A Magic of Twilight

“Oh, yes!” she answered in a rush. The affirmation burst from her in a near shout and a laugh that shook tears again from her eyes. She thought the carriage must be shaking with the surge of joy the words had unleashed. “Certainly, Archigos.”

“Good,” the Archigos said. He chuckled at her unrestrained joy.

“Then I’ll have your Marque prepared and signed. You’ll no longer be Vajica; you’ll be O’Teni Ana cu’Seranta.”

He spoke the title slowly and clearly. He was still looking at her, his head-too large for the small body-tilted to one side as if waiting for the question she wanted to ask. His silence gave her the courage to speak. “I must have misheard you, Archigos. I thought. . thought you said o’teni. ”

“Do I speak so poorly?” he said with a chuckle. “U’Teni cu’Dosteau was. . well, he was quite persuasive, and after what I witnessed. . I think that we have more than enough e’tenis already. U’Teni cu’Dosteau believed you were already well past the ability expected from an e’teni, and I would agree with him. In fact, you will be attached to my personal staff, O’Teni. Is that acceptable to you?”

She had no words. She could only nod, a helpless grin on her face.

“I’ll take that as acceptance, then,” the Archigos said. He sighed, turning away from her to raise his hands again to the crowds. “O’Teni, look behind the carriage. Look at the faces you see there.”

Ana glanced down and behind. The a’teni immediately behind the carriage stared back at her, nearly all their gazes lifted toward the carriage. One face in particular snagged her attention. She knew him: Orlandi ca’Cellibrecca, A’Teni of Brezno, Tete of the Guardians, and the man who had arrested dozens of Numetodo last Cenzi’s Day in

Brezno, tried them for forbidden use of the Ilmodo, then had the prisoners executed in the temple square before cheering throngs-his face was turned to her, and his stare was intense and appraising.

“You see them?” the Archigos said softly. “They’re all wondering why you’re standing up here with me, wondering what they’ve missed and how critical it will be to their own power. They’re wondering how it is that an inexperienced acolyte could manage a counter-spell that quickly and remain standing afterward. They’re wondering, honestly, if they could have done the same. They’re trying to figure out how to turn this to their advantage, and whether they should make an overture to you as soon as they can, just in case. When they’re dismissed at the Old Temple, they’ll be scattering to their offices and apartments, whispering hurried instructions to their own underlings, trying to find out everything they can about you, hoping to uncover something they can use. One thing you should understand is that in the world you’re entering, ‘trust,’ ‘loyalty,’ and ‘friendship’ are all concepts that are liquid and mutable. But then, that’s something I suspect you already know.”

Ana shivered. Except for A’Teni ca’Cellibrecca’s stern and dour face, most of the faces of the a’teni smiled blandly up at her, as if they were pleased with what they saw; one or two even nodded as they made eye contact, their smiles widening. A few of them, looking away, were frowning as if lost in thought. Ana turned quickly back to the Archigos, and his face was also appraising. She wondered how much he knew. If Sala or Tari have whispered to the teni, or if Vatarh has said something. .

But the Archigos chuckled again. “As soon as we finish this tiresome routine, I’ll sign your Marque in the Old Temple,” he said. “Tonight, after the Lighting of the Avi, you’ll be anointed before your family, in Cenzi’s Chapel in the Archigos’ Temple.” Pudgy, splayed fingers touched her shoulder softly and she forced herself not to flinch away from his touch, a touch that reminded her too much of her vatarh’s hand. “Shh, Ana. . You know how much I love you. Don’t pull away, my little bird. . ”

“You’ve been gifted by Cenzi Himself, Ana,” the Archigos said so softly that she could barely hear him over the crowd. “It’s rare, that blessing, and sometimes the hardest thing is realizing everything that Cenzi demands of us in return for the gift.” His fingers tightened on her shoulder, and she frowned as the lines deepened in his face. He leaned in closely, so that she could see herself in the dark pupils of his eyes.

“The greater the gift, the greater the cost,” he whispered. “You will learn that, O’Teni. I’m afraid you will learn that well.”

Karl ci’Vliomani

“Dhaspi ce’Coeni was a damned fool. Now we need to make sure his foolishness doesn’t hurt the rest of us and my mission.”

Karl chopped his arms through the turgid air of the basement as if he were slicing a sword through the man’s neck-a gesture, he realized, that was probably prophetic for the captured ce’Coeni. He spoke in Paeti, the language of the island he called home, a language he was certain few would understand here even if they could overhear it. Mika ce’Gilan, there with Karl, sank back into the plentiful shadows lurking in the corners. The basement room was a shabby area stinking of old stone and mold. The only light was from a trio of candles guttering in their stand on a wobbly table, thin, greasy trails of smoke twining upward from the flames, shifting as the wind from Karl’s gesture made them waver and sputter. Above, they could hear muffled conversation and the creaking of floorboards under heavy feet: the room was below a tavern in the twisting streets of the Oldtown. Even at midday, there were patrons drinking and eating there.

“Ce’Coeni didn’t know me, ” Mika said, his own Paeti colored with the more guttural accents of Graubundi. “He can’t betray anyone beyond the lower cell that recruited him. He had no contact with you as Envoy, so we’re isolated from him. The damage will be minimal. He was just a rogue, Karl. A stupid rogue.”

“I wish I were that confident.” Karl grimaced. He rubbed his shell pendant between his fingers as he stalked back and forth in front of the small table, too agitated to sit. “The teni preach against us even if the Archigos is less vocal than most, the Kraljica still refuses to meet us directly, and we know how closely the Kraljica’s people are watching me.

Now the talk is going to be-again-about how dangerous and violent we are, and there are going to be those telling the Kraljica that the Numetodo can’t be tolerated any longer. A’Teni ca’Cellibrecca will be calling for the Archigos to do what he did in Brezno, or worse. We can tell them the truth, but the truth isn’t what they want to hear. You can bet that Commandant ca’Rudka is already in the cell where they’ve put poor ce’Coeni, and after the commandant’s through with him, ce’Coeni will be happy to sign any confession that ca’Rudka puts in front of him, just to stop the pain.”

Even in the wan candlelight, Karl could see that Mika’s face was pale. He stopped his pacing and let the pendant swing back around his neck on its silver chain as he leaned on the table with both hands.

“I’m not about to kill the messenger, my friend,” he told Mika, and that brought a quick smile. “I’m glad you came as quickly as you did.

There’s nothing we can do about anything that’s happened. It was incredibly stupid and it’s going to cause us problems, but it’s done.” The words, intended for Mika, also managed to staunch the anger inside him. He was starting to think again, at least, instead of only reacting.

He took a long breath. “All right. We need to minimize the damage.

I want you to draft a statement for me to send to the Kraljica, denying that the attack on the Archigos was part of a Numetodo plot or that ce’Coeni was anything but a deranged man with a personal grudge against the Concenzia Faith and the Archigos. Deny that we’ve ever met with him or know him at all. You know what to say. Ask again if I can meet with her; she won’t agree, especially now, but I might get a meeting with ca’Rudka and be able to garner some idea of how he intends to react. The Archigos, I’m sure, will be making light of the attack, especially given that no one was hurt-he’ll use it as an example of how weak the Numetodo are against the truly faithful, but you know that everyone’s going to be talking about it for a few days. We need to make certain that this doesn’t happen again, so get the word flowing down to the others through the usual channels.”

Mika nodded. “I’ll get a draft to you by this evening.”

“Good. We can finish it then and I’ll sign it. . ” Karl closed his eyes momentarily, shaking his head. “Tell me about this woman who stopped ce’Coeni.”

“I don’t know who she is yet, but we’ll find out. I know she arrived in one of the Concenzia carriages, but she’s not a teni that we know and wasn’t dressed as one. Afterward, the Archigos brought her into his own carriage; she rode with him to the Old Temple.”

“That could be gratitude, or worse-it could all have been planned,” Karl said. “Is it possible ce’Coeni was working both sides, that the Archigos planned this to bolster his standing? That would explain how this strange