ed down as she was, Fern didn't have any choice but to wait for her captors. Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long.

  As soon as the versation ended, hidden little alcoves in the chamber lit up, eae bearing a tiny mp of some sort that cast a warm glow and bahe darkness - and made the pink light of her restraints less painful to look at by parison. She could now see the ey of the tower's interior - or at least roughly half of it, given how she was stu pbsp; To the right of the spiral staircase up was a celr door of sorts leading down into the basement, locked or sealed somehow, no doubt. Even if she'd avoided the trap it would have done her no good; she'd have run into the in of those two voices one way or another. Not that the thought gave her any fht now.

  With the area properly illumihe first person came dowaircase, step by measured step. A maid, of all things - Fern could tell immediately by her attire, the familiar bck dress and white apro that served as the distinguishing characteristic of the noble css's servants. But this maid didn't carry herself like any of the ones she'd seen before, with their stant hurry and ay and ht fear of being caught in the wrong pce at the wrong time. No, the pale, slightly freckled face framed by that long and free-flowing sapphire hair was instead a perfect picture of calm and serenity. Her equally sapphire eyes, fog on the captive hero from the moment she came in view, held quiet steely resolve in their depths; pools that spoke of experience magnitudes greater than Fern's own. Whoever this woman might be, she had everything firmly under trol, held in those curiously shiny bck gloves of hers.

  Most of the rest of her skin hid under her spotless white arms and leggings, and instead of the overly cute fashion-piece shoes maids generally wore - though rarely by choice - her footwear sisted of fortable-looking as, adorned with matte-bck buttons without a bit of shio them. Despite her initial appearahis maid was no pushover, that much was clear. She was almost certainly a threat, and not oo be casually disregarded, either.

  The maid's presetled her nerves a little, curiously enough. Despite her position, Fern saw no pt or fear or mali those sapphire eyes, but instead simply a sort of equilibrium, and the look of thoughtful analysis. At least she did until the woman stepped around to the side and out of her line of sight.

  Any idea of talking to her first went quite out the window as the other person desded with a theatrical sashay and the loud, forceful g of heels upon stone. "Well, well, well. And what have we here? Some... wayward, waterlogged, woebegone wastrel?" She tinued her exaggerated steps. "Or perhaps... something more ominous? A sneaky little thief with beady eyes, lusting after some sweet magical prize? Hmmm~? Which, or what, or who, has blundered into my entryway's enting embrace?"

  Fern looked up and over to see the owner of the dreadfully cheerful voice, and saw a erhaps the same height as the maid - but in every other respect almost her por opposite. Where the maid was serene, her emerald green eyes danced with unnerving liveliness and her smile spoke volumes of smug self-satisfa; where the maid wore a traditional servant's outfit, her fur-lined hooded longcoat of deep indigo and dazzling jewelry befitted the most det of nobility; and where the maid's hands were covered, she dispyed her own fearlessly and openly - nails colored to match her coat, and the sigil of a dark mage clearly visible on the back of her right hand.

  It erhaps the worst possible oute that she could've imagined. She hated dark mages. And she already hated this... woman, and her devil-may-care demeanor as she strutted around. And especially her voibsp; Fern particurly despised ahis abundantly cheerful, as if the world was some sort of joke to them.

  "What say you, Sapphire darling?" the dark mage practically purred. Oh yes, this was just the worst.

  "sidering she approached with a distinct ck of caution," the maid - Sapphire, apparently - replied from behind her, "it would seem unlikely she came upon your tower by bsp; There is also the matter of the bea she brought, of course-"

  Fern froze (internally, that is, being quite immobile already). She hadn't even sidered that the tool she brought might end up causing harm - but then, she hadn't foreseeing caught in a trap, either.

  "-but sidering its dition, further iigation is necessary to determine her i."

  What does she mean by 'its dition'?

  "Well done as always, Sapphire darling. Let the iigation... ence!" The dark mage ccked her way over to stand in front of Fern, one hand on her hip, the other zily twirling some unfamiliar design of aetheric fog wand. "Now then - just who are you, anyway, and why have you e to my little tower, of all the pces you could choose for a vacation? I haven't even finished iating with the travel agents, darling, you're much too early."

  Fern blihen sighed. This was going to be a trial one way or the other, but she didn't have to py into the madness. "Fern Skysh, and a survey mission for the Pinsgate guild," she stated, ftly. "And who are you, now that you have my name?"

  The smug smile widened into a brilliant, toothy grin. "Fern! Darling! I am so gd you asked. So absolutely delighted that you asked!" The dark mage kicked one foot back, and in one swift movement spun around ooe of one shoe while pulling her hood down, long, flowing white tresses whipping out like the tendrils of some aquatic creature before falling bato pce around her, her bangs just short enough to reveal equally snow-white brows with a small stripe cut into the left one. "For I am the Mistress of the Tower, and Ravenna Direfrost is my name! No doubt you've heard of me and my terrifyiation. Please, quake in fear if you feel the need."

  "I have no idea who you are," the hero replied holy, and without a trace of enthusiasm.

  Ravenna gasped in shock, lurg backwards, cck-cck-cbsp; "Wha-! No idea? No idea?!" She gred over Fern's shoulder. "Sapphire! You don't think she's telling the truth, do you?"

  "I suspect she is, Mistress," came the maid's uurbed reply, "seeing as none of your research has been properly published as of yet. Even if she was an avid reader, your experimentation is rather... present."

  "Mmnhh... I suppose you're right as usual, darling, loath as I am to admit it. It's not my fault that my genius outstrips all of my poraries," the dark mage returned with an exaggerated sigh, pressing a hand to her forehead with a pained expression.

  How is this fool not perf on the Bckgss Theatre stage? Fern thought to herself, trying to suppress a grimace.

  Ravenna dropped her hand, and lowered her gaze to stare her captive in the eyes, still grinning that toothy grin of hers. Fern looked back stoically, i on denyihe pleasure of a response.

  "A survey mission," the dark mage murmured slowly, after a long moment. "You came all this way from Pinsgate for a survey mission, and didn't even pack well enough for the return trip, from the look of it. Or else..." She stalked around to one side, cck cck cbsp; "You thought this bea would take you baehow."

  "It's a bea," Fern grumbled, uo keep the irritatioirely out of her tone. "It's not for me, it's to guide in the survey team. But yes, in that respect, it would have helped me get babsp; I would think that would be a pretty simple cept to grasp." Fenius, she almost added, but didn't; she was still in s, after all. Antagonizing one's captors didn't seem like the wisest course of a.

  "That's all well and good, darling; I would have thought you'd bring a funal bea, that's all."

  "The hell do you mean, 'funal'?" she growled, eyes narrowing. Exhaustion and enviroal misery were really taking their toll now - though to be fair, there was only so much of this mage she could hao begin with, and she robably well past her limits there. "That bea came straight from the guild supplier, sealed to keep the Woods from damaging it on the way here. The seal was definitely intact when I took it out. Unless your maid there screwed with it-"

  Cbsp; "I don't like your tone, darling," Ravenna whispered, almost a hiss, as the tip of her focus wand so Fern's temple, icy cold. Direfrost might be more than just a faname, from the feel of it - how her whole body started to chill, as if she could feel crystals f on her skin, maybe even deeper within. "I don't know where you came from, but in my tower, no one disrespects the maids. No one."

  For a terrifyingly long moment, the chamber was deadly silent but for the muted patter of rain from outside. Not a word, not even a breath broke the unnatural stillness. And then the dark mage pulled her wand back, and Fern gasped as the life and warmth flowed bato her body.

  "Just a simple little rule of mine, darling," Ravenna purred zily, right back to her previous careless demeanor. "No reason we 't all get along while you're, mmm, vacationing here."

  The hero kept her silence, apart from her deep recovery breaths. Her head ounding now. Things had gotten much worse.

  "By your leave, Mistress, I shall expin the issue to Miss Skysh," Sapphire spoke up, perfectly unruffled by the whole affair. The dark mage gave a nod, and ccked off to one side as the maid stepped quietly bato view with the bea in hand - a vague ntern-like shape, covered with sigil-writing like most artifacts. "Presumably you have some idea of how a bea is inteo fun, yes? You pce it, 'light' it, and the teical mage at the other end initiates and calibrates a e that - so long as it remains stable - allows near-instantaneous travel betweewo points."

  Fern nodded, slowly. Her head didn't hurt any less, but at least the maid's voice - and attitude - didn't torture her, either, so she preferred this versation by far. "That's... my uanding of it, yes. And?"

  "Point-to-point es such as this require a specific design. The fiment, the core of the beaust be paired; in other words, it must be a precise duplicate of its terpart in order to fun correctly. Miss Skysh, have you ever seen a fiment before, or have any idea what they look like?"

  She shook her head - again, slowly. "I 't say I have, no. Magical devices are... kinda beyond my uanding for the most part, except for the basi/off and warning sigils. Is that important somehow?"

  "Regrettably so. A fiment is, by design, a delicately ized artifact; it is in fact the costliest piece of any bea. Truth be told, the specific design of the protective outer shell is rgely irrelevant; it could be made of wood or bone or any number of materials besides the standardized metal-and-gss design, without impeding the bea's fun to any signifit degree. All that aside - your fiment is, I regret to say, utterly useless."

  A cold shiver ran down Fern's spi those words. "What... do you mean, 'useless'? Is it... broken?"

  Sapphire sighed quietly and just gazed at her. "Miss Skysh, the fiment in this bea is what is referred to as a 'bnk' - ohat has not yet been carved iven any entments. It was never meant to be used at all."