Leo’s sleep was the sort so deep it bordered on death.

  He dreamt that he was at Skyborn University, which for some reason looked like the Captain’s Quarters of the Mint. An irascible fellow with a purple goatee was grilling him about Gianna’s past, having him testify to her character.

  Leo had to finesse the questions because admitting that she was a former pickpocket would doubtless disqualify her from admission. But it was difficult for him to focus — he was distracted by the presence of another Archmage who sat next to him, his face buried in a bowl of violetberries. He seemed to be in pain, and he was moaning…

  Moaning… moaning…

  Leo's eyes fluttered open. Bj?rn stood over him holding a knife at his throat, but Bj?rn’s attention was focused on what was happening behind him. Danieli was chanting in a husky, guttural voice, invoking some dark enchantment. Bronze vines of arcana extended from her temple to Nico’s. Nico was slumped on the desk, moaning in pain. Cosimo watched the scene with detached curiosity.

  No one seemed to realize Leo had woken up.

  Leo seized the moment. Dodging the blade at his throat, he rolled out of bed, ducked low, and grabbed his swords Ice and Wraith, which were leaning against the wall. In one fluid motion, he drew them both on Bj?rn and Cosimo.

  “Morning, Leo,” said Cosimo casually, not even turning to face him.

  “Thanks. Now kindly fuck off, or you’ll be tasting my steel for breakfast.”

  “Threatening your client on the eve of your mission? You, sir, are a bold man.”

  “And you, sir, will be a dead man,” he said, mocking Cosimo’s Qirini accent, “if you do not unhand Nico.”

  “Can't.”

  “Can’t or won’t?”

  “Can’t. The enchantment has already commenced.”

  “What spell?” Out of the corner of Leo’s eye, he saw that Gianna was wide awake, seemingly paralyzed with fright.

  “Mindlock — an enchantment to tether his mind to Danieli’s. While you are inside the Library, Danieli will be privy to his thoughts, emotions, and sensations.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Why? Is that not obvious? Because we just met and I don't trust you. Because you fucked me over and turnabout is fair play. Because whatever you find inside that Library, I wish to see it with my own eyes. Or with Danieli’s eyes, anyway.”

  Spittle drooled from Nico’s mouth, and his torso spasmed. He appeared unconscious.

  “That sounds like your problem. Release him, or I will cut down the three of you into mincemeat.”

  “Told you — we can't. The enchantment has already commenced. Aborting it now would cause massive and irreversible damage to his psyche. It might strip him of his sanity, or leave him catatonic, or even kill him. I know the spell may be slightly… err, discomfiting—”

  “—Agonizing, you mean—”

  “—but there are no deleterious long-term effects.”

  Leo’s eyes wandered back to Bj?rn, who seemed humiliated at being disarmed. The thick cords of muscle by his neck were stretched taut.

  “I am done,” Danieli said in her dreamy voice. Nico lay motionless on the desk, tongue lolling from his mouth, unconscious. Red welts had appeared on his temple where the arcane energy had penetrated him. His limp hands clutched ineffectually at his ears.

  “How long will he be like this?” Leo asked through clenched teeth.

  “The tether will slough away in a day or so,” Danieli replied, her brittle voice now having more vigor. “It may take him a few hours to recover his senses.”

  “Pleasure doing business with you, Leo,” Cosimo laughed. He winked, and then the three of them departed the room.

  ***

  Nico could always sense when someone was staring at him — even if his eyes were closed, even in a dark room. It was like a sixth sense, an odd feeling that crept up his spine and made his skin crawl.

  What he felt now was like that, multiplied many times over. The queer sense that some foreign presence had burrowed deep into his mind — a sensation both alien and terrifying. When the diviner had accosted him, putting her evil magic upon him, the pain had been immeasurable. Like fingers of boiling hot lava pouring into his skull. Now those fingers were ceaselessly scraping his skull, making his ears burn and his forehead pound and his temple sweat.

  For a time, his mind drifted in a daze, more dead than alive. It might have been a minute, a day, a year, or an eternity — he did not know. His consciousness floated, borne on an eternal wind, taking him on a journey through strange lands with strange gods.

  Then, he heard a voice calling him, saying his name.

  “Nico?”

  He recognized that voice, though he did not know how. A friendly voice.

  “Nico, can you hear me?”

  The words were gentle tugs, lifting him back to consciousness. He opened his eyes. Two figures swam into view above him.

  “Nico?” Leo said again.

  “Mmyeh.” He could only grunt. His whole body ached with pain, especially his head. Gianna was pressing a damp cloth to his forehead.

  “Are you okay? Does it hurt?” she asked. “I brought some food and water.”

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  “Fine,” he croaked, finding his tongue. “I’m fine.”

  “You don't look fine,” said Leo. “You look like hell.”

  “You have such a soothing bedside manner, Lee,” Gianna said. “You ought to be a physiker.”

  Nico laughed, though it came out as a strange whine. He took a sip of water and nibbled on the cinnamon pastry Gianna had left for him on the table last night.

  “What… what happened?” he said. Nico’s memory was a blur, his mind dazed and disoriented. Why am I on a ship? In the captain’s cabin, no less, by the look of it…

  Leo and Gianna related to him the events of the morning. Each thought which surfaced in Nico’s mind was like scratching a sore wound, but slowly it came back to him. He recollected the task before them.

  “The Library of Azkaya… have we arrived?”

  “We docked an hour ago,” Leo said. “You sure you still want the job? I’ve half a mind to disembowel Cosimo. You were right that we can’t trust him.”

  “Why did he do this?” Nico asked, his voice regaining some strength.

  “I told him last night that we'd be entering the Library without him. Had to do it — he would of course find out eventually. Apparently, he decided he wanted to keep tabs on us while we’re inside. Danieli applied an enchantment to you — the Mindlock Enchantment, it’s called. She can see everything you see, hear what you hear, think what you think. Why she chose you rather than me… I have no idea.”

  “Hmm. Figures. But we’ve come this far… may as well see it through.”

  “Must we?” Leo said. “I could run a sword through Cosimo’s belly, have Bj?rn and Danieli and that loudmouth bard walk the plank into the shark infested seas. Take the Mint as our prize.”

  “And what then?” Nico said. “What about the debt? The Mint wouldn’t cover it, even if we could fence it.”

  “Lee isn’t actually serious,” Gianna said. “He’s just fantasizing.”

  “Right,” Nico said. “We need to prepare our disguises for the library.”

  “What disguises?” said Gianna. “We didn’t bring any outfits.”

  “Don’t need outfits. Just tattoos.” This was why Nico was so eager to obtain an Illusion attunement. Being adept at illusion magic would make it far easier to stage disguises with Leo and Gianna, he would be able to readily change their mannerisms, their physiognomy, their voice and gait — things which, for someone who had no experience in theater, was difficult to accomplish. But with magic it would be easy. A single spell — or a precise lattice of minor ones — would achieve the same effect.

  As it was, this particular set of disguises was a fairly simple one to pull off. He fished through his alchemy supplies and pulled out a vial of Alderwood sap. It was a dark ochre sap found in fae kib trees and commonly used to ward against banshees, but the compound was safe and nonreactive, and could be used to rub fake tattoos onto light skin in a pinch.

  “For today’s performance, we are to be Kerchmen seeking a cure for Bluebruise fungal rot — a plague that is destroying our bamboo crops, Kerch’s chief export. I have forged a letter from the Duke accordingly.”

  “Kerch,” said Leo, thinking over the plan. “The island chain about 200 miles southwest of the Myriad, right?”

  “Right. It’s remote but technically under Duke Ferdinand’s dominion. Kerchmen look identical to Veronans, and they speak their own language. One signature difference is that they each have crescent moons tattooed to their temple, hence this.” He held up the vial of Alderwood sap. “The claim is plausible enough to not arouse suspicion, and if they start asking too many questions… well, then we feign confusion, pretending to not understand them.”

  “Clever,” said Leo. “So long as we don’t encounter a real Kerchmen in the Library.”

  “There are only but a few hundred Kerchmen in Kerch. The odds are slim to nil we encounter one in the library.”

  “And in this disguise,” Leo said, “what is our relationship to Gianna? Is she our apprentice?”

  “She’s—”

  “—I’m a dwarf,” she said excitedly. In many respects the girl had inherited both Leo’s and Nico’s best traits. Alas, disguise was not one of them. The girl was terrible at disguises and usually liked to make a sport of them.

  Nico shrugged. “Suit yourself. Before we go, there’s something else you both should know. The Library — I know now why the Empress is so touchy about trespassers. Scholars within the Library are attempting to harness its mana for occult rituals.”

  “Well that sounds delightfully ominous,” Gianna said. “How did you find out?”

  “Lucius’ dossier. Whatever they’re doing, it’s quite lethal. At least a dozen scholars have perished as a result their studies. This, I daresay, is the military purpose of the Library.”

  “Fear not,” Leo said, “for I shall have Whisper with me.”

  “No,” Nico said. “Leave your weapons behind. We have to keep a low profile.”

  Telling Leo to leave behind his treasured sword was like telling him to cut off an arm. But he complied begrudgingly.

  ***

  The Floating Library of Azkaya was located in Capri, an isle in the northern Myriad Isles — or as far north as civilized man could venture without being preyed upon by ravenous dragons or Diji raiders. The town clung to a small spit of land thrusting into the sea, a sickle-shaped breakwater sheltering its one modest harbor. Capri’s inner lands were still a haven for Diji encampments, and so the Empire had built a stout wall on the edge of town. Mailed guards manned the ramparts, their gazes fixed west.

  Capri was only but a village, in truth, and thinly populated. The Library anchored the local economy, and nearly all of Capri’s citizens were scribes, scholars, and mages. It was oft said the three trades held a deep-seated enmity for one another; each distrusted and disdained the other two.

  The town was easy to navigate, being both small and well-ordered. Nico led the way, threading past pubs and inkshops, scroll shops and apothecaries. Everything here, even the pubs, catered specifically to scholars and mages. One local alehouse they passed was luring customers with the promise of free ink with the purchase of two mugs.

  Nico and Leo hurried past it all, and they soon arrived at their destination.

  Across a wide, empty square rose the Floating Library of Azkaya: an onyx orb suspended in midair, resting upon an ethereal white cloud. From this vantage, it loomed like an unassailable mountain. The nimbus at its foundation glittered like opals. It was so utterly possessed of arcane magic one could taste it on their tongue.

  “Who built this?” said Gianna. “And how is it sitting on a cloud?”

  "Azrael did,” said Nico, answering both questions with one answer. The god of gods, who resided in the Ice Court at the southern tip of the world.

  “When Azrael created the world, he peopled it with men and monsters, and erected monuments and buildings — some as temples for his children, the gods of magic. Those temples became attunement spires. Other monuments remained mysterious, their purposes unknown.”

  Could this truly be the site of Ilhen’s Seventh? It seemed as likely a location as any other.

  Leo spoke next, recalling what he had read last night: “For eons it lay uninhabited, until a hundred years ago when Ambrose tamed the infernal magic within.”

  “Everyone knows that story,” said Gianna.

  “It’s beautiful,” Nico said, “in its own bizarre, preternatural sort of way.”

  “Pity,” said Leo, “that Azrael neglected to build a door. Or a flight of stairs for that matter. How do we get in?”

  “We simply walk in,” said Nico, smiling. “The cloud is a portal entrance. Follow me.”

  He led them across the square, pigeons fluttering at his approach. Reaching the Library, he hesitated a moment with trepidation.

  Will the Library know my intentions are false? That I intend to plunder its secrets — and possibly its treasure?

  Mustering his resolve, he stepped into the opalescent mist, and entered Azkaya.