Quince felt a rush of pride and joy. A dark, segmented leg appeared before his eyes, then another. The smaller spider came fully into view and stretched. My dream spider! he crowed exultantly, silently.

  The dream spider scuttled away, as if exploring the room. Then it took to a wall and began clambering up. The vision tilted, Quince felt dizzy. The other, the protector, was following.

  Quince remained glued to the crystal for over an hour before his mind began to tire. He reluctantly pulled away.

  The assistant was sitting next to him in a chair, picking at his robe. He scrambled to his feet when he saw Quince had finished with the crystal.

  ‘You and the others may begin sorting the images.’ He rasped, his throat dry and scratchy.

  ‘What did you see?’ he asked eagerly.

  ‘They’ve made it to the palace. They’re getting their bearings, preparing a nest. We might not have anything useful today while they explore the palace.’

  ‘They’re in the palace! They made it!’

  The boy’s eagerness was to his credit. It was good he understood.

  ‘They made it. They made it.’ And soon... soon I will know far more about the workings of that palace than even Jacques and his shadow mages.

  CHAPTER 49

  23 Mai, 1353

  The next day Ariane’s unit began the ride back to Dartham Town. It was only a two day ride; they hadn’t travelled far from the spire. Julietta felt uneasy the entire way back. Her unit was even colder to her than before. Usually, she never doubted herself. But it had been hard here, with her entire unit disliking her and everything she tried to do to help apparently wrong. She wondered if they were heading back to Dartham Town because of her, or some other reason. She didn’t want to ask. Cadel, as before, was too tired to talk. The trip was difficult for him. His servants had to help him stay on his horse.

  When they arrived the mages split up to go to their respective rooms and rest. After bathing and eating Julietta stayed in her room at an inn in town. It was a different inn to the one she’d stayed in before. She wondered what was going to happen to her. She heard the rest of her unit leave, perhaps to attend another party at Lord Dartham’s manor. She stayed in her room and waited. Eventually, she fell asleep.

  The next day when Julietta heard some her fellows preparing to go the Lord Dartham’s manor, she joined them. They did not look happy to see her.

  ‘I didn’t think enjoying yourself was your thing.’ Celeste Rodell said.

  ‘I’m not going for that,’ she said, and the group broke into laughter.

  ‘I’m going,’ Julietta said, ‘to speak to Thierry Reynard. If I have done something wrong, something deserving of punishment, I’d like to get it over and done with.’

  ‘I’m sure Ariane will be thrilled!’

  Julietta managed a smile and followed the group outside. Not all of them were in her unit, but she recognized most of them from the Collegium. Celeste was dressed in a red gown, with a deep neckline that left little to the imagination. The other girls were dressed similarly. The men wore embroidered coats and polished boots. Julietta hadn’t bought any clothes suitable for attending a party and wore one of her walking dresses. It was clean and practical and dull.

  The group didn’t have to wait long for a carriage to come and pick them up. There were seven in the group, including Julietta, so they had to wait for two carriages. Julietta was about to get in when with a laugh Celeste called, ‘sorry, Jules, there isn’t any room for you!’

  Julietta watched in surprise as the half-full carriage rolled off.

  Julietta sighed, gathered her skirts, and began the long, steep walk up to the manor. ‘I would’ve thought they’d grown out of this by now...’ she muttered, ‘I see they haven’t matured since leaving the Collegium!’

  I’ll probably get there before them! She thought angrily as she came to a ladder and began climbing. The women in Dartham rarely wore skirts, perhaps because of the preponderance of ladders. She wondered if she should do the same.

  She arrived at the gates of the manor fifteen minutes later. She paused for a moment to catch her breath before presenting herself to the gate guard.

  The manor stood out among the earth-coloured buildings of Dartham with its red-tiled roof and white painted walls. The thick walls kept the manor cool inside. The rooms were well appointed, and the tiled floor cool to the touch. Wood was very expensive in Dartham, given the lack of trees, and the frivolous wooden furniture spoke to the wealth of Dartham’s mayor. Out the back in a courtyard looking over the town and the plain beyond was a pool. Despite all this, the manor looked hopelessly provincial to Julietta, who had spent most of her life in Manus. It was an opinion shared by most of the visitors to the manor, despite the Lord of Dartham’s best efforts to provide an oasis in the wasteland of Dartham.

  ‘I’m sorry, who are you?’ the smartly dressed guard at the gate asked.

  ‘I’m Julietta Calance.’ she snapped, ‘a sorceress with the Royal Mages. I’m here to see Thierry Reynard!’

  The man jumped at her furious visage and immediately opened the gate. ‘A sorceress! The Lord of Dartham welcomes all mages currently visiting our fair city! Please, enter!’

  ‘He didn’t even check!’ she said to herself as she stalked through. ‘Do they let anyone in here who says they’re a sorceress? I could be Lakashan!’

  At the top of the driveway she had the same issue with the servant there.

  ‘I can fetch him for you now, ma’m, if you would like to wait?’

  ‘Wait? I would like to see him now. I’ve had quite enough of waiting!’

  ‘Yes, ma’m. Please, come right this way.’

  Julietta followed the servant into the main room. She heard the noise first, of many people crammed into a small space, all laughing and talking and drinking.

  ‘He’s over there, ma’m.’

  ‘I see him. Thank you.’ She frowned. Thierry Reynard was talking with a group of three people, a glass of wine in his hand. Unlike the last time she’d seen him, his brown and grey streaked hair was perfectly combed and slicked back with oil. He robe was so embroidered and decorated it almost wasn’t recognizable as a robe of a Royal Mage. Around his neck he wore a heavy gold chain with a sunburst amulet. On his hand was a sapphire ring, hawks engraved in the golden band. Julietta wondered if he had a candle amulet.

  She spotted Ariane on the other side of the room. She was surprised to see Cadel, a pretty blonde woman with olive skin hanging off his arm. She wasn’t surprised about the woman, but she thought Cadel would be too tired to attend a party. He wore a short blue dinner jacket, unbuttoned. The laces of his crumpled shirt were undone, revealing his collarbone, and his hair was tousled. He doesn’t just go into battle half dressed, she thought. He looked like he’d just rolled out of bed. Was that a fashion choice, or did he just not care? From across the room, Julietta could see he was tense, his whole body stiff. If he doesn’t like it he should just ask her to stop touching him.

  Julietta wasn’t here to think about Cadel. She looked away and made her way over to Thierry, not caring if she stepped on anyones toes in the process.

  ‘Master Reynard?’ she said loudly, so he could hear her over the din in the room.

  He paused and frowned at the intrusion. ‘Yes?’

  ‘My superior, Ariane Espee, has made some complaints against me to you. I would like to know the procedure from here.’

  ‘Now? Can’t you see I’m busy?’ he replied, the men around him looking her up and down with condescending smiles on their faces.

  ‘When would be a suitable time?’

  Thierry sighed. ‘Ariane hasn’t spoken to me yet. Who are you again?’

  ‘Julietta Calance.’

  ‘Calance, Calance...no, I haven’t heard anything. Go away, I’ll speak to you later.’ and he turned back to his companions.

  ‘When, later?’ she insisted.

  Thierry sighed. ‘Oh for! Now, I suppose! Excuse me, gentleman! You, go wait in the next room!’ and he extracted himself to go collect Ariane.

  Julietta, confused, followed his instructions. The next room was quieter, though not empty. Thierry and Ariane appeared a few minutes later, both looking annoyed.

  ‘What’s this?’ Ariane said. ‘Julietta?’

  ‘You told me you were going to complain to Thierry Reynard about me, Ariane, you were quite clear. I simply wanted to know what was going to happen to me now.’

  ‘I haven’t complained!’

  Julietta frowned, ‘you told me-’

  ‘Don’t you understand anything?!’

  ‘What’s the problem?’ Thierry said, his voice tense. ‘I was in the middle of something.’

  Ariane shot Julietta a glare before turning to Thierry. ‘I had some complaints about Julietta Calance, the newest member assigned to my unit.’

  ‘So I gathered.’ he snapped. ‘You can’t handle it on your own? That’s your job as unit leader.’

  ‘I was going to! Julietta came here without my leave!’

  ‘That sounds like mismanagement on your part, Ariane. Go on then, what’s the problem?’

  Ariane pressed her lips together tightly, almost nervously she said, ‘well, she went behind my back to inscribe the soldier’s equipment without my leave, and-’

  ‘You disobeyed a direct command from your superior?’ Thierry turned to Julietta and frowned.

  ‘No,’ Julietta replied, her anger replaced by confusion, clearly she had missed something. ‘Ariane ordered us to do whatever we wanted, as long as we didn’t bother anyone. I asked the officer in command for permission to do some inscribing and he gave it to me.’

  Thierry turned back to Ariane. ‘I see why I need to deal with this personally. Ariane, it’s simple, give your subordinates clear instructions, and punish them when they disobey you. The girl’s new, clearly she doesn’t know how things work around here.’ he said in exasperation.

  ‘That wasn’t all! She broke the link and put the entire unit in danger!’

  ‘Explain.’ Thierry said.

  ‘In the battle four days ago-’

  ‘I haven’t read your report on that yet, have you given it to me?’

  ‘I-’

  ‘Nevermind, go on.’

  ‘The Lakashan mages concentrated their attack on us and the link was holding, but Julietta broke it to try and show off, putting the entire unit in danger. Everyone was incapacitated except her and Master Vayles.’

  ‘That wasn’t what happened.’ Julietta said angrily.

  Thierry turned to Julietta and frowned. ‘Your job is simple, sorceress. You do what your superior tells you. If she says to hold the link, you hold the link.’

  ‘I did-!’

  ‘I don’t want to hear any excuses! If you do something like this again you’ll be ejected from the Royal Mages.’

  ‘Ejected! You haven’t even heard my side! You haven’t read any reports on the incident and you don’t even know what happened!’

  Thierry’s expression darkened. ‘If I could demote you I would, but you’re already the lowest ranked member we have here. Ariane, I’ll leave the punishment up to you. However next time one of your subordinates puts the entire group in danger I expect to hear about it immediately.’

  Ariane’s smug expression faltered, ‘y-yes, sir.’

  ‘In future, don’t come bother me at a party.’

  Julietta watched him go in disbelief.

  ‘I’d add something, but I don’t think I need too, Thierry said it all. Maybe now you’ll stop going behind my back to try and make me look bad.’ Ariane said once Thierry was gone.

  ‘Go behind your back?’ Julietta snapped. ‘You told me you were going to complain to Thierry. I thought you had! What am I supposed to do when you give me the wrong information, Ariane? And I didn’t break the link, you’re just an awful sorceress, you always were.’

  ‘Yeah? Well no one likes you!’

  ‘I wouldn’t want to be liked by anyone here, and especially not by someone like you!’

  ‘Keep that up and you’ll be kicked out!’

  ‘I came here on the orders of Jacques Dulère to help my kingdom, for no other reason! I don’t need to be a member of the Royal Mages to do that!’

  ‘Good, because you won’t be for much longer!’ Ariane retorted and stormed out.

  Once she left Julietta remembered the other people in the room. She turned and saw them watching her curiously. Her anger was fading, and for some reason she felt like she might cry. Not wanting these strangers to see her, she purposefully strode over to the other door out of the room and left. She found herself in a hallway. There were people here too. She didn’t know the way out from here and she didn’t want to go back through the main ballroom. She turned and headed down the hallway and into another room. She continued on that way for some time until she found herself alone.

  She sank down into a chair and put her head in her hands. She sniffed and wiped her eyes. She makes me feel like I’m back at the Collegium... only it’s worse, because at least there I was the best and I knew how it worked. Here... She looked up and sat back in the chair, trying to control her breathing. She wasn’t going to cry. Why is it going so badly? I wasn’t trying to go behind her back, I just didn’t want to wait anymore... I wanted to know what was going on...

  She froze as the door creaked. She looked up as a young woman entered.

  ‘Hello?’ the woman greeted her. She had big eyes and a pleasant, round face.

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Julietta, right?’

  ‘What do you want?’

  The woman smiled and came in, closing the door. ‘I’m Linette, a friend of Asmara.’

  ‘Linette... you’re a shadow mage!’

  Linette nodded and smiled. Julietta looked at her more closely. Compared to Blaise, she actually looked healthy. She was a normal weight and walked into the room and took a seat like a normal person. She was almost as short as Julietta. The room was dim, and so any shadows around her weren’t obvious. As she took a seat under a lamp though they became immediately clear. The darkness around her didn’t change, almost as if the lamp wasn’t there. Squinting, Julietta thought her hair was probably blonde, though it was hard to tell in the greyness that clung to her.

  ‘Try not to be too upset.’ Linette said.

  ‘I-I’m not-!’

  ‘Don’t worry about Ariane and Thierry.’

  ‘How-how do you know?’

  ‘I’ve been visiting you, since you’re a friend of Asmara’s, and I never get to see her anymore. Bo too. He’s ok, a bit frustrated though.’

  ‘You’ve been...’ Julietta wasn’t entirely comfortable with that thought.

  Linette nodded and smiled. ‘Why so uncomfortable, Julietta? You know me now just as I know you.’

  ‘I do?’

  ‘That’s how it works. If I visit you, you learn as much about me as I do about you. Non-shadow mages always seem to have difficulty remembering though... you might have some strange dreams about me. Don’t I feel familiar to you?’

  ‘I... I suppose you do...’ Julietta said in surprise, realizing it to be true. She felt unaccountably comfortable in Linette’s company. ‘Surely that must make it difficult to spy on people.’

  Linette’s smile faded. ‘That’s how it works naturally. It’s only fair. Now though... we have to hold ourselves back, and not give anything of ourselves... only take. To be honest, it’s difficult and unpleasant.’

  ‘Surely you shouldn’t be using your shadow magic to check up on me though.’

  ‘Since I’m using my shadow magic so much for the King it doesn’t take much to check in on you. I’ve got to do something for myself.’ she smiled, ‘I’ve been practicing rooms, not people. I’m not too good at it though, that’s Emerré’s thing.’

  ‘Rooms?’

  ‘Listening to the marks people leave in rooms. It feels kind of unnatural, but with all the candle amulets around, we have to... the candles are annoying.’

  ‘Were you just using your shadow magic then?’ she asked, surprised to see Linette looking so well if that was the case.

  ‘No, I felt you come in so I was coming to say hello. I was just eavesdropping, you know, like a normal person.’

  ‘Oh...hello.’

  ‘Hello, it’s nice to meet you.’

  Julietta sniffed, suddenly overcome by emotion. It felt like so long since someone had been happy to meet her.

  ‘You’re sad.’ Linette said, her smile fading. ‘It’s really bothering you.’

  Julietta nodded.

  ‘Don’t worry, Ariane’s just a bit insecure. This is her first big position, you know, and she only got it because one of the other mages... disappeared... I’m not sure where, a candle must be involved. I have some suspicions.’

  ‘Mages don’t just disappear!’

  ‘They do when someone decides they might be useful in an experiment....’

  ‘What?’

  ‘He’d done some things in the past that the powers at be were happy to let slide, but I guess someone decided it was time to call him on it and use him for...something else...’

  Julietta stared at Linette, who had a thoughtful, faraway look on her face. Then she suddenly smiled and turned her attention back to Julietta. ‘Anyway, Ariane only got the position because the other mage disappeared, so she knows she wasn’t the first choice. She’s a bit insecure, that’s all, and she thinks you’re a much better sorceress than her.’

  ‘I am.’

  Linette nodded. ‘I can’t tell, myself, but I’ll agree. She’s worried you’re going to take it from her, and this is the first opportunity she’s had to be in a leadership role.’

  ‘I wasn’t trying to take it!’

  ‘I know.’ Linette agreed. ‘But Ariane can’t read your mind, only I can.’

  ‘What am I supposed to do about that?’ Julietta murmured, feeling a little better despite herself.

  Linette shrugged. ‘I’m not sure. Whatever you do, Ariane’s going to view it through that lens. Just be aware of that.’

  Julietta nodded. ‘Have you been looking at Cadel too?’ she asked.