A storm was brewing.

Fegris Mountain emerged ahead as Lyrani left the forest market behind her. Fern Manor, the three storey mansion built into the rock face, belonged to Lord Dundor.

Lyrani could just make out the dark sloped roofs and tapering doorways, as mysterious and forbidding as the activities going on behind them.

Not many knew that Fern Manor was the headquarters of ECISI. Few even knew of the existence of the agency.

Glancing down at her wristwatch, Lyrani saw that her briefing started in five minutes. She looked up at Lord Dundor's mansion all the way across a stretch of grassy plain. There was only one way she could make it there on time.

Lyrani broke into a sprint.

The landscape flew past, a blur of green bushes, brown bark and grey sky. The wind rushed in Lyrani's ears, singing of freedom, of fearlessness. All too soon yet not quickly enough, she was at the foot of Fegris Mountain.

Lyrani's lungs burned as she skidded to a stop on Lord Dundor's doorstep. Taking a deep breath to refill her lungs with the air they had lost, she lifted the metal knocker and tapped it against the door three times.

She glanced at her watch. She had a minute to spare and not a second more.

A tall elf let her in. His long red hair was tied at the nape of his neck.

"Ah, Agent Esch." He observed Lyrani with tranquil hazel eyes.

"Harmon." Lyrani nodded in greeting, then paused to catch her breath.

Harmon raised his eyebrows. "I would hurry if I were you. Lord Dundor is waiting."

Lyrani raced to the life-size portrait of her boss across the entrance hall, past the stone dryads draped in shawls of carved leaves. Lord Dundor's painted eyes stared down at her, filled with reproach even though she wasn't guilty of what they accused her of. For once, she wasn't late, but it was just like Lord Dundor to be ready to start a meeting early.

Lyrani pressed her palm to the gleaming rectangle of metal beside the painting. Golden light rippled over its surface, then the portrait swung forward to admit Lyrani to ECISI headquarters. It must've been her millionth time entering this secret section of the mansion, but the thrill that ran through her was exactly the same as the first time she ever stepped through this doorway.

Lyrani waved back at Harmon before rushing into the hidden passage. Her gasping breaths tore through the darkness as she raced up the stairs.

Lyrani's mind drifted back to the last time she and Lord Dundor had spoken. The director of ECISI had wanted to know if Lyrani was still comfortable in her chosen line of work.

It was nearly two years since she went on a mission that required her unique skill set.

Lyrani was more than a spy. She was the lethal hand of justice on the rare occasions when she needed to be.

The conversation with Lord Dundor niggled at her, twisting at that sense of unease inside her until it became too tight to unwind. Something had changed in Elvenland.

Why else would Lord Dundor need the services of an assassin? Who could he possibly require Lyrani to kill all these years after he had last given her such an assignment?

Lyrani shook herself out of her speculation, instead focusing on her surroundings before she delayed herself any further.

The idea of "secret intelligence" brought certain images to mind—windowless corridors and dark, underground interrogation rooms, dungeons buried in the mountainside, and passages hidden in the walls. Whoever built Fern Manor had seen to it that it didn't look anything like that, and every director of ECISI who had taken over it since had maintained that deceptive image.

The mansion was a living space worthy of nobility with gold-plated taps and rooms the size of Lyrani's cottage, but it had a hidden side.

Only half of the house was accessible to visitors. The other half stood concealed behind the large portrait of the current director of ECISI in the entrance hall.

Lyrani's feet beat against the tiles as she ran. The soft heels of her boots muted the sound. She was in light one moment and in darkness with her next step as she hurried along the passage and past the windows looking over the other houses on the mountain.

Lyrani glanced out, catching a glimpse of two elves tending to their garden, then around, at the blue and white vase of red roses on a small table between the windows as she ran past.

Anything to take her mind off the apprehension knotting her insides.

Lyrani's mouth went dry when she reached the end of the corridor and Lord Dundor's office came into view.

What if her senses had dulled in the years since she had last killed in ECISI's name?

Lyrani had spent her time spying since, but maintaining a false identity was not the same thing as committing murder without leaving a single track.

What if Lyrani failed somehow?

From the little that Lord Dundor had told her, she could afford no mistakes.

Lyrani stopped in front of the familiar oak door carved with acorns and leaves, both to catch her breath after running and to compose herself before entering a briefing that may just be an ambush.

Darkness was Lyrani's friend. That was why Lord Dundor had suggested she train as an assassin when she first became an agent. There was no better speciality at ECISI for someone with her ability.

Whether Lyrani needed the shadows to hide her from sight or provide a distraction so she could slip past the guards on her targets' properties, they were always there.

She could feel them now, at the edges of the passage, awaiting her command. They felt calm, watchful, like they saw Lyrani for what she was—an ally, an extension of themselves.

Lyrani closed her eyes, letting the darkness gather around her, letting it spread its silent assuredness through her uncertain being.

Whatever this mission was and whatever Lord Dundor needed Lyrani to do, she could do it.

This was what she had trained for. It was what she had been born to do. Nobody could take that away from her, not even Trelle.

Lyrani swallowed and knocked on the door.

"Enter," a deep voice commanded behind it.

Lyrani opened the door and stepped into the room, squaring her shoulders against the disapproving looks she knew would be thrown her way. She glanced at her wristwatch. Seven seconds late was still late.

Lord Dundor peered at her from under his bushy eyebrows. "Lyrani. How nice of you to join us."

"Sorry I'm late." Lyrani's cheeks burned.

Any borderline-sarcastic comment from Lord Dundor made her feel like a child again. At least that was one thing that hadn't changed since Lyrani left her home and her old life behind.

Lord Dundor invited her to sit down with a sweep of his hand.

Lyrani took her place next to the other elf in front of the desk. She froze when she got a good look at her.

Lyrani was familiar with those fiery red curls. She had seen them in her nightmares since the mission that had gone wrong two years ago.

The elf turned. Her scarlet lips curved in a smile, bright and deadly against her lily-white skin. "Hello, Lyrani. It has been a while."

The vivid image of Jacden being run through with a sword while he knelt on the ground flashed through Lyrani's mind. His cries of anguish echoed in her head.

She shook herself free of the memory, even as her stomach clenched. "Trelle Lore." Lyrani forced a smile despite the pain of its falseness. "It has indeed."

With that simple exchange, the air in the room changed, coiling in on itself like a snake poised to strike.

When Lord Dundor cleared his throat, Lyrani knew she wasn't the only one who had felt it.

"I know you two have some unresolved problems..." He looked between them.

Lyrani ground her teeth. That was putting it mildly. She and Trelle were like a phoenix and a basilisk, equally likely to turn on each other as unite to face a common foe.

"But I need my best agents on this case," continued Lord Dundor.

Trelle sat up straighter in her chair, ever the eager senior agent. "What's our objective, my lord?"

Lyrani leaned forward, as interested as Trelle was to get answers. She itched to know what situation was so dire that Lord Dundor required two agents he knew didn't work well together to team up.

The director of ECISI clasped his hands on his desk. "What do you know about the Curse of the Crown?"

"I've heard rumours," said Trelle.

Lyrani rolled her eyes. Of course Trelle had. The social circle of a noblewoman was a valuable resource to the select few who could access it.

Trelle crossed one perfectly toned leg over the other. "Strange fits take over Elvenland's monarchs. Memories go missing. Uncharacteristic fancies control them. The last two rulers—Queen Livh and King Nash—have been affected."

Lord Dundor gave a sharp nod before taking a stack of papers out of his desk drawer. "A fairy village was burned to the ground just today. A group of nixies were restrained on a riverbank until they dried to death. A human duke was gruesomely murdered in his bed." He dropped a sheet of parchment onto his desk as he listed each incident.

Lord Dundor's brief descriptions of the incidents were enough to sicken Lyrani. How could crime still be so rampant in the realm? Everyone at ECISI spent their days fighting against it, yet it kept cropping up like toadstools in a moist meadow.

Trelle narrowed her slate-grey eyes. "What does any of that have to do with the Curse of the Crown?"

Lord Dundor gathered his papers into a neat pile. "These dreadful deeds were ordered by King Nash."

"Are you sure?" Lyrani frowned.

The senseless slaughter of innocents was not the way of the elves, let alone their ruler. Lyrani had heard tales of the villainy of the elf king, but the realm was huge, and stories couldn't always be believed.

Verities spread like wildfire; falsehoods even more so. One could not make such statements without verifying the facts—something Lyrani had learnt from Lord Dundor.

The director nodded. "I have received reports from trusted sources."

Lyrani narrowed her eyes, but Trelle got her question out before she did.

"Where do we come in?"

"Next weekend is King Nash's birthday ball, and the lovely Lady Trelle Lore has been invited to attend."

Lyrani felt a flare of jealousy.

Trelle got to keep her title and the privileges that came with it because her family didn't know that she was involved with ECISI. Lyrani hadn't been as fortunate.

Life may not be fair, but it was kinder to some than to others.

Trelle blinked as if trying to see the connection between the curse and her invitation to the ball, and failing. "I have, but—"

"She will be accompanied by her loyal maid, Lyrani Esch."

Now Lyrani was demoted to a lady's maid?

She retorted on instinct. "I am not—"

"Would you kindly allow me to finish?" Lord Dundor's dark eyes rested on Lyrani, commanding, reprimanding.

Lyrani fell silent, gritting her teeth to contain the indignation simmering within her.

"Thank you. As I was saying...you are both attending King Nash's birthday festivities at Vlitavia Palace. Once you are there, Agent Lore is to get close to the king in order to unearth everything she can regarding the recent attacks on the other clans. His motivation. His accomplices. Find out exactly what we're dealing with."

Trelle nodded.

Lord Dundor looked at Lyrani next. "You are going to assist Agent Lore in this mission. Once you have done so, you are required to do away with King Nash."

Lyrani's stomach dropped.

She had known from the suspense surrounding this briefing that it wouldn't be like the others, but this wasn't the turn she had expected it to take.

"You want me to assassinate our own king?" asked Lyrani.

Lord Dundor clasped his hands on his desk. "It's not just me who wants that. It's the whole of Elvenland."