Marcus nodded. “The bridge itself is wide-open. Even with the guns we saw, the Army of the East will probably have superior artillery, so if Janus gets to the riverfront, he can blast a crossing. Maurisk’s best chance is to fight it out along the Green Road. If he fortifies the buildings, assaulting them would be too bloody to risk. Janus would have to wait until his guns reduced each position, then move up, block by block. That could take weeks.”

“Not to mention reduce half the Docks to rubble,” Raesinia said. “That’s point one. Point two is that Maurisk is working with the Priests of the Black, and has a number of Penitent Damned on his side. Do we know how many?”

Marcus ticked them off on his fingers. “Ionkovo. That giant who attacked Willowbrook. The old woman who can throw flames.”

“The one who attacked me was . . . strange,” Sothe volunteered. “Not fast, exactly, but he could predict my movements.”

“That’s at least four,” Marcus said. “Feor, do you have anything that might help us stop them?”

“With the Names . . .” Feor shook her head, then paused. “I can sense them, if they’re close enough. Her Majesty ought to be able to as well.”

Raesinia nodded. “It took me a while to recognize it, but yes. I don’t know how close they have to be, though.”

“Janus has a few tricks,” Marcus said, feeling guilty for keeping secrets even from this inner circle. He’d seen Ihernglass’ power in action, when he defeated his lover/would-be-murderer Jen Alhundt. But that was Ihernglass’ secret to tell, or at least Janus’. “Until he gets here, we’re going to have to try to avoid fighting the Penitent Damned if we possibly can.” He thought of Hayver, screaming as he was engulfed in flames. “And we’ll keep a twenty-four-hour watch, so we’ll at least have a little warning if Ionkovo decides to pop out of the closet.”

“What about the Steel Ghost?” Raesinia said. “He helped us once.”

She looked at Feor, who gave an awkward shrug.

“I cannot answer for him,” the Khandarai girl said. “That he has helped without coming forward to join us openly is probably a fair statement of his intentions.”

“Agreed,” Marcus said. “We can’t rely on him.”

“That’s point two,” Raesinia said. “Point three is the refugees. We can’t keep them here.” She sighed. “I wish we could bring Cora up here.”

“Fill her in later,” Sothe said.

“We need more space and more food,” Raesinia said. “Without drawing too much attention. We’ll need to work through the locals.”

Marcus nodded. “They seem willing, and Andy will help.”

“Lastly—” Raesinia said.

“The Thousand Names,” Feor said.

“Right.” Raesinia rubbed her eyes. “Maurisk captured them at Willowbrook nearly a week ago. We have to assume he’s moved them by now.”