Alec stepped back in alarm, hair prickling on his arms and up his neck. The handkerchief lay on the ground where she’d been, pristine as when he’d put it in his pocket. He gingerly picked it up. It was dry. He looked around, wondering if anyone else was hiding in the shadows, then hurried back to where Seregil was waiting at the mouth of the alley.

“How could anyone think this place isn’t haunted?” he said, showing Seregil the handkerchief.

“What did you see?”

Alec looked up at him in surprise. “Didn’t you see the girl?”

“No, but I did watch you give your handkerchief to something I couldn’t see. I’m starting to think you have a talent for attracting spirits.”

“Illior’s Light, I hope not!” Alec cast a last glance over his shoulder then swung up into the saddle and they rode back to where the others were waiting.

“What was that all about?” asked Klia.

“Alec saw a ghost,” Seregil replied before Alec could.

“That’s not uncommon, especially here in the city,” Zella told him. “Given the number of disappearances around here, I’d keep my distance.”

“So you really think ghosts are stealing people?”

Zella nodded. “Something is. My lords, I advise you to stay with the group and leave the ghosts to their business.”

“I didn’t know she was a ghost,” Alec told her.

“Those are the most dangerous kind,” Sedge told him. “We saw a lot of them, on guard duty at night, and sometimes even in daylight, like you just did. More than once they tried to lure my soldiers away from their posts.”

Goose bumps broke out on Alec’s arms again. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

They went on and soon came in sight of the great palace, which stood on a rise at the far side of the bowl-shaped valley. Alec stole a glance at Sedge and found the man looking pale but resolute.

Sunlight glinted off newly glazed windows, and colorful pennants in the queen’s colors fluttered on the battlements. Unlike the palace in Rhíminee, it was built not to be a fortress, but rather with grace and beauty. Square, with two tall towers, it was made of the local light-colored limestone, with decorative scrolled details done with black basalt inlay work. Tall pointed arches framed the windows. The main entrance was a set of immense double stone doors, each carved with a large ouroboros. The serpent that formed the circle had four horns and small wings. Within the circle of its body was carved an archaic ship.

“The seal of the Hierophant,” Thero murmured.

Four armed guards stood to attention on the steps at Klia’s approach. Even with their presence, the place felt deserted and, it seemed to Alec, eerily silent. “It looks a bit like the Orëska House.”