Barclay had already gotten the impression from Viola that the Grand Keeper cared a lot about appearances. But this seemed a stretch, even for him.

Nonetheless, a look of uncertainty crossed Viola’s face—but not Tadg’s. He bit out, “I’m going back to the Guild House. Or you know what? I’ll ask Runa myself. Maybe we should hear her side of the story—”

“No!” Hasu yelped. “If Cyril finds out we told you, he’ll be furious!”

Barclay was feeling furious himself. It had taken weeks for the seven of them to put the past behind them and become friends. Now they felt more opposed than ever.

“Then why did you tell us?” Barclay asked.

“Because you deserve to know,” Shazi said. “And because… what if it’s Runa who’s been trying to bond with Lochmordra?”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Barclay snapped. “How could Runa be causing the earthquakes? She only has ice and bone Lore.”

“Not to mention that Runa and the rest of us only got here the day before you did,” Viola reminded them. “How could she be responsible for the Isle of Coad? For Kelligree or Slakey?”

“Barclay said that the scary Beast he saw had tusks,” Cecily pointed out. “Maybe he saw Klava’s fangs and just thought they were tusks.”

“No way,” Barclay said. “I know what I saw. They pointed up, not down, and Klava walks on four legs. So—”

“Runa was here last year,” Shazi added. “She was here for Midsummer.”

A bolt of Tadg’s electricity shot down to the cave floor. The pebbles rattled and fizzled with sparks.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about!” he shouted. “Last Summer, Runa wasn’t even on the water when Lochmordra rose! I should know. I saw him when he did.”

The apprentices quieted. Tadg was talking about the day his father died.

“Well, I still believe Cyril,” Shazi said. “And I don’t trust Runa.”

Barclay groaned. “What if we can figure out who really is trying to bond with Lochmordra? Then will you stop suspecting Runa?”

“Maybe…,” Cecily answered. “But if it’s not Runa, who is it?”

“It would have to be someone who’s been here for every attack,” Barclay said.

“But there’s thousands of Lore Keepers who live in the Sea,” Viola said. “What are we going to do—interrogate all of them?”

“Ansley knows a lot about the weeping tide,” said Yasha. Since the argument began, he had retreated into the cave’s corner, so quiet that Barclay had nearly forgotten he was there.

“Ansley?” Viola repeated. “But why would she want to bond with Lochmordra?”

“There are dozens of reasons why someone would want to,” said Tadg. “Soren was hardly the first person to try. He wasn’t even the hundredth person, probably.”