He flicked his tail, then jumped from Angelique’s arms to the snow-covered ground with a displeased sniff. “Just don’t let it go to your head.”
Elle finished securing some of the firewood to her pony and laughed sheepishly. “Since now seems to be the time for heartfelt moments, I feel like I should confess I didn’t contact Gabrielle just because I was aware she’s close with you, Angelique,” Elle said. “I was rather hoping she’d come.”
“Oh?” Gabrielle asked. “You thought you’d need muscle, and I could provide it?”
“That was part of it,” Elle acknowledged. “But it was that you’re incredibly deadly, and you’re a two-part deal with Puss and…” Elle held a finger up in the air. “You’re amazingly gorgeous.”
Gabrielle propped a hand on her hip, a frown twitching across her lips. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Why, everything!” Elle rubbed her hands together. “Because it opens up a great deal of possibilities with our disguises!”
Quinn swung onto Fluffy’s back. “Like what?”
“Oh-ho-ho-ho, just wait,” Elle chortled. “This is going to be my finest disguise yet!”
“This is the Chosen stronghold?” Angelique squinted at the building and tried not to let logic color her expectations.
It looked like any cottage owned by a small-scale merchant or tradesman that could be found in the countryside. A few tendrils of dead ivy dusted with snow clung to stone walls; smoke curled from the chimney, and the snow had been swept off the front step. Matched with the gray shingled roof, the building elicited a quaint feeling. There were a few windows with wooden shutters, but the cottage was smaller than Evariste’s home in Wistful Thicket. It was just a single floor with two visible doors.
But it wasn’t so much the inconspicuous outside—that was to be expected; the Chosen wouldn’t wish to declare they’d taken up residence. That would be a stupid mistake the centuries-old organization wasn’t likely to make. Rather, it was the size that had Angelique doubting their information.
“I thought you said it was a ‘moderate’ den?” Quinn asked—voicing Angelique’s doubts.
“It’s dug into the ground,” Elle supplied. She briefly peered around the tree trunk she was stationed behind—to avoid the detection spells and charms they had stopped far enough away from the cottage that Elle had to hunch awkwardly to see through the trees. “As best as the ranger could tell, the actual magic workshop is underground.”
Gabrielle gripped her shut fan in her hand rather more like a dagger than a lady wielding a tool of flirtation. “It’s a good plan—the smaller size makes them less noticeable.”
“It’s also probably why this is the first fortification of worth we’ve found rather than just piddling locations they abandon at a moment’s notice.” Elle scowled at the building. “It’s built to be a longstanding front—not something temporary. Is everyone ready? We know our parts?”
Gabrielle, wearing a beautiful deep blue gown with a dove-gray cloak that was decoratively spattered with embroidery, reluctantly opened her fan. “I am, but I think I have the easiest part.”
“I’m not so certain about that,” Quinn said.
“But I don’t even have to talk!”
“Perhaps, but your role is the most important.” Elle stamped snow off her boots. She was wearing a worn blue skirt with a dark green shawl, which was mostly covered by her traveling cloak. “You’ve got to convince them you’re a mage.”
“Please, I’m just a puppet. Puss will be doing the magic for me.” Gabrielle made a noise in the back of her throat, then uncomfortably twisted her head to glance at Puss, who was crouched on her shoulder. “What do you think, Puss? Are you ready?”
Puss twitched his whiskers. “Please,” he scoffed. “Fooling these buffoons will be the merest child’s play. They don’t even have any listening spells set up on the grounds—just a few weak alarms.”
“If we botch things up, I can use my magic,” Angelique said. “But we’d like to avoid that because we’ll notify the entire Chosen network that we know this place exists. It’d be better for Severin and his men to quietly take them out and catch them unaware.”
Angelique chewed on her lip and tried to ignore the ball of nerves building in her gut.
This is the best chance I’ve had in a long time at learning more about Evariste. Will I actually uncover anything helpful? Or will this be just another dead end?
Quinn rested a hand on Angelique’s shoulder. “We can handle this.” She looked comfortable in her clothes. Playing the part of the guard, she was wearing a tunic with a leather doublet, a sword belt, arm guards, and leather pauldrons. “We’re just making ourselves known and trying to get a layout of the place.”
That was the plan—to make two trips in their disguises. The first visit would give them the opportunity to see inside the building—something the Loire ranger, as talented as they are, had been unable to accomplish—and assess the situation. It was during the second trip that they’d make their move and snoop.
“Right, then. Ladies—and gentle-cat—shall we?” Elle’s green eyes practically glowed with mischief and excitement.
Gabrielle adjusted the hood of her cloak. “Lead on.”
“So it begins.” Puss flicked his tail back and forth before he activated an advanced invisibility charm. His form shimmered for a moment before he faded entirely from view.
Given that he was a cat, Puss didn’t have a magical signature the way Angelique or any other mage would, but the second charm he activated was a basic magic-misdirection spell, which made magic hang in the air around him…and Gabrielle, who was disguised as their employer and a mage.
Elle put on a pair of rudimentary eye glasses that had thick metal frames and winked before she set off. The air around her entirely changed as she took on the role as the most trusted servant of mage-Gabrielle. She even changed how she walked so it was more of a shuffling, half- bent gait, and her black hair was pulled back in an almost scholarly bun and covered with a yellowed handkerchief. She had to furrow her brow a little to keep the glasses in place, which gave her more wrinkles and aged her by a few years.
Gabrielle followed behind her, her skirts sweeping and her chin lifted high as she raised the fan to cover the lower half of her face. Her role of lady mage was an effortless fit—she had a natural grace to her that was only complimented by the social training she’d received when she became Crown Princess of Arcainia. Though Puss provided the air of magic around her, Gabrielle made it believable by the confidence she held, and the hint of danger to her posture. (That danger was the instincts of an accomplished and deadly swordswoman, not a mage, but the Chosen likely wouldn’t be able to tell the difference, particularly with Puss’s spell hanging around her.)
Quinn and Angelique followed behind. Elle had opted to give them less flashy roles, because—when given the chance—they’d be able to fade in the background and hopefully search the premises.
Quinn was especially convincing as a guard—and her stealth training as a Farset soldier made her particularly easy to overlook.