Nestled in the branches of the purple crystal tree, the bank was only accessible by gondola. Quinn admired the engineering. The cars slowly rotated around a bull wheel as people shuffled in and out. Maxius seemed to know exactly how to behave around the machine, because he was able to snag a spot in an empty car before the doors closed. Quinn and Seth were thus left behind, beholden to the instructions of the hapless operators at the base.

All of the gondola cars were painted a lovely red color. In defiance of the laws of life and heaven, Quinn and his brother somehow ended up riding car number thirty, the only bright green gondola car. They barely had enough time to sit down inside the little car before the door closed and locked itself. It continued onward, slowly, before switching cables with an audible whirring sound. After that, the ground rapidly shrank away as the gondola car followed the cable up into the branches of the tree.

"I wonder if this is what it looks like to fly," Quinn said. "How fast would the world drop away?"

"You would need something better than our kite," Seth observed. "It takes all my strength just to prevent it from diving nose-first into the ground. I cannot imagine the ground ever dropping away."

There were guards armed with rifles in front of the broad glass doors at the very top of the gondola. They vaguely resembled the soldiers in Lucia Aden's army, wearing white trousers and black jackets ornamented with red armbands depicting the black swan of House Aden. The people walking in and out of the bank were well-dressed and generally older. In fact Quinn didn't see anyone who looked young.

Maxius waited for them on the gondola loading platform. He pointed at them and the guards nodded. Shortly thereafter, an oculomancer arrived. She appeared to wear the same clothing as the one that they saw in the mountains, the one accompanied by Blaine family soldiers. She wore a black hooded robe with purple epaulets, though her hood tumbled down across the nape of her neck, allowing her brown hair to flow freely over her shoulders.

The oculomancer confronted the trio almost immediately. "Heritor Maxius the Younger," she said. "You are welcome to do business here. Please, follow me."

She led them through the lobby to a long hallway. Long red banners hung from the ceiling, proudly displaying the black swan of House Aden. There were rugs on the floor, paintings on the walls, and golden sconces for light. The wood was varnished and polished to a shine. It smells like money, Quinn thought.

Nobody interfered with them as they passed deep into the bank's restricted areas to the private alcoves where the Heritors did business. The oculomancer stopped at one alcove shrouded behind bright red drapes. Quinn thought that the room beyond must be her office, because she sat down behind the desk and started shuffling through some papers. "I am certified by Spire Lyn to provide banking services for Heritors. These two boys are obviously not heritors. Heritor Maxius, you will need to clarify your relationship with these two commoners before we are able to proceed."

"My father wishes to grant an honorable reward," Maxius said as he handed her the two documents his father signed. "They saved me after I was captured by Heritor Zachary."

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The oculomancer looked at Maxius suspiciously. "You know," she said, "I am of the opinion that you are telling the truth. Nonetheless, your story is extraordinary, and I am going to need a second opinion."

She stood up, turned to the south, and simply stared up toward the cornice where the ceiling met the southern window. She remained there, motionless and silent, for a few minutes. Seth and Maxius began to whisper to each other, no doubt about the woman's physical attributes.

When the oculomancer returned to her seat, she looked over the two documents that Maxius had given her, then checked her ledgers. "Everything checks out," she said. "Stay here, I am going to go get a maiden. Oh, but before I do that, I have a question. Do you intend to cause harm to the maiden when she arrives?"

"They do not," Maxius replied instantly.

"What?" Quinn asked.

"It's a standard question," the oculomancer said. "Please answer it."

"Of course I do not intend to cause harm," Quinn said. "I have no idea who or what a maiden even is."

"I'm not going to hurt any maidens," Seth said with a chuckle. "I only give maidens the very best of memories."

"You are telling the truth. That's good. Very well, I will be back soon."

Quinn found the maiden to be deeply disturbing. She was clad in thick white robes and a magenta scarf, which was already somewhat cultish. On top of that, her face looked completely blank. She just stared off into space, refusing to make eye contact with anyone in the room.

"I store spirit-ether," the maiden said in a monotone voice.

"You are now going to administer spirit-ether to this man," the oculomancer said, pointing to Quinn. "You will administer exactly enough spirit-ether required to construct an aura of the first harmonic. You will shape this spirit-ether into a standard spherical aura and bind it to him." The oculomancer produced a sheet of paper marked with a complex pattern printed with various colors of ink. "You will mark the aura with this pattern."

The woman walked up to Quinn and placed her hand on his chest. Then he immediately felt something. The room around him felt different, like he was floating in a liquid, or if he suddenly gained the ability to experience the air around him in a new way. He felt like he could reach out, and do something to it. He tried reaching out with his mind, questing for the source of that feeling. Something pushed back, an impenetrable barrier, as cold and thoughtless as the rule of law itself.

"Don't do that again," the oculomancer snapped.

"Don't do what again?" Quinn asked.

"All the ether in the building is already claimed," she continued. "Wait until you get off the gondola before trying to do that again, please."

"I will instruct him on the proper etiquette," Maxius said. "My family takes full responsibility for his behavior. In the meantime, you will need to forgive his ignorance. There are certain mitigating circumstances. For example, Heritor Kiera was preventing us from training with auras."

The oculomancer flinched. "I see, yes. Heritor Kiera was an unfortunate edge case. Please be a diligent student, Quinn, and listen to Heritor Maxius when he gives you instruction."

The process was repeated for Seth, though the pattern on the paper was different. These two pieces of paper were filed away with the original documents signed by Maxius the Elder. Throughout the process, Maxius and Seth continued to gossip about the woman's wide hips. If the oculomancer heard them, she did not react in any way.

"Heritor Maxius," the oculomancer finally said. "Is there anything else that I can help you with today?"

"I know my way around the bank," Maxius said. "I will show them the way out."

"How do they know we won't stay here," Quinn asked after they left. "How do they stop people from just roaming around the bank stealing stuff?"

"That oculomancer I can see your aura no matter where you go," Maxius explained. "You could be on the opposite side of the continent and they would know exactly where you are."