Page 97 of The Bone Season

‘Jules,’ Liss said, despairing. ‘Why are you here?’

‘Aludra sent me to help find Paige,’ he said, raising his eyebrows. ‘Apparently the reds were having trouble by themselves.’

‘Glad to give them something to do.’ I sat beside him. ‘Happy to see me?’

‘If only to remind me to get myself an alarm clock from Duckett,’ he said drily.

‘They’ll check the Rookery again soon,’ Liss warned. ‘Jules, you should go.’

Julian stayed where he was, toying with the stiff button at his throat. I gave him a nudge.

‘Do you want to talk about it?’

‘Aludra took me to Nashira a few days ago.’ He glanced at me with tired eyes. ‘She asked me what I was. I don’t know for sure, and I told her so. They brought an amaurotic into the testing chamber and told me if I tried to hide my gift, this woman—’

I nodded.

‘I panicked,’ Julian said, looking grim. ‘I guessed making up a vision was my best way to get us both out alive, so I said I was a hydromancer.’ (Whatever Julian was, he was not that.) ‘I’m not sure if Nashira believed me, but she played along. She filled a basin and told me to look for somebody called Antoinette Carter.’

I frowned. ‘Toni Carter?’

Julian frowned back. ‘You know her?’

‘Not personally.’

‘Should I know who she is?’

‘She was a celebrity in Ireland before the Dublin Incursion.’ I kept my tone steady, casual. ‘My aunt used to watch her chat show.’

‘The mighty Suzerain,’ Julian said, sceptical, ‘is trying to find a chat-show host?’

‘That’s what I’m telling you.’

‘For … a chat?’

‘Carter used to tell her guests’ fortunes. She would predict the outcomes of elections, break the news before anyone else. Either she was a gifted fraud, or she was voyant. She was also outspoken against Scion.’

‘She’s a fugitive now, then?’

‘Unless she’s dead, yes.’

Jaxon had told me most of this. I barely remembered, being so young when I left.

After the Molly Riots, Carter had gone into hiding. She had been linked to a pamphlet calledStingy Jackin Dublin, which had condemned our conquerors. Jaxon had got wind of it and taken an interest.

All this could still be connected to him. Last spring, he had paid our local jarker to establish contact with Carter. I had never heard the outcome. Leon was good at his job – he must have associates in Ireland – but it could take weeks or months to get a message across Scion.

Jaxon had never explained why he wanted to meet Carter, but I could guess. Her gift had intrigued him, even from afar. He could never resist his instinct to sort every voyant into a neat box.

‘So she told you to find Carter,’ I prompted Julian. ‘What did you tell her?’

‘I repeated what Carl said. I’d run into him,’ he explained. ‘He couldn’t help but brag about the pillar he saw. I gave Nashira the same description, with a few tweaks so it wouldn’t sound identical.’

‘Carl was scrying for a mime-lord, not Antoinette Carter.’

‘Well, it still worked. I passed.’ When he saw my face, he frowned again. ‘What is it?’

Liss came back with a tin bucket of rainwater, saving me from having to answer.

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