Two weeks after the dinner with Nyrielle's council, Ashlynn sat alone in one of the castle gardens, waiting for the sun to set. Her hair had been freshly dyed black and her clothes were simple, roughly made items taken from one of the human villages closest to the vale.
For the past two weeks, Ashlynn had immersed herself in preparation for her mission to infiltrate the summer villa. Most of her waking daylight hours were spent in Georg's kitchen, working alongside the bear of a man in everything from the preparation of elegant dishes to the cleaning of pots and pans.
At the same time, her nights were consumed with lessons from Nyrielle and Thane. The lessons she received in sorcery included some of the magic that Marcell used in his work as a spy while Thane ran her ragged, practicing to escape from pursuit should things go wrong.
