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“Now? But what about the ceremony?”

“We have time. And they won’t start without me.” He held out his hand. “Please.”

She looked at it guardedly.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

He sighed.

“Kara, I know you don’t trust me any more. But have I ever given you any reason to believe I don’t care about you?”

She knew he cared about her. And he was wrong about her not trusting him. No matter how mad she was with him, she would always,always,trust him with her life.Without further hesitation she put her hand in his.

He led her back into the bathroom where she saw the towel cabinet had swung away from the wall, revealing a passageway behind.

“Are these in every Potential’s room?” she asked.

“Don’t be jealous. Yours is the only one I’ve ever used.”

“I’m not jealous,” she said hotly, before realizing he was teasing her. “Jerk.”

She followed him through to a vestibule, a mirror image of the one which led to the Potentials’ bedrooms. There were other doors there, doors which she guessed corresponded to the other secret passageways. Vahn steered her away.

At the end of the room was a large painting of some long-ago ancestor. Vahn pressed his palm to a particular spot on the frame. The canvas slid back, revealing a narrow cubicle.

He stepped in, making room for Kara. She tried to keep distance between them but it was a small space. The cubicle suddenly jolted upwards, throwing her against him.

He reacted instinctively, curling a serpetrus around her to steady her, and the unexpected intimacy brought heat to her cheeks.

“Where are we going?” she asked as a distraction.

“You’ll see.”

When the lift stopped, he took her hand again and led her through a final doorway. They stepped out onto a balcony and Kara gasped.

They were at the very top of the Imperial Palace, looking out over the towers of Taa’riz, the night-sky bright with the silver illumination of the four moons of Vraxos.

Twenty

Vahn pointed at each of the moons in turn.

“Lorvas, Unaril, Tiron and Xantis. Named for the first four children of Vannla and Ayanlesh.”

“They’re so big. Do they wax and wane like the Earth’s moon?”

“No. They always appear full as they do now. For half the annual cycle they can be seen from this side of Vraxos, and for the other half they appear only to those in the southern hemisphere.”

“Do they orbit each other?”

“Yes, though we’re still unsure how they manage to avoid collision. Our astronomers have spent a great deal of time trying to work out the mathematical formula for their orbital paths but it has proved impossible.”

“Nature’s incredible, isn’t it?”

“The more religious believe it’s proof of the existence of gods.”

Kara shrugged.

“Or maybe it’s magic.”