Contents
Chapter 29
Overview
Acker reaches a small Kenta port, confirming soldiers are mass-rounding Heirs, even emptying a collarless town. He quietly dispatches a message west, then plans to shelter his group in an abandoned village and use Irina’s glamor to pass the port.
Tension with Fredrich softens into a pragmatic truce as Acker refuses to bring Jovie near the king siphoning Heirs’ magic.
Summary
Acker’s voyage back upriver to Kenta is strained: Jovie remains chained and furious, Irina is withdrawn, Fredrich distant, and Wells silently judging. Near a small port, Acker observes soldiers loading collared prisoners—Heirs—bound for the palace and his father.
Seeking information, Acker visits a traveling vendor, Phoebe. She confirms that soldiers claim to be relieving prison crowding but are in fact targeting Heirs for minor offenses, and that a nearby collarless town was completely seized, even infants. She has only heard tales of slatstone. Acker urges her to go home.
Acker then goes to the dovecote, pays to witness a pigeon’s release, and sends a message west. Returning to the ship, he tells Fredrich they will seek shelter in the raided, abandoned town rather than approach the palace. He plans to rely on Irina’s illusion to move through the port and vows not to take his Match, Jovie, anywhere near the king who is siphoning Heir magic.
Fredrich challenges Acker’s lingering anger over Jovie, and their barbed exchange eases into mutual acknowledgment. Acker thanks Fredrich for protecting her; they settle into a wary camaraderie, focused on the plan to move inland under Irina’s glamor and hide from the palace dragnet.
Who Appears
- Acker (Ace)POV; confirms mass Heir roundups, sends a pigeon west, plans to hide and use Irina’s glamor.
- FredrichShielder; debates Acker, accepts plan; tension with Acker cools into a pragmatic truce.
- Jovie (Jo)Acker’s Match; captive and furious offstage, central to Acker’s protective decisions.
- IrinaWithdrawn; her glamor is key to slipping through the port unnoticed.
- WellsAcker’s ally; largely quiet, present during tense voyage and port arrival.
- PhoebeTraveling vendor; shares rumors of Heir crackdowns and an emptied collarless town.
- Dovecote keeperElderly clerk who releases Acker’s message pigeon without questions.