Barclay didn’t see how she could know that, seeing as the letter was unopened. But he didn’t want to press her while she was upset. Instead, he turned to Hasu on his other side, but Hasu also looked downcast. “I miss my parents. And the food from home. I haven’t been home in over a year.”

“What kind of food do you eat in the Jungle?” Barclay asked.

Hasu brightened. “The best kind. Cardamom rice, fresh mangoes…” She trailed off, poking her fork around her colorless plate. “Do you ever get homesick?”

Barclay’s thoughts instantly veered to the earthy smell of mushroom caves. To the peaceful quiet in the graveyard where his parents were buried. To Master Pilzmann gossiping about the town’s latest rules and scandalous rulebreakers. His heart gave a painful tug.

“Not really,” he answered, his face flushing.

Viola raised her eyebrows. “Your cheeks only get red like that when you’re lying. But why would you be homesick for your Elsewheres town? They kicked you out.”

“I’m not l-lying,” Barclay stammered, flushing all the fiercer.

“You’re an Elsie?” Cecily asked with surprise. “I thought all Elsies were terrified of Beasts.”

“I’m not lying,” Barclay repeated, firmer this time. “You can’t be an Elsie and a Lore Keeper, so that makes me a Lore Keeper—”

The door to the Guild House swung open, and Cyril and Runa trudged inside. Their dour expressions must’ve meant that their hunt for Lochmordra had led nowhere—again.

“Where’s Edwyn?” Runa asked the seven of them. “I’d like him to come with us to the reef. Maybe he can spot a clue we can’t.”

“Or he’ll spend the whole time cracking jokes,” Cyril mumbled.

“Oh, cheer up, Cee-Cee,” Runa said. “You used to have a sense of humor.”

Barclay swore he saw steam blow out of Cyril’s ears.

“Edwyn went to wash up,” answered Yasha. “During our lesson, he accidentally got covered in sea jelly.”

“We’ll find him,” Runa said. “But since the three of us will be gone tonight, we decided this is the perfect opportunity for you to perform your punishments for sneaking out. Orla, Ulick, and Ansley are all expecting you.”

And so, unhappily, the seven apprentices split up, and Barclay and Shazi trekked across Munsey to the Planty Shanty. Ansley waited for them by the front door. She held a slimy clump of Polypops, and she’d replaced her sea-glass spectacles with matching goggles.

“I hope you’re ready for another journey under the Sea,” she told them brightly. “I think you might actually enjoy this, Barclay. And I…” She trailed off, studying Shazi’s prosthetic leg. “Are you going to be all right swimming?”

Shazi crossed her arms. “I’ll be fine.”

“All right, then. The three of us have a tough task ahead of us. We’re diving deep to the ocean floor to study the thermal vents.”