Chapter 18

Hiding in a library cupboard, Sancia uses Clef to sense the spy retrieving the recorder rig from Orso’s basement. She tails a cautious young woman through the Hypatus Building, plants Berenice’s tracking scriving in the woman’s bag, and signals success before meeting Berenice at a carriage.

To avoid watchers, Berenice routes them through another gate and they proceed on foot into the Commons. They observe a silent handoff in a taverna: the woman leaves the bag; a nervous man collects it and departs with several professional-looking escorts. Sancia and Berenice shadow the growing group east through Old Ditch and Foundryside.

As they pass the Michiel walls and angle toward the Candiano campo, Sancia and Berenice trade background: Berenice is Orso’s fabricator, recruited young; her father vanished after pressuring Orso for money. At the Candiano gate, Sancia uses Clef to open a security door, noting Clef’s growing power, and they don Candiano colors to blend in.

Inside the underlit, diminished Candiano campo, Berenice summarizes the house’s collapse after Tribuno Candiano’s ruinous pursuits. Following the trail along the outer wall, they arrive at the “closed” Cattaneo Foundry, where heavy guards and scrived armor belie the pretense. Sancia climbs a nearby townhouse, surveying empty yards, one active smokestack, and lit offices on the northwest third floor.

Fearing the target will strengthen defenses or flee once the recorder is reviewed, Sancia pushes to act now. Berenice, reluctant but persuaded by the opportunity, suggests creating their own entry—an experimental approach dependent on finding the right stone—setting the stage for an immediate infiltration.