I found Venasha staggering up the path, helping along a heavily bandaged Foss, both of them sporting bloodstains and stark desperation. As soon as they saw me carrying Aleki, they cried out in relief. Aleki nearly threw himself from my arms to his mother’s, and the three of them huddled together, heedless of Foss’s injuries, holding one another close. Their emotion was so intense I had to look away.

“We should get out of here,” I said after a moment. I wanted Aleki as far from Ruven as possible.

“Yes,” Venasha agreed. “Foss needs a physician.”

“I’m fine,” he protested weakly.

Venasha ruffled his hair and shook her head. Aleki helpfully jabbed a finger into his father’s eye.

“If you don’t mind,” I said, “let’s head for the garrison. I’ll feel better with hundreds of soldiers and thick stone walls between Aleki and harm.”

Foss nodded, his face grave. “Now that I’ve had time to consider it,” he said, “so will I.”

I commandeered a coach from the River Palace to take us to the garrison. Aleki fell asleep in his mother’s arms on the ride, lulled by the rumbling wheels. Foss stroked his hair with a trembling hand, looking likely to pass out himself. Venasha made soothing sounds to both of them, pale as paper, her voice unnaturally calm.

The watchers on the castle ramparts must have examined our coach through a spyglass as we took the winding road up the hill to the fortress. Marcello, Zaira, Istrella, a handful of soldiers, and a physician with a box full of alchemical remedies greeted us at the gates. In a flurry of competent activity, Foss’s wound was soon treated and properly dressed, and the family was settled into a suite of rooms designed for visiting nobility. I waited in their sitting room to make sure all was well while Venasha saw her husband and son tucked safely into their beds.

She emerged from the bedroom at last, shutting the door gently behind her.

“Thank you,” she said. Her hands started to shake. She held them up in front of her face in wonder, as if she couldn’t imagine what was happening.

“Maybe you should go to bed, too,” I suggested.

“It’s only afternoon … But I think I will. I wanted a bath, but I’m not going to leave them alone for one minute.” The shaking traveled to her shoulders, and she flung her arms around me.

I hugged her gently. “It’ll be all right. Prince Ruven has made his point. He won’t bother you again.”

“But someone else might. The mark is so clear in his eyes. It’s only a matter of time until someone threatens him again.”

“They won’t.” I squeezed her tighter. “Because we’ll keep him safe.”