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“You’ll have to be more specific,” I mumbled, not looking up. Several more students, emboldened by Tomus’s temerity, sat down as well, not disguising their starvation for gossip.

“Oh, any of it,” Tomus said, rolling his hand. “That Ostrum was a traitor. Or related to Wellebourne.” Tomus leaned forward. “Or maybe you know something about the school’s charity case.”

“I bet that’s why she’s not back,” Salis said haughtily. “She was an accomplice.”

My head snapped up at that, and Tomus grinned, knowing he’d struck a nerve. “Nedra’s not been in school for ages, Greggori, didn’t you notice?”

“Of course I’ve noticed,” I growled. I tried to ignore their laughter as I stormed away.

Tomus cornered me before I had a chance to escape the dining hall. We were both deeply aware of the rapt audience straining to listen.

“Wonder if she’s been arrested, too,” Tomus mused. “Your little girlfriend, I mean.”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” I said immediately.Not anymore.

Tomus raised an eyebrow. “Oh,” he said, drawing the word out. “You know, Ostrum was arrested before your meeting time with him. Did you run into him being dragged out in handcuffs?”

“No.” I bit the word off.

“I must admit,” Tomus said, raising his voice so others could hear, “I’m honestly surprised little Nedra hasn’t come sniffing around for Ostrum. I had thought, you know, ifyoutwo weren’t an item... well, there were all thosespecialsessions...”

I knocked Tomus’s shoulder as I tried to move past him, heading to the door. Before I could reach it, however, it swung open.

Two men and a woman strode inside, their bright red coats announcing their position as Emperor’s guards. My stomach sank. They walked straight toward me. They knew who they were after.

“Greggori Astor?” the woman said in a clear, loud voice.

“Yes,” I said, tired. “Do we have to do this here?”

The guard looked surprised, blinking at the rabid attention of every single student in the cafeteria. “If you could come with us,” she said in a softer voice that nonetheless carried throughout the silent hall.

“Let’s get this over with.” I headed to the door, the Emperor’s Guard in my wake.

Outside Yugen’s gate, horses stomped and snorted, their breath forming clouds around their heads, obscuring the crimson tassels on their bridles.

“Please get in the carriage,” the captain said.

It wasn’t a carriage, though, not really, and we all knew it. There were no fancy seats behind elegant doors. This was a wagon atopwheels, the few windows barred and a heavy lock on the door. This was a prisoner transport.

“Am I under arrest?” I asked, hoping some of my father’s authority was in my voice.

The captain opened the transport door. “Please get inside,” she repeated without looking at me.

For a brief moment, I felt a rush of panic. I focused on the narrow spot between the guards, and I believed if I burst through them, I could escape. But I had no reason to flee—I was guilty of nothing except, perhaps, association.

I stepped into the carriage, the wagon shifting under my weight until I settled on the bench on one side. One of the male guards followed, sitting across from me. The captain shut the door, and she and the other guard clambered to the bench atop the transport, tapping the horses with a whip to get them moving.

Chains I’d not noticed before rattled as the wagon bumped over the cobblestones. I slid over the smooth wooden seat before I steadied myself. We were moving at a fast clip, and I stood despite the uneven motion of the carriage, holding on to the bars at the window so I could watch my neighborhood slip away.

Once the cobblestones gave way to smooth paving stones, the ride got easier. Outside, the buildings were smoother, too—made of sleek, carved stone, not ramshackle wooden planks. I guessed that was what wealth did, wore away all the rough edges of everything it touched. Money was nothing more than sandpaper made of diamond grit.

I knew where we were going before we got there. Still, I couldn’t help but gape in awe as the door to the carriage opened.

We were at the palace.

At the beginning of the school year, Yugen had hired sleek black carriages to carry us up to the grand entrance, the curving marble stepscascading with roses, the flapping banners of silk and gold lamé flapping in the wind as we proudly walked up the stairs as if we belonged nowhere else. Now the prisoner transport carried me to the back.

“This way,” the captain said politely as the other officers accompanying her dispersed. Despite my arrival, I was not treated like a prisoner.