‘Lady Pari, I’m afraid I cannot allow you to go that way. Lady Pari, I must insist … Lady Pari! Lord Arkav! Please! Come back!’

She smiled as his protests grew fainter. ‘It’s good to know,’ she said to Arkav, ‘that people are still more afraid of the Bringers than they are of their Sapphire masters.’

When they had left their escort far behind them she came to a stop and dismissed the staff. ‘Go back to the main corridor and wait for word that the Bringers have left, then return to us here.’

To her surprise, she found that Arkav was smiling. ‘Are you doing this just to upset the Sapphire or are you planning something?’

She smiled back. ‘Yes.’

‘Did you see their faces when you brought out the banner?’

‘I did.’

‘They’re scared, Pari.’

‘So they should be.’

He thought about this for a while. ‘No. They shouldn’t. This isn’t right. Don’t you see? The people out there aren’t scared of us. They’re scared for us, and what we might make Yadavendra do.’

‘We’re not going to make Yadavendra do anything.’

Arkav raised an eyebrow. ‘You’re lying again.’

Pari wasn’t sure what to say to that.

They hadn’t been waiting long when the Bringers of Endless Order came round the corner. As always, there were seven of them, all identically garbed in black and white robes, all masked, all carrying golden wands. They came to a stop before her and looked at the two of them, their green eyes expectant.

‘They don’t look happy,’ whispered Arkav.

‘Tell me something I don’t know.’

‘I don’t think it’s anything to do with us.’

She wondered how he knew, but didn’t question it. In his better days Arkav had a knack for seeing the truth in people. It was one of things that made him such a good ambassador for the house.

‘Lord Arkav—’ said the lead Bringer.

‘And Lady Pari—’ said another.

‘Tanzanite,’ echoed the others.

‘How unexpected,’ finished the first.

How do they talk in time like that? she wondered. Is it a trick? A power? Do they practise in their rooms all the time? There was too much about the Bringers she did not know, which made what she was about to attempt all the more a gamble.

She and Arkav bowed.

‘I apologize for ambushing you like this, but given that you’re here, I was hoping we could talk.’

The lead Bringer gave a slight nod.

‘Thank you. My brother and I have been tasked to bring Yadavendra, High Lord of the Sapphire before the Council of High Lords. He has ignored all summonses so far.’

‘This, we know,’ replied the Bringers.

‘Twice now, he has broken tradition, and I fear he will break with it again when we see him. But if you were to invite him to the Hall of Seven Doors, he could not ignore it.’