I studied the five cards in my hand. Two diamonds, a spade, and two of the wraiths. Beginner’s luck, I thought with a snort, but then studied the first wraith card closer.

It depicted a middle-aged man dressed in blue robes. Moons and stars were stitched on the edges of his sleeves. His face was melancholy, his head bent, one hand over his heart, the other lifted as if he were in the throes of making a plea. His hair was blond until I tilted the card and the color changed to a fiery red. Or perhaps it was a cascade of blood, which began to drip from the ends of his hair, marring his raiment.

Breathless, I tilted the card again and his hair returned to gold, and the blood marks vanished.

A deviah magician had created these cards. A magician highly skilled in art who knew how to layer enchantment within the illustration. Something I once longed to achieve. I felt an ache in my chest and I quickly tamped it down.

The second wraith card surprised me further; it was completely blank, save for the title at the footer: The Lost One. But when I angled the card to the light, a scene bloomed on the parchment. Stone walls, blue banners, trestle tables. The grand hall of a castle, with an empty throne on the dais.

I had read about this place before, in Knox Birch’s dream. This was the fortress in the clouds, the holding of the Seren Duchy. A chill snaked down my spine as I tilted the card again, watching the scene vanish once more, as if it had never been.

“Miss Neven!” Deacon scolded. “Now I know you’re holding not one but two of the wraiths! Me and Grandmama won’t want to trade with you this round. You have to keep them secret.”

“Deacon,” Mrs. Stirling warned. “Be nice. This is Miss Neven’s first time playing.”

I was hardly listening; I studied the first wraith card again. Inscribed at the bottom was the cursed man’s title. The Advisor. “What are the titles of all the wraiths? It’s been a long while since I heard the legend.”

“The heiress, the advisor, the master of coin,” Deacon began, listing them on his fingers. “The spymistress, the lady-in-waiting, the guard, and the lost one.”

“And who is the lost one? I don’t see them on the card.”

Exasperated that I had now informed him of the exact wraith I was holding, Deacon said, “They are the one who was left behind in the fortress when the duchy fell. As punishment for killing the duke. Everyone else fled before the nightmares arrived.”