He kicked the furs completely from the bed and welcomed her as she curled against him. A blast of cool air caught the sweat on her skin and she shivered.

“Cold?”

“No,” she said. “It feels good. And you’re warm.”

“Mmm.” He was drifting. He’d sleep soon. Before she let him go, there was something she needed to know.

She walked her fingertips across the plane of his chest. “I’m glad that you were able to get the evening free, especially with the new delegation from the capital.”

At dawn, a mysterious party had arrived from the capital. They’d been promptly hidden away in some of the best rooms at the Keep. The soldiers were silent about the newcomers, but the consul seemed nervous.

“I imagine you’ll be busy for the next several weeks,” she said.

“I imagine I’ll have more free time, not less. I prefer to avoid dealing with the Order when at all possible.”

Her hand stilled, palm pressing flat to Janek’s chest. “The Order?”

There were mages in the Keep? A chill walked down her spine.

Janek smoothed a hand down her back. “Don’t worry. They won’t be here long. A week at most before they leave to search the island. They tend not to linger after a Reaping.”

She closed her eyes, struggling to hide her revulsion. A Reaping… “They’ve come to take our children.”

“They’ll claim anyone with enough power to join their ranks,” he said in a gruff voice. “The children will be well taken care of. In some cities, mages are regarded more highly than the nobility. They’ll receive full training and the same autonomy as any citizen.”

“But they’ll lose their home and their people.”

“For mages, the empire is their only home and the Order their only people,” Janek said. “The Magisterium and the Temple are united in their campaign to drive sorcery from the empire. You heard what happened during the feast of Belorn?

“They massacred all of the sorcerers.”

Even on Erys, they’d heard that terrible news…and had rejoiced at it. Sorcerers were trained in warcraft. Anything that weakened the empire was good for Erys.

“They’d become too powerful,” Janek said. “There were rumors they plotted to murder the emperor and destroy the Magisterium. Demir won’t take the chance that another group will rise to challenge his power.”

Demir was the Archmage. It was strange to think that Janek knew him well enough to call him by name.

“We don’t have any sorcerers on Erys,” she said. “There are only the Keepers who calm the waves and keep the winds fair, who heal and create. None of them would use their power to hurt a living being.”

“No?” There was a world of skepticism in his tone.

“We are a simple people with simple magics.”

He laughed softly. “I don’t know why you even bother with that pretense. There’s nothing simple about anything on Erys.