My brows knitted in confusion. Edan wore no rings or amulets, as Emperor Khanujin did. “I don’t see a talisman on you.”
“The answer to that would give you too much power over me,” Edan said with a smile. “Now, don’t scrunch up your face like that. You’ll get wrinkles.”
He waited until I let go of my frown. “I would need no magic paint to create an illusion, whereas an ordinary person such as Norbu would. He’d have to give something up, say a thimble or two of blood, every time he wants to use it. Must have cost him a fortune to obtain.”
“How come no one else can tell that his designs are illusions?”
“Oh, he’s a fine tailor on his own, so he uses magic sparingly. But I can see it well enough, and borrowed magic can always be undone.” Edan tapped his chin with his knuckles, looking pensive. “I suspect you could expose him with a bucket of water—since he’s using paint, after all.”
“I’ve used magic too,” I reminded him quietly. It made me uncomfortable to remember.
“So you have.” He leaned close. “But your scissors aren’t borrowed magic.”
“What do you mean?”
“You didn’t pay in blood.” A dimple formed on the left corner of his mouth. “That means a little bit of magic sings in you.”
I didn’t know where my grandmother’s scissors came from, or whether Baba had known they were magic. “It was so easy,” I whispered. “Using the scissors…The shawl I made looked like my own work. But it wasn’t. Not really. I don’t know if I should feel proud or ashamed or—”
The dimple disappeared. “Feel lucky,” said Edan. “Your scissors chose to speak to you. It is a gift, one you may need.” His voice turned soft. “One that can go away if you are no longer worthy of its power.”
The sadness in Edan’s words struck a chord in me and made me wonder if he thought of his own magic as a gift. Why had I ever distrusted him? He’d always been my ally here in the palace. He’d always believed in me.
And Lady Sarnai had asked me to betray him.
“You’re quiet,” Edan noted. “Does what I say bother you?”
“No, it’s not that.” I shifted my stance. The pebble in my shoe hurt more than ever.
“Then something else?” His roguish smile returned, a shade more somber than usual, but I could tell he was trying to lighten the mood. “Shall I coax the truth out of you? Perhaps a serum would help—”
I couldn’t take it anymore. “Lady Sarnai asked me to spy on you,” I blurted.
A beat. Then, curse him, he burst out laughing.
“What’s so funny?” I put my hands on my hips. “You don’t believe me?”
“When did she ask this of you?” Edan said between laughs.
Already I was regretting my decision to tell him. “This morning.”
“Then she’s even more of a fool than I suspected.”
“Why is that? She has good reason to distrust you.”
“She does,” he agreed. “But you? You’d be the worst spy in the world, Maia Tamarin, given your complete inability to tell a lie.” Still bemused, he said, “Why’d you decide to tell me? Dare I believe you’ve finally softened toward me?”
I flashed him my most irritated scowl. Edan had a way of making my temper flare. “My loyalty is to the emperor. You are his loyal servant. That’s why I told you.”
“And here I thought it was because of our growing friendship, and my affection for you.”
I muttered, “I liked you better when I thought you were a eunuch.”
Edan looked half offended, half amused. “You thought I was a eunuch?”
“A tall one,” I said, turning up my nose. “And one who dressed far above his station.”
“I’m far too good-looking to be a eunuch,” Edan protested.
“I would disagree. Some are quite handsome, and you…” I searched for the right insult. “Emperor Khanujin’s better-looking than you.”
The quirk that tugged at his lips was completely unreadable to me. I couldn’t tell whether I’d stung him—or amused him.
“Is it true that the shansen called upon demons to murder the emperor’s father?”
The quirk in Edan’s lips vanished. “Who told you that?”
“Lady Sarnai. She said her father had to pay a steep price for dealing with demons.”
“It’s true the shansen has dealt with demons,” said Edan carefully. “Whether he called upon them to kill Khanujin’s family is a different story. But it’s strange that you should hear it from Lady Sarnai.”
“I think she despises her father for using magic. And you, for being an