“You don’t have to mince words. Start with whatever is weighing on you most. Right now.” I tried not to push him too hard, but I needed answers. Information. “Where’s Runt?”

“He’s heir to the throne. Runt is Anouk’s son.”

“What?” Runt was the canal rat she’d been searching for all this time—Cairden? “Isn’t he too old?”

“He entered the Stillness with me. I’m the only one who doesn’t physically age in the Stillness, so during the few years he joined me he still aged. That’s also why King Vämbat returned an old, weak king and I looked . . . the same. It’s why, if I ever use a snap again, I’ll be stuck there for eternity. Anyone who came with me would outlive me, and I’d have to watch them die.”

“The Well of Talents is greater than Coralythe’s curse.” I reached through the bars and touched his knee. “Bastiaan, do you believe that?”

“It doesn’t matter if I do. I’ll never risk it.” He released a gust of air. “At least Runt is free and alive. Though the council will try to twist him to their will and thinking.”

“He has Anouk.”

“That’s all he’ll have.” Bastiaan thunked his head on the back wall of his cell and gave a wry laugh. “I used to dream about mentoring the young king, Mattias. I’d share all the wisdom King Vämbat passed on to me. I’d teach him all the knowledge I’d gathered over the years. I used to see myself as the man who saved the kingdom.” He sighed. “I was so arrogant.”

“You thought it was your calling, though. You were being obedient.”

“I wish I could accept that excuse. But I know my heart. There was arrogance and pride. Now I finally see that proper guidance comes from an example of humility and service. Not from power and pride in knowledge. I’ll never get to teach that to Runt.”

“He’s learned more from you than you think.” Like I had. All anyone had to do was watch Bastiaan’s heart bleed into everything he did and they’d become a better person.

A distant yell came from the stairwell, followed by a body thudding against stone. “Bastiaan!”

He jumped to his feet and was at the door of his cell in seconds. “Runt?”

A squeal and another yell from Runt pulled me to my own cell door, though I didn’t stand. Not yet. I slid across the muck of my cell floor until I sat as near the stairwell as I could.

An echoing clamor tumbled through the air until not Runt but Anouk stumbled into view. Runt crashed into her from behind with a muffled “Oomph!” He pushed away from her, leaving a bloody handprint on her dress.