As soon as I heard the outer door close, I counted to twenty. That would be plenty of time for Irrik to disappear up the stairs. If he flew, it probably took less time, like three seconds. Stupid Drae.

When he chose, Irrik seemed to be able to work around the king’s oath, which told me I’d better do my best not to incur the Drae’s wrath, especially when it was only me and him and the potatoes. Whatever power I had over him was lost to me until I understood how to use it. Whatever power he had over me was already being set in motion.

He lacked none of this knowledge.

Which meant I needed help.

I wiped my face on my tattered shift and turned to my best source of information. The wall of knowledge.

“Ty,” I called. He hadn’t answered me in what felt like days. I couldn’t handle another blow today, and terror at him being dead briefly froze me on the spot. I stood at the corner of my cell, holding onto the bars as I called to him again. Please be alive. Stretching my arm through, I tried to reach his cell, but my hand met only rough stone. “Ty, are you there?”

“Ryn?” he croaked. “Drak, what happened? I saw Jotun drag you out of your cell two hours ago.” His already hoarse voice was even raspier. “What’s going on? Are you al’right?”

Just hearing the compassion in his voice made tears spring to my eyes. My throat constricted with emotion, with feeling, for the man next door to me, who cared.

“I’m al’right. I . . . I just . . .” How could I even tell him without sounding mad? “Where have you been?”

Ty sighed, and I heard him shifting closer. “Unconscious for the most part. Jotun was worked up well and good this time.”

I rested my head against the bars. “It’s my fault he’s doing that to you, Ty. I’m so sorry.”

“He does it because nothing makes him feel pleasure, except pain. I don’t regret a thing. In fact, I may’ve mentioned that to him once or twice. He didn’t seem to appreciate it.”

“You didn’t!” I gasped. “No wonder he did a number on you.”

“Not my smartest idea, I’ll admit.” He slid down to the spot by the bars on his side. “So, how’ve you been? Made any new friends?”

Not quite.

“Let’s see,” I mock remembered. “At some point, I nearly drowned in a plate of gravy.”

“I can think of no better way to die.”

I scrunched my nose, contemplating that. “You might be right. I shouldn’t have fought back.”

“Wait, you’re serious?”

Oh boy, was I? I settled into my spot on the ground. “Remember that sunflower I showed you? The one I thought was magic?”

A beat passed before he said, “Do you know how that happened?”

I considered my words. I’d treaded lightly to this point, feeding him only the barest of details, at first because I didn’t trust him and then to keep him safe as much as myself. But I was leaving in the morning, and I didn’t know when or if I’d be back. I wanted him to know.

“The king says I’m Phaetyn, Ty.” The cork was popped, and the story blurted from my lips until I was rambling in the aftermath, attempting to piece it together. “I don’t know how. Mum said . . . She said the shampoo was for nits, but she had to have been dying my hair a different color. The king said my hair is silver. What the hay? And she kept me out of the gardens all those years, telling me I killed everything. Was she killing everything? Because it couldn’t have been me. And if she was doing all those things, she had to know exactly what I was. She hid it, even from me, and Irrik has been hiding it while I’ve been down here so the king won’t use my blood to kill him. Or rather Irrik was trying to hide my identity. The king found out, and he’s going to send me to work the land. To save it.”

I had no idea if what Irdelron proposed was even possible, but I couldn’t contest the growth that happened here in my cell, sprouting out of seeds overnight.

“Your mother was Phaetyn?” Ty asked. “She was Phaetyn living here?”

“She could make anything grow,” I said. “I guess I know how now.”

“It makes sense that Irrik would kill her if she was Phaetyn. I’m surprised he didn’t kill you too.”

I listened to the drip in one of the other cells and thought back to the conversation I’d overheard between Mum and Irrik.

“Ty,” I hesitated before plowing forward. I needed answers. “Would Phaetyn blood kill a Phaetyn?”

“No. Phaetyn blood only kills Drae blood. Everything I know says it would heal another Phaetyn. But I’m no expert.”

My heart dropped. I must’ve made a sound because Ty asked, “What is it?”

“My mother was killed with a Phaetyn blade, though.” I floundered. “I don’t understand. She wasn’t like Irrik. She wasn’t Drae.”

But why else had he killed her with that specific blade? I was a Phaetyn. If my mother was a Drae, that meant. . . “She wasn’t my mother.” And if I was the only Phaetyn, then it had been my blood on the blade that killed her.

“What do you mean she wasn’t your mother?” Ty asked.

I rested my head back, closing my eyes. “I don’t know. Y-you don’t think my mother was Drae, do you?”

“She hid that she was Drae all those years? Seems . . . impossible.”

I shifted on the floor now covered in moss in this corner.

“Well then, I have no freakin’ idea about anything,” I gritted out in frustration. Ty remained quiet, and I pushed down my temper after a second, adding, “Irdelron mentioned the oath, that he could compel Irrik with it. Do you know anything about that?”

“Irrik was not always as black hearted as he is now. My family was once quite friendly with the Drae race before Irdelron had them slaughtered. Before my parents were killed, my father told me the story of the Drae boy who’d tried to save his people.”

I nodded. “I know this story.”

“You do?” he asked in his scratchy voice.

It amazed me that after weeks of talking with Ty, I could tell, just by his inflection, what he meant. “About the Drae boy who didn’t want to help the king. The one who hid and watched as the king gathered the Drae, killed the alpha and the males, and then threatened to slaughter them all unless a Drae would bind himself to the king.”

Mother had told me the story. But I’d never put stock in the story about how Irrik came to be with the king. Because how could a powerful Drae not escape if he wished?

“The king swore the Drae boy could always be loyal to the Drae first and the king second. The boy believed him, what else could he do?” Ty coughed.

“I dunno,” I answered. “Sounds like a crock to me.”

“A Drae cannot break an oath, Ryn.”

“Really?”

“As real as Jotun’s dead heart.” He coughed again.

I turned my head to the bars. “Are you sick?”

“No, I’m fine. I’m just worried about you.” His voice grew hoarser still. “You don’t deserve this, Phaetyn or not. I wish I could get word to my friends. But I’m powerless in here. I can’t contact anyone.”

I stilled. “What friends?”

“I’ve never told you why I was captured, have I?” Ty asked. “Since we’re sharing, I may as well tell you. I was part of the rebellion. High up. Have you heard of Cal?”

My mouth went bone dry, and I worked to moisten it and reply, “Everyone has heard of Cal.”

Ty was part of the rebellion?

“There is a man here in Harvest Zone Seven. One who holds a similar position to me, or the position I used to hold. If I could get a message to him, I know Cal would send a team to save us.”

“Against the king’s guard and a Drae?” I asked doubtfully.

“For a Phaetyn? Yes. I am categorically sure.”

“I worked for Dyter,” I admitted.

“You know him?”

“I do.” What’s more, if Dyter was still alive, I knew someone who might be able to get a message to him. But was he alive? For sure, he’d been captured if Irrik had followed us home from The Crane’s Nest. “I might have a way to get a message to Dyter.” Maybe Tyr could go.

All I could hear was Ty’s raspy breathing on the other side. “Tell your messenger to get Dyter to pass this information to Cal: If the rebellion can kill King Irdelron, they’ll free Lord Irrik from his oath. The oath is the only thing binding Irrik to Irdelron’s will. Without it, Irrik won’t stand in their way. He may even join them.”

That would shift the balance of power. “How do you know that?”

“My ancestors lived by the Drakonia desert. We knew a lot about the Drae, even their blood oaths. I’ve been a prisoner in this castle long enough to pick up certain things. Irrik hates Irdelron. He doesn’t want to be bound to him. Trust me.”

Before any of this happened, I wouldn’t have believed Ty. Now, I’d seen enough to wonder if he was right.