Cat rested her head on Dancer’s chest, allowing herself to enjoy the embrace before she pulled away. Casting a sidelong look at the Demonai, she said, “Let’s talk inside.”

Dancer motioned to one of the young boys hovering near. “Shadow—could you see to Catfire’s horse?”

They had taken to calling her Catfire in the camps, honoring her connection to Fire Dancer as well as her personality.

Cat marched into the Matriarch Lodge. Willo hadn’t moved from her place by the fire, but now she stood. “Catfire!” she said, smiling. “Welcome to our hearth. Please share all that we have. Have you eaten?”

Cat shook her head. “I left Fellsmarch this morning, and I’ve been riding ever since.” She glanced at Willo’s apprentice, and shut her mouth.

Bad news can’t wait for dinner, Han thought, reading her face.

Bright Hand dished up some venison and sweet potatoes, and then withdrew, leaving them to talk in private.

They sat cross-legged on the rug before the hearth, Dancer next to Cat, with his hand on her knee. Dog flopped down on the rug, his head resting in Han’s lap, and Han absently scratched him behind the ears.

Willo sat by the door, ready to intercept any intruders.

Cat wolfed down half her meal before she felt restored enough to speak.

“You’re in trouble, Cuffs,” she said. The words came tumbling out, with scarcely a breath between. “The Bayars met with Captain Byrne and told him you claim to be of royal lineage and you mean to climb onto the throne. Fiona says you want to couple up with her, which nobody with any sense would believe, but they all seem to.”

“How did the Bayars find out about your bloodline?” Dancer said.

“I sort of told Fiona,” Han said distractedly, his mind churning with the implications of this disaster.

“You told her?” Dancer said. “Have you taken leave of your senses?”

“I lost my temper, all right?” Han said. “I made a mistake,” he added, when Dancer rolled his eyes. “It happens.”

“Wait—it’s true?” Cat said, staring at the two of them. “Cuffs is a blueblood?”

“It’s a long story,” Dancer said.

“So the Bayars claim I’m plotting against the queen?” Han said, nudging Cat back to her story.

“Right. But that’s not the worst part,” Cat said. “Flinn’s turned evidence against you. He and Captain Byrne came to see the queen. Flinn told her he overheard you plotting with Fiona, that you meant to hush Queen Raisa and Princess Mellony and grab the throne yourself.”

“Blood and bones,” Han said, as his flimsy structure of lies and omissions came down around his ears. Flinn had brought Fiona to the Smiling Dog. He must have been eavesdropping, and anybody who’d overheard their conversation would assume the worst. “What did Raisa say? Did she believe Flinn?”