Far away in the dark reaches at the edge of Faeth, a hemisphere window in the upper corner of a study stood open. A fire crackled in the hearth, smoke drawn away by the enchantments laid into the brick, and the pleasant glow of flickering fire warmed the chill of the night. An array set into the top of the window chirped loudly, mimicking the sound of a raven as a metal construct made to look like one swooped into the chamber from the outside.

  Lady Talagast paused in her reading as the creature of metal and magic returned, dog-earring the page she was on and closing the book. Her creation hovered unnaturally above a sheet of steel set out on a table. Unlike a normal bird, it was utterly still in the air with its wings tucked into its sides.

  “Oh.” Lady Talagast set her book aside on the table next to her and stood from her vermilion chair.

  Crossing the room, she removed the schematics lying atop the steel and began to roll them up as the construct slowly descended. The metallic claws of the bird glided seamlessly into the groove cut into the slab, and an array of lights lit up as the bird and the steel became one. Strictly speaking, the lights were unnecessary, but the Lady always liked her enchantments to hold some visible sign that they were working.

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  She pushed her index finger against a square on the steel, and the fey spirit housed within the bird connected to the one riding behind her eyes. In an instant, images, snippets of conversation, and secrets people did not expect would ever come to light were imprinted onto the spirit attached to her mind. She sorted the information at a glance, a smile creeping on her face.

  “Ah, Treston. So that is what you are after. Such a small thing to undo a man.”

  As the information settled and a web of plans began to form in her mind, her smile turned to a frown. The spirit residing in the bird construct skittered away at her command, flowing through the interconnected network of arrays running through the table, and housing itself in one of her latest creations. The enchantment hummed to life, and a paraply of inks began to work inside of it. The spirit distilled sight into understandable information, then reconstructed that on a page. Inked papers began to roll out of the device, each more damning than the last.

  “Joedae,” she said, calling on the spirit riding behind her eyes, “what time is it?”

  “Nearly midnight, ma’am,” the spirit answered, not bothering to manifest itself.

  “Then the betting windows will have closed.” Lady Talagast sighed, taking a look at one of the newly printed renderings and inspecting it for flaws. “Unfortunate. Still, we have to act. You know what I always say about squandering opportunity.”

  “Don’t, ma’am,” Joedae answered.

  “Precisely.”

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