Dance of Thieves

Kazi takes a hot bath and eats in Jase’s bedchamber during the family meeting. She loves the curtains around Jase’s bed, so she insists on staying in Jase’s room when the servant brings her borrowed clothing. Kazi pilfers through Jase’s belongings until he knocks. He apologizes for lying and asks about his ring. He tries to kiss her, but Kazi pushes him away, now focused on her mission. Jase is angry. Before he leaves, she tells him she stole the ring with the keys but gave it back to him when it mattered.

Priya escorts Kazi to dinner and asks if she cares for Jase. Kazi claims they don’t like each other, and Priya warns her not to hurt him. Jase, Mason, Gunner, and Titus aren’t at dinner but Nash and Lydia, more Ballenger siblings, are full of questions. They announce Jalaine’s beau, Fertig, wants to marry her. Mason strides in and tells Kazi that Jase wants to see her. Kazi notices the blood on his sleeve.

The largest thing Kazi ever stole was a tiger she saw a Previzi driver show off and sell to the butcher. She knew what it felt like to be trapped and wanted the tiger to be free. The blood on Mason’s arm makes Kazi worry about Wren and Synové. Jase jumps up when he sees her. Kazi can tell he has killed someone and demands to see Wren and Synové. Gunner throws Wren’s ziethe (a kind of knife) and Synové’s leather archer glove on the table as proof they're in custody. Titus throws a parcel of ears on the table which makes Kazi’s stomach turn. Jase snaps at Titus to put them away.

Jase explains that more labor hunters were found in Hell's Mouth. He wants the Queen of Venda to come and support the Ballenger right to rule to calm things down. Kazi suggests the King of Eislandia come instead, because he has jurisdiction over Hell’s Mouth, but the brothers think the king is incompetent. Gunner gives Kazi the letter they’ve already composed. Kazi knows Queen Lia will never come because the Ballengers are outlaws, but a letter will buy her time to search for the traitor and find her friends. She agrees to take the letter if the Ballengers personally restore the destroyed Vendan settlement. Kazi will stay and supervise, but not under guard. Jase angrily agrees to move the Vendan settlers to a more equitable location. Kazi adds a paragraph with a hidden message the queen and signs the letter. In Jase's room, Kazi finds three oranges left for her from Jase.

Jase paces in the guest room. Moving Kazi wasn’t a battle worth fighting, and he likes the idea of her staying in his room. He yelled at Titus for showing Kazi the ears, feeling guilty for making her fear for her friends’ lives. Jase confronted three labor hunters caught by his men after finding their wagon with a boy inside. Jase killed the first labor hunter after he refused to cooperate with questioning. Mason and Titus cut an ear off the other two as a message to the other labor hunters that Hell’s Mouth is off-limits. The encounter made Jase agree to send a letter to the queen.

Jase thinks he sees a shadow moving through the window but decides it’s the dogs. Outside Kazi’s door, he senses she isn’t asleep, but he turns away because their loyalties conflict. Jase gives a blood offering in the temple as a promise to protect the citizens of Hell’s Mouth with his blood as his ancestors did. Mason fetches him and warns him Kazi can’t be trusted even though Jase likes her. When they reach Tor’s Watch, Jase tells Mason to put their man Garvin as a tail on Kazi and Yursan as a decoy.

Kazi wonders what business the Ballengers have with Captain Illarion. He betrayed Queen Lia's family, the royal family of Morrighan, by poisoning Lia's father, planned a massacre that killed her oldest brother and instigated another attack in which her youngest brother lost his leg and another died of his wounds. He wanted to rule a kingdom, and Kazi wonders if he will similarly deceive the Ballengers.

Kazi read Jase’s handwritten accounts of his family history to go to sleep. Vairlyn (Jase's mother), Priya, and Jalaine wake her in the morning with food and clothes to take her into Hell’s Mouth. Kazi wants a tour of Tor’s Watch first. Raehouse holds the business offices, where Priya handles all the records. Jalaine manages the arena. Darkcottage, where a massacre of Ballenger family members once took place, is empty. Kazi wants to see the vault in the tunnels, but the girls say Jase can show her. Vairlyn thanks Kazi for the letter to Queen Lia and wonders if Kazi is short for Kazimyrah, a common Candoran name for first daughters meaning "sweet arrow" (Candora is a lesser kingdom on the continent). Vairlyn assures Kazi the night dogs are kenneled, and the gate dogs are at their post.

Jase leads Mije, Kazi’s horse whom his family found while looking for her friends. Jase reveals they never had her friends in custody and he never wants her to fear him. Kazi needles him about keeping his promise about the Vendan settlement and Jase swears his word is good. Kazi lies about sleeping well and is disappointed when Jase says he slept well without her, too. When they reach level ground, Kazi lets Mije gallop and feels alive.

Vairlyn takes Kazi to the dressmaker and insists on paying for her clothes. Kazi feels guilty because she plans to betray them in order to complete her mission to bring Illarion to justice. Jase shows Kazi Hell’s Mouth, and she notices his ease with the people. Kazi asks about Paxton. Paxton’s great-grandfather gambled Hell’s Mouth away to the King of Eislandia in a drunken card game. Now the Ballengers must pay taxes because he refuses to sell it back. Paxton’s line was banished from Tor’s Watch and Jase’s great-grandfather took over. The arena, a huge market, isn’t under the King of Eislandia’s protection, however. Kazi notices the tension as guards stand watch and search wagons. Paxton approaches with his guards. He kisses Kazi’s hand and urges Jase to marry her before someone else steals her. Jase orders him to move along.

Kazi slips away to meet Wren and Synové in an alley. Eben and Natiya should’ve arrived by now, and they wonder about the delay. Kazi explains the internal Ballenger family power struggle, which is making their task harder. When Wren and Synové mention the Ballengers burning the Vendan settlement, Kazi defends Jase, making her friends uneasy. They admit they set two fires in Hell's Mouth as a distraction to escape, but they didn’t burn any houses. Kazi knows she needs Jase to keep them safe.