She pressed her ear against the wall, careful not to try and magickally hear the voices on the other side better. What she was doing was dangerous enough, after all Qishir Thayne only allowed those pertinent to the conversation inside her meeting hall and any who weren’t invited but tried to listen in anyway were considered spies.

And she had seen what befell those committed of that act. It was not something she wished to experience firsthand.

But the risk of that outcome was worth hearing what had set both Honorable and Grey Courts so on edge. Was worth learning what had caused them to be so tense with each other that that tension leaked out of the hall through the windows and door cracks. That breathed through the corridors like a hunter seeking prey when the main doors were opened. The whole Palace was on edge now, especially after rumors had flowed that Qishir Rhyshladlyn and Companion Azriel had been having a very public fight on a subject that was far heavier than their usual spats.

So she was here, one room over, having snuck in around the guards that stood in front of the main doors, eyes watching for anyone who didn’t belong or didn’t have a purpose that saw them passing down that corridor. Had slowly felt out how far the privacy wards reached into this room before approaching the wall. Sure there were easier ways to get intel on what was being discussed, but she couldn’t wait that long. Couldn’t risk it. Not with Rhyshladlyn beginning to act like he did forty years ago before Qishir Xitlali and the Anointed One’s people had been slaughtered in N’phier City.

If things were unraveling, she needed to know. If only to make sure that the back up plans were ready to go. That if she had to act immediately, she could do so without worry that things would either backfire or fail outright. The Anointed One was counting on her. And unlike some of her fellows, she would not fail him.

Not again.