The Vessel of Ra

Chapter 5: The Demon Khun

Before arriving in Venice, Drusus, Octavia, and Lucy had toured Firenze. Octavia liked the Medici tomb, which was similar to the vault of dead and not-so-dead Klaereons back in Hathersage. She did not feel her magic as powerfully in Venice, so when she decided to call for Khun, the Medici tomb seemed the most suitable place. Drusus' family had mastered the wind and weather, and not only could he fly her to Firenze, but he could also keep them dry.

There were no more Medicis. The line died out a mere sixty years before, the last great magical family from Firenze gone. The ambient spirits in the tomb gave her the shadows she needed to practice Binder magic. There had been some difficulty in finding the right powders for the circle. Every Binder carried sacred sand because there was only one place that came from—Eramus' temple—but titania could sometimes be problematic. In the end, an alchemist had been coerced into giving up the necessary titania to make the barrier, which was mostly for Drusus' protection. Octavia learned a long time ago not to be afraid of the dark, but she knew Khun resented Drusus.

"They're closing soon," said Drusus. "All the tourists will be gone."

Octavia nodded. She pulled the shadows together, bending the light through them, so she and Drusus seemed to disappear. Just as the door was closing, they slipped in.

Octavia brushed against the sleeve of the priest locking the door. She dodged away as he reached for her. The priest looked around him, shrugged, and moved into the chapel. Octavia and Drusus followed him inside.

In the Cappella dei Principi, the Chapel of the Princes, Octavia untied her bonnet's soft ribbons and placed it on a small shelf. Candles shimmered and magnified the marble squares, a pageant of colors tiled between the crypts of minor Medicis, whose names were carved on the walls.

Drusus leaned against one of the names, Vittorio de Medici. "You can feel the magic in here," he said.

"It feels like home," said Octavia. She envied the Medicis their color. The Klaereon crypt was white marble, as custom among Binders dictated. She plucked off her gloves like daisy petals. It was time to see to the summoning's protective barrier.

The spiral curls in her hair shook as she bent over to draw a circle on the ground, the powder a mixture of titania and sacred sand. Her lips pursed in concentration like a small girl's, a child playing with a magician's tools by mistake. Unlike Lucy, Octavia was not tiny, but she was delicate and gave the impression of being made from crystal. Men were attracted to her appearance, if not her aura. When they first met, Drusus remarked he had been.

When the circle was finished, both she and Drusus stepped into the center. Octavia slipped a small vial of blessed water from her portmanteau. She downed half and gave the rest to Drusus, who finished it off. He peeled off a camel glove and held her hand.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Are you?"

"If we must do this, let's get it over with."

Grudging, as always. Well, he was not a Klaereon and did not have much experience. However, they did need to do this. Spirits shifted over Octavia's face as she closed her eyes. The shadows only Binders could see edged around them, taunting her. She shook her head to chase the noise out. When she was a child, what the shadows said made her ashamed, but now, she glowed with satisfaction at what used to seem cruel to her. She was in complete control, and with a thought could banish these minor shadows. Since Firenze had no Binders, the shadows did not understand this yet. They were not the well-mannered shades of home.

Octavia's eyes flashed open, glowing like the ocean bouncing back the blue of the sky. The shadows realized their mistake as Octavia gazed upon them. They streamed away from the Binder like the River Styx. Octavia reached out delicate hands and twisted and wove the shadows into strands, tightening and knotting, an expert in the embroidery of nothing. Then she grabbed each end and twisted them together. "Come forth, Khun. Come to your mistress." A thrill trembled inside her.