They all jumped and turned around. She had walked away in the other direction and then just appeared behind them.

  They looked at each other and then at Draconis. Mistress Longbrow spoke carefully. “Drac, if you think the boy is in danger, it is better that we are all here together.”

  Bella did not blink. She just stood there waiting.

  Glimmerblade stared at her and said, “The boy is my former apprentice, my colleague, and I care for him like a son. If we are going to have an issue, then now is the time to face it.”

  She stared at him boldly and then looked away. “He shall come to no harm if I am able to prevent it. We are bonded in the ancient ways and are pledged to each other until one of us passes beyond our realms.”

  Master Nanren, Bido’s master and War Master of Thaumaturgy, turned to me and said, “You really don’t do anything by half measures, do you, lad?” And he shook his head in bewilderment.

  The other two masters present were emeritus Illusionist Guild Mistress, Shantra Shining, whom I spent all of three minutes with in her guild atrium, and Master Cloudfall, a master at the Conjurer’s guild whom I had met on many occasions in my master’s quarters, serving them both during their frequent social visits. He was not the War Mage of his guild, that had been a rather hostile younger man who challenged me openly until group consensus quieted him. My instinct told me that this mage had been the War Mage and that the younger one must have recently assumed that role.

  Emeritus Guildmistress Ilyana Farseer had left before any of this drama unfolded, and none of the other master sages I had met with were present, not that I was surprised.

  Master Cloudfall had been silent up until this point. “I, for one, am inclined to trust Ilyana and the boy. But if you want to skirmish with it, I’m up for it.”

  Before they all committed themselves and me to something that could not easily be undone, I thought to Bella, They are all trying to protect me as best as they know how. Could you allow them to meet you like we did, and so long as they do not do anything to seriously threaten you, allow them to satisfy themselves that you are who you present yourself to be and that I am in no danger?

  She replied, If you wish it. Their minds are shielded from me, and I am unsure that I can trust them, either.

  “Master Glimmerblade, I suggest that you all enter the Spiritual Realm peacefully and verify her, umm, credentials. She is unable to read you because your minds are shielded, and she also wants to keep me safe. You are as much a mystery to her as she is to you.”

  Master Draconis relaxed his shoulders a bit. “That is a fair point, Corwyn. We can meet under a truce, ask questions, cast detections, and see where this goes. While I am not as confident in Ilyana as Bernie, it seems unlikely that she would set Gwydion up and us by proxy.”

  Mistress Longbrow said quietly, “Unless she is the one we are looking for. Taking out five warmasters at once could cripple our defense plans.”

  They all remained thoughtful for a few more moments. Finally, my master said, “My instinct says that we will be fine. The Bishop had also given his blessing to this endeavor and opened the door for Ilyana.”

  Master Draconis said, “That would have been useful to know five minutes ago. With the Bishop’s support, I’m fine to engage in a Spiritual Truce. Who will be the anchor?”

  Master Nanren said, “I’ll anchor.” And he handed something to my master which I did not make out.

  With a smile and a tight grip on his staff, my former master turned to me and said, “So here’s how this will work. You will serve as a conduit between the spirit and us. If it goes badly, we might all just end up back here with a few bruised egos or, as the truce conduit, your brain could be turned to mush. If we are attacked, we will defend ourselves, and that means you will be at risk. Do you trust her enough for this to proceed?”

  I looked at Bella, who looked back at me, uncertainty and just a hint of anxiety in her eyes.

  I smiled at her and nodded to my master. “I do.”

  “I will initiate,” Bella said out loud.

  Suddenly, I felt a great deal of pressure on my shoulders and a stuffiness in my head and sinuses. It only lasted perhaps ten or fifteen seconds, but during that time, I could only see my surroundings in a hazy blur. After maybe thirty seconds, the feeling of uneasiness subsided as quickly as it started. When I came back to myself, the mages were already departing my shoppe.

  Master Nanren, the thaumaturgist, muttered under his breath as he walked away. “No half measures with this one. What has she gotten me into?” And he actually chuckled as he walked out.

  Bella had disappeared again, and only Master Glimmerblade remained. He had a look on his face as he stared at me that looked like a cross between holding back laughter and the desire to slap me upside the head, which was something he had never done, although there were occasions he had threatened to do so when I had been especially out of line when I was younger.

  He held up a hand as I started to ask questions. “Short answer is that we trust her. But we cannot discuss any of it with you. That was part of the deal. We also had to reveal our true selves to her, but we also know, as a result of that decision, that none of the five of us is the traitor. That was worth the price of admission itself.” He just stared at me and shook his head.

  He reached out and clasped both of my shoulders and squeezed. That was as close as he normally came to hugging. The only other exceptions had been out front by the sign and in the guild hall meeting room, and he had done that out of pure compassion at my grieving. He had a heart as big as the outdoors, but he was not overly affectionate. It was just his way.

  His hands returned to his side. “Down to business. First, I apologize for not giving you more of a heads-up about all of this. I had wanted to surprise you, and all of this drama was in essence a result of my pride. In hindsight, we are better off for it, but we got lucky. A mage’s pride-” he began.

  “Inevitably costs him his hide.” I completed. And we both laughed. It was one of his axioms that he drilled into all his students.

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  He continued. “And second, I’m afraid I spent most of your inheritance on this shoppe. While all of Sundance’s effects were bequeathed to you, I was the executor of his estate. I committed 35,000 gold to the five masters who made this for you. You will also have to do your own decorating. Time just didn’t permit some of the fancier things I wanted, like a waterfall feature.” He looked across the main floor at the back wall. “The absence of which I am still a little miffed. The endless fountain was the best we could do on short notice.” He said by way of apology as he pointed at a modest-sized fountain that had intermittent jets of water bubbling out of it.

  “Obviously, I am not charging you for my time. That is a gift.” He remarked.

  “So, seven thousand gold to each master? That seems remarkably low given all this.” I said.

  “It is. They like you, they were each close with Sundance, and have high hopes for your work in defense of the city. And you have not even seen half of your shoppe yet. Oh,” He paused.

  “Yes?” I prompted.

  “And they each are owed some significant work of personal enchantment to be determined later at some time before you achieve master ranking.”

  “I see. Any details about what that would be?”

  “Not a hint.” He said with a smile. “They will love holding that over you and will put some very creative thoughts into what they could have you make for them, I am sure.”

  “I see,” I repeated. But I was not offended, far from it in fact. This shoppe was amazing.

  Over the next half hour, I was to learn just how amazing the shoppe was. Along with Bella, there was an intelligent and mostly compliant greater elemental of all five types bound to the shoppe and my will. There was a floor above and a floor below. The single staircase up or down was hidden by an illusion in a back pillar. The pillars were a solid seven feet in diameter and of elegant marble. However, one was mostly hollow and had a six-foot-wide spiral staircase that wound up and down with landings on each floor. And opposite the stairs, its twin pillar held a secret walk-in closet that was attuned only to me. There were three showing rooms that looked like fancy, noble conference rooms, a main floor walk-in magical vault for treasures at the back near the secret closet, and the list went on.

  The floor below also had thirty-foot ceilings and was a giant laboratory filled with crafting stations that covered my many interests. There were multiple forging stations, enchanting work stations, several jewelry and gem cutting stations, carpentry, sculpting, and multiple open stations that could be specialized later.

  Near the right wall were stations for sculpting, carving, engraving, and carpentry. The back held a large and intricate summoning circle. Nearby were three stations for alchemy and plenty of storage, both open and within cabinets for ingredients.

  I could see some things I wanted to add and enhance, but this was a master craftsman’s dream space.

  The top floor housed my personal rooms in about a quarter of the space, which was enormous. I had a bedroom, a heated bath, a study/library as the entry room, and a couple of empty rooms that my master suggested could be bedrooms for children down the road. He had a smirk when he said it.

  The top floor also had an enormous open kitchen and dining room with a rectangular table that easily would seat twenty along its long benches. There were also a half dozen smaller round tables that would sit six or eight. The floor also had numerous guest rooms designed off of the unique rooms that Max had above the Double Dragon Inn and Tavern, where my friends and I had shared dinner the past two evenings. Several of the rooms were designed around different races.

  My master left me to explore my new home and was as excited for me as I was for myself. I was lost in thought, staring into a large fireplace in the third-floor common area near the winding spiral stairs when someone cleared his throat behind me.

  It was Biff.

  “I see that you have a room upstairs next to mine, just off the lounge, here,” I said, pointing off to my right. I had the same smile that had been on my face for the past twenty minutes.

  “Oh yes, Bella showed me when you and Master Glimmerblade were in the lower level.”

  “She introduced herself to you then?”

  He swallowed and made an involuntary gulping sound, which he was immediately embarrassed by. “In a manner of speaking. As your bodyguard, she had a few…questions for me and put me through a little…interview, she called it.”

  My brow furrowed. “What was that like?” I asked, concerned.

  “Utterly terrifying.” He stated bluntly. “And also illuminating.”

  Bella’s voice sounded in my head. I trust him. She did not elaborate, and as these things go, that was probably enough.

  “Are you okay, Biff?” I asked.

  “Yes, I’m fine. Better than fine, actually. However, it did take a little while to get back to being fine. It was an ordeal. You may want to encourage her not to be that thorough with everyone in our group.”

  “I’ll talk with her about it,” I said.

  He nodded acceptance and handed me a bundle.

  “What’s this?” I asked.

  “Your mail.”

  “Already? I have been here for like a half hour.” I said, surprised.

  He shrugged. “The Postal Service knows its business.”

  That much was true. The USPS, the United Spellcasters Postal Service, pulled some amazing and unexpected feats over the years. Their main Keelwell office was just down the street in the city center, although they had a branch in each of the nine city wards, often known as boroughs by locals. It was my launching point for the Scrublands adventure that seemed like ages ago.

  “I’ll check these out in my rooms. Want to join me for a bite to eat?” I asked Biff. He was always hungry.

  “No, thank you. I’m good for now.” He said hurriedly.

  His interview must have been something if it put him off his ever-present hunger. We walked a few yards over to where my door opened into my private rooms. There was a round oak table near the entrance, and one of the three cozy fireplaces in the large room sat off to one side of the table. Fortunately, none of the fireplaces were near the long bookcases of my library, which even included a brass ladder that rolled along its entire length.

  The shelves were nearly empty. The only books present were a set of several acolyte primers from each of the seven guild masters who helped build the shop: enchantment, sorcery, wizardry, summoning, thaumaturgy, illusion, and conjuration. Each set was on a different shelf, obviously hand-picked by the respective master and intended to be the start of discipline-specific texts of their guilds. It was a kind gesture, and I would certainly dig into them. I’m sure each contained entry-level apprentice spells, some of which might prove very helpful.

  I would learn later that at least one book on each shelf’s bundle had been authored by the mage who gifted it to me, along with a personal note and signature.

  They were a class act.

  I would have expected a shoppe like this to have cost ten or twenty times the gold to create, and they did it in a morning. The magic outlay must have been immense.

  Biff offered me a dagger to cut the twine that bound the letters together. I handed it back to him hilt first and blade out, as I had been taught for safety.

  There were more than a dozen letters in the bundle, but four stood out.

  The first one I opened was a black envelope with silver lettering naming me and the shoppe by way of address. The message was brief.

  This confirms that the execution of Master Sundance was not sanctioned by a guild member.

  -Guild Master, Hidden Hand

  The guildmaster of the assassins' guild knows where I live, knows me by name, and wanted to assure me the guild had nothing to do with Sundance’s death. A cold sweat dripped down my neck.

  I handed the letter to Biff, who read it and looked up at me with wide eyes.

  “Let’s hope the letters get better,” I said, concerned.

  And they did. The next was a kind note from the Bishop extending his condolences and thanking me again for my assistance at the wharf. He also hinted that he might stop by to see my new digs. He actually used the word “digs.” Biff thought that was a hoot and couldn’t wait to tease Steven.

  “Biff, the Bishop is one of the truly holy men in our Kingdom. I think we’ll let this go.” I said, and he agreed. “Besides, with his ability to see into the future, he might just see you poking fun at Steven and-”

  Biff grew pale. “Ok, I said, okay! Let’s leave it at that!”

  I laughed. “I’m just messing with you, Biff. It's been one of those days.”

  “One of those days and a half.” He said in agreement.

  The Duke also sent a note of regret with a promise to continue the investigation. It was kind, but had a kind of repetitive feel to it, like it was one of dozens done like it. And then I realized, hundreds had been lost at the hands of the undead. He certainly would not have sent a note to each family. But I noticed a little scrawling penmanship at the corner. It was in a different hand and one not nearly as neat and crisp. The notation said,

  Thank you for standing up in Council this morning. You have helped give hope when it was running thin.

  -E.M.

  I showed this note to Biff as well. “EM?” I asked him.

  His eyebrows rose. “Duke Edward Medici?” He suggested.

  That meant that the Duke had added that note in his own hand before it got sent out. There had to be a real pile of them, too. It said a lot about him to send that note. But then I wondered, what did it say for me that the Duke took that kind of time for my loss?