Chrysalis pushed the door open to her sister’s workshop, slithering in on her toes as she glided to where she was working on something at her workbench.

“Can I help you, sister?” Psithyra asked without looking up, writing something down on a piece of paper.

“It’s late, and I felt my bed was a little… cold.” Chrysalis stopped behind her younger sister, gently placing both her hands on her shoulders.

The changeling queen was dressed in nothing but her blue silk night robes, while Psithyra had on her usual blue sleeveless top and black shorts, sitting cross-legged on her chair.

“Why don’t you turn on the heater, your majesty?” Psithyra scribbled another line down on her paper.

“Come on, you know what I mean, Thyra.” Chrysalis began massaging her sister’s shoulders. “Little Dea is sound asleep. She won’t know what you and I will be up to…” Then she bent lower and gave Psithyra’s ear a lick.

“All tucked in, eh?” Psithyra chuckled. “Poor girl must be tired from all the walking she did with Home Run today. I could tell she enjoyed every moment of their time together. You know, she’s really fallen for that boy, I think. Something needs to be done about it.”

“Yes, but I think it can wait.” Chrysalis bent lower and sniffed at her sister’s purple hair. “We can discuss it tomorrow. Or up in my room…”

“Our safety might be in jeopardy and you want it to wait?”

“Well, what do you suppose I do? Forbid her from seeing the boy? I could always do that…”

“It might have to come to that if she doesn’t get her act together.” Psithyra scribbled more notes on her paper. Chrysalis looked at it, noticing it was a list of clothing items. “Moonglade can be in love with Home Run, but Princess Chrysidea should not be.”

“You’re right. And I suppose I will have a talk with my daughter tomorrow.” The queen smiled. “But for now, how about we call it a night? You’re working too much.”

“This is for the sirens, Chryssie.” Psithyra turned to face her older sister. “The picnic draws near. I need to make sure everything is in order.”

“Yes, but you’re missing out…” Chrysalis pulled at the sash of her robes. “There is still much I’d like to do tonight…”

And then she undid her sash and let her robes slide off her body. Chrysalis leaned down, pressing her large breasts against her sister’s back.

“Mmm… how about it, Thyra?” She reached her hands forward, one placing itself on Psithyra’s left breast, and the other sneaking down into her shorts. “Keep me company?”

“I’m sorry, Chryssie.” Psithyra gently removed the queen’s hands from her body. “But not when we’re so close. I can’t do this right now. There are more important things than your wants, dear sister. I’m sorry.”

“Are you saying your work is more important than me?” Chrysalis pouted.

“Nothing is more important than you,” Psithyra said plainly, going back to her paper. “But we will all be better off once I have the sirens back in working order, and that benefits you greatly. So you see, I’m really doing this for your best interests.”

“But it’s not helping that you’re not in bed with me tonight.” Chrysalis walked forward and leaned against the workbench, showing her impressive body off to her sister. “Don’t you want any of this?”

“I need to work, Chryssie. This is very important.”

“I’ll let you use the strapon. How about that? Tonight, I’ll let you f-”

“Chryssie.” Psithyra’s tone went lower. “Please. Not everything is about your immediate pleasure, okay? My plans are drawing close and I need to have a clear head to get it done.”

Outside, an owl hooted. It sounded like laughter.

Chrysalis stood by in silence, so that the only thing that could be heard was her breathing.

“Well, if it’s that important to me…” the queen said slowly. “I’ll leave you to it. I do miss the sirens’ singing, to be honest. But after this is all over, would you join me in bed?”

Psithyra glanced up and sighed. “We’ll see.”

“Hm. Then I guess I will see you tomorrow, my sweet sister.” Chrysalis bent down and picked up her night robes. “It will be awfully cold without you tonight.”

“Have a hot chocolate,” Psithyra said without looking up. “That’ll help. And it’s summer, Chryssie. It’s supposed to be warm.”

“I guess you’re right.” Chrysalis put her robes back on and tied the sash. “I’ll get a drink before going to bed. I will see you in the morning, Thyra.”

“Mhhm. Love you, sis.”

When Moonglade arrived downstairs the next morning, her mother had given her a lengthy lecture about the troubles of falling in love with prey.

She figured it was because of yesterday’s date with Home Run, and likely for the fact that she felt like she had fallen in love with him, even as herself.

It was a lot of noise for an early morning breakfast, but the young changeling knew she deserved it all.

It was hard, trying to force herself not to love Home Run. She couldn’t bear to tear herself away from him at this point. But she did promise she wouldn’t do the same with Sunny.

“I won’t make the same mistake twice, mother,” she said.

“See to it that you don’t.” Chrysalis picked up the newspaper and flipped to the next page.

Moonglade awkwardly toyed with her hairband as she ate her breakfast, which continued on in silence. It had been so noisy earlier and now it has gone almost dead quiet, aside from her chewing and her utensils clinking on the plate.

As she was finishing up her breakfast, Ivory Wings walked into the dining room, car keys in hand.

“Going somewhere, Aunt Ivory?” Moonglade wiped her mouth with a napkin.

“We’re going on a little trip,” Ivory said, sliding over to Moonglade’s side. “I know how much you wanted to see my penthouse, so…”

“Ooh, we’re finally going?” Moonglade bounced in her seat happily.

“Yes.” Ivory Wings nodded. She held out a folded piece of paper and waved it. “I have my list of what I need ready. It’s time to go pick them all up.”

“And I can come with you?” Moonglade got out of her chair, dropping the napkin on her plate.

Chrysalis looked up from her paper, then sighed and brushed her long teal hair from her face. “You may. Go along.”

“I’ll go get dressed for going out.” Moonglade excitedly skittered over to her room and changed out into her regular attire, but instead of doing her hair up in its braid, she decided to keep the hairband on. It was a nice change now and then.

She soon found her aunt waiting in the car outside, the engines already running. Skipping her way over, Moonglade opened the door and hopped in, making sure to buckle up first. And in no time, they were off, speeding down towards the highway to get to Manehattan.

“I’ve never left Canterlot without mother before,” Moonglade said excitedly. “This is going to be interesting!”

“Yes it will.” Ivory rubbed her niece’s leg. “It’s been a while since I’ve been there myself. I’ve never shown anyone my collection. Well, except for those times people decided to sneak into my penthouse.”

“Did you kill them?” Moonglade looked at her aunt, trying to determine her expression.

Ivory’s face didn’t change, but the young changeling smelt a trace of amusement coming from her.

“Two are dead. There’s one girl that I let live. Why, you may ask?” Ivory shrugged. “I’m not sure myself. But I figured it’s time to leave behind my violent lifestyle and look after you instead.”

“So… you won’t kill anyone anymore?”

“Well… Unless I have to. But you come first, sweetie.” Ivory patted her niece on the head. “Trust me, if I have to resort to violence, I still remember how to do things. If anyone dares to harm you…”

“Thanks for always having my back, Aunt Ivory.” Moonglade hugged her aunt’s arm. “You’re an aunt every girl could hope for.”

“I am an apex predator, sweetie. And in time, you will be too.”

They drove on in silence, until Ivory Wings synchronized her phone to the car’s radio. An upbeat pop song in a foreign language blasted out of the speakers.

“What’s this song?” Moonglade asked.

“Oh, it’s the opening to Yoyo’s Mundane Journey. Good cartoon so long as you don’t take it too seriously. But then again that applies to a lot of them, doesn’t it?”

“Umm, I don’t know, Aunt Ivory.” Moonglade had never really took to watching cartoons, much less the Eastern ones her aunt liked so much. “I’ll take your word for it, I guess.”

The car kept rolling at a speedy pace down the highway, and the vibrations of the vehicle soon lulled Moonglade to sleep. Her dreams were punctuated by little jolts on the road where her aunt drove over a pothole, and more than once she could have sworn there was an owl hooting at her.

When she next awoke, she found the car had already slowed down drastically and they were in a city she had never seen before. And she also found a trail of drool going down her left arm, which she quickly wiped away with disgust.

“Almost there, sweetie,” Ivory said, lowering the radio volume so that she could see better.

“Mmm…” Moonglade stretched her arms backwards. “Are we in Manehattan?”

“We most certainly are. Welcome to the concrete jungle, my niece.”

“Canterlot’s got a lot of buildings too.” The young changelings gazed out at the many different buildings. The city looked really packed together. “Though these are much taller.”

Ivory Wings checked her GPS. “Now, if I remember correctly, Match Mansions should be two more blocks down that way.”

“Is it that big one there?” Moonglade pointed ahead at a tall building almost entirely made out of glass. There were strange looking prongs coming out near the top, somewhat like tether points of some sort. “You always did say you had the tallest building in the area.”

“Yep. That’s it. It’s nice, having the best view in the district, but it’s not a good idea to take a tumble off the top. The ground really hurts, even with snow to cushion your landing.”

Moonglade turned back to her aunt. She had heard the story of her fall off the building, but she never did ask more about it. “What did happen, Aunt Ivory? Did you die?”

“For about a day or so. As Pierce Network learned, it takes a lot to bring me down. Funny old world, isn’t it? I was supposed to die, and here I am. He was supposed to survive after leaving the Assassin Brotherhood, and you put him in the ground. Ironic.”

“Yeah, that’ll teach him to hurt you and mother.” Moonglade nodded, remembering how she had carefully handed him the poisoned keyboard. He hadn’t suspected a thing. “So what’s it like, Aunt Ivory? To die? Is it all just dark and stuff?”

Ivory Wings pulled the car into the parking lot of Match Mansions, flashing her card at the ticket booth as they passed. “It’s quite boring, really. You don’t see anything, you don’t hear or feel anything. It’s probably the worst kind of existence there is. I’m glad I got better.”

“How do you know it’s boring?” Moonglade pondered what it would be like to just not exist. “And I’m glad you got better. Otherwise I would’ve never met you, Aunt Ivory.”

“Me too, sweetie.” Ivory unbuckled her seatbelt and shared a hug with her niece before getting out of the car.

Moonglade didn’t care what anyone else thought. Her aunt was the nicest person in the world.

“Wow, this place is… J-Just wow…”

Moonglade couldn’t keep her jaw shut as she exited the elevator, looking firstly at the vastness of the place, followed by everything her aunt had, decorating the entire room. Everything was covered in a thin layer of dust, but she could still make out the shapes underneath.

“Just as I left it all.” Ivory Wings walked into the room, patting one of her sofas, sending a cloud of dust up into the air. “Come. This is nothing compared to my halls of history, or really, any of the treasures I collected over my lifetime.”

As Ivory Wings got to work getting power back to all of her facilities, Moonglade decided to explore the penthouse a little. The first floor was obviously for living in, with a well-stocked kitchen, a spacious bathroom, and several guest rooms. Oddly enough, the master bedroom looked as though it had never been lived in or even touched. It was still as opulent and dusty as the rest of the rooms, but empty. There was also a curious hallway that ended in a dead end, with only a ragged medieval tapestry decorating it. Compared to the rest of the relatively tidy and modernized first floor, it looked somewhat out of place.

“Huh,” Moonglade said, walking closer to the tapestry to take a closer look. She walked closer, the sounds of her aunt fading away. The carpet was soft beneath her feet, little plumes of dust rising with each footstep. She sniffed. There was a strange scent coming from the tapestry… or from behind it.

Up close, the tapestry looked even more threadbare and moth-eaten. It seemed to display a desert, with a circular citadel rising from the sands. She could make out a green emblem above the castle, one that looked vaguely like an upside down letter ‘V’.

Drawn to the picture, Moonglade reached out and brushed her fingers against the symbol.

“Sweetie?” Ivory Wings’ voice came from behind and Moonglade jumped. She hadn’t heard her approach.

“Oh! Aunt Ivory. I was just, you know, looking at this tapestry. It’s pretty old, huh?”

“Ah, yes. This particular work was commissioned by one of my old friends in Saddle Arabia. She wanted to make sure I remembered this location.”

“And did you?” Moonglade had never known her aunt to be forgetful of anything.

“Oh, I don’t need a tapestry to remember the burial site of my best friend, sweetie.” Ivory Wings looked troubled. “Even if that place is gone now. Damn the Assassins and the Templars. They were always sticking their noses where it didn’t belong.” Then she brightened up, bending down so that she was on head level with her niece. “Hey, would you like to see something interesting?”

Moonglade nodded.

Ivory Wings reached behind the tapestry and felt around underneath. There was a click, and the entire segment of wall slid aside, revealing a dark space behind.

Ivory Wings nodded at her niece. “I had a couple of extra rooms added to the penthouse after I moved in. This is one of them.”

“Wow… Cool, Aunt Ivory!” Moonglade ran a hand along the secret entrance wall, but instantly regretted it when it came back caked in dust. “So what’s in here?”

“Why don’t you go and find out?”

Moonglade looked back and forth. “What, by myself? In there?”

“Nothing to be afraid of, sweetie.” Ivory gently pushed her further into the entrance. “It won’t bite.”

Moonglade swallowed and slowly walked into the darkness. As her eyes adjusted to the gloom, she was able to make out the shapes on dozens of candle holders, each one mounted with a scented candle.

The smell of incense and candles grew stronger as Moonglade took a few more tentative steps forward. Then she felt the texture of the floor change. She was now stepping on some kind of mat, apparently made out of woven reeds or something. She was thankful she had shoes on. She couldn’t bear to imagine walking all over the dusty floor barefooted. It was so dirty and gross.

“It’s really dark in here, Aunt Ivory,” Moonglade called. “Can we light some of these candles?”

Behind her, Moonglade heard the sound of a match being struck, and a small flare of light illuminated the room. She could now see that she was standing in front of a large panel of glass. More candles were lit, until the room was bathed in a comforting orange glow. Then she looked up.

Hanging behind the pane of glass was a gargantuan ink painting, done in the traditional Eastern style. It depicted a garden of flowers every color of the rainbow, and standing in the middle of it all, was Moonglade’s mother. It was an old piece, but she could still tell it was her mother, in her undisguised form.

“Did you paint this, Aunt Ivory?” Moonglade ran a hand down the corner of the painting. “It’s so pretty.”

“Yes, it is, isn’t it?” Ivory Wings said mildly. “Took me almost a month, and that was with me working with some of the most talented painters of the dynasty. Of course, they thought they were drawing some kind of goddess. Still, I think we did alright.”

“You did really good.” Moonglade turned back to her aunt and skipped over. “It’s lovely. But what’s all this for?”

“Oh, this? It’s a shrine. To the queen.”

“A… A shrine? To mother?” Moonglade watched her aunt’s face, checking if she had heard it right. “Why, um, why does mother need a shrine?”

“Well it’s like this,” Ivory Wings said, walking up to Moonglade. “When I lived here, I would come here once a week to make a blood offering to your mother, and to ask her for forgiveness, as well as to ask her for strength.”

“Umm… no offense, Aunt Ivory?” Moonglade pulled at her hairband. “But… don’t you think it’s um, a bit much?”

“Why, whatever do you mean, sweetie?”

“I mean, mother does think very highly of herself, but… To make something like that?” Moonglade pointed a thumb at the shrine. “Seems a little over the top to me.”

“Sweetie, you have to understand,” Ivory knelt down next to her, a reassuring smile on her blue face. “Your mother is the most important person in my life. Without her, I was lost, and so I decided to put my faith in this shrine, asking her to guide me. Without this shrine, I would have lost the path years ago.”

“Umm, riiight…” Moonglade felt a little disturbed by that. She doubted her mother even guided her in those years. “Umm… could we uh, go look at another room?”

“If that’s what you want.” Ivory and Moonglade exited the shrine room, which sealed itself up once they were both outside.

Moonglade followed their dusty footprints back to the main hall, and the two of them soon stopped by a staircase leading up.

“I suppose I will show you my halls of history next.” Ivory motioned a hand up the steps. “Careful, sweetie. The dust does make the floor a little slippery. Mind your step. I will need to get someone to clean this place when I get the chance.”

Moonglade put her hand on the railing to pull herself up, but when her hand came back full of dust, she decided against using it.

“It’s so icky…” She wiped her hand on the back of her red jacket as she proceeded upstairs.

At the top of the stairs was a long hallway. Ivory flicked a switch, sending power flooding to the lights in the floor and ceiling. About a dozen glass cases were also illuminated, each one housing an exotic-looking artifact.

“Ooh, cool!” Moonglade skipped over to the first case, wiping at the glass with her sleeve to remove the dust, which unfortunately stuck to her jacket. “Gross…”

Inside the first case was a set of blue and green armor, which looked like it was made of insect plates, just that the plates were the size of her arms.

“Do you like it?” Ivory walked over and placed a arm around her niece’s shoulder, who was still dusting off her sleeve. “That’s the armor of Commander Vespa of the Renaissance period. She supported the Templars then and helped them plan their tactics.”

“I thought you didn’t like the Templars?” Moonglade looked back at the armor. “And what did you use to make that armor? It looks like a really big bug.”

“I work with whoever happens to best suit me and your mother’s interests at the moment. And during the Renaissance, the Templars curried our favor. As for my armor, it’s a cunning mix of leather, thin metal, and a lot of alchemy. It took almost a whole year to make.”

“Oh, cool. So it’s not made of bugs or anything, right?”

“No. It just looks like it.”

“Oh… It’s still cool though.”

Moonglade followed her aunt over to another glass case, and this time, her aunt took out a handkerchief from her pocket and gave the surface a wipe, revealing a long spear with a really sharp tip that was also segmented.

“Vespa’s spear. I daresay your mother did a good job forging this one. It’s made entirely of metal, so an opponent can’t break the shaft. Did you know that this spear has claimed the lives of both Assassins and Templars? The more you know.”

“You killed Templars with this too?” Moonglade adjusted her glasses on her face. “I thought you said you helped the Templars then?”

“I work for your mother,” Ivory said smugly. “Suffice to say, when one side gets too… influential, we tip the scales back into balance. For fun and profit, of course.”

“Umm… huh…” Moonglade scratched her head. Perhaps she was still too young to understand all that. “What’s next?”

The two changelings walked over to the next few dusty cases, which housed more relics, like books, a katana with a chipped blade, and several scrolls of poetry which Ivory claimed to have written herself. They were all centered around Moonglade’s mother. If she didn’t know better, she would think her aunt was obsessed with her.

Then in one, there was another outfit. It was a blue robe with a crescent moon insignia on the chest.

“What’s this one, Aunt Ivory?”

“Oh this?” Ivory Wings moved right up to the glass case, unaffected by the dust at such close proximity. “These are my mage’s robes. One of the few I managed to save from old Canterlot. Made by the king’s weavers, they’re both stylish and comfortable, as well as providing some defense against the corrosive nature of alchemy. The circlet is here too, a few exhibits on.”

“They do look fashionable, yeah.” Then Moonglade moved on to the next, which her aunt quickly wiped the glass for. Inside was an old broken sword, with the top half of blade missing and gleaming red gems imprinted into it. It had certainly seen better days. “What about this?”

“Oh, this…” Ivory Wings sighed. Moonglade looked at her aunt and sniffed. The smells coming from her were of disappointment and sadness. “That is the legendary Clarent, young princess. It was the sword of my… hmm… the sword of my son, Morn.”

“Cousin Morn Dread’s sword?” Moonglade looked at her reflection in one of the gems. “You kept it for him?”

“It’s all I have left to remember him by, sweetie.” Ivory put one of her hands on the glass surface. “My son…”

Moonglade surreptitiously shuffled backward as her aunt stared at the sword solemnly. It made her think. When she was gone, was this all that would be left? An exhibit in her aunt’s penthouse or her mother’s mansion that no one but her family would see? Would they bring it along when they moved? Moonglade had come to terms with her own mortality long ago, but she wanted to be remembered by more than just her immediate relatives.

“Funny, huh? Little Dea?” Ivory took off her glasses and wiped at her eyes. “It was because of your mother’s brilliant plan that I got to have a son. And it was her same plan that sent Morn down the wrong path, a path that led to his eventual death. I blamed your mother for a long time, you know? But… I have since moved on from that. I have come to accept her… intelligence now. And I suppose if not for her plan, I would never have had Morn to begin with. What time I had with him, sweetie, I cherished. I loved him to the bitter end.”

“I’m sorry about what happened, Aunt Ivory.” Moonglade came back, putting a hand on her aunt’s back.

“You’re sorry? You have nothing to be sorry about, sweetie.” Ivory put her glasses back on. “Now come, as you well know, sadness does not taste nice. Let us move on to the next exhibit.”

The next item was a black wooden mask, shaped into a snarling half-equine, half-insect’s face. There was a single twisted horn coming out of the forehead.

“A much cheerier artifact,” Ivory Wings said. “Razor Gale’s assassin mask. One hundred percent authentic Eastern cherrywood.”

“That’s nice.” Moonglade bent lower to take a closer look, but careful not to get too close to the dusty glass casing. “It looks like something you can wear to a Halloween party.”

“You know what a Halloween party is, sweetie?” Ivory smirked.

“Oh, well, no, not really. Only read up about them…” Moonglade sighed. There was still so much she hadn’t experienced. “You have to dress up in scary costumes, right?”

“That’s more or less the idea,” Ivory said, examining the mask. “The younger ones go from door to door collecting sweets and shouting ‘Trick or Treat’ at the occupants. I don’t quite recall when that became part of the traditions, but it keeps the children occupied while the older ones go to parties.”

“We get to collect candy during Halloween?” Moonglade beamed. “And people actually give candy out?”

“Well, yes. Last I checked they still do that.” Ivory Wings glanced down at her niece. “Maybe you’ll be able to experience it yourself this Halloween. We’ll see what your mother has to say.”

“I’ll look forward to Halloween if I can go out and get some candy.” Moonglade clapped her hands. “And I’ll get to dress up! Maybe I’ll go as Ghost Hollow again!”

“Somehow I think that that particular persona should stay hidden,” Ivory Wings chuckled. “Besides, you can think of a far more creative outfit than just white, I’m sure.”

“Maybe as… Maybe a clown!” Moonglade giggled. “With a big red nose.”

“Somehow I think your mother’s pride wouldn’t all be for something like that…” Ivory muttered. “Still, the thirty-first of October is still far off. There’s still plenty of time to plan your cosplay.”

“I guess. First, I wanna see what else you have here.”

Moonglade skipped down the rest of the hall, with her aunt doing her best to clean up parts of the various glass casings so she could peer within them.

They passed a circlet, a ceremonial bottle of sake, and finally an sizeable embroidered handkerchief that had been carefully framed like a photo. It depicted a large group of people, all facing the front, each character carefully stitched and sewn in with great detail and in vibrant colors.

“What’s this, Aunt Ivory?”

“Ah, yes. This. I had this made after… we retook Canterlot. This is the last day we were all together. In fact, this was done just out there by where the lake back home would be in a few centuries. You might recognize the spot, right there by the grove of trees.” Ivory Wings smiled fondly. “There used to be a castle where your mother’s estate stands today. You might say it’s our ancestral home.”

“I heard the stories from mother.” Moonglade nodded in confirmation to her aunt’s words. “She likes to tell me how she was queen of Canterlot and all that.”

“And her reign was a long and peaceful one, once she actually got around to ruling. Of course, she had to fake her death once her persona got to be over eighty years old. According to legend, she’s buried on Avalon with King Dawn Saber.” Ivory Wings laughed. “Humans used to be so easy to fool.”

“It wasn’t peaceful, was it…?” Moonglade looked back to where Clarent was kept. “There was war. Mother told me Morn tried to take over the world.”

Ivory Wings sighed. “That is true, but after my son was taken care of, your mother was crowned the new ruler of Canterlot. Morn Dread’s kingship didn’t even last a year.”

“Mother actually managed to hold peace on her own?”

“Well, history would tell you yes. I can tell you that she mostly delegated running the kingdom to her court, and if she were in charge of everything, the kingdom probably would have fallen a lot sooner than it did.”

Moonglade shared a laugh with her aunt. After that, the moved on to more exhibits, which included a large painting of presumably her mother and aunt and the sirens. She could recognize her aunt, who was wearing her blue robes and circlet in the picture. The sirens didn’t even look like they had changed, while her mother looked quite different, though she was really pretty in the painting.

“So that’s what you all looked like, huh?” Moonglade pointed at the painting. “Very nice, whoever did this. It really captured the likeness of you five. I think.”

“I should hope so,” Ivory said. “The painter charged quite a fee for this painting. I took it with me back to the East, and it took a lot of effort keeping it this well preserved.”

“How’re you going to clean the dust off it?”

“Very carefully. Now, this concludes the tour. If you feel like exploring the place a bit more, go ahead. I’m going to fetch the things we came here for.”

“Yes, Aunt Ivory.” Moonglade walked back down the hall as her aunt left back downstairs.

She looked back at the cabinet containing Clarent, Sir Morn’s sword. It was really a nice piece of metal, but it looked far too heavy to use effectively. The Eastern sword she trained with was really light, allowing her quick and agile strikes. If she were to use something like cousin Morn’s sword, she would have to expend a lot of love energy to fight effectively in battle.

As she wandered the halls, Moonglade’s attention was caught by a plain metal globe, sitting off to the side next to a blank stretch of wall. The metal was a little corroded, and the mechanism seemed a bit sticky, but after a few spins, the globe was rotating nicely. Looking closer, Moonglade noticed that a small patch of metal on the globe’s surface was still shiny, like someone had been rubbing it. If her geography lessons were right, this spot was Trotsylvania. She put a finger to it, and stepped back in surprise when the small segment sank down with a click.

There was a series of clicking sounds in the wall, and then a segment of it slid away, revealing a darkened room. Moonglade’s eyebrows shot up. She hadn’t expected this.

“Now, what do we have here?”