Cassius met Kane at the edge of the courtyard, already moving fast, his own expression tight with urgency that hadn't been there the day before.
"You need to hear this before you say anything," Cassius said. "I just learned Corwin's fled man wears my colors."
"So you already know," Kane said, watching him carefully.
"I know because Ottilie's report reached me minutes ago," Cassius said. "Not before that. I swear it, Kane, whatever loyalty that man holds, it isn't loyalty I authorized."
"That's easy to say now."
"It's the truth whether you believe it or not," Cassius said, frustration cracking through his usual composure. "I've spent a decade building Marrow Ridge on discipline and control. Finding out someone's been operating inside my own ranks without my knowledge is not a comfortab
