The next few days flew by. Demia was a patient and understanding teacher, shockingly so given the environment. The carrot and stick combination worked well with my unit, and they continued to improve over time. That comfort and relaxation obviously couldn't last. I was sitting with Camden for my nobility lessons with Celine, Chelsea, and Callie, when Alister hurried in to announce a new guest.

"Your grace." He blurted in an uncharacteristic tizzy. "You have a guest. I'm not familiar with them but they're...powerful. Viscount level, though I've never seen her before. She said to ask Solomon to vouch for her."

My eyes narrowed. Anna was here. Anna had never interacted with Camden that I was aware of. Her showing up to speak to both of us was...bad. I didn't know how but I knew it was. Camden glanced at me, raising an eyebrow. "One of my associates. She shouldn't be a threat." At D-rank, Zeke couldn't protect me from Anna anymore, but not only did Anna not know that, he could still protect Chelsea, who was in the room.

I had a bunch of stockpiled wishes to act as payment, in case she needed them, though my preference was to avoid using them. If she was here though, it meant something had gone very wrong. 'This seems like it might be a problem'. I heard Callie's voice in my head. I didn't even jump at the sound, I was so connected to her I'd felt her intention to speak.

'Anna tries to stay under the radar. I'm not sure why she would interact with Camden directly unless it had something to do with the person targeting him. But why would she get involved?' I could only think of one real reason, and I didn't like it. Anna wouldn't have done something like this unless whoever was threatening Camden was going to be a problem for the planet at large. More specifically for Saltzberg and her own interests.

Hearing my tone, Camden nodded to Alister, and the seneschal fled to get Anna, clearly terrified to keep a D-ranker waiting. Which I got. They were terrifying.

Anna strode into the room a moment later, Alister on her heels. "Baron Tolbert." She said with a nod. "Thank you for seeing me. I'm glad our mutual friend saw fit to lend his support. I've been looking into your...situation. I expected our friend might charge me to find out more about what was going on. I've come across some disturbing news. Disturbing enough that I won't charge for the initial tip off, because I need your input to make sense of what I found."

Camden nodded slowly. "Understood, I appreciate your efforts and your willingness to share whatever you know. I assume this news concerns my cousin Spencer?"

"Possibly." She said with a shrug. "Do you have an isolation formation on this room? I'm not certain I trust my stealth Skills with this level of information. I don't know of anyone with spatial spying abilities on Stratholme, so the formation should be safe enough."

Nodding to Alister, Camden stood and walked over to close the door. The seneschal hurried away and came back with a large wooden box. Opening it, Camden withdrew an ornate bronze globe. Opening it, he lit a candle, then closed the small bronze hatch and spun the globe forcefully. The light from the candle surged and then expanded outward in a bubble of golden light that hit the walls and stuck to them like flypaper. "We're safe to talk for the moment." He said solemnly.

"Good. Now, I heard from my sources you came to Stratholme for the sole reason that you wish to distance yourself from family affairs. Is this accurate?" This really must be serious if Anna was being so formal. She never struck me as the type.

"It is." Camden admitted. "I prefer being alive and obscure to being famous and dead. Spencer is a particularly bitter enemy, or I doubt he'd have followed me. I take it he has some sort of plan that you think will cause widespread destruction? I'm afraid to say that's not out of character."

She shook her head. "You misunderstand. Spencer didn't follow you here to hurt you. In fact, Spencer didn't follow you here at all. According to my sources, Spencer was here before you were. Months before. He's been doing...something. Something involving the cave systems that run under most of the planet. I don't know WHAT exactly, but several of the people he sent down there didn't come back."

"That's not possible." Protested Camden. "I didn't tell anyone about my decision to come here. Hell, I didn't MAKE the decision to come here until a few months ago. Shortly before I arrived."

Anna raised an eyebrow. "Really. And it was entirely your own idea to choose Stratholme as your location? It wasn't suggested to you? Because the only way I can see this being a possible outcome is if he steered you to the planet in some way."

"No." he said firmly. "I picked the planet out of a carefully curated list of..." He froze. "Sara." He said in a daze. "She made the list for me. It wouldn't have been hard for her to surround this planet in particular with ones I wouldn't pick for other reasons. Thinking back the other options all had minor flaws that would have made them untenable to me. One was a desert, one had a strong magnetic field that eroded spellwork." He slumped back. "She aimed me here. Into a trap. I thought we were friends. She was my main source of intel after I left the family."

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Sighing, Anna pulled out a chair and sat down. I saw Alister twitch and had to fight a smile, though Callie frowned at my amusement. I just shrugged, and she rolled her eyes. "Betrayal is never pleasant. But I'm sure you understand the implications of this information?"

"I was herded here. Spencer arrived before me and is doing something dangerous in a poorly explored part of the planet's crust." He said succinctly. "This is a trap, and the fact that he picked this planet specifically means it probably involves some deeply buried secret of Stratholme. Are you aware of any such dangers? And what of the Earl, will he step in? His mind appeared to be running full bore, sifting data and trying to figure out a next move.

Anna grimaced. "Your cousin is involved with the Magister, who is the Earl's right hand. I suspect he's made arrangements for the Earl to play a minimal role. Not ignore whatever is coming, that wouldn't fly, but minimize his footprint by occupying himself with some small part of whatever attack or event he has planned. As for the issue of lore, I'm no history student. I concern myself with the now, and not the before. At least not at that scale. I do have a friend we might consult. If you decide to involve me in this."

"Ah." He said with a smirk. "I was waiting for you to hit me in the purse. I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint. I don't have much in the way of liquid funds."

As she panned her glance to me, I crossed my arms. "He has an allotment, he can pay out of that. I'm not tossing you freebies because of this. I'm already severely limited in the wishes I can use for my friends, putting myself further into debt is a no go." I paused. "Actually, I do have a question Camden. I thought this guy was your arch nemesis. How did you not notice him vanishing for months before you left?"

For the first time in these lessons, his composure cracked as he threw his hands up in irritation. "We don't have sleepovers every night in matching twin beds, he tries to kill me sometimes. Usually by proxy. It isn't unusual for me not to see Spencer for years at a time. Houses like the Tolbert family span multiple galaxies, possessing influence wherever the Empire exists. We're one of the strongest Ducal houses. Keeping track of what everyone does is something only the head of the family or his direct subordinates can manage."

That was fair. It was like asking me to quote you the location of one of the Wyndhams. I didn't know who everyone in the family even was, how was I supposed to know where they went. Anna smiled placidly. "I can tell you this much. Given the number of people who have vanished into those caverns since he arrived, whatever he's planning is big. If you know what it is you can prepare ahead of time, if not you might die here."

"What about us?" I asked him, suddenly remembering something he'd said. "You used someone specific for the information on us, is it possible your cousin will figure out who we are if he has that person on his payroll?" My wish power was one of our biggest aces in the hole against anyone who didn't know about it. It was also one of the main reasons I'd decided to stay here. Although now that I knew if I ran I'd be increasing my chances of running into trouble of a more personal nature I had another reason to stick it out.

He hesitated, but shook his head. "I used a different one of my sources to dig into you. But there are plenty of other secrets Sara knows about that might be a problem. I just..." His face twisted in hurt. "I can't believe she would do this. Spencer wants to kill me. She knows that. Herding me here is all but signing my death warrant."

I winced, but as much as I felt for him, I also knew we needed to stay focused. "I get it man, I really do, but it's not the time. Can you work something out with Anna to help us? Her abilities would be a huge boon to us. She managed to rescue a bunch of her people from the Magister after that mess at the banquet. She's good." I glanced sideways at her. "I assume you have potential measures to take to aid us should you be brought onboard?"

"Of course." She scoffed. "A few of my boys are standing by at some of the entrances Spencer sent his people through. They'll infiltrate the cave systems and do some scouting. Unlike his random mercs, my people are masters of stealth. They're never seen unless they want to be."

I nodded wisely. "Ah, of course. Like they never get beaten about the head and body with a magic stick. That must have been another group of shadowy thieves."

"Have we discussed medical expenses for that?" She asked sweetly. "Because that fucking stick did some serious damage."

I smiled. "Consider it the cost of doing business. Maybe next time he won't try to put his grubby hands on my girlfriend. She didn't exactly have pockets, and I can't think of any acceptable place he would have been able to check for valuables in that dress. He's lucky I didn't smash his fucking kneecaps and let them heal wrong."

Callie stiffened at that, clearly not having considered that aspect of things. Anna herself looked pensive, and I suspected her pickpocket friend was going to be answering some pointed questions. Good.

Finally, Camden seemed to finish processing and rejoined the conversation. "I agree to your involvement. I'll require a more detailed contract, but I see no reason for Shane, Callie, Chelsea, and Celine to stay for this part. We can end lessons early tonight, I'm sure you'll all be happy to get to sleep early."

"Don't have to tell me twice." I said, popping to my feet. "Let us know how this all works out. And Anna, set us up to talk with your friend who has a handle on the local lore. Best to know the possibilities in case your boys don't find anything." Planets were big, no reason to put all our eggs in one basket. With that we all waved our goodbyes and headed out. I really was happy to be leaving. I was tired, and had a lot to think about.