I knocked on the door several times. There was no response. I shifted from one foot to another. Even the short walk here had begun to chafe my feet. I was learning to appreciate Bernard's craftsmanship all the more.

I waited. I couldn't go running around town trying to find them. I had to stay focused. If I was going to leave here, than I had to have a plan-

"We're not doing charity work today."

Freckles opened the door. Then his face morphed. He jumped. I jumped in reaction.

"It's you! It's you!" He stretched an armored hand out and grabbed my upper arm. I yelped and pulled away. He couldn't kill me. He was an Avalon! But then again so had Winsor's mom been when she lost her powers. Freckles was stronger than me, and I stumbled into the luxurious Avalonry.

Its smooth marble floor cooled my worn and aching feet. The gentle sound of the fountain and the calming scents contrasted with the panic in my heart. No. Not here too. They were supposed to be good. "Sir Osoro! He's here! They haven't gotten him yet!"

An ornate curtain leading to the back flew open. A half-dressed Sir Osoro peeked his head out. His dark eyes swept me up and down. He strode across the room and Freckles let go of me. I rubbed the tender spot on my arms where his biting armor had gripped me.

"You were able to find him, Sir Fayd?" Sir Osoro asked, approval in his tone. Freckles reluctantly shook his head.

"No. I mean, he's here, but only because he knocked on the front door."

Sir Osoro scowled at me.

"You should have come here first thing. I had Sir Fayd and the others out searching for you all night!"

"I don't know how I'm going to stay awake for the dinner." Freckles stretched, yawning.

"I thought for sure that either the BROS or Agent Goldwynn would have gotten you by now." Sir Osoro sagged visibly, somehow not getting the roll of fat underneath his chin that everyone else did in the same pose.

"Agent Goldwynn?" I asked. "BROS?"

"Agent Goldwynn was asked to find you. They'd become interested in your outstanding arrest warrant for impersonating an Assistant, although that's usually far beneath the notice of an Arcana Enforcement officer. There's posters all over town that sprung up this morning," Osoro said, his eyes searching my face for signs of damage. "If it's anything like the other cases he's helped cover up, you would have never made it to the Majikast courts."

"He can't just kill me," I said. "I mean, unless they rule in favor of execution. Especially if I'm famous now." I had to get ahold of one of those posters, as a souvenir. Mallow would think it was hilarious if I- when I saved her.

"He can if he claims you were resisting arrest. I've seen him do it before, killed a man who was just standing there waiting for his bindings," Sir Fayd said. "And we should have reported Goldwynn that time too. But my Captain here decided Agent Goldwynn occasionally actually catches a criminal so we should leave him be."

Sir Osoro ignored him.

"And the BROS have been searching for you as well, though they don't have magic, so there would be more evidence if they had done away with you.... Where were you hiding? They've been tearing the city apart."

"I was visiting the Contractor," I said, overwhelmed. Before I forgot, what I came here to say came tumbling from my lips. "Did you know Divinis Wenrick kidnapped Mallow?"

Sir Osoro's expression fell. Guilt.

"You... did know," I remembered. Osoro had said it was ironic that I'd hurt Winsor. Because he knew Divinis Wenrick had Mallow. He knew. "How... long have you known?"

"Since before he took her." Osoro didn't meet my eyes. "He proposed the idea to me after seeing her in the dungeon for the first time. I told him to wait and see if she would be missed. When a few days passed and no one was coming for her, I agreed to keep quiet if he spirited her away."

"But... you spent time with Mallow. You knew her as a person. You at least spoke to her. Hex it, she liked you." I forgot myself, surrendering to anger. "How could you let someone steal her like a carriage or a pair of earrings. She has feelings."

"I know, I know she has feelings," Osoro said, his voice soothing. He practiced consoling people often. Cooling tempers. "She told me about her hopes for finding love. About her fear of her dark moods where she couldn't control herself. About her anxiety that she'd been a bad daughter and that's why you didn't care about whether she had shoes or clothes or friends. About how she always felt a little hungry, very rarely clean. She even spoke to me about how handsome she thought I was," Osoro laughed sadly, once. Did he ever laugh for real, or was it always a bitter punctuation? "And Azark, I realized that being Giant made her no less vulnerable to the unhappiness that threatens us all, and I began to think it was all the better for the Divinis to take her."

"What, so he could chop her up and kill her? Being dead is better than unhappy?" Guilt ripped across me. I had thought only of lost coin, but in those conversations about whether or not to buy shoes, Mallow was not seeing the value of potential sales rise. She was seeing her value as a person drop. She was bartering for her own self-worth, and I had been haggling the price lower and lower in my greed. "I was wrong, I know. But how could you think Mallow would be better off with him?"

"Because he wanted her, Azark. He wanted her and you so clearly didn't. He said that he'd tried to acquire a Moon Giant before and lost it because he'd been foolish and simple. He had treated her like a calf. Since then, he'd been dreaming of having a Moon Giant, this time to cherish as a treasure instead of dissect like an insect. Winsor had grown up with a fascination with them too. They have this tapestry, in the lab. It's to scale, a Moon Giant after a raid, surrounded by starlight. It used to give me nightmares. You should see it. It's—" He stopped pantomiming the size of the tapestry as he caught my recoil of disgust, and shook his head. "Divinis Wenrick told me they'd treat her like a beloved guest. I made him promise he wouldn't hurt her..."

"And you believed him?" Freckles spat in contempt.

"I did, Sir Fayd. So... when she went missing, I said nothing. When you, Azark, hunted for her, and I heard you referring to her as your business partner, I said nothing. When the Divinis had one of the BROS offer you a drink, I made sure it was sleep draught instead of poison but otherwise didn't interfere. It all seemed harmless. You were only exploiting her. She'd be better off with the Reglars, I thought. Material comfort and maybe Winsor would even love her, as only another monster could. And if the mood swings worsened, if she descended into the cannibal she feared she was growing into, only a sorcerer could keep her hands clean. You certainly wouldn't be able to stop her."

"I trust Mallow. She's struggling with it, but she would have won if you gave her the chance. She's good; she's not like me. She would have made the right choices."

"Yes... she may have."

"And how could you think she wanted to be a prisoner? What is material comfort without freedom?"

Osoro's gaze swept around the lavish Avalonry, the dark ponytail slipping from his shoulder. Colorful paintings hung above us, jewels sparkled around us, even the air here was rich. And yet, none of the opulence touched him, his face pinched with a starvation that had nothing to do with food. He stood, and then took a few slow steps. He sat down on the chaise, staring at the plush carpeting that covered the floor.

"I thought before freedom was a small price to pay, but now I am not so sure..."

I'd never seen an Avalon be so small before. It wasn't the missing armor. His bare chest crinkled over as he rested his elbows on his knees and let his head sag. It was the posture of defeat more complete than that of the Avalon I'd seen killed by the bandit, or the Avalon knocked aside by the Boeren. He hadn't made a mistake; he'd lost a war.

"It was all going to settle well, even with your persistent pursuit. I hoped maybe I could even convince you to relent once Mallow was adjusted and you could understand how much better this was for everyone. Everyone wins... And then he tried to kill you in front of me. Right in front of me. He doesn't only think I haven't stopped him from breaking the law, he thinks I never will."

"So what are we going to do? Look the other way this time too? What is he going to have to do to convince you to step in and stand up for justice?" Freckles demanded to know, stepping in front of his captain. This rallied Sir Osoro somewhat. Instead of being an exchange with a citizen he had wronged, he was speaking to a subordinate. He had a job to do and a role to fill. He sat back up, spine straight, and exhaled as he gathered his thoughts. Any sorrow fled from his words, and he was again indifferent and official, as he had been when barking at Freckles not to help the pregnant woman.

"A tipping point has been reached. This isn't a matter of survival, this is an abuse of power; he is murdering people for convenience."

"He's always murdered for convenience," Freckles said darkly. "The only difference is now we're not the only ones who know. We have to do something."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, confused.

Freckles huffed at me.

"You wouldn't understand, not being around magic, but your daughter isn't the first he's kidnapped—"

"Quiet," Osoro interrupted. Freckles fumed impatiently as Osoro stood. "The Divinis had his reasons, but we need to take action now on this case. We have to set an example." He leveled his gaze at me. "We'll help you rescue your daughter. You'll need a disguise."

He cast a spell, and I felt my appearance alter. I stepped sideways in front of the silver mirror. Just as Winsor had transformed himself the night before, I had been changed ever so subtly, my hair taking on a grayish tint, my thin face gaining weight, and my skin fading to a paler hue than its usual sun touched red.

"What exactly are we going to do?"