'What's that?' asked Ironfoot.
'When I was there five years ago, I was working with your most recent predecessor, a woman named Jenien. She was killed at the home of a man named Prae Benesile on the night of Mab's invasion.'
'The trail of her killer may be a bit cold after five years,' said Silverdun.
'I know who killed her,' said Paet, a bit more severely than seemed necessary, even for him. 'I want you to find out about Prae Benesile. I want to know why she was investigating him and why it got her killed by the Bel Zheret.'
Silverdun and Ironfoot glanced briefly at each other. Ironfoot's face was stony, but Silverdun could almost see the words 'Bel Zheret' hanging on his lips.
'And what do we do if we encounter Bel Zheret ourselves?' asked Silverdun.
Paet laughed, a short bark that echoed in the room. He stood slowly, leaning on his cane. He turned around, facing the wall, and lifted up his shirt. A long, purple scar made an artful swirl across his back.
He let the shirttail fall and looked at the two of them. 'You?' he asked, sighing. 'You die.'
He paused. 'That reminds me of something,' he said.
Silverdun wasn't quite sure he wanted to hear whatever it was the thought of his death reminded Paet of.
'When you go on this mission, it's likely that you'll find yourself in a stressful situation before too long,' Paet said.
'That's kind of the point, isn't it?'
Paet smiled his thin smile. 'I suppose so. Regardless, when that happens, you may find yourself experiencing ... certain reactions that you have not felt before.'
'What does that mean?' asked Silverdun.
'I can't say,' said Paet. 'You must be ready for anything. Just be aware that if you find yourself suddenly more capable than before, that this is to be both expected and encouraged. There's no way of telling exactly when or how this will occur.'
'How can you be so sure that whatever this is, is going to happen?'
'It always happens to newly minted Shadows. It's the way of things.'
'Jedron never mentioned anything about it,' said Ironfoot.
'I imagine that half of what Jedron told you was outright lies, and the other half was misleading.'
Silverdun couldn't argue with that.
'Be warned,' said Paet. 'That's all.'
'Paet,' said Ironfoot. 'When we were on that island, something very strange happened. There was a pit, and it was black-'
'I know what you're going to say,' said Paet. 'And I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to discuss it. What happened on that island is not for you to know. For the time being.'
'And when will that time cease to be?' asked Ironfoot.
'When it becomes necessary for it to be otherwise.'
Paet stood and shooed them out of his office.
'Now go into the den and wait. I'll be down in a few minutes with the mission specialists, and we'll go over in detail exactly what I expect you to do.'
Mag Mell is a place of circles and mirrors. The world is a spiral archipelago of round volcanic atolls, with calm waters within and raging seas without. The waters within the island grottoes are preternaturally, magically still, and because the sand beneath them is black, they provide a perfect reflection of the sky above. In Mag Me II, mirrors are holy; to break one is to break the symmetry of life itself.
It is a segregated world. The men live aboveground on the islands in houses of wood, and the women live beneath the water in villages of rock and woven seaweed. They come together in the shallows to court and to mate, but the majority of their lives are spent separately.
Children in Mag Mell are born androgynous and amphibious, capable of living either above or below the water, but when they reach puberty they must decide on a gender.When that time is reached, a special ceremony is held during which the child declares itself either male or female. If the child chooses to be male, then it remains
