“Ah, yes. You did accuse me once of being heartless.” She studied me, then said slowly, “Is your forging … connected at all to Raven? She was entirely too anxious about losing you for a month. There was all that talk about a project you were working on. Was this it? I thought she was just being manipulative. That she was making excuses to control you and keep you by her side.”

“She isn’t manipulative. She was worried about how many people would have to wait for a passport because I was leaving the tavern. You’re right: we work together to give forged passports to people who need them. She has a good heart. She has helped so many people. Aden has, too.”

“Oh.” Her face closed. “Right. Your young man.”

“If you knew how much good Raven does—and Aden, too—you wouldn’t be so cold about them.”

“You might have decided that I’m kind enough to trust with your secret, Nirrim, and I suppose I am, but don’t expect me to warm suddenly toward your handsome young sweetheart.”

“I could forge a document that would let me into the Keepers Hall,” I said, “if I could see a councilmember’s authentic passport.”

“No,” she said flatly, “because then you’ll want to use it.”

“I recall you promising adventure.”

“I don’t want you to endanger yourself.”

“It’s too late for that.”

Sid persuaded me that we didn’t have to go into the hall, necessarily, to learn how the Council made that elixir, but that we could continue to attend parties to collect clues from the High Kith, as I had with the vial that contained the elixir. “And the Council is hosting a parade in two weeks’ time,” she said.

Two weeks. I thought about how short a month is, how little time I had with Sid, how quickly it would run out.