Mother brushed the dirt from the knees of her trousers, washed her hands, and then they broke the bread into three portions.

“To King Vämbat’s death!” Runt tore a chunk off his wedge of cheese.

Bastiaan nearly choked on his own. “That is not a thing to celebrate.”

Both Runt and Mother raised their eyebrows. “Isn’t it what we’ve been waiting for?” Runt asked. “Because he refused to allow commoners to access the Well. You’ve been”—he shifted uncomfortably—“you’ve been ranting about it for ages.”

For Runt, that was mere weeks ago. For Bastiaan it was a foreign former life. Before he knew the king. Before he and King Vämbat had spent thirty-two years trapped outside of time together.

He forced himself to recall the reason behind kidnapping the king. “His death doesn’t open up the Well to commoners. Thus, I’ve requested an audience with the prince, urging him to unravel an entire system of Talent restrictions.”

Runt opened his mouth. Closed it. Then busied himself with his cheese, face pinched in thought. Bastiaan had a suspicion of what Runt wanted to ask, but he wasn’t ready to answer it. Though he’d not be able to avoid the difficult decisions for long.

“How is the prince handling the situation with Canal Vier?” Two weeks Bastiaan had been out of commission and still the Vier was frozen.

Mother sliced her own cheese thin and set it over a slice of bread. “It’s messy. People are panicking now that they have such little access to water. Even the Handel Sea is frozen. No merchant deliveries or ships arriving or leaving port. Public travel has halted except those who are willing to skate. He’s trying to route some of the mountain rivers into the canals, but many fear that will only freeze the rivers. We’ve already had people dipping into our own creek here.”

“Any trouble yet?”

She shook her head. “But it’s coming. No water. No trade. No crops. The people grow frantic. I do not envy the prince. Losing his father one day, an attack on his country the next.”

Bastiaan didn’t allow his thoughts to travel the canal of compassion for the prince. That would lead to guilt—he had brought this sudden family loss upon the prince’s shoulders. And yet he expected the prince to trust him? To take his counsel?

Then there was the Vier.

What sort of Talented had frozen the canal? Or perhaps it was someone with a Bane. But the bigger question was why? It happened the day after King Vämbat’s death, yet Bastiaan could pinpoint no correlation. Unless someone thought they could skate their way to the Well of Talents. But so few people knew the location since the maps were destroyed.

*  *  *