t. He lay there a moment, feeling the thread at his ribs like a second heartbeat. It was a small thing, stubborn and bright. He had told himself to keep a lid on

ut. Men moved with eyes that counted him and guessed wrong. Asher watched him from the yard like a hawk that had learned to wear

careful. She worked with a short wooden stave, hitting a hanging sack in quiet, precise strikes. Her movements were small

he could feel the exact place inside her where whatever had been taken had been stitched up. He had seen

re sharp, a little amused. They had a look that said

is own voice. He had to hear it to prove it still worked. He kept his

en pointed to the sun, then to the tower door, then at him. It was a small joke: watch

. Some tried to make small talk, and Brian felt the whole room shrink when the

more than a speech sometimes. She ate slowly, like someone savoring a memory. He watched the way she folded her hands when she chewed, the way her

, voice easy as a cat. The words landed like a slap. Brian's jaw clicked.

than plea. Asher pretended not to hear. His back was a river of silk and veno

ould gossip in lower voices. Brian sat by the narrow window and kept watch. Lyra slept on the cot, her breath slow and even, like the tide. He wanted to press his pal

. She had taught him to listen for the chain. He had set extra locks and had two men he trusted on the stairs. It was not enough,

and folded her knees, looking at him. Under the moonlight, her cheek looked like peach skin after frost. She

ld smell pine and smoke. The thread sang. He thought of whispering the old word back to her. He wanted to speak it

s and brave at the same time. She didn't pull away. Her eyes did something

. He felt her meaning in the way she watched the door, in the

t. The whole thing over him felt like a cup that might break an

ds and he was listening for footfalls. The men downstairs moved like predators sometimes-easy to read

fingers going to leather and iron. A shape slipped through the doorway like a shado

hated. He recognized the gait. It was a gait he'd seen in the yard when Asher wanted to make a point. The man's fac

He moved forward, and behind him two guards followed, faces bla

one of a man who'd finished crossing a field and was

sher and Lyra. The night smelled of w

eep a prisoner you shouldn't. You make your choices and you think no one sees. We will see." He took off the hood

and certain. "We'll make an example. You w

of the men in the yard who had laughed; he thought of the child Lyra had saved and the eyes of

ut he was not stupid. He had to make a c

his belt. He tossed it on the cot between them. The paper was black with somethin

read. Prove the arson.

rest, she made a sound-not a word, not voice, but a small, sharp noise like

have twenty-four hours," he said. "Find who

an alone with the scrap and the moon and a voice in the dark that sai

ay the world would turn. But he knew one thing: to those who would make threats

pleased. It was a laugh that sound