Vivienne slid into the chair across from the woman who controlled access to half the gathering spaces in Jointworm. She had spent three weeks learning what this woman wanted before she ever asked for a meeting. Now she would make herself necessary, one careful question at a time. But the woman's eyes drifted past Vivienne toward the window, where the Academy's new towers gleamed above the rooftops. "Have you seen what they're doing over there?" the woman asked, not waiting for an answer. "Free lectures every evening. Open to anyone who wants to attend. They're calling it a 'community gathering.'" She smiled, but her voice carried an edge. "The magisters are suddenly very interested in building influence outside their walls." Vivienne followed her gaze and understood immediately. Someone had moved first, claiming the exact territory she needed. The woman turned back to her, still smiling. "So tell me, Miss Beaumont. What exactly can you offer that they can't?" Vivienne didn't hesitate. "They offer knowledge," she said. "I offer something they'll never provide." She leaned forward. "When was the last time a magister asked you a question they actually wanted answered?" The woman's smile shifted. Vivienne watched it happen. "They lecture because they need an audience. You host gatherings because you need control. I'm building something different. A place where the people who matter most don't have to perform or teach or prove anything at all." She let the silence settle between them. "The Academy took the public square. Let them have it. I only want the six people in this city who decide what the public square is worth." The woman set down her cup. Her fingers drummed once against the table. Then she named three of those six people and asked when Vivienne could start. Vivienne left through the salon's back entrance two hours later with a list of names in her pocket. A package waited on the steps. She opened it and found a leather-bound book inside, its cover decorated with gold filigree. No note. No sender. She turned it over and saw her own handwriting on the first page — questions she'd drafted weeks ago, observations about the city's power structure she'd never shared with anyone. Someone had been in her room. The Academy's magisters had made their public move, but this was something else. Someone had been watching her long before she'd started watching them.