Chapter 2
The large, sumptuous room is completely at odds with the training gear I'm wearing, and it makes me feel more than a little nervous about what we're going to be told now that we're in Lady Cassandra's office.
An ornate wooden desk dominates the front of the room, with the woman in question sitting behind it with her hair done up in the most fashionable style.
In theory, it should be hard for us to keep up with those kinds of things when we're living in an isolated castle far from the nearest large city, but enough of the people who live here leave frequently for Damsel missions, and that means we have more knowledge of the prevailing fashions than most people in the neighbouring kingdoms. Keeping up to date is more than a little helpful when it comes to infiltrating foreign courts or castles in order to spirit away people who have asked for our help.
There's a serious expression on the older woman's face, and I take a moment to study it, trying to find the similarities to Vasia in Lady Cassandra.
I've tried many times before, but I can barely find any.
It's only their face shape that's similar.
We've always supposed that Vasia must look more like her father than like her mother.
"Lady Cassandra," Fen says with a slight bow.
"Lady Cassandra," I echo, dipping into a slight curtsy even though it isn't fully necessary by the rules of the castle, it just feels wrong not to do it.
I'm never fully sure how I'm supposed to approach her.
My mother has been her maid since before I was born, but the two of them act like friends more than anything else.
At one point, I even believed they might be lovers.
She looks up from her desk and offers us both a smile. It isn't exactly cold, but there's something detached about it. Like she's not actually fully seeing us. I don't think it's because she has anything against us as people, I think she's like this with everyone.
"I'm glad you're both here," she says, gesturing for us to take a seat on the opposite side of the table from her.
The sweat from our sparring match has dried and is causing my clothes to stick to my body in a deeply unpleasant way, but I know there's nothing I can do about it until Lady Cassandra dismisses us.
After that, I fully intend to head for a bath.
It's going to be necessary after hours spent in the sun.
"I have a mission for you," she says.
Fen leans back in his seat, not looking at all concerned about the possibility of getting a mission.
"A young woman in Drakaron has made a request of the Damsels to help get her out of her father's castle before she's married to a man three times her age."
I grimace, already feeling for the poor woman. In all likelihood, she'll be younger than me, making it all the worse that someone is trying to force a life on her that she doesn't want.
"How are we getting her out?" Fen asks.
"We're doing the dragon tower gambit," she says. "That's where you come in."
Fen nods, while I sit there and think about the implications of that. I've been on missions for the Damsels before, but they were smaller ones, or I was in a support role. I haven't been part of anything as big as the dragon tower gambit before.
"Ingrid will make contact with our target during a masquerade ball in a week's time. After that, you'll need to find a way to stay in the castle and gain her trust so that you can convince her not to fight when her father has her sent to the tower."
I swallow hard and try to ignore the butterflies dancing in my stomach. The urge to ask why she's decided that she wants me to do this is strong, but I hold my tongue. I don't want her to take the assignment away from me, especially when this is such a leap up for me.
"While you do that, Fen will be performing the other part of the plan."
He chuckles. "Get the money from her father while pretending to be a dragon keeper, then change into my dragon form so that I can convince him that we've done what he wants and locked his daughter in a dragon-guarded tower."
Lady Cassandra nods. "Keep an eye out for when the guards are pulled away from watching the tower and send word for us. We'll be with you in three days after that."
"What happens when the lord comes looking for his daughter and she's not there?" I ask.
"Fen will burn the tower. There'll be nothing left but rubble when it's gone."
"Is that right?" I don't mean to ask the question, but it slips out anyway.
"It belongs to a man who would sell his daughter into marriage with the highest bidder. I'm not particularly concerned with whether it's right or not to burn down his tower," she responds.
I can see her logic, it just feels a little like a risk to burn down an entire tower. "Won't they come after Fen when they learn that he's no longer there?" I look over at him, trying not to worry too much when I'm well aware that he's able to take care of himself.
"We've been running everything on the premise that no one is going to go after someone they believe has a dragon," Lady Cassandra says. "So far, it's worked."
"I see," I respond, not really knowing what else to say.
"I've got appointments set up for you for the rest of the day," she says. "You'll need to visit the seamstresses to get a wardrobe fitted, including a gown for the masquerade."
That's at least a little exciting. I've had years of dance and etiquette lessons, but I've never been able to put any of it into practice at anything as grand as a masquerade.
"Then you'll have to go through everything we know about the castle, the target, and her father," Lady Cassandra says. "We've already had some of our spies working on that, so they'll have plenty to brief you on."
I nod along with what she's saying, not knowing how else I'm supposed to respond, especially when the usual combination of excitement and nerves that precede a mission is starting to set in.