I was in my seat in history when Rabert walked in. A bit of a turnaround, this was one of the classes I normally walked to, and his previous class was closer than mine, so he was almost always here ahead of me. This time I sat at my desk, right next to his accustomed spot. I was staring at him over the tops of steepled fingers, with an entirely cold and appraising expression. And I kept that gaze locked on his as he mounted the steps and moved to my side.

  "Lady Harigold," he said cautiously.

  "Lord Frantlin," I replied. "I know that we are still waiting for the negotiations to be concluded at higher levels. I would like to take this opportunity to reassert my commitment. I find recent events have eroded my compunctions a great deal."

  "Well that is good to hear," he said, glancing to assure himself we were not being listened in on. "I will pass that message along. Most significantly, have you changed your stance regarding your brother's disposition?"

  I stiffened. "In my heart of hearts, the answer is a strident yes. But for the sake of my family I remain invested in his health and freedom." I paused. "If it is not out of line, I would like to ask a small favor of you. Could you provide me an introduction to Quinnifred Horvin-Grennick?"

  He raised an eyebrow. "Not directly no. She and I travel in similar circles but not the same circles. I could reach out and have a connection made, over the next day or two. Is she not in your dorm building?"

  "A lot of people are in my dorm building. But generally people do not seem to know exactly what they should think or believe about me. I find that an introduction helps smooth the way, it gives them context for what capacity I am approaching them."

  "Sensible. Since I have a variety of mutual connections I could use to reach her, that will impact the perception of this introduction. So, in what capacity are you reaching out to her? That will influence which of my acquaintances should introduce us."

  I paused, thinking this through. "I would like to ask her a friendly favor, and depending on her wishes this may lead to an immediate negotiation for terms, or it could be a simple exchange of good will. What does that say to you?"

  "I believe you have learned quickly how this is done," Rabert Frantlin said, with a small proud smile. "Exchange of goodwill is a nice touch. You would not imply a favor owed into the future."

  "To House Grennick? Never," I chuckled. The snakes in the grass. No, I don't want them to have a favor to hold over my head. But to say I would look on this kindly and be well-disposed in the future? That's more acceptable.

  "If I may ask," he said, carefully. "There's been a lot of talk, the last couple of days. The posted rankings-"

  I broke, groaning and dropping my head to the desk. "ugh, That!"

  The teacher at the front of the room interrupted the lecture. "Lady Harigold, are you all right?"

  "Just fine!" I called up.

  "Then do you mind if we hold our class in peace?" the teacher said with a decent helping of sarcasm.

  "If that's what you need," I called out. A ripple of laughter through the room.

  The teacher went back to teaching, and I lifted my head off the desk to turn to Frantlin. "This was a lesson in speaking precisely. So, I have earned the top spot in the rankings. But that is not the same thing as being declared for the top spot in the rankings. My sorcery teacher tried to kill me, but she also deducted twelve-percent of my total grade-average-"

  "Holy-" he blurted, and silenced himself. "Just like that?"

  "She zeroed out my grades for her class," I said. "Also, there was some additional and unrelated malfeasance involved in that ranking, which makes it even harder for me to untangle the paperwork. So while I may have sauntered around confidently asserting that I would be the top-rated student, I did not account for conditions changing in between the calculations and the publication."

  "Ah. Well, that's one point of my curiosity sated. And no truth to the rumor that you've been riding your brother's coattails and counterfeiting your genius all these years?"

  I had to allow a half-smile for that. "My brother is intelligent. Uncommonly so, even. But he is not capable of those feats. Rabert, find a copy of my class schedule if you'd like to allay those suspicions. Nobody can bluff their way through those courses."

  "Of course, yes," he said, showing me that he was quite willing to take my word for it. I was certain he would check up on me anyway. "While I have you, though..."

  "Hit it," I said.

  "Your brother had some interesting reports to make," Frantlin said. "They're not quite public knowledge, but they're not confidential, and-"

  "What details would you like confirmed?"

  "Monsters."

  "True."

  "Undead?"

  "True."

  "From berries?"

  "I understand the incredulity, it seems so innocuous. True." I sighed. "I would like to think that if my brother had contacted the military leadership instead of the trade minister we'd be seeing Kingdom troops marching to protect Meadowtam citizens from the monsters, instead of a trade embargo."

  "Likely so," he said smoothly "By the by, it also appears that for some reason a large fraction of Hearstcliff's population of adventurers has gone missing after multiple sightings of a strange girl with a strange story."

  "Funny how that happens," I chuckled. "Also true. Generally, adventurers are more effective at destroying monsters than soldiers are, but I would have liked to have both."

  He considered. "Your actions brought specialized warriors to assist the people. His brought a blockade and tariffs. Is this... accurate?"

  "Quite," I said.

  "And you both have cultivated very different circles of acquaintances," he said, nodding.

  Yes, I've been locking in support from the Development faction and making commitments to the Independent and Federalist factions while he has been snuggling up to the Dominionists. It would be fair to say that we're breaking in different directions. "True, yes," I said.

  "Hmm."

  "Hmm indeed," I concurred, breaking out a smile.

  "The people of Meadowtam are lucky that one of the two heirs has their interests so close to heart," he said. "Shame about the other one."

  "Indeed."

  "And a shame that the current heraldry shows one of them ahead of the other to inherit."

  "These things have been challenged in the past, haven't they?" I said nonchalantly.

  He agreed, nodding. "There are many routes to do so."

  "For example, if someone were a lawyer and could appeal a presumption of heredity," I said.

  "Ah," he said with a smile.

  Honestly, this feels like the best way to keep helpful members of the Federalist faction from assassinating my brother for my sake. If I can convince them that I could become named the heir without having to spill any blood, that would be best for everyone.

  If someone were to make a ranking, a list of all the different houses based on their relative strengths, then Harigold would be the second, after Freckentop. We've got the most land, the most holdings, the most authority and the most vassals and if pressed to it we could produce almost as much treasury as the Freckentops. They hold the throne in addition to their duchy, but even with Meadowtam laboring under this trade war it is probably the most prosperous for its people.

  So, if someone was gathering Houses to participate in a power play, Harigold and Meadowtam are an important part of the puzzle. Especially if the Harigold in question could bring the loyalty of Pinking and Greifir.

  No surprise at all that the architects of a coup might want the attention of the heir to Harigold, especially one that already seems friendly to their cause.

  Well that's what I intend to give them. If Nathan's so determined to fuck around, I'm determined that he's going to find out. He wants to cozy up to the Freckentop establishment, he can do that if he wants. In Glitter, there's no route that really allies you with the Federalist factions. The main options are either to support the throne, or to stay out of the politics and just try to survive the violence. One way or another, the king and queen do maintain their thrones and re-establish order.

  But I'm betting this is one of the variables that I can change. Just because the game says they always come out on top doesn't mean I have to cooperate.

  I just have to walk a tightrope, that's all: I need to contend against the Dominionists and my brother, without the Federalists deciding to kill him like they did the Byeview Boys.

  I've been making preparations. Some large, some small. Things like watching which building the orderlies take Nux back to when we're done. Things like checking in with Tiviti to make sure she'd like some more action and danger. Things like finding out how close I can safely get to the ruins, and bringing back samples to experiment with. I use it to distract myself, because adventuring in the wilds is more exciting but less stressful than the social-political bullshit that I've gotten myself immersed in.

  There's someone else to recruit, and he's got the same free period that I do, not by any coincidence.

  "Do you suppose they're going to hire a new sorcery teacher any time soon?" I asked, lounging back.

  "You didn't hear?" Kimothy asked, as he folded his arms back to pillow his head. "Next week. They've already made most of the arrangements."

  "Maybe that'll be able to straighten my grades out," I groused. I was wearing dark quartz glasses to block out the sunlight, sitting on a deck chair made of fog. He and I were hovering just over the edge of the cliff, dozens of tourists staring at us from behind the railings of the official lookout point. I had the air warmed up pleasantly, and we were enjoying a nice summery afternoon, lazily soaking up sunlight, before we needed to return to classes.

  "I still can't believe that they let her mark you all zeroes for the year," Kimothy said. "How does that happen?"

  I sighed, and took my iced tea from the foggy table at my side. "I don't really know. Every time I have a major setback or a battering, it always seems to come from some institutional power. There's probably some House politics that I'm on the wrong side of but haven't figured out yet. But enough about me- let's find out more about you. Particularly, whether you like adventure and exploration."

  "What?"

  "Are you an adrenaline addict? Like travel? Visit exciting new places and blow them up?"

  He took off his sunglasses and gave me a squint like he thought that would tell him whether I'm being serious or not. "Lady Harigold, we are sunning ourselves over a half-mile of free-fall. I do walk a little bit on the wild side."

  I sipped from my straw. "But sometimes adventure is a verb, not a noun."

  "What, like the guild?"

  "An awful lot like that," I said. "One could say 'identical', in fact."

  "Join the guild? Why?"

  "Because if we do we are legally allowed to keep whatever treasures we may find while exploring untamed regions," I said.

  "Are we going to explore untamed regions?"

  "That sort of depends on you. Well, the we part. I know that I am going to explore untamed regions."

  "It normally takes a party of people to do things like that," he pointed out.

  I set the glass down. "The first step to assembling a party is making a list. You're on my list."

  "Who else is on that list?"

  "Part of my plan is to use your curiosity to entice you to join," I said, and I started re-pinning my hair.

  "Wait, if you want me to go you have to tell me something!" he protested.

  "Tell you this: I've already got the location, the timing, and the transport worked out. I'm taking care of equipment and operating costs. The prize is extensive. I am requiring that everyone receive Guild accreditation before we go." I shook out my skirts, and he started guiding the fog banks back towards solid ground.

  "What are we going after?"

  "A solution to curiosity."

  "Funny. Where will we be?"

  "Far from here. But with my portals we should be back in time to shower up before class." I put my feet down, and patted my hair.

  He sighed. "Depending on where we go, we might need special preparation." The bells started to toll. Dong. Dong.

  "And I've taken care of that." I shaped his sunglasses and mine into something stronger, thicker, and more sealed up.

  "You're asking me to sign onto a venture without knowing anything about it?"

  "No," I said. "I'm asking you to meet the team. A session to come together, and learn everything at the same time. After that, we can see who's in and who's out." I flicked a hand and opened a fierce white portal. Some of the tourists in the background yelled in surprise.

  "You could have just said that," he sounded a little sour and stepped into the portal.

  "You have no sense of fun," I retorted, stepping after him.

  During the free hour before lights-out, I was approached by a haughty-looking thin girl with her hair in an amazingly symmetrical bun on the top of her head. She introduced herself briefly, and then in turn she introduced me to Quinnifred Horvin. "Lady Natalie is a friend of Rabert's," she said to the other girl. "I'm sure you two have much to discuss. I should take my leave." And she bustled off, leaving me and the sadistic bully together.

  "My lady," Quinnifred said, with a dip of a curtsy, and I replied in kind. She gestured us to sit at a two-top table, and I made myself comfortable. After a minute, she leaned forward, her fingers fussing with her cuffs. "Lady Natalie Harigold, friend of Rabert, what can I do for you?"

  "Right to the chase, or do you want to chat a little first?" I asked.

  "I had thought we would get right to the brass tacks, but I would appreciate the chance to make this polite," she said. "Sorry, I do not meet many people from your House or its friends, but it seems every time that I do they want nothing more than to not be speaking to me any more. I have gotten into a habit of assuming Development folks are rather brusque."

  "Hm," I said, patting at my hair. "I don't believe I've had the same experience. But it could be their reaction to your family name. Or perhaps you've just been unlucky to find only the rude ones."

  "I doubt it was the latter," she said. She was green-haired and green-eyed, with thin lips and thin shoulders. Her hair was held in two clips at the sides of her head so the mane of it swept out to the sides and then down to her shoulders, twined into a loose braid down her back. "My family does have bad blood with a great many other Houses. We're rather unpopular in many circles."

  "Such has been the past, but no call for that to be the future," I said, smiling.

  She recoiled a bit, her head tilting to look at me from just one eye. "Take it easy. I'm not Frantlin, and I don't like discussing alliances. I'm not looking to talk about anything serious."

  "Sorry, it's been a lot of heavy conversations lately," I said. "I've gotten a bit used to playing games with my words. It's a hard habit to break."

  She blew out a loud breath through her lips, almost a raspberry but not quite there. "Tell me about it. Some of my uncles and cousins are just insufferable with that shit. Even if they're not bargaining for anything they just have that tone that makes me feel like this is a trap, every time."

  "Nothing like that at Harigold," I said. "Huge culture shock for me when I came to Hearstcliff. Back home, you could get along with anyone if you were always willing to go saddle a horse and go for a ride."

  She groaned longingly. "Oh! Horses! My family had a country estate until I was six, and then the family business moved to Condana, and the new house had no yard at all, let alone stables! I had my own horse for one year and then I had to give it up!"

  "Consider yourself lucky. Once you get much older than six, they start expecting you to take care of your own mucking."

  She wrinkled her nose. "Oh, gross. Maybe not that part. But if you had a country estate, with no neighbors around, and you didn't like riding, what did you do all the time?"

  "Honestly, I was more of a reader than a rider," I admitted.

  She blinked in surprise. "I thought you stole all your ideas from your brother."

  "Right, sorry, I forgot. Yes, I stole all his ideas, that was what I was doing."

  She looked entirely unconvinced now. "Huh. All right, Lady Natalie Harigold. You are interesting and not what I expected. Before I invest much further, it is time for me to ask again: what can I do for you?"

  I laid my hands flat on the table. "I've asked a favor of Sicimmi Safis. And her favor from me was to get you to leave her alone."

  "Alone? I have no idea why she would ask that."

  If I did not know better, my bullshit meter would not have budged. I am surrounded by good liars, it seems.

  "It seems you have been saying things that make her feel bad," I said dryly.

  "What? Oh goodness no, I'm helping her!" Quinnifred insisted.

  "Helping," I repeated, flatly.

  "Of course! That poor girl does need so much help!" she said with a slow-spreading smile, her eyes sagging lazily half-shut. "Her clothes, her posture, the company she keeps, the way she speaks, the way she doesn't understand who her betters are."

  She drew herself upright, head up, shoulders tucked primly with her hands in her lap. Her demeanor shifted a great deal in just a few movements. She gazed at me with hooded eyes and a thin sneer. With a toss of her head, her hair fluffed and flared out to the sides, framing her face and neck.

  "I don't think that the Safis girl wants your help," I said.

  "Oh, but what people want and what they need rarely intersect," Quinnifred said. "I'm a Grennick, and we learn early that you have to fill a need to get what you deserve. For example, right now you need my cooperation because you've already made promises about the outcome of this conversation. So if you're not going to renege on a deal that is already paid off, you're going to do what I ask. Even if it means getting your nice shoes all covered in horse shit again, princess."

  I stared at her. "Hah. No. I can see you're used to people playing your game, but that's not happening here. I came here to ask you nicely once, threaten you once, and then get rid of you. I've already asked nicely, step one. I've also, now, threatened you, step two, by explaining step three. Need I go on?"

  The backbiting bitch just smirked again. "You can't do anything to me. You've go so much to lose- hey!"

  I got up and walked away from the table. I did not look back.

  Five hours later she was sleeping soundly in her bed. One hour after that, she was sleeping in a random hayloft in Condana because I didn't want to take the time to find her house. I brought her blankets with her, but nothing else. It would take her five weeks to travel back to Hearstcliff, if she felt like making the journey.

  The note that I left folded in her hand just read "You didn't ask about step four". Then I released her from hypoxia's grasp, and I teleported away before she regained consciousness.

  Dealing with bullies is a form of therapy too.

  Should this story include third-person information from Natha's POV?