The girl and I head for the stables on the edge of town where the Prince stabled his horses. I hope the stable hand will remember me with the Prince and consequently hold me in higher favor.

I inform him of my wish to purchase a mare and a few minutes later he returns with a limping, grey-haired man.

"You want a horse? How much have you got?"

I take out my purse and count the silver and copper coins.

"Can't get nothing for five silver and scrap."

"I will take anything you can give me."

"Find a coach."

"We must have a horse." He eyes me for a long moment and puckers his lips. Then he bows his head at a workhorse in the yard.

"She's been good to me and there's not much left in her. Force her too hard or take her too far and she'll sit down and die on you." He holds out his palm, and I drop my hemp purse into it. "Bring her back to me alive, and I will return the five silver."

The stable hand appears with a worn saddle and straps it onto the mare.

"What's her name?" I ask.

"Izza." I nod, then help Naomi onto the horse. It took half an hour to ride to the old ruins on the Prince's stallion, but on Izza it will take a couple of hours. I bid the equestrian goodbye and we leave the Hyborg onto the western track.

It is almost midday, the sun is hot on our backs, and Izza is sweaty and slow. However, we would have to wait hours for the cool breeze of evening--hours where Tug is the Sai's captive and someone might notice the girl with me.

We set off in slow silence, my thoughts and my impatience torturing me. We stop to drink from streams, and when I sense others on the track I draw us further into the forest. We plod down dells and over dales. And eventually, when I am beginning to fear I have erred in my calculations, I see the castle ruins.

The furious activity which greets us breaks our quiet journey of solitude. The men do not wear soldier's uniforms, but there is a unification and discipline to their work which reveals their military training.

A dozen carts line up beyond the northern ruins closest to the road. The men load them with bags of grain, dried meat, herbs, furs, and equipment for digging shelter in the snow. Preparations for the glacial mountains are fully underway.

A soldier orders me to a halt. Jax, the Elite Commander, is close by. He turns, expression altering to surprise and skepticism at the sight of me, but he waves me on and the soldier allows us passage into the ruins.

I tie Izza to a tree, though after what I have put it through, I expect she would not voluntarily move anywhere. I take off the saddle to lessen the weight on her back and check she has access to plenty of lush grass. The girl watches everything as though peering from a curtain drawn across her eyes.

"Come." She hurries along beside me as I lead her through the castle ruins towards the wing that has not collapsed with the years. We walk through an old courtyard, its walls collapsed, and only one arch still standing. A great shriek penetrates the air as we approach the double doors to the part of the castle that is standing. The girl jumps and we both freeze.

It takes a moment for me to place the sound and recognize it is the velaraptor. I step back to look out at the field and trees beyond the old archway. In a small clearing, with woods to the north and prairie to the east, away from the main road, sits the velaraptor. Its legs and feet are chained. It is quite a distance away, but the strength it has gained in my absence is evident and shocking. The green-eyed Uru Ana girl sits with it, stroking its back and talking. The velaraptor's wings are outstretched, small spikes standing up on their edges. And there are spikes raised the length of its nose and down the spine of its back.

The soldier who had gotten too close, retreats. Naomi cowers behind me.

"What is it?" she asks. Before I can respond, I am distracted by the mind approaching. I turn and see Jakut.

"Back so soon?" There is a bounce in his step and he is grinning. As he gets closer, his smile fades. Maybe he's noticing the smears of blood on my shirt or something in my eyes.

"Who's this?" he asks, voice neutral and reassuring around the child.

"Her family was slaved and taken to the Pit to be sold. She escaped."

"Nile attacked the slavers. Now they got him and my Ma."

The Prince meets my eye. I remember how when Tug first brought me to the tavern Jakut had inspected my wounds and seemed upset at the sight of them. He dislikes slavery as much as I do.

"I need to leave her with the other children," I say.

"Of course." The Prince summons the man who was trying to get closer to the velaraptor. The soldier gives a discreet bow of respect. "Take the child to the kitchens and see if she is hungry. She will be staying with the others."

The soldier gives another bow. Naomi grabs onto my shirt and sticks her heels in the ground.

"But how will I get Ma and Nile back?"

"Go with him," I say. "Go on. You'll be safe here. Go." She does as I bid reluctantly. A silence follows her departure. Jackut's appraising gaze wanders after the child and circles around to rest on me.

"What has happened?"

"The Sai have taken Tug."

"Who are the Sai?"

"The Hybourg gang who run the Pit. Brin told them about me, and they have taken Tug to discover my whereabouts."

"Mirra," the Prince says, reaching out and circling his hand around my wrist, "I will keep you safe."

"They will hold him prisoner until he gives me up."

"Come with us to the glacial mountains. They will not find you there."

'They will torture Tug, and if he does not give me up, he will die at their hands."

"You cannot be sure of this."

"They have already killed Brin. They slit his throat right after they got Tug. They will not hesitate to end Tug's life when he refuses to cooperate."

The light in the Prince's eyes darkens and a hardened edge coats his voice.

"What is it you wish me to do, Mirra? Tell me and I will do it."

I have plenty of time to ruminate on my plan as we traveled here. Now I reveal it to Jakut.

"I need to get down into the mining shafts below the Pit. When Tug and Brin sold Kel in the Pit, Tug told me that the guards take the Uru Ana children down to a chamber where the deal is made. The underground chamber leads to dozens of exits all around the Hybourg. You must have seen all this when you bought the children; it is how they guarantee those who buy the glitter-eyes are not robbed before leaving the Hybourg."

"Yes."

"I will search the guards' minds until I find one who is familiar with the tunnels. I will find an exit through which to enter the mine shafts. And when I do, I will need a distraction elsewhere while I break in."

Jakut looks as though he is staring at me in my grave. "I will do it for you, Mirra," he says. "But first, you must rest."

"There is no time for rest. They could be torturing him as we speak. Who knows what they are putting him through?"

The Prince lowers his head and steps closer so there is barely breathing distance between us. "You are sure of this?" he says softly. "You would give your life for him?"

"What I am sure of, is he will give his life rather than give me up," I say. "And I cannot let him do that."

"Rest Mirra, please, and we will go to find your guard together. Eat something and then we will go." The Prince withdraws, his body and gestures closing off. He still believes there is something romantic between me and Tug. And this time, I am compelled to put him out of his misery.

"He has just become a father," I say. The Prince turns, eyes sharp and fixed upon me.

"Who?"

"Tug, Tug has just become a father. He has a daughter. If she does not know him growing up it will be because of me."

"This is not your fault. Tug is the cause of his own fate."

"And I mine."

"It is not your fault that Tug and Brin abducted your brother, and you had no choice but to give yourself up to follow him."

"I shot his wolf-dog. I shot the one thing he probably loved most in the world."

"Until he met you."

"Tug does not love me."

"He is in love with you, Mirra. He will risk his life for you because of it."

"He loves me as I love him. It is friendship. That is all. It never was and never will be more than friendship.'

The strained furrow of his brow softens. "I will take you back to the Hybourg, but I must speak with my Commander, and you will go to the kitchens and eat something."

I nod, and as he turns to leave, I grab his hands and hold them in my trembling fingers.

"Thank you."

Jakut strides through the small clearing towards the castle ruins, a tall, elegant silhouette. He holds himself with confidence in a way he did not when we traveled together before he had regained his memories. And there are layers to him now that I could not sense before. Layers of emotion, strength, and vulnerability. He remembers who he is and what he's done and it seems he has made peace with it.

Where before I could not trust him, could not understand, could not grab hold of his essence, now it holds the space around him. It was always there but it's as though the light now shines on it, showing all the beautiful cracks and wounds and joins to fix them.

As he vanishes into the ruins, I turn my sights to the velaraptor and the glitter-eyed girl. She is stroking it and climbing on its back. But then she sees me and raises her hand for me to come to her.

I cross the tree stumps and grass sensing the wildness of the creature. It is already returning to its true power. I imagine it will not be long until it breaks its chain and flies away and then what will the girl do?

The velaraptor stills as I grow closer. Its nostrils flare and I hesitate, thinking perhaps it will screech at me as it did with the soldier. But then it lowers its head and the girl waves me closer.

The nearness of this magnificent creature fills me with awe, as though I am standing high up, gazing across a vast mountain chain of raw and extraordinary beauty.

I approach awkwardly. The girl is straddled around the velaraptor's neck. Her short legs don't reach the ground and though it would be easy for her to fall off, she leans toward me unafraid, perfectly balanced.

She is leaning as though she wishes to say something so with some trepidation at putting my head so close to the velaraptor's jaw, I lean the rest of the distance between us.

Her voice comes out soft and uncertain, as though she's not used to forming words. "He says, thank you."

"Thank you?"

"He says, thank you for his freedom."

I frown. Young children make things up, I know that much, and the girl could imagine the velaraptor talking to her. But why thank me?

"It was Prince Jakut who got you both out of the Pit." I touch my hand to the little girl's face. I don't understand what she means, but she is talking and that must be a good sign.

"Does he have a name?"

"Gooden."

I smile, and nod. "It is an appropriate name," I say. "He will be strong enough to break his chains and fly home soon."

"I will go with him."

"The glacial mountains are cold and there is nothing to eat for a child. Besides, what of your mother and father?"

The girl pouts, folds her arms, and twists her body so she has her back to me. I sigh. Encouraging her to talk again will mean a lot of coaxing and telling her what she wants to hear, rather than the truth. While it might make her happy for a day or two, it will not help her accept what will be sooner or later.

"I am glad you and Gooden are free." I bow my head to them both and make a careful backward retreat. The velaraptor might be docile with the girl but I'm not about to turn my back on it when it is close enough to swipe me with its claws.

As I reach the castle ruins, I notice the healer. She has been watching us. We greet each other with a nod and she offers me a skin bottle.

"It is light juice," she says. "A potion for strength."

"Thank you." I take a sip and my mouth tingles my throat burns and a wave of energy pours through me.

"When someone has a big heart," the healer says, "they must be careful what they fill it with."

I glance back at the girl and the velaraptor. "The bird is wild but I don't believe it will harm her."

"I'm not talking about them." She fixes me with her gaze as though looking through water to my soul. Deep inside her words press on a soft, bruised place and I do not like the sensation, do not understand it.

I raise my eyebrows like her words make no sense, have nothing to do with me, and head toward the kitchens.