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‘Make sure you declare those weapons,’ she said. ‘Sala is a world leader. Her safety will be prioritised in there.’ I nodded. ‘Do you have an entry token?’

‘Yes,’ I said. ‘Are you staying in Rome?’

‘For the time being. I’ll be at the Chiostro del Bramante with Match, another member of Command. We’ll see you afterwards.’

She took off, leaving me alone at the entrance to the Forum. I approached the guards and showed them my gold pendant. As expected, they confiscated my weapons, including the knife I kept in my boot. Only then was I allowed to pass under the archway.

Candles and flaming torches lit the Forum. They must not have got the electricity going. I crossed the cobblestones, reminded of Oxford.

Nick and Maria waited outside the Basilica Arcana, wearing identical tokens to mine. They embraced me between them, Maria using her good arm.

‘You look much better,’ Nick said. ‘How was Orvieto?’

‘Good,’ I said. ‘Got some training in.’

Maria had a twinkle in her eye. ‘And how is Warden?’

‘Better for the rest, but I didn’t want him to come here. I don’t believe Jax isn’t tipping Scion off.’

‘It really is a sick joke that he’s here. Sala and Carter don’t seem to grasp the danger he poses.’

I looked at Nick. ‘Did you talk to him?’

‘Yes. He’s giving the impression that the Council of Kassandra has been his only concern for years,’ Nick said grimly. ‘Carter seems to like him, and we have no solid proof of anything he’s done to hurt voyants. You were the only person who saw him in the Archon.’

Verca came down the steps to join us, wrapped up in a warm coat, like the others. ‘Welcome back, Paige,’ she said, with a tired smile. ‘Did you go to the Pozzo di San Patrizio?’

‘I did, thanks. It was beautiful.’

‘Good.’ There were dark circles under her eyes. ‘The atmosphere in there is very tense. Whatever Sala has decided, every voyant in this country will be under threat, and we all know it.’

‘Paige will stop this,’ Maria said.

‘Let us hope. We should take our seats,’ Verca said. ‘The meeting is about to start.’

From the looks of the Basilica Arcana, it was the first part of the Forum to have been resurrected. The interior was a single vast chamber, about two hundred feet long. As my group walked between the columns of the inner arcade, a marble floor gleamed underfoot, lit by chandeliers, the candlelight dancing across a coffered wooden ceiling. A few people mingled in the upper arcade, their conversations echoing.

A table ran down the middle of the chamber, dwarfed by it. Sala sat at one end, with Rohan Mistry and Antoinette Carter on either side of her. From her drawn appearance, Sala was taking the alysoplasm I had left for her.

‘Imagine the Mime Order having a place like this,’ Maria said. ‘Instead of having to hide in sewers.’

In truth, I found it all daunting. I must have lived in Scion for too long, to have grown so comfortable in hidden places. Still, the Basilica Arcana was breathtaking, and I could see why it could mean a lot to Sala, to conduct voyant business in such grand surroundings.

The floor was covered in detailed pictures from the tarot. The rays of a sun spread out around the table. Noticing us, Jaxon sauntered over, his face sharpened by the candlelight.

‘How are we, my fellow runaways from Scion?’

‘Always worse for seeing you, Binder,’ Maria said icily. ‘Have you brought us here to sell us?’

‘Oh, Maria. We ruled our adjoining sections cordially for many years, despite our disagreements.’ He folded both hands on his cane. ‘Surely we can be friends in the free world.’

‘Binder, you peddled voyants to the Suzerain. You did nothing while Paige was tortured.’ She kept her voice too low for anyone to overhear. ‘You might have tricked Sala into liking you, but we all know exactly what you are.’

‘I doubt that.’ His smile was frigid. ‘Come along. We have grave matters to discuss.’

He went back to Carter.

‘Stay calm around him,’ Nick said quietly. ‘He’s up to something.’