“I am too in it,” Cat snarled. “For Velvet and Jonas and Sweets and Sarie and…everybody else. Mari was just a baby. And they burned up…”

“Stop it,” Han said, putting up his hand. “I just…stop it.” He waited until he thought he could control his voice. “I’m going to be in a war pretty soon, likely against the Bayars and a lot of other charm-casters,” he said. “It’ll be something different than what you’re used to. It’s not just a street fight, though there might be some of that. It’ll be politics and spying and putting a word in where it’ll do the most good. And it’ll be all over the realm—in the mountains, in Ragmarket and Southbridge, in the castle close, too.”

“You’ll need help,” Cat said. “You can’t do it all on your own.”

“You should stay here,” Han said. “It’s amazing, what you’ve done in a short time. Jemson was right. You could become a ladies’ maid or governess. You could teach music. It’s your chance to get out of Ragmarket for good.”

“You think I’d rest easy between the sheets in some mansion house knowing you’re in a war?” Cat said. “I want to swear to you again. I want to help you. I couldn’t go up against the Bayars on my own, but maybe I could with you.”

Han studied Cat, debating. Hope crowded into her face.

“You’d be putting Cat at risk,” Dancer argued. “She’d be going up against wizards. She’d be defenseless.”

“I an’t defenseless!” Cat snapped, producing a blade from some unknown hiding place and waving it at Dancer. He jerked his head back to save his nose.

Han rubbed his chin. “I need people who’ll do what I say, whether it’s going to school, or doing slide-hand on the street, or keeping an eye on people that need watching. I won’t have time to argue with you. You can’t just pick and choose the jobs you like.”

Cat nodded, her eyes fixed on his face. “I promise I’ll do what you say.”

“You need to keep up on your schooling,” he said. “Music, art, language, all that. You need to be able to mix in with bluebloods. If it’s good enough for me, it’s good enough for you.”

“You sound like a blueblood already,” Cat muttered.

“There won’t be gang shares, not like before,” Han went on. “I have some money, but that might dry up, depending on which way I jump. And you can’t be doing side work if you work for me. You can leave any time, but if you decide to go with somebody else, you need to tell me and split clean.”

“I got it,” Cat said. “No side work.”