He reined in his horse so he fell behind them again, following at a respectful distance.

Mellony raised her chin as if to say, See? You have your wizards, too. But what she said was, “Is it true he’s a thief and a murderer?”

Maybe, Raisa thought of saying. Or, probably. “He used to be,” she said. “He was streetlord of Ragmarket.”

“A wizard streetlord,” Mellony said, swiping rain from the tip of her nose. “That’s romantic, in a way.”

“I doubt he’d describe it that way,” Raisa said. “Anyway, he didn’t become a wizard until after he’d left the streets.”

“What do you mean, become a wizard?” Mellony said. “Wizards are born, not made. Unless Lord Bayar is right, and he’s made some kind of deal with the Breaker.” She shivered. “Do you think that’s possible?”

“If he made a deal, he made a poor bargain,” Raisa said. “And I know for a fact that he’s a better trader than that.”

“He is handsome,” Mellony allowed, “in a wicked kind of way. I don’t think I’ve ever seen eyes that blue on a man before. And the way he looks at a person—almost unnatural, like he can look right through your clothes. And dressed all in black like that, his hair…”

“Mellony,” Raisa said gently. Charm or not, she wanted to stay away from the subject of Han Alister, with him riding so close by. Matters were complicated enough. “You were talking about Mother. How it’s my fault she’s dead.”

Mellony didn’t speak for a long moment, until Raisa began to wonder whether she would answer at all. “Mother was brokenhearted when you left,” Mellony said finally. “She blamed herself. She thought she should have seen it coming and somehow prevented it. She barely ate or slept, and she grew thin and weepy.” Mellony looked over at Raisa. “So we were all miserable and worried while you enjoyed yourself in Oden’s Ford.”

“Enjoyed myself? Do you know how hard I was working?” As Raisa said it, she knew she was being dishonest. Despite everything, she had enjoyed herself.

Mellony rolled her eyes. “You’re a fiend for hard work, and you know it,” she said. “You always had to work harder than anyone else, whether it was schoolwork or hunting or—or anything. You always had to make everyone else look bad.”

Everyone else, no doubt, meant Mellony.

It was time to tell the truth. “Did Mother tell you why I left?” Raisa said, leaning close to her sister.

Mellony nodded. “She said you had a crush on Corporal Byrne.” She jerked her chin toward Amon, riding just ahead. “Mother said you ran off when she insisted you marry someone else.” She lifted her chin defiantly. “And Corporal Byrne was at Oden’s Ford, too. Wasn’t that convenient?”