I need you to take an artifact while you are staying with the Matriarch, the note had read. It was from Jjorreqe. He had employed her talents and did not want her to leave the city without other purposes as well. One that both he, his cooperation and Gale would all benefit from.

Gale walked down the halls past the lobby. She heard yelling, then stomping. She crept into the room just in time to see Maple storm out and the orange dragon sulking in a chair. She quickly left.

There was no noise in the dark stairwell to the upstairs of the Matriarch’s mini palace. Her footsteps were all that sounded. And no one was there to hear but Gale’s own ears.

Emerging into a brightly lit hall, she saw the prize she had been looking for: a small looking glass with a clock above the reflective area. It was lying on a table only feet away.

It was gold with roses engraved about it. And the glass was quite clear, and the clock face above was just at the right—no, it was not showing the correct time. Was it? The hands were ever so slowly moving backwards. Before, it was early before noon. Now it was eleventh chime.

This was not right. Now it just stopped.

Nothing.

Happened.

The clock just stayed at quarter of eleventh chime.

Gale, after taking pause, snatched the little looking glass and ran downstairs to her room. She could hear faint yelling. It sounded as if the Matriarch was giving someone a stern talking to.

She opened her satchel that was lying by her bed on a nightstand and put the artifact in, concealing it from view. It was supposed to be two chimes before she was to go out and meet Jjorreqe to give him this artifact.

At first, she thought he told her to get it because it had great value on the market. But he told her that it would help him find… a thing… and get a leg up in business. He assured her that she would be well paid. But why would he give a new recruit such an important job? There had to be some greater reason.

She felt like a chess piece. Perhaps a bishop or knight, being moved into position. Perhaps this was all planned… but by who?

But he had vowed to help me with money and resources to take out the sovereign. The throne should not be usurped by some horrific and satanic miscreant.

Stolen novel; please report.

True. But fate is not under the control of Gale, or anyone.

But the arrival of Truth’s ‘parents’ who were supposedly ‘dead’ was quite contradictory. Gale had not been followed. She had made sure of that. So why were they here? Oh right, they were here and heard that Truth had temporary lodging in this village.

Hours seemed to pass. But the little looking glass clock said otherwise. Still, Gale went out to the predecided place where she would meet with Jjorreqe.

A clearing in the woods is where she emerged. Jjorreqe emerged from the opposite side of the clearing shortly after. “Do you have it?” he asked.

“Yes, I do.” Gale responded. “But what does it do, exactly. Besides, it is broken. It does not tick away the seconds anymore.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes,” Gale said. “Soon before I stole it, I looked at it and it stopped, went backwards, and stopped once again. I was worried I would miss the meeting here.”

“May I look at it?” Jjorreqe asked.

“Of course.”

Jjorreqe studied the mini-looking glass intently for a few minutes. “It seems to not be this, but another artifact is affecting it and preventing it from working.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, something happened somewhere else in the building where this was kept,” he said. “Now, there is the topic of your pay. I have not much money on me, but I have this tablet. If you write it something to draw or tell you of current events, it will do so, letting you know of what is happening.”

“Thank you,” Gale said. “I should leave. They will start wondering where I am.”

Jjorreqe just nodded and turned to leave. His steps were slow, Gale noted as he exited the clearing. Something, the clock looking glass, had definitely rattled him.

Gale returned to the village and the mini palace where the Matriarch stayed only to open the door to come face to face with Truth.

“Hello there,” he said.

“Hello,” she responded.

“I have not met you yet, and you seem to be a friend. Let us talk in the lobby,” Truth said with a smile that was a little too wide.

“Sure.”

The two of them went to the other end of the lobby, where the orange dragon was not sulking. They did not use the chairs but rather sat on the ground.

“Tell me,” Gale said. “Who is that orange dragon over there?”

“His name is Courage. He was thrown into jail minutes before I was–”

“Given a mission to kidnap Tiger,” Gale finished for him.

“Correct. My superior told me to do so without much explanation. But I had to follow orders lest they cut off a claw of mine. I have already lost one due to an earlier incident. Even then, they were giving me orders.”

Truth had a faint look of fear and remorse in his eyes. Gale could have imagined it, but she doubted that. Truth was definitely hiding something, and Gale was going to figure out what.