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spoke.
    “I forget the other me knows Iksander too.” Confession over, his face turned resolved again. “Whether the sultan returns or not, we must ensure this city recovers.”
    “Pardon,” Joseph said, stepping into the empty corridor after them. “The commander desires that you have this scroll. If anything comes up, the spell embedded in it sends the equivalent of a text message straight to him.”
    Elyse accepted the small rolled parchment. She glanced at Arcadius. “You can teach me how to use this?”
    He nodded that he could.
    “You wished to speak to me?” Joseph said to her. His manner was formal, not giving away that they’d become fond of each other. Elyse wasn’t sure why he wanted to keep that private, but she tried to respond in kind.
    “Yes.” She pulled the small, framed portrait of Yasmin’s brother Balu from the pocket of her silk pants. “I apologize if asking this is silly, but can you get a magical bead on where this boy might be?”
    Joseph took the picture, holding it in both hands. He considered it quietly for a few moments. “Hm,” he said. “All I’m sensing from this is surprise.”
    “Not fear?” Arcadius asked.
    “No,” Joseph looked calmly up from the picture to meet his other master’s eyes. “I’m afraid the likeness gives off no hint of location.”
    Elyse accepted it back from him. “Do you know a harem girl named Yasmin?”
    “Should I?”
    She supposed having been a eunuch didn’t guarantee he would. “Just wondering,” she said.
    “We should go,” Arcadius interrupted. “Why don’t I keep this for both of us?”
    Without asking, he took the scroll and tucked it away. “Joseph,” he said by way of taking leave.
    “Sir,” Joseph responded.
    Elyse couldn’t help but notice Joseph and Cade were a lot friendlier.
    ~
    Located to one side of the palace steps but inside the perimeter wall was a grassy tarmac for flying carpets. Many took off and landed, their movements coordinated by traffic controllers in dark blue robes. Four crisply uniformed djinn soldiers waited beside an empty rug, bent arms stiffly saluting Arcadius. The carpet’s guard walls were already folded up. Arcadius lifted Elyse over before she could prepare herself.
    He hopped in without assistance—like he was vaulting the driver’s door to a convertible. He and Cade were both athletic, a fact she sometimes forgot due to the serious way they carried themselves.
    The soldiers followed his example with similar panache. They very studiously didn’t look at her. Maybe her headscarf wasn’t enough modesty for them.
    “They’re coming with us?” she asked Arcadius.
    “They are. The city is . . . unsettled at present. We’ll take no chances with your safety.” He gave the lead soldier a signal. The man held the metal staff carpet pilots used as control sticks. Planting the end firmly, he bowed his turbaned head and murmured one of the djinn’s prayer-like spells. The rug rose upward without a bump.
    As it did, Elyse realized the spots on her waist where Arcadius had lifted her were tingling. She tried to ignore that as their vehicle sailed over the palace wall.
    “Do you wish to sit?” Arcadius inquired politely.
    Elyse shook her head. She wanted to look around Cade’s home probably as much as Arcadius did.
    In some ways, the djinn’s Glorious City could have been any old world European metropolis. No skyscrapers or telephone poles spoiled the time-traveling effect. Buildings were historic, beautiful, and quaint. The central avenues were broad like Paris, the farther streets narrow and twisty. The foliage was Mediterranean, with palms and flowers and other sun-loving greenery. Yasmin’s family lived in a handsome villa on a hill. The soldiers set them near an attractive garden next to a sparkling pool.
    Elyse braced herself for Arcadius to lift her out again.
    “I’ll speak to the father,” he informed her, seeming not to notice anything amiss. “Please interview the mother