“Who the fuck are you?” Darren said, looking at Richard.
“Darren, wasn’t it?” Richard said. “I’ll be with you in a moment.”
Ji-yeong spoke from the other side, looking at the lightning mage, Sam. “Didn’t you say there were two of them?”
“Not now, all right?” Sam said.
“Only two used the gates, Anne and Verus,” Ji-yeong said. “That was what you said, right? Because I’m counting three.”
“I said not now.”
“Children,” Richard said, with a note of authority which made all three apprentices turn to look. “The three of us are having a conversation. I’ll deal with your queries later.”
Sagash’s apprentices stared at him. Sam seemed about to speak, but Darren cut him off. “You know where you are?”
Richard sighed. “I understand you have your obligations, but—”
“You know where you are?” Darren said again. “You’re in our shadow realm. You have one good reason we shouldn’t beat the shit out of you right now?”
“I’d prefer you didn’t,” Richard said. “I have a prior relationship with Sagash.”
“Oh, you’re friends with Sagash. Funny how everyone’s his friend as soon as we catch them.”
“You misunderstand,” Richard said, and his voice was calm. “My relationship with Sagash is a professional one. As a matter of courtesy, I would prefer not to kill his apprentice in his own shadow realm.”
Darren stared. “Who are you?” Sam asked.
“My name is Richard Drakh,” Richard said.
Sam stared at him, then spoke to Darren without looking at him. “Darren? Back off.”
“Why—”
There was an edge to Sam’s voice. “Back the fuck off.”
Richard looked at Ji-yeong. “And you?”
Ji-yeong studied Richard for a second, then pointed at Darren and Sam. “I’m not with them.”
“Good. Sam, was it? You have someone you should be reporting this to. I think it’ll save time if I deal with her directly.”
Sam stared at Richard, then lifted something from a pocket and spoke quietly. I’d been watching, seeing the futures shift between standing and talking and quickly terminated flashes of violence, but now I strained to look ahead. Who’s he talking to? Sam finished whatever he was saying and straightened up. No one was talking, and for a second I had a clear look through the futures. There was one more person coming, and it was—
I felt my heart sink with a kind of weary disbelief. Oh, come on. Not now. This isn’t fair.
Footsteps echoed from the next courtyard over, and only a few seconds later a woman appeared in the archway, gold hair bright in the darkness. It had been a year and a half since I’d seen her, and she looked quite different from how I remembered. Gone were the cream-coloured suits and the high heels; instead she wore a simple grey-and-brown outfit designed more for practicality than for fashion. The confidence was still there, though, and her sculpted features were as distinctive as ever. Before she’d looked like an aristocrat; now she looked like an aristocrat-turned-guerrilla. She came to a stop behind Darren and Sam, watching Richard.
“Mage Drakh,” Crystal said.
“Mage Crystal,” Richard replied.
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Crystal said, “but I have some business with those two.” She ignored us both completely.
“I’m afraid you’ll have to wait your turn.”
“I think I’ve waited long enough,” Crystal said. Her voice was clear and there was something to it that gave me a chill. She didn’t look at Anne.
“My interest predates yours.”
“I know Verus was your apprentice,” Crystal said. “I could be persuaded to leave him alone.”
“Crystal,” Richard said. “I appreciate your efforts to come to a compromise. But please do not attempt to be heavy-handed. You do not have the power to even effectively pretend to threaten me. Anything you receive from me will be on my terms.”
Crystal was silent. She didn’t move, but I saw the futures flicker. Just for a second I saw a flash of combat, there and gone before I could catch any details. “Now,” Richard said. “I have no intention of involving myself in your affairs with Sagash. Once I’ve finished with Verus and with Anne, I will be leaving.”
“Alone?” Crystal asked.
Richard raised his eyebrows. “That depends on them.” And he turned back to us.
All of a sudden everyone was looking at us—Richard and Crystal, Darren, Sam, and Ji-yeong, the scattered shadows with their soulless white eyes—and I felt an ugly, sick feeling in my stomach. This was bad, very bad. Right now, Richard was the only thing holding Crystal and the apprentices back. The instant he left they were going to attack, and we were going to lose. Even against just Sagash’s apprentices and their constructs, our odds would be bad. With Crystal as well . . .
“This is it?” Anne said quietly, and I knew she’d figured it out as well. “This is the deal? If we don’t join you, you leave us to them?”
“I did not bring you to this shadow realm,” Richard said. “Nor am I the cause of your problems with Sagash. I can help, but there is a price.”
“If you want to help us, then help!”
Richard shook his head. “No handouts, Anne. If you want my protection, you have to earn it.”
Crystal and the apprentices were still watching, silent and hungry. Is there anything we can do with that? “You know,” I said, “it’s going to be really hard for us to accept your offer if that lot kill us.”
“True.”
“So how about we do this a different way? You get rid of them, and we’ll talk terms.”
“I don’t think so,” Richard said. He sounded amused.
“There might be something—”
“Alex,” Richard said. “I’m glad you haven’t lost your ability to think on your feet. But remember who taught you those tricks.”
Crap. Okay, so much for that plan. “You know, for someone who’s trying a recruitment pitch, you aren’t selling this very well.”
“Then let’s bring this to a close,” Richard said. “The offer stands. Your service for . . . two years, shall we say? That seems a reasonable span. If you agree, you’ll receive appropriate compensation and benefits. I’m not ungenerous. If you refuse . . .” He shrugged. “I won’t harm you, but I will not save you, either. I do suggest you consider the consequences carefully before answering. I expect you could probably find your way out, Alex, one way or another.” He shifted his gaze to Anne. “You, on the other hand . . . for all your power, I doubt you’d leave this castle again. Nor would your remaining days be pleasant.”
Anne didn’t speak. Crystal didn’t either. She was watching Anne with a flat, unblinking look.
“Well, then,” Richard said when we didn’t answer. “I do have other commitments. I’ll give you five minutes to make your decision, then I’ll take my leave. Crystal, we should talk.” He walked to where Crystal was standing, weaving between the shadows without seeming to pay them any particular attention. Darren and Sam turned to stare as he passed, then looked back at us. Crystal stood her ground and Richard came to a stop beside her.
Anne and I were left alone with what felt like an entire army watching us. “Um,” Anne said. Her voice was under control, but only just, and she didn’t take her eyes away from the figures menacing us. “Alex? Don’t take this the wrong way, but please tell me you have some ideas.”
“I was about to ask you that.”
“Oh.”
My eyes scanned the area, looking for weak points. “We could wait for Richard to leave, then make a break for it,” I said. The bulk of the shadows were on the grass, between us and the apprentices and the ground-level exits. Up on the battlements, two more shadows stood on a path cut into the castle walls, thirty or forty feet from the ground. The path joined to the windmill via the bridge and disappeared at the other end through an open doorway into a round-topped tower. “Up and out through the roof, over the bridge, past those shadows to the door in the corner. If we can make it through into that tower, we can break line of sight long enough to get some distance on them. Try and lose them in the castle.”