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Is that her?the hissed whispers echoed behind me, sharp and shameless, as if I was so little like them that the sound of their voices would not even reach me.No, that can’t be her. She’s so tiny …

I imagined Creon’s face if he heard about that particular reasoning, and had to press my lips together a little tighter not to smile.

Before us, the last row of bodies parted, and finally the Great Hall revealed itself to me – a stately, rectangular room with marble walls and marble pillars, sunlight pouring in through the high windows just below the ceiling. The galleries ran the full length of the hall on either side, already filled to the last seat; behind them, tall statues lined the walls, their sculpted robes a clear hint that these were former consuls watching over the proceedings. On the far side, a sail-sized banner covered most of the short wall, embroidered with a silvery lily crest that must have taken a couple dozen seamstresses a while to finish.

Below that banner, on a low stage, the three living consuls had already taken their seats.

I recognised them in an instant, a single glance enough to link names to faces. Rosalind was sitting on the left, legs crossed and head cocked, by the look of it listening to a conversation taking place among the audience. Next to her, a large, bearded man with the round, jovial face of a jolly grandfather was smiling faintly as he glanced back and forth around his surroundings – that was Norris, without a doubt. And on the right, dark hair slicked back and smooth-shaven face moulded into an expression that oozed prosperity, a slender man lounged in his high wooden chair – watching me approach like I was something the cat had retched up during his dinner.

Halbert, I figured.

I smiled politely at him as our gazes met. His thin upper lip curled ever so slightly in response.

There was no seat for me, not entirely to my surprise; I was a supplicant, after all, not an equal partner in the conversation. I followed Delwin until he slowed down and nodded at me to stay where I was. Then I just stood there, in my frilly white dress, chin up high and hands politely interlaced behind my back, as the guardmaster retreated to the side of the hall and the crowd gradually went quiet around us. Norris finally met my gaze for the first time, granting me a warm smile. Rosalind winked at me, then averted her eyes again.

An expected silence stretched itself around us, until even the muffled curses and hissed requests at the entrance died away.

I felt suddenly naked under the weight of all those eyes.

‘So,’ Norris broke the quiet, with a booming voice that perfectly matched his outward appearance. In all likelihood, I considered, he had been assigned the role of main speaker because his two colleagues had vetoed each other for the task. ‘A pleasure to meet you, Emelin. We have, of course, heard a lot about you.’

Regrettably, Halbert’s expression said on the right.

‘Thank you,’ I said, returning a nervous little smile that did not require any great acting skills. ‘And that is mutual, of course.’

Norris inclined his head a fraction, giving a chuckle. A few members of the audience followed his example. Most of them remained dead silent, though, waiting for the meat of the conversation – waiting, possibly, for me to start looking a little less tiny and a little more magical.

Rosalind was still smiling faintly. I took that to be a hopeful sign.

‘You have of course already spoken with our esteemed colleague here,’ Norris continued with a quick nod at the woman beside him, ‘but we would very much like to hear your request from your own lips, Emelin. What exactly have you come here toask the White City? Please take your time – we appreciate any information you’re able to give us.’

Theweseemed to include only him and Rosalind. Halbert was staring at the ceiling, twiddling his thumbs.

Prick.

‘The short version of the matter is I’m going to kill the Mother’, I said.

To my satisfaction, that made even Halbert’s eyes snap back to me as the audience erupted in a flurry of agitated whispers.

‘The long version …’

They immediately became quiet again.

‘The long version,’ I repeated, my voice echoing through the hushed hall, ‘is that we have managed to unite all magical peoples against the empire for the first time since the Last Battle – vampires, alves, phoenixes, nymphs, and a handful of fae who are sick of the Mother, too. Which means we are in a unique position – a position that will likely never be repeated – to actually do some damage to the Crimson Court.’

You could have heard a needle drop against the marble floor.

‘And then there’s me.’ It sounded oddly … tired to my own ears, that sentence. ‘The Mother has not managed to bind my magic like she’s bound the magic of every other inhabitant of the empire. Which means I am able to harm her. I managed to blind her, last time we met. If I can get that close to her again, I plan to do a whole lot worse this time.’

A muffled cheer rose from somewhere to my right, followed by irritated hushing sounds. Again Rosalind’s lips twisted up ever so slightly – like an encouragement for my eyes only. Halbert had already averted his eyes again. Norris sat listening attentively, even though nothing I was saying could be news to him.

‘The main issue,’ I said slowly, ‘is getting that close to her again.’

I had thought this part through a thousand times last night, practicing sentences in front of a grumpy Alyra until I could dream every syllable of them. What to ask for? Whatnotto ask for? I needed something big enough to be useful, yet small enough to be acceptable. Something that wouldn’t sound too easy to be trusted, but nothing that sent them running and hiding behind their god-built walls.

I had gone with Rosalind’s advice in the end.Giving them a way to buy off that guilt without actually risking a single hair on their heads …

‘The Mother has many, many warriors,’ I said, spine straight, head high, voice unwavering, ‘and our numbers are, unfortunately, more limited. That means we will have trouble actually entering the Crimson Court,unless…’ I waited a moment, just a small pause for dramatic effect. ‘Unless we can force her to send part of her army elsewhere, to deal withotherurgent trouble we have created for her.’