Ptack had just summoned an earth elemental-a creature that none had suspected existed within Karsus Enclave. When Lord Karsus had sheared the top off a mountain and used it as the foundation for his floating city, he must have inadvertently taken the elemental up with it, condemning the creature to an existence forever severed from the ground below. And yet the thing still lived-and was under Ptack's control. Equally amazing was the fact that the normally secretive Ptack had revealed this fact.
Ptack concentrated on his spell, his palms pressing down with invisible force, holding the earth elemental in place.
Tell the Lord High Justice what you saw," he commanded. "Describe the thief who stole my scrolls."
"Humaaan. With… great… maaagic. She… waaalks… in… shaaadows."
Andoris nodded. A shadow-walk spell would explain how the thief-if it was indeed Blamira-was able to enter Ptack's laboratory, protected as it was by numerous magical locks and wards.
"Was it one of these two humans?" he asked, pointing simultaneously at both of the accused.
The elemental's unblinking eyes rolled in their sockets to stare at the closest of the red-haired women. The ground under her feet bulged then subsided.
"Thaaat… one."
Slowly, the eyes ground in the other direction, and the ground bulged under the second imprisoned woman.
"And… thaaat… one."
"Just as I said!" Ptack exclaimed.
Behind the floating lenses, his eyes swiveled briefly to gauge Andoris's reaction to the testimony-but only briefly. Sweat was running down his temples from the strain of holding the massive elemental inside the earth.
Andoris leaned forward on his chair. The elemental's eyes were slowly rolling back and forth, grinding softly in their sockets.
"Which one is the thief?" he asked.
A heat haze shimmered in the air above the elemental's mouth as it licked its lips with a tongue of molten lava.
"They… taste… saaame."
"Did both of them enter your master's laboratory?"
The floor trembled, forcing Ptack to catch his balance, as the elemental slowly shook its head. On the walls above, some of the spectators who had been drawn back by curiosity disappeared again.
"Juuust… one."
"Can you tell which one?" Andoris asked. "Nooo."
Ptack, sweating more profusely now, shrugged a shoulder to wipe a trickle of sweat from his temple, but kept his palms motionless over the elemental.
"Blamira knew about the elemental," he said, "yet she had the audacity to steal my notes, despite the fact that she was being watched. She must have counted on Went- on this court being too timid to hear its testimony."
"When did the elemental alert you to the theft?" Andoris asked.
"Immediately," Ptack said. "Unfortunately, Blamira had already fled with my notes." Andoris glanced at the two accused-both of whom
Were watching the elemental with rapt, silent frowns- then sat back in his chair, considering. It was possible the elemental was lying, but unlikely. Ptack could control it and force it to carry out his orders, but he couldn't control its thoughts. It was an independent creature, with a mind of its own-a mind filled with fury at being forced to serve a mere human. If the elemental did lie, it would do so out of malice, to damage Ptack's testimony.
We would never do anything like that. We would never, ever tell a lie about our master if we were ever called to testify. But we wouldn't ever be called to testify, would we? If people knew the truth about us, it would ruin our reputation.
Andoris ignored the homunculus's words, which were sent in a fawning tone, but with a slight edge.
"The testimony of the witness is deemed valid," he announced. "The witness may be dismissed."
Taking a deep breath, Ptack leaned forward, forcing his hands ever closer to the floor. The elemental grimaced, causing the floor and walls to tremble violently. It slowly sank back into the floor. Ptack moved his hands back and forth, as if erasing a picture. A heartbeat later, the floor was smooth, flat, and featureless, as if the elemental had never been.
As High Justice Wentar let out an audible sigh of relief, Andoris turned to the two accused and said, "You have heard the testimony given against you. You now have an opportunity to plead guilty or to-"
Both interrupted at once.
"But I'm innocent!" they cried. Each pointed at the other and spoke, their words fitting together like heartbeats. "She must be-" "She's the one who's-" and came together on the final word, "guilty!"
They continued to protest, each trying to shout the other down. Andoris, noting that the testimony was becoming jumbled on the ivory spiral-even the Spiral Court was having a hard time telling the two apart- forked the fingers of his right hand, simultaneously casting a holding spell upon them both. Each woman froze in place, unable to do more than breathe or blink, but still capable of hearing any testimony given against her.
"They're both guilty," Ptack muttered, peering back and forth at the frozen figures. "One's the arcanist, and the other's her shadow double. One directed the crime, the other committed it. Execute them both-but force them to say what they've done with my research notes, first."
Andoris crooked his finger. "The mantle."
Ptack plucked it from his shoulders with a grateful shudder, as if removing a leech. Andoris gestured, and the mantle floated across the circle that held the Blamira claimant with the gown and gem-dusted face. As soon as she was released from her spell she flung the mantle across her shoulders with a haughty expression and stood poised and expectant, waiting for Andoris's questions.
"Are you Shiris Blamira?" he asked.
"I am," she began, then winced as the mantle struck a slightly sour note. "That is, I believe that I am. There is a chance, of course, that I am wrong. If I am the shadow double, I wouldn't know it. I have all of Shiris Blamira's physical and mental attributes, including her spellcasting abilities-even the same memories."
"And the same motivations to commit theft?" Wentar asked.
Ha! Got her!
Andoris held up a hand. "The accused is not required to speculate on whether she might have committed the crime," he cautioned. "Only to testify as to whether or not she did commit the crime."
Wentar considered a moment, then said, "Assume, for now, that you are the original Shiris Blamira, and answer my questions accordingly." He pointed at the woman in the other maze-circle. "Did you create this shadow double?"
"I must have. It wouldn't be possible for another arcanist to have created so exact a duplicate." "Do you remember casting the spell?" "No. I know only that the shadow double must have been created yesterday-and that somehow, my memory of yesterday has vanished."
"What do you remember?" Andoris asked.
"One moment I was sitting in the library of the Shadow Consortium, reading and enjoying my morning tea, and the next, I found myself in my laboratory, face-to-face with this… creature. I thought it was a doppelganger at first, and only realized what it must be after I tried to magically bind it-and it dismissed the binding as if it had cast the spell itself. That's when I realized it must be a shadow double."
"Did you try to command it?"
Blamira nodded vigorously. "Immediately-but it didn't work. Somehow, the thing must have become free willed."
Free willed?
Back in the bedchamber, the homunculus was sitting on the edge of Andoris's four-poster bed, riveted by the testimony.
"Did you try to dismiss the shadow double?" Andoris asked.