“Because Baron Leodra is on the Council of Nine, too, and if he finds out what just happened before the doge does, he can order the watch, the imperial assassins, or the entire army after us.” My mind raced in circles, stuttering worse than my speeding pulse. Any official I turned to for help could be loyal to Leodra.

“Then walk, idiot, or he’ll know exactly where you are, because you’ll stand out like your hair was on fire.”

“Oh.” I examined Zaira thoughtfully. “Speaking of fire, how come you’re not falling over?” She looked a bit tired, perhaps, with less spring in her step than usual, but she was a long way from collapsing.

“Because you only unleashed me for about half a second!” Zaira threw up her hands.

“Yes. Because in another second, I would have been dead.”

Zaira blinked. “Right. You were behind me.” She went still and quiet. “Oh.”

I could tell she was thinking about what Orthys had said, about her parents dying from her balefire, too. Much as I didn’t appreciate being nearly set on fire without an apparent second thought, I let the matter drop. “We have to find Marcello,” I decided. He couldn’t be far. “He can give us an armed escort.”

“Back to the Mews?” Zaira asked.

“No. We can’t give Leodra the time to prepare a countermove.”

“Where, then?”

I started walking again, with an inexorable pace that was new and strange to me: a grim stride with Leodra’s doom at the end of it. “To my mother,” I said.

We found Marcello and the other Falcons by following the trail of street gossip about a military force in the Tallows. By the time we spotted scarlet uniforms down a crooked street and forced our way through a crowd of curious onlookers, sunset colors stained the deepening sky, and the streets and canals were in full shadow.

A soldier blocked the street, keeping passersby out of the way. Past him I could see Jerith and Balos standing in front of a tavern with a dozen more soldiers, talking to each other with expressions of grave dissatisfaction.

“You can’t come down here,” the soldier explained as Zaira and I approached, holding up a hand. “You can go around by Three Duels Bridge, or wait a bit longer. I think they’re nearly—Oh! Lady Cornaro.” He bowed, and the gathered crowd murmured and exchanged glances.

“Where is Lieutenant Verdi?” I asked.

“In the tavern, my lady. There’s no more fighting, so it should be safe for you to go in.” He gestured us past.

Jerith didn’t look surprised to see us, though Balos shook his head as if to say, I should have known.