“That’s no accident,” Thero replied. “Tamír the Great sent her architects here for inspiration while building Rhíminee. I suspect a few wizards came along.”

Newly built villas and restored old ones ringed the palace precinct, ready for new occupants. The street and huge oval courtyard were freshly paved with granite cobbles, still immaculate, and edged with neat verges, showing the first pale green of spring and sprinkled with bluets.

“It’s lovely,” said Klia, reining in. “Hard to imagine anything grisly, here in the sunshine.”

“I’m afraid what I must show you will change your mind, Highness,” Zella replied as they reined in before the impressive entrance.

“How’s your headache, Thero?” asked Alec.

The wizard gave him a wan smile. “A bit worse, actually. I wish I had one of the good doctor’s draughts.”

“How many guards do you have here?” asked Klia.

“Four on each of the entrances, and more to patrol the precinct,” Zella explained.

“No one inside?”

“It seemed unnecessary, and dangerous, Highness.”

“So no one’s been inside since that day?” Seregil asked.

“Which means that anyone could have come in,” Alec added.

“I assure you, Baron, no one comes here,” Zella replied.

As they reached the guards it was clear that the soldiers were exhausted and under stress. A tall woman wearing a lieutenant’s steel gorget came down the steps and saluted Klia, then gave Sedge a quick look of surprise and relief.

Klia dismounted. “Lieutenant, I’m Princess Klia, your new governor and general.”

The woman bowed, fist to her heart again. “Lieutenant Nara, at your service, Highness.”

“Report.”

“We’ve lost two more guards in the past week, Highness.”

“There have been others?”

“Yes, Highness, the count is at fourteen now, all since the previous governor was killed. I don’t believe all of them were desertions.”

“What do you think, Lieutenant?”

Nara exchanged an uncomfortable glance with the guard next to her. “Whatever took Lieutenant Phania, Highness.”

“I appreciate your good efforts,” said Klia, “but there’s not some more rational explanation? Soldiers do desert—”

“With respect, Highness, not my people. I was talking to one of my men in a chamber near the royal apartments just two nights ago. I stepped out to call for someone else and when I looked back, Thorn was gone. Just gone.”

Alec exchanged an uneasy look with Seregil; had he just had a narrow escape?

“There’s been no one else about except for those who bring us supplies,” Nara was saying. “It’s getting hard to count on them, as they’ve lost a few people in the dark. And most of us have seen things, Highness, things we can’t explain any other way: women with no heads, children who call to you then disappear. I saw a man with no eyes near the royal chamber, where the lamps were lit. He looked just as real as you or me.”