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frozen them into place.
    Dalliah did not feel the cold. Her body did not need the ordinary comforts that burdened other human lives. She could have ridden easily for days without rest, but the girl, Dalliah remembered, was not as resilient as she. The horses tired, lowering their heavy heads as they walked, and in the distance faint lights sparked as a settlement came into sight.
    â€œWe should set up camp for the night,” said one of the officers. “The horses need to rest.”
    â€œYou and your men can sleep in whatever muddy ditch you wish,” said Dalliah. “The girl and I will spend the night in the closest approximation we have to civilization.” She pointed to the lights. “There. I have no intention of scrabbling about in the dirt.”
    The Blackwatch officers might not have agreed with Dalliah’s decision, but they had orders to act upon it.
    â€œOne of us will camp with the horses,” said the lead officer. “The others will accompany you.”
    â€œDiscreetly,” said Dalliah.
    â€œOf course.”
    Dalliah and Kate dismounted and walked toward a rough fence encircling what looked like a small trading village. A few silver coins bought them entry past the guard on the gate, and the eyes of the few people still out in the cold fell on them immediately. Dalliah was not the kind of woman to pass unnoticed. Her presence alone made people uncomfortable. No one stayed near her for long.
    The only stone building in the settlement was an inn with a red rose painted on a swinging sign. When Dalliah stepped inside, everyone huddled around the fire fell quiet. She paid for a room and took her bag of papers from Kate.
    â€œServants belong downstairs,” she said. “We will leave at sunrise.”
    â€œI’m not your servant.” Kate’s voice was loud enough to be heard by most of the people in the room.
    Dalliah took hold of Kate’s arm in a way that could have looked gentle to the onlookers, but her fingers wrapped around Kate’s wrist and twisted hard, just enough to crick the bone and hold her attention. “You will do as I say, or you will spend the night in the gutter.” She spoke through a well-practiced smile, but her eyes were filled with a venom that Kate had not noticed before. “Sit down and do not talk to anyone.” She continued. “You will stay silent. Do you understand?”
    When Dalliah took her hand away, a bruise blossomed around Kate’s wrist. “Yes,” she said.
    â€œRemain here. If you wander, you will regret letting me down.” Dalliah turned to the innkeeper, who was staring at her warily, in case she turned her anger upon him next. “This girl is to be left alone,” she said. “When I return, she will be waiting for me, unharmed and untouched. You will watch her.” She scattered a handful of silver on the counter, and the innkeeper’s eyes widened when he spotted three glimmers of gold among them.
    â€œY-yes, ma’am.”
    â€œGood.”
    Dalliah climbed the steps to the upper floor without looking back, and the man scooped up the coins at once, hiding the gold pieces in his palm before the people around the fire could spot them. He smiled at Kate, recognizing her as a route to quick money. She turned away from him, looking for a seat well away from everyone else, and found one with its back to a corner of the room.
    The inn was drafty, but infinitely more comfortable than hours spent sitting on a horse’s back. A small fire was burning steadily in the grate, and when the flames threatened to burn too low, an old woman knelt down to tend it. The flames dulled a little as they caught on the leathery edges of what had once been books, now torn apart and good only for kindling. The old woman pushed the books in one by one, and the sight of the flames chewing around the edges of the papers stirred an uncomfortable feeling within Kate. Something twitched in her