“Fabrizio, tarot cards are nothing but ignorant superstition. I never used them except to do simple tricks and sleight of hand. While you were wrong to take them, there’s absolutely no connection between what you did and what has happened. It’s a dismal coincidence.”

Mangus dismisses Fabrizio’s fear that the tarot cards led to the king’s summons, which shows his devotion to logic over superstition. The moment introduces the novel’s theme of Critical Thinking as a Counter to Superstition. Because magic and illusion have failed Mangus in the past, he now relies on logic and reason to navigate the world. His point of view offers a counterpoint to Fabrizio’s and establishes how they will each approach the mystery.

“The hall was vast. The dank air stank of rot and mold. Burning oil lamps—giving off as much smoke as flame—were stuck in walls. The flickering light caused shadows to dance wildly upon the walls like maddened imps. It made Fabrizio think they had been swallowed, Jonah-like, into the belly of an enormous beast.”

The narrator uses figurative language to convey how Fabrizio feels upon entering the castello. The corridors are endless, odorous, and dark, conveying his disorientation. Fabrizio feels like the Biblical Jonah character, an allusion that implies that he feels small, powerless, and afraid—inside the vast castello, he has no power or control over things to come.

“‘Mangus,’ he said, with a catch in his voice, ‘it’s not your reason we are in need of. It’s your wizardry! Mangus, in all my kingdom, it’s you’—the king’s voice turned to pleading—‘and only you who can free my daughter from a terrifying ghost!’”

King Claudio’s summons introduces the primary stakes of the novel. The king called Mangus to the castello to rid his daughter Princess Teresina of the ghost who has been tormenting her. Mangus wants to do the king’s bidding because he is indebted to him for sparing his life 10 months prior, but he also fears he cannot do so because he does not believe in ghosts. Mangus must navigate this new world and these competing loyalties with grace and care, as the king is asking him to subscribe to beliefs that nearly got him sentenced to death 10 years earlier.

“‘She deludes herself. All these fanciful trappings to her tale,’ he said with scorn. ‘Midnight ghosts. Voices from smoke and flame. Bodies in chapels. Mark me, we shall have creaks and groans ere long. Shabby theater, all of it! As for the king’—Mangus fairly groaned—‘I fear he truly believes I am a wizard. Oh, Fabrizio,’ Mangus cried with anguish, ‘beware the man who first condemns you for your wits, then begs you to use those wits to save him!’”

Mangus’s impressions of Princess Teresina cast doubt on the princess’s story and intensify the narrative mystery. Because the very character called to the castello to help the princess does not believe her, Fabrizio’s world becomes that much more difficult to navigate. Mangus’s final lines of dialogue also further the theme of the Vulnerability of Those Serving Powerful Institutions: Mangus and Fabrizio are powerless in the face of the royals, who are willing to leverage their power over the two for their own gain.

“Fabrizio,’ she said, ‘whenever you see me—in the company of others—act as others would expect. I am exalted and noble. You are low and common. It would be unwise for us to be observed speaking to one another. You can’t imagine how closely I’m watched. Most times I’m no better off than a prisoner.’”

The way Princess Teresina speaks to Fabrizio reiterates the theme of the Vulnerability of Those Serving Powerful Institutions. The princess pretends to befriend Fabrizio while simultaneously warning him about publicizing their supposed kinship. She underscores the disparities in their classes to remind Fabrizio that she has power over his life.

“The kitchen boy drew close. ‘Signore, rumor has it that the young prince may never return from his mission. If he is gone, Princess Teresina is next in line. If something should happen to her…do you know who would become king?’ Fabrizio shook his head. ‘Count Scarazoni.’”

Rinaldo’s conversation with Fabrizio offers him a clue to the novel’s central mystery. Through the kitchen boy, Fabrizio is learning more about recent goings-on at the castello and the motivations behind each character’s recent actions. Rinaldo’s revelation foreshadows the depth of Scarazoni’s involvement with the royals and hints at possible deeper motivations for his arranged marriage.

“Scarazoni peered around to make sure Rinaldo had not drawn closer. Satisfied, he drew closer; so close, his beard tickled Fabrizio’s ear. ‘Let him eat his fill. But tell your master this: As far as I am concerned, the girl is hysterical. She has invented the ghost. Inform your master that if he can convince the king of this, I will give him back his liberties and provide him a rich pension.’”

Fabrizio’s dialogue with Count Scarazoni furthers the novel’s theme of Loyalty Tested by Competing Obligations. In this scene, Scarazoni is trying to bribe Fabrizio to do his bidding. He hopes to manipulate Mangus the Magician by manipulating his servant. At the same time, he is taking advantage of Fabrizio’s fear and his vulnerability, underscored by the imagery of his forced intimacy, with his beard “tickling Fabrizio’s ear.” Fabrizio feels trapped as a result, unsure who to believe and who to serve.

“Master, last week I spoke to a boy I know. He insists the world is round because his patron told him so. Stupid, yes, for any donkey can see with their own eyes that the world is flat. But is the boy mad to believe what his patron told him? Would you call every person who believes an impossible thing ‘mad’?”

Fabrizio’s dialogue with his master conveys his attempts to make sense of the world and reinforces the fact that at 12 years old, Fabrizio is still young and impressionable. He has learned to rely on his master’s opinion and guidance to navigate the world because he has no one else to turn to and is otherwise helpless in a world that disadvantages him. Fabrizio questions the notion that just because someone believes in something invisible, they are unstable, because he has also learned to rely on magic and the supernatural to make sense of his often-senseless reality.

“‘No more!’ Scarazoni snapped. But then he added, ‘The prince has gone on a diplomatic mission. He is merely overdue. You may ignore what the princess said about that. Indeed, you must not—on pain of death—speak of these matters to anyone. Your task is to deal with the ghost and only the ghost.’”

Count Scarazoni’s response to Mangus’s questions about Prince Lorenzo conveys his guilt and fear. The count is desperate to hide the truth of his treachery and becomes hostile with Mangus as a result. He threatens Mangus because he has power over him and believes he can use his power to control the narrative and hide his crimes.

“Carefully, he picked up the statue and turned it about. It had some holes in the back that suggested a bracket had once been attached. Some of the wood around this fastening place had been broken off. It was as if the whole statue had been pulled from the wall. Fabrizio placed the wood piece that Mangus found into a gash on the wood. It fit exactly.”

Fabrizio’s discovery of the statue offers him another clue to the novel’s primary mystery. Fabrizio is also using reason and logic—per Mangus’s suggestion—to investigate Teresina’s ghost story. He still wants to believe in the supernatural, but is taking his master’s perspective into account, too, illustrated by the detailed description of his deduction.

“She insists I confide in her. To keep her happy, I tell her secrets. Some are true. Some are not. Fabrizio, I may be only ten, but I’ve learned one thing: To make a conspiracy work, you must mix truth with falseness.”

Princess Teresina’s musings on secrecy, truth, and conspiracies foreshadow the narrative’s later revelations about the princess’s ghost scheme. The princess is enjoying the game she has concocted and does not hide her pleasure when she converses with Fabrizio. She has no guilt about using others or manipulating the truth because she is in a position of power. The moment also underscores Teresina’s unreliability as she reveals a sophisticated and thought-out approach to lying that suggests that she has mastered it.

“This time, however, the king was waiting with Teresina. She was dressed in a loose white gown, festooned with pearls. On her head was a close-fitting cap. Silver-colored slippers were on her feet. Her manner was as Fabrizio had first beheld her—rigid, showing no emotion, eyes cast down, hands clasped. The thought came to Fabrizio that he really didn’t know who the princess truly was.”

The narrator’s detailed description of the princess illustrates how closely he is paying attention to her, and her dress and behavior offer an impression of innocence and passivity. Fabrizio may believe in magic and the supernatural, but he is also observant and attentive to his surroundings. He studies Teresina because he is seeking some truth about her and trying to rely on his own impressions to make sense of her character. This moment marks a turning point in his character arc, as Fabrizio acknowledges how little he knows of the princess and thus how little he can trust her.

“Head cocked to one side, Mangus was staring wide-eyed at the light. The green, blurry brightness had now fixed itself within the niche. The form had head, arms, and torso, which moved. Fabrizio had no doubt: It was like the writhing shadow of a lost and tormented soul.”

Each time the characters encounter the ghost, the apparition elicits a different response from its viewers. In this particular ghost encounter, Fabrizio is convinced the ghost is real. His conviction is in part inspired by Mangus’s “wide-eyed” response to seeing the ghost for the first time, highlighting that he still looks to Mangus for guidance. The detailed description of the ghost also implies that the ghost is in fact real, which complicates the novel’s theme of Critical Thinking as a Counter to Superstition.

“Fabrizio backed away. For a moment he hesitated, all but blurting out all the things he had not said, that everything he was doing was all for his master’s benefit. But fearful of making things worse, he left the room.”

Fabrizio’s hesitant manner in this scene reiterates the novel’s theme of Loyalty Tested by Competing Obligations. The longer Fabrizio is at the castello, the more confused he becomes as to whom he serves. He is unsure whose story to believe and to whom he should show loyalty. On the one hand, he wants to “blurt out all” his secrets, while on the other hand, he is too “fearful of making things worse” to speak up. He knows his life is in jeopardy, no matter how he behaves, and he feels trapped as a result.

“She placed a hand on his arm. ‘Dear Fabrizio, I forgive your momentary weakness. It is charming. But just think, when you have achieved everything, I shall reveal your role and raise you up to a high position. Even if you should die, think how many will pray for your soul!’”

Princess Teresina uses her power and royal position to manipulate Fabrizio. Her interaction with Fabrizio in this scene reiterates the novel’s theme of the Vulnerability of Those Serving Powerful Institutions. Fabrizio is vulnerable at the castello because each person he encounters takes advantage of his low position. Teresina makes grandiose promises to reward Fabrizio in an attempt to ensure his loyalty, but the images of promotion and success that she offers up are undercut when she raises the possibility of his death, if only to say that in death, he will still receive commendations for his actions.

“‘No harm was done,’ the queen returned grandly. ‘But in the morning you must advise the king what to do. In matters of the supernatural, he believes in you beyond all others. Now, if you two will leave me, I should like to avail myself of prayer and contemplation.’”

Queen Jovanna further confuses Fabrizio’s sense of what is true. While the queen isn’t overtly cruel to him, she does give Fabrizio directives that he feels compelled to follow, and the descriptor of her speaking “grandly” subtly reinforces the power dynamic between them. She underscores her expectation that he and Mangus will solve the problem of the ghost and implies that there will be consequences if they don’t. The queen also feigns concern over the ghost in this scene—turning to prayer for comfort—when she, in fact, has helped create the ghost, illustrating her skill at misdirection.

“For a long while, Fabrizio lay where he had been thrown, hardly believing the sudden turn of events. Why had the princess turned against him? How could he have judged her so wrong, or, for that matter, she judge him so ill? He asked himself if she could have been using him for some purpose he did not understand. If so, what purpose could she have? And was it an accident that Rinaldo had suddenly appeared?”

The litany of questions Fabrizio asks himself in this scene affects an interrogative, anxious tone. He is trying to make sense of why Teresina turned on him and what he did wrong to end up on the verge of persecution. Although his questions convey his fear and worry, they also reflect his newfound willingness to think deeply about his circumstances and again, rely on logic and reason for the answers, as Mangus advises.

“‘The name is Teresina, Fabrizio,’ she said as if it were she who had been insulted. ‘Have you forgotten our friendship so soon? But if you’re so silly that you can’t know what I’ve done, I’ll be patient and explain it to you.’”

Queen Teresina’s disregard for Fabrizio’s upset conveys how little she cares for Fabrizio’s feelings. She dismisses his concern and accuses him of failing to trust her—when in fact she is the one who has been manipulating Fabrizio all along. Teresina is again using her power to confuse Fabrizio for her own gain, and the tone she affects in her statement subtly implies that he doesn’t have the intellectual capacity to understand.

“Ah, Fabrizio, whereas I do not believe in ghosts, I do believe in ghost stories. And, as in a story, I can only answer your question by saying, ‘When we are at the chapel, all shall be revealed.’”

Mangus acts as an archetypal guide, offering Fabrizio counsel and understanding throughout the novel. In this moment, he is promising to reveal the truth of the ghost to his servant. He has used critical thinking to combat superstition and to make sense of reality on his own; he differentiates between “ghosts” and “ghost stories” because he understands that supernatural figures are different from fairy tales, which can exist and be told even if their subjects themselves aren’t real.

“Fabrizio looked. At first he did not know what it was he was supposed to see. Then, to his astonishment, he grasped it: Upon the wall below was a bright green glow. And since the princess stood before the reflected candlelight, a shadowy, human form was projected there.”

This scene in the chapel marks a turning point in the novel’s central plot line. Mangus reveals how Teresina and her accomplices created the ghost using the holes, cupboards, and niches in the chapel and a series of candles. Fabrizio is shocked because he is seeing the ghost—and thus the truth—from a new perspective that supports Mangus’s teachings.

“‘With permission, my lady,’ Mangus said with a slight bow of his head. ‘It was reason that led me here. If one believes—as I do—that there are no such things as ghosts, the task becomes simple. I needed to search for the way by which a vague, green light could be made to appear upon a wall.’”

Mangus’s pronouncement to the princess reiterates the novel’s theme of Critical Thinking as a Counter To Superstition. Determined to prove himself a philosopher rather than a magician, Mangus stands by his claim to abide by reason and truth over trickery. He is identifying Teresina’s hoax, while asserting his own reasoning skills, highlighting his independent character and his determination to think for himself, even at the risk of his own life.

“One night, while my daughter and I were in this chapel trying to decide what to do, the great candle was lit. We saw the possibility of creating the ghost by using the reflected light. We hoped to achieve two things: to hold off the marriage and, by saying the ghost was my son’s, to keep Scarazoni in check.”

Queen Jovanna’s admission resolves the novel’s primary mystery as she owns her part in the ghost hoax and explains her and her children’s motivations behind the scheme. Although Jovanna has not always treated Fabrizio and Mangus with respect, she is presenting the truth in this scene, and she does so with a straightforward tone that echoes Mangus’s own practical approach. Her lines of dialogue usher the narrative toward its close and provide answers to some of the novel’s lingering conflicts.

“‘Behold the one you had murdered. Behold your victim! I am he!’ It was too much for Scarazoni. He stopped short and stared open-mouthed at the figure before him. Fabrizio’s tears—brought on by the smoke—were washing away the stain on his face so that it appeared as if his face were dripping blood. ‘Confess your crimes,’ Fabrizio cried, ‘or I shall slay you now!’”

Fabrizio’s bold embodiment of the ghost captures how his character has changed. Throughout the novel, Fabrizio has deferred to those more powerful than himself and allowed others to mistreat him because he has learned that his opinion and voice aren’t worthy of being heard. As Lorenzo’s ghost, however, Fabrizio asserts himself in a new way to fight for justice, claiming his autonomy for the first time.