“I see…” Winton nodded, but he was frowning. Constance felt a tug of frustration. Why couldn’t he just believe her? Perhaps she wasn’t as good a liar as she’d thought. Winton opened his mouth to ask another question, but footsteps interrupted him, and they both turned to the wide-shouldered figure emerging from the cloud. She recognized the captain, a tall man in his late thirties, who smiled at Winton warmly and bowed to Constance.

“Lady Protector,” he said. His voice was harsh with the accent of the lower town. He had broad, handsome, but rough-hewn features, a rash of stubble across his jaw. “I’m sorry to interrupt.”

“Captain Trudan,” she said, nodding in greeting. He, like Winton, was in his training clothes. She wondered if the pair had sparred together. Lord Veredith had mentioned the man had become something of a father figure to her brother.

“If you have a minute,” he continued awkwardly, “I’d like to brief you on a few reports of disturbances in the lower town.”

“Disturbances? Please, go on.”

“The Justice ordered me to impose a strict curfew between sunset and sunrise after the cryptling girl vanished and had his own men search the lower town. They have been … thorough in their duties. The people are unhappy, and curfew last night was broken by a large assembly of around forty men from the lower town. One of my guards was attacked and narrowly escaped with his life. The Justice’s men gathered in force to suppress the townspeople.”

“I thought I ordered them to be rounded up?”

The captain bowed. “Yes, Lady Protector. But as soon as there was word of your success in petitioning the Witenagemot, many of the Justice’s men disappeared into the city. We have imprisoned maybe fifty out of three hundred—none would be bought to our side. They largely believe, as the Justice does, that Duke’s Forest is infested with mages—and I fear they will not submit to your authority now that you have detained him.”

Constance let the realization sit for a moment, her stomach churning. Two hundred and fifty enemies at large in the city. When she spoke again, her voice was low and careful. “And what was the outcome of last night’s activity?”

The captain bowed. “The Justice’s men left five dead and strung up a ringleader in the lower town as an example.”

“That’s barbaric,” Winton said, the outrage sharpening his voice.

Constance nodded slowly. “There is no more need for a curfew, Captain Trudan, and I want no more searching for this cryptling girl. Please ask your men to spread the word of our regime change among the townsfolk too, and if they see any of the Justice’s men tormenting the people, they are to arrest them on sight. Is there anything else you would recommend?”