Seth woke up to Professor Kaban slapping him somewhat lightly. His cheek stung, so he'd be slapped a few times.

"Are you all right?" Professor Kaban asked. "You weren't waking up."

Seth blinked and tried to focus. "Just a heavy sleeper. What time is it?"

"Not yet dawn. What are you doing here?"

He hadn't meant to fall asleep and had only gotten a couple of hours. He had too much to get done and frankly, not nearly enough time.

"Well? Did you sleep here last night?" Professor Kaban asked. He looked rumpled, like he'd taken a nap in his clothes, and his hair was sticking up all over.

"I did, sir. I was having a … disagreement with my roommate and I didn't want to deal with him, so I came here."

"My tower is not a hotel."

"But your rugs are comfy." Stupid, you're supposed to apologize, Seth chastised himself.

Professor Kaban raised an eyebrow. "Indeed they are. I may have napped on them a time or two myself." His frown returned. "Don't let it happen again."

Seth almost agreed out of habit but stopped. "I have a feeling I'll have this problem again. Where should I go?"

"Not here."

Seth was more bothered by that than he expected. He liked it here–it was quiet and cozy. He wondered what he could say to convince the Professor to let him stay occasionally. The Professor was right; Seth wasn't supposed to be here. He couldn't think of a convincing argument so… next plan. Ask politely.

"Please? I'll stay out of your way."

Professor Kaban studied Seth silently for an uncomfortable moment before shaking his head. "Fine. If I don't see you, I don't care. But don't make it a habit. I don't want to hear from Administration about this." He waved a hand over his shoulder and strode out the Tower door. "I'm getting soft," he muttered to himself.

"Thank you!" Seth called after him.

He stood up and gathered his stuff. Fortunately, his Palace maps were not on full display. He was going to let Mau sleep some more on the fluffy rug while he washed up, but she got up with him and didn't do any of her usual 'this is too early' nonsense.

He mentally ticked over the list he and Mau had worked out. Mau had given the plan a poor but passing grade. Most of the things she was unhappy about were the things they simply didn't know and had no way of finding out before they got there. The variety of magic possible also frustrated her. But in going over the possibilities, she realized and pointed out to him that most magic fell into certain categories. They mostly had to worry about alarms, traps, and locks.

And since they were going to be at the Palace at a time when certain other guests would likely be there too, Seth had every intention of doing more than just searching for the ring. He was a little concerned he was being too greedy, but overall felt it was worth the risk.

Seth hurried out the tower door and beelined for Duvessa's room. The sky was still dark as he trotted across the campus. Even the birds were still quiet.

He supposed he should feel bad about waking her up, but he didn't. He knocked on the door loudly. He could hear Reginald screaming, "Intruders!"

He waited. A minute ticked by. He pounded on the door again.

Another minute. He knocked more. Reginald sounded like he was having a meltdown.

Finally, Duvessa jerked the door open and scowled at him. "I was sleeping! It is sleepy time!"

"I need you for a plan, or it'll be ruined!" Seth declared. He couldn't remember exactly what Duvessa had said when she had woken him up this way, but he thought that was close enough.

Duvessa's eyes lit up. She snatched him inside and snapped the door shut. "You found Blaise's power and we are stealing it back! How are we doing this?"

"No! No I didn't. I haven't found Blaise's power yet and I have no idea how the thefts are happening."

"Ugh! I don't like that answer. You're supposed to have the answer. See? It's right there." Duvessa pointed to her wall of clues. There were considerably more hand drawn pictures and string tied between pins. None of it made any more sense now than it had the last time he'd seen it.

"What does this mean?"

"See? This is you. And that string is tied to your brother, and Isaac, and over there is Arnold, and Mau, and Blaise, and me, and that's the hyena." The hyena picture looked more like a disemboweled mouse with round ears and whiskers. It took a moment before he realized the scribbles were supposed to be its spots, not its intestines. "And then over here, look at these," Duvessa continued to list all kinds of things that were mostly not at all related, and some Seth didn't know anything about.

Mau jumped up on the back of the plush chair and examined the wall. The cat was so intrigued, Seth wondered if she understood what Duvessa was getting at. Then he wondered if his familiar was crazy.

Well, he was planning to steal from the Palace, so he was definitely crazy. Granted, it was a relatively minor thing he was trying to steal, and it was probably in the possession of a guard, but it was still theft.

"I came here, Duvessa, to ask for your help in retrieving the skull ring. You know the one the guards took that night at the carver shop? The original owners told Booth they want it back by Sunday."

"Oh?" Duvessa's eyes were wide and blinked slowly. "I asked him to do that, so yes, I should help. I don't suppose we could just go to the guards and ask for it back? You know the one that took it, don't you?"

"I do know him. And there is no way he would turn over what is effectively a lockpicking tool."

Duvessa strode over to her desk and quickly scribbled key-ish shape in a circle and stuck it to her board in the middle of the lake. She tapped her lips as she examined her board. "He must keep it in the guardhouse. I know! We get Booth arrested and then he can search the guardhouse!"

"Duvessa, if he gets arrested he will be expelled. I do have a plan, but we need your help."

"But I'm busy today and tomorrow. It'll have to be next weekend. Or Monday if we cut class."

Seth shook his head. "It has to be now." He wondered how much to tell her. He settled on as little as possible. "There's nothing you can do?" He glanced over at Mau, who was now standing and watching Duvessa. Her knowledge was vital in most of the plans they'd made. This got much harder and maybe impossible without her. On the other hand, it would also be simpler not needing to worry about what she was going to do.

"Well, I was just going shopping with Blaise today, so I can give you some time. She doesn't have anything appropriate to wear and her father is angry about it." Duvessa's tone darkened. "He arrived last night and exploded when he found out Brand had run off to the mountains. That scoundrel could have mentioned something to her before leaving." Duvessa flopped into a plush chair. "Did you know that's why her brother left? He didn't want to deal with their father so he dumped those responsibilities on Blaise."

Seth didn't really know much about Blaise's family beyond they all had fire talents. Blaise's wardrobe also changed quite a bit when she stopped dripping. Leather, something she never could have worn before, tended to figure as prominently as allowed with the school uniform.

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"I would need you for Sunday, and for most of the day."

Duvessa shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I have never successfully snuck away from my grandmother."

Seth mentally started removing Duvessa from his plans. He could see no way for several of them to work at all without her.

"I could probably give you a couple of hours today before we head into the city," Duvessa continued, "but tomorrow is a full day."

"Even a couple of hours would be– Wait a second. Were you planning to go into the city by yourselves? After Blaise was already kidnapped once, and your power is being reduced?"

Duvessa rolled her eyes. "Of course not. My grandmother is accompanying us."

That was a relief, at least. Surely, the Countess would have suitable security.

"All right. But if you could do a couple of things for me before you go…"

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"Let me get this straight," Booth said. He sat cross-legged on top of the desk in a training room, munching on a pastry. It was barely dawn. Owen was on the chair and Seth was standing in front of the chalkboard, rolling a piece of chalk in his fingers. "You think you can get us into the guardhouse in the Palace? And you can tell me about where I should look for the ring?"

"Yes," Seth said. He glanced at the map of the Palace he'd drawn, and the outline of his primary plan. There was also a list of other possible things they could do, and ways to get out of the Palace afterwards. "They way I figure it, that ring would only be in a few places. Since a Palace Guard took it, it could be in the guardhouse there, probably locked up somewhere. Or, one of the nobles that works with the guard has it, like that Lord Derinheld we talked to right after Blaise was taken. The last possibility is that one of the guards has it and is wearing it. Any other possibility, like one of the royal family having it, means we won't be able to do anything about it anyway. But if it's in the guardhouse or someone has it that we can see and talk to, I think we can get it."

Mau was studying the ceiling for some reason, looking innocent. Seth glanced up but didn't notice anything.

"I'm fine with that," Owen said, gesturing to the blackboard. "I wanted to make sure we got a way out," Owen said. "Sitting in that shop, sure we was getting expelled and going to jail near killed me. I don't wanna do that again. Ever."

Booth shook his head. "I was thinking to climb the walls or something tonight and search the guardhouse. You sure walking in the front door is a better idea? They'll know we're there."

"We'll belong there, and have permission to be there," Seth said. He put the piece of chalk he was holding on top of the blackboard. "We'll have to work though, the person I know won't just let us in. I was hoping Duvessa's would be able to help us, but she's stuck with her grandmother."

"What if we see more shadows?" Owen asked. "You said the Skull Gang might be the ones taking them. I reckon they'll want to spy on us the way Duvessa was spying on them."

"Yeah, we think it's them, but we don't have proof or anything. Just the guy that was acting suspicious," Seth said. "I want all of us to have gulliants on us in case we see more shadows."

"The spikey things for testing powers, right?" Owen asked.

"Right," Booth said, hopping down from the desk and heading for the door. "Let's get going. We got a ton to do."

"Maybe erase the blackboard first," Owen said.

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A few hours later Seth and Booth were in the basement of the Palace, covered in sweat, and hauling bags of laundry as big as they were up flights of stairs. When they were out of sight, they rifled through the bags.

"Nothing in this one," Seth said disappointed. "Just table linens. Yours?"

"Not here either. I don't see how this is helping us," Booth said, short of breath. "We're nowhere near where we need to be."

"It's fine. Just keep looking and we'll find one. Don't forget to check people too. Even if you think they're definitely not involved, look anyway." Seth stretched his shoulders and then picked up his sacks.

"I thought Owen was supposed to do the heavy lifting. I don't think I've ever worked this hard before," Booth kept complaining.

"We're getting paid for this. I don't know how you have so much breath to complain with."

"I can't believe that woman just hired us because you told her you wanted pocket money." Booth said as he tied his laundry bag shut.

"She's effectively the head housekeeper, just not officially. The official housekeeper is a guy that never does anything so there's always more work to be done. I've worked for her before and knew she'd be happy to have help. Saben always thought doing real work was better for strength training than drills or weights, and sometimes we needed the money. Come on." Seth picked his bags up and headed up the stairs as quickly as he could manage.

"Stealing is less work for more money, you know. We better find what we're looking for soon. Table linens are not helpful." Booth picked up his bags and followed Seth up the stairs. "Where is Mau, anyway?"

"Last I saw her, she was covered in flour."

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Seth met Owen as he left the Town Guard training yard. It was a small courtyard beside a squat and branching building.

"Sorry, kid," the guard walking Owen out was saying. "Practice a bit more and come back next month. I'll let you keep trying, seeing as you are so close to passing."

"Thank you, sir," Owen said.

Seth and Owen walked in silence for a moment until they met up with Booth in an alley.

"So?" Booth asked.

"I didn't see any," Owen said. "I went through everything you said, Seth. I even got inside the guardhouse and was able to look around real quick. And I did training all day with them, like you said. There were two others there today, and they sent them home earlier."

"Huh," Seth said, and smiled. "They liked you. If wizardry doesn't work out for you, you probably have a career in law enforcement."

Owen shook his head. "I get why you wanted me in here. But why waste the rest of the day doing training with them? They're going to recognize me tomorrow, won't they?"

"That's the point," Seth said. "Most of the Palace Guard are with the King and Queen outside the city. When that happens, the Palace Guard takes some of the Town Guard to fill in. The people that see you will remember they saw you in the yard training. While they'll recognize that you're new, most of them won't know you were just a prospect. It won't be strange to them to see you."

"Someone will know," Booth said. "They'll know he shouldn't be there."

"Of course," Seth said. "But in that case, they would've known anyway. It will be easier to avoid one or two people, than all of the guards. You'll mostly need to avoid the Town Guard officers. You talked to some of the regular guards today, didn't you?"

"Yeah. Most were really nice. A few were serious jerks."

"You've got some contacts then," Seth said.

Owen shook his head. "This is so risky. What do we do if we get caught?"

"I'm working on that too," Seth said. "But for now, cool and confident, and stick to the plan. We got this for you."

Booth handed Owen a tote and a long wooden box.

"A Guard uniform with armor, and a sword?" Owen asked, taking the tote and peeking into the wooden box.

"I took the oldest sword I could find," Booth said. "I know you like them dull."

When the three boys returned to school, it was after dark. Duvessa was waiting on a bench by the Fire Tower and stood as soon as they walked through the gatehouse.

"Yooo! Finally!" Duvessa called out. "Why do you guys look so beat? Ugh, you guys head to the baths, right now." Duvessa waved her hand in front of her nose. "All three of you are stinky. Have you eaten? I'll grab you something from the dining hall before it closes."

"Please," Owen said. "I'm starved. It's been such a long day."

"Ooo, did you succeed?" Duvessa asked. "Show me! I want to see the ring!"

Seth shook his head. "Not yet. Were you able to get the gulliants?"

"Of course! I couldn't get as many as I wanted, but I have enough for everyone to have one. I was shown how to use them and I'll show everyone."

"I didn't ask Selendrith what she was doing this weekend," Seth said. "I just realized she might feel left out."

"I haven't seen her," Duvessa said. "I think she might be at her grandfather's shop."

Seth felt better that she was busy. Also, it wasn't likely that she'd turn up suddenly. She still wasn't very fond of Booth and might cause trouble if she knew what they were up to. Seth didn't blame her. Booth was an opportunistic thief, and she had been one of his targets.

But Booth also stood up for Seth against a stranger, and Booth was just looking after his younger siblings.

After a somewhat hot meal and a much hotter bath Seth and the others headed to bed. They'd need to be up crazy early again the next day. Seth couldn't afford to oversleep.

Seth opened the door to his dorm room to see Isaac looking under Seth's bed. Seth's trunk had also been moved; it was slightly crooked instead of flush against his bed.

"What are you doing?" Seth asked.

"Nothing. Looking for a shoe." Isaac stood up and looked Seth over. "You didn't come back last night."

"No, I didn't." Seth dropped his bag in his trunk and quickly got changed before heading straight to bed.

"So where'd you go then? I stayed up waiting for you."

"You don't need to do that. If you're worried about me waking you up, I'll make sure I'm quiet if I come back late."

"Did you go into the city?"

"I'm tired, Isaac. Good night. Put the light out when you're done."

Mau growled at Isaac, and the two of them had a staring contest.

Seth adjusted his blanket and called Mau over. "Mau, stop it. I want to go to sleep."

She stopped growling and walked over to Seth, but she didn't lie down.

Isaac finally made a "Tch" noise and left the room.

Seth was asleep an instant later.