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“I have a secret,” I lied. I’d spent all my worthy secrets during our last transaction a week ago when I walked out of this tent looking like a Rathalan. I should have thought of something on the journey here, if I hadn’t been so focused on not falling off that blazen horse.

Sal ran her tattooed fingers down the length of my arm. I could almost feel Kah tensing. “Good. Because I know an honorable Kovak like you would not waste my time during the dreaming hours.”

“I’ll only trade my secret for the answers I seek.” I was stalling.

Her lips twitched, like a cat who’d just caught a mouse. “One secret for the answer to one question.IfI deem the secret worthy.”

I thought back to Malengard. That whole place was one dark secret. But I needed something that would delight Sal’s devilish sensibilities. “Thrailkull is building an army that wields weapons of malarite and iron. I saw it with my own eyes.”

Sal Sahteene studied my face. Then suddenly, she turned and walked away, calling back over her shoulder, “That is no secret to me, for it has already been traded by another. Good evening, young Kovak.”

“Wait,” I said, setting my jaw. “I have another secret?—”

She seemed to sense the lie this time. “Our business is concluded,” she said.

Kah sighed. “We need a real secret—something no one else in this marketplace would know.”

I ran my hand through my hair. I knew the secret I had to tell her. I just had to hope that telling her didn’t put someone else in danger. But I needed answers, and I was running out of time.

“There’s a Zavien girl enslaved in Malengard,” I called after her.

She paused her retreat. “Is that so? Hmm.” Her smile broadened as she glided toward me again. “And you want to know if the Zavien girl has anything to do with your Zavien stone?”

Kah’s throat rumbled again at the mention of the stone. Last time we were here, he was furious at me for mentioning the stone to Sal. I didn’t blame him. When we’d left Askeland, we’d sworn to the king to keep our mission a secret. Rumors of the existence of a stone of power were dangerous on the lips of Magi—or anyone else, for that matter. But after scouring Eastlandra for months without any whisper of the stone’s location, I’d broken our oath, and Sal had pointed us toward Malengard.

Now I wondered if this Magi had sent us there as a diversion so she could find the stone herself.

“So, what is your question, young Kovak?” Sal said, accepting my payment.

Honestly, I wanted to know everything I could about the girl in the mine, the Zavien tribe, the mysterious bird key, and what was on the missing page from the book, but I didn’t have enough secrets for all that. I needed to focus on the one thing that would help Lila and word my question carefully if I wanted a helpful answer. Magis were cunning and might exchange worthy payment for a pile of riddles if you weren’t paying attention.

“Where is the Zavien stone?” I asked, hoping this question was different enough from my previous one—How do I find the Zavien stone?—to get a straight answer this time.

For a moment, Sal stared past my shoulder toward an invisible horizon. The tattoos on her hands and face began to glow. Her eyes narrowed like she was focusing on something unseen. “The stone is hidden from my sight. Either shrouded by spells or concealed from the grasp of magic, I cannot tell.” Shepaused while I held my breath. “But there is a map. A magical map. It will lead you to the stone you seek.” Sal handed the page from the book back to me, her eyes meeting mine. “Find the girl with a tattoo of four feathers and you will find the map.”

The Zavien girl.

I knew she had a connection to the stone.

“How do I read the map?” I asked. If it was magical, I might not possess the magic needed to decipher it.

“That’s not my concern.”

I let out a frustrated sigh. Of course, she wasn’t going to answer my second question. And I was out of secrets to barter with.

The Magi’s eyes sparkled, like there was an exciting new game afoot and she was silently placing her bet on the winner. “I will warn you, though,” Sal said, opening the flap of her tent as an invitation for me to leave. “You won’t be the only one seeking her.”

9

Raven

“Lock her inside,” Commander Bloodbain ordered when we reached a room somewhere high up in the tower.

The guards shoved me into a chair and shackled my collar to it with a chain. Across the room, a massive bed was draped with thick, black velvet blankets that matched the obsidian walls. Beside it, a roaring fire evaporated the bitter chill of the tower air. It was the grandest room I’d ever seen—with crimson wool rugs, dark polished furniture, and candle-studded iron chandeliers—but every fiber of my being wanted to run back to the damp mines. To Hen.

She’s gone.

I felt the knife of grief twisting deeper into my stomach. My eyes burned from unshed tears.