Ilathor’s eyes sparkled when he saw Ella’s reaction. “Ella, I must leave you now,” he said. “My tarn leaders and I have much to discuss; they will be anxious to hear about the Imperial Chorum.” He hesitated. “Please, will you think on what I’ve said?”
The kalif departed with a flourish, and Jehral touched Ella’s shoulder. “Enchantress Ella, I would like you to meet my sister, Zohra.”
A young woman came forward to stand by Jehral’s shoulder. Her hair was a rich, deep black and her eyes had the smoky amber color Ella had only seen among the Hazarans and some of the Veldrins. Zohra was as lean as Jehral but blossomed with youth, and Ella felt suddenly self-conscious, knowing she was travel stained and pale skinned when compared with Zohra’s flawless olive complexion. Zohra had high cheekbones and a wide, full-lipped mouth, but it was her eyes that were striking. Ella knew men would fall for those eyes.
Ella smiled, keen to make a favorable impression on Jehral’s sister. “It is a pleasure.” Ella bowed and touched her fingers to her heart, lips, and forehead, but it was clumsy compared with Zohra’s graceful curtsy.
“Enchantress,” Zohra said, “you must be weary from your journey, and I am sure you wish to get out of those clothes. Chambers have been prepared. Please come.”
“I will see you later,” Jehral whispered.
Zohra led Ella up some stairs to a set of chambers at the side of the first mezzanine level. True to the rest of Ilathor’s palace, Ella’s chambers were beyond even those she’d seen in the Imperial Palace in Seranthia, with an antechamber, a receiving room, a dining area, a dressing chamber, a bedchamber, and two baths.
“Jehral has told me of you many times,” Zohra said. “He is very fond of you.”
“And I, him,” Ella said.
“Kalif Ilathor Shanti is also very fond of you.”
“I am flattered by the kalif’s attention,” Ella said, uncertain what else to say. “I didn’t meet you the last time I was in Agira Lahsa . . . ?”
“I am young,” Zohra said, with a small smile and a shrug. “I have only just reached my nineteenth birthday. Among my people, an unmarried woman of rank is kept from the men until this age, when we are allowed to serve the men. Already some have asked my brother for my hand.”
On uncertain ground, Ella said, “Are there any among them you care for?”
“No,” Zohra said, “and Jehral will not force my hand. For that, I love him. Here are your chambers. Rest tonight and tomorrow. Tomorrow, in the early evening, there will be a banquet.”
Ella touched Zohra’s arm. “I’ve come here to do something important and it can’t wait. I’d be honored to join you at the banquet after I’m done, however.”
Zohra shrugged. “As you wish,” she said.
The next morning, Ella woke tired, yet anxious to leave Agira Lahsa and make her way to Altura. There was so much work to do there, yet Miro had her far from her home, doing something any enchanter could do.
Ella dressed in a plain, functional dress and roamed the palace until a steward found her and asked if he could help. Ella felt relief when he fetched Jehral, who strode up to Ella with a smile on his face.
“Eager to get to work, Enchantress?” he said, noting the satchel at her shoulder.
“I don’t have much time here,” Ella said apologetically. “I have to get back to Sarostar.”
“Don’t worry, I understand. What do you need?”
“Do you have a high point in the palace? Somewhere with a commanding view of the desert? Perhaps a lookout or a watch tower?”
Jehral nodded. “The astronomical observatory. It is the perfect place. I can show it to you. What else do you require?”
“At least two of your elders. I have to explain to them how the lore functions.”
“Of course.” Jehral clicked his fingers, and a steward came scurrying forward. “Please show the enchantress where to find the observatory. Ella, I must get back to discussions with the kalif, but I’ll make sure the elders find you. Rest assured, we know how important this is.”
“Thank you,” Ella said. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“You would achieve your task, with or without me,” Jehral said. As he walked away he turned and looked over his shoulder and grinned. “You always do.”
The steward led Ella up a winding windowless staircase to the observatory, the tallest tower in the palace. It was open to the sky on all sides but covered with a domed ceiling, a wide slit in the dome showing a strip of blue sky. As Jehral said, it was perfect.
Ella was relieved. She knew her work would progress much faster without having to construct a tower: the lore depended on a fair line of sight. She took a pyramid of quartz from her workbag: a primary reflector that could be activated rather than a link in the chain. Ella then removed essence, gloves, and a scrill for fusing the reflector in place, and set to work.