Reconnaissance

Jamison

Jamsion was the last to arrive at the girl's room for their reconnaissance report. He hadn't gotten off of work until late. His last client had demanded he wait a whole half hour outside while he went into a cafe to drink some coffee and read a book. It took him almost an hour to finish whatever frilly drink it was he had decided on.

"You're late." Gisa said, not looking away from her nails. Emma was painting them.

"Couldn't you just magic your fingernails into being painted?" Jamison pointed, flopping into a beanbag.

"I wanted to practice." Emma answered. "But seriously, you're acting like this isn't a big deal. Be on time the next time."

"The next time?"

Cameron laughed. "You haven't worked with Gisa for long, but we have. She's relentless. She knows what she's doing, don't worry, work hard, and things will turn out for the better."

Jamsion rolled his eyes, but he shut up, and gestured to Gisa to begin her little meeting.

"Okay, well let's get a report." She began, "Cameron, what did you get?"

"There's nothing that is absolutely certain, but from my research, it seems that the Mother Guardian has lost her powers. As far as the barrier research goes, I only just got into it. There was a lot of information to sift through about the Mother Guardian first. But the expert sources on the barrier claim that it can only be broken by the creator. And since the Mother Guardian doesn't seem to have magic…" He shrugged. "It could just be a scam to make everyone in the kingdom feel safe. So I think I'll do some more research on its creation to see if I can learn more about the magic type."

Jamsion watched approval flash over Gisa's features before she turned to Emma. "What about you?"

"Well, I'm learning a lot about the court system and politics. There's a lot of unhappy people. The power is unstable and transitions are not secured. I'm going to continue looking into the people in government. I think I might be able to get Sean to invite me to dinner with them or something. I don't have anything concrete right now, but I'll get it for you."

Jamison began before Gisa could ask him. Annoyance flickered in her face but she didn't say anything. As much as Jamison knew she was doing her best, he didn't like being bossed around. "The Mother Guardian is first. Even without her powers, she's smart. I think we'd have to convince her first, but I know she would be reliable." As annoyingly preppy and upbeat she was. "Second, I think the prince is trustworthy. I spent the whole season with him practicing, traveling, playing. We even grab lunch as a group sometimes." He looked over at Gisa. "No, don't look at me like that. Sure he was maybe a jerk sometimes but he has the right heart. He's the reason we're even here."

"Who is the third?" Gisa asked tightly.

"I haven't found a third one yet. I don't get up and schmoozy with the rich guys here. I drive their limos around, that's it. I'll have a third name by the next meeting."

"Get a fourth name too." Gisa said. "And I want you to make contact with one name who wouldn't sound the alarm." She paused. "The prince. Make contact with Michael. He took the shape shifter's attack seriously and wouldn't laugh if you told him about the impending trouble."

"Well what did you find?"

"I think Lucy may very well be just as powerful as her mother." Gisa said. "I'm looking into the other kids in the magic school. Many of them have not progressed far, but Lucy has. As for armies, I know I can count on people on the island. I sent a letter to Harry. He's going to gather information from the inside of the island."

"Great, what about here?" He shrugged.

Gisa glared at him. "What's eating you today?"

Jamison didn't answer, he shook his head.

"We're all stressed out so why don't we talk about the good parts of our days and calm down a little?" Emma asked, putting a hand on Gisa's shoulder and one on Jamison's. "Come on, I'll go first." She sat back down on her bed. "Today I went to the mall with Sophie and Mara, then I tried this delicious dessert called tiramisu."

Cameron began next. "I officially joined the dungeons and dragons club at the school." He looked over to Jamsion who was hiding his smile. "Go on, say it."

He laughed, "you're such a nerd."

"There it is!" Cameron laughed with him. "I'm becoming really good friends with this kid named Thomas. He's Duchess Naeema's son. He's in the magic lab with you, right Gisa?"

She nodded. "He hasn't done much yet, but he's only fifteen."

Jamison felt his annoyance start to melt away. "I found out the date for the tryouts for the fencing team, so I'm excited for that." he offered as the best part of the day.

Gisa smiled, "I got a B plus on my English quiz!"