"Congratulations, for those of you that said Sofia, you are correct. She was the sleeper agent."
Sofia looked a little bewildered, but the realization seemed to be slowly dawning on her face.
"As you can tell, with only a minor modification, she was affected enough that over half the class picked her out." He paused, letting everyone consider what he had to say. "That's all for class today. Be prepared for class on Thursday by learning all thirty-three memory knockout charms and their effective counters."
A collective groan filled the auditorium to which Konig added, "Better prepared than..."
"Dead," responded the class.
As everyone filed out, Zayn approached Instructor Konig, who was collecting his notes, which he'd stacked on the floor.
"Can I help you, Mr. Carter?"
"I had a few more questions about sleeper agents."
As Konig organized his papers, he nodded. "Shoot."
"Is it really that impossible?" asked Zayn.
The instructor raised an eyebrow. "Nothing's impossible. You know what the patron likes to say."
"Yes, improbable," said Zayn, "but I'm guessing there are practical limits."
"Maybe you have something in mind?"
Zayn lifted one shoulder. "Professional curiosity."
He had no idea if Instructor Konig knew much about Varna, since he wasn't a regular instructor, but he didn't want to give away what he intended.
"If you're thinking about trying it to get into a specific location, I recommend against it," said the instructor, clearly meaning the embassy, though it wasn't what Zayn was thinking about.
"Why? Can't those challenges be overcome if the memory deletion was done properly?" asked Zayn.
"There are too many risks and unknowns. The mind is an unknown network. You never know what can happen, especially when you have to hide deeper intentions. If what needs to be hidden is integral to a person, even a little bit, it tends to modify the person in ways they can't expect. As I said before, practically, it is impossible, even though theoretically, smaller things can be hidden."
"I see," said Zayn.
Instructor Konig patted Zayn on the shoulder. "If you want to experiment on something small, feel free, but I don't recommend it with anything important. It's just too dangerous. Okay?"
"Thanks, Instructor Konig."
He left the classroom frustrated. Once the instructor had started the lesson, Zayn had hoped that it might be a solution to his problem in Varna, but unless he could figure out a way around the unintended consequences, he needed a different solution.
Chapter Eighteen
Seventh Ward, February 2016
The play's the thing
The auditorium caught the sounds of their conversation as they wandered in from backstage. The La Fay Elementary school on the north side of the seventh ward wasn't being used on this Sunday afternoon, and more importantly, the custodian had taken a smell-no-more trinket in trade for use of the facilities.
Skylar moved to front center, put her hands on her hips, and belted out, "All the world's a stage and I'm its oyster!"
"What was that?" asked Vin.
"I don't really know," said Skylar. "Isn't that something from a play?"
Vin's eyes fluttered as he placed the back of his hand to his forehead. "Amateurs."
"So what are we doing today, Maestro?" said Zayn.
"Maestro is for band. I'm the director, and the acting coach, and probably the lead," said Vin despondently.
From the left side of the stage, Keelan said, "I always wanted to be in a play."
"See," said Zayn. "We're eager clay, ready to be molded. Lay it on us, what are we going to do?"
Vin shook his head incredulously. "Gather round. So there's not a lot of information about the maetrie's theater habits, or at least not a lot of detailed information. They have plays that sound more like consensual group torture, and others that would probably be called performance art in Invictus."
"That's consistent with my experiences in the Diamond Court casino," said Zayn.
"Right. Like I said, most of it has little detail, so it would be hard to perform, even if we understood the intent, which we'd probably get wrong due to cultural reasons. But there is one style of theater that we might be able to pull off, and I say might.
"They call it Liebereisen and essentially it means Journey of Discovery, heavy emphasis on the journey part. The plays are about someone going on a journey in the Eternal City, and what they encounter and how that changes them and makes them into the person they are. It's a coming of age tale."
"That sounds like something I would enjoy," said Portia, who was sitting on the stage stretching her legs while she was listening.
"Yes, it sounds nice. It's not too different from the Odyssey, though Homer was an adult. But the journey part is the same," said Vin.
Keelan had his faced scrunched up. "How does that even work? Since the Eternal City has no directions, it's all based on intention."
"That's what makes the Liebereisen a uniquely maetrie sort of event, and form of entertainment. Because the journey is different for everyone, and based on who they are, it becomes like fate to them. It defines who they are for the rest of their lives," said Vin.
"I'm not seeing why this is going to be a problem," said Zayn.
"There are two major issues. One is that there aren't many of these plays translated into English, or any human language. And the ones that are involve events that I don't even know how we can pull off on the stage. In the one I read, the Hahn, which is like the hero, transformed into a fish monster during the first act, and ate the heart of a smoke-eater in the third," said Vin, exasperated.
"The other problem is that the Liebereisen is a marionette play, which means we have to figure out how to create a rigging and have strings hanging off of us as if we're being moved by fate."
"We're going to be marionettes? That sounds cool," said Keelan.
Vin threw his hands in the air. "But how? We don't have a big budget like the Orpheum Theater and no one here except me has been in a play before."
"We can figure that out later. Why don't you walk us through some of the things we need to learn so we can practice them on our own time," said Zayn.
Vin pushed on his stomach as if he were trying to prevent an ulcer. "I suppose that will work. Alright, the four of you, line up over here and we're going to do some acting exercises. I need to see what I have to work with."
For the next few hours Vin had them do mouth exercises, which involved them doing funny voices, flapping their lips and tongues, and stretching their mouths. There was more than one instance of the giggles, which brought glares from Vin, which only made it worse since they'd never seen him so serious.
The next three hours had them practicing how to be marionettes, which involved moving as if strings were pulling their limbs into motion, rather than the normal smooth flow of their bodies. Zayn tried to imagine that every movement involved a slight upward arc.
Before they'd started, Zayn had thought this part would be easy for them due to their imbuements. But they looked like they were having seizures rather than movement by string.
"Everyone, take a break," said Vin, who looked like he'd gained ten years in those short hours. "The good news is you're not getting any worse, but the bad news is that you haven't gotten any better. This is going to be a complete disaster."
Zayn saw the looks on the team's faces right away. His feedback had stung.
He caught up to Vin, who had marched to the side of the stage and was drinking from a bottle of water.
"Hey, Vin."
"What?" he asked, spinning around.
"Easy, man," said Zayn. "You okay?"
"No, this is terrible. I'm awful at this. We've spent half a day already and it's like I haven't done anything," said Vin.
"We're not going to get it all at once," said Zayn.
"But no one is getting anything!" Vin brought his arm down in frustration, spilling water all
over his shirt. "Great. Now this."
"Look, Vin. You're doing great. It's just going to take time. Feel free to give us homework. I bet after a week you'll be shocked how good we are," said Zayn.
"I guess that's fine," said Vin, taking a deep breath. "I'm just worried, since we only have a few months to get ready."
Zayn bit his lower lip. "Actually..."
Vin shot his gaze at Zayn. "What?"
"We need to be ready by the beginning of March. I booked a theater, nothing big, but it's in the second ward. I told them we're a traveling company," said Zayn.
The moment the words reached his ears, Vin looked like he'd seen a ghost. "A month? We don't even have a script yet, or roles, or even know how the marionette ropes work."
Zayn patted him on the shoulder. "It's okay if it doesn't go perfectly. This is a warm-up, but I thought it'd be good to get something on the schedule."
"But..."
Vin sounded like someone had killed his dog.
"It's a community theater. We probably won't even have an audience. I haven't told anyone yet, but it looks like there's going to be a big event at the embassy in May. That gives us time to improve our marionette play, and get invited."
Vin shook his head. "It's a great plan, Zayn, but I don't think I can pull it off for you."
"Sure you can," said Zayn, but Vin didn't look confident about his abilities, and it wasn't that Zayn thought they were going to be able to pull it off without any problems, but he was willing to fail because to him to do nothing was worse.
Vin hadn't gotten to that point yet. Nor had the rest of the team. If there was one thing Zayn knew that he was better at than anyone else it was the willingness to screw something up. Failure hurt. Failure stung. And in his line of work, failure could kill. But failure was the best way to learn.
Zayn glanced back to the rest of the team, sitting in a circle chatting softly, and occasionally looking over at Vin with tight-lipped frowns. The team worked great when he was leading them, but he couldn't be in charge of everything all the time. Each of them had strengths that if unleashed, would make them even stronger. But they had to feel safe enough to fail to learn that truth.
"Vin," said Zayn, squeezing the big man's shoulder. "If anything goes wrong, it's my fault. I'm the one who came up with this idea. I'm just asking you to put it into action. But I don't know anything about the theater, or plays, so you're going to have to show us what to do. Okay?"
Vin rubbed his temples with his forefingers. "I can do that. I can do that."
"Great. I think we're good for another round of lessons before we head back to the house," said Zayn, "but remember we're new to this, so give us some room to grow."
Vin nodded as he took another drink from his water bottle.
"Okay, everyone. Back up, we've got a lot of work to do before we can go home," said Vin roughly.
Zayn cleared his throat, catching Vin's attention.
"But you're all doing great," continued Vin in a softer voice. "It's been a good first day. We're going to work on the popping motions necessary for the marionettes, but don't worry if you don't get it today. We'll get better...all of us."
Chapter Nineteen
Second Ward, February 2016
Down the rabbit hole
The evening climb up the side of the Glinda Heights apartment building was completely unnecessary, as there was a staircase that led to the roof, but his muscles were sore in places he'd never considered from their marionette practices during the past week, so he wanted to work them out.
The apartment complex had a good view of the Diamond Court Embassy, which had busy crowds outside the white marble steps, day and night, speculating as to the reason for the maetrie's arrival and for the big event set to occur in a few months.
In an exclusive release, the Herald of the Halls had announced that there was to be a great ball, a coming of age party for Prince Orráine so named The Diamond Eternal Ball. And though his name wasn't specifically mentioned, everyone assumed that the party was also for Prince Aethalstar, the elder of Queen Zaire's sons, and the heir to her throne, not that the maetrie lived short enough lives for succession to matter in any cases that didn't involve treachery.
There was also a lot of speculation about why they would set up an embassy in Invictus, and concerns about a nefarious purpose behind it, but the city was filled with seers and fortune-tellers, and the overwhelming consensus was there was nothing to worry about. The only seers that disagreed were crackpot mages who'd flunked out of the Halls years ago and had succumbed to faez madness.
Under normal circumstances, Zayn might have trusted the consensus. As Instructor Konig had taught them, invasions required troops, which would create a mental signature so large even a dead seer could divine it. But Priyanka's strange absence, and the way the year had unfolded, suggesting that she was trying to get them to see something that she couldn't tell them about, had kept him suspicious at every turn.
But as suspicious as he could be, he still didn't know what the Diamond Court's true intentions were. And he feared he wasn't going to learn the truth until it was too late.
But until then, he had to focus on more immediate concerns, like actually getting into The Diamond Eternal Ball. The word had been put out to theater companies and other entertainment groups that might attend the big event. Vin had heard that the Garbage Kings were invited. All this was a boon to Zayn's ears, letting him know they were right to focus on the play.
After a brief stretch—keeping his muscles limber prevented injury—he pulled out a candle, a pair of drumsticks, and a container of salt. It'd taken him a few months to track down the drumsticks from Katie's former band. He'd had to pose as a true fan to get them to send them to him—with a small donation, of course.
Zayn put a summoning charm on the drum-sticks, poured the salt in a small circle around the sticks, and started chanting. After a minute, the hair on the back of his neck stood up. There was no swirling green-lit portal this time. Katie stepped out of thin air, insubstantial in body, but not on his heart.
"Did you miss me?" she asked with her arms crossed.
"I need some answers," he said.
"You know everything comes with a price," said Katie.
"I was hoping I'd already paid it."
Katie shrugged, which he took as a signal to keep talking.
"The Presence," said Zayn. "I don't feel it anymore. It went away not long after you visited me. I thought maybe I was too busy, and had grown used to it, but now either it's gone, or it changed somehow."
"You woke it," said Katie.
"I thought I was going to have to fight it, or deal with it somehow," said Zayn.
She raised an eyebrow. "Does everything revolve around you?"
The rebuke stung, but he forged ahead. "I was the one that called it. I figured it would come after me."
"It will, eventually," said Katie.
"What does it want?"
Katie looked away, towards the Spire.
"Does it want the Hundred Halls?"
"The last time the Sleeper was awake, the world was embroiled in two wars," said Katie.
"Did the Sleeper cause them?" asked Zayn.
Katie scrunched up her face. "Start them? No, but the Sleeper made them worse. They might have only been regional conflicts without the Sleeper's influence."
Zayn walked to the edge of the building with his hands on his head. "I knew there was a risk in staying in the Veil too long, but I didn't expect it to be that bad."
"If it makes you feel any better," said Katie, "you had really bad timing. The Sleeper would have woken up soon, maybe in a few years, or a decade, and might have gone anywhere in the world. But you brought the Sleeper here."
"So the Sleeper is already in the Halls," said Zayn.
Katie nodded.
"Can you tell me anything else about the Sleeper?"
"No, and not because I don't want to, but because I don't know anything about it. The Sleeper was aslee
p when I came to the Veil," said Katie.
"But it offered you a choice," said Zayn.
"It was a voice in my head, after you spoke to me in that witch's place," said Katie. "That's all I know."
"Great. So I've put the Halls at risk from a powerful supernatural being that caused the last two world wars," said Zayn.
"The Sleeper didn't cause them, but used what was already there," Katie said cryptically.
"Same thing," said Zayn, sighing.
He'd been hoping for answers that might clarify things, make them less confusing, not add a whole other level of difficulty.
"Is there anything else you can tell me that might help?"
Katie stared at the drumsticks.
"I'll give them to you if you can help me a little more," said Zayn.
Katie extended her ghostly arm towards the embassy. "The Court of Diamonds will play a role with the Sleeper."
His whole body tingled with this knowledge. He leaned forward. "When? Or let me guess, is it at the coming of age party for the prince?"
The way Katie looked at him told him he'd hit the answer on the nose.
"Oh, no. If the last time the Sleeper was here there were two world wars, then this could be worse. If we get involved in a war with the maetrie, it is not going to go well. No wonder Priyanka isn't teaching this year."
Katie was standing near the salt circle.
"Thank you, Katie."
Zayn smudged the line with his finger, breaking the circle, and in a flash of green light, Katie grabbed the drumsticks and disappeared, leaving Zayn alone to consider his next steps.
Based on his visit to the casino last year, he had a good idea of where Priyanka was. He assumed she had returned to her role as Lady Sebella, which meant getting into the ball was even more important than before.
Chapter Twenty
Seventh Ward, February 2016
An unexpected night out
Zayn was working in his room, trying to place a delayed stunning spell on a half-eaten apple for his trinkets class with Instructor O'Keefe when a soft knock rasped at the door.
"Come in," said Zayn, thinking it was one of his teammates.
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