‘And again, sorry. I didn’t mean to.’

‘Didn’t you? Why did you then?’

‘It was the elephant, the soldiers, the three of you in the cart. It looked like a fascinating story.’ Benzamir regained his composure. The suddenness of her appearance, the abrupt closeness of her: it had disoriented him. ‘That’s why I sent Said down to find out all about you.’

‘Did you learn anything interesting?’

‘Yes. I found out that a minister of state had stolen the emperor’s property and will face trial tomorrow. But I couldn’t find out anything about who you were. Or the man with the scars.’

‘The man with the scars,’ Elenya repeated wistfully. ‘Yes, I suppose he is that. He is Brother Va Angemaite of the monastery of Saint Samuil of Arkady. And I am still the Princess Elenya Lukeva Christyakova of Novy Rostov. You may, if you wish, sit.’

He sat. ‘I’m Benzamir Michael Mahmood, Prince of the People over the Sea.’

‘What brings you to Great Nairobi, Prince Benzamir?’

‘Books, Princess. Books.’

He saw how her body stiffened for a moment, heard how her breath caught in her throat.

‘You know what Solomon Akisi stole then.’

‘More than know. He sold one book in Misr, on the shore of the Inner Sea. It came to my father the king, and I have brought it back as a gift for the emperor.’ Benzamir was busy remembering what he should and shouldn’t give away. She knew the fate of the second book; he ought not.

‘You made a mistake,’ Elenya said, her eyes narrowing. ‘The book was not Akisi’s to steal, nor the emperor’s to keep. The books belong to the patriarch of Mother Russia. And Va is determined to take them all to him, one by one if necessary.’

Benzamir listened for a moment to the creak of insects and the barking of lizards. ‘How did the emperor get the books in the first place? They’ve come a very long way from Mother Russia. As have you, Princess.’

‘Va goes where the books go,’ she said. ‘I go where he goes. As for the emperor, how do powerful men come to own anything? They steal it. Sometimes by law, sometimes by trickery, and sometimes they just take it by force. I was there, Prince Benzamir, when the emperor’s men killed all the brothers, took the books and burned the monastery of Saint Samuil to the ground. I witnessed both the bloody carnage and the fire. They were good men. They didn’t deserve to die like that.’ She stopped. ‘What’s wrong? What have I said?’

Benzamir’s hand had gone to his mouth, and he hadn’t blinked all the while. ‘Dead? How many?’

‘Forty brothers. Not one of them picked up a weapon to defend himself. I don’t understand why you’re so shocked. These things happen from time to time.’

‘And the emperor did this? I mean, he ordered it?’

Elenya shrugged and pulled her grey cloak tighter around her. The night air was cold, and they hadn’t moved for a while. ‘Who else? The books are taken from Arkady, they turn up in Great Nairobi. It’s not difficult to believe.’

‘No, no, it’s not. The emperor has the gold, the spies, the ability to reach out beyond his borders: he could do it, if he had reason enough.’ Benzamir felt his palms prick with sweat. ‘Did you ever see one of these books?’

‘Yes, eventually. Akisi had run to a land on the edge of the Outer Ocean. He tried to make a name for himself, sell himself and the book’s knowledge to the highest bidder. He murdered a village priest and massacred an army. He’s not a nice man.’ Elenya looked at Benzamir quizzically from under her hood. ‘I saw the book he had, but that’s not what you’re asking. In fact, you’re asking a lot of questions that I don’t have to answer. I don’t know you. I don’t know who you are.’ She stood up hurriedly and made to leave. ‘If you’re one of the emperor’s men, then I’ve said enough to get us all hanged.’

Benzamir dared put out his hand to stop her. ‘Wait. You’re safe with me, safe from me. Please, Princess: just one last question.’

She knocked his hand aside and reached for a knife hidden in her belt. ‘Why do I feel compelled to tell you everything? It’s like I’ve suddenly gone mad.’ She was breathing hard, her pale face flushed. ‘I’ll answer your question if you answer mine. You’re not a real prince, are you? All the ones I’ve ever met – and I’ve met an awful lot – were either effete snobs or boorish pigs, and to a man they were filled with a loathsome self-importance that made me want to vomit. Then there’s you. You’re different.’

Benzamir got up slowly so as not to frighten her any further. ‘I am not a prince, and my father was not a king. But there are People over the Sea, and our interest in the emperor’s library has nothing to do with learning, and everything to do with whoever it is who wants those books desperately enough to kill forty men in cold blood.’ He held up his hand, palm facing her, fingers splayed. ‘I swear this is true, by the promises which bind me to my tribe and my vocation.’

Elenya lowered her knife, and her sleeve fell over the blade. She bit her lip, then said: ‘Ask your question.’

‘What is it that is so important about these books that brings you across half a world?’

‘Va believes that God will destroy the world if people learn the knowledge of the Users. Their knowledge is in the books. So if we don’t get the books back, everybody will die. I never believed it. I was just content to follow him, be near to him at long last. It is agony and ecstasy in the same moment, and I thought it was enough. But as I watched Akisi’s devices reduce an army to tatters in a matter of minutes, I found myself thinking, What if Va’s right? God cursed the Users. He’ll curse us as well.’ She wiped away an angry tear. ‘Again, I never meant to say so much.’

Benzamir took a step closer to her. ‘No one will destroy you.’

‘And who’s going to stop God? You?’

‘Yes.’

Elenya laughed suddenly, and she ended up crying. Benzamir didn’t know what to do, so he did nothing, which was a decision of sorts. She crouched down and rocked, holding her head in her hands, sobbing and choking. Lights came on at windows, and haloes of condensation were made by curious faces.

A door opened, and one of the emperor’s servants stepped into the garden. ‘My lord, my lady, is there anything the matter?’

Benzamir raised his finger to his lips and used a gesture to show that although there was a great deal the matter, there was nothing that either of them could do. The man nodded and left the door ajar.

Eventually the sobs subsided and the great racking shudders that shook her ceased. She got up, whispered, ‘Forgive me,’ and turned away.

‘My lady?’

She stopped but didn’t look round.

‘The trial is tomorrow. I know that you’re going to be there, to help plead for the books to be taken back to Mother Russia. Your words will be wasted, and the more you beg, the greater the danger to your life. I can’t explain any more. Please be anywhere but there.’

She kept on walking. The path led to the door, and she left without another word.

Benzamir let his head fall to his chest and pinched the bridge of his nose.

‘Master?’

‘I thought I told you to go to bed.’

‘And I’d already explained that a servant doesn’t sleep until his master does. It’s the way things are done.’

‘I’m coming up,’ he said, and used the same door that Princess Elenya Christyakova had. She had gone, though he felt he should have been able to detect some trace of her passing.

Wahir made some coffee over a spirit burner, and they took it out onto the balcony to drink.

‘What did the woman say, master?’

‘Something that changes everything. If we’re going to talk about this, we’re going to have to mutter and speak quickly. I don’t want to be overheard.’

‘Then we won’t talk about whatever it was. Talk about something else, like how beautiful she was.’

Benzamir burned his lip on the scalding coffee. ‘I rather thought boys your age weren’t supposed to notice things like that. It’s supposed to be, yuck, girls.’