Raisa held an impromptu meeting in Southbridge Temple with Speaker Jemson, Amon Byrne, and Char Dunedain, to coordinate the cleanup of Ragmarket. General Klemath still hadn’t appeared, though some of his homegrown officers attended. Han and Cat hadn’t returned, either. Raisa felt a twinge of worry.

Nightwalker came as well. He’d returned from Demonai Camp to find half the town in ruins. And Micah, who’d earned a place at the table through his actions on the riverbank.

Micah has to be tired, Raisa thought. She’d been touched by how hard he’d worked fighting the fire, showing little of his usual arrogance, seeming eager to make up for past sins.

Why doesn’t he go home? she wondered. Then she realized—he’s waiting to talk to me.

Raisa forced herself back to the matter at hand. “Until General Klemath can be located, Sergeant Dunedain will coordinate housing for people displaced by the fire,” she said to the Highlander officers. “You are under her command.”

“We’ve already discussed it,” Dunedain said. “We have field tents that can sleep five hundred or so. Since we’ve cleared out the flatland refugees from along the river, we could put them there while we clear out Ragmarket.”

Raisa sighed, rubbing her forehead. “Make sure there are enough latrines available. I don’t want to be putting filth into the river again.”

“Is there any usable housing in Ragmarket?” Speaker Jemson asked. “People would like to stay closer to home, if they could.”

“The old temple in Ragmarket is still standing,” Pearlie said. “That and some buildings in Pilfer Alley. That’s about it.”

“Really?” Raisa looked up, surprised. “The temple was spared? That’s good news.”

“And Pilfer Alley, too?” Micah said, raising an eyebrow. “Interesting.”

Pearlie nodded, tilting her head as if puzzled by Micah’s interest. “I don’t know about Pilfer Alley, but the temple was Lord Alister’s doing. Talia, Mick, Hallie, and I had gathered a whole group of people, but we couldn’t find a way through the flames. So he sent us inside the temple and spun up a magical wall to protect it.”

“He did?” Raisa glanced at Amon to catch his reaction, but he was as unreadable as ever. “He said there were people in the temple, but I didn’t realize—”

“If not for him, there’d have been hundreds of lives lost. Including me and Talia and Hallie and Mick.”

“And Pilfer Alley,” Micah said.

What’s your point, Micah? Raisa thought, irritated.

Pearlie nodded. “He’s a hero, and everybody in Ragmarket knows it. Anyway, the temple could be used for housing, and it’s closer to home for some.”

“The clans will help in any way we can,” Nightwalker said.

“Thank you, Nightwalker,” Amon said. “We’ll see how much help we need in the long run, and how best to use it.”