I woke up with a jolt; sleeping so long and deeply was still very uncomfortable. More uncomfortable, though, was the hand that had jolted me awake. Sleep dulled my senses, and I was slow to respond. Fortunate for the hand since that torpor saved the girl’s life.

“Are you alright?”

Right, she isn’t a threat to me.

I pulled my hand back and away from the knife that I had hidden the night before. Had Dollany seen it? My brain was slowly coming back to full functionality. In reality, it only took a few minutes to wake up fully, far better than most people. But those few minutes were agony as all I could do during that time was wait.

“...Yea, is something wrong?” Talking when my brain wasn’t fully operational was risky; it would be effortless to say something that I should not. To betray information or to somehow alert to my ruse. But not talking would only engender suspicion of a different variety.

Dollany needed to believe that I was still functional. Damaged, but still able to work. Carrying baggage, but not so heavy as to make life impossible.

“You were whimpering in your sleep.” She fixed me with a look. Not accusing, but sympathetic.

That nine times damned dream.

Even after waking up, I could remember it, at least for a few hours. By the time I went to bed again, the details would invariably be faded, but it was always the same. Of that, I was sure.

“Was I…? I don’t remember much.” For now, it was best to deflect while alluding to something bigger.

Dollany bought my lie hook, line, and sinker, “Well, if you ever want to talk about it…”

Now would be the time to create some distance, and force her to cross the gap.

“Sorry, but, who are you exactly? I mean like, I am extremely grateful for everything, but I don’t really…”

She looked hurt for a moment, but that quickly faded into a rueful smirk, “Right, we didn’t meet under the best circumstances, huh?” Dollany extended her hand in an exaggerated mockery of what a noblewoman might, then tilted her head to look down her nose at me in a mockery of the same, “I am Dollany, daughter of Hilgan. I am honored to make your acquaintance.”

Pretending to be swayed by her insulting mannerisms, I adopted a false grin and grasped the offered hand, “My name is Delilah, I’m… well, I don’t really know who my mother was, which is loosely connected to how you found me… I don’t really want to talk about it.” Then, before she had a chance to pressure me, or to drive the conversation in a way I didn’t want it to go, I took charge, “But, that’s just me; an unfortunate existence with no luck, caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Why were you there? Not that I’m ungrateful, just, you don’t seem the kind of person to go to a place like that.”

Dollany nodded, “Yea, that part of the city is pretty bad, though it's not awful if you avoid going off the main thoroughfare and don’t go near after dark. For me, it's the only way to get home within any reasonable timeframe. …And, people know better than to mess with me anyway.”

Because your work clothes mark you as someone from the chair’s estate.

But it wasn’t enough for me to know that; I needed Dollany to tell me, to open the door to further questions.

She’s been pretty easy to lead and manipulate so far, just a bit more guidance should get me what I need.

“Oh? You must be pretty strong then. Must be nice, to be able to defend yourself.”

She shook her head and waved her hands in an emphatic “no,” “No, not like that! Gods, I don’t think I’d even know which end of a sword to hold! No, I work for Chair Zesten as one of his estate’s maid staff. Money, dirty or not, can get you a lot in this city, but everyone knows not to cross the chair.”

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…And she just went and said it. Well, I suppose that is common knowledge based on her clothes, so no reason for her to hide it. Still, that was too easy.

“Wait, you work for the chair!?” I feigned surprise.

Dollany pulled back slightly, the vigor of my response seeming to have made her withdraw, “...Yea, I do. It isn’t all that glamorous though, just another job.”

“But, you just told me it wasn’t? Like, you can go out in the city and be safe…”

“Really, it isn’t all that, I mean, yea, there are perks, but at the end of the day, I’m just a servant. If someone does decide they don’t care about crossing the chair, I don’t actually have anything protecting me. I have no real authority, and they don’t provide me any magic tools or combat training; only the soldiers get that stuff.”

I suppressed a grin; that last bit had been the first bit of real intel Dollany had given me.

So I only really need to worry about the soldiers and guards; there shouldn’t be any surprises coming from the serving staff.

Zesten could always have a secret order like Drakas’ Shadows, with agents hidden among the servants, but I thought that rather doubtful.

“Well, at least you can generally feel safe walking home at night.” Pulling up my knees to my chin, I wrapped my arms around my legs.

Dollany realized what she had been implying just now, who she was saying what to, and quickly began to backpedal, stumbling over herself as she went, “Well that's… I mean, in your situation, I didn’t… No, it isn’t like that, just that…”

I grinned, a rare genuine one. I didn’t derive any enjoyment from manipulating people like this, but her pure innocent reaction was infectiously sweet. Besides, it was time to throw her a bit of a bone and let up the pressure.

“It’s fine; I know what you meant; I’m just a bit bitter after everything. Besides, it isn’t like anyone is particularly safe at the moment, what with the Drakans on our doorstep… Is, is the chair going to do anything?”

Dollany trailed off from her sputtering, “...I wouldn’t know; I don’t serve him directly, just clean things and occasionally bring the soldiers their food rations.”

“Well, that’s something. Did the soldiers seem at all concerned?”

“Ha!” She laughed dryly, “After seeing a spell like that? Of course they’re concerned! Was it true? That the Queen was the only one casting?”

“...I don’t know, I only saw the lights shining over the wall.”

Was that a spark of hope I saw just now?

Two significant bits of information had been gleaned just now, though neither was relevant to my mission at hand. The first was about the culture of the city; the establishment had failed to control the narrative. It would be very easy to deny that a single mage had cast such a massive spell; simply say that all the mages in our force had pooled their mana. That would be far more believable to even a layperson, and would naturally quash rumors that my lady had been the only one. The fact that the truth had made it off the wall and into the public consciousness, even as a rumor, and was even being entertained as a possibility… It indicated a fairly deep distrust of the chair.

The second thing had been about Dollany herself; she hadn’t seemed afraid or surprised, or really anything else that one might expect. Instead, when asking about the casting, she had seemed… excited. It was possible she might have a few grudges of her own, or perhaps an interest in magic theory, or she might fancy tales of adventure. Regardless, if I could put a finger on it, I could leverage it.

Regarding the first, it was possible that the rumor was only circulating the Estate, but my lady had told Emmanuel to win over the people. Spreading the truth would be a great way to go about that, especially if the truth made the establishment look bad.

But none of that falls within the scope of my mission. For now, I need to continue gathering information.

Grrrr! my stomach announced itself, interjecting into my plans.

Dollany looked down at it and grinned, “You did sleep for a while, come on and get up; it's almost mid-morning.

I lost so much time!

I climbed quickly out of bed, taking care to keep various things hidden. Regardless of my ongoing struggles with sleep, I did need to eat something. Dollany led me into the kitchen, which was devoid of anyone else, and began setting out a table spread for two.

“Mom is going to market before this war drives prices up too high, and Emmet has his apprenticeship still, so it’s just the two of us.”

I nodded absentmindedly and took a seat. Dollanyh finished her preparations, then sat down opposite of me, “Nothing fancy, but it will give you some energy back.”

After taking a moment to thank her, I started to eat the flat cakes without pretending to hold back. I needed the food, and appearing hungry would help things along.

Now I need to learn where things are in the manor house, and what the chair’s schedule is. How to lead the conversation there though?

After a moment’s consideration, I decided to start prodding at Dollany’s earlier revelation, “Do you like magic?”