He smiled. “You’ll not catch me out so easily. I know who I am. I mean, what is the prince’s status and his mission? How should I act so as not to betray my true nature? It was clever of you to rid us of that man, Hemerlin. He was already suspicious. He knew the prince too well not to see through my guise.”

“What do you think will happen if the wardens become suspicious?”

“I don’t know. Do you care to find out?”

“For Kem’s sake, I prefer the prince not be killed or imprisoned. So yes, I’ll help you. It’s clear you need an ally, if you’re as ignorant as you claim.”

He grinned charmingly. “I assure you, I am exactly as ignorant as I claim.”

She laughed, caught herself as she thought of how Aoving would have scolded her for laughing inappropriately. But then she thought, why not be amused? Life is too short. She was entertained by the haunt that walked in the prince’s body. Probably that made her a bad person, but she was already a thief and murderer, so she would add it to her catalog of crimes. “Very well. But I have a price. Tell me your name and who you really are.”

“Over the course of this day, I’ve come to see you humans are as profligate with your names as if they hold no power.”

“Names don’t hold power. They’re just markers like signposts. Titles hold power. Laws hold power. Weapons hold power.”

“I would not agree. For example, a signpost can be true or false and thus holds a great deal of power to set you on the right path or the wrong one. But that’s a discussion for another time. I am one of the Shorn.”

“The Shorn?”

“We who were shorn of our bodies so we could fight against the Shivering Tide and the Hollow Wind. For too many of us, our ends came brutally soon. But for others, like me, we still wait in our appointed places.”

This was an astounding statement! “Are the statues really people from ancient days, turned to stone?”

“We are each of us a real individual, but we were not ‘turned to stone,’ as you so quaintly phrase it. The statues are more of an entry point, if you will. A gate through which we can pass.”

In the distance, a dog barked.

The haunt looked up at the sky, listening, then turned to Elen with new urgency. “The sleep enchantment will wear off soon. I promise I will answer more of your questions when next we have a chance to speak in private. But for now, what must I know about Prince Gevulin, who he is and what he seeks?”