“Flash powder starts fires,” Viera said, more irritated than ever. “If it was drier, or we used more straw in the city, it could be a serious issue, but as things are it’ll be more of a secondary problem. We just might want to have a few bucket brigades on hand.”

Raesinia got it, and it must have shown in her face. Viera stared at her.

“What?” she said. “Did I say something wrong?”

“No,” Marcus said. “It’s fine. Can you give us a minute, though?”

“What’s going on? If it’s to do with explosives, I can help—”

“I think we’ll need your help,” Raesinia said. “But not right at the moment.”

Viera sniffed, but turned about and went down the stairs. Sothe looked after her for a moment, then back to Raesinia.

“I appear to be missing some important context,” she said. “Something about starting fires?”

“The woman from the warehouse,” Raesinia said.

Marcus nodded. “You saw what she could do.”

“She could throw balls of flame,” Raesinia said. “But . . . more than that. She wasn’t creating the flames, she was controlling them. I remember her pulling little bits of fire from the guards’ lanterns.”

“She must have kept that place from burning down,” Marcus said. “I was certain it was going to go up in our faces.”

“And if she can put a fire out,” Raesinia went on, “it seems logical that she could start one. Or more than one. Help them spread once they’re going.”

“He’s mined six buildings on each side of the road,” Marcus said, looking at the map. “That’s a stretch a couple of miles long. Do you think her power can reach that far?”

“I don’t know,” Raesinia. “But he obviously does, or the Black Priests who are helping him.”

“No wonder the bombs didn’t make sense to Viera,” Marcus said grimly. “She doesn’t know they’ll have a demon helping them along.”

“So he waits until Janus’ army has fought its way to the Grand Span, which probably means thousands of soldiers in the city—”

“At least,” Marcus said.

“And then turns it all into a firestorm.” Raesinia’s mouth was dry. “He’s lost his fucking mind.”

“Pressure does strange things to people in power,” Sothe said. “Also, I’m no longer certain if Maurisk is running things himself, or taking suggestions from his Penitent friends. The Black Priests certainly wouldn’t hesitate to burn down half of Vordan to get what they want.”

“Which is why they picked that night to get away with the Names,” Raesinia said.

“What?” Marcus said. “Get away where?”

Sothe briefly ran down the information they had on the Names, the Rosnik, and their suspicions about the Black Priests’ plans. Marcus frowned, brow furrowed, and scratched his beard.