Fouques was about to reply when Cassidy commented with something that made him raise an eyebrow. No law against murder? Really? He listened for another few moments before speaking up. "Neither of you will come to harm while you're here," he assured them. "I may not be able to defend against sabotage or poison, but I'm quite capable of fending off any opportunistic attacks by either the so-called teachers here or any overly curious scalekin that might approach the beach. The lack of magic has no effect on my effectiveness in combat."

"As to what Queen Mal might decide, I don't know her well enough to say. But I strongly suspect that there is a law against murder, at least on the mainland. Here on this Isle..." He glanced at the Witchweed. "Given how it was set to function, I suspect that the previous rulers cared very little what those they sent here did to one another, so long as it was done out of their sight. Thankfully, the current young King and Queen seem to be of quite a different mind, as evidenced by their- and your- efforts here."