“That’s not right,” My mother’s voice was sharp. “I told you, the Knight moves like this.” She showed me again on the board, making the motion several times, knocking over other pieces as she did.

  “Right,” I mumbled. How was anyone supposed to remember this? There were so many dang pieces. She let the Knight fall. I reached out with small hands, put the pieces back to where they had been.

  “Do better.” My mother grumbled as I made my move. She barely needed to look before she made one of her own. “This doesn’t really measure intelligence, but if you can’t even succeed at something like this….” She left the rest unsaid. I heard it anyway, I’d heard it often enough.

  Focus, dang it.

  I closed my eyes, thought things through as best as I could. One of the things mom had always drilled into me was to think. Thinking was the only time she was ever patient with me.

  I opened them again, made my move by pushing one of my pawns ahead two squares, starting an attack on the left side of the board. We exchanged five quick turns. She crushed my attack. I had to scramble to defend, but it was clear she was pying at a level I simply wasn’t.

  She rose from the seat, an angry frown on her face. She didn’t need to say I wasn’t good enough for me to feel it. Why was she so upset? It wasn't like I had ever beaten her at anything before.

  “I told you to think, didn't I? Keep practicing,” She muttered. “And stay in your room, I’m going to have guests over today.”

  Our time together had been so short. How long would it be before we could sit down like this again? I didn’t know. I just wish I’d been better. That way, at least, it would have sted just a little longer.

  “My Lady…My Lady….”

  “I’m well awake,” I grumbled. Even if I’d just woken up, there was still a dull ache right along my forehead. Another dream, not quite a nightmare.

  Anias stood over me. “I apologize. I did wish to let you sleep longer, but you told me to wake you up if something important happened.”

  “You did the right thing.” I rose, rubbed my eyes. “What happened?”

  Anias looked vaguely uncomfortable. That made me very uncomfortable. “There is growing unrest in our District. I’m afraid it’s going to spill over into violence soon. They've already started to gather and protest in some pces. If you use your Gift, you might be able to hear it from here.”

  “I assume Greenward hit us where he could.”

  She dipped her head. “Yes. He’s stopped the flow of grain into our District. It hasn’t even been a day, and yet the prices are starting to spike.”

  Greenward’s actions weren’t exactly a surprise. The sharp rise in prices was. “That quickly? Surely the merchants haven’t run out of produce in less than a day. They’re hoarding what they have.”

  “They are blocking and inspecting all wagons that cross the two Districts. Almost all of the grain comes across the border.”

  That would do it.

  “Then we should force them to sell their goods for just slightly above what they were selling yesterday. Perhaps ten or twenty percent. Some merchants will refuse to comply. Make them. Can that be arranged?”

  “City-level administration is the domain of House Thalos,” Anias said dubiously. “I’m not sure how House Veyne would do such a thing, save for threatening them with force.”

  “Threaten them,” I said at once. “Not too obviously, mind you. Talk of ‘new restrictions’ and ‘regutions’ that might need to be followed in the near future. The specifics don’t matter too much. We have those District-level rights. Even something like the risk of more surprise inspections will make them think twice.”

  “Will something like that work?” Anias looked uncertain.

  “Not in the long term, no,” I answered. “But if this restriction sts that long, I believe I will have much bigger problems to deal with.” There would likely be a bck market around food, as merchants refused to sell their wares through legal channels. It could balloon into a massive problem, but it wouldn’t do so in just seven days.

  “Very well. I’ll see it done. There are other reasons for unrest besides just food.”

  “Oh?” I finally stepped out of bed, stretched my arms. I did finally feel something resembling rested.

  “Public sentiment against House Veyne only grows worse. Just about all of the papers are snted against our House.” Anias informed me. "It doesn't feel natural."

  "That's because it likely isn't. How interesting." I mused. "He's willing to go far."

  That was unexpected. From what I’d been able to gather, there was an odd and growing divide between the nobility and the common folk, mostly based around the common folk embracing change and new technologies, while the nobility clung to old traditions. Newspapers themselves were only a few years older than I was supposed to be. Most nobles held disdain for them.

  “I don’t suppose you have one of these newspapers?”

  “I will procure one quickly.” Anias left me with my thoughts.

  My thoughts strayed back to that warehouse, to the horror I’d seen there. I looked down at my trembling hands and clenched my fists as tight as I could. There was no point in thinking about it, and yet my thoughts drifted there anyway. This world really did have some animals, didn’t it?

  There was a feeling of…agreement. A prickling at the edge of my own conscious self. That was the sword. I was starting to pick up its strange feelings better now.

  “You're going to have to learn to listen to me,” I whispered. “I have no need for a double-edged sword.”

  The Godbde was silent at that. I didn’t think it was actually sentient, but it wasn’t just an object either. I had read that some Heroes were driven to madness by their bdes. I understand why now. Wait. Hadn’t my father gone far out of his way to get this one? With everything that had happened, I’d completely forgotten.

  “I wonder why….” It was a question that couldn’t be answered, I knew.

  The door opened, and Anias stepped in again. In her hands was a folded newspaper. She offered it to me. I unfurled it and began to read.

  It was called The Aelheim Chronicle. The front page had one major headline:

  Esra Veyne Accuses House Greenward of Human Sacrifices!!

  That was quite the headline, and quite the odd interpretation of what I'd actually said. It was hard not to roll my eyes as I read.

  It was a rather snted retelling of events, framing me as the ‘jealous’ accuser trying to undermine Julian Greenward’s growing contributions to the city. It even had a section that detailed how House Veyne was fading away from relevance, and cited that as one potential motivation. Another potential motivation was that I had gone mad from first losing my mother, and now my father. I was simply shing out at any and everyone I could.

  “This is rather btant,” I murmured, flipping the page. The headlines here weren’t much better.

  Esra Veyne, Woman or Wolf?

  I didn’t read that one. “So they're all like this.” I did wonder just how many of these Duke Greenward had personally bought and paid for, and how many were simply following the crowd. Given the nobility's distaste for this sort of ‘plebeian’ thing, he might have been able to get a lot of hidden influence when nobody was looking. He was willing to reveal it now, all because of the accusation I'd made.

  Duke Greenward might have been much more dangerous than I'd thought.

  “They wouldn’t normally dare in normal circumstances.” Anias sounded regretful. “If you wish, I can have House Veyne root them out.”

  I didn’t look up from the paper. “That…is certainly not what I wish for. Besides, it wouldn’t help at all. Leave them be. Are there any that aren't like this?"

  Anias hesitated. “There is one that is slightly more favorable. Though calling it a proper newspaper might be generous. It's...a one-person operation. By the woman you spoke to yesterday.”

  It took me a few seconds to remember. Dorothy, huh? A woman who didn’t immediately give in to the direction of the tide all around her, even though it would have been much easier. Now something like that could be useful in the future. “A one person operation you say? I suppose I will have to speak with her again after all.”

  “My Lady, do you really think he will come?”

  “It's hard to say. One week is hardly a lot of time at all.” It would take one week for the House of Cards Indri had set up to colpse. Given the eagerness I remembered from him, it was hard to believe he'd wait for another chance.

  “Then you truly mean to-”

  “Yes. If he does what I hope he will, I will gdly accept.”

  Anias took a deep breath. “My Lady, even I might struggle to protect you in that event.”

  It was hard not to smile at the genuine concern in her voice. "Let's count on the might then. Do feel free to destroy everything if need be."

  “It’s still too big a risk by far.”

  I moved my hand to the side. The rusted bde settled into it immediately. “I’m not going unarmed.”

  Anias looked at the sword and looked more concerned. “That’s not a weapon to use or reveal carelessly. It has a price. And if anyone found out that you're a walking impossibility, the consequences might be far greater than you can foresee.”

  “I know. It's a st resort, nothing more. I hope you've brought my first resort?”

  "Your requests were rather specific, but we were able to procure something." Anias pointed at my dresser, at a simple white box I hadn't noticed before. It floated in the air, opening even as it came closer to me.

  From the inside came two items. One was a simple neckce. A thin gold chain that carried a cut blue gemstone. The other was a golden ring, encrusted with a simir blue gemstone. I grabbed the neckce, felt its cool touch on my skin. I channeled mana, pouring it into the gemstone. It glowed. As it did, so did the matching ring still hovering in the air. "What's the range for this?"

  "Most of the city will work. The Indri Manor, at least, will be no difficulty at all."

  This really was exactly the kind of thing I had asked for. "And you are positive nobody will find this strange or notable?" I looked to Anias for confirmation.

  "They will not, My Lady. The Guild assured me of that much. I followed all of your instructions to the letter. Though finding one you wouldn't break with your mana on such short notice was more difficult than I had expected. You do need to learn to control your mana better." Anias sounded like she was chiding me. She probably was.

  "I will. When there's time." I said absently, putting the neckce on. For now, I was fine with relying on other people. "You know, it occurs to me that this can be used for more than just a signal-"

  There was a knock at the door that cut me off. I turned just to see a maid enter, not one I recognized, though Anias seemed to. “Yes, Irina?”

  The woman bowed. “There is a carriage at the gates. And wagons. The guards wished to know if they should be allowed in.”

  Anias looked at me. I looked at her. This was earlier than even I had expected.

  "Yes, please allow them inside." I waited for the woman to leave before turning to Anias again. “Where’s Sere?”

  “She’s with Damian. I’m surprised you allowed her to be trained. She does have a rather surprising amount of talent.”

  “The world isn’t kind to powerless children, Anias. See that the two of them stay out there.” It was likely a small risk, but I didn’t want Sere to be anywhere near that bastard. Damian…well, I hadn’t quite told him what I’d pnned here. There hadn’t been time, especially not to shoot down the arguments he would have made.

  Anias looked torn. “You won’t see them first?”

  “It's better if I don't,” I said as I moved towards the door. “Shall we greet our guest then?”

  “You did a brave thing.” Duke Indri said, just the hint of pride in his voice. My Gift focused on him. His heartbeat was perfectly regur. There was no sweat on his brow, no tensing anywhere that I could see.

  His words were sincere or at least appeared to be, though I now knew how little that meant. It wasn’t hard to be sincere and be a monster at the same time.

  I sat across from him on the opposite couch. “I am afraid it has led to some rather dire consequences.” I made sure to wince as I said it. He’d notice.

  “Aye.” Duke Indri nodded. “You were too hasty. I was sure you would take longer to act. I was truly surprised when I saw that summons.” Again, honesty. He’d expected to have more time. Time to make a more convincing scene.

  “It was a pressing matter,” I said bitterly. “It hurt to wait any longer than I needed to.”

  “Truly a horror what happened there. It’s no wonder Julian is furious. You exposed evil.”

  Not being very subtle, are you old man? The worst part was that his heart rate did spike. His hands slowly clenched, his lower lip trembled, just faintly. If he was acting, then perhaps he would have had a better life in stage pys.

  “It’s caused more of a stir than I expected,” I admitted. This time I raised the gss to my lips.

  “A cornered animal is the most dangerous.” Duke Indri nodded.

  You have no idea. The Godbde had been silent so far, yet I could feel its presence acutely. I got the sense that it was watching everything too.

  Duke Indri had never reached for his own gss. “Esra. It’s my fault all of this happened.” Again, my Gift picked up all the telltale signs of honesty. This Gift really was dangerous around the wrong type of person, huh?

  Click. Click.

  I turned my Gift off. There was no point in my Gift making me second-guess myself now. Not when I'd already made my decision.

  “I heard about the trade restrictions.” He said gravely. “It’s most cruel. Whatever enmity Greenward might have with you, it’s simply wrong that he would take it out on your people as well.”

  I winced again. The cup in my hand trembled. “Yes, I hadn’t expected him to be so cruel either.”

  He nodded gravely. “It’s no wonder you look so tired. No child should have to deal with such a thing.”

  “I just hope I can make my father proud.”

  “He would be. And…there might be a solution, at least a temporary one.” He was looking at me intently. “The restriction is only between good traveling between the Greenward and Veyne Districts. It says nothing about goods first purchased by a third party.”

  So that was his proposal, then? It was a genuinely helpful and kind offer, if a bit risky for him. The kind you'd only make if you truly cared, or truly wanted something.

  I stared at him for a moment, and then my eyes widened. “But if he finds out then-”

  He smiled this time. “I am afraid he will find it difficult to do the same thing to me. The Merchant’s Guild is furious enough with him as it is. He has to strike a rather delicate bance himself with the restrictions he pced on House Veyne. In fact, I've already brought some stores of grain with me here.”

  It was nice to know there were people on my side, even if they were all greedy merchants.

  “If y-you’re sure,” I said finally. “I’m just afraid I’ll wrap House Indri in my own troubles.”

  “Nonsense.” Duke Indri ughed. “Your father would have done the same in a heartbeat had the roles been reversed.”

  He finally reached for his tea. “There is one other reason I am here.”

  “Oh? What could that be?”

  He took a sip and looked at me seriously. “I don’t believe this Manor is safe, Esra.”

  “What?” I tried to look as shocked as I could. “What do you mean? Who isn’t it safe from?”

  “Duke Julian is a man who would commit many atrocities in the name of a slightly bigger profit.” He murmured. “Is it truly a stretch to believe he would commit yet more atrocities to silence you before the trial?”

  So that was his angle then. Not exactly done subtly, but he didn’t have much time. I could almost commend him for his effort.

  “I have Anias and Estovan with me.” I protested. “They will keep me safe.”

  “Esra.” He leaned forward. “They can only protect you from so much. They can only protect you for so long. One week is a very long time. Your father would want you to be safe, and I don’t think you are here. There are people in this world who even they can't protect you from."

  He really was ying it on thick, wasn't he? “But t-then where else can I go?” I had to look both angry and afraid at the same time.

  “Come to Indri Manor with me.” He offered magnanimously. “It will take Duke Greenward at least some time to figure out where you’re staying, and he might hesitate when he has to go against two Houses instead of just one. Even then, my Manor has some obscure defenses in pce. They should be more than sufficient for one week.”

  It was kind of him to offer. I was surprised he wasn't letting me come up with the idea myself.

  He leaned back and shrugged. “And you can help me with my research. I imagine it’ll take your mind off things. You’ve done everything you can here. Let me help you. After all, you helped me, and it's what your father would have wanted."

  It was a rather carefully constructed three-pronged strike. In his position, I might have said something simir. I didn't even need my Gift to see the desperation in his gaze. “Can I bring someone with me?” I knew the answer, but it would be strange not to ask. He had separated me from Estovan during my st visit, after all.

  “I don’t think you should.” He said gravely. “If everyone is here, then it will take Duke Greenward longer to discover the truth. Perhaps I should send some of my own guards here as well. Make him think you are hiding within a fortress. It shouldn't be too hard to cim that you are sick from recent events and wish to recover in solitude.”

  It might have been possible to force him to let me bring someone, but all that would have done is raise his guard. Someone like Anias or Estovan were threats that had to be constantly watched, monitored, and considered. But if it was just Esra, the girl he’d already fooled once, there would be gaps.

  It really had gone almost exactly like I’d hoped it would, save that he was even more bold than I would have guessed. He really wanted something.

  Precautions or not, this was risky. I was fine with that. A man who had gone to these lengths would never have evidence we could just find, not without risking something. And honestly? If it was to stop a monster like this, I was fine with risking everything. Besides, the second I actually found something, I was going to have Anias and Estovan bring down the entire manor if they had to. If I judged them not enough, I wasn't opposed to involving the actual martial might of House Veyne. I'd mitigated the risk about as well as I could.

  I lightly bowed my head. “I’ll be in your care then.”