"I think we exit the castle that way," Key said, pausing in the castle's opulent passageway to point behind him.

Castor did not stop but continued talking as he fell out of sight around a corner. "Lucky for us, we don't have to leave the castle to get to our next appointment. Ah, here we are."

Key rounded the corner in time to see Castor push open a door, enter a room, and stand in the middle of it with hands on his hips. The room was filled with chests, shelves, and tables, all holding an assortment of strange and curious items. Delina sat hunched over thick staff as she tinkered with it.

Castor broke her out of concentration. "Interesting walking stick. Did you know the king summoned me today?"

Delina jumped slightly and then looked up from her work. "It's supposed to be a wizard's staff. Does it look too plain? Maybe I should add color to the runes or something. How did the meeting go?"

"I don't exactly know," Castor withdrew his pipe as he began pacing. "He put me in charge of the second in line to the throne for some unspecified amount of time. I can't help but feel like I've been set up somehow. Do you think the fourth in line knows anything about this?"

He was referring to Marcus Tal'el who was many things including fourth in line to the throne, royal historian, and the leader of the Overseer sect of the Crownsmith. If the man ever wanted to be king, he could take it in an instant, but he believed he could have more of an impact from behind the throne than on it. Castor could sometimes sense the man's handywork even if he couldn't directly see the man's invisible web of control.

Delina took the staff off the table and rose from her chair. "Knows about it? He probably orchestrated it."

"That's what I thought, too! What are you doing?" Castor asked, watching Delina hold the staff over a candle. The whole staff began producing wisps of smoke through porous holes in the wood.

"Demonstrating your favorite axiom," Delina said, waving the staff around with a trail of smoke. "You know, the one you stole from me?"

"Are you talking about perceptions creating credibility?" Key asked, feeling that he didn't quite understand the relationship the two people had. "She's the one you got it from?"

"Who's to say who came up with what first?" Castor philosophized and then shrugged off the question. "What's the wizard staff for?"

"If we were at war and the other side had a wizard, we would want the archers to shoot him down as fast as possible, right?" Delina asked, tossing the staff towards Key. "Well, how do we know he's a wizard in the first place?"

Key caught the staff and lifted it grandly over his head. "The smoking staff would give the perception that whoever's holding it is a wizard. So what? Their archers shoot whoever's holding the staff. Then what?"

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"We split their attention and collect their arrows," Castor concluded, taking the staff from Key. "What an interesting idea. You are a strategist and magician indeed. Do you have anything that would help with Prince Bartholemew?"

Delina snatched the staff from Castor and plunged it into a bucket of water with a hiss. "You might need a real wizard staff for that problem. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have a prank to plan."

Delina took a pitcher of water and filled a cup with it. "I've been thinking about it nonstop since our meeting. At first, I couldn't seem to conceptualize the perfect prank."

"That's her magic cup," Castor explained, butting into the conversation. "There's a sponge inside that absorbs the water."

She threw the contents of the cup towards Castor. Despite having just been filled, the cup was empty and despite having just called out the trick beforehand, Castor still flinched.

"As I was saying," Delina regained her thoughts. "I want it to be memorable and final. Something that looks like Jory entering a room – that we prepared in advance – and him seeing a flaming sword levitating through the ceiling into your hands. Positioning the flame so it doesn't burn the string would be the only hard part, but the hole in the ceiling will be simple enough to make and conceal. You would keep the sword around with the burn marks, and it would be a constant reminder of the unimaginable thing that he saw with his own eyes."

"I love it!" Key exclaimed, eager to hear more.

"Not me," Delina admitted. "I think we can do better. We could arrange a duel to settle the dispute, but on your way there, through the art of choreography, you fend off scores of attackers. That could cause him to forfeit."

"Instead of a sword, how about a lucky coin?" Key thought out loud. "My friend Borjani has one that he says he got from a dying monk. He kisses it whenever he plays cards. If Jory saw a burning coin levitate into my hands after the fight, he would never bet against me again."

"A lucky coin, huh? We couldn't set it on fire and levitate it, but that's not a bad idea," Delina pondered out loud. "How about a cursed coin?"

"So he always bets against me?" Key asked, confused.

"A cursed coin that, no matter how hard he tries, he can't get rid of it," Delina pondered out loud. "We make him accept a coin from a stranger who tells him it's cursed and then disappears. You throw it away, and it reappears back in his pocket."

Key asked how they were going to do that. Delina replied, "Watch carefully," and held a coin in front of him. She then cupped it in both hands, brought them forward, and then opened two empty hands. She then showed him the string in her sleeve and repeated the trick slowly.

"I'll give you everything you need for this, but it will only work if you practice day and night. Don't practice with anyone else around, don't show anyone, and don't tell anyone about it. I'll see about getting some cursed coins made. If you want, you can meet me here every day to plan. That way, I can also keep track of your progress."

"Okay, but how do I put the coin back in his pocket after using the sleeve trick?"

"I've been waiting you to ask that question all day. It's pretty complicated, so I'll write it on this piece of paper for you," she said, scrawling some quick words down with ink and quill. She folded the paper once and then held it out for him to take. When he reached for it, she moved it over a candle and lit it on fire. Before the last corner burned, she dropped the rest of it down and stepped on it.

"Check your pockets."

Key felt around before reaching into his inner jacket pocket, where he found the same piece of folded paper Delina had just burned. He opened it and read, "The allusion of magic."