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He laughs, looking at ease. “It’s all right—I wouldn’t believe me either.”

“Perhaps you shouldn’t have lost your father’s will.”

“It was taken,” Ayan corrects, his face darkening with seldom-seen irritation.

“By whom?”

“Auggy—or rather, one of his men.”

“How did he get it? What did you do? Walk into his castle and declare yourself duke?”

He peers at me from the corner of his eye. “It was the most direct route.”

I grin at the idea. “You’re lucky you’re still alive.”

“Believe me, Auggy tried to remedy that.”

We fall quiet, both of us lost in our own thoughts as we take in the foreign scenery.

After a few minutes, I turn back to Ayan. “How did you end up in Doria?”

“While I was in Revalane, I stumbled upon a conversation I wasn’t supposed to hear.”

“You were snooping.”

He smirks. “Something like that.”

I wait for him to elaborate, but when he doesn’t, I ask, “What did you learn?”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ve already gotten the gist of it. Auggy’s making war golems. Hoping to collect information to take to King Algernon, I followed the trail to Doria.”

“What does he intend to do with them?”

Ayan gives me his full attention, turning toward me as he leans against the rail. His bright eyes tease me. “I assume he wants to start a war, but I’m a simple boy from Dulane. Perhaps there’s another purpose for them that I’m unaware of? Laundry golems? Golems that cook?”

I purse my lips, holding back a sharp retort. And then I fully comprehend his statement. “Dulane?”

He nods.

“You grew up in Woodmore territory?”

“My grandmother is a Woodmore.”

“Yourbiologicalgrandmother?” I ask, shocked. My eyes stray to his head as if antlers will suddenly sprout from his brow.

“Obviously not.”

“But you were raised amongst Woodmores?”

“You’re quick on the uptake, my lady.”

I roll my eyes. “Did you know Pranmore from your childhood?”

He smirks. “You are aware that Dulane is a rather large province and that not all Woodmores of Caldenbauer get together for annual reunions?”

All right, the question was a little ridiculous.

The captain hollers, and I glance ahead. The sea narrows into a channel as we pass a grassy island, and soon we’re traversing a fat, lazy waterway.