Usually when a Fo’Xa mage of the Circle molded their body into a new persona, they did not use a mirror for three reasons: personae must be more than skin deep, mirrors were expensive anyway, and watching Fo’Xa spells at work was nauseating. Instead they relied on sketching, to get the various angles down, and poetry, to establish the feel of body. Today, however, Dana forgone pencil and verse, which meant that when lu passed luz reflection in a shop window, Dana learned, to luz horror, that “Inge” had Mei’s thin eyebrows, Dwayne’s thick lips, Magdala’s hair color and curls, and luz own ecru skin, a dangerously alluring combination that ensured Inge would always stand out in any crowd. As soon as lu finished with Sorgi’s estate, Dana was shelving Inge forever.

Pulling luz cloak tight around a set of gray jacket and trousers, Dana exited the Parvenue Quarter and proceeded up the street towards the gilt fence and tall hedges of Ugo Sorgi’s residence. While its main gate swarmed with laborers to carrying crates, there was only one guard on duty, a pony tailed man in a shabby longcoat. This tracked with what Dana had read in Circle reports; the Sorgi family business was in financial stress and couldn’t afford to hire real guards anymore. This mercenary they’d hired barely looked the part, spending more time barking orders than watching the street. Still, because even in clothes the color of used laundry water Inge demanded attention, even he noticed Dana, whistling as lu walked by. It wasn’t all bad; playing up luz walk gave Dana time to see what the crates held: Books of Cueller.

Lu hurried on, hiding a frown. Even here in heretical Soura, there was never season when Books of Cueller sold well, even if one disregarded the Sorgi family’s real business of human labor acquisition and distribution. Perhaps it was a desperate ploy to shore up their failing finances?

It wasn’t important. Luz main goal was to find the Lo Ducas, thus preventing Dwayne and Mei from getting into any more trouble. Slowing to a crawl, Dana waited until the overseer started barking orders again then jumped over fence and hedge in one smooth movement.

Landing on the other side, Dana dropped low then waited. From here, Sorgi house’s pretense was clear. Where the facade had glittered, the back yard crumbled. Once, there had been a fantastic garden with several pieces of marble statuary, six flower beds, and a large pavilion, but after neglect and rot had done their work, the statuary was in pieces, the flower beds bare, the pavilion a ruin. More importantly, there were no guards. Still, Dana advanced low and slow, luz Circle-trained instincts not allowing lu to simply approach.

Slipping through an unlocked back door, Dana entered the house and a world of crates filled with, not heretical texts, but thousands of building bricks. That was far weirder. Dana tapped one, luz nails clicking on fired clay. As far as lu could tell, these were real and yet another question to put aside. It was time to get to work. Discarding the cloak, Dana entered the main part of the house and went over to a crate to pick it up.

“Let me help you with that. These things are heavy.” A bare-armed laborer picked up the other end, her smile accompanied by quick glances at Dana’s person.

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Dana held in a sigh. This face. This body.

“Thank you.” Dana favored luz helper with a grateful smile, allowing a hint of heat in Inge’s pale cheeks. “I can’t imagine what anyone wants with all these bricks.”

“I know, right?” Luz helper and Dana started to carry the crate towards the foyer. “The nob who hired us has been tight-lipped about it even though he hired three separate crews for this job: us, another crew for transport, and a third for unloading.”

They reached the foyer, where yet more laborers were covering the bricks with Books of Cueller. As far as Dana knew, as long as magic wasn’t used, there was no reason to hide building materials. Why go to all this effort? Was it connected to the Lo Ducas?

Leaving the crate in the foyer, Dana followed luz helper back to get more. “Hey.” Dana kept luz voice low. “Have you seen those Lo Duca around?”

“I have eyes, of course I did. The eldest came down to talk to the boss about something and he was wearing…” The laborer blushed. “It didn’t leave much to the imagination.”

“They’re upstairs?”

“Yeah, but,” the laborer selected a crate for them to carry, “we’re not allowed up there.”

As soon as she said that, a maid came down the stairs with a tea tray. Clearly that prohibition only applied to the laborers.

“Well, that’s too bad,” said Dana.

Another crate of bricks and Dana had taken note of everyone in the foyer. Most of the laborers weren’t anything of note, but the scarred woman in well-worn armor and Sorgi’s butler were causes of concern. The former watched the laborer pack the books like a hawk; the latter’s locked on to each and every servant who passed. Sorgi himself mainly stayed in his study, which hung off the foyer behind a closed door.

Still they weren’t insurmountable challenges. Dana was just about to ask luz crate partner where the restroom was when the unkempt gate guard ran into the foyer and knocked on the study door. “Mister Sorgi, Mister Sorgi, someone’s come!”

The door opened and Sorgi’s loathsome face peered out. “What? Who?”

“A mage!”

Excellent. A distraction like that would draw attention to the front door, making it easy for Dana to slip upstairs. Lu wouldn’t even need to steal a servant’s outfit for this.

“Hey,” Dana’s crate partner pulled at luz sleeve, “let’s go grab another crate. Let’s get this done fast.”

“Send him here, give the laborers a break,” said Sorgi. Curses, Dana had missed the overseer’s response. “And cover that all up.”

Sorgi disappeared back into the study.

“Oh, sweet,” said Dana’s crate partner. “Want to go get a smoke?”

Her tone was hopeful, but Dana couldn’t miss this chance. “I’ll help around here first. Catch up with you?”

The laborer beamed. “Yeah, okay.”

Joining the effort to cover the piles of books and crates put Dana near the gate guard, but even Inge’s looks weren’t enough to draw his attention as long as Dana stayed in his peripheral vision. Once the evidence of Sorgi’s mysterious scheme was safely under heavy cloth, the gate guard went outside, and Dana found a corner of the foyer to linger in. One look at this “mage” would be enough for Dana to sketch them and have the Circle track down who they really were. Perhaps they were Huan’s mysterious backer. That alone would be worth the trip.

When the gate guard returned, it turned out that Dana’s rapid recall skills weren’t needed. Wearing a light pink suit that was just fitted enough to show muscle, Sorgi’s surprise visitor made sounds of greeting as his teal-cloaked companion took in every inch of the room, from the shrouded pile of books and bricks to the faces of everyone in the room.

Dwayne and Mei had arrived.

Change of plan. Dana needed to find the Lo Ducas now.