It was only a woman.

A woman come to clean, who had somehow brought billows of purple smoke. Or maybe the smoke was from the candles. That must be the answer, Elymas decided. Two hundred candles, and by this time the wicks and tallow were burning low

She stood in the spot where the grotesques had been, dress hanging off a shoulder, hair disheveled, and stared at him. 

A girl.

In a moment Elymas was screaming for his life and then exploding in rage. “You little bitch!” he shouted. “I’ll have your hide for this!”

         She stepped forward, stretching forth her hand. A gar leapt up in response, and she patted its head and playfully tugged at a fin. In horror and fascination, Elymas watched it settle onto the stones at her feet. 

         The smoke had all but disappeared as she came closer. Elymas gasped. 

An olive-skinned beauty whose hands had never known work. Not Casorian. Casorian women tended to be fair and light-eyed, taller. She wore kohl about her eyes and was delicately made, her gossamer gown accentuating the litheness of her body. A girl on the verge of womanhood who bore a strong resemblance to. . . nonsense. He’d been embarrassed that day in the apothecary, and the face of the boy popped up more often than it should.  Best to treat her like a servant until he knew her identity.  Besides, he wanted  to treat her like a servant, for she was laughing at him, not openly, but he could tell. Elymas knew himself to be shrewd. 

         “Clean up this mess.”  He motioned at the floor, where spilled wine and slivers of glass lay, then paused when he realized she’d walked through them without harm. “Take the bottle at the edge as well.”

         “You were a fool to poison the King.”  Relaxed, her voice a purr.

         “You’re speaking treason!” Elymas replied, his pitch deliberately low. Those who knew him cringed when it dropped to this pitch. A low pitch meant someone would die. “Are you asking for a trip to the dungeons?”

         She laughed. stepping even closer. The shadows on the floor trailed like pets. 

         “Speak up, your voice is faint. Shout as loudly as you like, there’s no danger of being overheard. We’re alone but for the shadows, and I’ve stilled them for now. “