Dance of Thieves

Kazi searches Tor’s Watch. She recognized Garvin as the tiger seller she once stole from and thinks he recognized her. She finds Darkcottage, still empty. Two other structures, Riverbend and Greycastle, are full of party preparations but nothing suspicious. Kazi slips into Greyson Tunnel and walks down the darkest tunnel. She doesn’t see the chained dogs until they attack her ankle. She tries to mop up the blood but worries about a trail. Wren and Synové worry about Kazi’s ankle bite. Kazi refuses to call the healer because Jase would know she was sneaking around. She sends Wren for a headache reliever. Synové cleans and wraps her ankle. She had a dream the night Kazi disappeared about Kazi drowning, so Kazi reassures her that Jase saved her in the river. Synové had another dream about a bloody Kazi chained in a prison cell. Wren comes back with a vial of birchwings from Mason to mix with water and ease the pain. Kazi takes it and passes out. Wren prevents her from taking more when she awakes. Synové is excited about dressing up for the party but Wren only agrees to go with her ziethe.

Jase meets with the Candoran ambassador in his arena apartment. The ambassador tries to get a better trading deal because the Ballengers haven’t made good on their promise of protection. The ambassador agrees to free lease on his apartments until they deliver the mysterious weapon. Jase meets with Illarion to pressure him about the weapon. Illarion demonstrates the partly completed weapon that should be done soon with more supplies. Jase asks for the fever cure he's also requested (two of Jase's younger siblings died of fever) and Illarion claims his associate Phineas is testing it.

Illarion wants to come to the Ballenger ball, confident the kingdoms haven’t found him. Jase refuses because he’s a wanted criminal and shouldn’t see the Rahtan. Illarion approached the Ballengers a few years ago with his wanted poster in hand, tired of running. He claimed the corrupt Morrighese king charged him with treason. The Ballengers doubted his story and sent messengers to the king’s magistrate but got a vague response. They looked the other way for the promise of the fever cure and a weapon to keep Hell’s Mouth safe.

Jase stares at Kazi as she enters the ball with Wren and Synové, thinking of the feelings he hasn’t expressed. The seer apologizes to Jase that the labor hunters found him. She tells him to guard his heart because a knife hovers ready to cut it out.

Kazi, Wren, and Synové feel like frauds because they’ve never attended a banquet before. Kazi looks for Captain Illarion, hoping that the Ballengers don’t know exactly who they are hiding. She sees Garvin watching and smiles to distract him. Kazi explains the layout of Tor’s Watch to Wren and Synové as the dancing starts. Lydia asks them to hide her, and they remember people begging to be hidden after the slaughter in Blackstone Square during the war. People cheered after Lia, then princess of Morrighan, stabbed the tyrant Komizar of Venda. He survived the stabbing and sent his guards to hunt people. Kazi hid three people in her hovel. At the ball, Lydia darts behind the Rahtan as Nash chases her. Kazi’s foot is throbbing, so she tells the girls to cover for her on the dance floor. Synové goes to Mason, and Aram and Samuel approach Wren.

Kazi searches Raehouse and finds Priya’s office. She sees a supply note for Jase’s approval signed from "BI"—as in Beaufort Illarion. Kazi rejoins the party and Jase pulls her into a dark alcove; he wants to kiss her, but not for show. Kazi hesitates and tells him she wants to kiss him, too, but can’t make future promises. They kiss.

Jase introduces Kazi to everyone at the party. He asks her to dance for the third time but notices her limping as her ankle buckles. He carries her inside and sends for the healer. Kazi is scared to tell him about the dogs as he demands to know what happened. The healer declares the poison from the dog bite is spreading. Kazi feels herself fading and sees the specter of Death telling her she’s next. The healer forces her to drink a concoction and applies a paste to the wound. Kazi passes out.

Jase carries a sleeping Kazi back to her room as she begs him not to hurt her. Kazi reminds him of his sister Sylvey, who died in his arms. Sylvey wanted him to promise he wouldn’t let them put her in the tomb, but she died before Jase promised. Vairlyn sits with Kazi while Jase goes to the tunnels. He walks past the vault to the dogs and sees the smeared blood Kazi tried to clean up and wonders why she wanted to cover her tracks. He thinks of Mason telling him she can’t be trusted, but also Jalaine telling him Kazi, an outsider, wanted to learn their history. Jase saw the guilt on Wren and Synové’s faces; they knew about the wound and said nothing. In Kazi’s room, Jase lays down beside Kazi and checks her pulse, wanting a future with her.

After Kazi wakes, Jase apologizes for yelling and takes her to the Ballenger vault after breakfast. The walls are covered in writing; everything was written down, so they remember. Kazi realizes their history as the first family and kingdom on the continent might be true. Jase wanted Kazi to understand this before they go to the Vendan settlement. Kazi asks what’s behind the door with the dogs. Jase says every stronghold needs more than one exit. At the main tunnel, Kazi notices a new guard that Jase insists has always been there.

Kazi greets the Vendan settlers, and Jase offers to rebuild their settlement on a better piece of land. He promises the Ballengers didn’t burn down the settlement and will try to ensure it doesn’t happen again. A young boy hits Jase’s knee with a stick. Jase grabs him and Caemus begs for mercy. Jase makes the boy promise to dig fence posts. Caemus accepts the new settlement offer. It takes about an hour to gather up the Vendans’ things. Kazi watches Jase, Mason, and Gunner walk up a hill nearby and place rocks on a mound. Jase says it’s where Greyson Ballenger buried his grandfather.

Jase delights Kazi with a basket of sage cakes from the new cook on the journey to the new settlement site. The Vendans are impressed and Kazi feels guilty for doubting Jase’s promise. Because of how close the original settlement was to the Ballengers' memorial, she wonders if the King of Eislandia was trying to create trouble.