Tannix looked like he had in my dream. Except that it hadn't been a dream.

He looked as perfect as he always did. Golden brown hair neatly cut, blue eyes I couldn't quite bring myself to meet. His blue cloak swept the cobblestones at his feet, and was held in place by a gold pin. Underneath he was wearing a pristine white tunic and black pants. A sword hung from his left hip. Three rings caught the morning light. I did a double take. Tannix usually wore two rings—his Order ring, on his right thumb, and his crest ring on his right index finger. The new ring was on his left hand.

The guards dragged me across the courtyard. When we stopped in front of him, I still couldn't bring myself to look up at Tannix. I stared at his boots, and I shook my head in an attempt to get my damp hair out of my eyes.

I flinched when Tannix touched me, and probably would have fallen over without the guard's grip on my arm. Tannix brushed the hair away from my eyes, then let his hand drop to grip my shoulder. I raised my head. He was looking over me coldly, the way someone might look at a horse he was about to buy. I tried not to let that bother me, but it was almost impossible to keep my feelings under control.

He had come, and now that he had me, I knew I was safe.

He looked to the guard who was still holding my arm. "Let him go, he can't get away."

Tannix was right. I tore my gaze from him briefly. A quick glance around the little courtyard proved that there was no escape. The walls were smooth. Guards patrolled the top and stood in front of every door. There was no way I could get out. The guard released my arm.

Tannix's cold gaze landed on me again. I couldn't help but think of that last time I had seen him, when he'd faltered over telling me my sentence. He was better at the act now.

"He hasn't been well taken care of."

"Of course, sir, he was going to be hanged. There was no reason to take care of him."

"Of course," Tannix agreed distractedly. "Well, at least you let him clean up."

"That was our idea, sir. We thought you would appreciate it," the same guard said. He seemed to want to please Tannix, and I could understand why. More than ever, Tannix exuded power. His name alone gave him more authority than most people could even imagine, and the way he was acting only added to the effect.

Tannix nodded. "Yes, thank you. I will put in a good word for you." He was clearly dismissing them. The two guards thanked him and bowed, then they both walked off across the courtyard.

Tannix and I stood for a moment, silently looking at each other. His cold demeanor slipped, just slightly. "We have a lot to talk about," he finally said softly. "But we can't do it here, not with all these guards around. Are you hurt?"

"Just..." It was the first word I had said in more days than I could count. "Just my wrists."

He gently tugged me closer and untied the rope around my wrists. My skin looked irritated and puffy, but the wounds were clean. He turned my hands over to see the rest of the bruising and scrapes. "I'll take a closer look at the inn."

"Inn?"

"You look exhausted. I have a room in the port. You can rest for a day or two before we go to West Draulin. It's... I'm sorry, it is going to be a bit of a walk."

"I can walk."

A brief smile lit up his face. He looped the rope around my wrists again, more for show than to actually hold me, and started to lead me towards the largest doorway. "We'll get some food, and then we'll talk."

Even so early in the morning, the inn was full. Tannix's mere appearance caused a barmaid to quickly make room for us near a window facing the water. Tannix asked her for some food as he untied my wrists. Despite the long walk from the jail to the port, I was still having trouble reining in my thoughts. More than once, I had wondered if this was the dream. I folded my arms on the table and buried my face in them. Between flashes of elation and fear I offered prayers to Zianesa, to Lukk, to Siour, to anyone who could have had a hand in what was happening.

A thud startled me from my thoughts and I looked up to see that two mugs of water had been placed on our table. Suddenly, I realized just how thirsty I was. The water was cool and clean, probably directly from one of the underground streams. When I put the empty mug down, Tannix was already pushing his mug across the table.

"Slowly, Finn."

I picked up his mug and raised it to my mouth. As much as I wanted to drink the whole thing right away, I did what I was told and only took a small mouthful. I put it back down, cupping it with both hands as if it would disappear the moment I let go. It didn't take long for the food, a bowl of steaming stew and a plate of bread and cheese, to arrive. I moved to grab the bowl, fully intending to drink it instead of use the spoon.

Tannix put his hand across the bowl. "Slowly, Finagale."

Somehow hearing my full name helped me come to my senses. Not only was the stew clearly hot, but I knew eating it too quickly could make me sick. I picked up the wooden spoon, and only then did Tannix move his hand. I started to eat slowly, blowing on each spoonful to cool it before putting it in my mouth.

Tannix quietly watched me get through about half of the bowl before distracting me with a statement. "You have questions."

I nodded.

"Well?"

I hesitated before asking, and had a couple more spoonfuls of stew to buy myself some time. "Why did you take so long?" I tried to keep the hurt out of my voice.

Tannix rested his arms on the table and leaned forward. "After you were taken away from me in the castle, I went to see the king. Tandrin came with me, and we explained what we could without condemning you further. I made up a story about how we met, and I said that you had found a letter implicating an assassination attempt, which we gave to the director. I told him what I knew about Kassia, and how you're the one who brought her to my attention in the first place. With Tandrin to back me up the king had to believe us, and he did. But that was when his advisors got in our way.

"One of the guards noticed your brand, and the advisors played it up, claiming it proved how dangerous you were. The king gave them, and Tandrin and I, time to provide any sort of proof. They brought up all these reports of people matching your description breaking the law. Granted, any Native could match your description, but they didn't accept that argument. They refused to let you go, because if they were right and you were in on the attempt, you would remain a threat to the king."

I stirred what was left of my stew. "And if they were wrong, and I wasn't, it hardly mattered because I'm a Native thief."

"Exactly," he agreed, a little reluctantly. "That's the way it works, apparently."

"I know."

He cleared his throat. "In any case, Tandrin and I were also trying to find proof. But when we went back to Meyat's office we couldn't find anything. Not the letter, or Malte's reports about you in the Order, or any notes about your first arrest and interrogation. Honestly, I think Kassia might have destroyed them."

"Kassia?" I repeated, but it made some sort of sense. She had said that she liked me, before leaving me to take the fall for her crime.

"My best guess is that she thought destroying any paperwork with your name on it could help protect you. It just doesn't make sense otherwise. The letter, I understand. Everything else... I don't know." He shrugged. "She was definitely in the city for some time afterwards, because she killed Meyat."

I froze in the middle of reaching for the bread. "What?"

"Tandrin arranged for us to interrogate him, and when we got to his cell he was dead. Seems reasonable to assume it was Kassia tying up loose ends."

I wasn't terribly sad to hear the news, and there was something else I was much more interested in learning. "So how did you finally clear my name?"

"Oh, I didn't, exactly. I just made enough of a public spectacle that ignoring me wasn't in the king's best interest. Tandrin smoothened things over, and the king agreed to lessen your sentence from regicide to petty theft."

"That's still a life sentence," I pointed out.

Tannix nodded slowly. "Yes... but life sentences don't have to carried out in jail. So I offered to buy you."

I blinked. "What?"

"It doesn't happen very often, but it's more profitable for the kingdom. Instead of paying to feed you, they were paid for you. So..." he paused. I suspected I knew what he was about to say but I didn't interrupt. I needed to hear it. "So I own you. You're a slave."

I probably should have been upset, but instead all I could think to say was, "That's why you talked about us going to West Draulin?"

"Oh." Tannix shook his head. "Oh, I just... You don't have to come with me. Zianna's your home, and you have your family here. But I thought... well, I'm going home," he said. "And I thought it would be safer for you to be out of Zianna. With me."

With him. Of everything he had just told me, those words meant the most. I had spent a year thinking about him coming to get me, imagining what would happen next. Never had I thought he would get me out of jail just to leave me behind.

I took a deep breath. "I'll go with you."

For a moment silence stretched between us. I finally grabbed the piece of bread and nibbled on it. Tannix was looking at me in a way I couldn't completely decipher.

"When you passed out on stage you almost hanged yourself," he said suddenly. "I picked you up before you suffocated. It was, with the exception of watching Meyat whip you, the scariest thing I have ever seen. At least... at least this time I could do something to stop it."

His words, and the feeling behind them, made me nervous. I dropped my gaze to the bread. "Tannix?"

"Yes?"

"What will you expect from me, in West Draulin? I think I could be a good slave. Or at least, I could put on a good act. I'd do my best for you."

"It's a formality. When we're alone I want nothing to change. You're still my closest friend. Most of the time we'll be with my knights, anyway, and they're not usually very formal. They'll like you."

I nodded. There was still one thing we hadn't talked about, but I knew we had to. I looked up to meet his gaze across the table. "What happened, before you arrested me—"

He cut me off. "I apologize for that. I was confused and scared that you'd be killed and I couldn't help myself. It won't happen again."

"What if I want it to?"

His eyes went wide with shock, but then he shook his head slightly. "Don't feel the need to lie to me to keep me happy."

"I'm not lying," I said steadily.

Tannix exhaled slowly. "Finn..."

"I'm not lying," I repeated. "I didn't understand it last year. I just knew that I wanted to be around you. But when you—" There were people around. I lowered my voice and skipped the word. "I understood. A year in prison gave me plenty of time to think about it. To think about you."

"Finn. I... I thought about you, too." He said it quietly, almost shyly, like he still thought I might be lying. "But I don't think this is normal."

I shrugged. "Then we're not normal together."