There was still some daylight left, but you couldn’t tell that on the streets of Monaxa. In fact, the buildings around us reached so high, I wondered if the ground level only got sunlight at midday. Judging by the green and black mold that clung to the cobblestones, and the dank, heavy smell that permeated everything, it seemed pretty likely. The sun hadn’t set, but the streets were already dotted with the same spirit-powered streetlamps as Drusiel. The bound fire spirits cast everything in their thin, sickly light, so that the people who hurried past looked almost ghoulish as they went about their day.
“Cheery place,” I remarked.
“The class stratification is more pronounced here in Monaxa than it is in Drusiel,” said Orlando. “The rich nobility live up at the top, and everyone else lives beneath.”
The street was full of wagons heading in either direction, but they were all horse-powered. In fact, other than the streetlamps, I saw very little evidence of magic at all. I guessed people just couldn’t afford it around there. I’d always been a little leery of easy, pervasive access to magic, but I’d taken for granted that even an unemployed actor like Cordelia could scrape together enough for a heat stone. Now I realized that decent magecraft was probably much cheaper in Drusiel, where you couldn’t kick a log without five mages crawling out from under it. I still didn’t know if that was good thing, but I wasn’t sure the streets of Monaxa were any better.
We followed the moldy street for a while until it began to rise a little, then we turned a corner, and I saw the palace. Or at least the bottom of it. The top half was so crowded with offshoots from nearby buildings, thick cables of rope, and large baskets whizzing by that I couldn’t see much more than the occasional glint of marble, made golden from the last rays of the setting sun.
The palace was surrounded by a high wall with a tall iron gate. Two guards were stationed before the gate. Once our carriage drew near, Orlando leaned out of the window and gave them a self-assured wave. This sort of thing was not my specialty, so I figured it was best to let him handle it.
“I am Mage Orlando Mozamo of the Chemosh Guild and chairman of the Interguild Disciplinary Council,” he said in a voice brimming with authority.
“What is your business at the palace, Master Mage?” one of the guards asked respectfully.
“I must speak with His Majesty on a matter of extreme urgency. It is not exaggeration when I say that the very kingdom of Penador may well be at stake.”
The guards looked at each other dubiously. It didn’t seem like they got requests like this too often.
“Apologies, Master Mage, but we have strict orders that none may be granted an audience with His Majesty without prior approval from ranking nobility.”
Orlando nodded calmly and handed the sealed letter from Edmund. “I trust a letter of introduction from Lord Edmund of House Ariel will suffice?”
“Lord Edmund?” The guard seemed impressed. I guess my client really was a big deal if his name even carried weight at the palace. “This is… uh, highly irregular, Master Mage.”
“It’s above our pay grade,” said the other guard, an older man. “You should take it to Chamberlain Minola.”
The first guard looked relieved by that suggestion. “Yeah, good idea.” He turned back to Orlando. “Master Mage, if you and your”—he gave me a wary look—“companion will follow me…”
“Thank you,” replied Orlando.
The guard opened the gate, and our carriage headed into the courtyard beyond. I found myself tensing up, waiting to see if we were going to be “found out.” But I reminded myself that for once I wasn’t bullshitting my way into somewhere fancy. Old habits died hard, I guess.
We left the carriage in the courtyard and followed the guard up a short marble staircase to the front entrance of the palace. The doors were twice as tall as normal ones and made of a deep mahogany marked with protection sigils of inlaid pearl and gold.
The guard unlocked the doors and motioned for us to enter. As we stepped into the white marble foyer, he locked them behind us. There was a finality to the metallic click that made me nervous, but what was I going to do at this point? I was all in now.
We followed the guard down a long, vaulted hallway with bright marble arches and magic-powered chandeliers. On either side were rich oil portraits of various pinched and anxious-looking men and women, presumably past kings and queens. I couldn’t imagine running a kingdom would be much fun, so it didn’t surprise me that even in portraiture they looked miserable.
The guard brought us to a small circular room without any furniture or decoration except a series of sigils etched into the wall beside the entryway. Once all three of us were inside, he closed an iron gate and traced one of the sigils with a precise quickness that came from doing it frequently.
The floor beneath us shuddered, and my stomach lurched as we began to rise.
“This a lift?” I asked the guard.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Roz,” I said.
“Ma’am?”
“My name is Roz Featherstone.”
“Oh, uh, yes Miss Featherstone.” It looked like he wasn’t used to people he was escorting talking to him that much.
“And yours?”
“My name, uh, Miss Featherstone?”
“Yeah.”
“Private Benedick Shane, Miss Featherstone.”
“There, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” I asked. “Now we’re acquainted.”
“Y-yes, ma’am—I mean Miss Featherstone.”
We all stood there awkwardly looking at nothing in particular as the platform continued its ascent. I wondered how high we were going. Chamberlains were fairly important, I was pretty sure, so maybe near the top. We had a few minutes to kill, and I decided I didn’t need the king’s expressed permission to start nosing around.
“Listen, Benny,” I said. “Can I call you Benny?”
“Uh, sure, Miss Featherstone.”
“Call me Roz. I’m not big on formality, in case you hadn’t guessed.”
“O-okay, Roz.”
“So tell me, Benny. You seen any mages come through here in the last few days? I mean, ones you didn’t recognize?”
“Not on my watch, ma—uh, Roz.”
“And when’s that?”
“Noon to midnight.”
“Long shift, huh?”
“It’s not so bad. Since there’s always two of us on post, we can take breaks.”
“Always two, huh?”
“Yes, Roz.”
“So it’s possible a mage came through while you were on break, then?”
“I suppose it is. Although I think Antonio would have mentioned it. You know, not much to talk about just standing around all day, so any little thing that comes along, we usually talk about.”
“I bet we’ll be giving you two boys something to speculate about for hours.”
He laughed nervously, starting to loosen up just a tiny bit. “I reckon so.”
“You know what a sigil is, Benny?”
“It’s the magic circle things, isn’t it?”
“That’s right. You’re a smart guy. Have you seen anyone with one of those on their neck?”
He gave me a confused look. “Like painted on?”
“Or cut in, burned in, anything like that?”
“People burn magic circles into their skin?”
“Usually not to themselves,” I said.
He looked even more confused. He opened his mouth, probably to ask what sort of monster did stuff like that, but then the platform came to a halt.
“Oh, uh, this is our stop.”
As he unlocked the iron gate, I said, “So, Benny, if you come across anyone—and I mean anyone—here at the palace with a sigil on their neck, it’s worth a silver if you come find me, wherever I am in the palace. You got that?”
“Okay, sure, Roz.”
He looked a little guilty. Like maybe he wasn’t supposed to be taking money from people he was escorting around. I guess that made sense. But it wasn’t like I was bribing the guy to take me to the king or anything. I trusted Edmund’s letter to do the trick on that count.
“Follow me, please.” Benny led us down another shiny marble hallway. It terminated at a closed door guarded by two other royal-uniformed guys who were about twice as big as Benny and didn’t seem nearly as much of a pushover.
“This mage has an urgent request for Chamberlain Minola,” Benny told them uneasily, like he wasn’t sure they’d go along with it.
The two guards eyed Orlando suspiciously, but he returned their gaze. “It is a matter of great urgency, and should I find myself delayed without cause, the repercussions could be great.”
They didn’t seem impressed by his semi-veiled threat, but they at least opened the door.
The room inside was dominated almost entirely by a comically large desk that was so neat and tidy, I wondered if any work at all got done on it. An older woman with long gray hair and wearing a stiff brocade coat sat behind the desk. She was reading a parchment scroll when we entered, but when she looked up, her eyes fixed on me in a way I found more than a little unnerving.
“Chamberlain Minola.” Benny saluted sharply. “I present Mage Orlando Mozamo of the Chemosh Guild and chairman of the Interguild Disciplinary Council. He wishes to speak with His Majesty on a matter of great urgency, and has a letter of introduction from Lord Edmund of Ariel House.”
“Is that so?” asked Minola, although her eyes didn’t leave me. “Pray tell me, where is this letter from Lord Edmund?”
“Right here, Chamberlain.”
Benny stepped forward and held it out. Minola finally broke eye contact with me and took the letter. She opened the seal, and her expression was inscrutable as she scanned the document. Finally she looked up, and her eyes once again locked on me in a way that was now raising all kinds of alarms in my head.
“Guards,” Minola called.
The two burly meat sticks squeezed through the door into the room.
Her voice was calm, almost casual as she said, “Seize these two criminals.”
“What?” I shouted as big hands wrapped around my arms. “You saw the seal! That’s Lord Edmund’s!”
“It is indeed his seal,” Minola said coolly. “But I’ve known Lord Edmund for a very long time, and that is most certainly not his signature.”
“Oh, come on—”
“Rosalind.” Orlando gave me a pleading look. “I’m sure this is a misunderstanding that we can quickly clear up, but not if you do anything rash.”
I gritted my teeth and nodded. This was still his show, so I’d keep following his lead. For now.
Orlando turned back to Minola, giving her his most winning smile. “Chamberlain Minola, I can assure you on my honor as a mage of the Chemosh Guild that I witnessed Lord Edmund sign that letter. And as you no doubt gathered from the contents of the letter, we have an urgent need to speak to His Majesty. I appreciate your caution, and submit that you may secure us however you like, but only please grant us an audience with the king so that we might avert a terrible disaster.”
Minola stepped out from behind her giant desk, her hands clasped behind her back. She walked over to him, a slight smile on her lips. “Yes, I bet you’d like that, wouldn’t you? Get your assassin here close enough to His Majesty that she can do her dirty work.”
“I assure you that Arcanist Featherstone is no assassin, but a well-respected expert within the mage community.”
“I wonder…” She turned her creepy gaze back to me. “I will investigate this matter personally. And until I make my final decision, you will remain confined to the dungeons.”
“The dungeons?” Orlando looked outraged. “Surely you jest, Chamberlain.”
“Not at all, Mage Mozamo. Take them away.”
“The Chemosh Guild will hear of this!” he told her ominously, his nostrils flared with fury.
“I’m sure they will.” She did not seem the least bit worried.
I looked meaningfully at Orlando as the guards pushed us back toward the door. “Now can I—”
“No,” he said. “We must handle this properly, or we’ll be sabotaging our own goal.”
“Fine…”
I allowed one of the meat sticks to haul me toward the door, but just before I stepped out of the room, Minola stopped him.
The chamberlain leaned over and murmured into my ear. “You didn’t think you could simply waltz in here and stop plans that have been more than a decade in the making, did you, knight of flames?”
I froze.
She chuckled quietly and walked back to her desk. “Guards, take them away.”
“You motherfucker!” I fought pointlessly against the guard’s grip to reach her.
Minola—or whoever it really was—gestured toward me, still smug. “There, she shows her true nature.”
“I’ll show you my foot up your ass, you piece of shit!”
“Roz!” barked Orlando. “Please! I’m begging you!”
“But she’s—”
“We will find a way.” His eyes were desperate. “But not this way.”
I took a deep breath, unable to keep the snarl from my lip. “Fine. I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“So do I,” he said.