Now, now, I said. Play nice.

She jumped. What? How?

I have found your soul, Roze. It’s dark and nasty in here. You’ve been hanging around thosecriminal types too long. You better change your ways or this soul won’t fly to the sky.

Her amber eyes burned into mine with all the hate and loathing she could muster. Underneath, though, she was terrified. Hate and loathing didn’t bother me, but fear was a powerful emotion. Fear causes the dog to bite and Roze was one bitch.

I released her. Roze sputtered and glared at me with a poisonous gaze. I stared back with calm patience. Eventually, she stormed from the room.

“So it is true,” Bain said into the sudden silence. “You are a Soulfinder.” He seemed more thoughtful than scared.

“What made her so upset?” I asked.

Irys gestured for me to sit down. I sank into one of the plush chairs.

“Roze thinks you and Valek are part of a plot to assassinate the Council.” Before I could respond, Irys went on, “There’s no proof. But what is more alarming is Ferde’s escape from the Keep’s cells.”

I jumped to my feet. “Ferde escaped? When? Where?”

Irys exchanged a knowing glance with Bain. “I told you she had nothing to do with his release,” she said to him. Then to me, “We’re not sure when. He was discovered missing this morning.” Irys gave me a wry grin. “We think Cahil rescued him.”

“Cahil?” Now I was confused.

“He is gone. Captain Marrok was found brutally beaten. Once Marrok regained consciousness, he told us Cahil had tortured him until Marrok had told him the truth.” Irys stopped, shaking her head in astonishment.

“That Cahil doesn’t have royal blood,” I said.

“You knew?” Zitora asked. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“I suspected. But Valek just confirmed my suspicions.”

“Marrok told us that Cahil’s mother had died in childbirth and he was the son of a soldier slain during the Ixian takeover. When they fled to Sitia, they took him along,” Irys explained.

“Where is he now?” I asked.

“We don’t know,” Irys said. “And we don’t know what his plans are now that he has learned the truth, and why he took Ferde with him.”

So much for Valek’s sulk-and-do-nothing theory about Cahil’s reaction to his origins. “I guess, we’ll just have to find him and ask,” I said.

“But not yet,” Irys said, and sighed. “The Council is a mess. Since you released all those souls, Ferde is weak and will be unable to do any magic for quite some time. And…” She hesitated, and I had the unpleasant feeling that I wasn’t going to like what she said next. “They want you to explore your Soulfinder capabilities and perhaps become a Council Adviser.”

Discovering my abilities matched my own wishes, but if I wanted to be a neutral liaison, I couldn’t be attached to the Council in any capacity.

“They don’t need a Council Adviser,” I said. “They need a liaison with Ixia.”

“I know,” Irys said.

“We should go after Ferde and Cahil today.”

“I know. You’ll just have to convince the Council of that.”

I stared at Irys. My Story Weaver had to be laughing his blue ass off right now. My future appeared to be a long twisted road fraught with knots, tangles, and traps.

Just the way I liked it.

Yelena’s talent for trouble resurfaces!