“Are you saying King Vämbat had a Bane?” In all his time with the former king, Bastiaan had neither heard of nor seen evidence of a Bane in him. Vämbat was against the Nightwell as fiercely as he was against commoners receiving Talents.

“Indeed I am. But he didn’t use it, nor did he share the location of the Nightwell with me. Had fate not intervened, the secret of the Nightwell would have been lost with the death of my father.”

Unless, of course, Bastiaan knew the location of the Nightwell. Which he did.

“That would have been a relief!” the duke said. “What are you saying, Mattias?”

Mattias waved a hand with a sigh. “I’m saying that the Well of Talents has failed us. It is nearly unfindable and it gives Talents to those who misuse them—assassins, rebels, enemies of the country.”

Bastiaan struggled to defend the Well in his mind. It was true that the few with Talents were hurting the kingdom, hurting others. But that was because the kings had restricted access to the Well. It was because there were fewer Talented, and they were not allowed to serve the kingdom without risk of execution.

Right?

“The Well gives and denies Talents to whomever it chooses. It is acting as king and I will stand for it no longer.” King Mattias met Bastiaan’s gaze and held it. As if the next words were spoken only for him. “I’m ordering the Well of Talents to be filled.”

Shocked silence stole all voices. At last one advisor managed to choke out the question on Bastiaan’s mind. “Filled?”

Mattias leaned back in his chair. “We’ll gather several barrels of the Talent water for the schloss coffers. Those who desire a Talent must come to me. No one need die by the Trials—that should please the little band of rebels currently dwelling in the forest—and no more unknown Talented will run around murdering kings.”

“Are you sure this is the time for such drastic action?” the duke asked. “People are starving, winter is coming, there were no crops because of the frozen canal, and we received no trade. We can’t even find the Well!”

“Bringing the Well to the schloss will allow many more people to receive Talents. As we monitor those Talents, we will hopefully find one that can thaw the Vier. Do you have a different solution, Duke?”

The duke balked. “What about those of us who’ve been waiting patiently for our turn to drink of its water? Will we be given access?”

“You can submit a formal request to your king,” Mattias said almost lazily, then turned to Hartmut, who whispered something to him. No one else seemed to find their voice. Not even Bastiaan.

He hated and feared the Trials, but they at least were neutral. To have King Mattias as the deciding factor between receiving Well water or not—it changed everything.