Bri tried to think over the list of suspects Delta had given her. She hadn’t gotten through the whole list of names, but she’d started with the ones in the highest positions, the most suspicious. Stablehands would have been low on her list of people to question. They had limited access to the upper floors and couldn’t go near the Queen’s chambers. Unlike maids, stablehands would be easily spotted in a location they weren’t supposed to be.

“How many of you are there?” Bri folded her arms and leaned against the stone wall.

The dungeons were cleaner than most she’d seen, the smell not as rancid as in the ones in the East, probably because the Thornes didn’t make a habit of keeping prisoners. Their judgment was swift.

The traitor hung his head. “Many.”

“And where are they?”

He shrugged, looking at his fingers with vacant, haunted eyes. “In the woods, out at sea, above the clouds, I don’t know.”

Bri unsheathed her amber dagger, flipping it back and forth in her hands. “And how many more are here in the palace?”

“I’m the only one who works here.”

“You’re not even good at lying,” Lina snarled. She leaned against the iron door, holding the carved golden mask in her hands. “So Augustus Norwood holds the leash to the witch hunters now?”

The expressionless fae didn’t reply.

Carys crouched, opening his bag and dumping the contents across the floor—clothes, weapons, dried meat . . . The toe of her boot paused over a little brown packet. She bent and picked it up.

She read the curling words. “ ‘Veliaris Rudica.’ ” She opened the flap and peered at the contents inside. “Seeds.”

Bri’s eyes darted to the packet, her mind flying back to Meson’s confession in the gambling hall.

“What is the purpose of these seeds?” Bri asked.

“To sow the seeds of rebellion,” he whispered in a chanting way as if he’d said the same thing many times before. It matched what Meson had said.

“Is it a symbol?” Carys asked. “Are they what killed the Queen?”

He swept the dust off his knees. “If I tell you anything they’ll kill me.”

“If you don’t tell us, we’ll kill you,” Lina seethed, taking a step forward. Bri’s muscles tensed, readying to hold her back if she must. “You played a role in my mother’s murder. I’m offering you only one chance to save yourself.”

The traitor shook his head, dropping it into his hands.

“Enough of this.” Bri scowled, pushing off from the wall and lifting her dagger. “I know how to get him to talk.”

“Wait.” His voice was steady as his eyes shot up to her. His chains rattled, and he lifted his hand to the necklace dipping below his tunic. “I can give you the note. It will tell you everything you need to know.”