I held my breath, staring hard at Sybil's hands as she double checked the tape measure.

  "Well?"

  Sybil shook her head, keeping her eyes on the ground.

  I resisted the impulse to toss something at the wall.

  "Gods damnit..."

  This would be the fifth week in a row that we would record no visible changes to my body.

  The signs had been there, to be sure. No matter how hard I trained, I gained no strength. But over time, even the little things had grown more noticeable.

  My hair didn't grow. Neither did my nails.

  About halfway through our summer of hard training, Sybil had had the idea to start trying to measure me, to make sure we weren't imagining things.

  It would seem we weren't.

  "So it's hopeless, then? I'll never be a real Nightingale?"

  Sybil sighed, putting her hand to her face.

  "Your technique has improved so much, Soph. I want you to understand that it's definitely not hopeless."

  "I'm sensing a 'but', Syb."

  "But, the style I've been teaching you is going to plateau fast like this. No matter how much I teach you, you lack the control to execute it. You're just not strong enough. Not until we get this fixed."

  I said nothing, and held back the tears that threatened to burst forth.

  Sybil held me to her shoulder. "It's okay to cry, Soph."

  I stayed silent, gripping her with both hands, and quietly sobbed into her shirt.

  ---

  I listlessly passed parchment from one side of the desk to the other, barely even glancing at them before pressing the guild stamp into them.

  Ever since I had standardized the expense reports, even going as far as to send templates by mail to the various guild members who were away, my work was basically done before I even sat down.

  One caught my eye, and I raised an eyebrow.

  "Hmm. Not sure that counts as a business expense..."

  I smiled a bit. Sybil was going to love this one.

  Sybil.

  My face fell.

  "It's already been a week since I last saw her..."

  The moment we had laid to rest the possibility of her truly passing down her art to me, she lost her smile.

  Only a day after that, she told me that if I couldn't safely go to Corone, she would find someone to bring back to the Kingdom.

  And then she had left, taking only her horse and the provisions it could carry.

  Now, I really was alone. I had felt it before, but it felt even worse now.

  I glanced at the candle I used to mark my shift, and sighed.

  "I'll just... come back and finish later."

  I snuffed out the candle with my fingers and stood up from the desk.

  Picking up my belt from the rack by the door, I strapped my blades to my side, and stepped out onto the street.

  "The usual, I suppose."

  ---

  Of the many different places to eat in Guldenfel, my favorite was a small place right along where the main street met the northern road.

  It served small meals, flatbread topped with meat and vegetables and rolled into something you could eat with your hands.

  It was cheap, and best of all, had a great view of travelers as they made their way through.

  I liked to watch the people go by, and imagine what sort of business they were on.

  Some were easy to guess. A man with a donkey, arriving from the north and laden with wrapped furs. A family with a cart full of wheat, coming in from the fields outside of the city.

  Others were more fun. A woman traveling alone, wrapped in a gray cloak. A man with a covered cart, the canvas nailed into place. A white carriage with no heraldry.

  The whole time, I breathed deeply, idly hoping to catch the faintest trace of Diana's magic.

  The odds were impossibly slim, but it was the only thing I could do, anymore. I had no money. I had run out of clues. And I didn't have access to information.

  I clutched the cracked moonstone, which I now wore on a chain around my neck.

  I prayed for pure serendipity. If the gods willed it, it could happen. But then again, I still didn't know their names.

  "Well. I know the name of one."

  "Doni..." I began, but a feeling like a knife, twisting and deep, pierced my heart before I could finish the prayer.

  Shuddering, a different thought came to mind.

  "I wish Erika were here..."

  I focused, hard, on my meal. I felt the texture of the meat between my teeth, and the smell of the spices in my mouth.

  I knew I would regret this later. About half the time, I ended up vomiting up anything I ate. But you had to buy something to sit here, and good seats were hard to come by.

  "Looks good. Can I have a bite?"

  It only took a moment before I was standing again, my hand in position to draw my blade on the Faraldi courier, the one with the braided hair, that had snuck up behind me.

  He wasn't wearing his Faraldi vest today, but I couldn't think of any legitimate reason for him to approach me.

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  "Woah now, let's be so hasty, hm? Pulling that out would be a crime all on its own."

  I glanced at the small cluster of pedestrians that had stopped to watch and whisper.

  Keeping my chair between the two of us, I slowly straightened up, keeping my hand close, but not on, my weapon.

  "What do--"

  My vision swam for a moment, and I nearly vomited. I could feel my heartbeat, strong, as if it was pulsing at the edge of my vision.

  ---

  There's another letter waiting for me at the Nightingale office when I arrive. I pick it up, and when I see the Faraldi seal upon it, I feel my heart sink.

  It's him again.

  The man who can smile as he waits for his prey to die, bled dry from their own thrashing.

  Shrike.

  He won't let me go.

  ---

  I teetered on my feet, the pain in my heart slowly receding. "What the hell was that? Am I starting to hallucinate now?"

  He tilted his head, playfully, waiting for me to continue. If he was confused about my behavior, he didn't show it.

  "What the hell do you want, Shrike?"

  I hadn't meant to say that last word, but it had risen to my lips unbidden. The sense of unease grew, but I otherwise felt normal.

  "I hope Sybil comes back soon."

  The man broke composure, and the way his eyebrows lifted and his eyes widened looked very genuine.

  "Now, where did you learn that?"

  "... Answer the question."

  "Hm. Not for free, Harpy."

  "Harpy?"

  The crowd around us had slowly dispersed, but he kept his voice low.

  "Your... Faraldi name."

  "I have no need for such a thing."

  He laughed, holding one hand to his chest with a grand smile.

  "We'll see how you feel after I tell you what you need to know."

  Every instinct told me that I should walk away, but curiosity was slowly getting the better of me.

  "What do I need to know, then?"

  "Nothing for free."

  His smile was genuine. He was actually deriving some sort of entertainment from this. I suppressed the bubbling urge to punch him.

  "... At least try to sell it to me. Nobody would buy anything blind from a snake like you."

  "Sybil. Alana. Tor. Ruben."

  "What about them?"

  "Wouldn't you like to know?"

  And he held out his hand with a flourish.

  "Ugh. He's got me. And the worst part is, we both know he's got me."

  I reached into my coin purse and handed him several silver coins. It hurt to give them up, but I focused on the hope that, with this, he might stop bothering me.

  He dropped the coins into his pocket without bothering to count them.

  "Did I overpay? Or did the amount not even matter?"

  He gestured with his head for me to follow him into the space between two buildings, and against my better judgement, I did.

  Once we had stopped, a good ways away from the street, he turned around, holding out his hands welcomingly.

  "Well then. I just thought you might like to know that the situation down south has passed the critical point. There will be news of war within the week."

  I could hear my heartbeat in my ears.

  "What? How could you know that?"

  He smiled, tapping his ear.

  "We hear everything, dear Harpy. As fast as the birds can fly."

  "That's not an answer."

  "Oh, but it is, if you're in the know."

  "...How much to be in the know?"

  "Now that you can't afford. Not for all the gold in Guldenfel."

  I grimaced.

  What were the odds that he was telling the truth?

  I didn't think that Shrike would lie to me. He seemed more like the type to play with his food, and enjoy watching me try to put the pieces together.

  "Unless that's also part of his act, but if I start going down that road, there will be no end to it."

  So then, what did this mean?

  "Why tell me this?"

  "Because you're going to go, aren't you?"

  I clenched my fist on the pommel of my dagger.

  He was right. I had to see for myself. It wasn't like I was getting much done here, on my own.

  "Thanks, I suppose. Now leave me alone."

  As I turned to walk away, he laughed.

  "Not one for thinking things through?"

  I felt my ears burning. "What do you want now?"

  "To help you, dear girl! How do you mean to find your friends on a battlefield? Do you even have the money to buy a horse, or did you plan to walk there?"

  "..."

  I had, in fact, planned to walk there.

  "So? How much does your help cost?"

  "Just a little job, Harpy. One small thing."

  I started to walk away again, but he skipped his way in front of me.

  I barely held my composure.

  "I have no desire to do any sort of job for the Faraldi, not now or ever."

  "Oh, but what if this weren't for the Faraldi? What if it were just for me?"

  I stepped back, keeping my stance ready for a confrontation.

  "And what would that job be, then?"

  "Well, my fiance is down south, you see. She's run away from her father, and I was hoping you'd have her returned to me before she gets hurt. I'm sure your Nightingale friends would be generous enough to assist you. They did pay a rather large sum for you, after all."

  I stared at him, hard, trying to find any signs of deception.

  "And your fiance would be...?"

  "Lady Agnes Printemps. I understand you're acquainted?"

  I drew my blade without thinking.

  His stance dropped low, and with a flick of his wrists, each of his hands held thin knives.

  "Who are you, to be engaged to her? Come up with a better lie next time. Or at least try to think of someone I would actually bother to save!"

  I drew my dagger, holding it to create a clear path to his heart while I guarded with my sword.

  "And do you think that you can do anything with those knives that will actually hurt me? I'm sure the Faraldi should be more than aware of what my magic can do."

  "I'm not the one who's starting a fight, Harpy. But if you are to attack me, I will endeavor to make it hurt as much as possible, both now and after."

  "After?"

  "This would be your second time killing a nobleman, little branch. And you don't have any sisters to take the fall for you, this time."

  I drove my dagger in to strike, making to sweep away his knives with my sword in the selfsame motion.

  He was quick, and I simply didn't have the strength to execute my own attack before he skillfully deflected both strikes, stepping back into the alley where my sword would be more constrained.

  "Well now. I apologize for my uncouth behavior, Miss Kynigos. Would you please hear me out to the end?"

  He didn't seem at all sincere, but as the impulse faded, I deeply regretted having attacked him.

  Deserved or not, Sybil hadn't taught me the blade so that I could use it this way.

  I slowly, cautiously, sheathed my blades as he did the same.

  "... You're a nobleman? But you... back in the office, you made it seem like you were just another operator."

  "I did make it seem that way, didn't I?"

  He gave a sickeningly courteous bow.

  "I, Lord Falco Faraldi, am pleased to say that I have the honor of marrying your elder sister. You and my little sister came of age at the same time. Happy to call you family."

  "We're not family."

  But instead of responding, he held out his hand.

  "The resources you need to reach the southfolk colonies, in exchange for ensuring the safety of my fiance."

  I stared at his hand.

  He smiled back at me.

  "Do we have a deal?"