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"Tomorrow?" Lo Feng inquired.

I nodded. "Tomorrow."

We parted, walking in different directions. I glanced over my shoulder as I made for the Academy stables and caught Bao glancing back at me.

He almost smiled.

Almost.

* * *

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Raphael had arranged for an early dinner that night. After we dined, he called for his carriage and we headed out of the City. When I asked where we were bound, he said it was to a country estate owned by Denis de Toluard's family.

"He comes from a long line of Siovalese peers with a penchant for the scientific arts," he said. "Most were engineers, but his father was fascinated by the occult sciences and studied at the Academy here. He purchased this estate and modified it that he might carry on his studies more extensively."

That told me very little. "I see."

He gave me a quick look. "It's not necessary that you understand what we undertake tonight, Moirin. Only that you lend me your magic."

I folded my arms. "Yes, well, I'd like the chance to try and understand."

"All right." Raphael nodded. "You know that Blessed Elua's Companions were once divine servants of the One God of the Yeshuites? And that they forsook their posts to follow Elua?"

"I do," I said.

"During the time before they passed into the Terre d'Ange-that-lies-beyond, they taught many arts to the folk of Terre d'Ange." He ticked them off on his fingers. "Engineering, architecture, music, healing, pleasure, husbandry, seafaring, warcraft… all the gifts we enjoy today. But there are other gifts they did not teach us." He lowered his voice. "And other divine entities who have not served the One God for many thousands of years."

"Why?" I asked.

"They rebelled when he set his son Yeshua ben Yosef above them, lost a battle, and fell from grace," Raphael said. "But they still possess much arcane wisdom. And there is an ancient manual that tells how they may be summoned and compelled to divulge their secrets. King Shalomon of the Habiru wrote it."

I glanced out the window. The sun was setting, gilding the landscape. I thought about watching twilight settle over the burial mound in Clunderry, the grave vigil of remembrance my people undertook there at Midsummer. "The Maghuin Dhonn learned it is not always wise to pursue such things."

"Shall all the world remain ignorant because the Maghuin Dhonn made a mistake a hundred years ago?" Raphael asked in a steady voice.

"No. I don't know." I sighed. "What manner of gifts?"

He leaned forward, bracing his forearms on his knees. "The hidden qualities of herbs and minerals. The ability to speak the tongue of animals. The ability to forge friendship between foes. Does that sound so terrible?"

"No," I admitted.

"One of the greater spirits holds the secret of the commanding the wind and seas," he said in awe. "The very gift the Master of the Straits once wielded!"

"Aye, and hid away for a purpose," I reminded him.

"If he'd meant it to be lost forever, he would have destroyed it," Raphael said. "But mayhap there's another way to find it. Think on it, Moirin!" His eyes shone. "Ever since Gautier and Jean-Philippe de la Courcel vanished seeking the missing pages of the Book of Raziel, Terre d'Ange has been fearful and overcautious. King Daniel ascended the throne at a young age, unready and hesitant. Now he's torn between mourning his first wife and indulging his second. The rest of the world outpaces us, establishing trade with Terra Nova while we indulge in gossip and dalliance. A gift of such magnitude could usher in a new Golden Age."

I frowned, unsure. My diadh-anam pulsed inside me as it always did in Raphael's presence, but it offered no guidance. When I thought about the Maghuin Dhonn Herself, Her gaze was level and measured, neither forbidding nor encouraging.

This choice, I had to make myself.

"That's a dream writ large," Raphael said softly. "If we have any success at all, and we've not to date, I imagine it will come on a smaller scale with the lesser spirits. But do think on it, Moirin."