“What about the empress?” I asked. “What if she figures out where Karolina has gone and wants her sister back?”

Falak tossed his hands out at his sides and shrugged. “That’s between the two of them. I don’t come between family. If Tereza wants to make Karolina return to the castle, I won’t be standing in the way.”

“The unicorn, though? She’s right. Changing the act at the last minute like this could be dangerous. More dangerous than it already is.”

He grinned and rubbed his hands together. “All the more reason to do it. It’s something that’s never been done before. Audiences pay big money for novelty, and that’s exactly what I’m going to give them. If you’re worried about Karolina, help her train.”

I frowned at him. “I take back what I said about you being kind and generous. I should tie Karolina up, throw her over my horse’s back, and take her home right now.”

“You probably should, but you won’t because staying here is easier. Safer. You were running away from something in Prigha. You don’t want to go there any more than the princess does.”

I shoved my hands on my hips and sniffed. “Fine. But if she gets hurt, we’re done.”

Falak turned away and snatched a comb from his small vanity table. He raked it through his dark hair before settling his little cap in place. “I wonder if you’ll be able to convince her of that.”

Somehow, I doubted it.

“The unicorn’s a deal breaker,” I told Karolina after joining her in the clearing at the center of the wagon ring. I held my open hands out at my sides and shrugged. “Sorry.”

Rolling her eyes, she slid from her horse. “He’s an idiot.”

“He’s a showman.”

As she rubbed Mika’s neck, the princess glanced at me from the corner of her eye. “No more big sister threats from you?”

“What do you mean?”

“No more talk about making me go back to Prigha, dragging me to Tereza?”

I rubbed my palm against her horse’s nose and studied the way the light played over the silvery hairs on his hide. “For the moment, the things you and I both want are similarly aligned. I don’t want to go to Prigha. It’s risky for everyone involved. Still, I don’t feel good about it. I can’t promise I won’t send Tereza a note when we get to the next city.”

“What if Le Poing Fermé intercepts your note. Or what if Tereza told them where to find you?”

I flinched. “Would she?”

The muscles around Karolina’s eyes tensed. “Don’t underestimate my sister’s ambition. She looks little and sweet, but she’s as much of a hungry beast as the tigress that mauled Falak.”

Picturing the lovely young empress who had treated me with lavish generosity, I shook my head. The princess’s words conflicted with the image in my memory, yet I knew from experience to never take people at face value. Deceit often ran like an underground river—deep, powerful, and hidden. If I asked Karolina for an explanation, however, I suspected she would refuse as she had the night before. The girl needed someone to trust—someone to protect her. If I couldn’t send her home, at least I could try my best to watch out for her. If she’d let me. That was a big “if”.

“Falak wants me to help you train,” I said. “I know as much about those mechanical animals as you do, but I agree with him that it doesn’t seem like something you should do alone.”

Karolina pursed her lips and snorted.

“At least if you get hurt, I’ll be there to run for help. That’s probably all I’m good for, but I’ll be there.”

She arched a single black eyebrow. “So, you’re done trying to send me home?”

“For now. In the meantime, Falak wants you to help with chores.”

Her nose wrinkled. “Chores?”

“It’s a condition of your employment.”

Her lips pressed into a thin line, but she didn’t object.

“Come on.” I turned on my heel. “Put Mika up and meet me at the dinner wagon. Gepennio is likely already cursing my name for not being there sooner.”

Without another word of argument or a snide remark, Karolina took her horse’s reins and led him toward the animal menagerie wagon. “Oh, and you’ll probably want to change before you come,” I said.

“I might be spoiled,” she said without a backward glance, “but I’m not an idiot.”

***

The princess’s hands were not as delicate as I’d presumed. Possibly her years of riding and working with her horse had toughened her. Whatever the reason, she managed to keep up with me through the day, scrubbing pots in hot water and caustic soap without pleading for a break. She set her jaw, furrowed her brow, and focused on her work, shutting out all my attempts at friendly conversation, answering only when she deemed it necessary.

After stopping for a brief lunch break, we returned to the costumes wagon, and Z’arta greeted us with another pile of freshly laundered items requiring mending. “You ever used a needle before?” I asked when I caught Karolina studying the prickling pincushion.

She glanced up at me, her dark eyes full of arrogance. “Who do you think made my saddle?”

My eyebrows arched high. “You did that?”

“Tereza refused to order one for me.” She shrugged. “I met in secret with a saddle maker from the city. He taught me, let me use his tools.”

I held up a thin linen camisole. A loose bit of lace dangled from its neckline. “This is a bit more delicate than leather crafting.”

She snatched the camisole from me and scowled. “I think I can handle it.”

***

When the circus stopped for the night, having wound itself in its protective circle, Falak greeted us in the supper line. He bowed low, doffing his little cap before rising to his full height again. “Get your supper and take it outside the circle near the animal menagerie’s wagons. Some of the men are setting up a practice arena for you. Ynnua will be there, ready to go.”

Grinning, he backed toward the clearing at the center of the ring. “Don’t make her wait too long for you. Ynnua hates waiting.” He turned and sauntered away, leaving Karolina and I to stare at each other dumbly.

“He speaks of the creatures as though they’re something more than machines,” she said.

I nodded, watching Falak disappear into the growing crowd. Bashaya had emerged from her wagon, and she caught me staring. She flashed a toothy grin as her brass snake slithered around her neck and shoulders. “I’m not convinced they are merely machines.” The line inched forward, and we scooted closer to Gepennio’s serving window. “I think there’s a bit of Magical enchantment involved.”

Karolina stiffened. “I’ve never cared much for Magic.”

“Neither have I. My experiences with Magic have mostly been unpleasant. That probably has more to do with the Magicians themselves, rather than the forces they control. Otokar’s not so bad, though.”

The line shifted again, and the cook’s evening assistant passed us trays loaded with a plate of rice doused in fragrant gravy concealing lumps that were probably meat or vegetables, though it was hard to know for certain. Gepennio had also made more of the rolls and the ket tea he’d served the night before. We took our trays and trudged away from the hubbub, heading for the exterior of the wagon circle and, presumably, to the mechanical unicorn awaiting Karolina in an impromptu riding ring.

Indeed, Falak’s men had staked out a circle in an open patch of low grass beside the road. A sharp sound cut through the night, like the whinny of a perturbed horse, except this cry was hollow and full of echoes. Svieta was leading a glorious brass horse from one of the huge menagerie wagons, and firelight from the torches reflected over her gleaming haunches. Her single golden horn glowed as though it were, in fact, touched by Magic.

Karolina stopped in her tracks beside me. Her mouth hung slightly open as her gaze roamed over the beast prancing on metallic hooves. Svieta led the unicorn toward the center of the torch ring, and her tail, made of very fine cable or wire, tinkled like wind chimes as she flicked it back and forth. A quiet whirr of gears underscored each of her steps.

“H-he wants me to ride that?” The princess clutched her tray until her knuckles showed white beneath her skin.