Theodora rubbed her eyes, and Dot yawned. She sat up a little, fighting her exhaustion.
‘Salamander doesn’t even dogoodbusiness!’ the witch continued. ‘He is a lazy, haphazard entrepreneur whose scatterbrained production line simply spills out cheap goods so he can drum up quick silver to be handed to this or that politician.
‘Thatis why he let me build my empire. Because I’m much better at making money than he is. With every new contract that I’ve been forced to take out, he was able to steal away a greater percentage of my profit. This must, I’m certain, have been his intention from thebeginning. And meanwhile he makes his spare silver from shoddy packet spells, and people think that my business and his business have nothing to do with each other. Oh, I was so arrogant.’
‘Why arrogant?’ asked Dot, tilting her head.
‘Because I was so buoyed by all my good ideas that I didn’t see the danger I was in. Salamander wanted my brain, my labour, my future capital. Salamander is not only a dedicated scholar, but also an entrepreneurial scavenger.’
Theodora shook her head.
‘The kinds of people who come to my tea shop, or my factory, or my club, are not the kinds of people who will accept Salamander’s packet spells. His spells are laced with opium. Few of them work and it does not matter. His customers become addicted, and many of them don’t even realise why. They think it’s the magic that does it. But what schoolteacher would buy those back-alley spells? What university student? What Prime Minister? I came in and suddenly, between us, we have the whole market for illegal magic covered.’
Theodora laughed bitterly.
It was a sad sound. Dot wanted to reach out and hold her hand, but didn’t. Instead, she took Theodora’s empty noodle bowl and stacked it with her own.
‘With that final contract, I was doomed, Dorothy. He has precluded me from scheming or building any new modes of revenue. I even tried to break it. I hypothesised that because Salamander had been daemoted his magic might have been weaker than mine. I was wrong. Nothing I did worked. Casimir later told me that Salamander had enchanted all of his contracts well before he lost his magic – that he has thousands of slabs of enchanted paper stored away, ready to be used. He might not be able to access all of his magic but, beneath the daemotion, he’s still a formidable spirit. He will make a conduit of me before the autumn is over.’
‘Explain it to me,’ said Dot. ‘The King called it the “puppet master’s charm”. What will happen to you?’
‘Someone inflicted with a conduence charm,’ said Theodora, ‘can, at any moment, become controlled from afar. Mostly, Salamander uses it to siphon someone’s magic for his own perverse uses. Initially, only a small portion of one’s magic is taken. It’s like a tap, with a thin stream, always trickling. Only when he needs it does Salamander open the valve entirely. The victim still has some control outside of this. They may speak, cast spells, go about their day as normal. Casimir, for example. You saw those tattoos on him? Those are the runes of Salamander’s conduence charm.’
Dot gasped. ‘That’s what those mean? But he seemed quite normal.’
‘Indeed,’ said Theodora. She let her legs dangle from the alcove. ‘Yet, the victim’s body and their magic are never again their own. And if Salamander becomes greedy, he will take too much. Imagine that same tap, but with the force of the South Sea coursing through it in one violent burst.’
Theodora looked away darkly.
‘It sounds terrible,’ said Dot. She watched the witch carefully.
‘Casimir has told me of it. He has seen colleagues, spirits, caged creatures who were the unlucky chosen on a day that Salamander needed too much magic.’
‘Whyever did you sign a contract with this in it?’ asked Dot, exasperated.
‘I did not realise this clause was in there,’ said Theodora, closing her eyes. ‘I was so daft, Dorothy. It was early last year. I was working late every night and sleeping only an hour here or there and I was so tired. I knew I needed more money and it was so unbearably shameful that I let my eyes trail over all the words, assuming Salamander had included his usual increases and nothing more. And so I signed the stupid thing. I didn’t notice until weeks later when Belchamber was sorting my papers. I’ve never seen him thatangry before. And now, there he is.’ She nodded at the spirit’s body. ‘There is something wrong with him, Dorothy, and I don’t know what it is or how to fix it. What is the point in knowing so much magic, if I cannot do anything to help?’
‘What percentage of your profit does Salamander take now that he’s increased it?’
Theodora grimaced. ‘Ninety-five.’
‘Saints,’said Dot, her hand flying to her mouth.
‘I know,’ said the witch in a hush. ‘I was very, very stupid.’
‘How much debt is there?’ asked Dot.
‘I don’t want to tell you.’
‘You had better.’
‘About three hundred and fifty thousand silver pieces.’
Dot cursed under her breath. ‘He’ll take the tea shop,’ she said. ‘And with a ninety-five per cent royalty, you would have to earn, what, seven million silver pieces? Does theKingeven have that much money? What is the due date again?’
She squinted at the contract.The first day of the third month of autumn in the twenty-ninth year of King EllardeCustre IV.
‘Five weeks away.’ Theodora laughed darkly. ‘Now you can see what a mess I have made of my life.’
