“That’s quite a compliment,” Hava said. “I’ve got her,” she added quietly to Giddon, who moved away, letting Hava help Bitterblue up the path to the trees. He was conscious of having monopolized Bitterblue since the miracle of her reappearance. And maybe Hava needed a redo too.

—

Sitting on the floor of Saba’s cavern, surrounded by walls of stone that reached up to the sky, the group shivered in companionable silence until the sun rose. They snacked on bread, dried fruit, and cheese.

“What if I’m getting cavern dirt on my bottom?” Bitterblue asked. “And I end up having to approach the gate, announcing I’m the Queen of Monsea? Would a queen believably have a dirty bottom?”

“Are we sure she drank the right amount of rauha?” asked Lovisa, who kept rubbing her temples. “Isn’t it supposed to be wearing off?”

“Saiet packed it for me,” said Bitterblue. “I trust Saiet.” Then she lay on her back and said “Saiet” several times at the ceiling to see if it made an echo.

“She does seem pretty far gone,” said Nev. “Did she drink more than half?”

Giddon fished in his pack for the flask. The moment he touched it, he said, “Uh-oh.”

“What is it?” said Nev.

“Bitterblue?” he said. “Did you drink the whole flask?”

“Of course,” she said. “Why?”

“You were supposed to drink half.”

“What!”

“And save half for the trip back.”

“I thought he gave you two flasks!” she said. Then she sat up, put her hand to her mouth, and started giggling.

“Oh dear,” said Nev.

Now Hava was laughing too, snorting and cackling, which wasn’t helpful.

“Did she drink an unsafe amount?” asked Giddon anxiously.

“Not unsafe for her,” said Nev. “Unsafe for our plan, though, if we need her.”

“Don’t worry,” said Bitterblue, throwing a hand out and whacking Giddon’s chest. “I can act so normal!”

“I doubt she’s coming down for a long time,” said Nev. “And even if she could act normal, she’s not going to be able to hide pupils the size of plates.”

“Okay,” said Giddon, whose heart was sinking. “I’m afraid any part of the plan involving Bitterblue is out.”

“Although . . .” said Hava.

The scheming look in Hava’s eye made Giddon hopeful, but wary. “Yes?”

“Could she be someone else?” said Hava. “A traveler in need of medical assistance? I mean, in her current state,” she said, pointing to Bitterblue, who was lying back again making very poor bird calls, “they’d never believe she was the Queen of Monsea anyway.”

“Who, then?” said Giddon.

“She’s obviously Lienid,” said Lovisa.

“People in Torla’s Neck aren’t going to be primed to expect a Lienid traveler,” said Hava, “are they?”

“They might be looking out for this very Lienid traveler, if they’ve been watching the signal messages,” said Lovisa with a snort.