Andoris thought for a moment, then asked, "When did the constabulary arrest you?"

"At shadowfall-dusk," Blamira answered. "That was the first I heard of the missing research notes."

"Did you steal Ptack's research?" Andoris asked bluntly.

Blamira looked pointedly at her double and said, "One of us did. It may or may not have been me."

"Do you know where the stolen research notes are now?"

"No."

Throughout Blamira's testimony, the mantle of truth echoed her words with a continuous harmony, without striking a single off note. Blamira was telling the truth.

Andoris tried a different line of questioning. "When your memory returned, what was the shadow double doing?"

"What do you mean?" Blamira asked, frowning.

"Did it appear to be casting a spell?"

"No. It was just standing there, staring at me."

Andoris sat quietly a moment, considering. "Shadow doubles normally have only a limited duration, yet this one appears to have been made permanent. A simple permanency spell should have collapsed under the dispellation spells High Justice Wentar subjected you both to, but this one did not. How do you explain that?"

"How can I explain anything?" Blamira cried, throwing her hands in the air. "You obviously weren't listening to what I just said. I have no memory of anything that happened yesterday-including casting the spell that created the shadow double."

Bitch! Of course we were listening.

Andoris sat on his silver chair, motionless and impassive. He would not allow his judgment to be swayed by the expression or tone of voice of the accused.

"The court will hear the defense of the second accused," he announced. He pointed at the mantle on Blamira's shoulder. "Remove the mantle of truth."

As soon as she complied, Andoris froze her in place and floated it to the second woman, dispelling the magic that prevented her from moving. He posed the same questions-and received almost identical replies. The second Blamira also swore she had no memory of the shadow double's creation and said her first clear recollection after the gap in her memories was of she and the shadow double standing in her laboratory, blinking at each other in confusion. All the while, the mantle hummed in perfect harmony with her words.

Wentar leaned toward Andoris, his eyes troubled behind his ivory mask. He spoke in a low voice, but even so, the spiral of ivory picked up his words. "By law, an arcanist is legally responsible for the actions of any creatures created by his or her magic," he began, "but in this case…"

"In this case, it's obviously not an ordinary shadow double," Blamira interjected, tossing her long red hair. "It's free willed, with a mind of its own. It could have committed the crime entirely of its own accord, using my spells and my knowledge of Ptack's research to steal his notes. If that's what happened-and if you find us both guilty and sentence both of us to die-you’ll be killing an innocent woman. You have no other option but to find us both innocent, and let us go."

Found innocent. If only we'd had that option with Jelal.

Choking back a sob, the homunculus sank needle-sharp teeth into one of its fingers.

Andoris ignored the mental image of blood dripping from the homunculus's punctured finger. He sat in silent contemplation as a murmur of voices drifted down from the spectators. Now that the defense of the two accused-slight though it was-had been heard, all attention was focused on the judges. On Andoris, in particular. The spectators, the two accused, Ptack, and Wentar all watched his face closely, looking for the slightest of frowns or the twitch of a mile, hoping to interpret it in their favor. As usual, he disappointed them.

This court will temporarily adjourn," he announced. "High Justice Wentar and I need to discuss this case in chambers." He glanced at his fellow judge. "Shall we retire to the Crystal Chamber?"

Wentar nodded behind his mask and spoke the words of the spell that would take them there.

An instant later, both men were standing in a room whose oddly angled walls and ceiling were made of a clear, glasslike material. Perched on one of the enclave's highest towers, with nothing but air surrounding it on all sides, the chamber caught the light from all angles. Beams of sunlight slanted in through walls and ceiling, erupting into thousands of tiny blue and red sparkles, revealing the chamber to be an enormous, hollow diamond. Wards etched by magic into each facet of the gem prevented those outside from scrying on those within.

Far below the tower that supported the Crystal Chamber, the rooftops and spires of Karsus Enclave could be seen, clustered like barnacles on the inverted mountaintop from which the enclave had been formed. Two buildings stood out from the rest: the cagelike enclosures that housed the enclave's two mythallars-enormous spheres, more than one hundred and fifty paces in diameter, that channeled raw magical energy from the Weave. Energy pulsed out of each mythallar, sustaining the magic that kept the enclave afloat, and powering all quasimagical devices within the energy field's one-mile radius. That energy was visible to the eye as a light colder than ice and brighter than the hottest flame-and like a flame, it drew its moths. Those bent upon self-destruction had only to touch one of those brightly glowing spheres to be instantly killed, without any possibility of resurrection.

Back in the bedchamber, the homunculus shuddered. Horrible, it moaned. A horrible way to die. Andoris, however, merely turned away from the view. He snapped his fingers, causing a decanter and two tiny glasses to hover in the air in front of him. He glanced at Wentar, who nodded, then caused the decanter to tip, filling one glass with a yellow liquid, then nudged it through the air to Wentar. He then filled the second glass and took a sip. The honey wine was delicious, warm and sweet.

"I'd like to hear your thoughts on the case," Andoris said.

Wentar pushed his mask onto the top of his head and took a sip of wine. He gently swirled the liquid in his glass, considering it with a slight frown.

"The accused has a point," he began. "If the shadow double was an independent creature that committed the theft of its own volition-even if the original motivation sprang from its creator's psyche-then Blamira must be found innocent. Whichever one she is." "Quite so," Andoris agreed.

"It all comes down to the question of when the thing gained free will," Wentar continued. "If the shadow double was commanded by Blamira at the time of the theft, and only gained or was granted free will afterward, then Blamira is guilty-and only Blamira. Enclave law states quite clearly that any 'person or creature' that is magically compelled to commit a crime is innocent of that crime. This shadow double can indeed be classed as a 'person or creature.' Since it displays permanence combined with independent thought, it is no longer a 'spell effect' in the eyes of the law. That entitles it to be judged an independent, sentient being."

Am I a spell effect?

Of course you are, Andoris answered.

"I wish we had some way of telling arcanist and shadow double apart," Wentar continued, "but even that wouldn't be much help, since we don't know which one committed the crime. I can't just sentence both of the accused to death, since there is a strong possibility that one of them might be innocent. That's why I asked that you try the case. I thought you'd discover the truth of the matter-as you always do-but it looks as though there's no solution to this puzzle. Which means," he sighed again, "that they both must be set free, I suppose."

The homunculus slammed a fist against the bed. No! We mustn't let her get the better of us!