Rannok didn't actually know where Mantu's study was, but it didn't take long to find him just by wandering around in the hallways. The man had stopped outside Rannok's bedroom, hand rested on the door jamb, a sly smile curving its way across his fat mouth. Rannok's heart jumped, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

"She's a pretty thing, isn't she? I didn't think she would be able to follow this far. She must be very determined to get you back. Stupid, but it's admirable." Mantu removed his hand from the doorjamb and pushed both of them into his pockets. It made him look like a fat statue, with the little wisp of hair atop his head and his chalky, dry skin. 

Rannok met Mantu's eyes, but was unable to keep the scowl off his face. "You don't know anything about her or me." The muscles in his forearms tensed, and his heart beat so hard it made his vision foggy. He didn't know her soft way of speaking or what it felt like when she clutched his hand while he was panicking for no reason. He didn't know how she trembled at night, or didn't sleep, but pretended to for Rannok's sake. He didn't know the unholy terror that was the thought of losing her. 

Rannok closed his eyes for a moment and tried to breathe.

"I know you're after her," Mantu said while he twiddled his thumbs. "And I know I'm a kind man. I shouldn't have allowed her to stay, but I'm willing to compromise if you are."

Rannok's eyes narrowed. "Why did you give her a job if you didn't think she should be here?"  

Mantu laughed. It was a harsh sound, like a barking dog, that brought tears to his eyes and probably sounded meaner than Rannok imagined he meant it to. "I didn't get this house and these servants by wasting my money. I paid good money for you. It's quite clear she meant to make away with you. Did you really think she would leave the island if I told her no? Because I don't."

Mantu's eyes glimmered. Rannok remembered standing in a tent and talking to another man who was far too concerned with money. He remembered the words rolling off Gabriel's tongue. No one will get hurt, we're just trying to scare them. He remembered his hands, slick with Meria's blood, and his face paled.

"No," Rannok said, though he wasn't replying to Mantu. The empty comfort on the ship didn't feel like empty comfort anymore, it felt like the placing of a shackle. Rannok resolved not to let Mantu near him ever again.

"Good, you aren't as foolish as my wife takes you for, then," he said. He removed his hands from his pocket and picked at a thumbnail. "Tell me, I'm curious, have we mistreated you thus far?"

"No," Rannok said, trying to forget that he'd only been on the island for half a day. There was plenty of time left for Mantu to chain him to a wall and refuse to feed him. There was plenty of time to force him to do things he wasn't comfortable with. There was plenty of time for him to prove that Rannok had been right not to trust him. An uncomfortable stone rested in Rannok's gut. "No, you haven't."

"Have we inhibited your movement, placed you in chains, or harmed you in any way?"

Rannok thought about his feathers and winced. He thought about the trip to the docks, the nausea caused by the ocean, the red fish emblazoned across the front of his clothes, but no one else's. But the smile on Mantu's face and the expectant look in his eyes meant Rannok knew better than to say so.

"No," he replied, the words peeling from his lips like the lie they were. A shudder ran down his spine. He looked away from Mantu. 

"You know, there are a lot worse outcomes than a year spent watching a child. Rosa has a brand on her arm from one of the barrier islands. Perhaps you should ask her how that happened." Mantu's eyebrows rose up over his eyes, as if he were threatening Rannok to challenge him. Rannok crossed his arms and leaned away.

"No, I got it," he said, trying not to think of what it must feel like to have a hot branding iron pressed into the inside of one's arm. He remembered the rawness of his skin after he'd fledged, the way the bandage changes had flayed the skin from his back. 

Backs seemed a lot less sensitive than forearms. A bit of guilt creeped into Rannok's stomach for thinking the woman was harsh. "Why did you hire her anyway, if she was a criminal?"

"Everyone deserves a second chance," Mantu replied, the predatory grin falling off his face. "Rosa has been with us for five years. Originally as a debtor, but she stayed once that debt was repaid. She's a fair bit more valuable than half the staff."

Rannok wondered if she was a fair bit cheaper than the other staff as well, but he bit his tongue. Mantu watched the expression on his face shift before settling his posture back against the wall. He eyed Rannok curiously, like a new insect he'd discovered somewhere in his house and found fascinating. It made discomfort raise further up Rannok's spine.

"Why are you so determined to hate me?" he asked. "I gave you a comfortable place to stay. I even brought your friend here. You have much to gain by trusting me, so why so ambivalent, still?"

Because I'm not a slave, Rannok thought, but didn't say. Instead, he forced himself to relax and forced his eyes to meet Mantu's. The man felt far too much like a schoolteacher, like Rannok was a child in need ot scolding instead of an adult in a bad situation. "I've had problems in the past. I don't want to go into it."

He winced as the words came out of his mouth, because words like that almost always invited questions. He held his breath and hoped that Mantu wouldn't ask, then released it when the man turned away and nodded. "Well I hope you'll change your mind, but that's not the point of this conversation."

Rannok blinked. "Then what's the point of this conversation?" he asked, failing to keep the suspicion out of his voice. He longed to run back to Sasha, to get away with her to the docks before Mantu could change his mind. Before he could decide that Rannok really was a slave and really did need shackles. 

"Your friend is carrying a stolen weapon," Mantu responded, as if it were an afterthought. He ran his fingers down his stubbly chin. "My grandfather was part of the garrison in the mountain towns. I know what an officer's sword looks like, and I know she didn't come across it by accident. There was one hanging in the guard chief's office. I'd hazard a guess it's not anymore, if I were to go check."

Rannok's heart slammed into his chest wall. Cold fear rushed down his throat. He swallowed the rising lump and backed away from Mantu like a startled cat. He'd forgotten about the sword entirely. He wouldn't have given it a second thought, if Rosa hadn't asked about it. He opened his mouth, hands shaking. "I didn't know she--"

"There are two ports on and off this island. Most of the ships head up the river, where you came from. If you attempt to leave, I will raise high alert, and I will send a pigeon to the town you were found in and inform them of where their sword got off to. A sword which is, by the way, quite a bit more valuable than a few coins from an inn. Do I make myself clear?"

The smile slid from Mantu's features. His eyes hardened until they were like coal, and they locked on Rannok with enough fire that it hurt to meet them. His throat had gone dry. There was nothing he could do in her defense. Once again, he was helpless, left waiting for Sasha to save him, except this time there was nothing he could do. This time the fault was hers alone.

"Yes," he said. 

Mantu nodded. "I like a nice, reasonable man." His hand landed heavy on Rannok's shoulder, then lingered for a moment. Rannok squirmed under it. "Don't get into it too much with Rosa. She means well."

Rannok slumped when Mantu removed the hand, like he'd removed something burning from Rannok's skin. He watched as the man lumbered down the hallway, then through the door and into the main part of the house. His head throbbed.