‘Didn’t the messenger who summoned you not make it clear he’s no longer here? You have to visit him in the palace. Ask at the Room of Nineteen Couches and they’ll let you in.’
‘Right.’
‘Don’t be fooled by his foreign looks,’ said the custodian, ‘not that being foreign means you’re automatically stupid but…’ He gave Snake in the Eye an up and down glance and then thought better of expanding his point. ‘Look, he’s a slippery bastard. Remember that. He’s an expert at finding devil worship where there is none, so admit to no amulet, no charm, no number square. He’ll use it against you.’
Snake in the Eye smiled, not quite understanding at first.
‘He casts curses?’
‘No, he studies them and seeks to remove them.’
‘What sort of curse?’
‘This sky for a start. And many we’re not supposed to talk about.’
‘How does he do this? He’s not doing it very well — the sky is still black.’
‘It’s an enormous magic,’ said the custodian. ‘You can’t shift that sort of thing overnight; I think even the most rudimentary knowledge of the correct charts and positions of the stars would reveal that. No, he’s working towards it, slowly. He’ll get there. He’s a scholar of the Magnaura. Our men never fail.’
Snake in the Eye touched the hilt of his sword.
‘Has he successfully removed curses before?’
‘This university attracts the finest brains from throughout the world. Of course he has; it’s why he was picked. The word is he was shipped in from the north specifically to solve this problem.’
‘Hmm.’
‘You are awed,’ said the custodian, ‘and no wonder. Every day here we see marvels that men from other countries — indeed men from two hundred paces down the Middle Way — have never seen in their lives.’
Snake in the Eye thought about that. He thought about the mechanical tree in which birds sang, the great statues, the amazing mosaic that stretched out under his feet.
‘Could this man remove a curse on a person?’ he said.
‘He could,’ said the doorkeeper. ‘For do you think the chamberlain would trust him to take the stain of hell from the sky if he could not do such a simple task?’
Snake in the Eye’s tongue wet his lips.
‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘I will go to the Room of Nineteen Couches now.’
‘Don’t apologise if you’re late,’ said the custodian. ‘The guards there don’t keep proper records like we do in here. Just tell them he’s sent for you and leave it at that.’
Snake in the Eye walked out of the building, his heart pounding. If this man was as good as the custodian said he was he could cure him. Then Snake in the Eye would lead Mauger to him and honour his debt.
He cleared the university grounds at a trot and ran to the palace through the dirty air. He was on his way to his destiny, his future of blood.
30
Loys helped Azemar up the stairs of the Numera, his mind numb with shock.
‘For pity,’ Azemar kept saying, ‘help some of the others too. Use your authority to spare them the dark.’
‘It will be a close call getting you out of the prison,’ said Loys. ‘I can’t risk any others.’
‘God does not see here,’ said Azemar. ‘He does not see. He is a blind thing fumbling through the night. Can’t you smell him? He’s here. I can smell him; I can hear him breathing in the tunnels.’
Loys said nothing, just helped his friend on. He was convinced Azemar had become deranged by his ordeal. He had to get him back to a calm and clean place. The palace was ideal, but he had been frightened by the assassins in the tunnels. Who had sent them? The chamberlain? Styliane? The Office of Barbarians? Who knew?
He felt very vulnerable. Loys’ discovery of the presence of the wolfman had triggered the attack. There had been threats before but no move against his life. The wolfman sorcerer was the key to whatever was going on, Loys was sure. Beatrice was in the palace; rest and food for Azemar were there. He had to enter the den of his enemies.
What to do? The emperor had insisted on the study. He had initiated the whole thing so he must be interested in seeing it done well, accurately and effectively. He was Loys’ only certain ally but he had no way to contact him. He couldn’t just run off to find him in the field and put all his suspicions in front of him. Loys was aware he was implicating great men, allies of the emperor. The proof would need to be undeniable before he acted.
Azemar looked around the Numera with terror in his eyes.
‘He’s here,’ he said.
‘Who is here, Azemar?’
‘The pale fellow, the one who led me to the abomination.’
‘Come on, come on.’
Loys had got Azemar as far as the door now. Two guards stared at the men, one holding up his hand. ‘Where do you think you’re going?’ said one, a tall man with a scrappy black beard.
‘Out,’ said Loys.
‘Who is this?’
‘A prisoner of the chamberlain. I am the chamberlain’s lieutenant and I am removing him.’
‘No, you’re not, son,’ said the tall guard. ‘No one leaves here but by the say-so of Meletios.’
Loys swallowed. Meletios was dead in the caves — one of the assassins had done for him. The noise would not have carried to here, past the groans and the screams of the prisoners.
‘Your Meletios is under investigation by the chamberlain’s office. This man is part of that investigation. Do you want me to report that you are obstructing the chamberlain?’
‘He can’t leave without official sanction.’
‘What is that?’
Loys pointed to a cheap medallion made from a coin on the man’s neck.
‘Just a necklace.’
‘Worn to what purpose?’
The man took a pace back.
‘No purpose at all, sir.’
‘Because it looks very much like an amulet to me, soldier. It looks to me as though you might have drilled that coin and uttered charms over it in order to protect you from this black sky.’
‘Men need some protection,’ said the guard.
‘That is devilry. And I am the man appointed to root devils out of this city. We will return the prisoner.’
‘No!’ said Azemar.
‘We will return the prisoner but you will report for interrogation to my rooms at the palace tomorrow. What is your name?’
The guard went pale.
‘Let him go,’ said the other one. ‘He’s a quaestor appointed by the chamberlain. That gives him a lot of clout.’
The guard with the beard lowered his eyes. ‘Go on then,’ he said.
‘No,’ said Loys, ‘you come with me. You can lead us out.’
‘If I must.’
‘You must.’
They passed through the building. The presence of the guard removed further questions and soon a patch of weak daylight appeared at the end of the corridor. Freedom.
‘You need to wait for the formalities,’ said the guard as he approached the little office at the side of the
