Standing in the middle of a wall with the Great Gravity Mage Esra, the Servant Branch had an opportunity.

Esra was destructive.

Initially, all Daniel had seen when Esra arrived was his own vulnerability. Daniel had hyper-focused on every way he himself was open to attack. But he had been thinking too narrowly.

Could Daniel use the Game Killer to strike back at his enemies? Did he dare?

If he was to have any real chance, he may have no choice but to dare.

Where Elswith had been hesitant, Daniel would have no choice but proceed as if it would work.

How could Daniel use the Game Killer in a way that would serve him? If only the Senate was meeting this week. But most of the Senate members were still at their home territories. Daniel could imagine Esra striding inside a Senate Assemblage, to demonstrate his mockery of Lightning magic.

They would stink for days. Esra's attempts at any other magic led to dubious results.

But that was too big, and Esra was no fool.

There was a sound, of canvas suddenly bearing weight, of wood being strained. Daniel was roused from his thoughts in time to observe Esra removing his foot from a painting. Anyone else may have assumed he bore some spiteful or evil motive for his actions. Daniel knew it was because the Gravity Mage hadn't checked under his feet before he took steps, forgetting he was walking on a wall, and not the ground. From what Daniel had seen in the past, Esra never tripped. Gravity just didn't do him that way. The rock would 'fall', other people would 'fall', but Esra just kept walking. This had led to him sometimes forgetting to watch where he walked.

"Oops," Esra said, and bent to brush the painting. The lady painted inside now had a shoe print on her forehead that rubbing did not make go away. "I'm sure it'll come off," Esra said, standing upright and walking away from the painting as if to create distance.

Well, perhaps Esra was foolish...

But if Esra realized what Daniel was up to, he may bring even more harm to Daniel. Worse, if Esra realized Daniel's situation and attempted to help in Esra's signature fashion, then that would be very bad for Daniel indeed.

Daniel would have to handle Esra carefully, just like the hexed doorknob.

"So, Spikes. Where did Parcel go?" Esra asked, moving further away from the painting he had stepped on.

Daniel's plan began to unfurl. "Esra, why are you looking for him?"

"He's been avoiding me ever since last season. I think he's depressed or something. Sil thinks that he's trying to sabotage himself."

"Considering how he has successfully sabotaged himself over the last few years, I feel that is an accurate statement," Daniel said, mind calculating.

What did he need right now? What enemies could Daniel point the Game Killer toward?

The Surmount Butler.

Great.

But if Esra engaged now, it would damage the potential alliance between the Mist Court, the Wizard's Alliance, and the O'Tells. Civil War was brewing in the O'Tells House, and Daniel needed to make sure the first battle happened when he was away. As much as he valued the O'Tells as a whole, he would not sacrifice his Game for them.

Wait...

Daniel thought over his day.

This was the Lesser Banquet Hall. Why weren't they using the Main Banquet Hall? It was understandable not to use the Grand Banquet Hall, but the Main Banquet Hall would have been more appropriate for a meeting between so many factions. Lordlings used the Lesser Banquet Hall for their events, which was why Daniel was so familiar with this space.

But any real moves of power, any truly important meetings, happened at the Main Banquet Hall, which Daniel had also frequented, just not as often.

There was no reason, certainly, it was not due to secrecy or else this meeting would be held in the Secret Banquet Hall. Unless there was already another meeting scheduled there.

And where was the Surmount Butler? Daniel had assumed he would be inside the Lesser Banquet Hall, making his rounds, checking the servants and the meal. But surely a runner would have fetched him by now. Between the almost duel and Esra's bombastic arrival...The Surmount Butler should have been here.

Stolen story; please report.

Unless he was at another Banquet held at the same time. A Banquet where his patron attended perhaps.

What was going on in the Main Banquet Hall?

Other clues emerged. Lord Fredar had remarked about an event later in the day. The kitchen in the Sky Court had been relatively idle, with little dinner prep beyond normal fare. Given the state of the meat they were preparing, it was not for the important members of the Court. The Kitchen should have been preparing a lavish meal unless the core members were going to be absent for the evening.

"I thought so too. Pockets hasn't been the same for a while now. Poor guy." Esra said.

Daniel barely paid attention to Esra's ramblings, though, his mind racing fast. Why had the Surmount Butler kept the Servant Branch in one spot for so long? Why waste his time? Because there was another meeting happening now. Another meeting he did not want Daniel to discover. A meeting between the O'Tells and the Sky Court, at least.

If the Walsa Alliance managed to keep the defecting Mist Court and bring such a powerful House as the O'Tells into their fold, it would be a major victory. Not all the O'Tells Lords were for this plan, which may have led to another Lord assisting the Mist Court in their bid to cede away from the Walsa Alliance.

The Walsa Alliance had benefited greatly from the fall of the Heirling of the Red Sword. While Elswith had been a mere Lordling, he was a very important Lordling, and his faction had simply been bigger than theirs. He had objected to several questionable enterprises of the Walsa Alliance that endangered the Rural villages of the Dragon Scull region. So while Lordling Elswith's fate was teetering in the balance, they had been most vocal about his removal, before the decision of the Game.

This was an educated guess. Merely wild speculation. Elswith would have never acted with so little information.

Daniel would have to be different than he had been before. This was another piece that he would have to surrender.

If there was a time to use Esra, might as well be now. If Daniel was wrong, then at least he would have only caused trouble for the Surmount Butler.

How to do it, though?

"You're been staring at the wall for like a minute," Esra said. "Are you worried about the picture? I'm sure we can fix it before anyone notices."

Daniel looked at the servant hustling, bringing delicate linen rags and special cleaning solutions, and a ladder. The painting was rather high on the wall for them...Maybe Daniel could help with the cleanup after he sent Esra on his way.

Daniel waved his hand. "Walk with me," and started walking along the wall toward the doorway that would ultimately lead to the Main Banquet Hall. "Watch your step."

Esra followed "I won't step on another painting. That one surprised me."

What motivated Esra? That was a question that haunted many Lordlings and Lords. There was nothing he wanted, no wealth, no power, no authority.

But maybe Esra wanted simpler things.

"Esra, you are team 'Parsivlia', correct?" Daniel hated that he had to say it, but he needed to speak Esra's language, even if he didn't know what it meant.

Esra smiled. "They'd be so good together. She won't put up with his nonsense, and he won't settle for anything less than the best for her."

Daniel changed his path so to avoid looking through the window. It was one thing walking on a wall, looking at the floor and the ceiling like new walls, but it was another to see the land beneath your feet rolling away as if it was an endless void. "What if I told you some misguided members of Silvia's faction are against her marrying Parcel? Creating many problems. Some say it can never be."

"Why?" Esra said, aghast.

"Eyes on your feet, Esra." Daniel avoided a decorative light fixture that was mounted to the wall/ceiling. "Perhaps because some view Parcel as unmotivated, lazy, avoids responsibility, and hasn't placed in any tournaments in the last three years?"

"But besides that?" Esra said, looking baffled.

"Besides failing as a Lordling, losing significant amounts of Authority in a duel against me, and embarrassing his Court, he's an absolutely wonderful person," Daniel added. He didn't want to argue with Esra, but Esra nodded as if Daniel had agreed with him completely.

Esra avoided the gilded and jeweled sconce, but stepped on another painting, just the corner of the frame. Did Esra the Great Gravity Mage really not look where he was walking?

Daniel kept talking. "If you want to help Parsivlia, we need to change these people's minds."

"Will you talk to them? Maybe give that authority stuff back to Parcel?" Esra said, carefully shifting his weight so as not to harm the frame any more than he had...but the frame was loosed from the wall, however, and fell to the true floor...but it was caught by a Hall Attendant who had slid the last few feet across the marble floors to intercept the painting in time.

The bindings tried to enact, but Daniel informed them that he was following Lordling Parcel's orders, as a proper Hall Attendant must. And this plan would eventually benefit Parcel. Fredar and Parcel had once competed for the same position. It seemed laughable now, but once Parcel had been the favorite. If Fredar was in attendance in the Banquet Hall, and Esra caused a disturbance, Parcel would look good just by comparison.

Honestly, Lord Fredar was a person multiple people wished to take Griffin riding with a loose saddle.

"Someone must speak to them," Daniel said.

"We should get them a present."

"Parsiliva?"

"No, these naysayers."

"We need them to change their minds about Parcel," Daniel said. The idea of Esra attempting to gift Silvia's faction any gift was laughable...Esra's idea of a gift often was baked goods. Courts long used to receiving jewels, gold, and precious magic items, may not look favorably to Esra turning up unannounced with 'sticky cinnamon rolls'.

No, Daniel wanted to know if the Main Banquet Hall was truly being occupied by the Sky Court and the Walsa Alliance. "I heard, there is perhaps a meeting going on currently. Between Parcel's people. If we can change how Parcel's people view him, this would begin changing how Silvia's faction sees him."

Daniel stopped near the entrance to the hallway that would lead eventually to the Main Banquet Hall if one went straight past the indoor gardens and around the swimming pools.

"You want me to crash the party and tell them how good Parcel is?"

Daniel wanted to do that, very much.

But that wasn't the impact that would serve him best.

"No. I want you to go, and spy."