title of mage. He started to say, “I’m only a student,” but caught himself in time. After facing the prospect of torture in this building, it was very pleasant to be treated with respect and a little fear.
“If you’d like a seat, dhask?” the woman asked, indicating the benches against the walls.
Keth and Tris sat gratefully. Once settled, Keth leaned over to Tris and murmured, “Different from my last visit.”
She smiled back, her eyes busy following some movement Keth was unable to see. “Mine, too. Chime, how many times have I told you to stay out of the ashes?” she asked as the dragon hiccuped and expelled a cloud of dust. “I don’t care if you like it, you don’t seem able to digest it.” She looked at Glaki. “If you catch her at it, don’t let her eat ashes.” Glaki nodded. She pressed close to Tris’s side and took the older girl’s hand. Keth was surprised at her apparent affection for the redhead. The Glaki he’d known in the company of Iralima and Yali had been shy.
“Keth! Tris! Hello, little one,” Dema said to Glaki as he walked into the waiting room. He held the lightning globe in his hands. The surface bolts were gone; shapes and colours were dimly visible inside. “I’m about to ride uptown so we can be close when it clears, since uptown seems to be where our kakasoi is headed. Do you want to come?”
Keth was eager to go. He wanted to catch this beast, not just tell others where to find him. He glanced at Tris, who frowned. “Not me,” she replied. “I’m not going to leave Glaki by herself.” She pursed her mouth, then looked directly into Keth’s face for the first time since she had meditated that morning. “Are you sure that you feel up to this?” she asked sharply. “Because you have maybe a pinch of magic left in you, no more than that. My experience is that when you’re that drained of magic, your body’s on the edge of exhaustion, too. You may collapse before too much longer, no matter how good you feel right now.”
“I’m fine,” Keth said testily, through the pounding in his head.
Tris shrugged. “Please yourself. Glaki and I are going to Ferouze’s.” She looked at Dema, her face serious. “I hope you catch him,” she said quietly. “Good luck.” She levered herself up from her bench, gathered up dog, dragon and girl, and left the arurimat.
Dema turned bright, eager brown eyes on Keth. “We’re going to ride. Come on — let’s get you a horse.”
Progress up the Street of Glass towards Assembly Square and Heskalifos was annoyingly slow. Time after time Keth wanted to shout for people to get out of the way, but with the globe’s contents still shrouded in lightning, it made no sense to hurry. The press of humanity on the streets was loud and colourful, a constant irritation to Keth’s nerves. He also didn’t like it that Dema kept sneaking looks at him.
At Apricot Street skodi, Dema halted at a street vendor’s for small eggplants stuffed with lamb and rice, a Sotaten dish that was popular in Tharios. He bought enough for everyone, and ordered Keth to eat. Keth bolted the food: he hadn’t realized how very hungry he was. Dema paid another vendor for skewers of grilled kid marinated in olive oil, cinnamon and onion, and a third for plum juice. They moved their horses to the side of the street to devour it all, licking their fingers when they were done.
The thickest crowds were bound for Khapik, but even headed uphill there was plenty of traffic as the city’s shopkeepers, clerks and merchants turned their faces towards home. The First and Second classes would not venture out for their evening’s entertainment until dark, Dema told Keth. Their servants ran last-minute errands at the skodis, doing business at a trot that made their hobnailed sandals strike sparks from the stones of the roadway.
Dark drew down slowly. Torches were lit at eating houses, other shops that stayed open late, and inns. Foot traffic began to thin out, replaced by horses, chairs and litters. Keth’s headache eased after he’d eaten, but now he was dizzy. He bit his lip, determined to say nothing to Dema.
They halted at Akaya Square, where the Ghost had left Yali’s body. At an open-air eating house they bought dishes of olives, dates, liver patties, dried apricots and flatbread, along with a pitcher of grape juice, and settled