Before the Harvest Ball, back when he’d believed Baron Thadden was his ally, Dwayne had had no reason to find out where the older mage lived. Considering Thadden’s connections - Ziegler, Auer, the crown princess - Dwayne had expected the baron to live in a grand estate like Tarpan or, at the very least, a storied residence like Sanford. A rented flat, one of fourteen in a stained brick four story right in Boscage, was not that. Climbing up to the third floor in the night chill only provided fuel for Dwayne’s anger.

  He stomped over to unit fifteen and pounded on the door. “Thadden!”

  “Cups,” someone yelped on the other side of the door, “who is it?”

  “Dwayne Kalan.”

  “Kalan?” The door cracked open and robe, and a night shirt wearing Thadden peered blearily out at Dwayne. “What are you-“

  “Because of Akunna.” Dwayne shoved his way into the flat. “You’ve sent her to do hard labor.”

  “Akunna?” Thadden frowned as he shut the door. “Who is…Oh… You’re referring to Gretchen, I presume? It’s not polite to use their feral name, and she is mine to do with as I will.” Thadden rubbed his arms. “Was that all you came here for? To lecture me on what I do with my property?”

  Dwayne considered helping the baron, who apparently couldn’t afford coal or oil, warm up his flat. Thadden could be warm for the rest of his life. Unfortunately, killing was distasteful and immolating the baron would only make things worse.

  Instead, Dwayne flattened his tone of voice. “Surely, you need someone to take care of this place. That’s why you bought her contract, right?”

  “What I bought her for is none of your business.” Thadden pushed past Dwayne to sit in a tall backed chair and wrapped himself in a shawl. “However, I would consider recalling her if you did something for me.”

  “I don’t see how having her exhausted while she serves you tea does anything for your image. Besides, if you’re punishing her for helping me, she barely-”

  “That doesn’t matter.” Thadden pounded his fist on the arm of his chair. “She was working against me.” He rubbed his hand, grimacing. “Worse, when I gave her a choice between helping me counter your new master Lady Pol’s paltry efforts to repair her tattered reputation and going to work on whatever is being built in the Plague District, she chose the latter.” He scoffed. “Foolish girl.”

  Dwayne’s fists clenched at his side. “Void her contract.”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Why not? Because I will not reward anyone who rejects the sensible foundations of our society, who prefers chaos over the order that holds this queendom together. Why should I suffer for your misguided conscience? No, she’ll stay with me where she belongs. Besides,” he leaned back into his chair, “don’t you have an Examination to study for?”

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  Dwayne blinked. “How do you know about that?”

  “A day has passed. Everyone in the city knows.”

  They were getting off track. “Sell her contract to me.”

  “You can’t afford her.”

  “And you don’t need her. Look at this place.” Dwayne gestured at the cold dark living room. “Sanford has bathrooms bigger than this.”

  Thadden laughed as he let his shawl drop. “Insults make for poor inducement, young Kalan, even when disregarding the prestige you’re asking me to give up.”

  Considering that Thadden barely had a title and clearly owned no property in Bradford, owning Akunna’s contract was a significant part of his standing at court. It was different in Vanuria. There slaves were merely tradable units of work.

  To free Akunna, Dwayne was going to have to take a hit to his own pride. “What can I offer?”

  Thadden raised his chin. “Make me Royal Sorcerer.”

  “No.”

  Thadden scoffed as he loosened his robes. “Neither you nor ‘the Lightning Bolt of the East’ have much support here in the capital. Less now; your little stunt on the bridge rubbed quite a lot of people the wrong way. I, in contrast, have the backing of the Gray Tower, many of the local merchants, and much of the local nobility.”

  Dwayne crossed his arms. “Not the Magisterium.”

  Thadden wiped sweat from his face. “Seducing the Water Sage’s daughter does not mean you’ve gained the favor of Soura’s mages.”

  Dwayne blinked. “That’s what passing the examination is for.”

  Thadden’s face went red. “You really think you can-”

  “I can.” Dwayne cut Thadden off. He couldn’t waste anymore time here. “I’m sorry for bothering you at this late hour. As you’ve pointed out, I have other things to attend to.” He turned towards the door.

  “No.” Thadden rose to his feet. “Get back here. I will not be dismissed a sav- by someone in Walton tailoring!”

  That was a new one. Dwayne opened the door. “Good night, Baron.”

  “You dare-”

  Dwayne shut the door.

  By the time he reached the street, Dwayne’s anger, which had definitely raised the temperature of Thadden’s flat by more than a few degrees, had finally cooled. He’d always be angry at Thadden, the baron’s betrayal had bitten too deep for him to ever let it go, but now he was frustrated at his naive self, which had thought he could convince Thadden to do the right thing. He couldn’t give up. Perhaps Heddi and Granda knew of a way to sneak Akunna out of Bradford although if she wanted to return to Wesen, he wasn’t sure he could afford that anymore than he could her contract.

  With his mind going round and around searching for a solution, Dwayne began the long walk home, his thoughts and his progress hampered by the attention needed to avoid the nearly invisible patches of ice on the street. Once he exited Boscage, that effort became unnecessary as there were enough people in the Parvenue Quarter that any ice was stomped to slush. The extra mental space was soon filled with the last thing that Thadden had said to him: “Walton tailoring.”

  It was true that most of Dwayne’s clothes had been made in Walton, whose tailors preferred a looser cut than Bradford’s. Still even the suits Magdala’s father had had made for Dwayne weren’t noticeably different from what Lord Kalan had sent him.

  So why did Baron Thadden know that?

  It didn’t take much effort to figure it out. After all, there was only one way for Thadden to learn where Dwayne got his suits, and only one reason why he’d been in a position to do so.

  Baron Otto Thadden was the late Juanelo Rincón Ybarra’s patron.