"What?!" Hina reread the note again, but there was no mistake. Gerda had taken Kai.

Olivia didn't say anything, brows furrowed.

"Why—why would she do that?" Hina asked, her voice shaking. "What does she even want with him?"

"What debt, Hina?" Olivia's voice was quiet, but there was an edge to it.

Hina looked up at her, confused. "What?"

"What is the debt that this note is referring to? You told me you didn't make any deals."

"I—"

"I asked you several times, Hina. And you said 'no, Olivia, I don't know what you're talking about. I certainly didn't make any deals.' You said that every time I asked." She looked angry now. "So what debt? Did you lie to me?"

"No!" In her attempt to keep her voice down, it came out as a hiss. "I didn't make any deals. I told you what happened already—this woman, I didn't even know she was associated with a House—she showed up, forced me to take the workings—the ones I've been using to keep both of us safe. And then she insisted that I owed her. I didn't make a deal. Not with her, not with anyone. I didn't even know what a House was until you told me!" She was shaking, and she didn't know if it was from fear or anger. Maybe both. "And now she's taken Kai." Hina felt like the strength went out of her limbs, and she wrapped her arms around herself. "I don't—I don't know what to do."

Bean pressed in against the base of Hina's neck, his feathers smooth and warm against her skin, his sharp claws somehow comforting as they gripped her shoulder. He let out a soft cooing noise that Hina could feel more than hear.

Something dripped from Hina's chin. Her throat ached. She didn't have time for this. She wiped at her eyes with her fingertips.

Olivia stared for a long moment, her expression gradually softening into concern and then something like guilt. "Deals aren’t always obvious, you know. But sorry. I—I suppose I jumped to conclusions." She let out a heavy sigh. She looked over her shoulder, then back at Hina. She frowned. "We need to make sure nobody else sees that letter, to start with. We've talked about that."

"Oh." Hina paused. Some of the tension in her chest eased. Olivia wasn't abandoning her. Probably. "Oh." She folded the note up and tucked it into her pocket. "Is it—is it well known enough that people would recognise it by name?" She shook her head. "Better not to take the chance."

Olivia didn't say anything. She stared out into the darkness with a worried expression. After a long moment, she said, "I'm sorry, Hina. This is bad. I think we need help." She continued talking, but Hina had trouble focusing on her words.

Kai was gone. It felt like something was missing from Hina's chest. And she was supposed to be looking after him. Looking through the letter again, there was no "or else", no alternatives offered. She didn't even know where The Grove was to go and get him back. Gerda seemed to think that this was the end of the matter. That she could just take Kai and—

"Hina!"

Bean croaked in annoyance.

"What?"

"I think we're out of our depth with this, Hina. I think we need someone to help us."

Help would be nice. "Who can we even ask?"

Olivia hesitated before answering. "My parents. My mother knows everything there is to know about Houses."

Hina thought about that for a while. It wasn't that she was opposed to getting help, if it was trustworthy. She'd have thrown herself on the mercy of the Grambe council if she'd have thought she would be treated fairly, but she'd known all along what would have happened.

If Olivia's mother could be trusted to get Kai back safely, that would be wonderful. But it didn't seem likely.

Hina had certainly never met her, and Olivia had told her a lot of stories about people being put to death for the barest of contact with the Houses.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"Are you—Olivia, are you telling me that I can trust your mother?" It was hard to keep the skepticism out of her voice. "Really?"

"Of course." Olivia almost sounded surprised by the question. "She's completely trustworthy."

"I mean, I'm sure she's a great person, but are you saying your mother wouldn't have me arrested if she knew about—" Hina lowered her voice. "If she knew about what happened in Grambe?"

"Oh. We... don't need to tell her about that. We just need help with Kai. And she's good at that kind of thing. It's kind of her specialty."

"What, exactly, is her specialty?"

"Dealing with Houses. She’s the one they call in when there’s a problem. Or one of them, anyway."

"And she'd know what to do to get him back? Does she even know where The Grove is? Do you?"

"I don't, no. But she might. And she'd know what to do… if it's possible to get Kai back, she'd be the only one I'd trust to do it."

Hina wasn't sure she liked the sound of that. "And what about having contact with the Houses? She wouldn't have me arrested for that either? Or worse?"

"No, I don't think so." Olivia's frown deepened. "So long as she didn't think you sought them out, or—knowingly—made any deals. She's less... superstitious than some of the others in the community."

"But she'd send me back if she heard about Grambe?"

Olivia hesitated. "I don't know. I like to think she'd be more understanding than that, but she's a big believer in the rule of law. I think she'd be happy to help you out after she heard your side of the story, but I can't guarantee it. But we don't need to mention it—not unless it comes up."

It was better than no plan, Hina supposed. Maybe it was worth the risk. No, it was worth the risk. Kai was worth the risk.

"How would you even get in touch with her?" Hina asked. "We're more than a week away from your home."

"When we get to Modmin, there will be a shrine of the Torch in the city. It might take as long as a day or so to arrange, but I'll be able to speak with her via relay. I think it's likely that she'll wish to speak with you too."

"You don't think she'll tell you to have nothing to do with me and Kai after she hears the story?" Hina asked. "I mean, you said even having the invitation was considered treason in Om Qalar."

Olivia hesitated. "We're not in Om Qalar right now. And the politics isn't quite so straightforward as that. Our family isn't strictly aligned with the city—" Olivia cut herself off with a shake of her head. "I don't think she'd do that—I hope not. She tries to help people where she can, Hina. She's not a tyrant."

Hina sighed. The alternative was to stumble around and try to find The Grove on her own. And take her invitation—she hadn't gotten around to burning it yet—and try to get Kai back herself. Not that she thought that would work, not without knowing where to go. And even if she found it, she didn't know that she'd be able to get Kai back on her own. Gerda was scary enough by herself.

Putting herself within direct reach of the House? It didn't seem like such a great idea. But she couldn't leave Kai to whatever fate Gerda had in store for him. She couldn't.

Trusting Olivia and her mother was a risk, but it was the best option that she had.

"I suppose..." Hina hesitated. "I suppose I'll trust you on this. Oh, I hope Kai's okay."

Olivia gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm sure he's fine. For now. At least until they get to the House, wherever that is."

"It must be somewhere nearby, mustn't it?" Hina asked. "I mean, they waited until now to take him. We must be close."

"I don't know. They might have been waiting until we left him alone. You met this woman near Grambe, the first time, didn't you?"

"Gerda. Her name is Gerda. She said she was travelling—I don't know where she came from."

"Did she give you anything, other than the workings?"

"No..." Hina shook her head slowly. "There was this spoon—she swapped hers for mine when we were eating. It was silver, with patterns carved into it. It seemed strange at the time, but... harmless. I didn't think anything of it." In retrospect, harmless was the last word that Hina would use to describe anything about Gerda. She shivered at the memory.

"Show it to me." Olivia sounded urgent.

"I—we left it behind on the night we met you. When we were running from the huld. We left a lot of things behind. It was with the cooking equipment. I used it to eat my dinner."

Olivia looked thoughtful. "My mother has a sense for the presence of some of her trinkets. You could use something like that to track someone, if you knew what you were doing." Her eyes widened. "Maybe this woman thought you were trying to run away from her."

"Oh." Hina's heart sank. That made a kind of sense. "And took Kai in retaliation."

"It's only a theory. But it's possible. I don't know."

"And then what? What will they do to him?" He didn't deserve any of this.

"I don't know. If he agrees to a pact, we will be duty-bound to kill him. That's the worst case." Olivia shook her head. "They may not try for a pact for weeks or months if we're lucky. Especially given that he won't be looking for one. Normally, normally it takes some time to convince someone to make a pact, if they aren't already willing."

Hina didn't think that it was likely that Kai would agree to anything. He was stubborn when he wanted to be. "He's heard all of your stories, same as me. He knows what they do to people."

"If they can't convince him to make a pact, if they don't think they can convince him..."

"Then what?"

Olivia hesitated, then her voice dropped to the barest of whispers. "Sacrifice."

The image of an altar and a horrifying statue flashed through Hina’s mind. A knife glittering in Olivia's hand. Blood spreading along the lines of a tile floor.

Olivia straightened. "My mother will help us get him back. I'm sure of it."

"I hope so."