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  The mage grimaced when his crystal remained clear, something that didn’t escape the sharp eyes of the emperor. He studied her, one finger tapping against his knee. “Duty to one’s family is one of the most sacred of tenets. I would not stand in the way of it, especially for one who has journeyed far. You may visit with my mages. Chief Magus Jin will accompany you so that you do not become lost.”

  Azara bowed deeply, swallowing hard. She’d passed the first barrier. All she needed now was to get the chief magus on her side when she went to see the fire mages, and things should run smoothly. Straightening, she nearly choked when she saw it was the crystal-holding mage who stepped forward, dark eyes hard as they looked at her.

  Chapter Three: Mages

  The mage, Jin, bowed to the emperor. “Shall I escort the visitor to the waiting room until your audiences have finished, Your Celestial Majesty?”

  Azara couldn’t help feeling like a bit of sand had gotten somewhere unmentionable at being talked about like that. She had a name, one that had no doubt been given to them already. Jin obviously considered her beneath him and was probably one of those people better at politics than their actual work. Though she had to admit, that truth spell of his was effective.

  “No, accompany her to visit the mages. I am finished with audiences for the day.”

  Both Jin and Azara bowed. When she straightened, Azara found Jin watching her, a frown seeming to have permanent claim on his lips. She held his gaze. She might not be willing to challenge the emperor, but his chief magus was a whole other story. Especially if he was going to get in her way.

  His eyes narrowed but he inclined his head. “If you will accompany me?”

  She nodded. When Jin strode towards the door to the left, she followed close behind. He stopped halfway across the room to bow towards the emperor again, and she awkwardly followed suit. When he did the same at the doorway, she again was several beats behind him as she wondered how many times one needed to bow to the emperor.

  They ended up in a hallway that had carved windows all along one wall, offering up a view of a stone-paved courtyard kept shaded with trees and lush green plants. Jin strode down the hall, his gaze locked ahead. For her part, Azara kept up with him, glancing around as they went.

  “Are you a mage?”

  She turned her attention to Jin. “No, I’m not.”

  His gaze flickered away before it went back to her. “Are you a magus?”

  She raised her eyebrows. “I don’t know what the difference is between a mage and a magus, but no, I’m not.”

  This time Azara followed his eyes and noted he still held his crystal in the hand farthest from her. So, he thought he’d investigate her, did he? She’d keep his spell in mind as she answered. She wouldn’t be tricked into revealing more than she wanted to again.

  “Mages have innate power that is connected to the natural world. Fire mages are clearly mages and a good example of them. Magi are reliant on spells and rituals to harness power from around them. If you continue to seek out fire mages, you shouldn’t remain ignorant of the different methods of practicing magic.”

  Azara glowered. She’d never heard of delineating the two types of magic with different names, having long called every magic-user a mage. Jin had obviously never left the Empire. Though she did now know what type of magic he used, which was useful. “Except for fire mages, I don’t deal much with magic.”

  Which was the truth. It wasn’t often those who kept fire mages as slaves had more than one or two other mages in their employ, and she could handle most mages. Her defense was practically perfect.

  Unconsciously she began rubbing the scar on the back of her hand before she caught herself. Practically perfect wasn’t perfect, of course. She needed to be careful. Especially since Jin’s type, a magus as he’d said, were the hardest for her to deal with.

  Jin eyed her. “His celestial majesty currently owns eight fire mages. Five males and three females. Of those, I believe four could be of an age to potentially be your parents. The other four are far too young. His celestial majesty doesn’t keep child slaves of any sort.”

  Azara shook her head, a little surprised there were only eight. She’d been expecting a dozen or maybe two. The way the rumours told it, the emperor had an army of fire mages.

  “The only sibling set here are the twins. They’re his celestial majesty’s favourites.”

  She shrugged. She didn’t much care who the emperor liked and didn’t like, not unless they were her relatives or they wanted to be free. If any of the fire mages here wanted out, she’d see what she could do. And if the emperor was mistreating them... Well, she had plenty of time to plan a raid, especially since she was getting a tour of where they were kept.

  Jin brought them around a corner to a narrow hallway with one door in the middle of it. Two guards stood to either side of it, both armed with bayonets. Their sharp eyes watched the two of them approach but neither moved when Jin opened the door and led the way through.

  Azara hadn’t expected to find herself outside, but followed Jin down a few steps onto the open paved area that surrounded the main palace building. Various officials and servants hurried between the buildings that made up the palace complex, while brightly dressed nobles strolled towards the gardens. Guards were in evidence as well, some stationary near doors and higher vantage points, others patrolling.

  Her eyes narrowed at that. It would take some time to get by them, she’d have to learn their patterns and time things right. The more she saw though, the more she hoped it wouldn’t come to that. Getting anyone out of here against the emperor’s will would be more difficult than anything she’d ever done before.

  “The Palace City is many times larger than what you have seen. This is the heart of Shi Guo.”

  Azara nodded, noting that Jin kept one eye on her at all times. He was sharp, she’d give him that. In his position she wouldn’t trust her either. Depending on how things went, he might have every reason to distrust her.

  He led the way to one of the smaller buildings nearby, the roof the same orange clay tiles as all the others, the exterior a duller red than the interiors she’d seen, but of nearly the same colour. It was almost like everything was on fire with colour, or like they were standing in the heart of the sun. Which was probably the point. The nearest door was guarded as Azara was beginning to get used to. Again, Jin wasn’t challenged when he headed inside, even with her trailing behind him.

  The colours were a bit dimmer here, the windows carved but with larger designs that were far less intricate. The floor was also a plainer stone and not the marble she’d seen elsewhere. But everything else looked much the same as the main palace’s interior.

  “These are the rooms for the lower-ranked mages. This side is where the fire mages live. The other side includes mages who have passed the second and third examination levels.”

  Azara raised her eyebrows. “Keeping the slaves separate?” She knew slavery might be common in most places, but she hated it. For more than one reason.

  Jin snorted. “You’re of fire mage stock. You know what happens when they have nightmares.”

  She grimaced, unable to deny that. Fire mages were immune to flames, they had to be or they’d be burned using their own powers, but other mages weren’t. Suddenly the thick walls and heavy wood doors made more sense.

  The emperor’s chief magus stepped forward and knocked on the first door. Little could be heard before the door opened, and when it did, Azara saw why. The interior of the door was coated in metal, which had some distortion marks that showed it was doing its job.

  A short woman with light brown hair shot with grey stared out at them. She offered half a bow to Jin, frowning. “Does his celestial majesty require us?”

  Shuffling footsteps announced a man of age with her, his black hair losing the battle against white, who
came to stand behind her. Jin flicked his gaze to Azara before he shook his head. “No, we are looking for anyone who may be familiar with our guest here.”

  The two glanced at Azara, studying her for a moment. “I don’t believe we’ve met.”

  Jin gave them a little bow. “My apologies for disturbing you.”

  Azara waited until the door closed before she spoke. “I see the emperor doesn’t hold with the practice of collars on his slaves.”

  Jin glowered. “His celestial majesty has no need. When they’re working in an official capacity, they wear robes befitting officials. They’re marked with a dog within their square, to show that the emperor is their master, but otherwise are considered to be of the same rank as the lowest rank of officials here. If they so wished it, they could work to purchase their freedom. Some do. Some prefer to remain as they are. His celestial majesty isn’t a cruel or hard master. He treats all his people well.”

  She didn’t miss the slight emphasis. Azara wondered what the emperor had done to have Jin this loyal. Unless it was an act. It was hard to tell what was going on behind those dark eyes of his. It didn’t help she thought she might be missing some nuance in the words he used.

  He didn’t give her a chance to reply, knocking on the next door. By the time they reached the final one, Azara couldn’t help but feel disappointment chewing at her. She hadn’t recognized a single person. Most weren’t close to the right ages of her family. None of them had looked mistreated, or even wary. They mostly looked eager or resigned, all of them expecting they were being summoned by the emperor.

  Jin stopped in front of the last door, this one closest to the far wall of the building. “These two are the most powerful of the emperor’s fire mages.” He smoothed out his robes before he knocked. Azara couldn’t help a little smile. Jin either was interested in whoever was behind this door, or considered them worth impressing. Or both.

  Several moments went by, but the door remained closed. Jin frowned. He knocked again, with a bit more force. When that was met with silence, he pounded. Only a few heartbeats passed before the door was yanked open.

  “Jin.” The girl who opened the door grimaced, her dark brown hair sticking up in the back. “We were on duty all last night and are due on tonight. Can’t you bother one of the others?”

  Brown eyes and a rather pointed chin completed a face that was thinner than it should have been. At least, from Azara’s perspective. It didn’t stop her from recognizing the girl. Her name slipped from her lips without Azara realizing it. “Anali.”

  A familiar gaze went to her while Azara’s heart pounded in her ears, her hands opening and closing. She was so certain but part of her wondered if she was seeing what she wanted to see. What if she was half-hallucinating that this girl was... Eyes that were a match for hers stared then widened. Anali’s mouth dropped open and worked. Her struggle for words were all the confirmation Azara needed.

  She jumped forward and swept her sister into a crushing hug, her arms trembling as she smiled so hard she thought her face would break at the same time that tears welled up. Nearly a decade of searching, a decade of looking for any kind of whisper, any hint of them, and she’d finally found one member of her family.

  Azara wasn’t sure who started sobbing first, but they were both crying in a matter of moments.

  “What—”

  The man’s voice and sudden flare of orange light drew Azara’s attention away from her sister to see the other occupant of the room, one who had a hand ignited. Taller than her now and broad when he’d always been skinny, Azara laughed and sobbed as she recognized her brother, who had come to resemble their father. “Aviur.”

  He froze, the fire in his hand going out as his eyebrows shot up and his jaw sagged. “Azara? You’re alive?”

  She pulled an arm away from Anali so she could beckon him over as she nodded frantically, tears streaming down her face, words having failed her. He took one halting step forward and threw himself at them. Azara wrapped her free arm around him and clutched her siblings to herself.

  Azara couldn’t stop the flow of tears, years of worry, pain, fear, and thoughts they might be dead melting away. She had her brother and sister. She wasn’t alone. They were alive, and she would never lose them again.

  When their threefold sobs began to ease, they pulled away from each other enough to see each other but remained touching. Azara swiped at her face. “How are you? I mean... I mean, are you happy? Is everything going well? Do you know where Mother and Father are?”

  Anali and Aviur exchanged a long glance before Anali spoke. “We’re well enough. Things have been good since we came to his celestial majesty’s court. He treats his fire mages well, better than anyone else we were sold to. We lost track of Mother and Father six years ago and have not had any word of them since.”

  Azara’s stomach tensed at that. She still had work to do, but that could wait until she had things settled with her siblings. Her very much alive sister and brother. That thought made her feel almost giddy.

  “How are you alive? We thought you’d been killed by the slavers.” Aviur kept staring at her, like he couldn’t quite believe she was real.

  She winced. “They found me in the forest and chased after me. Do you remember the Sacred Cave? The one we were all forbidden from entering?” When her siblings nodded, she continued. “Well, there was a good reason it was forbidden. No fire mage should ever enter it, and I found out why. It nearly killed me. It did kill the slavers. But it also kept me from being captured. I’ve been searching for you ever since.”

  Anali’s voice was soft. “What was in the cave?”

  Opening her mouth to answer, Azara remembered they weren’t alone. She glanced at Jin, who stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his eyes not quite staying on any of them. She looked at her siblings and smiled. “It’s a long story, one I’ll tell you later.”

  Jin cleared his throat. “I do not wish to intrude, but I must return to my work. If you will give me your word that you will remain, I will leave you here. You obviously have much to speak of.”

  Azara grinned, face still wet, resisting the impulse to give Jin the same kind of hug she’d given Anali. “I’ll stay. Thank you.” She put the full force of her gratitude in those words, so he knew he’d just given her family back to her.

  Some of it must have gotten through, because Jin flushed. “I will return later.”

  She gave a little wave of her hand in acknowledgement before she turned her attention to her siblings. They had a lot of catching up to do.

  Chapter Four: Stories

  A long moment of silence followed the click of the door closing. Azara couldn’t help just staring at her siblings, still wrapping her mind around the fact they were alive and that she’d found them. “Have you been here long?”

  The two of them exchanged a look before Anali shrugged. “Two years. Not as long as the others, but long enough that we’re well established here. We’re the strongest and best trained of his celestial majesty’s fire mages, so we have more responsibility and more prestige than the others. It’s why we’re most often called upon for important functions.”

  Azara frowned for a moment before several things fell together. “That would make you the twins Jin mentioned, but you aren’t twins.”

  Aviur winced and squeezed Anali’s hand. “Please don’t tell anyone about that. Mother came up with the idea when we were being sold to another group. She had us pretend to be twins so that we could stay together. Twin fire mages are incredibly rare, and as a unit we’d be worth more than separated. It’s how we’ve managed to make it as high as we have.”

  “You’re not being mistreated by anyone? Because if you are...”

  The two shook their heads as they leaned against one another without releasing the hold they had on each other’s hands. “We’re very well treated
here. His celestial majesty gives us all the same advantages as the other officials of our rank. We even have additional privileges, given the amount of work we do for him. No one tries to overwork us, or forces us to fight until we burn out, or abuses us. We’re fed, clothed and housed well. We’re given bonuses for exceptional work so that we can buy our own things and have free run of the palace libraries and archives. We found a book on fire mages that gave us some ideas for more techniques.”

  Azara glanced around the white-washed rooms, noting the side-by-side beds heaped with pillows and heavy-looking blankets, the peek of silk clothing coming from the wardrobe, and the elaborate paintings hanging on two of the walls. She definitely wouldn’t have pegged this as a room used by slaves. But she couldn’t help the niggling doubts worming their way into her brain, not when her sister and brother were slaves.

  “How have you avoided being sold?” Aviur’s gaze was steady, his lips pulled sharply down. “I’ve never heard of an independent fire mage operating. Not for long.”

  She sighed and rubbed her neck. “Because I’m not a fire mage anymore. That was part of the trade-off with me surviving the cave.”

  Two sets of eyes widened, before they found each other. Azara couldn’t help the tiny prick of loneliness at the way her siblings communicated silently through their gazes. It was like she was an outsider.

  Aviur’s voice was soft. “It’s possible to lose your powers?”

  Azara grimaced. “In a way. It’s complicated and something that won’t affect anyone else, and as I said, a long story. I’ll tell you later, but I’d rather hear about you two. How you survived, when you last saw Mother and Father. I’ve found you, and once I get you released, we can search for them. I won’t let anyone separate us again.”

  They felt like twins when they exchanged those looks. It was Anali who spoke this time. “There’s not much to say about how we survived. We did what we had to, kept our heads down as much as possible, and eventually were sold to his celestial majesty. We last saw Mother and Father at the auction house in Gaulois almost six years ago, when we were sold to a different slave dealer and they were taken by some military-looking official. At least, he stood like one though he wasn’t dressed in uniform.”