Winter, 1228.

Umbriel's apprentice, Valka, is woken a few hours before dawn by the sound of something in the room. She grabs her sword and manages to slay the intruder, who is invisible. After some investigation it turns out to have been one of the mercenaries who had been turned invisible by a side effect of Vladimir's arcane experimentations. He had decided to take advantage of his invisibility to discover the 'sleeping arrangements' of the two magi for a bet.