“You want me to hide?”
“I want you to recover, safely,” Lady Mirianne said. “We can assume your reputation is already shredded. But I will make sure that Hemmit and Lin and Maresh believe in your innocence. That they—and Dayne and Jerinne—and especially me, we’ll all work to exonerate you. In the name of the law and the public eye. But you will be safe away from all of it, ready to come back when it’s time.”
Amaya wanted to cry. She had misjudged Lady Mirianne, convinced she was a privileged popinjay more interested in fashion and money than anything else, empty in thought and spirit. But now she saw what Dayne must have seen in her all this time, why he loved her so much.
“Thank you, my lady,” Amaya said. “Thank you for everything.”
Lady Mirianne took her in a warm embrace, though she made sure to position her body to not get blood on herself. “Of course, Amaya. You’ll see. We will make sure justice is done, have no doubt.” She stepped back, a warm smile on her face. “Come. Let’s get you out of the city.”
Seven of them went to Jonet’s Clay Bowl. Kimber, the sweet woman who clearly had overwhelming affection not for just both of the Rynax brothers, but all of the North Seleth neighborhood, stayed at the church to arrange services for Jared Scall, the man who had died helping Jerinne protect the church. Delmin and Kaiana, the friends of Veranix Calbert, chose to go back to the University to lay the groundwork for whatever story they were telling about Veranix missing classes this morning, as well as the multiple injuries that were clear on his face. Before they left, Minox presented Kaiana with the sword he had used in the fight.
“It’s hers,” Minox explained as they went into the Clay Bowl. “Or rather, her father’s. But I’m grateful that it found its way back to her hands.”
“Good friends,” Veranix said to the proprietors. He had abandoned all of his trappings as the Thorn, looking just like a normal University student, if one covered with cuts and bruises. “There are seven of us here, but feed us as if we are twice as many. We have had a long night and a longer morning and are deeply famished.”
“You again!” one of the proprietors said. “But where is your lady? Or do you have more ladies and gentlemen now? Very nice.”
“Don’t give him a hard time, Gessin,” Asti said, stepping forward.
“Asti!” the man said, grabbing him by the shoulders and kissing both cheeks. “You are coming to eat? With your natir? I am most honored.”
Satrine chuckled. “We aren’t all married to each other.”
“Because you Druth are very closed-minded. Seven is good number for marriage. Not as good as nine, and truly, eleven is very good, I hear. But seven is good.”
He led them to a table, and in just a few moments, dish after dish of culinary delights were brought out to them. Veranix and Minox wasted little time digging into them, and while Dayne was not familiar with the cuisine, he was hungry enough to try anything at this point. And, to his pleasant surprise, he found it quite agreeable. Savory and piquant, without the overwhelming sense of burning spice that other foreign dishes he tried usually had.
“Fortunately,” Satrine said, “the ranking officers on the scene in all this were Minox’s uncle and brother. They were more inclined to believe the story we gave them.”
“Which was what, exactly?” Verci asked.
“Largely what happened, though I glossed over the Thorn’s involvement,” Minox said. “And we painted the two of you as civilians and local businessmen who proved useful in a crisis.”
“Not untrue,” Asti said.
“Incredibly useful,” Satrine said. The two of them shared a knowing look, and then she said, “I think we should stay aware and vigilant about the Brotherhood from now on.”
“Really?” Jerinne asked. “I mean, Crenaxin’s gone, Senek’s in custody—”
“Gurond escaped,” Dayne said. He had noticed that at some point the bell had been overturned, and Gurond was gone. Perhaps he did reconsider his loyalty to the Brotherhood, or at least to Crenaxin and Senek, and abandoned them. Still, Dayne worried about the giant, twisted man.
“I don’t know how well he can hide,” Veranix said.
“He did rather effectively for months,” Minox said. “But more to the point, we know that the Brotherhood had infiltrated the Constabulary, and who knows where else.”
“Ren Poller,” Verci said darkly.
“How do you know they infiltrated the Constabulary?” Asti asked.
“The spikes in the machine,” Minox said. “They were in evidence custody from a murder case we worked, and they had been stolen, with all record of their existence eradicated. Seven of the eight spikes.”
“So that hole was for the missing one, not you,” Asti said.
“We had lent one to a consultant for study,” Satrine said. “As far as I know, he still has it.”
“We should check in with Dresser regarding that,” Minox said.
“Major Dresser?” Veranix asked. “Stern guy, tight hair? Mage?”
“You know him?” Satrine asked.
“He’s my new professor.”
“Is no one troubled by the various chains of events that led us all here today?” Asti asked.
“Immensely,” Minox said.
“I really feel we need to talk about Sister Myriem,” Veranix said.
“Yes,” Jerinne said.
Dayne remembered his odd encounter with the girl the other night, how her words had put him on the path to share his troubles with Hemmit and Maresh, which then led to them going into the tunnels. After recounting it, the others each had their own story of her, though Satrine was quiet and contemplative for most of this conversation.
“What’s odd was,” Jerinne said between bites of her third bowl of sradtikash, “she acted like I freaked her out more than she was freaking me out.”
“How so?” Satrine asked.
“Like . . . she had this whole thing like she was remembering today. But that she didn’t remember me being part of it.”
“You did miss a fair part of it,” Asti
