The Trickster ensconced Mia in Nick's lounge room with Sally, then she and Magnus went to the kitchen to help Nick make dinner. Magnus took one look at Nick's ingredients--a few giant dandelions and a small cut of venison--and pulled out a salad and a loaf of bread from under his cloak. The salad was in a fancy coloured glass bowl with a red and black swirled pattern.

"So you are witches," Nick observed.

"Magicians," Magnus said.

"What's the difference?"

"Not much," the Trickster said.

"It means that our magic is not sanctified by Magnus," Magnus said.

"Wait, isn't it?" asked the Trickster.

"No."

"Huh."

"So you are not part of Sally's rebellion, then," Nick said, frowning. "Are you the same as the rest of the town, then? You don't believe in the gods at all?"

Magnus and the Trickster looked at each other. "That's a complicated question," the Trickster said. Nick didn't press further.

Mia, Sally, and Nick were very surprised at how sweet the salad and the bread tasted.

"Do you get any sort of cultivated plant here?" There should at least be some wild lettuce from older villages seeded about the place," Magnus said.

"They are considered sinful," Sally said dryly.

"But they're a human thing," the Trickster said with her mouth full.

"Growing plants or animals is considered a prayer to Bounty, while taking plants and animals from the forest is considered stealing from her, and therefore better."

"Speaking of growing animals, where did you get those giant dogs from?" Mia asked Sally. "I understand that having them would be good for a rebellion, but they seem dangerous. And how do you feed them?"

"What dogs?" Nick asked.

"I believe they are actually yours... uh... sorry, we never caught your name."

"No," Magnus agreed, looking alarmed.

"He's currently travelling incognito," the Trickster said, coming to Magnus's rescue.

"Why?" Mia asked. The Trickster looked helplessly at Magnus, who looked angrily back.

"We'll call you Merchant," Nick said, saving them both.

After dinner, Nick and Magnus went to clean the dishes, while the Trickster looked after the two ladies. They didn't need much looking after--the excitement of the day and the novelty of a comfy chair had got to Mia, who was now asleep, and Sally, who spent most of her time hiding in an attic, was tired out as well. The Trickster was happy to sit in silence as she thought. There was something odd about Nick; it was surprisingly hard to lie to him. The Trickster tried hard to find a sneaky way to ask about it, but eventually decided it was easier just to ask outright--

"Sally, was Nick ever a Templeman? He's got kind of an aura to him."

"Nick? No, never. He never wanted to have anything to do with religion. He got really mad when he was little when my father told him he couldn't be a priest of Magnus, and I don't think he got over that."

"Uuuuh did he try to become a priest of Magnus?" the Trickster asked, alarmed.

"I don't know, he maybe prayed a lot? It was a long time ago."

"Hmm. Yes. Well, I'm just... going to see whether the others need any help in the kitchen," the Trickster said, getting up from her seat.

The dishes had already been cleaned and put away, and the Trickster walked in on the two men playing poker.

"How about, you stake telling me who the two of you really are," Nick was saying.

"Why don't you play for tokens or something?" the Trickster suggested.

"We've run out of spoons," Magnus said, gesturing at the pile in the middle of the table. "All right. How about you stake... your soul."

"Hahaha, a totally normal joke outside the city, how about we not stake souls on this game, hey?" the Trickster said, alarmed.

"It's a deal," Nick said, and glanced at the Trickster's troubled face. "I'm not religious, I'm not using it anyway, right?"

"That's not how souls work..."

"Three of a kind," Nick said, showing his cards.

"Straight," Magnus said, and the hearth in Nick's kitchen immediately broke into two, as Cloe renounced his claim to his house.

"What the--"

"Very sorry for the inconvenience," the Trickster said. "I'm just... I'm just going to take my brother away before he does anything else stupid."

"What did you do that for?" the Trickster hissed, as she dragged Magnus out into the dark street.

"I've been relying on witches with powers inherited via my original lot for a long while now, trying to make Chloe happy. But you know what? She doesn't own humans, and she sure doesn't have the authority to dictate how they have to live their lives. 'Oh, my mother was the god of birth, therefore they have to do what I say' well my father was the god of dreams, they need that too!"

"You're just worked up because Nick wanted to be your priest when he was a kid," the Trickster said, glancing nervously about the street as Magnus's voice rose.

"Cloe could have taken some of your misfortune from the village, protecting them is her job. Instead, she'd rather see my sister hang."

"I didn't know you cared."

"I don't," Magnus muttered.

"Look, this place is getting to you," the Trickster said. "Sally and Mia are safe now, why don't we get out of here?"

"Maybe." Magnus back at the house for a moment. A few sparks flew from the slightly listing chimney of the broken kitchen fire.

"I'm sure between the three of them they can keep it from burning down," the Trickster said, trying to keep doubt out of her voice.

"Fine, let's go," Magnus said shortly, and abruptly walked away, leaving the Trickster to hurry along behind him.

Despite getting lost multiple times, the two siblings ended up at the city gates before sunrise. Brian and the Dogs were waiting for them, one of the dogs chewing on something the Trickster would rather not look too closely at.

"You made it; thank goodness," Brian said in relief. "I thought I'd have to look after these dogs forever."

"I've decided that you and the Dogs should remain here to help the rebellion," Magnus said. "This city is too close to the Glade; it's not safe to have god-hating people so near our home."

"Also they really annoyed you," the Trickster added.

"It was your idea," Magnus muttered.

"What?"

"What am I going to feed them?" Brian asked, alarmed.

"Whatever Bounty provides," Magnus said, waving an arm around vaguely. "Well, good luck."

"You can't leave me like this!" Brian wailed, then shuddered at the look Magnus gave him. "I'll do as you say..."

"Good," Magnus said, and walked out of the gates, stretching his arms. "Ah, freedom from this stupid place!"

"Who goes there?!" someone called out from a gate tower. The Trickster rolled her eyes, then jumped as an arrow hit the wall by her face. The dogs yelped, and galloped away, Brian holding desperately to the fur of the nearest one. Two more arrows landed by the Trickster's feet.

"Run!" she shrieked, and sprinted out the gate towards Magnus, into the arrow-filled night.