Things looked good the next morning. Maela had confirmed that Polo was in Harvest House. Of course, he was most likely in his residence on the third floor, which was its own challenge, but she felt confident that she could get to the second floor without trouble. Maela had a very simple goal: To notify Polo of the Outlander assassination theory and the political ramifications. It would take no more than a few sentences.

How could something so simple be so complicated, she thought as she approached the meeting place with Tim. The Thieves had tried every possible way to get a message to Polo. Messages passed to trusted people who knew Polo. Messages stored in packages delivered to him. That was part of why this mission was so difficult—it was possible that Polo had received the messages, but with the threat of assassination clear enough that he had already retreated into Harvest House, would he understand the bigger context of what was happening by using an Outlander, that even an unsuccessful assassination attempt could be a win for Larsen if it was publicized as being by an Outlander and he rallied the people to his side in the name of the defense of Ness?

The Captains had discussed the likelihood that Polo was savvy enough to understand the consequences of everything, but, in the end, it was decided that assuming anything was too much of a risk at that point. Maela had to not just warn Polo but explain to him that he had to keep the role of the Outlanders quiet.

"Tim! You look very handsome with your armor on." Maela walked up to the older guard. He smiled and bowed.

"Thank you, Maela. I'm so glad you came. Visiting Harvest House for the first time will be something special."

"I am looking forward to it." She grabbed his elbow. "I am yours for the whole day!"

Tim could not have looked more pleased as he held out his elbow and walked toward Harvest House. "I have a friend covering for me, but, unfortunately, it will only be through lunch, so we don't have all day. Maybe you can extend your stay?" Tim asked, expectation filling his voice.

"Well, we'll just have to see how things go, won't we?" Maela squeezed Tim's elbow and smiled at him.

This is going to be easier than I thought. Maela smiled at her good fortune.

Maela had to admit—Harvest House was truly beautiful. She had been in all of the Guild Towers, and there was a uniformity in their design that was somewhat sterile. They were beautiful in their own way, of course, but ultimately the marble and sculpture and engravings missed the vibrancy of the color and life that she was witnessing in Harvest House.

The entry was not through an imposing door and cavernous entryway, but rather through an iron gate that opened to a garden of green shrubs that were pruned into the shapes of animals. The courtyard was surrounded by an imposing wall, but it wasn't even noticeable amongst the elaborate shrubs. Maela's trained eye not only noticed the wall but that the shrubbery hid alcoves with soldiers or doors to the stone wall behind them.

Beyond the welcoming courtyard, the entrance to the house itself was behind an imposing door, but it did not seem to be made of iron or reinforced wood. It was just a rough bark-like material. Maela was certain that despite it being wood, it was most likely as solid as the doors to the other guild towers.

Tim had a big smile as he walked them into Harvest House proper. The floor appeared at first to be distressed granite or marble, but as she walked around Maela realized it was a finely packed dirt. The walls eschewed marble or granite for wood paneling. The variety of the wood was combined in a way that was mesmerizing. It wasn't just one wall of dark brown wood—it was a wall of designs of multiple kinds of wood and colors, all of which looked natural and beautiful in a calming, natural way. Flowers were everywhere, conveying a sense of joy and color.

"This is amazing," Maela said, her voice an awed whisper.

Tim smiled and replied, "This is nothing, let's go to the Guild Hall."

Maela stopped, continuing to play her part with an instinctive precision. "That's on the second floor. You won't get in trouble will you?"

"No. Malcor knows you're my guest."

They walked toward a large wooden staircase leading up. There was a coiled rope across it with three men in full armor standing guard. As they approached one of the men raised his arm. "Tim, you were right. She is pretty!" Maela felt a little revulsion at being talked about ahead of time as some kind of trophy, but she hid it by smiling. Tim didn't seem to think twice about the comment.

They stopped in front of the guards. The one who spoke looked casual, but the other two stood at attention. "Malcor, this is Maela. She's from the mines and has never seen the Guild Hall."

Malcor looked Maela up and down. "Why if there is anything that would make the Guild Hall look more beautiful, it would be your presence." He bowed slightly.

"Why thank you, sir," Maela replied.

Turning back to the other guards, Malcor barked at them, "Make room for Tim and his girlfriend."

Girlfriend? Maela hadn't spent much time in social circumstances, but she was pretty sure that just agreeing to a lunch and a tour of a Guild Hall was not evidence of being a girlfriend. The more she faked dating someone, the more she was sure she would never want to do it in real life.

Still, Maela was pleased with how well she was playing her part as a spy. Tim was eating out of her hand, and that was the important thing. She was on her way up to see Polo.

"The Guild Hall is just beyond the staircase landing," Tim explained as they climbed the stairs. "To the left and right are hallways with offices. There are a lot of entrances to the hall from those passages." His voice was so full of pride—and the smile on his face was so wide—that Maela thought that Tim looked almost handsome. "You'll know why I mention it when we enter the Hall."

Tim didn't say anything else as they reached the second-floor landing. To the left, the staircase climbed up to the third floor. There were another three guards in front of the steps. Directly in front of her were two large wooden doors that looked like they were hewn from a single massive tree. There were tendrils of vines or some other plant embedded in the doors. To the left and right were smaller doors. Maela assumed these led to the aforementioned office hallways. As below, flowers were everywhere.

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"Polo is in his private quarters today, so you can spend as much time as you want looking around. It will be worth it!"

Dammit, Maela thought. She had held out hope that Polo would be in the Guild Hall or in an office on the current floor. Her job had just become much more difficult—she had to get to the third floor somehow. Getting past the three knights wouldn't be too hard, but she was sure that there would be many more like them waiting for her on the third floor if she tried to fight her way through. She decided to see if there were other ways up as they walked through the Guild Hall.

"Wait, are these doors alive?" Maela couldn't believe it. What she thought were vines were actually branches and twigs growing from the doors that had green leaves on them.

"Yes! Amazing isn't it?" Tim walked up and gently stroked one of the smaller branches, rustling the leaves. "The doors are as old as the Hall and how they were made has been lost to history. They don't have hinges so much as bendable branches that allow them to open and close like true doors."

"May I?" Maela asked as she walked toward where the door hinges would be and held out her hand.

"Sure. Just be careful."

Running her hand along the hinges made it clear—the doors were actually large flat branches that interconnected. They were connected to the frame and conceivably grew from some internal tree that was part of the foundation of the building. She had not only never seen anything like it, she had never conceived that such a thing could be done.

"The Harvest Guild is amazing," she said, shaking her head.

"Our guild is amazing, isn't it?"

"Oh, yes. We are." Maela smiled. She wondered if her comment was suspicious. She unintentionally was sincere and meant it as an outsider, but it could have been perceived as something a guild member would say. I have to be more careful. "As a miner, it is just sometimes difficult to connect to my brothers and sisters who grow things."

"We are are the most important guild in Ness, and we are all one," Tim replied.

It sounded like some kind of guild saying, and while every guild in Ness claimed to be the most important guild in the city, Maela tended to think of the Harvest Guild as the most important. Without food, at least, the city would die.

Tim pushed the doors open, and Maela could not believe her eyes. The hall was enormous, with short, lush, grass as flooring. At the far end was an enormous tree with large limbs that extended up into the ceiling. Wait, is that actually part of the ceiling? Slowly walking in, Maela looked around. The walls were wood and had similar tendrils growing from them as the doors did. Elaborately and beautifully carved benches were spaced up the left and right. Flowers grew from the floor at the end of each row of benches. Along the walls were tree trunks that grew from floor to ceiling. In between the trees were flowering bushes and plants. More than anything, the hall reminded Maela of a forest clearing.

As she continued into the hall, looking in awe at the living things all around, the one thing she just couldn't stop being drawn to was the tree at the end. It appeared to be on a dais, but the dais seemed to be made from the roots of the tree. The trunk of the tree was enormous, and facing the hall was what looked to be an alcove carved into the trunk. That's a throne, Maela thought, and, indeed, the massive tree trunk looked like it had been carved into a large chair. To the left and right stood two guards, who were the only other people in the room.

"See the trees along the walls?" Tim asked.

Maela looked at them again. "Yes." Looking closer, she realized there was something odd about them. "Wait, are those doors?"

"Yes. Well, no. They actually are trees, but the trees twist out of the way if you press a certain spot on them. So they are doors, as well."

It wasn't until Maela was near the Guildmaster's throne that a shocking thought filled her head. She looked up at the ceiling, at the doors, at that tree that seemed to become part of the ceiling. Even the grass on the floor. She spun around and faced Tim. "Is this whole room alive?" Tim nodded. "Wait, is this entire building one large tree?"

"It is not widely known, but it is not a secret. The answer is yes. I must say that it's nice to see that even those that work deep below the ground can recognize the beauty and grace that is Harvest House." Maela looked up at the tree reaching into the ceiling and tensed. She had been so amazed that she had forgotten her mission.

"Does that tree reach up to the Guildmaster's quarters?"

"Maela, the entire building is a living tree. Of course it does." There was a slight tinge of impatience in Tim's voice, as if he enjoyed her innocent enthusiasm, but was tiring of her ignorance. She had to make her move soon.

"Is there another way up to the Guildmaster's residence?"

Tim looked at her oddly. "No. Why would you ask that?"

Maela touched Tim's arm and invented a wild scenario to distract him. "Oh, I know I sound silly, but I was just wondering if the Guildmaster could use the tree to get to his quarters so he didn't have to use the staircase at the other end of the hall."

Tim was quiet for so long that Maela looked up at his face, giving him what she hoped was a look of adoration. He was staring at the tree. Finally, he replied, "No. That's an interesting idea, but the tree is just a tree."

The moment Tim said, "the tree is just a tree," after the long delay, Maela realized that she had stumbled onto a stunning guild secret—the tree was a way for her to get to Polo in his quarters.

"We need to go." Tim's voice was matter-of-fact, and his smile over the majesty of Harvest House was gone. He is suspicious. Maela realized she had two choices, retreat and find a new way in or double down and hope that her obvious disregard for caution made her appear foolish rather than calculating. She went with the latter.

"Wait, I want to see the tree. It's beautiful." Maela skipped forward with as much speed as she felt she could get away with.

"Maela, you are not allowed there. Please stop." Tim followed after her. Maela continued, glad that his voice was of annoyance and not alarm. The guards at the sides of the tree seemed uncertain what to do. Tim didn't seem alarmed, so they appeared not to be either.

As Maela reached the tree, Tim's patience had ended. "Maela, stop now!" When she continued around the trunk, Tim yelled out, "Guards, stop her!" I may get to Polo, but I'm definitely not getting out, Maela thought grimly as she rounded the tree. She had expected there to be a stairwell cut into the massive trunk, but as she reached the rear of the tree all she found was thick bark.

With no visible way to reach Polo, Maela changed her plans to talking her way out. She touched the tree, running her hands over the bark. The guards reached her at the same time as Tim, who held up his hand as he walked up to her.

Turning to him, she continued to touch the tree. "I just wanted to feel the source of the life in this room." Maela did her best to sound innocent. "I don't see trees in the mines, let alone trees this majestic!"

Tim grabbed her arm roughly. "I'm sorry, fellow guardsmen. She is from the mines and doesn't know the current risk the Guildmaster is under." Tim bowed to them and then pulled hard on Maela's arm toward the rear of the hall and away from the tree. The entire time the guardsmen said nothing, but rather had their hands on the pommels of their swords. They are good, Maela thought. They aren't here to talk, but for action.

"I'm sorry. Did I do something wrong?" Maela asked, as Tim's fingers dug into her arm.

"Yes, and I recommend you leave for the mines as quickly as you can before I re-consider my kindness." His teeth were clenched as he spoke.

"What kindness? You are hurting me."

Tim stopped before the door out, letting go of her arm. "You are an ignorant and foolish girl. Do you have any idea the danger that surrounds our guild? That surrounds our Guildmaster? No, you clearly don't. So let this be a warning: You will die if you walk into this House again and just march up to places you're not supposed to go." Tim walked forward and pushed the doors open. He motioned to Maela.

As Maela walked through the doors, he shoved her in the back, which nearly sent her sprawling to the floor. "Go back to the mines, Maela."

The doors closed, and Maela was alone with the guards on the second-floor landing. The men guarding the staircase up to Polo's quarters eyed her warily. She assessed her odds of getting to Polo as nearly zero, and her odds of dying as significant.

Taking a deep breath, Maela walked down the staircase and out of Harvest House. She had to come up with a new plan.

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