As Rine watched his apprentice go to work securing the supplies needed for the next phase of the plan, he subtly moved Lily's pinky finger, having her unconsciously work a spell that would put him into contact with Ivy. The royal goblin reported that she was doing well, and had secured lodging at a local tavern as suggested. She'd also noted a minor difficulty with an amorous drunk, but she was able to deal with him without causing any harm or attention to herself. Rine praised her for a job well done and relayed her next instructions.

After the connection was ended, Rine considered that it might have been easier to utilize Ivy as an asset if she had smaller... well, assets. He'd known that Royal Goblins tended to look like extremely attractive humanoid elves, but he'd not expected his new operative to turn out so prominently attractive. Were it not for the enhanced strength that such a being possessed, Rine would be concerned that Ivy would have back and shoulder issues within a month.

Still, Rine had understood that there were some doors that a pretty face and an attractive body could open, so despite his misgivings about the Royal Goblin's spectacular figure, he'd kept things as they were.

Turning his attention back towards the academy proper, he checked on Madeline. The young noblewoman had finished admiring the ruby rose and had just started to disrobe so she could change into her nightgown. Rine immediately changed perspective, not being a voyeur and having no interest in matters of the flesh.

Instead, he checked on Crassus. The young man was sitting at a small table with three of his friends playing Treachery & Deceit, a game common amongst the nobility. A combination of a chess-like board game and a strategic card game, it focused on trickery, deception, and manipulation so that the player could complete a hidden objective before his opponents. He looked at Crassus' objective card and the other cards in the lad's hand and then compared it to that of the other three players and the overall state of the board.

Despite having a relatively simple objective that could be won in a few short moves, Crassus was playing badly and losing badly. Rine could see that even a mediocre player of this game could have seen the solution to winning this round, but Crassus was not even a mediocre player of the game.

After one of his opponents successfully performed a calculated attack that cost Crassus several pieces and forced Crassus to use several cards to turn the tide, the arrogant and short-sighted Crassus immediately moved to launch a massive assault in retribution. He failed to realize that he'd left himself wide open to a coordinated attack by the other two players, whose pieces moved quickly in to strike his assault force from both flanks, cutting them off from reinforcements, allowing the initial target of Crassus' assault to handily wipe out the remaining pieces.

Crassus had, within a few short moves, gone from a position that even a weak player could have dominated the board to a position that even a master of the game would struggle to overcome. As his three opponents formed a temporary alliance to remove Crassus from the board completely, the young man could do nothing but watch as his entire side of the board collapse. Suddenly, one of the other players slid a piece in to claim Crassus' 'King', and then slapped his objective card down on the table.

"Assassinate One Opponent's King," Ryder de Fitzmyronis proclaimed, reading his objective card out loud. "My win." The lanky, scholarly young man was the bastard child of an earl born of a commoner mistress, Ryder was not technically a noble, but he was an acknowledged descendant of a man with no heir and a capable enough mage in his own right, so despite the stigma of being illegitimate, he was able to attend the Academy.

Crassus, his mood dour, slapped three gold coins onto the table and said, "Fine. Another round."

Ryder shrugged, and said, "It's your money." The sentiment was echoed by the other two players.

As the players began setting up the board and getting the cards in order, Ryder inquired, "So, are you still planning to embarrass Lily at the tournament?"

"She needs to be reminded of her place," Crassus immediately replied.

Ryder, carefully setting the pieces down on the board, observed, "I don't know if that would be wise. Her star suddenly seems to be on the rise, and if the rumors are true, she may end up being Madam Goldentone's heir by the time the weekend is out. That would put her two steps higher in the peerage above you, barring any titles the king may decide to bestow upon her on top of that. She could make your life a great deal more difficult if she had a mind."

Crassus, ever arrogant, scoffed and said, "And how could she do that?"

Ryder, finishing the pieces on his side and starting on the other, noted, "You have a brother a year younger than you are, as I recall. If perchance, she decided to ask about an arranged marriage between herself and him, I doubt your father would object, even if she added to it the condition that your younger brother is declared the official heir instead of you."

Crassus almost seemed to do a double-take, then snorted. "It wouldn't happen," Crassus protested.

Ryder shrugged, then admitted, "I doubt it would, myself. I doubt the idea would come to her on her own, and she doesn't seem the type to choose to marry a man for the sole purpose of getting back at you. However, that's just one example of how she could make your life very uncomfortable."

Picking up the deck of objective cards and shuffling it, he added, "Even if the king hasn't been watching events unfold here in the Academy, which is questionable, after tomorrow he's going to take a great interest in her career going forward. Others will notice that and will be working to try to get close to the kingdom's newest rising star. The competition will be fierce to try to get in her good graces, and there are few better ways that someone could get into her good graces than to cut all ties with you."

He chuckled, then cut the deck and revealed an objective card that read 'Reduce an opponent's force's to 1/4 their original size within five turns'. "This time next year," Ryder noted, "you could find yourself very, very lonely here at the academy, as the people who were once your friends abandon you."

"Including you?" Crassus asked, annoyed.

"Me?" Ryder asked, an eyebrow raised. He chuckled, then said, "I'm a bastard and the son of a whore, so I'd never pass up an opportunity to take your money."

That brought a round of chuckles to the table, even from Crassus. More seriously, Ryder added, "I'm just trying to warn you that all of your actions past, present, and future, are going to have consequences. If it were me in your shoes, I'd apologize to her and just drop out of the tournament as an act of contrition. There will be other events where you can flaunt your talents in front of the king, and it would be a good first step towards making amends."

Crassus snorted in annoyance at the thought.

Shrugging, Ryder admitted, "I did doubt you'd go for that. So, all I can recommend is that if you're deadset on embarrassing her at the tournament, don't make it a long, drawn-out affair. Don't insult her, don't gloat, don't showboat, or torment her. Most importantly, don't cheat. Claim the quickest, cleanest victory you can. Then, show good sportsmanship and leave without another word."

"If you want to show you're better than her, show that you can crush her as easily as you would an insect, and then treat the entire affair as if it were as important to you as stepping on an ant. If anyone asks you about the match afterward, you can always joke that you don't even remember it. It would do a far better job of showing your contempt for her than a long, drawn-out match meant to make her a laughingstock, and it won't get you in trouble with the king."

Crassus seemed to mull that over as they finished setting things up for the next game. Ryder dealt out the cards, then rolled a four-sided dice with N, S, E, and W on it to determine who went first. It came up W, indicating that Ryder would make the first move. He studied his hand, and a slight scowl came across his face as he saw his somewhat weak starting hand.

"What's wrong?" Crassus asked mockingly. "Did the bastard son of a whore get dealt a bad hand?" Even among his supposed friends, Crassus tended to be something of an asshole.

Ryder took a look around the table, noting that the player on his right was looking at their hand with a slight smile, the one on his left looking at theirs with a look of disgust, and Crassus across the table had his eyes glued to one card in particular. Ryder smiled, a clear stratagem forming in his mind.

"Bastards, sons of whores or otherwise, are often dealt a bad hand," Ryder admitted. "But the hand you are dealt is less important than how you play it. A player who is afraid of getting a bad hand and is unwilling to take risks shouldn't be sitting at the table to start with."

He then slapped a card down on the table, marked Reckless Gambit. The card's description read: 'Play only if you haven't moved any pieces this turn. You may play three additional cards this turn. After the end of your turn, you cannot move any of your pieces or play any cards from your hand for three turns.'

An extremely risky gamble, especially at the start of a game. A player could move five pieces each turn, or three if they opted to play a card. Opting not to play any cards or move any pieces for three turns could put a player at an extreme disadvantage since he could do nothing but watch as things developed.

"There are many ways to overcome a bad hand, like finding allies to support you," Ryder continued, playing a card titled Relief and Reinforcement. The card's description read: 'Offer an alliance to a player. If he accepts, he can draw a new hand. You are free to play any one card he discards during your turn without it counting towards your number of cards played this turn.'

An alliance was a very useful mechanic of the game, as it meant that a player could play any card from his ally's hand as if it was their own, and move any piece on their ally's side as if it was their own. It also allowed a player to play cards during their ally's turn, and any action made by an ally would count towards the objectives of all players within the alliance. Ryder offered an alliance to the scowling player to his left, who promptly discarded his hand and began drawing new ones.

Looking at the discarded cards of his new ally, Ryder selected one and played it. Fortified Positions, its description indicating that so long as the player didn't move a piece that turn, an opponent would not be able to take it. With the effect lasting three turns, it meant that Ryder no longer had to worry about losing pieces before the end of Reckless Gambit's effect.

"You can also take calculated risks when the opportunity presents itself," Ryder added, playing a card marked Espionage, which allowed him to take one card from an opponent's hand. He chose Crassus and took the card that the arrogant noble had been staring at earlier. It turned out to be the card 'Subterfuge', which allowed him to trade hands with a player of his choice. Ryder promptly played the card and swapped hands with the player who had been smiling slightly.

The hand in question had been a very strong starting hand, and even if Ryder couldn't play any of the cards for three turns, his ally could, putting him in a position to dominate the board. Barring someone playing an alliance breaking card, nothing could stop this new coalition from ruling the board for much of the game.

In a single turn, Ryder had gone from being in a poor starting position to having the strongest hand on the board with an ally to watch his back, while he just sat back and watched events unfold in safety and comfort.

As Ryder and his ally took a moment to compare hands during his ally's turn, Ryder nodded at the fuming Crassus and said, "It's all a matter of knowing how the game is played, and making the right moves."

As Rine turned his attention back to Lily, he made a mental note to recommend that she ask Ryder to tutor her on how to play Treachery & Deceit. If she was going to be a noble in the future, she needed to know how the game is played, both the board game and the Great Game that all the nobles took part in.

Once the familiar contract was signed and things began to move in earnest, Rine would no longer have access to this viewpoint from outside of reality and would need to rely on more basic methods to observe events, and he'd need his apprentice to be wise enough to make choices, even if her mentor wasn't immediately available...