I tried to remember the details of Dirva’s papers and could not dredge them up. I knew he’d lied about his parents, and that he’d said one of them was dead, but I couldn’t remember which one. “A relative is not well,” I said.

“Best thoughts to the relative. You know the relative?”

“No.”

“And yet you go beyond borders with him?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm.” The guard waved two of the others out of the room. I could not help but wonder why. He thumbed through my papers again. “There is a woman with you.”

“Yes.”

“Who is she? Why are you traveling together?”

“Her name is Abira. She is a drummer. She is returning home. The City is her home.” I hesitated. “We are traveling with her because she’s made the trip before.”

“Do you plan to return?”

“Yes.”

“When?”

“I don’t know. It depends on my mentor’s relative.”

The guard smoked his cigarette in silence. I don’t know how long the silence lasted, but by the time he spoke again I was drenched in sweat. He tapped my papers with a large, blunt finger. “A shaper at my gate.”

I forgot to breathe. There was danger in his voice. I could hear it. Or maybe I could feel it; I’m not sure. “It is not my primary ability.”

“It never is.” The guard leaned forward. I stared at the table. “Tell me, Mr. Lirat’Mochai, how can I trust the things you tell me? How can I know that you have not picked what is best for you to say from my mind? I do not like to be tricked, Mr. Lirat’Mochai.”

I closed my eyes, as much to keep me from reading him as to keep him from being read. I, like most of us with this gift, have a terrible tendency to lapse into magic when threatened. It’s involuntary, I think—a pure reaction. Much of the training for a shaper deals with this, that when we grow scared or anxious or threatened we eavesdrop whether we want to or not. “It’s not mind reading,” I said quietly. “That is a misconception.”

“Ah, so you admit to it.” There was a rustle of cloth, and I believe just then he was performing a warding against the impurity of my magic.

“No! No, I just…no, I have not used the gift at all since I arrived at the gate. You would have felt it if I had. You’ve been read before, yes? It burns. You would have felt it!”