grimly. “It makes sense, from the Reader’s point of view. Finding new talents before the others get to them has always been a problem. The Eddicant has created a breeding population to draw from that she can keep all to herself. I wouldn’t be surprised if she wasn’t the only one.”

“But it’s horrible! She’s got those people living in a world full of monsters.”

“Maybe she thinks she can breed them in harsh conditions to produce more Readers. Like picking the fastest horses for studs.”

“You can’t treat people like horses.” Alice frowned. “You sound like you agree with what she’s doing.”

“Of course not. It’s horrible. I’m just saying that it makes sense, from her point of view.” Isaac shook his head. “The old Readers do what’s best for themselves, always. It’s a bit like evolution, really. Any of them who weren’t smart and nasty enough were killed by the others long ago.”

Once they were out of earshot of the others, Alice turned to face Isaac, arms folded.

“All right,” she said. “Explain.”

“I need to ask you a question first,” he said. “What are you really doing here? It can’t be just to rescue Jacob.”

Alice blinked, taken aback. “I don’t see how that is any of your business,” she said. “Besides, he needs our help.”

“But you didn’t want the rest of us to come with you. If you were just trying to rescue someone, you wouldn’t act like you were ashamed of what you were doing.”

“I just didn’t want the rest of you to get hurt. Torment—”