I joined my mother for wine and cheese on a balcony overlooking the busy main courtyard of the Imperial Palace. Members of the Assembly swarmed and bunched on the travertine flagstones below, continuing their agitated discussions or making covert deals, while a thin stream of visitors, petitioners, functionaries, and servants passed in and out through the palace gates, carefully checked by the guards. Massive marble winged horses reared at each corner of the courtyard, and statues of the Nine Graces looked benevolently down from the roof above.

My mother watched the flows of people analytically as she nibbled cheeses and crostini. I didn’t expect her to say much; today was a judgment day for the Council of Nine. Her mind would be full of prisons and executions, deciding the fates of traitors and spies, none of which she was much inclined to talk about with her daughter.

But after about fifteen minutes of silence, her eyes snapped to me. “I have news that may interest you.”

“Oh?” I stopped an olive halfway to my mouth. News she learned on a judgment day seemed unlikely to be of an uplifting nature.

“That smuggler with whom your Falcon had an unfortunate history. Orthys.” La Contessa took a sip of wine. “I’ve had people investigating him.”

“Lieutenant Verdi told me he was trading children to Vaskandar for dream poppies.”

“Not just any children.” My mother’s face went hard as an executioner’s ax. “Ones with magical potential.”

I lowered my olive back to my plate. “So it was no accident he went after Zaira.”

She nodded. “Mostly he’s been targeting those with powers too weak for the mage mark. But our investigations have turned up at least one or two incidents where he got to a mage-marked child before the Falconers did, and sold them to Vaskandar.”

A terrible thought struck me. “Could he have been the one who took the Ardentine children? The nobles’ heirs?”

“It’s not impossible. He did pass through Ardence around the right time. If he was involved, he had best start praying to the Grace of Mercy.” My mother finished her wine with one neat swallow, then rose. “But it will not save him. We take kidnapping of mages very seriously. I’ve started a full-blown search for him. We’ll have him in the palace dungeons for questioning soon.”

It was almost enough to make me feel sympathy for the man. “I’ll tell Zaira when I see her. I’m stopping at the Mews this afternoon.”

La Contessa paused. “Ah, yes, the Mews. One more thing.”

“Yes?”

She leveled a cool, appraising gaze at me. “I hear you are much in the company of Lieutenant Verdi. Is there anything between you two?”

I nearly choked on the wine I’d been sipping. “There’s nothing,” I managed. “We’re friends, that’s all, Mamma. I respect him. Nothing of a … a romantic nature.”