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I sag against the side of the boat on a shivery wave of relief. “Thank you.”

Silvius refocuses on River. “Keeping company with vespertines, boy?”

River drops his gaze with another apology. “They took me in after my family died. I thought I owed them... I didn’t know...”

His sick family. He’d stolen the tithiscar for them.

I whisper to Akilah, then move to the boy’s side, feeling his rapid pulse. The grief this boy must suffer. He’s only a child, who’d been so brave to help me before. I’d promised if I got the chance, I’d help him properly too.

Akilah hands me a half sack of herbs she found inside the boat. With them, I cast a spell to warm him up and ease his mind. “They took advantage of your plight. I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

I rise to Silvius watching us with some kind of appreciation. When he realises I’m looking back at him he gestures around us. “Did they take anything?”

My stomach churns.

I gave them everything I had.

Silvius hums like he’s read my expression. The sympathy is kind; I don’t want to come across ungrateful. I smooth on a smile. “It’s a borrowed boat,” I say and change the topic. “Why are you here?”

His eyes shift to the moon-silhouetted trees passing gently by. “Not all my family gets along. I had a falling out with my uncle; my brother thought it best I leave for a while. I’m on my way back.”

“Your uncle’s cooled down?”

Silvius’s hollow laugh cuts through the tension. “My mother’s ill. I need to be by her side.”

“I hope she recovers swiftly.”

“And I hope whatever happened to your niece, she will be well.”

As Silvius’s aklos steer the boat, he and I discuss River. The boy huddles, tense and anxious, in a corner of the cabin. River has no family, no place. He’s young and vulnerable, and Silvius seems... especially prone to being attacked. My experience of Silvius is... not encouraging, not when considering the welfare of a youth barely out of childhood. But there’s no denying he has resources, and I... my situation in life... Finally, it’s decided.

“Consider him adopted, Amuletos,” Silvius says, beckoning the boy over. Something about the ring of my family name on his tongue spills sharp shivers into my stomach. He seems, somehow, more familiar than our acquaintance really warrants. But perhaps it’s only that he’s mysterious—

Akilah clears her throat.

I blink at her.

“You have hearts in your eyes.”

“I’m just grateful! Who wouldn’t be?”

She huffs.

I’m still smiling when the boat bumps up to the jetty, but the tang of home in the air quickly has me coming to my senses. I grab Akilah’s wrist and we hurriedly disembark—

“Wait,” Silvius calls. I turn around on the bank.

In one smooth motion, he pulls a pouch from his waist and tosses it to me. I catch it against my chest and start to protest but he shakes his head with another kind smile.

“We’ll meet again, Amuletos.” His voice lingers as I clutch the weighty pouch. He is kind, indeed.

Father’s forgiveness... There could be enough in here.

But that will have to wait.

What matters most is healing my little Lucetta.

We race up the bank and along the cobbled road. I push myself so hard I’m barely breathing, and sweat rolls down my temples. Akilah can’t keep up. A pebble is stuck on the sole of my boot and every pounding step jars.