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Thalric was ahead of Varmen, but it was plain that the two of them registered the name.

‘You can’t mean their general?’

‘Yes, Thalric,’ Gaved confirmed, ‘none other.’

‘The man who crushed the . . .?’ Thalric’s words tailed off, his eyes drawn inexorably to Varmen. ‘The man who crushed the Sixth at Masaki.’

‘Pride of the Sixth,’ the big Wasp echoed. For a moment the strange pensive expression taking up unfamiliar residence on his face was enough to silence the rest of them. ‘Oh, yes, let’s go visiting. Why not?’

Gaved shot him a dangerous look. ‘He’s well liked, loved even. Don’t get any ideas.’

‘I’m not noted for them,’ Varmen replied. ‘What, you think I’m going to go take vengeance on him for a whole army? If I was going to do that, I’d dig up our old General Haken and spit on his corpse, I would. But I want to see this fellow. I want to see the face of the man behind Masaki. I knew there was a reason for me to come so far, and maybe that’s it.’

When Maure announced, without warning, that the ghost was nearing, presumably with Tynisa in thrall and in tow, Che opened the external panels of the house, so that her sister would see it as an invitation. Oh, she would be suspicious, of course, and it would not take Tisamon’s shade to prompt that, but she would enter nonetheless.

Inside, Maure had already made her preparations. A circle was drawn on the floor in bone ash and charcoal, and she had hung lanterns in each corner of the inner room, each housing a constellation of fireflies within. She had marked out the circle with symbols that were not letters but pictograms, which looked frighteningly familiar to Che. Testing the water, she asked the necromancer, ‘What do they say?’

‘Say?’ Maure shrugged. ‘They don’t say anything. They’re just the warding marks that we use, passed down from teacher to pupil, generation to generation.’

Che nodded dully, while interpreting, By Ephisemnas Queen of the Veiled Night I adjure you. By Telephian the Wise, Lord of the Seven Guards, I stay your hand. By . . . On and on, a rote of power rooted solely in the terror of ancient names and titles, but she could sense that power there. First the castle at Leose, and now this. How far did the reach of the Masters of Khanaphes stretch, in their heyday?

There was incense too, little smoking stacks of it on leaves floating in brass bowls of snowmelt water, and also sprigs of herbs tied to the eaves. Maure caught Che’s look and nodded grimly. ‘I know, you’re wondering which of it works and which doesn’t, hm? Well, who can say, but with this visitor I’m not minding to leave any of it out.’ Around the edge of the circle, she sprinkled a trail of white powder, and Che wondered if it was ordinary salt.

‘And what will this accomplish?’ she asked.

‘Assuming any of it has any staying power at all, it will prevent the ghost from simply striking me dead.’

Che blinked. ‘He can do that? Himself?’

‘No, but your girl there has a sword, so he only has to put the idea in her head. From Gaved’s evidence, she’s not exactly inhibited in that way.’

I cannot deny it. Che nodded unhappily. And then Tynisa came stalking into the room, with drawn sword.

She stopped, as though having struck a wall, and stared about her. ‘Oh, my word, what’s this?’ she got out, with a choking sound, and a moment later Che realized that she was laughing.

‘Tynisa,’ she greeted her sister, feeling a slight tension as she did so. For names have power. ‘This is Maure, a friend. She and I are conducting . . . an experiment. I want you to join us for it.’

Tynisa eyed the paraphernalia with contempt, and moved to kick out at one of the bowls, but something stopped her, clearly to her own surprise. ‘You called me out here just for this?’ Her eyes narrowed. ‘Where are Gaved and his woman?’

‘Away,’ Che said firmly, seeing in that instant how wise it had been to ensure that the Wasps were absent. ‘Sit down, please.’

‘More ghosts?’ Tynisa asked her mockingly.

‘Possibly. Will you sit?