LOOSE TONGUE

  The man’s face remained against the ground, cheek pressed to the stone. Jana crouched beside him.

  “Look at me,” she said through gritted teeth. “Look at me, Jack.”

  He blinked, eyes clearing as he turned slowly. He pushed himself up to sit, groaning faintly.

  She shoved him back down with one hand.

  “Where have you been?” she snapped.

  He wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve, eyes cautious now. “May I explain—”

  “That’s exactly what I want you to do,” Jana said, already rising to her feet.

  She moved through the tavern without glancing back, weaving through the crowd toward a door near the back—not the one the Timekeepers used, but another, older entrance once meant for deliveries. He followed, slower than her, every step slightly uneven from the force of the fall.

  The hallway beyond was narrow, dimly lit by a single flickering lantern. The dust hadn’t been swept in days.

  As she walked, she couldn’t stop thinking about how she had reacted.

  Why did she hit him like that? Was age making her less measured—or just less in control?

  She used to be composed. Sharp. Disciplined. When she was younger, her instincts had been cleaner, her choices clearer. Now… now she wasn’t sure. That punch had felt both justified and completely out of line.

  She was supposed to keep everything in check. To calculate, assess, act only when necessary. But lately… it felt like she was unraveling too. Losing not just her grip on this mess—but on herself.

  And worse, she could feel it in her body. In the fatigue behind her eyes. In how natural decisions now felt like a hassle.

  She opened the door without a word. The room was narrow, stone-walled, with crates stacked against one side and a crooked lantern casting long shadows across the floor.

  Jana stepped inside. Jack followed, slower still. She let the silence hang.

  When the door closed behind them, she turned.

  “Where were you?”

  He rubbed his jaw with one hand, eyes still wary. “It’s not what you think.”

  “Oh good,” she said, voice dry. “It better not be.”

  He looked away.

  Jana crossed her arms. “Start talking, Jack. Now.”

  He hesitated, just a breath.

  “I was abducted,” he said.

  Jana let out a sharp, cold laugh. “Abducted? And they just held you for two weeks, then let you wander off drunk into a tavern like nothing happened?”

  “I wasn’t drunk.”

  “You weren’t sober.”

  He didn’t argue.

  Jack sank onto a broken, rickety chair in the corner. Jana remained by the wall, arms still crossed, where the light barely touched her face.

  “They wanted information,” he muttered. “About you.”

  “Who’s they?”

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  He didn’t answer. He just stared at her from beneath lowered lashes, something unreadable in his eyes.

  Jana pushed off the wall. Her steps were slow, deliberate. She stopped in front of him, fists clenched at her sides.

  “For your sake, I hope you’re not implying I have to pay you to get that information.”

  Jack leaned back slightly in the chair, lips tugging into something dangerously close to a grin.

  —Oh, I wouldn’t turn down a bit of coin, if that’s on the table.

  Jana didn’t flinch. She crouched in front of him, slow and deliberate, placing her hands on either side of the chair, her eyes like iron.

  Jack spoke first, voice low but charged. —I don’t know what you’ve stirred up — but the Duke came looking for you.

  Jana’s eyes narrowed.

  —Looking for me? For Agnes? Here?

  —Not for Agnes — he said — He asked for The Foreseer. Wanted information about who you were.

  Jana had already turned, half-pacing — but that stopped her cold. She spun back sharply.

  —Then I assume your presence here means you didn’t tell him anything.

  She stepped closer, her voice like drawn steel.

  —You wouldn’t be that dumb, right? To come here after telling him about me?

  He sat in silence, the flicker of disappointment passing over his face—whether at himself or at her for doubting, it was hard to tell.

  —No. I certainly wouldn’t do that.

  Silence stretched between them. Then, finally, the sarcasm left him. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, fingers laced, eyes cast to the floor as the chair creaked under his slow weight.

  —I would never betray you, Jana —he said softly, lifting his gaze at last.

  Her eyes didn’t shift, still fixed on him. But her voice lost its edge.

  —Then tell me, Jack. What happened?

  He inhaled.

  —At first… they just wanted to know about you. The Duke… as grim and cold as he looks, was surprisingly methodical. I stayed in a cell—food, drink, even comfort. He came to question me personally, now and then.

  —About what?

  —Who you were. Where you got your information. What you were planning. Things like that.

  —And what did you tell him?

  He looked annoyed now. Voice rising, defensive.

  —Lies, mostly. But... on some days, when he caught me off guard—some half-truths.

  Jana’s face hardened.

  —What kind of half-truths?

  Jack groaned, irritated.

  —Nothing, Jana! Small things. Once or twice, I mentioned that abandoned cabin in the woods. That’s it. That’s what made him let me go.

  Jana nearly collapsed.

  —When—when did he release you?

  Jack blinked.

  —Around midday. Why?

  Jana’s blood ran cold. Her body wasn’t responding fast enough, legs heavier than they should have been, every step failing to match the urgency in her chest. She wished for a teleportation platform, for wings—anything.

  She stormed out of the room, out of the tavern, panic rising like a tide.

  Behind her, Jack called out.

  —Jana! Jana, wait!

  But she didn’t stop. She couldn’t. Her mind was splintering.

  What have you done, Jack, she whispered to herself, eyes stinging.

  She fumbled for the cursed bracelet on her wrist, smacking it in desperation, praying one of the Timekeepers at the cabin would pick up the signal.

  The cabin had been abandoned—yes. A forgotten splinter of wood and stone deep in the woods, where she'd once taken shelter with Elowen and Corin during the early days of the Valtorian invasion. A crumbling shelter deep in the forest. Now, the Timekeepers were operating from a secure village nearby they called Caldrith, working quietly while the world looked elsewhere. Their underground network had expanded so much that they could now afford to move between borders, traveling across distant empires in search of those who were still missing.

  But that place… had been the beginning of everything.

  They had never bothered to clear it out. Never thought it necessary. But any object left behind could now tie her to it. Not just to Agnes. To Moriana. To the Foreseer. To the village they now liked to call home.

  She didn’t fear that strangers might have used it. Her worry was far more precise—what if another Timekeeper had passed through? What if one of them had been careless? Or worse… what if someone was still there?

  She needed to reach it first.

  Jana ran without thinking, her blood colder than the air around her. She made for the first mount she could find. And that was her mistake.

  The moment her hand gripped the reins, a figure shifted on the other side of the horse—hidden a moment earlier by the mount's height.

  He rose slowly, eyes catching hers under the hooded moonlight. Of course. Of course it had to be him.

  The Crown Prince.

  She barely caught his profile beneath the hood—his sharp jaw, the way his eyes narrowed, uncertain but alert. He hadn't recognized her— her scarf still covered her lower features.

  But she saw the shift in his stance. The hesitation. The tension. He was undercover. That much was clear. He couldn’t shout. Couldn’t draw attention.

  Still, his hand began to lift reaching his sword. But before he could act, chaos answered in her place.

  —Jana! Jana, where are you going?! Jack's voice rang out behind her—too loud, piercing the quiet like an arrow. Jana flinched.

  She threw herself onto the horse, kicked off hard, and sped into the night, wind ripping the breath from her lungs. Behind her, she heard voices—distant, angry, confused.

  The prince’s attention snapped toward the sound. He stepped closer to Jack.

  —Do you know that person?

  Jack didn’t hesitate. He threw a punch straight at the prince’s head.

  Cassian staggered back, caught completely off guard.

  Jack didn’t wait. The moment Cassian reeled, he turned and fled down the street, disappearing into the folds of the crowd like smoke on the wind.

  Jana clenched her jaw, cursed under her breath at the sight, and urged the horse faster toward the forest.