As yet another cut appeared on my sleeves, I once again deeply regretted my decision to dress myself with the finest garment my newly acquired wardrobe contained. At least, my trusty thick cloak offered me some protection against the thorny branches hampering our progress.

Loann had said we were going to reconnoiter Lord Konogan’s mansion. Believing this to mean a stakeout from a nearby busy street, I had not at all worried about being attacked by the environment on my way there. However, the dense forest we were traversing seemed determined to make me pay for my naivety.

Thinking back on it, Loann’s boots had provided a clue that something was amiss. I forgave myself for the lack of observation, though, because the rest of his attire did not speak of a walk in the wilderness. No. It turned out that experience was Loann’s sole shield against the prickly bushes’ skirmishes. Having seen his office, I inferred the man regularly ventured to such places in search of ingredients. A warning would have been nice, but perhaps he had not thought it necessary. Indeed, the location of Lord Konogan’s home had to be common knowledge.

Try as I may, I could not replicate the agility Loann displayed. Considering my guide was denied the use of one of his arms, this made me feel a mix of admiration and irritation.

My surroundings did their best to belie the flora’s aggressive nature. The fresh and slightly sweet smell filling the air was more than a little welcoming. My rampage through the vegetation had put a hold to the otherwise lovely bird songs. I had a thought that this might very well give us away, but I trusted Loann to know what he was doing.

The ground was treacherous. Long but thin leaves hid not only the numerous spikes on branches, but also uneven and sometimes slippery rocks, no doubt here to ensure the plant took its tax in blood every time I made a desperate attempt to grasp it and prevent my fall.

I was not in a good mood.

The arduous path did have one benefit, however. It left me with no time to contemplate the folly of the mission I was about to undertake.

Between my inability to spare the required concentration and our desire to remain as stealthy as my clumsy progress allowed, there was no place for any conversation to happen.

I barely noticed Loann stopping, and almost walked into a particularly tall wall of leaves. That would have been a painful mistake, if the foliage I had encountered so far was any indication.

Small dots of sunlight were visible through what was no doubt the frontier to Lord Konogan’s garden.

Loann confirmed this through a whispered “we’re here”, as I stopped next to him.

I nodded and waited for him to give me more instructions. Surely, he did not expect me to survey the garden by myself. Despite Aostin’s assumptions, I was no scout, and this was definitely not a mission where we could afford mistakes born of inexperience.

“You’ve made quite a mess, back there,” Loann commented, his voice kept low. “You’ll be seen on the other side if you try to get inside like that.” He titled his head toward the massive obstacle in front of us. “I’ll go first. Don’t come in until I tell you to.”

Not waiting for me to confirm I had heard him, Loann disappeared into the green facade.

About thirty seconds later, he called me in. Wrapping my cloak around me as much as I could, I reluctantly stepped into the spike-filled hiding spot.

It still hurt a bit.

On the other hand, I finally had my first view of Lord Konogan’s mansion.

It looked like multiple buildings had been joined together, not all of them of the same style. In the middle stood what I assumed to be the manor proper. On it, about twenty windows were visible on each of the two first floors. What I first assumed to be a very tall roof was actually hiding additional rooms, the existence of which was betrayed by the sporadic presence of their windows among the tiles. A round tower cemented the connection between each building. Given the evident marks of stairs, this might have been designed to allow moving from one floor to another without sacrificing space within the buildings themselves.

This place could easily host a small village. It was a shame I would not be able to disguise myself as a servant, for they surely could not all know each other. But I knew the lack of soul would be a dead giveaway.

At least reaching the buildings should prove easy enough. Indeed, between us and them was an extravagant garden, offering plenty of hiding places.

“We’re waiting for Lord Konogan’s departure,” Loann explained. “He’s expected at Lord Gothian’s party. Should be leaving any moment, now.”

“Understood,” I acknowledged. “Can we talk in the meantime?”

As usual, I had many questions.

“Yes,” Loann indicated. “But not too loud.”

He had said he was making efforts to bridge the gap between us, so I went with a topic that directly related to this issue.

“How does sensing the emotions of someone else work? Would this let them detect you, for example?”

“They could. Would need to focus on where I am, though. These plants act like your cloak,” Loann explained. “Hides me pretty well. As for how souls feel...”

He thought for a long moment, and a gust of wind made the leaves tremble.

“... I don’t know how to describe it,” he finally admitted. “Ever tried describing a sense to someone who didn’t have it?”

Not that I could recall, no.

He coughed. “Sorry. Poor choice of words,” he amended. “Alright. Then a new color you haven’t seen?”

I tried really hard to do so for a moment, but no matter what I came up with, it was never truly a new color. The best I could do was to add new properties to the appearance, such as transparency, brightness, or strange reflections. None of these really defined a new color, though.

I stopped as I heard Loann chuckle.

“No managing it, are you?” He guessed. “I’ll give it my best shot. A soul connects you with people around you. You feel their emotions. You still know it’s theirs, though. Also… distance matters, but obstacles do not. Well, except other souls, I guess. Too many people means dimmer emotions. They blur together.”

“What about Bindin-“

Bang!

Startled by the unexpected noise, which seemed to be coming from the manor’s direction, I tried to discern any indication that this was related to Lord Konogan’s departure. It had not been the kind of sound I would have associated with that, but I was getting used to my intuitions being proved wrong again and again.

“Is that the-“ I started asking, but was interrupted once more, this time by blaring wails of an alarm.

Did we get spotted? What had the first noise been, then?

“Damn!” Loann cursed. “What’s going on?”

The only reason I did not start running was that Loann had yet to make a move. For him to admit being as confused as me about the situation was worrisome indeed.

“Should we run?” I suggested.

“No. The alarm’s not for us,” Loann said, having to speak up. “It’s the city’s fire alarm. Wait a bit longer.”

After a few minutes, the wailing stopped.

“Alright. Almost time for you to go,” Loann declared. “They’ll have left by now. Plenty of distraction for you to get inside.”

“Do I leave the letter just anywhere?” I asked, confused. Not such a tough mission, after all. Surely, with all the commotion, finding a table on which to prominently display the letter would be trivial. This might fulfill the entire purpose of the mission. In fact, it made sense. Lord Derrien was likely advertising my ability to bypass magical alarms to people who could be interested in borrowing the retrieval capabilities it allowed. The letter probably contained the offer itself.

“Oh. Right. Almost forgot the details,” Loann said. “I’ll wait here until tomorrow afternoon. You’d best wait for nightfall before exploring inside.”

That was a generous amount of time. It meant that if I found myself cornered in some hiding spot, waiting it out would be a viable option.

“Don’t steal or break anything,” Loann continued. “And of course, don’t hurt anyone.”

Yes, I had understood that to be the modus operandi of my group. This was most likely what Yaelle checked for at Lord Derrien’s house. It made sense to me. The punishment for being caught was thus predictable, and they might be able to mitigate it accordingly. Or perhaps just set the price of the services to match. In fact, it could be that Lord Derrien’s activities were actually well known, and these rules simply limited the retribution he might face otherwise.

I fancied the banner of integrity this let us claim. It also explained the others’ insistence on not considering themselves to be thieves, but rather as people offering retrieval services. My situation had forced me into illegal activities, but I found comfort knowing that the ethos of my companions agreed with my own sensitivities.

Loann stayed quiet for a few seconds, and I realized he was waiting for me to acknowledge his instructions.

“Understood,” I said. “But where do I leave the letter?”

“Sure, the location,” Loann said, perhaps having forgotten the initial question because of the unexpected urgency. “Put it on a desk, in the study on the second floor. There’s a painting of Aenor right next to the door where she’s presiding over the first council. Can’t miss it. It’s in the west wing. The one to your left. Corridor has a bunch of papers on display. You see weapons, you’re on the right wing. The wrong one.”

I now suspected the reason they gave me so much time to complete the mission might actually be to account for the fact I would most certainly get lost on the way.

“Uh... right. How will I recognize Aenor?” I asked him, hesitantly.

Clearly an important political figure, yet without a title? That was odd, but this was not the right time to inquire about it.

“Oh, boy...” Loann mumbled. “Don’t even know Aenor? Makes sense, I guess. Well, don’t worry, just look at some paintings on the way.” He chuckled. “You’ll recognize her soon enough.”

“Alright. I guess I will be going, then.”

“Wait!” he exclaimed. “Leave the cloak here. It’ll give you away.”

Right. Yaelle had made the same request before, when I intruded into Lord Derrien’s house.

I knew my shirt to be beyond repairs, but I had no desire to experience further cuts. The branches had already set their teeth into the cloak, so I simply let them claim it as I moved forward and stepped into the garden. I trusted Loann could retrieve it.

As I made my careful approach toward the closest building, I hid behind statues, crouched along shrubs, and spied through flower walls. No one was in sight, but there would be no second try should any resident chance to get a glance at me. It was unfair how the vegetation had conspired to so strongly leave its mark upon me, yet when I could have used its green color to camouflage myself, the only hues it had granted me were dark red through breaches of my skin.

I took no time to appreciate the arrangements, sometimes even crossing through flowerbeds when the alternative would have elongated the trip.

Did that count as a violation of Lord Derrien’s rules? I certainly hoped not.

There was a path of pebbles going around the building. Not only did walking on these make noise, but it also meant I was completely visible as I attempted to open the first door I found.

It did not budge, unsurprisingly.

Panicked at being so exposed, I fumbled through my satchel and cursed at how difficult reaching the lock picks turned out to be. This bag had not been designed to carry so much.

I was trembling with stress. Not good. I tried lifting the pins, but the shaking made it impossible to feel if they caught or not.

A curse escaped me, despite this being no place to be speaking aloud.

I disengaged the picks and attempted to calm myself down.

This was not such a dangerous situation. Yes, failing here would have negative consequences, but not disastrous ones. Lord Derrien would surely understand that he sent me on a mission too soon. That I needed more training. He would not discard me so easily. The others had promised as much.

I was simply being tested. This was the same as the previous mission. In fact, there was no denying the similarity between this mission and the last. I had succeeded before, and surely would do so again.

It was not enough to stop my anxiety, but the trembling became more manageable.

Now that I had taken the time to breathe more slowly, the lock proved trivial.

Unfortunately, its simplicity was not without reason. Opening the door revealed a small space full of gardening tools, pots, and various bags. It did not even offer a good hiding spot: there was nothing to put myself behind of, unless I moved a large amount of the storage room’s content.

Another door was visible a dozen meters (40 feet) away. I went to it, avoiding the gravel path as much as possible.

This time, I started by putting my ear to the door. Indeed, there were people on the property. I would be a shame to unlock a door, only to open it in front of security personnel.

Nothing.

I began picking the lock. It was definitely not a trivial one.

My current location did not lend itself to long attempts. After my first one failed, I retreated to hide and make sure no one was around, although I was not fully convinced this served any purpose. Surely, if anyone was wandering near this side of the garden, they would have already seen me. It did, however, let me collect myself.

Returning to the door, I turned the knob.

It opened.

Damn it!

I entered and closed the way behind me.

I had hoped to find some easy hiding spots to wait for nightfall. No such luck. This was no room, but only a small passage. Access to the garden from what had to be the main corridor, apparently

I started walking toward the end of the passageway, but stopped after a few steps. Just like I would be able to hear people approaching from the noise they made, my shoes alerted anyone around to my presence. I decided to take the risk and removed them. I needed to find some place to hide those, and I would also have to come back to get them, because there was no way I would ever dare to enter the forest without anything to protect my soles.

Not seeing any obvious solution, just carried them for now.

Discretely glancing around the corners, I saw that the only occupants in the main corridor were decorations. A display of wealth, clearly. Golden armors and shields, with ornate motifs. Paintings, where the artist had been given reign to represent people at their full size. Most of them featured various individuals, but it took me very little time to figure out the one recurring person in all of them. Aenor.

It was obvious Lord Konogan revered the woman. In the paintings I could see, she was depicted as performing acts of kindness. Feeding beggars, playing with poorly dressed children, or even protecting someone from dangerous looking fellows.

Having not heard or seen anyone go through the corridor for a few minutes, I took my chances and sought a hiding spot.

There was an open door to my left. I prudently walked toward it. The room was lit. I knew this implied someone had been using it not too long ago, but were they still inside?

I picked up a noise behind me and caution got thrown to the wind. I entered the room as footsteps resonated in the corridor.

It was lavishly furnished, providing ample ways for me to disappear. Rushed for time, I hid behind a sofa that bordered one of the room’s windows and lay in wait.

Unfortunately, the footsteps followed me into the room. I could not see much from my position. Just the curtains, the back of the sofa, the window, and a decorated ceiling.

“Lady Alienor!” a woman’s voice called out, startling me. “We are resuming our lesson!”

Well, at least, it seemed she had not seen me. But now I was stuck.

Silence filled the room for about twenty seconds before the woman lost patience and repeated her call. “Lady Alienor! Do come at once!”

“Where is she?” the woman I assumed to be a teacher grumbled. Her footsteps told me she was leaving the room.

I could escape. I should escape. This was not a safe room to be in. But there was also no way to be sure I would not find myself facing either the teacher or Lady Alienor on my way out.

There was very little chance they would ever look behind the sofa, was there? If I did not make any noise, that could still be an acceptable place to wait for nightfall.

I hid my shoes beneath the sofa, got the vials from my satchel and placed them on the ground. Not sure of their exact effect, I drank one of them.

Dirt flavored.

Oh. Well, there was no risk I would ever take one of these for my own enjoyment. That was awful. No beneficial effects either, as far as I could tell, only trembling at the lingering aftertaste.

The sound of footsteps resumed, but denser. I assumed it to mean the teacher had found her charge.

“It’s unfair! If uncle can go investigate, surely I should be allowed to accompany him!” an unfamiliar voice complained, no doubt belonging to Lady Alienor.

Was Lady Alienor some petulant teenager? She was attending a class, and speaking like one, but did not sound of an age to be lamenting in such a manner.

“It is not safe. And we were in the middle of a lesson,” the teacher retorted.

That explained the open door and the lighting. Lucky for me, but it had been a close call.

“I can take care of myself!” Lady Alienor rebutted, but from the accompanying noise, I knew she had just let herself fall onto the sofa.

Since she was so close, I was really worried about being heard. My heart beat with such force, I was sure they would notice it if they stayed quiet long enough. And could they not pick up the sound of my breathing?

I tried to slow my respiration, just in case.

“Not against explosions, surely,” her interlocutor pointed out. “All this wasted time practicing dueling does not protect you from these, now does it?”

“No... It does not,” the student admitted reluctantly.

“So, let us see how good your memory is. Would you be so kind as to tell me the name of the main Plailles tribe?”

What followed was such a boring lesson, the fact that I managed to stay awake assured me that the disgusting drink did indeed have an effect. Having to wait motionless still made time feel excruciatingly slow, though.

It seemed Eucleron, the country I was currently in, was an island, and that certain trees in the forest I had visited earlier today were its principal export. Oh, I gleaned quite a few tidbits, but I was absolutely not convinced of their usefulness. Maybe Lady Alienor was learning about mercantilism.

At some point, a bell resonated. Night had already fallen by then, and I was very much annoyed at having to hear about the specifics of commerce at the oh-so-originally named Port of Plailles. Though maybe the fact that it was the only permanent city in Plailles excused the name.

“Very well, this shall be the end of today’s lesson,” the teacher finally announced. “Dinner is waiting in the crystal room.”

I did not know whether this placed them far from my target or not. Loann had told me to wait for nightfall, so now was an acceptable time to wander around, but if people were still moving about, surely waiting for them to go to sleep was preferable.

“Will uncle have returned with news before bedtime, do you think?” Lady Alienor asked.

“I don’t know. Lord Konogan has indicated that he will eat at Lord Gothian’s party, but the incident may have changed his plans.” the teacher replied. “In any case, you are not to be waiting for him past the sleeping bell. Answers can wait until tomorrow.”

A sleeping bell? That was convenient. I recalled hearing chimes at the hideout, so these had to be commonplace. On the other hand, it seemed Lord Konogan could come back at pretty much any moment. Maybe it would be preferable to wait for that to happen an avoid unpleasant surprises. Especially considering Lord Konogan might make use of his study room tonight.

“What?!” Lady Alienor exclaimed, rising from the sofa. “B-but how can you expect me to sleep now?”

They were leaving the room.

“I expect you to act as a proper lady,” I heard her teacher reprimand, as their voices grew distant.

My vision went dark as the light was turned off and my ears informed me they had closed the door, leaving me free to move again.

It took me a few moments to adjust to the lessened luminosity, but the moonlight still shone enough that I could distinguish some shapes.

Not wanting to risk them coming back because of a forgotten item, I drew my light source and left my hiding place.

The brightstone tube seemed very much meant for this kind of discreet work. It provided enough light to see clearly in a specific circle, but not too much so that it would not reflect everywhere, and there was no bleeding. Impressive. This had to be some engineering involving the piece of glass inside and considerable absorption by whatever material the tube was made of. It did not, unfortunately, have any sort of control over the diameter of the beam. From across the room, it resulted in an illuminated spot a bit over two meters (7 feet) wide. Plenty to see paintings, although the colors were off because of the yellowish green hue of the light.

Looking around the room, I saw nothing that would indicate the two residents had left anything they might come back for.

Not knowing what else to do, I decided that this was a good place to wait for the sleeping bell to ring.

I did find a book to read in the meantime, though, so I just went back to behind the sofa with it. Surely this did not count as stealing. I was only borrowing the item and would put it back before leaving the room.

A chime interrupted my reading of the adventures of Artis, an old enchanter finding himself forced to work for people of poor repute as his career fell apart. This was something I could definitely relate to. The mage had been discarded because of his insistence on exploring an alternative to traditional enchanting methods, focusing on a solution that proved extremely inefficient but assured the enchantment was nigh indestructible. Before reality had come calling, I was reading about the man being sent to a place called Valediction to pay for his crimes after he had been caught in a failed robbery. The similarities with my own situation were undeniable. An ill omen. It was also very unclear to me just how much of the story was fictional.

Lost in the tale, I had completely failed to listen for any noise that might indicate Lord Konogan’s return.

Damn it. Now I wanted to know the rest of the story. But no. This was just me trying to find excuses to delay. I bargained with myself, compromising with a vow to inquire about getting my own copy later.

About to resume my journey through Lord Konogan’s manor, I noticed the main corridor had to be without light, because nothing was visible from around the room’s door. A good time to leave, then. I retrieved my remaining vials and put back the lid over the brightstone before exiting the room.

I barely saw enough to move around, but the path was clear and straight, presenting no particular challenge. I knew the stairs to be in the towers between the buildings, so that is where I headed to.

As I was nearing my destination, I heard a door opening far behind me. Not thinking too long about this, I rushed to lean against the wall on my right. Fortunately, no painting or other decoration stood in my way. That would have otherwise meant failing the mission in more than one way.

The hallway’s light turned on, and I stood still as a statue, though my heart did not seem to get the message, for it beat as never before.

The sound of footsteps echoed at my back, but thankfully, they were going in the other direction.

I waited for darkness to return. To no avail. Indeed, I remained fully illuminated for minutes after all noises had ceased.

I slowly turned my head, to confirm no one else occupied the corridor, then waited a few more minutes for the adrenaline to pass.

The way to the tower’s door was clear and only a few steps away. So close, but I could afford no mistakes.

I reached it, and opening revealed stairs climbing to complete obscurity. Closing the entry behind me, I unplugged the brightstone and carefully progressed through each step. The lack of other lights indicated no one was there, but I would have no place to hide should anyone else fancy a change of floor.

I opened a door leading to the second floor. Its hallway was not lit, but I could see some rooms were. Fortunately, all doors were closed at the moment, though this could change in an instant

In the darkness, the walls seemed only covered with paintings, but my brightstone revealed that most frames were, in fact, actually holding memoranda. This matched what Loann had indicated, so I had to be in the right place. That was reassuring.

A glance at the writings showed them to be treaties of some sort. They listed agreements, the nature of which escaped my understanding, and were signed by multiple people. The paintings interspersed among them depicted Aenor, usually standing next to other important looking characters, and always near what was clearly the very charter they accompanied.

Slowly progressing through the corridor, I finally chanced upon a representation of Aenor brandishing a paper in front of a large audience in a semicircle. The first council, no doubt, although it was unclear to me whether this assembly was called the First Council, or whether this was simply their first session.

The document next to it answered my question. A proposal for the founding of the Eucleron Timocracy. What a strange concept. It suggested basing power upon merit, through allocation of votes to be dispensed during sessions of the council. No clear definition of what constituted merit was provided, the council being in charge of deciding who to reward or punish. It looked awfully exploitable and prone to corruption to my eyes, but perhaps no lord ever succeeded in accruing enough votes to take over the council.

I saw a few clauses mentioning a secondary accord with the Lord of Honor for the use of their disciples as guards, and their ability to pass judgment, something I had already witnessed myself. It seemed to effectively separate those who made the law from those who enforced it, but I could detect nothing that would prevent the Lord of Honor from abusing their power. Indeed, there was no mention of any entity the Lord of Honor had to answer to. Nor did it explain how the Lord of Honor title was attributed. Perhaps the answer laid in the aforementioned accord.

I realized I was spending an unreasonable amount of time on this, despite my extremely precarious situation, and went for the door next to the painting. Since no light came out of it, I assumed the room to be devoid of any people.

Quickly closing the door behind me, I looked around the study using my brightstone.

The floor had a very nice carpet, with esoteric motifs. It provided some very welcome comfort to my feet, after the hard stones that had paved my way up to this room.

The walls were all hidden behind ornate bookshelves. The quantity of books on display was definitely impressive. This was no collection of decorative volumes either, the arrangement showing little consistency in appearance between each entry and its neighbors. This was an actual library, with information about the topic of each row engraved adequately. I saw mentions of physics, mathematics, politics, biology, and even cooking.

Deciding not to risk losing myself once again, I focused on the desk that stood near the end of the room.

It had two garnished armchairs on this side, and a more imposing seat on the other. It was clear where Lord Konogan belonged.

I saw a pile of sealed letters left in a bowl, and, after carefully removing the vials from my satchel, I took my missive and added it to the lot. The envelope had not suffered from the trip, fortunately. It looked just like the others, and after a bit of consideration, I decided to shuffle it further down, so as to not make it obvious which was the most recent addition.

I started drinking sips of one of the two remaining potions, looking at the books and considering whether it would be reasonable for me to spend more time learning here instead of risking going back to the previous room. As far as I understood it, I was not supposed to cross back into the forest during the night. Perhaps sentinels watched over the garden when the resident slept. It would make sense for someone to be on the lookout.

Clang!

I choked as the night’s silence was abruptly interrupted by the harsh noise of something heavy colliding with the floor.

What my brightstone revealed was that the carpet had not proved sufficiently thick to absorb the fall of a very familiar looking black sphere.

I paled, mouth agape, as I realized the noise had surely been heard from many rooms away.