'You shouldn't worry too much about Rinju.' Master Chendra sighed. Across him, Phrae had already lost interest in their conversation; daydreaming – no doubt – of noble suitors and an important husband. 'You have your own problems to deal with. If by your second year here you're neither married nor have found employment or patronage, you'll be sent to the Water Palace and kept there until you do. Don't be fooled,' he added quickly as their carriage came to a stop, 'It's not a place of perri tales.'

Master Chendra hopped off, leaving the girls to take in their surroundings.

They had stopped before a gate of five arches, before which lay a path of planted stone. The girls unloaded their bags from underneath their seats and alighted, Isla helping Rinju with the steep descent.

'Always take the second gate.' Master Chendra stopped them before they went any farther. 'The central gate's reserved for the Maha Rama and the first three of his heirs. The one on the far left is used by servants and baseborn, the second is for palace guests, including the dhayang.'

Such fuss for a simple entrance. Isla wondered what the punishment would be for infraction. Six soldiers guarded the arches; one man to each pillar. The gates itself were made of finely carved wood, painted in the Surikh colours of silver and black, topped by high-slanted roofs. Contrary to their corresponding hierarchy, each gate grew wider the farther away it stood from the centre, and each one a little deeper into the palace than the next.

Master Chendra was still going. 'The ones on the right are reserved for members of the royal family and the more important guests – and the last gate for the nobleborn.' He took the lead through their designated gate, the girls following suit.

It was a long walk still down the path, though their journey was shielded from the sun by a row of banyan trees, their roots hanging over the path like petrified rain.

'These are the trees Murbei wanted to nest in!' said Rinju. The girl had straggled behind, and Isla slowed her pace to match hers.

Isla looked at the canopy over her, catching a glimpse of birds and squirrels. 'So it is.'

The path ended into a courtyard and the palace before it, rising above a painful number of steps. Its pillars fanned out above them, intimidating in its height and girth. Fifty steps and they were at the top, worn under all the weight of their luggage.

Isla leaned against a pillar to catch her breath, but Master Chendra pulled her back by the sleeve. 'Keep your eyes down!'

She did as she was bid and lowered her head. A hundred boots rapped against the stone steps and a second later passed before them – first, soldiers in unison, then robes sweeping across the floor. Rich and black and lined with silver, followed by a flurry of dark-coloured coats and more soldiers.

'Come.' Master Chendra broke the stillness that ensued. Isla looked up to see the last of the convoy scuffling past; young pages bearing luggage and gifts, and wearing the silver gates of Petripyor on their backs.

She shared a brief exchange with Phrae, who looked far more excited after being a mere five feet from Maharaj Persi.

'Our entrance is this way.' Master Chendra's voice boomed from far behind them, and the two girls ran to catch up.

He took them through winding corridors, along a succession of galleries, across colonnades and courtyards ...

It seemed an age before they were back outside with the open sky above them. The tangy scent of herbs filled the air, and Master Chendra named the kitchen gardens with a dismissive wave of his hand.

'The Grand Palace ends here,' he said again once they had followed the granite path to the end of the gardens. 'You'll be staying at the asraam just across the canal.'

Asraam? Isla sniffed. More like haarem.

They caught glimpses of their building beyond the dense wall of trees before them. The corner of a balcony here, the peak of a tower there.

'The academy is just opposite.' Master Cendra gestured vaguely to their left, where more turrets and walls peeked a distance behind the trees.

This time, Isla could not help herself. 'Academy?'

'It's where you'll be taking your lessons.'

The wall of trees parted, and Isla stopped for a look. The academy stretched across a field filled with laughing girls. A weathervane swinging above its entrance. A bell tower watching over a cascade of hip-and-gabled rooftops. It was everything she had ever wanted. Students lounged in the grass with a pile of books. They looked ... happy ... and a part of Isla understood.

'You'll have more than enough time to look at it later.' Master Chendra's voice came from afar. Isla peeled herself away and took Rinju's waiting hand.

Their asraam was built in the traditional Surikh style. Wood on stone stilts. Spired roofs. A deck on every floor and windows tall and wide with sculpted frames. What a fire hazard. Isla found Pepper deep in her pocket. She had better keep the element secret.

She was to share a room with Phrae and another girl whose possessions had already occupied a corner. Theirs was on the third floor, looking out over the trees and a shadow of the canal.

'I'm having the bed by the window.' Phrae rushed to claim her place.

Isla turned to their tutor. 'What about Rinju?'

'The early-bloomers stay at the White Asraam,' said Master Chendra.

'But I want to stay with Elder Lilja!'

'Enough of that nonsenese. You'll have plenty of time to see each other.' He took her by the arm and pulled Rinju out of the door, closing it shut behind them.

Didn't even give us a chance to say goodbye. But it was not really, Isla reminded herself. Rinju's asraam would still be in the palatial ring, large as the entire place was. She would have to find a map, and soon.

Isla pushed her trunk to her corner of the room and unpacked. Clothes in her designated cabinet, books upon its shelf. Eshe's gifts remained in the trunk, too precious for her to keep elsewhere. You, too, Pep. She lifted the salamander from her pocket and hid it in the folds of Eshe's spidersilk gown. It had better keep its temperature down.

'I know what you did in that lake.' Phrae's bed was set between the remaining two, and there she sat, her hair in waves now that she had unrolled it.

'Save your life? You're welcome.'

'Don't play games with me. I felt you in here.' Phrae tapped her temple with a finger. 'I felt you controlling me.'

'You took in a lot of water back there, so I don't blame –'

'I know what I'm talking about! And you knew exactly what you were doing.'

Isla's jaw tightened as she fought the urge to yell back. It was her own fault for using theurgy, but she had expected Phrae to be too relieved to make a fuss of it. 'My apologies. Next time, I'll be sure to simply let you drown.'

'Next time? You almost did the first time!'

'You must be the most ungrateful girl I have ever met!' Isla slammed her trunk shut. 'Not only did you put your own life in danger, you also risked mine and Rinju's. All for what? A couple minutes of testing out your theurgy? I got you out of there. It wasn't as fast as I'd have liked, but I tried my best.'

Phrae's mouth stretched into a hard line. Isla maintained her aggressive mien and stared her down. She knew. Phrae knew what Isla was capable of, and more importantly, that she had some control over her theurgy.

'It wasn't nice,' said Phrae at last, quietly, as though ashamed. 'Having you in my head like that. Having someone else in control of my body.'

Isla was struck of her words.

She had never considered it before – never cared to. I didn't like it, either, when Eshe tampered with my emotions. And Eshe's had been nothing compared to what she had done.

It would have been painful for Nagendra and Gorlem, but only for they had resisted her coercion. Even then, Isla did not care, and beyond that, she had never spared a moment to imagine how it might feel to be intruded upon as Phrae had been.

'I felt robbed of myself. I can't explain it. It just made me feel so ... dirty.'

Violated, Isla supplemented to herself. A part of her felt guilt; but it had saved Phrae's life. What else was I to do?

'And now how do I know whether I'm doing anything of my own free will at all? How do I know you won't make me climb up the highest tower and kill myself? How do I –'

'You'll know if I was coercing you,' interrupted Isla. 'You knew it last time, why wouldn't you know it the next?'

That kept her quiet, if for a moment. 'I thought you were a late-bloomer.'

'I am. That moment in the lake was pure luck. It happens, you know. Theurgy kicking in when you're in a tight mess. Something to do with instincts and adrenaline or whatever Master Chendra calls it ...'

Phrae threw a withering look. 'How fortunate for you. You'll be out of here in no time, making some poor oaf fall head over heels for you.'

'That's not how it works, and you better not speak of it to others.'

'Why don't you make me.'

Isla rounded their beds until she faced her. 'I'll do you one better. You heard what Master Chendra said. There are thousands of dhayang here for you to compete with. You keep quiet, and I'll help you get an upper hand where I can.'

Phrae considered her offer. 'Fine. But you had better get me out of here before my two years are up.'

'It would be my pleasure.' It was the only thing she could do, now that Phrae knew her theurgy. Bribes work better than threats.

Isla returned to her bed, suddenly weary.

She could not bring attention to herself ... and a theurgy such as hers would be as sweet as the scent of blood to hounds.

She would have to tread carefully. She was in their kennel, now, and she could not let Phrae – or anything else – get in her way. Isla had gotten herself blooded for exactly this moment. For them to take her to the heart of the kingdom. Closer to the royal cabal; closer to whomever wanted her dead. And to the bastard who has my sister.  
    

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