“So the Mirror of Eternal Shadow is here in the Crystal Palace?”
“Yes,” Zophie said, nodding lightly, blanching slightly under Mitsuru’s hawklike gaze, as though knowing it would do no good to hide this truth from someone of his powers. “Yet, not even I know exactly where it is. Only my father and the high priest know that.”
“But there is a room of some sort, a place where the mirror is held safe? Perhaps a chapel? If one were to look at the blueprints for the castle…”
“No, its location is concealed behind a barrier—a magical veil. The barrier prevents anyone from knowing where the room is. They simply cannot see it,” Zophie replied lightly, but the words made a great impact on Mitsuru. It was enough to make him lean momentarily against the back of his chair for support.
A magical barrier—of course. That’s why I was unable to find the exact location of the final gemstone all this time.
Finding the four gemstones on his journey so far had been rather a simple thing. His magic staff had shown him the location where the first gemstone lay sleeping. After he’d found that, the second gemstone told him where the third lay, and so on until he had all four. All he had to do was listen to the gemstones’ voices and he would know. It was, in fact, the gemstones that had told him the final stone he sought lay in the north. Go north, meet with the emperor. The emperor knows all, they had said.
Yet, now that he was here, the staff was strangely silent. It wouldn’t even tell him if the gemstone was in the capital city. If he only knew where it was, Mitsuru could take appropriate action and have the stone in no time. Now he knew why. For the first time in days, he felt the tension in his chest melt away. The Mirror of Eternal Shadow had been guarded for generations by the Imperial Family. A barrier erected to hide such a vital room must have been created with very strong magic indeed. It was no surprise that his sorcerer’s staff, even with the power of four gemstones aiding it, had not been able to divine its location.
“I hear the barrier was created by placing magical stones at various locations throughout the capital,” Zophie said, elegantly tipping her cup to her lips. “That is to say, this city was designed for the express purpose of generating the barrier that conceals the place wherein the Mirror of Eternal Shadow lies. It would serve to reason that these magic stones are used in the foundations of all the great buildings of the capital.”
Mitsuru had to exert himself to not burst out laughing. To think she would tell him such a vital fact without him even having to ask. She was a talkative, dimwitted girl, when it came down to it. And how grateful Mitsuru was for that. The emperor’s daughter was turning out to be his greatest benefactor on his journey yet.
If the capital city itself is the barrier—Mitsuru mastered his rising elation, taking deep, steady breaths—then destroy the capital and you destroy the barrier along with it.
He wouldn’t have to destroy the capital as a mere threat to the emperor—its destruction was the very means for achieving his goal!
All the while, the emperor’s daughter was staring at him with those innocent eyes. How kind, how gentle you are. You do not doubt for a moment what the person to whom you speak might be thinking in his heart of hearts. Nor do you wonder at the true intent of the man who suggested this course of action to you—Adju Lupa.
It was only natural that the Imperial Family, after maintaining a vicelike grip on the wealth of the north for three hundred years would have many branches. In the course of time some of these relations, with no true claim to the throne themselves, would come to resent the emperor and aspire to depose him. It was for this precise reason that any path Zophie might take to the throne would be a difficult one.
Sigdora were the faithful hounds of the emperor, but even hounds have a will of their own, Mitsuru knew. And they were ever ready to switch to a new master—a stronger one, who promised sweeter rewards. Was Adju Lupa not one of these? By whispering to the emperor’s daughter he hoped to spur Mitsuru into motion, stir things up, perhaps frame whatever commotion resulted as the failing of the current emperor. And, of course, there would be someone behind him whispering in his ear, dangling some treat before his nose…
Who cares, as long as it serves my ends?
I know what you’re up to, Lupa. And I thank you for it.
Adju Lupa was as clueless as the emperor’s daughter. When Mitsuru really took action, it wouldn’t be on the level of a failing of Gama Agrilius VII. It wouldn’t even be close. They’ve sorely underestimated me—a miscalculation that will cost them everything.
“Let us call back your servants. The wind’s picking up,” Mitsuru said cheerily. “I would not be able to sleep at night if I knew you had caught a cold on my account.”
Zophie patted her blushing cheek, smiling. She reached out to pick up the silver bell to summon her servants when Mitsuru stopped her. “Tell me one last thing. If the Mirror of Eternal Shadow is so strongly protected, how can there be accidents such as the one that befell your servant, making shells out of men?”
In an instant, Zophie looked more troubled and haunted than he had ever seen her. The blush in her cheeks faded. “Well, that’s…”
“A form of punishment?”
She leaped from her chair, clinging to his hand. “Yes, that’s it. Most of them are, at least. Terrible criminals, or traitors to the Empire, those who cannot be reformed…”
“So you break the seal for a moment and show them the Mirror of Eternal Shadow on purpose?”
“Yes,” she said, wilting visibly. “It is…quite cruel, I know. But it can’t be helped.”
“I understand, I do.”
“The fact is that it is often more convenient for those who serve our family to be shells—convenient, and safe. Those who do the small work at the castle, they are not, well…they are not great warriors or scholars, you see. They are lower folk.” As she spoke, she closed her eyes as if to say she pitied them.
What a piece of work she is.
“But it’s not as if it happens all the time. To undo the barrier and approach the Mirror of Eternal Shadow, my father and the high priest must both be present, and there is a ceremony. It takes a great deal of effort. That, and the high priest is often away from the capital checking on his churches in other parts of the Empire. You have not met him yet, have you, Master Mitsuru? He’s a busier man than even my father.”
Mitsuru nodded, and his mind wandered. He imagined a scene where captives in shackles were led in a great line, like a string of beads, their every move watched by Imperial Guards. Down they were brought, down before the Mirror of Eternal Shadow. One by one, they were pushed toward the mirror.
This empire is even more twisted than I had imagined.
“So this means that many of the people who serve at the Crystal Palace are shells—and I have just not noticed.”
“Yes…but, I’d think your time wouldn’t be well spent looking for them, Master Mitsuru.”
“The thought hadn’t crossed my mind,” Mitsuru said with a winning smile. “As I said, I merely asked out of my curiosity as a Traveler.”
Zophie summoned her servants, and they began clearing the table. Mitsuru watched them, armed with his new knowledge. If he could learn to identify the shells among the people working at the Crystal Palace…
It would save him the trouble of leaving the capital to find the resources he needed.
After waving goodbye to Zophie, Mitsuru stood awhile in the Garden of Victory, the wind rustling his long hair and robes. His hands hung by his side, clenched into tight fists.
In those fists, he now held something beautiful: determination.
The fate of the Imperial Capital of Solebria was decided.