As we reach the top of the stairs, a large one-room apartment lit by candles comes into view. It has a small kitchen, a couch in front of a fireplace, a canopied bed, an armoire, and a large area rug. Even though it’s dusty and smells a little like talcum powder, the room is well decorated in creams and various shades of blue, giving it a cozy feel. I can almost picture the seamstress who lived here, bustling about in her big skirts.

Matteo sits at one of four chairs around a dining table with his arms crossed.

I look from Matteo to Layla, who sits down beside him. “Okay, now what in the heck is going on?” I say. “How are you two here? Why are you two here? Why couldn’t I tell Ash? You’re both the last people I would expect—”

“Have a seat, November,” Layla says, cutting me off and gesturing at an empty chair. “Matteo will bring us some tea.”

Matteo tilts his head, like he didn’t know he was bringing tea but he’s willing to adjust. And so I slide into the wooden chair while he makes his way into the tiny kitchen.

I want to rattle off twenty more questions, but Layla’s already made it clear that she’s not going to respond to that type of approach. So instead, I sit as patiently as I can and wait for her to explain.

“I know you can’t stay for long without my brother noticing,” she says, and the relief I felt just moments ago shifts to uncertainty. “So I will try to be as succinct as possible. I’m here for exactly the reason you suspect: you and my brother are attempting something that might better Strategia for decades to come, and you will be seriously impeded without me.”

I smile slightly because she’s right that we’re not as good without her, yet her frank delivery is so Layla that it’s charming. “I agree. But why didn’t you come with us when we left? I mean, you made it seem like there was no way you would ever leave the Academy.”

“Make a sound in the east, then strike in the west,” Layla says as she sits perfectly straight in her chair.

I pause. “Professor Liu’s mind games class?” I ask, remembering the day Liu introduced the Thirty-Six Stratagems by hanging two ropes in the middle of the room with a flag between them.

“The sixth Stratagem says that the element of surprise is an invaluable tool. Once your enemy has focused his troops in one spot, you gain advantage by attacking a weakly defended location,” Layla says, like that clears everything up.

I look over at Matteo, hoping for a simpler explanation of how this relates to our particular situation, but he’s busy boiling water with his back to us.