Jane and Cerberos bowed out of the castle tour. The paladin claimed no interest in ‘worldly powers’ while the hunter just seemed intimidated. Alex was the ‘diplomat’ so she had to go and of course, her maid would come along as well. And Circe wanted to see it in the first place.

We reached the palace gates an hour into the morning because Circe could not calm down. She was way too excited to go. The guards let us in after Alex showed them a signet Gregor had given to us. It was a simple thing exuding a tiny amount of vis, most likely from a Skill.

The palace grounds were wide and inviting. I had seen the area from above and there was a garden going all the way around the main building. A mostly open area of gravel pathways around small patches of delicate flowers led up to the main entrance. Hedges lined the sides with a few openings to move around the building. The building was symmetrical with two large wings extending from a core. A frilly mess of hinges and slopes led up to a number of spires and domes all over the roof. It looked a little confusing at first sight but that impression quickly turned to ‘natural’. It appeared as if a mountaintop had been cut off and placed in the middle of the city. The white and grey stone alongside black roof tiles only furthered that appearance.

A few servants were making their way through the garden and taking care of the flowers. Guards were patrolling at a sedate pace. I dove into my senses and found a large magical barrier extending all the way around the building. That explained why there were no flowers directly next to the walls. I knew there were a few smaller houses for the gardeners hidden in the hedges.

A butler received us and guided us to the main entrance. We were let inside a large hall with crystal and gold chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The ground was a black-and-white mosaic pattern with purple carpets giving it some colour. There was a wide staircase at the back spreading out to the sides and onto the galleries. Windows flooded the room with light and drew attention to the gold and silver ornaments.

As for the barrier… it had simply let us through. There was a tiny connection of energy to the butler and the area around the doors changed for a moment. The butler held the connection and directly looked at the person stepping through. If we had gone all at the same time, we would have been stopped dead. Literally. I could see the aer and ignis vis pulsating, ready to fry any intruders. This was much better than Redrock’s defences. I could not simply slip in while others were invited. Then again, the barrier itself seemed simpler. It did not obfuscate information coming from inside. I could make much better observations about the flow of energy and likely find the source with some time.

Inside, the butler bowed and retreated as an old man in fine clothes welcomed us.

“Greetings, Lady Alex”, he said, “I am Gregor, steward of his majesty. I will be guiding you today.”

Alex nodded.

“Thank you. These are my friends Circe and Fio, and my maid Hera.”

“I welcome you. Now, if you would follow me.”

I bobbed my head at him as he glanced my way before returning to my observations. We made our way through the hall and out the other side into a courtyard. This part was located outside and still protected so the royal family could get some fresh air without too much worry. Gregor talked about some historical things like this and that architect or artist working on some of the things we saw all over the place. I saw Circe hanging on his lips open-mouthed and with eyes like saucers. A few of the servants looked at her with loving smiles.

That would be my next angle of attack if I was not an owl. Infiltration through disguise. Getting hired like Martha’s maid had done to get her hands on the papers. They definitely had to pass an [Identify] test but that would be easy. You could change Class after having something like [Spy] or [Infiltrator] to [Maid] and pick up old Skills as general Skills. Even the best guards would not be able to see those. I had only heard of some people getting level eight or nine which gave the Class levels and Attributes. But ten, which was suspected to show Skills, seemed near impossible to reach. It seemed near impossible in any Skill, which marked it as another Breakpoint. Likely the final one, going by the pattern.

That meant, they were definitely a risk. One that Gregor and the people he had working for him had to vet manually. But I was sure he knew about that. As I looked closer, I saw a few butlers and maids in slightly fancier uniforms oversee the workers. They looked like the butler that had let us through the barrier. If they were the only ones to have access to the barrier, it would make it a lot easier to find bad eggs. Still, I was curious if I could imitate what gave them access to the barrier in the first place. That would require a closer look at the process, though.

We had made our way to the right wing of the palace, the east wing, as Gregor told us. The inside was decorated more sensibly than I had expected. Yes, there was a good bit of gold and what looked like expensive paintings and statues but it was reasonable. For a royal palace. We followed down a few hallways and looked into some rooms for public use. A large hall with mirrors lining the side for balls, and several smaller rooms for banquets or tea parties.

The big takeaway for me was how they all had a separate barrier removing them from the rest of the building. Guests would not be able to enter the palace proper. There was another wide-open garden on the other side of the wing which had another barrier surrounding it. This one seemed to be mostly for show but Gregor mentioned it would be activated only when there was a fest in this part of the palace. That was likely the best option to take a shot at the royal family I had seen, yet. Get in before the area fully locked and go for a suicide mission.

That ended the initial tour and we used one of the dining halls for a quick lunch. The castle’s cooks were incredible. They even managed to prepare something better than the dwarven restaurant. Well, it was expected for the humans and humanoids. But they also managed for me. They used ground meat with a tiny bit of spices and backed it in what looked to be break. Only just long enough to warm it up a little and let the juices mix with the salt. Then, they broke the bread and finished baking it for the others while I got fine sticks of nearly raw meat soaked in juices. The best part of it? The others shared the same taste in the meaty bread. We were properly sharing a meal for the first time instead of there being some special service for my needs. The tea was decent. They only had black and green but it was at least brewed very well.

After that, the others were brought to the audience with the [King] while Gregor stuck right next to me. We found a quiet bench in the courtyard and got some rest.

“So, Miss Fio, have you found any weak spots?”, he asked.

“The best option to strike at the royal family seems to wait for a party using the outside garden. It would be a suicide mission, most likely. Infiltration is another risk but you seem to be on top of that. For the time being.”

“Thank you. We do our best.”

“But I do believe there is a weakness. The barrier does not obfuscate. With sufficient time and knowledge, a [Thaumaturge] or even just someone well versed in the craft will be able to manipulate it. They could trap everyone inside, block out airflow and just walk away. You would likely die before finding a solution.”

“I see. How much time do you think that would need?”

“I haven’t figured out the source quite yet. It seems to be somewhere in the west wing, a little below ground level. The other spots look more like relays. After settling that question, I would need a week at most to start manipulating it to my will. As long as I have a sufficient amount of vis crystals and resistance to flux.”

“That is fine, then. We have our patrols, after all. The [Royal Guard] is bound by their core Skill. They can not betray us and need to give their best in protecting the [King].”

I nodded.

A figure appeared in one of the windows watching us. A man in his thirties with a clean-shaven beard looked out into the courtyard. On his head was a crown of gold and vis crystals. I narrowed my eyes. There was another barrier around him, projected from the crystals. But it was not very strong. It would easily stop one or two mundane strikes, like a dagger or arrow. But when it came to magic, anything beyond the simpler attacks would shatter it.

“Looks like I’m in prime position for an attack right now”, I mused.

Gregor’s head whipped to me.

“From here? Through his majesty’s protection?”

“Someone with a vacuos or alienis attack will not be stopped by that.”

“And you can use that kind of aspect. Of course.”

Alex stepped up beside him, without mask, and they exchanged some words. My friend waved and I raised a tendril of darkness to return the greeting. Gregor suddenly had a hand in his coat. I saw the flash of a hilt.

“Relax. I’m an [Assassin]. I don’t get experience for taking you out in broad daylight.”

It took a moment for him to calm down, part of which was a nod of the [King] at his gaze. The man retreated deeper into the room and Alex followed him.

“Fine”, Gregor said, “I will admit that I’m a bit on edge.”

“Sometimes you just gotta trust. True, it got me into a problem here or there but never something I couldn’t fix.”

“It’s not that easy when your job is to keep the ruler of a country secure.”

“Are there many adversaries you have to stop?”

“… no. But even if it’s only one. If I’m not there, Eterios will have a big problem.”

“Makes sense. I’m not your enemy, though. I just picked the first Class I got offered.”

His eyes flicked to me.

“Your first Class… was [Assassin]?”

“Yup.”

“Not even… [Hunter]? Or…”

“Well, I grew up in a hole in the mountains. Greypeak was close but I couldn’t talk back then and the one time I moved there, the people hid in their homes.”

“I… see. Very well, Fio. I apologize. But I still can’t trust you. That will take some more time.”

“No worries. Alex took a little bit and I literally had to enslave her for her survival. She only managed to put her worries aside once we got that fixed.”

He grunted. We shared a few minutes of silence before something happened. The doors on the west wing opened and three people stepped outside. A woman in a fancy dress, a maid holding the door open and a little girl in her hand. Gregor sat up, a hint of worry flashing across his face.

The woman gave him a reserved nod as the child walked off into the greenery. The maid made sure to keep up. I glanced at the woman’s hair, a small diadem nestled on top of a complicated hairdo.

“Is that… the queen?”, I asked quietly.

Gregor gulped and nodded.

“And the second princess”, he said.

I clicked my tongue as the girl spotted me. A beaming grin spread on her face.

“Looks like you’ll have to trust me real fast.”