She laughed softly. Excellent guess, sir, but its Alcyone.
A celestial nymph, I like that. He turned to one of her friends. And you must be a Helen, the one mortal woman as beautiful as any goddess.
Alas, Im only a Rhea.
Daughter of Earth and Sky, even better. And you, he said to the third beauty witch, a Persephone who so overwhelms a god with desire that he is driven to abduction.
All the girls laughed. That is indeed her name, said Alcyone. Well done, sir.
I am never wrong in these matters.
May I ask, sir, ventured Persephone, why do you have a canary with you?
Miss Buttercup? She is an exceptional judge of character. Has she made a peep since you welcomed me into your group?
No, she hasnt.
Then you have her approval. Ah, I see from Miss Alcyones expression that she sees a gorgon. Now watch, Miss Buttercup is turning around. She will lay eyes on the gorgon, and she will express her disapproval.
Fairfax issued a series of furious peeps. Was she warning him that he had gone too far?
Your Highness, said the Inquisitor directly behind him.
Her tone. His stomach roiledshe was livid.
The beauty witches all curtsied. He did not turn around. I trust you can see I am busy, Madam Inquisitor.
I have changed my mind. Shall we to the Inquisitory?
It was the last place he wanted to go. He hoped Fairfax was happy.
My apologies, ladies, he said to the beauty witches. I must desert you for a short time. I hope you are not leaving immediately.
He did not hear what they said in return.
It was time for his first Inquisition.
CHAPTER 
15
At first she put it down to his rank and his attirehis deep-blue overrobe, heavily embroidered with silver thread, was magnificent. But this was an occasion that overflowed with magnificent clothes on men and women of superior rank. And the way they looked at him, footmen and prime minister, serving maids and baronesses alike, it was as if hed cast a spell on them.
He had Presence.
The moment he stepped off his chariot, it was obvious that he was no ordinary adolescent. He was rude and inaccessible, but he exuded an enigmatic charisma that could not be ignored.
He would never convince Atlantisor anyone for that matterto take him lightly.
Perhaps he knew that. His heart pounded next to herhed put her inside his overrobe for the trip to the Inquisitory. The tunic he wore beneath the overrobe was of very fine silk, redolent of the herbs with which it had been stored, warm with the heat of his body.
She burrowed deeper against him.
I will keep you safe, he murmured.
He meant it.
As long as he was safe, she was safe.
But how long would he remain safe?
Titus drove one of Alectuss pegasus-drawn chariotsthe phoenixes were too sensitive to be brought near a place as sinister as the Inquisitory. Lowridge, his captain of the guards, and six soldiers from the castle rode behind him, each on a white pegasus.
Night had fallen. All the streetlamps and houses had been lit, which only emphasized the dark, desolate stretches of quick pine. The column of red smoke that marked the location of the Inquisitory glowed bright and eerie, a display of power that dominated the skyline night and day.
The original Inquisitory had been lleveled during the January Uprising. Since its rebuilding, security had been airtight. The Inquisitor received no callers and gave no parties. The only way to get in, it was sometimes said, was to be dragged in.
The pair of pegasi that pulled Tituss borrowed chariot certainly wanted to boltalmost as much as he did. One could not fly over territory under the Inquisitors direct control; once they crossed its boundary, the pegasi had to trot on the ground. They whinnied, shied, and slapped each other with their tough wings. Titus cracked the whip near their ears to stop their jumpy antics.
Would that all he needed was a not-quite-lashing to pull himself together.
The new Inquisitory was a circular structure, the exterior one solid black wall, unbroken by a single window. Three sets of heavy gates led to an enclosed courtyard enveloped by an uncomfortably red-tinted light.
The Inquisitors second in command, Baslan, was on hand to greet Titus. Titus could not decide whether he ought to be happy about the Inquisitors absence or frightened that she was even now preparing for his Inquisition.
He tossed aside his reins and froze. Not ten feet from where he had pulled his chariot to a stop, a human skeleton poked out of the ground; the bony remains of its hand, the tips of the phalanges dark red, reached skyward as if seeking help from above.
Interest choice of decoration, he said, blood roaring in his ears.
Half of the courtyard has been allowed to remain in ruinsa reminder for the servants of Atlantis to stay ever vigilant, answered Baslan.
The ruined half was pockmarked and strewn with blasted chunks of wall and broken pieces of glass that glittered red in the light. There were no other human skeletons, but Titus saw a dog skeleton and the top half of a doll, which made him recoil until he realized it was not a mutilated baby.