Lea pushed through the crowd, her heart pounding beneath her mask. She needed to reach Dawn, warn her about the Wondertainment Troupe before—

  She stopped abruptly, nearly colliding with a tall figure in a worn coat.

  "Careful there.", a familiar voice said with amusement.

  Lea looked up. Auger Maxwell stood before her, hat tilted at that characteristic angle, Excalibur disguised as a walking cane resting casually against his shoulder. He looked perfectly at ease among the academic crowd, as if wandering into Royal Academy showcases was just another Tuesday for him.

  "Auger.", Lea said automatically, then caught herself. They were in public. She shouldn't—

  "Rex.", Auger interrupted, noting her tension, "I'm just here to see what all the fuss is about. Dawn's been quite enthusiastic in her letters about this nd telephone invention."

  His eyes swept over her masked face, reading her body nguage with practiced ease, "Though you look like you've seen a ghost. Or are you just that excited about communications technology?"

  Lea gnced over her shoulder toward where the Wondertainment Troupe performed, then back at Auger.

  Relief and frustration warred in her chest. Of course, he would show up now, probably through some back entrance he'd charmed his way through.

  "There's something wrong.", she said quietly, stepping closer so only he could hear, "Street performers at the edge of the grounds. My Malediction is... reacting to them."

  Auger's casual demeanor didn't change, but his eyes sharpened, "Reacting how?"

  "They're like me..." She struggled to find the right words, "They feel wrong, malicious. And the tricks they're doing, I saw corruption sigils in the cards, the balloon animals look grotesque if you look too closely—"

  "The Wondertainment Troupe.", Auger said calmly, as if confirming a weather forecast.

  Lea's breath caught, "Yes."

  "Followers of the Maker tend to be rather distinctive once you know what to look for, and this isn't the first time they cause trouble to Ryteline.", he adjusted his hat, gaze drifting toward the direction she'd indicated, "Though I'm impressed you picked up on it with just your emotional radar. Most wouldn't notice until the corruption was already spreading."

  "We need to warn Dawn. We need to—"

  "We need to not cause a panic...", Auger interrupted smoothly, "If they're here, they're pnning something specific. Rushing in without understanding their goal would be..."

  He paused, smirking slightly, "Well, it would be exactly what you'd do, actually."

  Lea bristled behind her mask, "This isn't funny. There are children watching those performers. If they're spreading corruption..."

  "Then we observe first, act second.", Auger tapped his cane against the ground once, a gesture that somehow conveyed absolute finality, "Come. Show me these troublesome entertainers. Let's see what game the Maker's followers are pying at Dawn's showcase."

  He started walking toward the edge of the grounds with that infuriatingly rexed stride, clearly expecting Lea to follow.

  She hesitated for only a moment before hurrying after him, her earlier panic now tempered by the presence of someone who actually seemed to know what they were doing.

  Even if that someone was an admitted smuggler who treated international w as a mild suggestion.

  "By the way.", Auger added without looking back, "nice mask, very mysterious. Though the patterns are a bit on the nose for a Shadow Guard, don't you think?"

  Lea groaned quietly. Even in a crisis, he couldn't resist teasing her.

  Some things never changed.

  They emerged from the Academy's main building, the festival noise washing over them.

  Auger moved with deliberate casualness, his cane tapping against cobblestones as they approached the edge of the grounds where the performers entertained their crowd.

  Lea's emotion radar swept across the Wondertainment Troupe again.

  The juggler, the balloon twister, the card performer, all radiating that same twisted glee, that corruption she'd sensed before.

  Then something shifted.

  The juggler's hands fumbled. One of the gss orbs slipped from his pattern, shattering on the ground. The colored smoke dissipated harmlessly, but Lea felt the spike of fear through her radar. They had noticed Auger.

  The balloon twister's hands stilled mid-twist. The card performer's practiced smile froze on his face. All three performers turned slightly, just enough to register the demigod's presence.

  Fear. Sharp, cold, absolute fear.

  "Well.", Auger murmured, barely loud enough for Lea to hear, "Seems my reputation precedes me."

  The performers didn't flee; that would draw too much attention. Instead, they continued their acts with forced enthusiasm, but Lea could feel their panic thrumming beneath the surface. Whatever they'd pnned, they were reconsidering it now.

  For a moment, Lea felt relief. Maybe Auger's presence would be enough to—

  Her emotion radar pinged violently.

  Someone else. Moving fast inside the Academy.

  Lea's head snapped toward the building. Through the crowd, she caught a fsh of red and bck, a thin figure in a harlequin mask, weaving between exhibits with unnatural grace.

  "There", she hissed, already moving.

  Auger caught her arm, "Wait—"

  "Someone's inside. They're heading toward—", Toward Dawn. Toward the nd telephone exhibit. Lea pulled free from his grip, "I'm going."

  "Lea—"

  But she was already running, pushing through startled schors and festival-goers. Behind her, she heard Auger's resigned sigh followed by his commanding voice.

  "Shadow Guards! IS7! We have a situation!"

  The thin clown moved like water through the crowd, never quite bumping into anyone, always finding gaps that shouldn't exist.

  Lea's Cloak enhanced her speed, shadows gathering around her feet as she gave chase. The clown gnced back once. Even through the mask, Lea felt the spike of malicious joy.

  He wanted to be chased.

  The realization came too te. The clown darted left, deeper into the Academy's interior, away from the main exhibits, toward the research wings where fewer people gathered.

  A trap... obviously a trap.

  Lea followed anyway.

  The corridor narrowed, the festival noise fading behind her.

  The clown's footsteps echoed ahead, too loud, too deliberate. Leading her somewhere specific.

  Then shadows erupted around her, not her own, but others. Three more figures in simir masks materialized from alcoves and doorways, surrounding her with practiced coordination.

  "Well, well...", one of them crooned, voice distorted through the mask, "A little Shadow Guard, all alone. How delightfully foolish..."

  Lea's hand went to her side, but Hastur wasn't there.

  The clowns circled closer, and Lea felt their corruption washing over her emotional radar like oil on water. Followers of The Maker, all of them.

  Her Cursed Constructs erupted from her shadow, bck tendrils writhing outward in defensive patterns. The clowns ughed, backing up slightly but not retreating.

  "Oh, she's got tricks!", the lead clown cpped mockingly, "How wonderful!"

  Then the corridor filled with more shadows—but these ones moved with military precision.

  Shadow Guards poured in from both ends of the hallway, weapons drawn, formations tight. They'd followed her.

  The clowns' ughter cut off abruptly.

  "Surrender.", one of the Shadow Guards commanded, voice ft and professional, "By order of the Royal Guard, you are under arrest for—"

  The lead clown made a sharp gesture, and something exploded, not violently, but in a burst of colored smoke that filled the corridor.

  When the smoke cleared seconds ter, the clowns were gone.

  But so was something else.

  Lea's breath caught as she expanded her emotional radar, searching for Dawn. The princess's familiar presence was... faint.

  Distant.

  Moving away from her exhibit toward—

  "The boratory wing...", one of the Shadow Guards said urgently, reading the same signs Lea had noticed, "They're heading for the artifact storage."

  Outside, Lea could hear the commotion as IS7 agents moved to arrest the street performers. Auger's voice cut through the chaos, directing the operation with the ease of someone who'd done this too many times before.

  But inside, the real operation was unfolding.

  The Wondertainment Troupe hadn't come for Dawn's invention at all.

  They'd come for something else entirely. And they'd just used the Academic Showcase and Lea's chase as the perfect distraction.

  Lea cursed under her breath, her Cursed Constructs retracting as she sprinted toward the boratory wing. The other Shadow Guards ran in front of her, weapons ready.

  Whatever The Maker's followers were after, they weren't going to get it.

  Not if she had anything to say about it.