It was a clear day, and the sunlight filtered through the light fog in the woods to create a lovely purple haze. The trees on one side of the river caught the light and reflected it, shining lavender against the spooky green mass of ferns and coppery stone. The river was like a starless night, a dark mirror reflecting only the green and indigo navigation lights to either side. There was a noble waterfall to the heaven-ward side of the river boat, nestled between the white-lavender trees. To the life-ward side, the river diverted into a series of locks.

The river boat was almost completely empty. It was occupied only by Sasha Varelion, her lover Lucia, and Kiera herself, in addition to the skeleton crew and some handmaids. Sir Zachary had gone ahead on a noisy and foul old coal-burning steamboat. That craft was still parked at the dock outside the lowest of the locks, so Kiera reasoned that he must have hiked through the woods to reach the city. It had been a long and arduous journey from the ancient land of Renna, deep into the heart of Nydia. Kiera was responsible for powering the steam engine, so the captain was forced to drop anchor at night when she retired.

It took several hours of constant concentration to operate the steam engines in each of the locks. It was standard ethermancy, the type that had been drilled into her during her first year of study at the Eight-Color Monastery. Finally, as the final lock filled and the river boat rose higher, Kiera saw the city of Grael Nydia for the first time.

The city was built on top of ethersteel stilts over a lake at the bottom of an enormous sink-hole. The opening of the sink-hole was large enough to shine sunlight on the palace in the center of the city, but most of the city was lit by gas lamps of various colors. The city was crisscrossed by countless canals in a carefully-planned pattern of squares.

Kiera had seen paintings of the city before. An impractical city, to be sure. Not exactly the perfect place to build a capital city. However, the city was entrenched in hundreds of years of history. The first settlers on their world had built the foundations of the city in this natural formation because of its beauty and because of its proximity to Spire Nydia.

The gates to the lock opened slowly and the river boat lurched forward over the dark water. Sir Zachary waited for her at the end of the loading platform, his silvery armor reflecting the orange, green, and indigo lights on the ship.

"Princess Kiera," he said as he bowed to her slightly.

"If you came for your niece," Kiera said, "then you will need to wait. She indulges in the horrible vice of sleeping until midday."

"She stays up all night," Zachary said. "Emperor Corrin did send me to fetch her, but as you say, I have some free time. I could show you around the city, if you need."

"Can you show me the way to the bank?" she asked.

"It would be my pleasure."

He led her through the city along ornately paved roads. Long, narrow rowboats strode across the surface of the lake below them, disappearing into gaps between the stilts. They passed cute cafes with people dining on little chairs overlooking the water, towering glass gardens reinforced with glowing ethersteel, and finally grand estates for the city's nobility. They arrived at a section of the city built on rock near the center. The Emperor's palace loomed overhead, a tall and imposing tower shaped like a radiator. Huge white banners swayed lazily in unseen convection currents. They reflected the blue-green light of gas lamps, and cast tall shadows on the palace walls.

"Here," Zachary said as they arrived at a set of gently ascending steps with an ancient stone building at the top. There was a pair of stiff guards at the summit of the steps, their rifles held across their chests. "I will wait for you until you return."

Both guards bowed as she passed, saying nothing. She entered into a stately foyer filled with golden light. The rugs on the floor were blue and silver. A dozen dark blue banners were featured prominently in the space, reaching from the ceiling almost to the floor.

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"Princess Kiera of House Blaine!" the herald at the door announced. "Daughter of King Sullivan of Cloudsea!"

A man waited for her in the center of the chamber. He wore an immaculate, perfectly-fitted suit, navy satin ornamented with silver filigree. He was a rather attractive man, with a proper masculine haircut and a clean shave.

"Princess Kiera," the man said. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Fredrick Mason, Chairman of the Bank of Nydia." He bowed deeply. "Welcome to Grael Nydia. I hope that your journey was not too exciting."

"Not exciting, Chairman Fredrick," Keira said. "A bit of a bore really, considering that I seem to be the only person in the world who can still use ethermancy. I never really appreciated just how many capable ethermancers there are in society."

"A rather dark business," Fredrick said. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I would like to meet with your most-experienced oculomancer."

"At once, follow me."

Fredrick Mason led her through the broad hallways to an alcove furnished with two lavish chairs, mostly hidden behind soft white drapes. "I am afraid I am a poor host, but you will need to wait here alone. Your oculomancer will be here shortly to help you with your business."

"Go in peace, Chairman."

When the oculomancer arrived she took one look at Kiera and then her face betrayed... horror? She quickly mastered her reaction and said, "Yes, Heritor Keira. My name is Lissa, certified by Spire Nydia to provide banking services for Heritors. What business do you have with us?"

"I have an aura." Kiera said.

"Yes, it is common for Heritors to have auras." The woman replied.

"I am seventh in line to the royal throne of Cloudsea." Kiera said. "My Father never gave me an aura. Also, my aura seems to be quite large, even for a Heritor. Finally, and most importantly, nobody inside my aura can use ethermancy!"

"That cannot be true." The oculomancer said.

"Do not try my patience," Kiera snapped. "You are an oculomancer, you can see when a person speaks truth. You have careful records of which Heritors have auras. The Emperor is said to have an aura at the thirty-eighth harmonic, and my aura is at least twice that size! And certainly the ethermancers in this city have voiced complaints. Do you have no knowledge of what's happening outside these walls?"

"I'm sorry Heritor, I did not intend to imply that you were lying. Why are you here? What do you want me to do about your aura?"

"I want you to fix it!"

"That is not possible."

"Why not?"

"Your aura cannot be removed."

"Again, why not?"

"Any attempt to remove that aura," Lissa said, shuttering, "will instantly kill the person who would otherwise receive it."

Kiera was astonished. "Does this happen often?"

"This is the first time I have ever seen such a thing," the oculomancer said. "There is a message written on your aura as well. That is more common, for example when the aura comes with restrictions."

"Well, what does it say?"

"It says something like, 'By order of Fiona of the Morning Mist, this aura is not to be removed from the individual. Limit interactions with the individual. Contact Fiona through emergency channels if the aura has changed size.'"

"That is," Kiera said, "complete nonsense. Fiona of the Morning Mist is one of the seven witches that fought during the war, right?"

"That is correct."

"Why would she give me an aura? Can I speak with her?"

"First, I cannot say. Second, it might be possible. I can send a message through standard channels and she might contact you. However, Fiona has very important duties that occupy her time, I cannot promise that your request will even reach her."

"It can't be helped. And there is nothing you can do about my aura?"

"Nothing," the oculomancer said.

Kiera stood up and promptly left the alcove. The guards bowed to her once again as she left the building.

"Well?" Zachary asked.

"Fiona of the Morning Mist gave me this aura." Kiera said. "The oculomancers refused to remove it."

Sir Zachary stopped dead. He looked horrified. "Fiona gave you an aura?" He asked.

"You know her?"

"I met her once when I was a child," he said. "She is the right hand of the Elder Saint, a witch from the time of the Charlatan King. She is Vjiskaldi, her tribe was almost exterminated during the war. And..." he added, "I will never forget those blue scales on her face."

"Scales?"

"Like a fish," Zachary insisted. "Shining blue scales on her cheeks and on her forehead. Her hair and eyes are both the same shade of blue. I don't think she's human."

Kiera shivered. In the oldest tales, not all of the original settlers on her world were human. Zachary said nothing for a long time as they walked toward the palace.

"Do you remember your Heritor oaths?" he finally asked.

"Of course," Kiera replied.

"That woman, Fiona. Her role is to enforce those rules. It's rare, but sometimes she is forced to kill Heritors. She also enforces the final oath for everyone else, not just Heritors."

"We and our descendants shall craft no machine in the likeness of a bird," Kiera recited.

"Yeah. Young men, idiots that think they can invent the flying machine, will eventually get a surprise visit from that woman."

"That makes a lot of sense," Kiera said. But what does that have to do with me? Why would she give me an aura?