"How did you do that?" Riina whispered.

  "Do what?" I whispered back.

  We were walking a good five steps behind Saradon and Traz, which apparently was the socially sanctioned distance between the great and the not so great. It also made conversation impossible. How anyone got anything done on Dromond was beyond me. But they seemed nice enough.

  "Look at his cuffs," Riina said, pointing to where a pair of sparkly diamonds the size of my thumbnails glittered. "That's a mark of the Clear Harmony party. And he sent Mistress Tashent running. His father must have a very high standing."

  "Translation," I said.

  "You did good," Riina said, poking me in the ribs with a bony finger. "By pure luck, I'm sure. So don't let it go to your head, stay quiet, and don't antagonize anyone. We're about to walk on treacherous sands."

  The sands turned out to be another plaza, this one paved in white marble crisscrossed by thin black lines that spread like vine leaves. I couldn't tell whether they were natural or created. Either way, the effect was mesmerizing, like watching magic being conjured by a master at the Academy. Trees with palm-sized leaves shimmering golden and giving off a smell like soft cardamom crossed with faint aniseed surrounded the plaza.

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  The servants here wore gold and silver tunics, and carried platters of shish kabobs, seared meat and shrimp on wooden skewers surrounded by lightly charred paprikas, onions, zucchinis, bright mushrooms I had no names for. My stomach growled.

  It stilled when I looked at the Dromoni dotting the plaza.

  There was nothing special about their appearance, the same dull browns, blues, and blacks dominating the color scale. But the way they stood and moved spoke volumes.

  Power radiates. You can smell it in the air, feel it in the distances between people, the way they cluster or shy away. It is like a tugging on the hairs at the nape of your neck, telling you that you're walking among predators with sharp teeth.

  The nape of my neck was pulling out my hair out by its roots. Either these people were queens and ministers or they were consummate actors with delusions of grandeur. Their poses could have cowed the rectors at the Academy.

  Sharp teeth indeed. And Saradon was heading for the biggest group of them, us in tow.

  "Riina," I whispered, but all the answer I got was a squeeze on my arm. I could have sworn Riina's fingers trembled. My mouth felt dry, my tongue sticking uncomfortably. A servant walked by three steps away carrying a tray of glasses, water clinking with ice. I didn't dare to take one. I'm pushy, not voidmunchingly suicidal.

  Suddenly, I understood Riina's warnings. I really should have read that brief. Ignorance is crudmunging bliss but it will get you killed. So now I was going to be silent, nod in the right places, and do absolutely nothing to jeopardize our mission.

  It proved harder than I thought.