I didn’t know what means Layna had used to communicate with the stables, but mounts were waiting for both her and Vincent. They swung up into their saddles as the rest of us climbed into the waiting carriage, and we were soon outside the castle walls.
Faylee’s coachman kept to the main road for a short time only, passing some fancy shopfronts that I hadn’t seen in the dark the night before. Positioned near the castle, they were clearly for mage customers. Did Faylee’s family have wares in any of their windows?
We didn’t stop at any of them, however, turning instead onto a narrower way that led us into the depths of the city. Here the houses stood much closer together, in some places built in long connected lines. But vines grew up many of them, giving life to the uniform gray. The traffic on the street drove the two captains away from the windows. Layna signaled with her hand that they would ride ahead of and behind the carriage.
“I’m glad to see you have such vigilant caretakers,” Faylee said approvingly. “Your family will be glad to hear of it.”
“I can’t move without tripping over someone,” I told her in a wry voice. “I defy any assassin to get anywhere near me.”
“Assassins don’t necessarily need proximity, don’t forget,” Faylee said in a more serious tone.
“Yes, of course, but I’m shielded. Neither of you can feel it, but Layna has had me in a bubble of power ever since we left the Academy.”
I exchanged a glance with Bryony. And I had defenses of my own, although I couldn’t tell either my bodyguard or my old family friend about them.
“So where are we going?” I asked, wanting to change the subject. “I hadn’t initially realized I would have to stray so far to meet the influential commonborn merchants of the city, but I’m rapidly gaining the impression that the situation for commonborns in Kallorway is different indeed from in Ardann.”
Faylee glanced at Bryony.
“You can talk freely in front of Bree,” I said. “I trust her completely.”
Faylee nodded once and then grimaced. “There’s a reason it’s taken us twenty years to expand into Kallmon. You don’t realize just how useful all those compositions are until you don’t have access to them anymore.”
“Can’t you supply them from Ardann?” I could imagine that Kallorwegian mages might be reluctant to sell compositions to Ardannian merchants over their own local families, but the Robarts had always been well supplied.
“It’s not the supply that’s the issue.” A grim note entered Faylee’s voice. “It’s the law. Commonborns, even sealed commonborns, are not permitted to work compositions.”
My mouth fell open. “Not permitted? As in…never? But—”
My words faltered as my mind spun over the many limitations such a ruling would create. So there were no mage and commonborn pairs working in tandem in Kallorway then. I had assumed there was just no need for them at an Academy overflowing with mages.
The reason for the law became apparent after a moment’s thought, although it left a sour taste in my mouth. King Cassius himself was sealed. If the sealed commonborns could work compositions from unsealed mages, then what made them different from him? The proud Kallorwegian king could never stomach such a situation. But to cripple his entire kingdom for the sake of his pride…
No wonder Darius was determined to seize power. Kallorway needed new leadership.
“How did I not know about this?” I asked at last.
“You’re too young to remember what it was like during the war,” Faylee said. “But most of us still remember. Kallorwegian commonborns are hardly a high priority for Ardannian mage society at the best of times, and after the war most people rejoiced to see Kallorway growing weaker while we grew stronger.” She shrugged. “And now the antics of the king and his father-in-law take up the attention in Ardann, leaving few to care about the state of the Kallorwegian commonborns.”
I shook my head. This information only confirmed my thoughts from the beginning of the year. The position of the commonborns had been an oversight in my briefings. Perhaps they had been left out precisely because they held so little power at court compared to their Ardannian counterparts. But I still believed they could have a part to play.
Loud music pulled my attention back to the window in time to see a market square go flashing past. I had the impression of many stalls and of laughing crowds and green garlands before the carriage moved on. I recognized the decorations from the year before, although they lacked the splash of red from the Ardannian berries.
“That looked jolly,” Bryony said. “Are you sure we can’t stop there?”
Faylee smiled. “Midwinter markets are scattered throughout the city and are well-frequented. They do make an appealing picture, don’t they? Everyone is busy buying supplies for the upcoming holiday, and everyone seems to be in a better mood than normal. Some things aren’t so different between Kallmon and home.” She rubbed her hands together. “It’s an excellent time of year for merchants.”
“So will we stop at one?” Bryony asked hopefully.
Faylee glanced out the window. “I don’t want to give your poor guard a heart attack by taking you to a crowded public market. We’re going to a private residence instead. But don’t worry, Bryony, it’s almost Midwinter, so there will still be festivities.”
Minutes later, we stopped at an unobtrusive pair of gates in a gray wall. The wall sat flush with the front of a tall, slim home which on the other side joined with the beginning of a whole row of such houses. I could see from Bryony’s face that she didn’t think whatever was behind this wall was likely to compare to the Midwinter market, but she didn’t say anything.
I, on the other hand, sat forward eagerly. Who did Faylee consider important enough to bring me to meet? And what would they think of me?
Although the news about Cassius’s law angered me, it was also an opportunity for Darius. The oppressive environment toward commonborns couldn’t endear any of them to their current king. And the arrival of families like the Robarts—able to describe to them a different style of mage-commonborn relations—would only stoke the flames of discontent.
The gates opened, allowing us through, and we alighted from the carriage. Bryony straightened and gave a squeak of surprise.
“But it’s enormous.” She stared round-eyed around the huge courtyard. “I would never have guessed there was so much back here.”
Faylee hid a smile. “The merchants of Kallorway might not have the advantages we enjoy in Ardann, but they are not all paupers, you know. There is still gold to be made in trade, especially in the years since the borders opened. And as much as King Cassius might dislike it, his kingdom still has need of its commonborns. He can’t drive them out completely.”
Behind the quiet facade, an enormous mansion stretched out with stables and a vast garden. Intricate lanterns had been hung from many of the bushes and trees, although they weren’t lit in the bright sunlight. Green garlands adorned surfaces in every direction, and bright golden streamers had been twisted and strung up beside them.
A small child, wearing an enormous golden dress, trotted around the edge of the building, stopping at the sight of us. She stared for a moment, mouth hanging open, and then turned and fled back the way she’d come.