I’d like for you to travel there and take over the interrogation.”

He had no wish to chase shadows for Serat, but the errand would give him an excuse to get Caden out of the Keep and away from the Order.

“If Madin has already begun an interrogation, I’ll be lucky if the prisoner is still alive by the time I get there.”

“All the more reason for you to leave as soon as possible.”

He began to mentally plan out the trip, who he would bring and the route they would need to take to avoid the bandits who plagued the roads. It wouldn’t do to lose the prince to a stray arrow.

“I’ll need a small guard,” he said finally. “Men I can trust not to lose their heads. If Dask is in any shape to travel, I’d like to bring him back to the Keep.”

“Of course,” Serat said immediately. “Take whoever you like.”

He gave Serat a dark look. “And you’ll give me complete control of the interrogation.”

Serat had taken it upon himself to question their last prisoner and had botched the job badly. Knife work was tricky and best left to someone familiar with basic anatomy, not bored courtiers.

Serat flushed but held Janek’s gaze. “I look forward to seeing you work.”

Unfortunately, that was likely true. As a soldier, Janek had occasionally run across the type of man who enjoyed causing pain. Serat was one of them.

“I would accompany you myself if I could.” Serat turned to peer down into the bailey. The mages and their entourage were passing through on their way to the dining hall, their long blue robes sweeping the damp cobblestones and picking up filth as they walked.

“Unfortunately I cannot leave the Keep with the mages here. They’ve requested an escort of no less than fifty soldiers. I had to listen to them complain about the conditions here for hours last night. They’re completely unprepared to deal with the climate and terrain. None of them ride. They asked me for a carriage. A carriage! As if there are roads wide enough to support anything larger than a farmer’s cart. And I’m responsible for their wellbeing. Perhaps I should have the Erysians bring their children here.”

Janek shook his head. “Let the Order chase down the children and convince their parents that they mean no harm.” Janek remembered the way Lorel had stiffened against his side when he mentioned the Reaping. “The people here already view the Reaping as a sacrifice. They think we’re stealing their children.”

“Only because it’s so difficult to imagine the glory of the city from this pigsty. If they understood what an honor it is to be chosen, they’d push their children on us.”

Janek wasn’t as certain of that. Erys was a strange land, hard and fickle and wild. And the Erysians were a strange people. Serat underestimated them.

“It’s what they think that matters,” Janek said. “The mages are a law onto themselves. They’ll be gone within a few weeks and they’ve brought their own guards. I suggest you leave the bulk of the work to them. Without an army of soldiers at their backs they’ll have incentive to handle the matter more delicately than they might otherwise.”

“Politics.” Serat shook his head.