“Ah, well.” He smoothed the blanket down over his legs. They looked impossibly small under the tight bedding. “You still escaped the dungeon. That’s a bit illegal.”

“We shouldn’t have been there in the first place.”

“True enough.” He turned his eyes toward the door. “Hello, Bowstring. Did you know, I rather fancied you at the Academy.”

James was shivering. “Did you?”

“Your eyes are so green. Did you know?”

“Yes, Gultin. I know.”

“All right.” Gultin blinked slowly, like a cow. He yawned. “Well, I ought to get back to sleep soon.”

“Gultin,” Scratch said, unease creeping along her spine. “Are you getting any better?”

“Better?” He cocked his head to the side. “Why would I get better?”

“So you can leave.” She pressed her hands against her thighs to keep them from shaking. “Don’t you want to get back to your life?”

“What life?” he asked. There was no bitterness in it. No anger. It seemed to be a real question.

“Your family?”

“Oh, they don’t like me.” He waved the thought away like a gnat. “That’s why I went to the Academy. I had Branch and Hester, but you killed them.”

He said it so simply. Not an accusation—a fact. A dull knife, slicing her from belly to throat. “I’m sorry, Gultin.”

“Don’t be.” That wave again. “I know why you did it.”

“You could come with us,” she offered, trying not to think of what a terrible idea that was. Something in Gultin’s nothing face was making her desperate. “We’re rescuing Frances.”

His smile didn’t shift. “No, thank you. I’m perfectly content where I am.”

James made a strangled noise. “You.” He rounded on Nana. “You did this.”

She eyed him narrowly. “I did nothing different than what I did with you. This one decided not to fight.”

“There’s still time.” Scratch grabbed Gultin by the shoulder. His bones, under papery skin, pressed against her fingers. “Gultin, come on. You have to move. You can get better.”

“What for?” His eyes were splotched green and brown like algae over a murky pond. Scratch had never noticed the color before. There had never been reason. “I can’t be in the Guard anymore.”

“We can’t either,” she protested.

He blinked. “It’s nice to talk to you, Keyes. I forgot to say, I liked your octagon.”

She fell back onto the bench, dizzy. Nana rose with a sigh.

“Say your good-byes, you two. You’re leaving after this.” She patted Gultin’s covered foot. “The good news for you is, since he’s staying, I’ll only take something minor from you lot as payment. This one’s feeding me up well, isn’t he?”

Gultin smiled dopily at her. “Yes, Nana.”

Scratch watched Gultin breathe. His chest rose slowly, and there was a whistle to it, like consumption. She had the uncomfortable urge to swaddle him up and rock him.