‘Julietta kept stopping to look at the buildings.’ Bo replied. ‘She took notes on everything I said!’

  ‘I’d be careful if I were you, Julietta, you don’t want to trust everything he says!’

  ‘I didn’t write down everything.’ Julietta replied primly. She had excluded all the jokes, for one thing.

  ‘Have you already eaten?’ Asmara asked. When they nodded she said, ‘if Julietta wants a tour maybe you and I can go do something else, Dorian.’ Seeing his face she went on, ‘do you really want to listen to a lecture on the history of Allonce? Besides, we’ve both been here before!’

  Seeing he was still hesitating Asmara said, ‘promise I won’t mention you-know-what, it will just be as friends!’

  ‘Asmara!’ Dorian scowled. ‘That’s not much of a choice, between you and a lecture.’ he muttered. ‘Fine.’

  ‘Ooh, that hurts.’

  ‘Yeah, I can see that.’ he replied as Asmara grinned, her eyes locked on him. The two of them walked off, and Asmara waved goodbye.

  Julietta stared after the two as they disappeared around a corner. It seemed in the last few days of travelling Dorian’s mood towards Asmara had remarkably improved.

  ‘Since they’re gone, perhaps we can get something else to eat here?’

  Bo did not protest, and Julietta’s tour commenced with a lovely morning tea in the courtyard accompanied by the gentle music of the lute and happy people going about their business.

  Bo, who had been watching in amusement as she demolished her food with a single-mindedness not quite suited to morning tea, said, ‘perhaps being in Allonce for a while will be good.’

  ‘It’s a lovely city. Also, hot food is nice. I suppose there aren’t many fire spirits here, I certainly haven’t noticed any.’

  ‘Mm. It’s only natural, seeing Dorian has been the only young man around you for some time. Perhaps you will find you feel differently after some time in the city.’

  Julietta blushed bright red, ‘I can’t imagine what you’re referring to!’ she nearly shrieked, but at the same time she found herself relieved and hopeful at his words.

  Bo chuckled. ‘Poor Dorian, he doesn’t usually find himself so popular with the girls! I’m sure he doesn’t know what to do with himself!’

  ‘Tell me,’ she said quickly, hoping to change the subject, ‘do you think you will ever go back to Lakasha? Do you have family left there?’

  ‘Hm? I did, I never heard from them after my parents’ died, so I can’t say what became of them.’

  ‘Whyever not?’ she asked. After a moment she added, ‘you don’t have to tell me, if it’s rude to ask.’

  ‘No, no, it was all so long ago.’ he smiled, though his face held a hint of old melancholy. ‘I did send a message back once, but it was not until several months after the plagues had finished. No one would enter the city during the plagues. Once it was all over it was not too difficult to secure a job for myself, though it took a while to earn enough money to deliver a message to Lakasha. I never heard back from my family in Lakasha, I don’t know why, there could be many reasons. I never went back to visit, and I don’t think I will. I was an angry young man for some time, but it was all a long time ago.’

  Julietta did not quite know what to say. ‘Oh,’ she finally said, ‘I’m glad you are happy here.’

  ‘I’ve spent more of my life in Mance-Jolune than Lakasha, why, I probably speak Lakashan worse than Manunian now!’ and he laughed, ‘so I speak no language properly!’

  Julietta did not see how this was supposed to be funny, though clearly he found it so. Bo spoke perfect Manunian anyway and had only the slightest accent. After he had finished laughing at his own joke she said, ‘have you a plan for the tour today? I will be meeting Jacques and the guide he has arranged in the afternoon.’ she made a face at that. She did not want to see Jacques again.

  ‘A plan? I thought we’d just wander...’ seeing her face he hurriedly said, ‘but I do have a plan, and I will be sure to have you back at the palace in time for your second tour of the day!’

  Bo was true to his word and the pair returned to the palace in time for Julietta to have a brief rest before departing on her second tour of the city. Bo, to her surprise, came with her. Julietta could not help the feeling he was looking out for her. It was nice to know her companions cared for her.

  After discussing the evening’s plans with Jacques, Julietta regretfully succumbed and purchased a dress and shoes suitable for dining in the Prince of Jolune’s Palace. When she returned to the palace after her second adventure of the day, the servants seemed very relieved with this decision.

  She realized in irritation that they had been through her things to clean and hang them in the wardrobe. She quenched her annoyance though and allowed them to help her dress and do her hair in a suitably intricate fashion. She had little jewellery with her, but she did have one brooch emblazoned with her family crest, a white duck on a field of green. It would have to do.

  ‘Have you been to an event like this before?’ Julietta asked in an aside to Bo as they were seated at one of the long tables in the main dining hall. The prince’s table was lengthwise at the front of the room and looked out over three columns of tables filled with the less favoured. A poet read for the entertainment of the prince in a rich, carrying voice while a small orchestra played in the background. She paid close attention; it was the highest honour for an artist to perform at the Prince of Jolune’s court, more sought after than a position with the King’s court in Manus (for Jolune had a reputation of being the cultural and artistic center of the Kingdom), and the only higher honour was to perform at the Walmese court.

  ‘Indeed, I have,’ he chuckled, ‘so you need not fear I will embarrass you, though I will not be offended if you pretend you don’t know me! I know how it goes with young ladies.’

  Julietta managed a laugh, thinking it was one of Bo’s jokes that she so rarely understood. At least the gentlemen in their vicinity seemed to appreciate his humour, and Julietta’s dinner was punctuated with such raucous laughter she almost felt she was back in a tavern in Sontmor.

  After eight courses the tables were cleared and everyone migrated to the next room over to dance. She had noticed through the course of the evening that Dorian and Asmara had not returned. She did not let it bother her and smiled when a well-dressed young man asked her to dance.

  As they spun she inspected his face closely.

  ‘What is it?’ he asked, ‘is there something on my face?’

  ‘No. You don’t look like a charmer, though there is no sure way of telling.’

  ‘A charmer?’ the young, brown haired man started in surprise, nearly stepping on her feet. ‘Where?’

  ‘I heard there were some in the palace.’ She had wound careful protection spells around herself. The abilities of the charmers, unlike the shadow mages, were similar to what normal mages could accomplish, and thus it was not impossible to protect oneself against them. The charmers were more subtle and their power more difficult to discern, but Julietta was carefully monitoring herself for any sign of magic being used on her.

  ‘Oh, no, I would know. You see my father is a close friend of Prince Michel, he introduced him to the poet you heard at the beginning of dinner-’ the poet had been followed by musicians, dancers and singers.

  ‘It was quite instructive to hear ancient Walmese spoken.’

  ‘Ancient? I thought it was just Walmese-’

  ‘No. It was a much older form and is not commonly come across in texts younger than fifteen-hundred years. I would like to know how he decided on the pronunciation, as I know there is some debate on the matter.’

  ‘You certainly sound very smart, are you a scholar?’

  ‘I am a sorceress, I studied at the Mance Collegium of Magic for Women.’

  ‘A sorceress, really? I must take care not to step on your toes then! I’m glad to hear you’re from Mance though! I didn’t recognize your crest, and I’ve gone to such trouble to memorize them all!’

  ‘My family is from Mance.’ Julietta smiled politely and decided against telling him he had already stepped on her toes three times. The rest of the dancing passed pleasantly. The music was delightful, as could only be expected at the court of the Prince of Jolune. It was wonderfully exciting to be among young men and women her own age again, and most of the young men were quite handsome. She had been out of touch in Sontmor for such a long time that she had to do more listening than speaking. She was pleased that no one accused her of being a know-it-all.

  As the night wound down and she made her way back to her room, she could not remember the last time she had had such an enjoyable evening. She spotted Dorian outside his room talking to Bo.

  ‘Did you have a good evening?’ he greeted her. ‘We only just got back,’ he looked tired but not unhappy.

  ‘Oh, yes. Did you enjoy yourself?’

  ‘Oh, you know,’ he said, clearly uncomfortable, ‘Asmara was annoying, as always. Anyway, I’m tired, I’ll see you all tomorrow.’

  Julietta, who also returned to her own room was relieved to find she was not upset seeing him go. She was surprised to find herself thinking that perhaps she had been unfair to Asmara. She has been pursuing him for several months now, perhaps she really does care for him.

  CHAPTER 13

  14 Fevror, 1353

  ‘Blaise Autin will explain everything to you.’ Jacques repeated as Asmara fidgeted, her eyes going to the carriage door. Julietta, watching, hoped that if Asmara was going to jump out of the carriage, she would climb over Dorian to get to the door, and not her. She glanced at Dorian as she thought that, then away.

  ‘How did you get a shadow mage to work for you?’ Julietta asked, one eye on Asmara.

  ‘The King has his networks. He hears things, and there have always been hopes of using shadow mages to gather information. Blaise works as a shadow mage, as I’m sure you’ve heard,’ Jacques said, his eyes on Asmara, ‘so it was a simple thing to ask him do some work for his Kingdom.’

  ‘He told you Lakasha was planning to invade?’ Dorian asked.

  ‘He’s told us many things since he began working for us.’

  ‘How long has the King been employing shadow mages?’ Julietta asked. This was something she had never heard of; war with Lakasha, training shadow mages, she had not heard even a rumour. It did not seem real.

  ‘Blaise has been employed for several months now. He is the main reason the leaders of the King’s armies are in Allonce and not Manus, Blaise is loathe to leave Allonce. We also have a few other shadow mages in our employ, two are currently residing at the palace. They at least were willing to move.’

  ‘Did they also work as shadow mages?’ Julietta asked, for she had not heard of any doing that aside from the shadow mage of Allonce- Blaise Autin.

  ‘No, but they use their power anyway, so it was not difficult to convince them to use it for their kingdom.’

  Asmara said nothing to all this and remained silent as the carriage came to a halt and they were ushered into a tall, narrow and well-appointed town house.

  A young woman with blonde hair and a weepy look about her greeted them. ‘Blaise is upstairs. His maid is with him, she will assist you if you need anything. Mister Dabney is with him too.’

  Asmara shot the young woman a startled look but said nothing. She hurried up the stairs, as if she had decided that if she was going to do this she was going to do it quickly.

  ‘Very good.’ Jacques said. ‘Elroy Dabney works with the army, he is Blaise’s handler, as you might say.’ he explained. ‘I will stay down here. Blaise is only fourteen, but he’s rather temperamental, and he’ll just be worse if I’m there.’

  The four headed upstairs and piled into a small, dark room. The air was still and it took Julietta a moment to get her bearings and for her eyes to adjust. The light in Allonce was bright, and the windows in the rest of the house had been open. Here, the windows were covered with heavy curtains. A couch was arranged in front of the windows, on it reclined a young man, blankets wrapped around him. A maid stood at the young man’s elbow. A table was set before the couch, and there were a few chairs around but not enough for all of them. Julietta could not make out the features of the figure on the couch, it was far too dark. Beside the door stood a short, portly man with a desperate smile on his face. He waved at them but did not say anything, and Julietta assumed this was Dabney.

  ‘Asmara, it’s been a while!’ the boy on the couch said, suddenly animated.

  ‘Do you know Blaise?’ the portly man asked.

  ‘I’m not talking to you, Dabney, go away.’ the boy replied, incensed. ‘You don’t usually visit me when you come to Allonce, and I have tried to avoid you.’

  ‘I know.’ Asmara said. ‘You’ve all been good.’

  ‘Jacques brought you here. I know he’s downstairs, Dabney, tell him to get out of my house. Have you seen Linette and Guy?’

  ‘No. Haven’t you met them recently?’

  ‘I try to avoid them, they have us using so much I don’t need to make it worse. Besides, I met them not long ago so it doesn’t matter. Brigitte recently left, did you know?’

  Julietta stared at the figure in rising discomfort. She realized the darkness around him was not natural. The room was dim, but she could make out the features of the maid and everyone else here. Blaise Autin was nothing more than a dark shadow rising from the couch, and she could not even tell where his body ended and the blankets covering the couch began.

  ‘You did not give us any information on Asmara,’ Dabney interrupted, ‘you were asked about other shadow mages-’

  ‘I told you about the ones who were willing to have their information shared with you. You people already got Brigitte killed, even after I told you it was too dangerous.’

  ‘Now,’ Dabney said in a placating tone, ‘Miss Lavalle agreed to try and take your knowledge, you know, we did not force her-’

  ‘She didn’t need to be forced. I told you she wouldn’t be able to handle it. You shouldn’t have suggested it and I won’t do it again.’

  As the two talked Asmara walked over to the maid. ‘Why are the curtains closed?’ she hissed. ‘You need to have them open!’

  ‘But-’

  Without waiting Asmara pulled the curtains back and bright, glaring light spilt into the room.

  Julietta wished she hadn’t. Looking at Blaise was worse now. He was just a young boy, but painfully thin and his black clothes did not hide that. The shadows clustered so deeply around him she could not discern his eyes or the colour of his hair, and his skin looked grey. He held his body unnaturally still, supported by the pillows and blankets around him, and his face was curiously expressionless despite the animation in his voice.

  ‘Do you mind?’ Asmara asked Blaise.

  ‘I don’t care. Who else have you been to visit, Asmara? You know, Emerré writes me letters. Usually I would never bother with such things, but she writes nicely and I do miss her sometimes. It’s so lonely! Everyone I know keeps disappearing. You can write me letters too, if you like. I might even write back. Emerré insists I write back.’

  ‘Really?’ Asmara exclaimed. ‘She doesn’t write me letters!’

  ‘You visit her sometimes, don’t you? You’ve met her husband, haven’t you? I like him.’

  ‘You met him? I wouldn’t think Emerré would like that-’

  ‘It was only once, and only a little, he is hers after all. I stay away from Emerré, it was just that one time.’

  ‘I’m surprised you liked him.’

  ‘Oh yes, he’s good for her. Bit too much for you, is he? Emerré’s all passionate deep inside too, surely you noticed?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘Anyway, you may write, I won’t mind.’

  ‘You know, I think I will.’

  ‘Dabney wants to speak. I suppose we’ll hear what lies he’s going to tell us, and then I’ll speak with you more Asmara. Perhaps we’ll just not listen, I see you have some others with you. Go on, Dabney, bore us all.’

  ‘I didn’t follow most of that.’ Dabney said.

  ‘Didn’t have anything to do with you, so there was no reason for you to follow it, other than that you’re a spy.’

  ‘Liaison-’

  ‘You’d think people would stop lying once they found out I was a shadow mage, it’s so annoying. Don’t you agree, Asmara?’

  ‘I don’t really use it.’

  ‘Admirable but I’d never want to do that. No, I love my power. That’s why I keep coming back, if I could use it and stay there I would, but without a body I’d dissipate into fragments. It’s the only reason I come back, so I can keep using my power.’

  Hearing the matter-of-fact way he spoke, without a trace of hesitation, it was difficult to believe he was only a young boy. Dabney looked out of his depth, and Julietta couldn’t help feeling sorry for him, but she quickly tried to stifle that lest Blaise use his power on her.

  ‘Blaise is in the employ of the King of Mance-Jolune.’ Dabney was saying, ‘and we’d like to employ you as well, Miss Sinan.’

  Asmara, who had been quietly speaking to the maid about arranging some food, said in shock, ‘Miss Sinan?’

  ‘Would you prefer Asmara?’

  ‘It’s what I usually go by.’

  ‘Asmara, the Lakashans are training shadow mages.’

  ‘Are they really?’ Asmara turned to Blaise.

  ‘They are, in fact. It’s hard to tell as they’ve got a bunch of candles, like these guys, but I’ve been checking on the servants nearby. They’re trying to breed shadow mages and train the ones they’ve got. They aren’t living very long though, they’re starting them too young, Asmara, they keep dying. Keep that in mind, Dabney, if you get it in your head to train shadow mages. You have to wait until they’ve established their own identity, otherwise they’ll get lost and won’t be able to find themselves again. Six is the earliest to start, but later is better.’

  ‘We’ve been hearing from our shadow mages that occasionally very young children manifest and use their shadow magic and simply die, though it is blamed on something else as nobody knows the child is a shadow mage, and with only one use the physical signs are not obvious.’ Dabney said to Asmara, ‘perhaps you can add to this?’