The estate of Lord Vaneer was a sprawling fortress of dark stone located in the upper tier of the capital city. It was surrounded by high walls and patrolled by heavily armed mercenaries wearing the emerald colors of House Caligari.

To a military commander like the imprisoned General Draven the estate was an impenetrable stronghold. To a master spy like Lady Seraphina it was a loyal outpost.

But to Elara it was just another house that needed cleaning.

Elara stood in the shadows of a narrow alleyway across from the estate’s service entrance. She wore a simple brown cloak over her dark silk uniform. Beside her stood three young women. They wore the drab grey uniforms of the lower servant class. They were maids laundresses and scullery workers. They were the invisible women of the Sunless Throne.

"Remember the instructions," Elara whispered her pale green eyes scanning the faces of her recruits. "You are not assassins. You are not thieves. You are ghosts. You clean the floors you wash the linens and you listen."

The three women nodded their expressions a mix of fear and fierce determination. Elara had recruited them carefully. Each of them had suffered under the cruelty of the nobility. Each of them had been offered protection and gold by the Shadow Advisor. They were fiercely loyal to the man who treated them like human beings instead of property.

"Lord Vaneer is hiding something massive," Elara continued pulling a small hand drawn map from her cloak. "Silas believes it is a cache of illegal weapons. You do not look for swords in the armory. You look for anomalies. You look for locked doors that the servants are forbidden to clean. You look for heavy wagons arriving in the dead of night. You look for the dirt that does not belong."

"What if we are caught?" one of the younger maids asked her voice trembling slightly.

"You will not be caught because you will not do anything suspicious," Elara replied her voice steady and absolute. "If a guard questions you you lower your eyes and apologize for being clumsy. You are invisible. Use it."

The three maids nodded again. They pulled their grey hoods up and hurried across the cobblestone street slipping through the service entrance just as the morning shift began.

Elara watched them go. She felt a surge of pride. She was no longer just a victim scrubbing floors in the Consort Quarters. She was the spymaster of the Shadow Advisor.

Inside the estate the invisible war began.

The first maid a quiet girl named Nyla was assigned to the laundry. She spent the morning washing the heavy woolen cloaks of the mercenary guards. As she scrubbed the fabric she noticed a distinct pattern. The cloaks worn by the guards patrolling the eastern wing of the estate were covered in a fine dark dust. It was not the grey dust of the city streets. It was the heavy metallic dust of a forge.

Nyla committed the detail to memory and kept scrubbing.

The second maid a sharp eyed woman named Kaelia was assigned to the kitchens. She spent the afternoon serving wine and roasted meats to Lord Vaneer and his lieutenants. She kept her head bowed and her movements silent.

Lord Vaneer was a massive sweating man who ate with disgusting ferocity. He sat at the head of the table laughing loudly with his men.

"The Silk Spider thinks she controls the board," Vaneer boasted wiping grease from his chin. "She thinks my mines are running dry. Let her believe it. When the time is right we will show her what true power looks like."

"Are the new shipments secure My Lord?" one of the lieutenants asked lowering his voice.

"Locked in the eastern cellars," Vaneer replied taking a massive gulp of wine. "The new broadswords are flawless. The southern steel is holding an edge perfectly. We have enough blades to arm a thousand men."

Kaelia poured more wine into the lieutenant’s cup her face a perfect mask of blank servitude. She had the confession.

The third maid a brave girl named Lira was assigned to clean the corridors of the eastern wing. She used Nyla’s intelligence about the metallic dust to guide her path. She scrubbed the stone floors moving deeper into the restricted areas.

She found the door. It was a massive iron portal guarded by two mercenaries. It was the only door in the entire estate that the servants were explicitly forbidden to approach.

Lira did not try to open it. She did not linger. She simply dropped her soapy brush near the guards.

"Forgive me My Lords," Lira squeaked dropping to her knees and frantically scrubbing the floor near their boots.

The guards laughed cruelly kicking her bucket and spilling the soapy water. "Watch your step you clumsy rat. Get out of here before we throw you in the cellars with the steel."

Lira apologized profusely gathered her bucket and hurried away. She had the location.

That evening the three maids met Elara in the shadows of the alleyway. They delivered their intelligence quickly and efficiently. The metallic dust. The drunken confession. The heavily guarded iron door in the eastern wing.

Elara smiled. It was a flawless operation.

An hour later Elara stood in the office of the Shadow Advisor. She relayed the intelligence to Silas and Lyra.

Silas sat behind his massive black desk his dark eyes gleaming with predatory satisfaction. Lyra stood beside him a triumphant smile on her lips. Her theory had been proven absolutely correct.

"Eastern cellars," Silas murmured steepling his fingers. "A thousand broadswords forged from stolen iron. It is a massive illegal armory."

"It is enough treason to have him executed ten times over," Lyra said her sapphire eyes shining. "If Seraphina finds out he is building an army with her stolen iron she will burn his estate to the ground."

"And that is exactly why she will never find out," Silas replied standing up. He walked over to the towering arched window and looked out over the dark city. "We are not going to expose him. We are going to own him."

Silas turned back to Elara. "You and your ghosts performed perfectly Elara. You have given me the blade. Now it is time to put it to Lord Vaneer’s throat."

He looked at his System interface.

[Current SP: 610]

[Status: Optimal.]

"Send a royal summons to Lord Vaneer," Silas commanded his voice cold and absolute. "Tell him the Shadow Advisor requires his presence in the palace tomorrow morning. Tell him to come alone."