“But, officially, they don’t know about you! Why would they want to kill you, and then expose your head at the Atmeydani?” Vincent can feel that Nurcan’s aura has become much darker.

  “As much as socioeconomic justice is key to ensure the stability of the Muggle world, sometimes the pressure of the streets doesn’t strictly come from money. Magic isn’t that high on the yeniceri’s list of griefs they might have against me, and, to ayans, ulamas and yeniceri, what really unite them is loss of privileges! On top of that, if they knew about my past role in the Irad-I Cedid, without knowing about my magic, they’d only see a bid’at! Worthy of execution to their eyes, perhaps, but it doesn’t breach the Statute!”

  The cold, hard truth is that what I do best as a witch, that is, arithmancy and divination, were taken off the Statute as a condition for the Empire to ratify it. However, it takes a lot more intellect for Muggles to do it compared to a wizard, so even if the yeniceri captured me, they wouldn’t have suspected magic, only “Frankish” treason! Much like they saw the Muggle Nizam-I Cedid army as a threat for their monopoly on professional warfare! And yet, Muggle socioeconomic justice isn’t the end of the story for magical security! Nurcan then goes to bed, her mind spinning to process the sheer shock of the past few days’ events.

  But she can’t help but think about the Royalists in 1792 France, and the parallels she could draw between the two events. About what differed between the two.

  “Why would your old job have been a bid’at to Muggle yeniceri?” Yusuf asks her.

  “Even if they were unable to prove the use of magic?” Vincent adds. “The yeniceri proved to be irregulars who spend more time in their workshops than training or fighting!”

  Nurcan’s face turns red. “Muggles tend to think that women in civil service are an anomaly, even more so as a defterdar. I served Selim III in that capacity, I offered him the opportunity to clean up the corruption, and yet, as Poland-Lithuania did…”

  “Poland-Lithuania?” Jannat asks, rolling her eyes.

  “It doesn’t exist anymore because its nobles abused key privileges! I’m afraid that yeniceri, ayans and ulamas are making the Empire go down the same path as Poland-Lithuania, because privilege abuse would kill the empire! A slow death perhaps…”

  However, Nurcan stops short of naming the Polish Golden Liberty abuses, much less explain their implications. The liberum veto, which was supposed to prevent tyranny, made it unable to pass any legislation, thanks to Prussian or Russian interference, and Rokosz granted them a legal right to rebel. But why do I know this? Did I absorb that from a previous dream walk with Vaidi? It could also mean that Vaidi might have absorbed arithmancy from me or even my knowledge of iltizam and muafiyets!

  Vincent interjects, upon hearing about this catastrophic forecast. “I never heard you talk about Poland-Lithuania before! How do you even know about what happened there?”

  “Probably someone I met at the Tourney!”

  “You probably know by now about nobility feeling like they were their nations…”

  “And, of course, they feel like, without their authority, privileges and land, the state would collapse, or at least be nothing even if the state didn’t collapse!”

  The discussion about how elites can even sacrifice their country for privileges continues, with the children not understanding much, if anything, from it. About how so many nobles, Muggle or magical, not feeling welcome in France anymore, fled the country during the outbreak of the Revolution.

  Like Vincent’s half-brother, Didier, who fled to the island of Usedom, off Prussia’s coast.

  Two days later, once again, Nurcan receives yet another letter from the Bab-I Humayun, through her magical mailbox. But this time around, it doesn’t seem to contain any Sihirli Gasitesi issue, only updates on this whole attempt to contain wars to Muggle theaters. However, the most troubling development is… the Russian request.

  She gathers the whole family around the `magically delivered letter from Istanbul:

  “Everyone, this new letter from the Bab-I Humayun is a little troubling, and might force us out of this forest for a while…” Nurcan announces to the rest of her family.

  “Huh?” Jannat rolls her eyes.

  “Does that mean the land we live on is no longer… what’s that term again?” Vincent’s hands are sweating.

  “No, it’s not a Muggle tapu (title deed) and so, this forest is still mewat. It’s about the Russians who specifically request me in Tilsit to negotiate a containment agreement!”

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  Vincent gasps. “Really? That’s odd! Russia might have received the diplomatic warning from you, but never would they have believed you to be a diplomat at all!”

  “To Russian eyes, until today, I’m just an Ottoman witch like any other. But this letter said that everything began with the Qajars requesting Vaidi, and that Russia will honor the Qajar request if the Empire sends me! They probably asked for me because Vaidi knew me as a voice of reason…”

  “And yet, for something as major as ensuring that wars remain strictly Muggle, they know that an agreement like this one would require more than one person per delegation!”

  “Russia isn’t usually that extravagant in asking for specific people in major negotiations. But Vaidi being directly in France’s line of fire means that Qajars feel like France is the greatest threat to Russia, over them or even us. While it might have held true in the Muggle world, I might be wondering if asking for a key figure geographically close to that party’s greatest threat really is normal for Qajars in multipartite negotiations…”

  “And the children: surely we can’t leave them here if we go to Tilsit!” Vincent sighs.

  “Dad, where’s Tilsit?” Yusuf asks him.

  And there lies the complications: the ever-shifting borders in Eastern Europe are making it more difficult for everyone in the cabin to locate Tilsit. Especially after the fall of Dantzig just a few days ago, and, of course, Eylau a few months prior.

  “My guess is that Tilsit is somewhere close to Russia, but still neutral, probably on its Prussian border because France is at its gates!”

  “France? Is France a party to this proposed agreement?” Vincent gasps. “If so, I guess it’s time to eat something other than bread, cheese and hazelnuts…”

  “Yes, and you wouldn’t believe anything: Spain is mediating these talks!”

  “Spain?” Jannat asks, rolling her eyes.

  “Looks like Spain is not a party to any of these wars. But Austria and Prussia being powerless on the magical stage, if they show up at Tilsit, their presence would be symbolic, signing so that they could officialize what they did since the War of the First Coalition!” Nurcan keeps talking about other countries’ situations.

  “War of the First Coalition?” Yusuf asks his mom, also rolling his eyes.

  “That war broke out fifteen years ago and lasted for five years…” Vincent explains to them.

  “British wizards, too, stayed out of Muggle wars, but unlike Austria and Prussia, at least everyone in Europe, and even the Qajars, acknowledge Great Britain still have some diplomatic clout!” Nurcan then reads the instructions to get to Tilsit, should she accept.

  However, Prussia and especially Austria might be overextended and may not have the resources to engage in even small-scale magical theaters, or even maintain some “enchanted milestones” that could be used to detect battle magic on their borders, Nurcan thinks about what it could mean for these two countries. She then answers Jannat’s question about Spain.

  After she belatedly answers Jannat’s question about Spain:

  “You still haven’t answered me about the children!” Vincent clamors.

  “We’ll just bring them to Tilsit, because I feel it’s going to be beneficial to them, to get them to see the world, and they’d learn more about international relations. You’d then act as their lala (tutor). But rest assured no one in Tilsit outside the Ottoman delegation will know about my past role in the Muggle Irad-I Cedid, or at least lynch me for it. Perhaps question me on it, though…”

  “Why would they question you about the Irad-I Cedid?”

  “The Risale-I Nizam-I Cedid would be just one of the nine gifts, but given out to everyone. I guess, I accept, but that’s only so that I can redeem myself from having supplied Selim III a tool that threatened the Statute at every turn! Now is the time to board the carpet and leave this forest for a few days!”

  “But why did you gift the Risale? Doesn’t it contain information about the role of fiscal and social injustice in the downfall of Muggle empires?” Vincent is about to scold her.

  “I know for its content, but most wizards shy away from statecraft. That’s how you got even Alejandra in Madrid, and Vaidi in Warsaw back in 1794, who were both thrust into major state responsibilities fresh out of school!”

  And Vaidi could have become Poland-Lithuania’s Magical Grand Chancellor if the country didn’t disappear during the Third Partition! Whereas Muggle Poland-Lithuania had two sets of major state offices, wizards only had one. She was the Magical Vice-Chancellor then, and she uses enchanted ukases that, to the local wizards, look just like she acts as the Grand Chancellor of Lithuania in all but name, but to St. Petersburg’s eyes, are guberniya-level ukases like any other. Why do I seem to know so much about her traumas out of a single dream walk? Nurcan spaces out. But why do I feel like this trip to Tilsit will play out like a class reunion?

  “Honey, it’s time to go…” Vincent hustles her, as his face is about to turn red, and he rolls out the flying carpet.

  “You remember where the Floo Network bonfire is? We need to go back there, and, from there, get to Tilsit, but get ready to accept that, if we only yell Tilsit, we might not get to the location where these talks are going to take place!”

  “Yes!”

  Nurcan then writes her response to the Bab-I Humayun, which she sends through the cabin’s magical mailbox.

  With the carpet now in position outside their cabin, the whole family gets ready to leave the cabin, and the elated faces of the children don’t lie. Just as they sit on the carpet, they take off over the sea of fog.

  Once they’re comfortably above it:

  “Now that we have the cover of fog, we can change our clothes! Enjoy your old clothes while you can!” Nurcan signals to the rest of the family, while drawing out her beech wand as Vincent maneuvers the carpet. “Multicorfors!”

  What was, for a few months, simply some local peasant clothes, has become a silken purple kaftan, like the one she wore at the Yule Ball at Beauxbatons in December 1792, after the Games’ cancellation.

  Nurcan then turns to Vincent as he closes in on the bonfire. “Your turn to change clothes!”

  “Take control of the carpet then...” Vincent hands over the carpet’s control to her. He draws his own wand then. “Multicorfors!”

  While Nurcan makes her approach towards the bonfire, Vincent, on the other hand, feels strangely liberated as he wears what feels like his old clothes again. The ones he wore to deliver analgesic potions to Topkapi Palace.

  When they land near the bonfire that serves as their Floo Network connection, they roll the carpet and put it back into their horse pocket. At the same time, the family takes out a spoon of Floo powder to spread on the bonfire. Once the node opens:

  “Tilsit!” Nurcan shouts at the bonfire, stepping on it later.