Lanni went to talk with the others. As she approached, Chapado greeted her and then immediately asked, “Is this room shielded?” “Lanni?” Trema looked at her. Lanni activated the shields surrounding the room. The room glowed a moment as shields to prevent eavesdropping and scrying fell into place. Kritalla frowned as he looked around. “Shades, I thought your lab was intense. How did you manage to create these powerful shields?” “Uncle Ter and I worked on them together,” Lanni explained casually. “Nothing can escape from this room now. But why are you all here? What’s going on?” Morina spoke up. “Prince-general Azlos had some concern about the reports. He’s worried about potential threats.” Lanni’s frown deepened. “It’s about time someone took notice.” “He’s not going to be happy that you blew your cover,” Morina stated. “He told me to leave two years ago. I was trying to make Barta look bad and damage her credibility. Making pies for her is getting us nowhere,” Lanni defended herself. “Do you both agree with that?” Morina asked. “We do,” Lanni confirmed. “Azlos noticed a pattern in some of the reports he received from up here,” Morina continued. “Things that were reported by Vien four years ago, then by Samar two years ago, and most recently by Lanni last month. It seems like the information they’ve been sharing wasn’t accidental.” “Something else I said,” Lanni pointed out. She hadn’t known about the duplicate in-formation but suspected the information was fake. Kritalla rolled his eyes playfully. “Yes, we know. Azlos is so grateful that he’s writing you a twenty-page apology and having it notarized by the entire King’s Council.” “Enough,” Morina reprimanded both Lanni and Kritalla. Lanni huffed, feeling frustrated. “I just get tired of being asked to do something and then being ignored.” “You weren’t ignored, there was just…” Kritalla started to say before he was cut off by a rapid, woodpecker-like tapping sound. “What’s that?” Morina inquired. “It’s one of the spells,” Lanni responded after listening for a moment. “Someone is approaching.” Trema walked over to the window and peered out. “It’s Shan. Let him in.” Lanni lowered a shield, allowing the door to swing open with a soft creak admitting Shan. He had come from the direction of the grand house. He wasn’t complaining about the noise from Zan. As soon as Lanni ensured that all of her spells were active, Shan col-lapsed to his knees, clutching his head and gasping for air. “Drain him,” Lanni instructed Kritalla, urgently. The auburn-haired man nodded and used his augmenter abilities to siphon off some of Shan’s magical energy. “How much?” Kritalla asked, a hint of uncertainty in his voice. “As much as you dare,” Lanni replied, her eyes fixed on Shan who was starting to re-lax now that the shields had nothing to interact with. With Kritalla’s help, Shan was able to stumble over to a nearby chair once he was thoroughly depleted. “What was that? This place feels like a dragon is sitting on me,” he wheezed, attempting to catch his breath. “Sorry about that. All of our shields and wards are active at the moment,” Lanni ex-plained. “One of the spells is designed specifically to incapacitate mages. I adapted it to exclude certain known magics, such as full-bloods, dragons, and elves.” “What about me? I’m a crossbreed,” Kritalla piped up. “I put a counter-charm in your pocket. I use one myself,” Lanni assured her. “Blasted thief,” Kritalla grumbled good-naturedly. Shan turned to Trema, who had been watching the scene unfold with concern. “Cap-tain Trema, I couldn’t sleep. I went into the house and overheard Lady Barta and Lord Rantar talking. Lady Barta seemed very upset about someone she believes is a dragon. She thought this person was a spy. It sounded like she was talking about Lanni. And Lord Rantar said he had suspected it all along, given her remarkable skills and Menthanlan her-itage. He’s been feeding her false information, but they were planning on delaying what-ever scheme they have until after the Ertonians leave.” “Did they mention what it was?” Trema inquired. Shan shook his head, regret written across his face. “I’m sorry, that’s all I heard.” “Well, there’s the proof we needed,” Lanni declared with grim satisfaction. “The real question is, what are we going to do about it?” Chapado interjected. Morina frowned thoughtfully. “Until we know more about their plans, we’re some-what limited in our options.” Kritalla gestured towards Shan and Trema. “What about them? They seem trustwor-thy enough.” Trema turned to Lanni, puzzled. Lanni hesitated for a moment before responding. “Our investigation has only just be-gun, but my gut tell me that we can trust them.” “Let me speak to your gut,” Morina said, her voice low and commanding. Lanni’s frown deepened as she closed her eyes, allowing the part of herself that Morina wanted to surface. “I told you to trust them,” Lanni said with irritation. “Use their help. Share what we know and let them observe. Or let me talk to Lord Rantar.” “We can’t do that,” Morina replied firmly. “Then utilize the help you have,” Lanni suggested, her tone urgent. “Sifa and Lamin are loyal to Menthanla. They may not divulge everything they hear, but they won’t betray us either. They are exactly who they seem to be. The other servants will turn to Rantar and Barta if they sense any suspicion. Now, unless you want to question my judgment further, the charm is more effective on Lanni so I’d like to go.” Morina nodded in agreement. “Yes, but stay alert.” “I will.” Lanni gave a brief nod before closing her eyes again. Shan watched their in-teraction, feeling lost and confused. A glance at Trema showed him that his captain was just as perplexed. “We’ll bring the others in here and update them on the situation,” Kritalla offered. “But there’s only two you’ll be working with, and one is Shan,” Trema pointed out. “And we don’t know how Jahree will impact the shields.” “I can talk to with Jahree,” Lanni volunteered, her voice confident. “We discussed a visit to his home. I can relay the message there.” “His home? In Thager?” Trema furrowed her brow in concern. “He can’t go back there.” “I was planning on transporting him directly into the house. No one will even know we were there.” “Nobody in Thager would dare harm her anyway, and Ter is currently there,” Morina interjected. “But we can address that later. Let’s take him somewhere else to talk.” “Okay, and I’ll speak with Zan. His hearing charms won’t function in here. I am flu-ent in sign language,” Trema offered. “Just make sure he leaves his charms outside,” Lanni instructed. “They are similar enough to spy charms that the spells will destroy them.” “Got it. Shan, this is Chapado,” Trema introduced. “She will work with you to see if you can learn to cast. The dragon they mentioned earlier is Lanni, also known as Princess Annlonna. She has extensive knowledge of magic and will assist when available. Go with Chapado and learn from her while Kritalla takes your shift.” “And where will I be and who else will I be relieving?” Kritalla asked. “They are both on the first floor. You have Shan’s day shift, and Jahree is currently on duty. He is the other person Chapado will work with,” Trema explained. “Jahree?” Kritalla’s face lit up with a mischievous grin as she glanced at Lanni. “Stop pestering him. He has been a perfect gentleman,” Lanni defended. “He has? Jahree?” Trema raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Well, mostly anyways, it’s nothing serious,” Lanni reassured them, a sly smile playing on her lips. “What did he do?” Kritalla prodded. Lanni couldn’t contain her grin any longer. “Nothing wrong. Just some harmless fun the other night.” “Annlonna,” her grandfather pressed sternly. “Don’t worry, he didn’t do anything wrong,” Lanni assured him quickly. “It was all consensual.” “It had better be,” Kritalla growled. “It was. Now I have to get back to the kitchen.” Lanni nodded before turning and heading away, leaving the group to discuss their next moves. #fantasy, #magic, #dragons, #hiddenlands