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Spell?"
"I claim it," Janos cried, "from knowledge and dedication. But more because my powers, and my
learning, come from the day, come from the light. And just as day shall always conquer the night, so
justice shall triumph over your evil!"
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Cassini looked about, realizing his fellows and the soldiers had fallen back. "This is a farce!"
"If you so believe ... then continue your curse and continue declaring us criminals."
I saw Cassini lick his lips. Then he spun, without answering, and stalked away. The hem of his robe
became tangled around his legs, and he almost fell. He recovered, and vanished, back into the city, his
minions scuttling behind him.
I heard, below me, the startlement of my servants. I turned to Janos, who was setting the mirror down
very carefully. "I did not know," I said, "you have powers that great."
Janos forced a grim smile. "Nor did I. Nor am I sure that the . . . ones who are beyond would allow me
to cast such a counterspell. I shall not attempt to construct it unless forced by Cassini and the Evocators.
Perhaps even conceiving of this makes me guilty of hubris. But I am ready to be judged on that matter."
"So you were bluffing?"
Janos shrugged. "In the invisible world, how can anyone, even the greatest wizard, mark the difference
between bluff and inspiration? What matters is that the others, those people who serve us, will be
reassured for the moment."
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"What if Cassini tries again? Or if he assembles all of the Evocators to cast the outlawing spell?"
"I do not think that will happen. Perhaps I truly have his image caught in my glass, in which case if he
tries again, I shall go on the attack. If I do not have him caught ... then all is as before. But at this moment
Evocator Cassini believes himself in jeopardy, which is enough."
"He won't give up," I said. "Nor will the other Evocators and Magistrates he's enlisted."
"No," Janos agreed. "But I suspect they will try something different. And they will try it very
quickly-Cassini is too worried about whether I have power over him to let any time pass at all. All of us
must be ready for greater trouble this night."
By dusk I knew Janos was correct, at least in his last prediction. I heard the boom of drums coming, I
thought, from the Great Amphitheater, and the roar of crowds from the city. By full dark, torches could
be seen lining out the streets. Perhaps we could have fled the villa, but to what end? I knew Cassini
would recast his spell, and with a bounty on all our heads, everyone from huntsmen to soldiers would be
tracking us. The situation must be resolved here and now.
The night sky was clear, and far overhead shone the cold, hard light of the stars. There was no moon,
but it seemed as if a sort of luminescence shone everywhere. Although the night was cloudless,
somewhere, not far away, I heard the mutter of thunder.
Janos ordered all lights that could be seen from the outside extinguished. He gathered the ten strongest
men together and broke them into two groups, under the command of Maeen. They would be our
reserve if, or rather when, we were attacked. The four men who knew a little of archery were stationed
on the roof. The watch posts were manned by the youngest servants, whose eyes and ears would be the
sharpest of any. Great torches were lighted in front of our gates, at each corner of the villa, and to the
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rear. Other torches, tied to spears, were made ready. If the large lights were snuffed out, their
replacements could be hurled beyond the walls for emergency illumination. Those who wished food were
given it, although Janos said he would have preferred no one eat-belly wounds, he told me, were
grievous enough without being further corrupted by the stomach's overflow. Also, to prevent filth from
being driven into a wound, he had all of us put on clean, dark clothing. Then we waited.
Two hours later the torches began streaming from the center of
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the city toward the villa. The crowd chants were growing louder. I noted something odd, and brought it
to Janos' attention.
"We are, I guess, to be torn apart by a horde angered beyond reason by my scoffing at the gods. Or so
our enemies will have it."
"What signs do you have," Janos asked wryly, "that yon throng is not your basic mob, wreaking
vengeance in the name of all that is good and holy?"
"I see the torches in front and to the sides, moving in lines as if they were being carried by trained
soldiers. And the chants sound rehearsed. My guess is they have ordered loyalist elements of the army
into civilian costume."
"No," Janos disagreed. "Again, we are opposed by their sorcery. Soldiers would talk, after the event, no
matter how they are ordered to keep a still tongue. But men and women, brought out of their homes by a
skillfully cast spell, whose skein is finer than a fishing net, will produce the same directed havoc ... and
with no guilt or recollection in the morning. History of this night will not be written on a palimpsest."
Within half a glass, the rabble had arrived and surrounded the villa. "Yet another clue as to their
organization," Janos pointed out. "A real mob would be centered where things are most likely to happen,
which means the front of the villa. Instead, we are now trapped."
"What comes next?"
"Rocks, chants, then a group will chance charging a weak point. We should strike hard, with arrows and
spears to drive them back. We must hurt them hard and suddenly any time they make such a thrust.
Sooner or later, they will either tire of bleeding without result, or else ..."
I didn't need to ask what the alternative was. "I suppose there is no hope of the Magistrates coming to
our assistance?"
Janos shook his head. "Our best chance is that we are still here when the sun rises."
The mob milled and shouted, and rocks and pottery arced toward us. But there was no sign of the
anticipated thrust. "Perhaps," Janos wondered, "they are planning the first attack be sorcerous in nature.
Look around the crowd, Amalric. Look for their leaders. This mob is definitely led in the person, and not
by some Evocator with ghostly hands from their palace. There! See?"
I spotted, at the rear of the throng, several pin lights. "Bull's-eye lanterns," Janos suggested. "The group's
leader or leaders,
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probably being guided since he will be in the throes of his spell working."
"Cassinir
"Do you think he would allow us to be destroyed without witnessing the event? There is Cassini, and I
know if we had a magic glass and could look back to the palace of the Evocators, there would be a great
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