Chapter 30

Jo wakes chained in a ship’s cabin, hands painfully bound in a prayer knot that prevents her from wielding. After days of stewing, she’s startled when Acker enters, asking her to behave as an “honest prisoner” while they move through town to reach the stables.

Acker warns that Kenta’s punishments for traitors are worse than death and says they are not going to the palace but “somewhere safe.” He admits he had a man tailing Jo for years—Fredrich—proving she was not safe in Maile from him. Acker keeps his gaze averted, saying it is hard enough to hear her restraints and that he will not test their Bond’s oath.

Jo challenges his motives, threatening that her mother will kill him. Pressed, Jo reveals long-hidden history: Osiris was her father, not merely her kidnapper; her mother killed him when he refused to reveal Jo’s location after hiding her in Alaha to escape Edmond’s ambitions. This overturns Acker’s prior understanding of the conclave confession.

Acker takes the warning in stride, even welcoming the approach of Jo’s forces, and rejects Jo’s accusation that he’ll use Wren’s influence to control her men, insisting he opposes enforced loyalty. The exchange ends with Jo’s hatred intensifying as Acker departs, leaving her bound and seething.