“Not spy, exactly. For instance, I get information from Demonai Camp that I don’t get from anywhere else. They don’t flatter me. They don’t treat me like an empty-headed icon. In a way, they respect me more than anyone else does.”

“What kind of information do you want from me?”

Raisa sat up straighter. “Well, if there’s trouble coming, I’m thinking it must be coming from one of two places—from the wars in the south, or from the Wizard Council.”

“What about the people of Fellsmarch? What if they were planning some kind of rebellion?” Amon asked.

“Why would they do that?” Raisa said, frowning. “People love the queen. Whenever we go out in the city, they all cheer and throw flowers at our feet.”

Amon was shaking his head, wearing a look that was almost pitying.

“What?” Raisa snapped, instantly annoyed.

“Well, they’re miserable, for one thing, and starving, and from what I’ve seen, the Queen’s Guard spends most of their time pushing them around.”

“No,” Raisa said with conviction. “The Guard is there to protect the people.”

“Raisa, have you ever been to Southbridge?”

“Of course I have. I’ve been to the temple there, and I’ve ridden through dozens of times. It’s kind of run-down, but…”

“Let me guess. You rode in a carriage with an entourage down the Way, with your Guard lining the streets to either side.”

She nodded reluctantly. “Pretty much.”

“You can’t tell what’s really going on when you’re so…insulated. I’ve been on foot patrol in Southbridge and Ragmarket for the past two weeks. Let me tell you what happened this week. Yesterday, six people were murdered in Southbridge. Four boys, two girls, all about our age. They were tortured and strangled.”

“Sweet Hanalea,” whispered Raisa. “I didn’t hear about this. Who would do something like that?”

“Good question. They were all in a street gang called the Southies. Sergeant Gillen thinks a rival gang called the Raggers did them for revenge.”

“Revenge for what?” Raisa asked, leaning forward, fascinated in spite of herself.

“The Southies beat up the leader of the Raggers a few days ago, a boy by the name of Cuffs. He wears these silver bracelets, kind of his trademark. Gillen knew where he might be so we grabbed him coming out of a tavern earlier today.”

Amon raked back his hair with both hands. “He’s our age, and Gillen thinks he murdered six people.”

“So you questioned him?” Raisa prompted. “What did he have to say for himself?”

“Well, the first thing Gillen does is steal his purse and beat him senseless with a club,” Amon said.

“What?” Raisa shook her head as if she could deny it was so. “Why would he do that?”