Daniel found himself stranded on the wall with the servants and the Hall Attendants glaring at him.

Esra's last gravity well had caused some damage, several potted plants found themselves tipped over, and the framed art was no longer hanging straight. It would need a careful eye and a speedy use of the ladder.

Either that or someone already standing on the wall.

The Surmount Butler was still absent. This made Daniel realize that he had time to set this event to rights. That the Surmount Butler had not arrived meant that he would not arrive before the turning of the hour.

"Who's going to take the fall for this?" one of the Hall Attendants finally spoke. "It can't be me, I'm on my second strike this month."

"It cannot fall to the base servants every time! I have three dozen mice to feed at home, I cannot have my pay docked." Another servant spoke, albeit more hesitantly.

"If we get in trouble, we could lose our position!" cried out a Hall Attendant.

Multiply voices arose in protests that they could not accept blame for this incident with the Surmount Butler.

Esra's last attack on gravity had caused a new mess to grow. But Daniel learned the turmoil was not only external. Strife reared its head with the servants themselves. After asking a few pointed questions, different groups spoke copious details, often speaking over each other.

And Daniel discovered the first divide he would use: the base-level servants; the maids, the cleaners, the dusters, were at odds with the higher servants; the Attendants, the Hall Attendants, the butlers, and the doorkeepers.

After a few minutes of listening to the different groups, Daniel raised his hand and, politely, interrupted.

"Let this humble one understand. The lesser servants are afeared that the higher level servants will blame them for the distribution that is Esra. The higher level servants are afeared that someone will pin the blame on them, so they are most eager to pin the blame first." he summarized in two sentences what had taken much longer.

The servants shifted, and Daniel felt very much like a schoolmaster at that moment.

"That was cut to the quick...but it's more complicated than that, surely." One of the Hall Attendants spoke.

The lesser hall attendant, with a far more pleasant personality than the Glasbin, spoke next. "That...sounds too simple."

"It's perfectly simple." Daniel countered, not unkindly. "If this incident becomes known, all secret keepers will be...viewed negatively."

A maid with perfect braids spoke next, "So you are saying we need to all keep Esra's arrival a secret?"

The eyes turned to Daniel again.

He barely stopped himself from laughing. "No, in fact, the opposite. We cannot stop others from learning what happened here." That was a mistake. Secrets grew in danger the more mouths may speak it. Therefore, if it was never secret to begin with, it lost its power. "And there is no reason to hide it. Esra the Great Mage blessed the O'Tells with his presence today. It falls to the servants to ease all the guests' burdens. We work together, and remedy once more. There will be no scolding if the chores are completed before the masters return, so all make haste to straighten up this place!"

The servants became excited. Well, most of them. Daniel spotted several regretful looks on some faces and pegged them as spies immediately. Secret information was only good as long as it was secret.

"So we all agree to tell. And we all own it. There is no secret here, so we have nothing to hide." Said Daniel, with something to hide. But not about cleaning up after Esra, he told the Law of Fae when it started to discolor around him. The Law of Fae became translucent again.

"All in duty did we do, and now there is not to be a spot remain or a spot to be seen!"

And the second time in a few minutes, the brooms and the mops and the polish was brought out. The Hall Attendants went back to their doors, except the Glasbin fae, who was glaring at Daniel as Daniel reset the higher frames back to alignment. It was easy for him, as he was still standing on the wall.

"Aren't you pleased with the resolution?" Daniel asked his partner. "The brunt of the trouble is removed."

The Glasbin had to step back as a nimble servant girl swept the dust away with a broom.

"Good work," he said, sourly. "Now no one else is in danger of trouble. Except us."

Daniel had walked over to where several smaller fae, all perched on a top rung of the ladder, were expertly working to remove the shoe print left on the portrait. Daniel smiled as the cleaning was perfected. "You guys have practice with cleaning up after Esra, don't you."

They nodded, and Daniel helped them finish with one persistent smudge over the painted lady's eyebrow. Daniel dropped the rag down, and as it left his hand it returned to the normal pull of gravity.

It also fell on the Glasbin fae's head. The Glasbin glared at Daniel.

It truly was almost a non-issue. Once the servants knew what to do, they set about it with speed and unity. Soon, the room was reset and the base-level servants again vanished into the servants' area.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

All the Hall Attendants regained their positions with aplomb. All except for one pair.

Daniel was still on the wall afterall, and the Glasbin was staring at him like Daniel was staying on the wall on purpose.

"Aren't you coming down?" The Glasbin fae looked at the Hall, and at the lonely double door that stood without a pair of Attendants. “Return to your post.” The Glasbin compelled him.

Daniel cocked an eyebrow, nodded, and walked into what was to him the wall. Then he jumped, and slide back down the floor until his feet were once more returned to the wall. He was proving his point. It would be a nearly vertical climb for him to return to where his post was. Unless they lowered a rope or something, he wasn’t able to get there. Bindings stopped when it became impossible. That was the difference between binding and enthralling. Binding someone left them with the compulsion to do something. Enthralling someone…Daniel could imagine the crazed eyes of the servants of the East Court and shivered.

Daniel’s head was level with the Glasbin fae's feet. He didn’t like that and took several steps up the wall until he was closer to head height. “As a parting gift, the Great Mage seems to have left a puzzle to test the wit of this great house’s staff. Given time, this humble servant will do his best to unravel it.”

“I don't know much about Gravity magic, but I know it's not hard to break. If the Surmount Butler arrives and the Great Gravity Mage has caused trouble, it will be easier to blame you. Stop making me look bad."

Daniel sighed, conflicted.

Here was his first conundrum: the general perception of gravity magic versus Esra's mastery.

Gravity Magic was ill-suited for battle, as the magic was difficult to affix on anything, let alone a moving target. It was so cumbersome that few wielded it proficiently. Few were better or more competent at it than Esra, which only added to the mage’s unchallenged status. Gravity Magic was slow and steady. To change the flow of gravity to another direction was Esra’s specialty, which few recognized and few understood its true devastation.

Which led to Daniel’s current problem. Most people who cast gravity magic did full of holes, more like a rotting old fishing net, prone to tear apart with a firm touch. But Esra created his more like a woven canvas, strong and nearly watertight. Daniel could unravel it, mostly because Esra had not been truly malicious, and Daniel had...certain skills he was holding in reserve.

But that led to another problem. If any analyzed the structure of the spell, they would realize that Esra’s spell was more solid and firm than most average masters could replicate.

If Daniel succeeded in undoing the spell, it may betray the depths of talents he admitted. The Surmount Butler would hear of this, if not be able to see it dimly in a scurrying mirror.

Especially since it seemed like the Surmount Butler was actively working against Daniel, and sowing seeds of chaos at the beginning of a civil war in the O'Tells' house.

If afterward assumed it was an ordinary level spell, then almost anyone of modest training could break it, and the Butler would assume that Daniel was shirking his duties and having a temper tantrum.

Daniel sighed, and made his decision.

He would break the magic.

The Surmount Butler was not present in person, and Daniel wished to end his first day at the O'Tells quietly. If he was caught later, he could allude that it had run out of power at the end.

So Daniel spent several minutes untying the gravity well. It was hard to do, like untying a knot with short fingernails. It was much harder than before, without his power, it was hard to needle his way into it. And the worst aspect was that stupid Esra had made it too rich for him to absorb the power. He gathered a few little wisps, and then reapplied it to untie the rest of the knot. He paused a moment and stared as the outside the window at his feet. It was strange and beautiful, to see the world from a new angle.

Feeling the tilt of gravity shift around him and sway gently. Careful not to make it taunt again, he pulled it apart with his touch. He teased the spell loose, then placed one foot against the floor and gently eased out the last of the gravity well as he stepped down from the wall to the ground smoothly.

As Daniel strode forward, he felt regretful that Esra was one of the greats when it came to gravity magic. His control of Gravity was beyond the imagination of most Wizards and Fae Lords alike. And if the Great Mage was content to work magic like that, he could rise to unimaginable positions within the alliance. But instead, Esra wanted to learn and study anything that wasn’t gravity related. Which he had no talent for, at all. That had led to a lot of conflicts between Esra and any faction he joined.

At long last, the Hall Attendant Branch rejoined his partner at their door.

Daniel spent nearly the rest of Tea Time standing in perfect Lren waiting posture, with his partner that was clearly vying against him.

All was well in the Foyer of the Lesser Banquet Hall. The floor was perfectly swept, the works of art perfectly resplendent, and even the stubborn shoe prints had been removed. The hustle of servants had retreated to the servants' sections, and only the Hall Attendants remained. It was even pleasant. Daniel could imagine this kind of work is rewarding over time. Peaceful. Surely inside a banquet would be more stressful for the servants, but outside, in the near perfect quiet, there was a gentle purpose in waiting to open a door.

Then the peace was broken.

The first thing Daniel heard was discordant disruption.

Daniel briefly relaxed his perfect Lren waiting stance and leaned away from his post to glance up the main hall that led to the Main Banquet Hall, eventually.

Then after noise, arose the use of Authority and Influence from that direction.

"He lasted longer than I thought." Daniel said quietly, returning to his perfect Lren stance.

His partner standing next to him was either glaring or forgot how to blink. Daniel hoped it was the former because blinking was rather important for sight.

The noise level rose again, so much so that people inside the Lesser Banquet Hall must have heard.

The Authority that ensued from the Main Banquet Hall was sharp, and Daniel could feel several factions. Differently, distantly Sky Court. There was the signature O'Tells brand of magic...but not a main Lord, so some cousin or Lordlings of the Lords of the O'Tells House was present. A smattering of influences and authority came also, too distant and too removed for him to identify.

And another...

The not quite smell scent of some...magic that Daniel could not place. The hairs on the back of his neck rose.

It wasn't that he couldn't place it, he did not even recognize the kind or type. He had spent the last ten of his nineteen years becoming familiar with most kinds of magic. Even the Unseelie court. Even the Wizards and the Mages. Even the visitors from the Far Reaches.

What was this?

The Glasbin fae indignantly inhaled, grimacing. "You just had to cause trouble for me."

"There was no trouble caused by this faithful Hall Attendant, so as my partner you need not fear."

The Glasbin fae shifted and returned to his post, but his posture was stiffer than strictly necessary.

Daniel looked down toward the Main Banquet Hall once more, where Esra had undoubtedly caused some trouble. That the Game Killer had made it so long in what must be a very boring meeting was impressive.

Daniel hoped that Esra would come to the Stable that evening. There may be useful information for him.

The almost smell scent of the strange magic from that direction remained.

Dread grew inside Daniel's chest.

He feared that he would discover the mystery sooner than he could prepare for.