That’s how Sophie’s aunt had found him: furious and broken. She’d told him that it was the king of Staria who had ordered the curse be cast. Then she’d unleashed him like a rabid dog, and only Sophie, small and invisible, had seen him as anything more.
And now he was shackled in the hold of a Starian ship, and Sophie still wouldn’t let him go.
“Who taught you to talk like you do?” Sophie asked. “All posh, even in Starian.”
“You’re a noble,” Iason snapped. All he wanted to do was sink into the darkness and forget himself again. “Who taughtyouto speak likethat?”
“I don’t count, I’m a feral child.” Sophie grinned at Iason’s look of surprise. “That’s what dad’s butler used to call me. My fathers were away all the time, and my friends were all commoners. I bet you’re a noble in Mislia, though.”
“I may have been.”
“And you know magic. Someone had to’ve taught you, right?” Sophie picked at some loose mint, rubbing it between her fingers.
“My magic is largely useless,” Iason said. “I can’t even summon a demon.” He supposed that was why he used magic so little—just a touch here or there, to hide his appearance or take on another man’s face. Nothing more. Other spells required more magic, and if he had that, he’d also be powerful enough to summon a demon.
“When they return you to Mislia, can you show me you where you used to live? Maybe it’ll help.”
“Excuse me?” Iason drew back. The shackles scraped and clattered, but Sophie didn’t flinch. “You are most certainly not setting foot on Mislia. I don’t know how you managed to get passage on this ship—”
“Oh, I didn’t get passage. I just hid in the linens.”
Iason covered his face with both hands. “Gods, child, have you no sense of self-preservation?”
“I was worried they were going to throw you overboard!” Sophie cried. “Then you started forgetting more things, down here, and I thought, no one’s going to care if you end up in Mislia without a name, butIdo.Iwant to remember you.”
It was what she’d said when he first saw her on the ship, creeping toward where he huddled in the dark. In the unchanging darkness with no company but the growing emptiness of his thoughts, Iason had almost forgotten himself until Sophie appeared, a specter from his past in a grubby sailor’s uniform.
“You shouldn’t,” Iason said. “You should be home, in Staria! Living a comfortable life!”
“Yeah? With who?” Sophie’s eyes were glistening, and she turned away to rub them on her sleeve. “It doesn’t matter. No one’s going to remember me, either.”
Iason should have told her otherwise, but he saw no reason to lie when Sophie could see the truth easily enough. She was an orphan, a noble with a minor title in a court where the king was more than happy to move titles and lands around as he wished. Children like her, even noble ones, could disappear without so much as a murmur.
Still. “We aren’t the same,” Iason said. “You have committed no crimes that I’m aware of.”
“Pretty sure stowing away on a ship is a crime.”
“Yes. It is. But you haven’t killed anyone, have you?”
Sophie rolled her eyes. “Neither have you. You’re here because youtriedto.”
“I— You have no notion—”
“Do yourememberkilling anyone?”
Iason glared at her. Usually, his glower was enough to terrify people, but Sophie seemed immune. “That is beside the point. You are not coming to Mislia. The Archmage was overthrown. His allies have beencursed.When I was brought to this ship, they said Mislia was in chaos. They’ll be rounding up anyone who was close to the Archmage, no doubt. Including me, if they recognize me.”
“You can’t know that,” Sophie said.
Iason wanted to shake her, but she was just… sitting there, like he was someoneimportant,not a wretched monster with his memory in useless patches. He clenched his fists in his lap instead. “It’s a revolution, Sophie, andI am on the wrong side.”
Sophie took a steadying breath, then got to her feet. “Are youstillon the wrong side?”
Iason stared at her. “I’m not whole enough to know.”
Sophie ran her hands through her hair. “You were kind to me,” she said. “That has to mean something. And maybe you’ll figure it out.”
He wouldn’t have the time. He knew that. Most Mislians hated the Archmage, and if they knew how much of Iason’s identity seemed tied to him… that would be enough. If he were taken by revolutionaries, he doubted they’d bekind.
