“So what’s new?” Mirnatha asked as she settled back into a sofa and reclaimed her teacup from a ge-chimp.

Edeard hesitated. You really don’t want to know that. “Not much. Still being bullied.”

Mirnatha clapped her hands delightedly. “Excellent. Well done, sis. Keep them on a short leash, I say.”

Edeard and Olbal exchanged a martyred look.

“We’ve said nothing, but he’s finally going to run for Mayor,” Kristabel said.

“Really?” Olbal asked, intrigued.

“It’s all down to timing,” Edeard explained.

“Will you change anything?”

Not me. But my word doesn’t count for much now. He looked at Alfal and Fanlol, the two toddlers, and smiled grimly. “I think things are pretty good as they are now. I’ll try and keep them that way.” His third hand poked playfully at Alfal as the boy banged an old wooden cart against a chair leg. Alfal turned around, a mischievous smile on his sweet little face, and pushed back with his third hand. The force was surprisingly strong, in fact, very strong indeed for a three-year-old.

“He’s a tough one, my little man,” Mirnatha said adoringly. “But then, they all are. That’s what growing up in the fresh air does to you. You two should spend more time outside the city.”

“I’d love to,” Edeard said. “I always wanted to take a long voyage across the sea to find some new continents.”

“Like Captain Allard, hey?” Olbal asked. “Now that would be quite something. I might even join you.”

“Over my dead body,” Mirnatha said.

“Families would be voyaging with us,” Edeard told her reasonably. “After all, it would take years.”

“What? Including the children?”

He shrugged. “Why not?”

“There aren’t any ships that big,” Kristabel said.

“So we build them.”

“A fleet,” Olbal said. “I like that idea.”

Kristabel and Mirnatha looked at each other. “Man dreams,” Mirnatha exclaimed. “It’ll never happen.”

– -

After dinner Olbal asked Edeard for a moment together, and they went out onto the hortus. Ku and Honious were both bright in the night sky, Honious in particular, its bulbous ruby clouds braided by sulfurous wisps surrounding a dark center where lost souls were said to fall. People were taking it as a bad omen that it was sharing the night with the Skylords. They were just visible above the horizon, five scintillations, growing steadily larger each night.

Edeard eyed them carefully. Normally he’d be excited and content at their impending arrival, but now that he knew the true nature of the nest, he couldn’t help but feel the doomsayers might be right.

“Are you all right?” Olbal asked.

“Yeah, sorry. Just distracted by this whole Mayor thing.”

“That I can understand. Rather you than me.”

Edeard gave him a false grin. “What was it you wanted to ask?”

“Ah.” Olbal leaned on the thick rail and looked out across the Grand Central Canal. “I know this sounds stupid, that I’m probably making a big fuss about nothing.”

“But?”

“My nephew, Constatin; he arrived in Makkathran three weeks ago. He was here to negotiate with merchants directly this year, agreeing on a price for this season’s apples and pears. We normally deal with Garroy of the Linsell family, and I wanted to keep that arrangement going.”

“I know the Linsell family; they bring a lot of fruit to Makkathran’s markets.”

“Yes, well … the thing is, Constatin has disappeared.”

“Are you sure you didn’t just miss him on the road?”

“He was with Torran. It was Torran who told me he didn’t come back one day.”

“Okay. What happened?”

“It was a Tuesday. Constatin had arranged to meet Garroy for lunch at the Blue Fox off Golden Park to thrash out the new deal.”

“I know it,” Edeard said stiffly.

“He never got there. Garroy called at Torran’s inn that evening wanting to know what happened. He wasn’t there. Torran searched for a day and a half before going to the Ysidro constable station. There wasn’t much they could do, but the desk sergeant promised he’d keep his farsight stretched. Since then, we’ve heard nothing.”

“I see.”

“I didn’t think there were any gangs in Makkathran these days.”

“There aren’t,” Edeard said flatly. It was strange. But then several station captains had mentioned that the number of missing people reported over the last couple of years had risen slightly. It was to be expected given how many visitors Makkathran was receiving and how unfamiliar they were with the city streets.

“It was morning, Edeard, broad daylight. What could have befallen him? Torran checked the hospitals and even the cemetery.”

Edeard put his hand on Olbal’s shoulder, trying to push through a sensation of reassurance. “I’ll speak with the station captain. I doubt it was a priority for them; at the least I can rectify that.”

“Thank you, Edeard. I hate to use family like this, but my sister is badly worried. He was an only son.”

“That’s okay.” Edeard frowned, thinking about what else he should be asking. Mysteries like this were rarities in Makkathran. There was only one person he knew who solved such strange puzzles, but that was ridiculous; she was nothing but a figment of his bizarre dreams. However, she used a method of elimination to determine suspects, and gathering all possible information was essential to that method. “You said you wanted to deal with the merchants directly this year. Is that unusual?”

“Not really. I normally use their agents; they have them in every province. And Garroy visits us every few years to keep up a personal contact; I have dinner with him whenever I’m in town. You need that level of trust if you are in business.”

“So what’s different? Why send Constatin here this time?”

“I was contacted by some new merchants seeking to buy our produce. They were offering a good price, a very good price.”

“Is that bad?”

“No. And I fully expect to sell them a substantial percentage of our crop. However, I want to maintain our trade with the Linsell family; they are a reliable buyer, and the future is what I must look to, especially with so many children.” He smiled fondly. “New merchants come and new merchants go. Constatin was sent partly as reassurance that although we obviously wanted to squeeze the price up, we would not abandon the Linsell family.”

“Who are the new merchants?” Edeard asked. He was getting a bad feeling about this.

“They worked for a supplier here in the city called Uphal.”

“What’s the matter?” Kristabel asked. She was sitting up in bed, watching Edeard pull his silk pajamas on. “And don’t say ‘nothing.’ You’ve been quiet since you got back this afternoon.”

“Yeah,” he said, and rolled onto the bed. The walls remembered nothing. Kiary and Manel had taken away the memory usually contained within the city’s substance. He was going to have to find out how to do that for himself. “Sorry, but it’s not good news.”

“I’m a big girl.”

He smirked. For once she was wearing a sheer black negligee with a plunging neckline. Even after seven children she was still slim and, with her hair worn loose, very alluring. And she knew it; there was a calculating smile playing across her lips. “I’ll bear that in mind,” he said, giving her figure an openly admiring look.

“Did somebody die?”

“No. There are some psychics in Makkathran who are at least as strong as I am. And there’s a lot of them.”

“Oh. But you’ve found plenty of powerful psychics over the years; there’s Marcol, and Jenovan, and what’s that new girl who came to you last year?”

“Vikye. No, darling. What they’re doing is a lot bigger than anything we can handle.”

“Why? What are they doing?”

“Same thing Ranalee and One Nation were trying. Except this isn’t about establishing good snobbish blood as overlords; this is about strength pure and simple. If you’re a strong psychic, that means you have the right to rule everyone else.”