male prisoners were not for sale, and they were pulled straight on to the red train, to the groans and disappointed shouts of the onlooking crowd. Kate watched as a small group of pickpockets were allowed to squeeze in through a gate and snatch whatever they wanted from the prisoners being taken on board. Cloaks, shoes, coins, anything that could be grabbed through the cage bars was taken, but the thieves paid a price for what they took. Not one of them skulked back into the crowd without a bruise, a broken finger, or at least a dazed look in their eyes once Morvane’s men were through with them.
Kate looked for Artemis among the steady stream of people being wheeled across the platform, but there was no sign of him.
“Wait here,” said Silas, walking to the doorway and kicking the three steps down on to the platform. “I will come back for you.”
Silas stepped off the train into full view of the crowd, and the effect his presence had upon the people was incredible. All shouting stopped at once. The station fell silent as he swept his eyes around it, scrutinizing every face, every movement, and every breath taken around him.
Kate could almost feel his concentration. She could sense dominance emanating from him without his even saying a word. He was completely in control of every person in that station. Not one of them would dare to defy him. Fume was his city. His territory. In that place he was not just another face among many enemies. He was known and feared for reasons far beyond the reach of any ordinary warden. No one looked at him directly, careful not to attract his attention, and the air hung with the anticipation of his words. When at last he did speak, it was to give one simple instruction. “Carry on.”
With Silas’s blessing, the crowd burst into life again. The frenzied bidding continued, the station was a mass of ordered chaos, and then one bidder’s shout stood out above the rest.
“Scholars. Historians. Booksellers! Paying a high price!”
“If you’re not interested in this batch then keep your mouth shut,” growled a warden, glaring at a small man who was waving a hat in the middle of the crowd. “Wait your turn.”
Three more cages rolled by before the man called out again. “I represent a member of the High Council! I must be heard. Scholars! Historians! Booksellers! Name your price.”
That got the wardens’ attention.
Orders were passed along the platform. There was a burst of activity farther down the train, and a cage was lifted out before its turn.
“All right then. One bookseller. The only one we have.”
Kate moved around her cage, trying to get a better look. There was only one bookshop in Morvane and, as far as she knew, Edgar had not been captured by the wardens. The only bookseller on that train had to be Artemis.
“Does he know his trade?” asked the buyer. “I require someone skilled in history and literature. Nothing less.”
“He’s all we’ve got. Either take him, or clear off.”
The buyer pushed his way to the front of the crowd, money changed hands, and the warden gave another signal to his men. A cage was pulled forward by two brown horses and there, sitting inside it on his own, was Artemis, looking pale and sickly in the firelight. The man inspected him briefly—“He’ll do”—then Artemis was rolled off toward the prisoners’ exit tunnel and Kate could only watch helplessly as he was taken out of sight.
“Next!” bellowed the warden, pocketing the fat coin pouch.
She had to do something. She had to get out!
Kate was struggling to break her lock when a shout carried along the platform, a sound like a screaming cat ripped through the air, and green fire streaked past the train before exploding not far away. Silas turned, his face veiled in anger as a second streak chased the first—red this time—with a silver sparkle right on its tail. The crowd ducked as one, and a blaze of white sparks blossomed above their heads, accompanied by an ear-splitting bang.
Someone was setting off fireworks in the station.
Wardens converged on the source of the commotion and their frightened dogs struggled against their leashes as they barked and clawed the ground. Kate was too far back to see anything clearly. More explosions burst above the platform, a green flash erupted right above her carriage and when she looked up she saw someone slither down through the roof, grab on to one