It was the first time in a few weeks that I wore my suit. The first was to try it on, and that had been alright. It fit, and my movement wasn't restricted.

  Now it was a little tight in some places, but somehow looked even better on me. Something about the abundance of exercise and stats had changed my physique to fill it better. It was tighter in a few areas that accentuated my chest and the fancy hem of the jacket made my legs look great. Staring at myself in the mirror, it was one of the first times I actually liked how I looked.

  It felt nice.

  Deacon had acquired a carriage for hire. It wasn't a magical type like the one the house normally used, and was pulled by a creature that was a violent mix of reptile and bird. It stood on two powerful legs with two smaller ones at its chest height. All four were armed with wicked looking talons. It's head had a beak and when it opened its mouth to coo at the driver I could see teeth. The sight was unsettling.

  It had beautiful red and yellow plummage running down it's back and it had wings i was certain wouldn't hold it tucked against its body. When I asked what it was, I was informed it was a hawk-beaked strider. Apparently there were dozens of variations with even more variations if you wanted specific colors.

  I was allowed to pet it, which caused it to give a happy coo. It wasn't hostile or anything, just a bit hungry. It seemed bored too, which I didn't blame it for.

  Deacon and I got into the carriage and then our third came out of the house.

  “Danielle, I had hoped you were joking when you asked me to come along.” Toren said, as he clambered into the seat across from us. “I detest these social gatherings.”

  “You could have said no.” Deacon replied, trying not to laugh as the priest's more decorative robes were mussed from his efforts.

  “And miss the entertainment? The only thing I'm excited for is the fancy drinks and what mess she's going to make with whatever scheme she's planning.” He settled down and sighed, adjusting his robes.

  He did look nice. His robes were primarily a light blue with white decorations along the hem and sleeves. On his shoulder was a man holding his hand over another on their knees. There was a starburst from the standing one's hand that was the only gold thread used in his outfit. His pants were a cleaner and sharper version of his usual tan ones.

  “It's hopefully not going to go that badly.” I said, knowing I cursed the entire outing with that statement. “Just have to talk to a few people, do a couple dances, and try not to fall asleep when someone gives a speech, right?”

  Toren and Deacon both laughed as the carriage started to move. Toren was the one who said something, “You say that like this isn't going to be a nest of goblins wielding poisoned daggers.”

  “I got a list of guests from Grimoire and a list of suggested actions.” Deacon replied. “It's a list of people you'll need to talk to, and reintroduce yourself to. Lord Germaine is on the list with a specific note to apologize for not attending his previous engagement.”

  “Why does that matter?” I asked, already not liking where this was going.

  “Because you’d been specifically invited. I don’t know why, but…” He shrugged, “It won’t kill you.”

  “I guess.” I clenched and unclenched my fists, nervous despite my attempts to project otherwise. “Anyone you think there will be problems with?”

  Deacon took a moment, going down the list and grimacing, “Chatterdeem had a few relatives who will likely try to express their condolences.”

  “Please don’t send them through any tables.” Toren said with a stern expression. “The man was a piece of work, from what I’ve found out, but grief isn’t just for the righteous.”

  I nodded, looking out the window. The sky had changed, the light moving in it’s horizontal creep across the sky, dusk settling behind it, with lights springing up. Almost like magic. “I’m going to try and not knock anyone through anything, if I can help it.”

  “Which brings up something we need to talk about. Auras are going to be all over this party.” Deacon reminded me. “I showed you a little trick to minimize their effects, do you remember it?”

  I looked at him and nodded before focusing. I tuned my Charisma so the sensation was just beyond my body. With another ‘push’, for lack of a better term, with my mind I felt it start to… solidify. It felt weird, and I had to concentrate on it more than I liked. “How am I doing?”

  “Constipated.” Deacon dead-panned looking me over. I felt his aura touch mine but it barely made any progress. “Acceptable. You’ll at least know if any of the more insidious things start to break through. I’ll be keeping an eye out, but I can only be so many places.”

  I nodded and continued to practice. We’d practiced the week leading up to this, but there had just been a lot to take care of, and not enough hours in the day. “What next?”

  “The councilors shouldn’t want to see you, but making a polite greeting wouldn’t be amiss. The Duke and his two children will also be around, which you might get roped into. According to Grimoire…” He flipped through a couple of pages, “Why is his writing so curly and small, it’s hard to read in here?” He grumbled, “Right, the brother had been a friend before some incident you never went into. Any ideas what that might be?”

  I shook my head and sighed, “I’ll probably find out before the night is over. Any other former friends?”

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  “Oh, dozens. Almost every major noble family had at least one or two who associated with you. Mostly girls, if the names are anything to go off of.” Deacon played with the yellow high necked shirt he was wearing for the party. He had a black and red half cape instead of a jacket, and his sling had been replaced with a cotton sash with the Rosecrest emblem pinned to it.

  Toren looked over at him, “If you keep fidgeting, you’ll knock the sling loose and someone will have to tie it in place again.” He slapped at Deacon’s hand, who promptly stopped. His following, offended, stare at the older man was met with an eye roll and a muttered, “Children.”

  I returned my gaze outside. The streets were filling up the closer to the fortress we got. Despite my infrequent trips, I’d never gotten a good look at it. “Where is the fortress, anyway?”

  Toren grinned, “This is actually something I found interesting when I first moved here. It’s underground.”

  I blinked, “What?”

  Deacon frowned, “What?”

  Toren looked between us, “What? Neither of you looked into this?” He let out a hissing breath through his teeth, “Alright, I’ll give you a brief rundown. Pay attention.”

  We both turned to watch the old man.

  “The original entrance is near the middle of the city, which is where we’ll be entering though. The main fortress isn’t even accessible except through a series of tunnels and stairs, or the main lift. It goes down about two or three stories before opening into the entrance hall.” He waved a hand as if to get us to see a majestic view, “It’ll be a shining forest of lights and sounds for a party like this.”

  He took a breath before continuing. “It’s then split into public and private areas. We’ll be going to the public areas, which include the banquet hall, the ballroom, several different lounges, and a few ‘exterior’ locations. Basically, underground gardens maintained by team of high level gardeners.” Toren shrugged, “We’ll be expected to stay until the end of the party and mostly in that area.”

  “What about the crystal?” I asked.

  “I was getting to that.” He put his hands up and motioned for me to calm down, “It’s also in a public area, though it’s over by the audience chamber. There’ll be some people sneaking off to some of the rooms and alcoves over there, nothing like the main areas, though. While you aren’t forbidden from going there, it’s going to look unusual.”

  I suddenly had a terrible idea.

  Deacon seemed to see it cross my face and burst out laughing.

  His outburst knocked me out of my planning. “What?”

  “You just thought about seducing someone so getting there would be less suspicious, didn’t you?” He was still laughing.

  My cheeks heated up and then Toren joined in. “What?! It’s a good idea.”

  Toren was the first to control himself and he reached out and patted me on the knee, smiling kindly at me. “My dear, as much as I would normally agree, you need a few more years of life experience before trying that. While I imagine you could ‘get’ someone to go with you…” His smile turned sad, “I don’t think it’s something you’re ready to try.”

  Deacon let out a sigh, before nodding, “I agree, though I’ve less faith of you pulling it off if you tried.”

  I rolled my eyes, “You’re both assholes.”

  That got another round of laughter, this time with me joining in. After a short recovery as we let the mood sober up, I sighed. “You’re both right though. Even if the idea of doing… things… with other people didn’t make my skin crawl right now, I don’t think I’d be able to keep up the act.”

  My eye caught Toren’s sad frown before he noticed me looking and he resumed a more neutral expression. Deacon just went back to the list Grimoire had given him. “I’m not seeing any warnings about anyone else, though I’d personally put Captain Severn on the ‘to avoid’ list if possible.”

  I shook my head, “No, we need to get him out of the way as soon as possible. This one I did go over with Grimoire. After the initial encounter, it would look weird if he paid too much attention to me. He’ll probably keep an eye on me from a distance after an initial greeting.”

  “I wouldn’t be too sure. If he thinks you’re up to something he could pull the Duke’s guards into keeping an eye on you too.” Deacon said, a thoughtful frown on his face. “I can’t think up a better plan, though.”

  “Simple plans are best.” Toren said to us in a voice that wouldn’t sound out of place at a sermon. “They’re the easiest to adapt, and easiest to throw out when things go wrong. Fools plan while the gods laugh, so they say.”

  We both looked at each other, then at him. Deacon asked, “Are you really a priest? That doesn’t sound like something a devout follower would say.”

  “Longer than you’ve been alive.” Toren replied, “And there aren’t any rules among Quintius’ followers that say we can’t question the gods.” He cleared his throat as if preparing to recite scripture from memory, “The most tragic thing about life is that you will often never see the puppetmaster pulling the strings of misery. Those with power will hurt those without, intentionally or otherwise, and it is the duty of the righteous to ease those burdens so that the just can handle retribution.”

  “Death is comedy that everyone carries a ticket for in their soul. Only the truly strong or rich can sell theirs off, but that is where the real joke lies. For what is life without death. What is a journey without end. And what awaits at the end of the road for those who refuse to travel it?” Deacon responded soon after Toren had finished.

  I looked between the two, and Toren actually had a sad smile. The priest nodded, “A deviation from the original annals of Life and Death: A Performance for the Soul. Carrion’s faithful always did prefer to be more dramatic.”

  The bard scratched the side of his head, “Yea, I was trying to work it into a song for the longest time before I gave up on it. It was a little more somber than my associates preferred.”

  “I think it could work.” I chimed in. “Sometimes, you don’t want a happy song, right?”

  He nodded and smiled, “Kind of where my head is at.”

  Toren patted Deacon on his back, “You and I should go drinking sometime. I’d love to talk more about this. If we get drunk enough, I might even help you work on it.”

  They both laughed as I rested my chin on my hand, leaning against the door. A large, open air building had a line forming as nobles dismounted nearby, trying to walk the shortest distance to a large fenced in section near the middle of the structure. Even as I watched, it seemed to split in the middle and a platform lined in gold and glowing with faint lines rose till it was flush with the top. People got on, no one stepping past the glowing lines, and the platform lowered, the door closing over them.

  It looked familiar, and I had that annoying feeling like there was something just out of reach that would tell me what it was. More secrets from Alexei. I wonder what this one is about.

  I didn’t get an answer as we rode closer and closer to the building.

  We got out of the carriage and the driver gave Deacon a small stone that would apparently alert him when the group was ready for a pick up. The driver and his bird thing left even as we were turning to approach the lift down. Toren put a hand on my shoulder as we waited for people in front of us to get checked over by the guards. I looked over at him and patted his hand in appreciation before stepping forward.