After dropping from the ship to the sands below, Emily sprints across the desert with crag charge burning her footprints into the grouh her. It takes a short while for the city to enter her sight and, as it does, she ’t help but let out an impressed whistle.

  The ey is ed in a gargantuan wall, equalling i’s in size and equipped with many vicious-looking ons. Spaced at even intervals along the battlements are dozens of bulky ons, mounted on swivels and poiowards the sky to defend against any unapproved airships.

  Outside the walls, unlike all the other cities Emily has visited, is pletely barren of housing. There are instead several rows of dug-in trenches and reinforced buildings, expanding the city’s defences out to almost twice the size of the city itself.

  I couldn’t think of anything more fitting for Dao call home.

  With a small grin, Emily reaches into her belt and pulls out a brew of imperception, popping the cork off the vial and downing it in one go. She suppresses her mana at the same time, being a ghost to magical senses as she tinues her approach across the open expa a slower speed. The distance means she has to drink a sed vial before she reaches the trenches, but she isn’t ed by the expenditure, already pnning on rewinding.

  She reaches the first line of defences and tinues running at full speed, leaping over the first trench as she gnces around, searg fuards and finding none.

  Do they not man these defences if they aren’t actively in a siege?

  Emily doesn’t find a single person outside the walls and increases her caution as she arrives at the base of the loomial behemoth. Her eyes s along the wall, searg for anything she use to climb it. She spots several fist-sized holes at even intervals, fag down towards where she stands, but otherwise, the only imperfes i face are a few pipes jutting out slightly too low down to serve her purposes.

  I suspect those holes are another defence of some kind. Do they drop grenades? Maybe they pour oil on people trying to scale the wall. I imagine burning invaders alive would bring Dante joy.

  She turns and runs along the wall, searg for a path over. It’s not until she’s covered half the wall’s circumferehat she spots a few uneven pahree-quarters of the .

  “Perfect,” she mutters, stepping back from the wall and reag down to a new creation mou her hip.

  Emily twists the metal g in pce, angling it up towards the target panels, before tapping a button on the side. A harsh hiss sounds as an internal valve opens, releasing a ister of pressed air and firing a small, spyed metal hook. The reel fasteo the small of her back rapidly unwinds as the hook flies up with a thin cable attached. The reel pletely unwinds the moment the hook sails into the gap between the panels, only just reag far enough.

  She gives the cable a light tug, firming the hook is held fast before she runs a flow of maa through the reel, quickly drawing the cable in. She steps up to the wall and pces her feet against it, walking up slowly as the reel pulls her along.

  This is slower than I’d like. I o find a better way to draw it in without using magic. Relying on maa alone is ineffit.

  Emily soon reaches the loose panels and sticks her hand into the gap, grabbing on and holding herself steady as she reaches up with her other hand to work the hook out of pce. The moment it’s free, she holds the cable a short distance back from the hook and spins it around, building up momentum before tossing the hook up and over the top edge of the wall.

  On the first attempt, the hook catches nothing and falls back towards her as she tries to draw the cable in. Luckily, on the sed attempt she catches something out of sight over the top and the hook holds strong, allowio scale the rest of the distance.

  Slipping over the wall, she go either side to firm no oiced the sound of her climbing before moving to one of the rge ons and pg her hook against the metal frame. She lowers herself down the inside of the wall until she reaches a pipe jutting out he bottom where she hangs on as she uses a small flex of maa to free the hook far above. She doesn’t bother using the grappling hook for the final drop and instead simply releases the pipe, falling to the bare ground below with a light thud as her legs cushion the fall.

  Emily moves away from the wall quickly, flipping up her hood in preparation for her potion to wear off and winding through the residential streets she has arrived in to look for the nobles’ district. It doesn’t take her long to find the open streets lined with rge estates.

  As she steps out of a narrow alley onto the well-paved road, several tense-looking patrolling guards notice her presend a small group quickly approaches her.

  “Remove your hood please,” their leader says in a gruff tone, her haing on the handle of her rifle with her fiwitg towards the trigger.

  “Sure,” Emily says, calmly reag up and pulling back her hood. “I’d like to speak to the Hibiscus patriarch.”

  The guards’ eyes widen as they see her face, reition crossing their faces as their grips on their ons tighten.

  “It’s the traitor!” one of the guards hisses, instantly raising his gun to point at her.

  The others don’t move though, and their leader quickly reaches back without looking and pushes the barrel of his on to the floor.

  “Stop,” she barks, a look of flict twisting her face. “We have orders to follow. As long as she doesn’t attack us, we are t her to the maie.”

  Emily raises her brow but says nothing, waiting as the guards surround her and the leader gestures for her to follow.

  “e with us,” she says as she marches forwards. “It’s up to them whether you get your meeting with the Patriarch.”

  Is this because I’m close with Dante, or are they just taking the easier optioween dead or alive?

  Emily silently goes with them, ign the fierce gre trying to bore a hole in the back of her head as she’s led through the open street. The guards they pass all seem as tense as the group leading her were when she ran into them and, as each of them spots her, their faces are marked with fusion and caution.

  It doesn’t take long for them to reach the rgest estate oreet. The pound is surrounded by a sturdy-looking stone wall, topped with sharp metal fmes to keep out intruders, and the gate they stop before is formed from thick wrought iron with the Hibiscus family crest etched into the tre.

  The leader of the guard squad holds up a hand asking for Emily to halt before she steps up to the gate and sms her fist against it three times. At first, nothing happens, but after a few minutes of standing in unfortable silence, one half of the gate shakes and slowly slides inwards to reveal a single man ed in red robes standing before them.

  The man’s hair is long and grey, and his face is marred by the passing of time, with his eyes barely visible through his thick wrinkles. Fasteo his right breast is a bronze family crest, and Emily easily feel the signature of a strong sed circle mage emanating from him.

  “Report,” the man croaks, looking over the guards with an impassive gaze that lights up with intrigue as his eyes fall upon Emily.

  “Yes, Sir!” the guard leader barks, standing at attention. “A few minutes ago, we ran into this one on our patrol at the edge of the district. She approached us and removed her c when asked, then requested a meeting with the Patriarch. There have been no notices from the port or the gatehouses about her entrao the city but, since she surrendered peacefully, we followed orders and led her here without f her to disarm.”

  “I see,” the man says with a thoughtful nod, his beady eyes never leaving Emily. “So, girl, you’d like to speak with Sir Virgil?”

  “If he’s avaible, yes,” Emily says.

  “e on in then,” the man nods before finally tearing his eyes away from her and fog on the guards before him. “I’ll take her from here. Return to your posts, you’re dismissed.”

  “Yes, sir!” the entire squad shouts in harmony, smming their boots together and knog the butts of their rifles against the floor.

  The squad leader turns and walks past Emily to return to their patrol, with the rest of her squad hot on her heels. The angry guard casts a single heated gre at Emily’s back, which she barely even notices, before following. The old mage before her silently gestures for her to ehe estate grounds, so she steps over the threshold, immediately feeling a warm wave of mana embrag her.

  Iing. They have a gathering array too, and it seems to be slightly attributed towards fire. They really are a orack family.

  Without a word, the old mage steps up to the open door and braces himself against it. Emily notices his firm muscuture bulge under his robes as he pushes the door shut, straining against its weight. She silently raises a brow at the oddly heavy gate but says nothing as the man finishes shutting them in and turns to face her.

  “You shouldn’t have e here young miss,” he says with a surprisingly warm tone, walking past her auring for her to follow. “If word spreads that you were here, you’ll put us in a difficult position.”

  “Were here?” Emily asks, following him along the smooth stoh lined with packed dirt towards a set of imposing buildings. “You don’t pn on capturing me, dead or alive?”

  “Why would we ever capture you dead?” the maions, turning his head to look at her and raising his wrinkled brows in shock. “Even if young Dante wasn’t friends with you, our orders from the were to take you alive.”

  “Really? The wanted posters I found in Ashdon clearly stated otherwise.”

  A glint e fshes in the old man’s eyes before he clicks his tongue in frustration and increases his pace.

  “Those damn Hedera bastards, how dare they ighe ’s orders! I’ve been telling Sir Virgil that we’ve been too le on those extremists for too long, but he just won’t listen!” he pauses and takes a deep breath, reining in his anger and drawing in the warm air that has started to form around him before turning and bowing his head to Emily. “Sorry about that young miss. I let my anger get the best of me. I shouldn’t have said that.”

  “It’s fine.” Emily waves off his apology with an amused glint in her eye. “You seem close with the Hibiscus Patriarch.”

  “Of course I am!” the man beams with pride, straightening up and pushing his chest forward. “Sorry, I fot to introduce myself. I’m Edoardo Hibiscus, sed circle, and I’ve been the head butler of the family since Sir Virgil was still a d.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you Edoardo,” Emily says as they arrive before a short, bd grey metal building a small distance from the main manor with rge panes of gss fag the open packed dirt clearings. “I’m Emily Coldstohird circle, though I’m sure you already khat.”

  “Of course I did.” Edoardo nods, pushing open the door before stepping aside auring for Emily to enter first with a light bow of his head. “Young Dante has told me all about you. He asked for you to be treated with utmost respect if you ever visited us. Though, we didn’t think it would be so soon.”

  Emily nods and steps through the doorast him, her hand h over The Clock’s pouch just in case. The room before her is spacious, with several fortable-looking, bright red sofas arranged fag the wide gss windows, and several paintings on the windowless walls depig what Emily only assume are members of the Hibiscus family, both dressed up in fine clothes posing for the painting, and in a mixture of robes and armour in the midst of battles. There are a few servants moving around the space ing and as Emily and Edoardo step into the room, they all turn to face them.

  “Arrange some tea for uest please,” Edoardo decres in an authoritative tone before looking baily aurning to his friendly address. “Please wait here for a moment and make yourself fortable. Unfortunately, Sir Virgil isn’t here at the moment since he is waiting to meet you at the border. I shall go request Lady Aurora, Dante’s mreets you instead if that will suffice.”

  “That would be perfect,” Emily says, noting his ck of as he warns her about the forces waiting to intercept her and giving the man an appreciative nod. “Thank you, Edoardo.”

  The butler turns and marches out of the building, so Emily moves to one of the plush red sofas ales down to wait. A servant wearing a simple set of bck robes carries over a tea set and pours her a cup. Emily adds a spsh of milk and calmly sits back, staring out of the window to sider the informatiorip has given her so far as she waits for Dante’s mother to arrive.

  This has been a fruitful trip already. The guards here are very tense, and it seems like they may have worked out where I’m pnning on crossing the border already. Trying for the crossing at night is probably pointless. It looks like I was correct to assume that The ant has some way of trag me when I’m still in the try. Ah well, it’s useful to know that they’ve posted at least one fourth circle mage at the border to capture me. Though, by the sounds of it, he’s likely to let me escape.

  She lifts her cup and takes a sip, enjoying the rich tea.

  As for the royal family, it seems their orders were t me in alive. Is this why my quest wanted me to leave my pursuers alone? I’m guessing that if I escape without causing more damage, I’ll be able to patch up my retionship with the try retively easily upon my return. Edoardo did call the Hederas extremists, and they were allied with the Mandragos, so it seems they aren’t popur with the .

  Emily tio sip from her cup, emptying it and pg it down before the door opens once again. A tall woman who looks to be in her early thirties in fine bck robes with delicate red embroidery walks through the door with Edoardo close behind. Her hair is a short, familiar fiery red, sitting just above her shoulders, and she walks in with her back straight as a rod and a gentle smile on her face.

  “Hello, Miss Coldstone,” Aurreets, bowing her head and pg her fist above her heart in a mage’s show of respect. “I’m Aurora Hibiscus, sed circle, Dante’s mother and Virgil’s sed wife. It’s a pleasure to have you in our home.”

  “Please, just call me Emily,” she responds, waving off the cordial greeting with a small smile. “The pleasure is mine. Dante old me his mother was a beauty.”

  “Mm, you ftter me,” Aurora says, elegantly l herself onto the sofa opposite Emily with her hands gently pced on top of each other on her p and a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “I would normally offer you some tea, but it seems Edot there before me, so instead I inquire as to your reason for this visit? Daold me a lot about you, and from what he’s said, you don’t seem the kind to pop in for a friendly chat. Especially sidering your current… circumstances.”

  “Haha, yes,” Emily replies, the small smile on her face quickly fading as she returns to a ral gaze. “You’re n. I’m not really one for social calls. I came to satisfy my curiosity and see if my bounty asked for my head in this territory as well, and who better to ask than a friendly family.”

  “Hmmm,” Aurora hums with a nod, reag out for the cup that Edoardo has set down in front of her, filled with steaming tea, before standing at attention behind her. “Dante did mention your… reckless curiosity. With your ability to sneak into our city unseen, surely you could have found that information out yourself a without risking your safety. Why else did you feel the o visit our humble household?”

  Emily doesn’t fail to notice the barely cealed venom in Aurora’s words, nor the twitg of Edoardo’s eye as he g his dy with , but she chooses to ig.

  “Well,” she responds with a cold glint in her eyes. “I was hoping that my friends might have liked the ce to inform me about my… circumstances, as you so kindly put it.”

  “You were, were you? Well, I think your friends,” the noblewoman challenges, emphasising the word with a harsh bite ione, “have given you enough help by actally fetting your visit. Especially sidering some of them have already given you far more than enough help.”

  Edoardo shivers at the woman’s words with a visible bead of sweat rolling down his forehead.

  It seems he’s not as close with Lady Aurora as he is with Sir Virgil, and it seems his Lady doesn’t really like me.

  “Now,” Aurora tinues without waiting for Emily to respond. “If that’s all, I think you should be on your way. You, show her out.”

  She points to one of the servants standing at attention to the side of the room who bows and quickly moves to the door to lead Emily out.

  So, she won’t let Edoardo tell me anything else then. What a shame. I should have asked him more before he left.

  “I have to say,” Emily says without standing up, her hand moving down to press rewind on The Clock. “I was really hoping Dante’s family would resemble him. But you’re far more… noble.”

  She enjoys the fsh of anger on the woman’s face, and the visible shiver that runs through her body as time grinds to a halt, sending Emily back to before the versation ever happened.

  KeroKeron