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Chapter One

Kaldar Mar stepped back and critically surveyed the vast three-dimensional map of the Western Continent It spread on the wall of the private conference rooic and semiprecious stones Forests of malachite and jade flowed into plains of aventurine and peridot The plains gave rise to er eye, topped by the snowy peaks of moonstone and jasper

Beautiful A completely useless waste of money, but beautiful If it somehow could be stolen you’d need a handcart to transport it and some tools to carve it to pieces Hmm, also a noise da the Weird, he could probably find soht price Steal a custodian’s uniforet in, cut the map, wrap each piece in tarp, load theht out the front door, while looking disgruntled Less than twenty h The map would feed the entire Mar family for a year or more

Well, as left of the family

Kaldar’s menoring the borders of the Weird’s nations Adrianglia took up a big chunk of the Eastern seaboard, stretching in a long vertical ribbon In the Broken, it would have consumed ia and a sypt occupied Florida and spread down into Cuba To the left of Adrianglia, the vast Dukedo all of Louisiana and a chunk of Alaba to s Mississippi and Texarcana, and ending with the coast of Great Lakes Beyond that sht it out: the Republic of Texas, the Northern Vast, the Dees of this world, in the Edge, a narrow strip of land between the coical superiority of the Broken Most of his life was spent in the Mire, an enore by impassable terrain The dukedom of Louisiana dumped their exiles there and killed them when they tried to reenter the Weird His only escape had been through the Broken He travelled back and forth, s asit back to the family

Kaldar stared at the map Each country had an enemy Each was knee-deep in conflict But the only war he cared about was happening right in the lia It was a very quiet vicious war, fought in secrecy by spies, with no rules and no e and its consequences were handled by the Mirror He supposed if they were in the Broken, the Mirror would be the equivalent of the CIA or FBI, or perhaps both On Louisiana’s side, the covert as the province of the secret service known as the Hand He had watched the two organizations clash froh anymore

First, the Mirror woke him up at ten till five, and now he spent fifteenopen soundlessly and a woman entered the room She was short, with a sparse, coown embroidered with silver thread Kaldar priced the dress out of habit About five gold doubloons in the Weird, probably a grand and a half or two in the Broken Expensive and obviously custom tailored The blue fabric perfectly complimented her skin, the color of hazelnut shells The dress was meant to communicate power and authority, but she hardly needed it She moved as if she owned the air he breathed

Nancy Virai The head of the Mirror They’ve never e rat that he was - but she hardly needed an introduction

He’d spent last two years doing sreat i that would warrant the attention of Lady Virai Anticipation shot through Kaldar So waited at the end of this conversation

Lady Virai approached and stopped at the desk four feet away Dark eyes surveyed him from a severe face Her irises were like black ice Stare too long and you’d veer off course and smash into a hard wall at full speed

"You are Kaldar Mar"

"Yes,have you worked for me?"

She knew perfectly hen he had started "Almost two years, my lady"

"You have open warrants in two Provinces, which we quashed when you were hired, and an extensive criminal record in Dukedom of Louisiana" Nancy’s face was ambler, a thief, a liar, and an occasional ht the Mirror would be the proper career choice Just out of curiosity, is there a law that you haven’t broken?"

"Yes I never raped anyone Also, I never copulated with aniainst that"

"And you have a sree the lot of you frolia Your debt is being paid in full by the efforts of your cousin Cerise Sandine and her husband, William You are allowed to pursue any profession you may like Yet you came to work for rateful to the real my family I posses a unique set of talents that the Mirror finds useful and I don’t want to rely on my lovely cousin and William for the repayment of my debt William is a nice chap, a bit testy at times and he occasionally sprouts fur, but everyone has issues I would feel rotten being indebted to hiood nature"

Nancy’s cold eyes stared at hie of others’ good nature"

He laughed quietly under his breath

" You lie with no hesitation The sine that face serves you quite well, especially in female company"

"It has its uses"

Lady Virai pondered hi moment "Kaldar, you are a scoundrel"