We kept fiddling with how exactly to stage Koszar’s rescue, and in one version, it was Grey breaking in with Ren, not Sedge. Given the connection to how Ren got Sedge (not quite) killed, we ended up deciding that it was better to pair the two of them for that job, with Grey coming in via another route . . . but Alyc in particular was sad to lose this version, because it was the SECOND time we had to let go of a scene where Grey gets to demonstrate being good with small children. (The first was the “apathy bread” side plot from The Liar’s Knot.)

* * *

There were multiple places Ren and Grey could have hidden while they waited for Sedge’s half of the plan to move. Wedged into the alcove of a bricked-up doorway with her body pressed against Grey’s from hip to shoulder, Ren murmured, “You couldn’t have found one that’s larger?”

She felt his silent laugh in the hitch of his chest. “Why, when this one brings such benefits?”

Ren didn’t realize that had been an invitation for a flirtatious response until his palm stroked her hip, the highest he could reach. “Are you worried about the plan?”

“No, not that.” The confined space gave her an excuse not to crick her neck to look into the shadows of his hood. Instead she watched the stray tabby wandering down the alley, sniffing at refuse. “This door . . . I know about it because I used it before. When I stole too much from the Cut Ears.”

At the time, she’d thought it was a golden opportunity. The Cut Ears had stolen a pearl ring from Ondrakja; she sent Ren to steal it back. Sedge, Tess, and Ren were already planning their escape from the Fingers, scraping and hiding what coin they could to build a life away from Ondrakja, so when Ren saw the little statuette of An Mišennir Lagrek, all she could think was how much money she’d get for it.

She hadn’t realized Yariček’s father had carved the statue. She hadn’t realized he’d threaten Ondrakja with war . . . and that Ondrakja, in turn, would kill Sedge to teach Ren a lesson.

Grey knew the story. His arm scraped unmercifully against the wall as he dragged it up, but his glove against her cheek was a welcome comfort against the sick feeling inside. “You weren’t greedy, Szeren. You were desperate. You made a mistake.”

Cosmetics and the Black Rose’s mask covered the bruise Simlin had left on her face. Leaning into Grey’s hand, Ren said, “Letilia threatened Tess. Once again, I bring danger to the people I care about. Once again, my ambition hurts them.”

And once again, she felt the urge not just to hurt those who threatened her siblings, but to end them. She’d had that in her long before Tricat began poisoning her mind. Now . . . now she found herself wondering why she was handling Letilia with kid gloves. Why set up a plan that would give the woman everything she wanted, when it would be easier and more satisfying to simply dispose of her for good?

Letilia isn’t Ondrakja. She isn’t a murderer.

Not directly, another part of Ren said. But she stole the medallion. Isn’t she responsible for Leato’s death? For all the members of House Traementis the curse brought down?

Justice was part of Tricat. So was vengeance. Ren knew there was a difference between them . . . but that line was getting harder and harder to see.

Whatever Grey would have said was forestalled by shouts from the next street over. “Give it a moment,” Grey said when she would have moved, and they both waited until noise above said people were gathering on their rooftops, watching the spectacle from safety. The people of Lacewater knew better than to get in the way when knots began to brawl.

Sedge’s plan was elegant in its simplicity. Branek had occupied the Cut Ears’ old base? Then they should try to take it back. With their ties to Vargo publicly severed, it didn’t look like a distraction — Ren and Grey were riding the wake of a genuine bit of street warfare. It wasn’t enough to get them directly into the building, but they didn’t need that. They only needed the people in the neighboring tenement to crowd at the windows and the roof, leaving the interior rooms empty.

At least, they should have been empty.

Moving swiftly and silently through the tenement, Ren and Grey were both looking for hazards at eye level, not down by their knees. The small child who caromed into Grey rebounded onto the floor and was all set to burst into tears when he looked up and saw what he’d collided with.

The boy was no older than Jagyi, and in an instant, Grey’s posture went from Rook to uncle. He kept his hood and his voice low, but dropped to one knee to seem less threatening. “Ah, young master. You’ve caught us! The Lady Rose and I are at your mercy. Whatever will you do with us?”

The child looked as startled by the question as he’d been at running headfirst into the Rook’s shins. Then a voice came from inside the room, rough with age and pain: “Lemyi, get back in here!”

Grey sighed dramatically and helped the boy to his feet. “I guess you’d better bring us in.” Taking the boy’s hand in his own, he went into the room, with Ren following and fighting a grin.

Inside the windowless, filthy room, an old man with a badly twisted leg sat on a stool, dandling an infant on his good knee while another crawled on a bit of stained canvas thrown over the splintered floorboards. He had reliable instincts; his jaw dropped at the sight of the Rook and the Black Rose, but his hands remained firm on the child he held.

Dropping the boy’s hand, Grey nudged him gently. “Go on. Go to your gaffer.”

The suspicion that had begun to crease the old man’s gaze eased once Lemyi was safely peeking out from behind his chair. “You the cause of the fuss out there?” he asked.

“Just taking advantage of it,” Ren said. “There’s someone next door who needs rescuing. If you’ll let us through and back, grandfather, you’ll have our thanks in the form of a solid meal for yourself and these children.”

It was a better offer than money, which might have attracted attention. The old man pursed his lips and nodded. “I don’t know what ‘through’ you mean, but well enough. Just go about your business quickly, or I’ll make you change this one’s nappies as a toll.”

With a quiet snort Ren suspected came from deep familiarity with such chores, Grey bowed to her. “Lead the way, Lady Rose.”