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    The next few days flew by. Demia was a patient and understanding  teacher, shockingly so given the environment. The carrot and stick  combination worked well with my unit, and they continued to improve over  time. That comfort and relaxation obviously couldn''t last. I was  sitting with Camden for my nobility lessons with Celine, Chelsea, and  Callie, when Alister hurried in to announce a new guest.


    "Your  grace." He blurted in an uncharacteristic tizzy. "You have a guest. I''m  not familiar with them but they''re...powerful. Viscount level, though  I''ve never seen her before. She said to ask Solomon to vouch for her."


    My  eyes narrowed. Anna was here. Anna had never interacted with Camden  that I was aware of. Her showing up to speak to both of us was...bad. I  didn''t know how but I knew it was. Camden glanced at me, raising an  eyebrow. "One of my associates. She shouldn''t be a threat." At D-rank,  Zeke couldn''t protect me from Anna anymore, but not only did Anna not  know that, he could still protect Chelsea, who was in the room.


    I  had a bunch of stockpiled wishes to act as payment, in case she needed  them, though my preference was to avoid using them. If she was here  though, it meant something had gone very wrong. ''This seems like it might be a problem''. I heard Callie''s voice in my head. I didn''t even jump at the sound, I was so connected to her I''d felt her intention to speak.


    ''Anna  tries to stay under the radar. I''m not sure why she would interact with  Camden directly unless it had something to do with the person targeting  him. But why would she get involved?'' I could only think of one  real reason, and I didn''t like it. Anna wouldn''t have done something  like this unless whoever was threatening Camden was going to be a  problem for the planet at large. More specifically for Saltzberg and her  own interests.


    Hearing my tone, Camden nodded to Alister,  and the seneschal fled to get Anna, clearly terrified to keep a  D-ranker waiting. Which I got. They were terrifying.


    Anna  strode into the room a moment later, Alister on her heels. "Baron  Tolbert." She said with a nod. "Thank you for seeing me. I''m glad our  mutual friend saw fit to lend his support. I''ve been looking into  your...situation. I expected our friend might charge me to find out more  about what was going on. I''ve come across some disturbing news.  Disturbing enough that I won''t charge for the initial tip off, because I  need your input to make sense of what I found."


    Camden  nodded slowly. "Understood, I appreciate your efforts and your  willingness to share whatever you know. I assume this news concerns my  cousin Spencer?"


    "Possibly." She said with a shrug. "Do  you have an isolation formation on this room? I''m not certain I trust my  stealth Skills with this level of information. I don''t know of anyone  with spatial spying abilities on Stratholme, so the formation should be  safe enough."


    Nodding to Alister, Camden stood and walked  over to close the door. The seneschal hurried away and came back with a  large wooden box. Opening it, Camden withdrew an ornate bronze globe.  Opening it, he lit a candle, then closed the small bronze hatch and spun  the globe forcefully. The light from the candle surged and then  expanded outward in a bubble of golden light that hit the walls and  stuck to them like flypaper. "We''re safe to talk for the moment." He  said solemnly.


    "Good. Now, I heard from my sources you  came to Stratholme for the sole reason that you wish to distance  yourself from family affairs. Is this accurate?" This really must be  serious if Anna was being so formal. She never struck me as the type.


    "It  is." Camden admitted. "I prefer being alive and obscure to being famous  and dead. Spencer is a particularly bitter enemy, or I doubt he''d have  followed me. I take it he has some sort of plan that you think will  cause widespread destruction? I''m afraid to say that''s not out of  character."


    She shook her head. "You misunderstand.  Spencer didn''t follow you here to hurt you. In fact, Spencer didn''t  follow you here at all. According to my sources, Spencer was here before  you were. Months before. He''s been doing...something. Something  involving the cave systems that run under most of the planet. I don''t  know WHAT exactly, but several of the people he sent down there didn''t  come back."


    "That''s not possible." Protested Camden. "I  didn''t tell anyone about my decision to come here. Hell, I didn''t MAKE  the decision to come here until a few months ago. Shortly before I  arrived."


    Anna raised an eyebrow. "Really. And it was  entirely your own idea to choose Stratholme as your location? It wasn''t  suggested to you? Because the only way I can see this being a possible  outcome is if he steered you to the planet in some way."


    "No."  he said firmly. "I picked the planet out of a carefully curated list  of..." He froze. "Sara." He said in a daze. "She made the list for me.  It wouldn''t have been hard for her to surround this planet in particular  with ones I wouldn''t pick for other reasons. Thinking back the other  options all had minor flaws that would have made them untenable to me.  One was a desert, one had a strong magnetic field that eroded  spellwork." He slumped back. "She aimed me here. Into a trap. I thought  we were friends. She was my main source of intel after I left the  family."This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Sighing, Anna pulled out a chair and sat down. I  saw Alister twitch and had to fight a smile, though Callie frowned at my  amusement. I just shrugged, and she rolled her eyes. "Betrayal is never  pleasant. But I''m sure you understand the implications of this  information?"


    "I was herded here. Spencer arrived before  me and is doing something dangerous in a poorly explored part of the  planet''s crust." He said succinctly. "This is a trap, and the fact that  he picked this planet specifically means it probably involves some  deeply buried secret of Stratholme. Are you aware of any such dangers?  And what of the Earl, will he step in? His mind appeared to be running  full bore, sifting data and trying to figure out a next move.


    Anna  grimaced. "Your cousin is involved with the Magister, who is the Earl''s  right hand. I suspect he''s made arrangements for the Earl to play a  minimal role. Not ignore whatever is coming, that wouldn''t fly, but  minimize his footprint by occupying himself with some small part of  whatever attack or event he has planned. As for the issue of lore, I''m  no history student. I concern myself with the now, and not the before.  At least not at that scale. I do have a friend we might consult. If you  decide to involve me in this."


    "Ah." He said with a smirk.  "I was waiting for you to hit me in the purse. I''m afraid I''ll have to  disappoint. I don''t have much in the way of liquid funds."


    As  she panned her glance to me, I crossed my arms. "He has an allotment,  he can pay out of that. I''m not tossing you freebies because of this.  I''m already severely limited in the wishes I can use for my friends,  putting myself further into debt is a no go." I paused. "Actually, I do  have a question Camden. I thought this guy was your arch nemesis. How  did you not notice him vanishing for months before you left?"


    For  the first time in these lessons, his composure cracked as he threw his  hands up in irritation. "We don''t have sleepovers every night in  matching twin beds, he tries to kill me sometimes. Usually by proxy. It  isn''t unusual for me not to see Spencer for years at a time. Houses like  the Tolbert family span multiple galaxies, possessing influence  wherever the Empire exists. We''re one of the strongest Ducal houses.  Keeping track of what everyone does is something only the head of the  family or his direct subordinates can manage."


    That was  fair. It was like asking me to quote you the location of one of the  Wyndhams. I didn''t know who everyone in the family even was, how was I  supposed to know where they went. Anna smiled placidly. "I can tell you  this much. Given the number of people who have vanished into those  caverns since he arrived, whatever he''s planning is big. If you know  what it is you can prepare ahead of time, if not you might die here."


    "What  about us?" I asked him, suddenly remembering something he''d said. "You  used someone specific for the information on us, is it possible your  cousin will figure out who we are if he has that person on his payroll?"  My wish power was one of our biggest aces in the hole against anyone  who didn''t know about it. It was also one of the main reasons I''d  decided to stay here. Although now that I knew if I ran I''d be  increasing my chances of running into trouble of a more personal nature I  had another reason to stick it out.


    He  hesitated, but shook his head. "I used a different one of my sources to  dig into you. But there are plenty of other secrets Sara knows about  that might be a problem. I just..." His face twisted in hurt. "I can''t  believe she would do this. Spencer wants to kill me. She knows that.  Herding me here is all but signing my death warrant."


    I  winced, but as much as I felt for him, I also knew we needed to stay  focused. "I get it man, I really do, but it''s not the time. Can you work  something out with Anna to help us? Her abilities would be a huge boon  to us. She managed to rescue a bunch of her people from the Magister  after that mess at the banquet. She''s good." I glanced sideways at her.  "I assume you have potential measures to take to aid us should you be  brought onboard?"


    "Of  course." She scoffed. "A few of my boys are standing by at some of the  entrances Spencer sent his people through. They''ll infiltrate the cave  systems and do some scouting. Unlike his random mercs, my people are  masters of stealth. They''re never seen unless they want to be."


    I  nodded wisely. "Ah, of course. Like they never get beaten about the  head and body with a magic stick. That must have been another group of  shadowy thieves."


    "Have we discussed medical expenses for that?" She asked sweetly. "Because that fucking stick did some serious damage."


    I  smiled. "Consider it the cost of doing business. Maybe next time he  won''t try to put his grubby hands on my girlfriend. She didn''t exactly  have pockets, and I can''t think of any acceptable place he would have  been able to check for valuables in that dress. He''s lucky I didn''t  smash his fucking kneecaps and let them heal wrong."


    Callie  stiffened at that, clearly not having considered that aspect of things.  Anna herself looked pensive, and I suspected her pickpocket friend was  going to be answering some pointed questions. Good.


    Finally,  Camden seemed to finish processing and rejoined the conversation. "I  agree to your involvement. I''ll require a more detailed contract, but I  see no reason for Shane, Callie, Chelsea, and Celine to stay for this  part. We can end lessons early tonight, I''m sure you''ll all be happy to  get to sleep early."


    "Don''t  have to tell me twice." I said, popping to my feet. "Let us know how  this all works out. And Anna, set us up to talk with your friend who has  a handle on the local lore. Best to know the possibilities in case your  boys don''t find anything." Planets were big, no reason to put all our  eggs in one basket. With that we all waved our goodbyes and headed out. I really was happy to be leaving. I was tired, and had a lot to think about.