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“Only what I just said, and that it was recently rediscovered.”

His expression slackened, and he sighed. “Ah. I understand. You’ve been talking to Fabius.”

“I’ve talked with many of the guests, sir.”

He waved his hand as though brushing my remark away. “But he’s the one who told you about the cave city, and I’m sure, his role in finding it.” He said the last two words with a strange bitterness.

I forged ahead, taking him at his word that I could say anything I wanted to. “Yes, but he did not tell me why the cave city was lost in the first place. How could an entire city be lost?”

He set the astrolabe gently back into the leather case. “You likely know that Arcadius lived more than eight centuries ago. What is now a single empire was then just small settlements spread across a wide continent, until he united them for the first time. There were few cities then, and those that existed were much smaller than cities are today. After his death, his empire collapsed, and many things he had created were abandoned and eventually lost to time. The legend of the cave city persisted, however: enough to whet the appetites of many explorers over the years.”

“You say his empire collapsed, but there is still an Empire all around us today.”

“Ah, yes, but the current Empire was founded more recently, and it’s smaller than what he created.”

I was lost in thought for a moment, considering how long ago Arcadius had lived. There was clearly so much more to learn than I had been exposed to at school. “And what about this city, Corlivo? We weren’t taught much about its history.”

“This city predates even Arcadius, I believe.” He picked up his walking stick. “Let’s take a walk out to the balcony.”

We went out together. Corlivo glowed on the slopes below, and the light in the sky was fading.

He rested his hands on the railing. His sculpted muscles curved above the silver cuff on his arm. “You asked me two questions. In answer to the first, while I usually come here at quieter times of the year, my cousin wanted to experience this week’s spectacle, and I agreed to accompany her.”

“The Comitissa?”

He nodded. “And as for the second, I think of the astrolabe as a bit of a trade. I show you something I believe will interest you, with your quick mind and desire to learn about the stars, and perhaps you’ll show me something that interests me. That book you mentioned, with the letter inside it.”

“Are you interested in old books?”

“In fact, I am.”

“And this one interests you in particular?”

“Yes. Could you bring it to me, along with the letter?”

I thought for a few seconds. “Just take it from the library and give it to you?”

“Are there any rules about removing things from the library?”

“Not that I know of.”

“I’ll give it back to you. I’d just like to look at it. I’ve returned here many times over the years hoping to find a historical artifact such as that one.”

I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. “I see. It’s historical research that has drawn you here and not the company of women?”

I thought I might have taken his invitation to speak freely a bit too far, but Sebastianus laughed softly. I was suddenly aware of how close to him I was standing. I glanced up at his face, at his strange, cloudy eye. He had a warm, spicy scent that I couldn’t place. The sun had now set fully, and the sky was dark. The moon had not yet risen. I pictured myself sitting beside him, our arms nearly touching, looking over the book together. A blush crept unbidden up my neck.

I took a quick step away from him and, to clear my head, I turned my attention to the sky. “My studies are bearing fruit. I can name the constellation of the Great Wolf, and also the Warrior, over there.”

He followed the direction of my finger. “In Panpirion, the Warrior is now thought of as the shape of Gurgexenes, the great Sea God. And there is the Mother, to the east.”

I squinted at the group of stars. “I should know that one— the Mother. But I have never heard of Gurgexenes.”

“No, the old ways are maintained here in the mountains, but the capital has moved on.” He shrugged his broad shoulders and motioned us toward the door.

We sat back down in front of the hearth.

The Archidux rested his walking stick against his chair. The ruby handle glinted in the firelight. “I don’t usually talk to tirae. As I’ve said, girls barely out of training do not appeal to me. Most have nothing to say and haven’t learned any other skills.”