Vanlo passed through dappled morning sunlight as he strolled down the narrow path that wound through tall trees and dense foliage. The soft sounds of his footfalls on sandy ground was the only noise other than the twitter of birds from the high canopies of the trees.

The pace of his walk was leisurely, but it belied what he was thinking at that moment.

Concern darkened his eyes as he neared the end of the path, where a small clearing housed a stone and metal building with a high, dome-like roof. Torches burned pale blue atop high poles set in a wide circle around it. Even in the light of day, it cast a ghostly look to the area.

Vanlo saw that the great double-doors of the building were already open. This made him pause for a moment. Somehow this made it more difficult for him, and already foretold what he would find when he stepped inside.

Vanlo entered the building, stopping just past the threshold as he took a moment to let his eyes adapt to the change in brightness.

In the center of the largely hollow chamber rose a golden column of glowing energy, held between two highly polished reflectors of very pure crystal. Suspended in the center of the energy flow was a sphere made of the same clear crystal, slowly rotating in place. From the sphere, waves of brighter gold spread outward along the column to the reflectors, and was sent right back into the sphere in an endless cycle.

At the center of the sphere was a red gemstone, its facets flashing brightly. Vanlo stared at it, knowing it to be the heart of the Portal device. It was what created the discontinuity in space and time to allow the Portal to be opened. Everything else around it was designed to refine and focus the energy.

Vanlo's eyes drifted along the column of energy, and he sighed.

Roquan, who had been standing off to the side, only now realized that someone was in the room with him. He was not startled, however, as he knew there would be only one person in the Manor that would dare to walk in unannounced. Instead, his eyes held a combination of concern and hope.

"Well?" he asked, a bit of an impatient edge to his voice.

Vanlo observed the pulsing energies and listened to the deep thrumming sound that emanated from the device for a few moments before responding. "I trust you have begun the activation cycle," he asked softly.

Roquan frowned. "If you must ask me that, Vanlo, then you have answered my question already. And it is not the answer I wanted to hear."

"Nor was it mine, your Lordship," said Vanlo in a somber voice as he stepped over to the Overlord. "But to deny the fact is folly. I cannot sense the energies from the Portal, save for perhaps a very vague buzzing in my head. And even that did not start until I was nearly inside the building."

Roquan's eyes hardened. "Vanlo, we must find out who is responsible for this. If I discover that the Emperor had anything to do with this ..."

"We unfortunately do not have that answer for you as yet, your Lordship."

"Have you discovered anything at all from that hair that Lanno found?"

Vanlo could sense the desperation in the Overlord's voice. Roquan wanted so much to blame someone for this. The Healer realized that Roquan likely had already tied this back to the Emperor, and this disturbed him. While Vanlo was indeed familiar with the treachery that Z'haas had committed, he thought it foolish to automatically blame the man for all the ills that befell the Manor.

Vanlo gave it some thought before he responded. "We have. I have confirmed that the hair did not belong to Yanna. While the chemical analysis will not be done for at least a few more days, it is far enough along that I can tell you this. So this is not a hair left over from her handling of the herb. This is good because it increases the chance that the hair does belong to the perpetrator."

Roquan nodded. "Have you discovered anything else?"

"With Lanno's help, we have determined who else the hair does not belong to. It does not belong to an Overlord, as it came from a much younger person. It does not come from a slave. The only slaves with that coloration of hair have been easily exonerated."

"And you are sure of that?"

"Very. Only four slaves have hair that dark in color. One is Amanda, and she is obviously not a suspect. The other three have been confirmed are not native Narlassi, and the analysis already indicates the hair belongs to someone of Narlassi heritage."

There was a pause, and it was clear from the look on Roquan's face that he was putting two and two together as Vanlo and Lanno had. "The merchants."

"We are seeing that as a strong possibility, yes."

"Not Herdon ..."

Vanlo shook his head at the mention of the name of the Emperor's spy that had tried to assassinate Roquan during the Conclave. "The hair color is wrong."

"I do not recall a lot of the merchants that I had dealt with during that time. I may have to contact Uridon."

Vanlo stroked his beard thoughtfully for a moment. "I seem to recall that there were scant few merchants that had arrived with this coloration of hair. Jollis was among them.."

Roquan paused and furrowed his brow as he looked at the Healer. "Surely you are not suggesting that he is a suspect?"

"I am simply going where the evidence is taking me, your Lordship."

"Jollis is my trusted Tradesman. He has been nothing but a help since the Conclave."

Vanlo nodded. "I do not deny this. And I make no accusations, either. I simply state my observations."

"I believe we can safely state that he is not a suspect, much in the same way that we assumed Amanda was not."

Vanlo realized now that Roquan had misinterpreted what he had said earlier. "We do not appear to be thinking along the same lines, your Lordship. I exonerated Amanda because she does not have the skill to perform the proper mixing of a potion nor does she have a clear motive, and not because of my subjective view of her character."

Roquan frowned at this. "Can we not exonerate Jollis in the same manner?"

"I do not know his background, your Lordship. Nor do I have any idea if he has any agenda other than his service to you. It is simply the fact that I do not know the man well that I cannot rule him out. At the same time, I do not see anything that clearly states he did do it. I am dealing in only possibilities at the moment."

Roquan nodded, but it was clear from his curt manner that he was not happy with this. If it had been anyone other than Vanlo stating this, he would have simply dismissed it immediately. Naturally, he did not believe that Jollis was at all guilty of any impropriety, but he had to let his Healer do his job. "Very well. If you find you need something from Jollis to help eliminate him from a potential list of suspects, please inform me immediately."

"I will indeed, your Lordship. I wish to finish the analysis first, as the findings there may remove the need to pursue it any further."

Vanlo doubted this, however. Even if it did, he felt he might still insist on a sample of the merchant's hair for a comparison. Again, it was not that he was suspicious of the young man, but simply that the young man was a large unknown to him, and it behooved him to eliminate the unknown values from the equation.

Vanlo shifted his eyes towards the Portal again. There had been a subtle change in it since he had been there. The rings of energy sped along faster. The thrumming sound had become more urgent. It would take at least half a day to energize for a local trip across Narlass. A trip to another world would take a full day to charge.

He felt a sense of melancholy come over him. When the idea that his Portal sensitivity had been stilled was just a concept, it had been easier to deal with. Now faced with the cold reality, he felt like something had been ripped away from him. He felt less a person than he was before.

"Is there anything you need of Amanda before she is sent abroad, Vanlo?" Roquan said.

Vanlo turned his gaze back to the Overlord, grateful for the change in subject. "No, your Lordship. Having only just examined her recently, I can state she is in perfect health."

Roquan nodded once and paused. "And there is nothing you need to say to her before she leaves?"

Vanlo realized that he should no longer be surprised at things like this. His Overlord had been undergoing a great deal of change over the past season. This was part of the reason why he was disappointed in seeing Amanda go. While he cared for the girl in his own way, he also saw how she had brought out more of the humanity in Roquan. While Vanlo never thought of the Overlord as unfeeling (indeed, Roquan cared for the well-being of his slaves more than any of his peers), Roquan had trouble actually showing his compassion openly.

"I am deeply grateful for the offer, your Lordship," Vanlo said softly. "I will speak with her briefly before she leaves, but I can do that any time. I trust she will be sent before the evening meal?"

"Yes. I thought it best that she should have a full evening with her new Master. And I am sure Tanyee will be happy to see her. I know that they had become friends while Tanyee was at the Manor."

"Having Tanyee there is a boon," said Vanlo. "It will give Amanda an anchor, something familiar to help her acclimate."

Roquan nodded in agreement, and that assured Vanlo that the Overlord had indeed changed. Had this been six moons ago, he would have simply stated that the slave should feel happy and content with her Master regardless of whether the surroundings were familiar or not.

The Overlord did not want to admit it, but Vanlo could see that he had a soft spot for Amanda as well. And now he felt it safe enough to state as such. "You will miss her."

There was a long pause before Roquan responded. "I will miss her," he said in a low voice. "She is quite unlike any slave I have ever encountered, Vanlo."

"I trust that is not simply because she had not had the Draught."

The Overlord observed Vanlo for a moment. He sometimes wondered how much the Healer knew about what really went into the Draught. That was the one potion that Healers did not mix. All Overlords learned to do that themselves. It was why it was important to exonerate the Overlords as suspects earlier, as some of them could have developed additional potion-mixing skills.

Roquan shook his head. "No, it goes beyond that. I would be hard-pressed to explain exactly how."

Vanlo offered a small smile. "Then let us hope that she brings Lord K'garon as much joy as she has brought you."

Roquan had to laugh at this statement. Yes, Amanda did bring him joy, in a way. She had also been by far the most difficult slave with which he had ever had to deal. If all she had been was disobedient, there would have been nothing special about her, and he would have simply punished her until she learned her place.

Vanlo understood the context of his Overlord's mirth and smiled more genuinely. "If there is nothing else you require of me, your Lordship, I would like to return to my office. There are a number of slaves requiring examinations, and they will be an excitable lot today as they always are when one of their number is being sent abroad."

"Of course, Vanlo."

Vanlo bowed his head respectfully and left the chamber.

As he started up the path, the Healer let his thoughts turn to a matter that he had not allowed himself to think about in many years. He had considered it a forbidden subject, something that had stemmed from an action he should never have taken, an action which had given him knowledge he had wished he had never attained.

Vanlo was indeed a wizard at chemical analysis. While he downplayed his abilities, the truth of the matter was that there simply was no one in all of Narlass that was his peer in this regard. The Healer Guild Master never got over Vanlo's refusal to return to the Guild Hall and become an instructor in the subject. It was one of the reasons that Vanlo remained as far from the Guild Hall as possible, as there was too much friction between him and the Guild Master even after all this time.

One day, Vanlo had done the forbidden. He had let his insatiable curiosity get the better of him. He had taken a small sample of the Draught of Forgetfulness and analyzed it. And he learned far more than he had expected, and perhaps more than the Overlords themselves knew.

He had found the ingredient that increased sexual responsiveness and desire. That had been a surprise, but not a complete shock. And he already knew that the Draught suppressed memories of the past, so the ingredients that did that were no surprise.

What had been a shock was what subsequent analysis had shown him: that the two components, the one that increased sex drive and the one that suppressed memories, could occasionally interact with each other to degrade intelligence.

He knew that the sex-related ingredient was likely the Overlords' "dirty little secret." But had he uncovered an additional and truly heinous secret? Had the Overlords purposely intended to lower the intelligence of their captives? He had never quite been at peace with the idea of removing a person's memories, but he had been content in the fact that it had at least left their minds intact.

Yet his own observations of Roquan told him that at least that Overlord appeared oblivious to this side-effect. If anything, he seemed to value intelligence and instructed his Trainers specifically look for it in potential captives. Had he ever been disappointed that a slave he had thought would be intelligent turned out not to be as much as he had hoped? Had he ever made a connection with the Draught?

Vanlo had wrestled with his conscience at the time, and never came to any conclusion. He had never brought this issue to the attention of Roquan, but in reality he had yet to make a firm decision on whether he would ever mention it. He had managed to forget about it until Amanda came along. His old dilemma was brought increasingly to the fore the longer he had associated with her, and now he could not stop thinking about it again.

And he was no closer to making a final decision than he had been before.

Sirinna stepped out from behind her charge as they both walked out from Amanda's bed chamber into Sirinna's. Amanda still wore the collar but not the chain. It was some relief to her that she would no longer be needing it.

Sirinna had just awoken Amanda a short while ago. Or rather, it had appeared that Amanda had been asleep. In reality, she had been awake since shortly before dawn. The reason was obscured in one hand that was partially curled into a fist, the pearl rolling around loosely within.

"Now, Amanda," began Sirinna in a serious tone of voice. Amanda lifted her eyes to Sirinna's and held them. She knew that if she kept eye contact, Sirinna would do the same and would be less likely to notice her hand. "There will be no more training for you. As of this moment, you will be treated as if you have graduated, as you will be going to a client by the end of the day."

There was a bit of a catch in Sirinna's voice at these last words, and her eyes shimmered slightly. Even as subtle as the expression of this emotion was, it tugged at Amanda's heart. She wanted very badly now to give Sirinna a measure of hope that they could still be together in some way.

If she did not become furious with Amanda for doing this in the first place, that is.

"Yes, Mistress, I understand," Amanda said, her words having more than one meaning.

Sirinna smiled in acknowledgment, cupping Amanda's cheek gently with her hand. "Amanda, despite what this means for us ... I really am proud of you. I really do think you will do wonderfully with Master Duric."

Amanda tried to get herself used to the name. Until that point she knew him only as Lord K'garon. She had to switch to the given name when addressing him as his slave. She had to admit that she thought the rules about which name and title to use were a little convoluted. She wished she had learned a little more about it before she was sent off.

At that thought, she asked, "Mistress, do you think Master Duric will allow me to keep reading my scrolls?"

"I do not know, Amanda. I know that Master Roquan will be making a request on your behalf for that very thing, but it will be entirely at Master Duric's discretion."

Amanda nodded solemnly. She was worried about this, even more so than her concerns over measuring up to whatever standard Duric would compare her.

Sirinna smiled slightly. "If Master Duric refuses, I will make sure your scrolls remain safe for when you have a chance to read them again."

"Thank you, Mistress," Amanda said tonelessly. She appreciated the thought, but she had a feeling that if Duric said no, it was going to be a very long time before she ever had a chance to read them again. A "no" would mean that Duric was interested only in his own pleasure and cared nothing for her own personal development.

She doubted anyone really cared about that. Despite the claims that Overlords and clients cared for their slaves, it was largely superficial. At least in her view, which she knew was not from the perspective of Narlassi culture.

Sirinna caressed Amanda's cheek before letting her hand drop and returning to the business at hand. "Anyway, Amanda, what this means is that we will do no more training with you today, as you know as much as you can know. Instead, I'll just review some of the finer points of protocol, and we'll do a trial run of the Presenting to Master Duric later."

Amanda nodded. "Mistress, will we be having the morning meal first?"

Sirinna smiled. "Of course. Is that subtle hint that you're hungry?"

Amanda managed a smile in return. Her hand tightened a bit around the pearl. "Yes, Mistress, I am, actually."

"That's a good sign."

"Is it?"

"Yes. You're not as anxious about this as I thought you might be. You tend to lose your appetite when you're anxious."

Amanda felt her heart lurch. Sirinna could read her like a book. She was not sure that would translate over the Farview. She hoped it would. She hoped that Farviewing was going to be better than simply calling on the phone as on Earth.

"Do you wish to accompany me, Amanda?" Sirinna asked.

Amanda had not expected that question. "Um ... accompany you?"

"I said you were no longer to be treated as a Trainee, so naturally you could come with me. We can eat with the other slaves as well if you wish."

"Um ... I think I'd like us to eat here, Mistress." She paused and continued in a lower voice heavy with emotion, "I want to spend as much time with you as I can before I have to go."

Sirinna drew in a deep breath and let it go, her own emotions showing now as she stepped up to Amanda. "I understand," she said softly, stroking Amanda's hair. "I am going to miss you terribly."

Amanda saw Sirinna's eyes shimmer. She felt her own tears trying to form, her vision blurring a bit until she blinked them away.

Nothing was said between them as there were no more words that could express what they felt at that moment. They simply looked into each other's eyes for a long moment, and that said more than words could ever do. Sirinna slowly stepped back and turned for the door.

Amanda nearly forgot. She hastily wiped at her eyes with her free hand and suddenly looked down towards the foot of the bed. "Um, Mistress, w-wait. Did you drop something?"

Sirinna was just about at the door when she turned and gave Amanda an odd look. "Drop something? I don't understand."

Amanda's heart started pounding when she heard the doubt in Sirinna's voice. She dropped to her knees and crawled over to the side of the bed. "Yes, there's something odd on the floor here just under the bed."

Sirinna made a face and came around the foot of the bed just as Amanda appeared to reach under the bed and grab something. "There shouldn't be anything under there except the cuffs and some spare chains and collars," she said.

Amanda closed her fist around the pearl and looked up. "Yes, I know, which is why this was odd. Here, I've got it ..."

She brought up her fist and stood up. Sirinna looked at Amanda, and then Amanda's hand, but made no move to try and take anything from her.

Amanda forced the issue. She simply reached out with her free hand, grabbed one of Sirinna's hands, and plopped her fist into the palm. Sirinna blinked in surprise, but did not pull her hand away, letting Amanda open her fist and drop the pearl into Sirinna's hand.

Sirinna felt something start to roll against her palm and automatically closed her hand around it to prevent it from dropping. "This feels like a small stone or ... oh!"

Sirinna flinched. Her eyes widened in surprise at first, and then alarm as she gazed down at what was in her hand. Her lips parted as she plucked the blue pearl with two fingers of her other hand, holding it delicately as if she expected it to burn her.

"Amanda, what's this?" Sirinna asked. She cast a hardened gaze at Amanda. "Amanda, you didn't!"

"I didn't, Mistress," Amanda said firmly.

"I told you specifically not to ask Master Roquan for a pearl!"

"I did not ask Master Roquan for a pearl, Mistress. He was unlikely to give me one anyway."

"Then where did you ..."

"I got this from Master Jollis, Mistress."

Sirinna was momentarily speechless. She looked from Amanda to the pearl and back again. "This is not ... it can't be ..."

Sirinna blinked as Amanda suddenly snatched the pearl back.

Amanda smiled despite the situation. "A Farviewing pearl? Yes, it is. And now that you touched it, it's bound to you. I can Farview you whenever I want while I'm away."

Sirinna gave Amanda an indignant look. "You tricked me, Amanda. You knew I would not go for something like this willingly."

"I know."

"Amanda, give me back that pearl. Now."

"No."

"Amanda, do not do this, not today of all days!" Sirinna declared. "Do not make me punish you just before you have to be sent to a client!"

"Then punish me if you need to, Mistress," said Amanda without flinching, her hand closing tightly around the pearl. "But I am not giving up the pearl."

"Amanda, you cannot ..."

"Sirinna, I did this for the both of us!" Amanda pleaded. "Please, Sirinna. This will let us keep in contact while I'm away. I can't stand not seeing or hearing from you again. You can't possibly want that either."

Sirinna swallowed hard and tried to control her voice. Nevertheless, there was a distinct quaver to it. "Amanda ... i-it's not what I want ... there are rules. Slaves cannot have pearls or magic of any kind. If Master Roquan found out you had done this ..."

"He doesn't have to know. Please, don't tell him. Please, just ... just accept this, okay? That way we don't have to be so lonely for each other while I'm gone. That way we can see each other and at least reassure each other that the other is still there and still cares."

Sirinna's eyes glistened. "H-hellfire, Amanda, you're not making this any easier ..."

That was the first time Amanda had ever heard Sirinna swear. But she would not back down. Not this time. "Punish me. Paddle me until I can barely sit down. Or keep me in cuffs and chains all day. Or don't let me cum and have every slave in the Manor lick me silly, or ..."

"Stop it, Amanda!" Sirinna cried as she burst into tears.

Amanda stared in astonishment. She had not expected this sort of reaction. She wanted to reach out and comfort Sirinna, but she did not want to give up the pearl. She looked down at it and sighed. She would have to trust Sirinna.

Amanda put the pearl down on the bed. She returned to Sirinna and threw her arms around her lover, holding on tightly. "Sirinna, I'm sorry ... I didn't mean to make you upset ..."

"You're just g-giving me an impossible decision to make," Sirinna sobbed, her body shaking as she hugged Amanda in return. "I-it shouldn't be this hard ... you can't break the rules, b-but ... oh gods, I never wanted you to have to leave this soon ..."

"I never wanted to leave at all, but I know that's a foolish idea. I had to eventually. But it is too soon, Sirinna. I've only barely gotten halfway through training if even that."

Sirinna broke off the embrace and shook her head. "Amanda, you've been doing really well. You're ..."

"No, Sirinna, stop it. I appreciate it, but the fact of the matter is that I am not trained. I am not a full slave. This is not normal."

Sirinna sniffled and wiped at her eyes. "Amanda, sometimes Trainees are sent abroad to round out their training."

"Yes, to round out their training. That implies that most of the training is done already. I'm nowhere near that."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm trying to say that this situation is already unusual and strange. So what's one more thing added to it? We're just compensating for that."

Sirinna paused a long moment. Sometimes when Amanda presented Sirinna something with logic as complex as this, it took her lover a few moments to comprehend it, as if her thinking processes were not as fast.

Sirinna glanced over to the bed and saw the pearl. Her gaze lingered on it for a long moment. Amanda tensed, ready to try and lunge for it if Sirinna looked like she was going to try to snatch it back. Instead, she sighed and looked back towards Amanda. "I guess nothing has been normal about this, has it? I mean, you and me, your training in general."

Amanda nodded. "Considering Master Roquan originally wanted to send me back to Earth, yes."

"Sometimes ... s-sometimes I'm sorry that I ever got you mixed up in all this."

Amanda's eyes widened. "But ... if you didn't ... we'd never have been together."

"I know ... that's why I feel guilty anytime I think that."

Amanda gave Sirinna another hug. "I'm sorry I've caused you such trouble. And I'm sorry I have to be a pain about this now, but ..."

Sirinna shook her head quickly. "It's okay, Amanda." She heaved a heavy sigh. "I'm not going to stop you. I'm not going to tell Master Roquan."

Amanda allowed herself a small smile. "And you're not going to punish ... "

She suddenly let out a surprised yelp as Sirinna reached around and gave her a single hard slap on her backside.

"Consider yourself punished," said Sirinna.

The two of them slowly smiled and embraced one more time. When they parted, Sirinna glanced at the pearl again and then back to Amanda with a troubled look.

"What is it?" Amanda asked.

"Amanda, how are you going to carry the pearl? You can't have any possessions when you're given to Master Duric. Even if you get to keep the scrolls, Master Roquan will give them to Master Duric himself."

Amanda felt her heart sink as she only realized now that she had not thought of this. However, it did not take her long to figure out the solution. "Same way Yanna did when she smuggled in the pearl that let her unlock her collar."

Sirinna's eyes widened. "In your pussy?"

Amanda smiled and nodded.

"Amanda, we didn't get that far with your muscle control training. It's one thing to insert something in there that has a string on it to tug it back out, but to know how to flex your muscles to do it yourself is quite another."

"Then teach me!"

"I'm not so sure about this ..."

"You keep saying I pick up things easily. Just teach me enough to be able to do it today. I only need to do it long enough until I'm put in my room at Master Duric's palace. I can remove it then and just store it under the bed or something."

Sirinna sighed. "And if he wants to have sex with you before you get the chance to do that?"

"I guess I'll just have to take that chance. I can claim that I need to use the sanitary first or something."

"You're too clever for your own good sometimes, Amanda."

Amanda grinned. "I'll take that as a compliment. Thank you, Mistress."

Sirinna laughed. She turned and reached for the pearl. Amanda's heart skipped a beat, not having expected this and thus she was not ready to try and grab it herself before Sirinna had scooped it up in her own hand. She relaxed when Sirinna held out the pearl to her.

Amanda extended her hand and then snapped it closed the moment Sirinna dropped the pearl into it. In a more serious voice, Sirinna said, "I will teach you as best as I can after I get some food for us. But you must pay attention. If you don't, and you do this wrong, you can seriously strain yourself."

Amanda nodded quickly. "I will, Mistress. Thank you."

Sirinna stroked Amanda's hair before heading towards the door. A wave of relief and hope washed over Amanda. It was looking now like her time away was going to be far more bearable than she had thought.

"My Lord! A moment of your time!"

Duric sighed as he paused in the hall. He turned to see Farro rushing towards him. "I am not sure I have that moment, Farro, as I have been summoned to a Farview with Lord Uras."

"Then I must insist on it, if you are to speak with him," said Farro, sounding slightly winded as he came alongside Duric. "I have information that may affect your talk with him."

"Hrm. I highly doubt that. Once his mind is set on something there's no changing it."

Farro raised an eyebrow. "Has there been a change of plans I should know about?"

"I have a feeling he is going to tell me that the start of the Caucus is being moved up. Word is Uras is finally impatient enough to get his fat ass off his throne and actually do something."

Farro blinked in surprise. He had heard Duric speak ill of Uras before, but never this badly. "Well, he does tend to simply set things in motion and let others take the reins," he commented neutrally.

Duric started walking down the hall and gestured Farro to follow. "Farro, you have a very short time to get to the point. What is it?"

"I've done a rough plan of what I can get you in terms of an army in the time you want."

Duric gave him a small smile. "Already? I knew I could count on you, Farro."

"Well, it may not be what you want to hear. Currently we have a force of twelve hundred men, five hundred active and seven hundred on reserve. We've already called the reserves to active duty. Main problem is that it consists of mostly light infantry and cavalry. We only have about two hundred heavy infantry and fifty archers."

"The idea is a fast strike, Farro, so we don't need heavy forces."

"You will be attacking a city, my Lord. That favors the defenders. You will need some troops with staying power to root out pockets of resistance. And we need something to protect the flanks and rear just in case."

"I don't want there to be a 'just in case'," Duric said adamantly as they came to the door to his audience chamber. He stopped and turned towards Farro. "In and out. Quick and neat."

Farro sighed. "And if the Emperor has left a full Imperial Legion behind?"

Duric frowned. "Surely we can match ..."

Farro shook his head. "That's the part you won't like. I estimate we can call up, equip, and just barely train about two thousand more men. That will give you thirty-two hundred all told."

"And the size of an Imperial Legion is ...?"

"Traditionally, five thousand. We don't know how large the Emperor is making them this time around, but the rumors I have heard from the merchants is that he has five of them."

Duric looked surprised at this. "Five? Then they must be smaller, for he could never conjure up twenty-five thousand men under arms just from the Imperial Province."

"I am simply relaying what I have been told, my Lord," said Farro. "I am attempting to obtain better intelligence, but the word of the merchants tends to be very good. The point is, my Lord, if he decides to leave even one of those behind, combined with the good defensive terrain means you won't get a surgical strike. And if we are defeated, and he recalls his other legions from the field, he could easily crush us."

Duric considered this. "The other Lords would not stand for that," he said in a low voice.

"True. But that would plunge us into what you are trying to avoid: civil war. And we would likely not be around to see it through to the end."

There was a long silence between them, until Duric felt the call of the summons again. "I must take this Farview from Uras. Farro, there was one other problem you had mentioned that first day, that of getting the army where we need it. Has that been solved?"

"Possibly. I will need to speak with you this evening on that."

"Could that wait until morning? I have plans for this evening."

"Plans, my Lord? Oh, is Roquan delivering your 'payment' this evening?"

Duric grinned. "He most certainly is. If you wish to stop by to see her for yourself, please do, but it will be pleasure first and business later."

"As you wish, my Lord."

The two parted company, Farro heading back down the hall from where he had come, and Duric entering the audience chamber and closing the door behind him.

"I will receive the esteemed Lord Uras K'vaarik," said Duric as he crossed the room and stood before the throne in the center of the room.

Uras' glowering form shimmered into view. "It is about time!"

"My apologies, things are rather hectic around here. Surely you can understand that, with the Caucus only a little more than a quarter moon away."

"A quarter moon? A quarter moon?! We do not have that sort of time!"

Duric allowed himself a very small smile. He had pegged the old fool well. He assumed what little there had been in greeting protocol had been satisfied and sat down upon the throne. "I will inform Janna that she will need to make haste."

Uras suddenly narrowed his eyes. "Janna? Who in the blazing hells is Janna?"

"A close blood relation of mine, Uras. Highly trusted and respected, and an excellent diplomat. She will represent me well at the Caucus."

"And why are you not coming yourself?"

There was a definite tone of accusation in Uras' voice. Duric was unsure what it meant. He had thought Uras of all people would be happy to know that the young upstart Duric would not be there himself. He decided to play up to this. "It is no secret among the other Lords that I am short on experience. Janna, while she has not governed herself, can play the diplomacy game better than I can."

Uras did indeed appear surprised at this show of humility from Duric. It was short-lived however, and now his expression suggested something that was the last thing Duric wanted to see from a fellow Lord considering what he was planning: suspicion.

"Diplomacy is not needed as much as loyalty is," said Uras flatly.

Duric raised an eyebrow. "Loyalty? To who or what?"

"To us! To the Nobility! To the voice of reason and sanity!"

"Begging your pardon, Uras, but why would mine be in question suddenly? I do not recall giving you anything other than my complete support in going before the Emperor and confronting him on these travesties."

Duric injected just the right amount of righteous indignation into his voice to make Uras pause. "I want to make absolutely sure of that, Duric! I cannot have more of you waffling on this matter."

"Waffling? Have other Lords mentioned something to you?"

"It is what they do not say that concerns me more! I assume you have heard the latest action taken by our delusional Emperor?"

"If you mean the executions of those that plotted against him, yes, I have heard," Duric said darkly. "And you can be assured that in light of this, I am united with the rest of you against him."

"Hrmph! If it were that simple!"

Duric furrowed his brow. "So some of the other Lords are still debating the issue?"

"Yes, they are! And now I must decide if they are doing so simply to hear themselves talk, or if they are planning on betraying us at the Caucus!"

To use the word "betray" in this context was rather damning. It was not unusual for the Lords to represent their own interests at a gathering like this, much the same way the Overlords did at the Conclave. He had seen Uras become upset when other Lords decided to take a contrary opinion to his, as he had a tendency to think that his way was the right way much of the time, but he had never used language like this.

Duric decided it was best to get to the heart of the matter. "Uras, are you saying that you fear the Emperor's actions may have made some of the Lords reconsider their stand?"

Uras' face darkened. "Or the Emperor got to them in another way, one that is heavy and shiny."

Duric was stunned. "Bribery? You believe Z'haas has promised platinum in exchange for their support of his actions? I find that very hard to believe."

"As would I, were these ordinary times, Duric, but things threaten to spin out of control the longer we wait. We cannot afford to dawdle. We must make our case to the Emperor as soon as possible."

"I agree that there is a need for expediency," Duric said, one corner of his mouth tugging upwards. "But surely you don't expect the Caucus itself to march along with the same swiftness once all the Lords and their representatives are there."

Uras balled his hand into a meaty fist and pounded it on the corner of a nearby desk. "It must! We must speak as one voice! We must not falter in our convictions! We cannot afford any distractions!"

Duric had to pause, as he was simply too nonplussed for words. This was not the Uras he knew. As much as Uras wanted to have the other Lords fall into line, when it came to personal agendas at gatherings like the Caucus, he was the worst of the lot. He saw any gathering of Lords as his personal playground, where he could trade plots of land for profit, arrange politically beneficial marriages, or readjust borders with neighboring kingdoms more to his liking. In effect, he would be doing the same thing that all the other Lords would be doing.

"I agree we should be focused ..." Duric began tentatively.

"Hellfire, Duric, that's an understatement! Every one of us needs to be reading from the same scroll. Our point must be clear and concise."

Duric almost laughed at that. "Concise" was hardly in the Nobility's vocabulary. Yet the desire to find humor in it faded when he saw the look in Uras' eyes.

Duric was starting to understand what was going on now. Uras was not truly worried about the loyalty of the other Lords. At this point, it was unlikely the Emperor could offer any of them a sufficient enough bribe to offset the magnitude of what he had done.

Uras was frightened. He was afraid of what the Emperor might do once he had all the major Lords of Oceanus together in the Imperial Palace. That he might murder them as well if he suspected their motives.

Uras shook his finger at Duric. "Now that I think of it, perhaps it is best that you will not be there! The last thing we need is for the Emperor to misinterpret your brashness as a call for an uprising against him!"

That confirmed it in Duric's mind. That was exactly what Uras was afraid of. Now he wondered if other Lords would be sending representatives in their stead as well, as if afraid of the same thing. He had to admit that he could not blame them. No one had expected Z'haas to do what he has done. No one expected him to be this unresponsive to the Nobility.

And no one had expected the Overlords' coup attempt to fail. That alone was a very bad precedent.

Duric had to find some way to placate Uras. It would not be good for the other Lords to see him like this. He paused a moment to collect his thoughts and took a deep breath. "Uras, there are two things I would like to say. The first is that, no matter what, my position will not be in question. I stand firmly with you in opposing the Emperor and in seeking that he either redress our grievances or peacefully step aside to allow someone else to take the throne in his stead.

"The second is that I have a hope that the Emperor still has a modicum of reasoning remaining in him. If so, he will see this as an opportunity to better explain himself to us and to work with us rather than against us. Surely even he can see the importance of protocol and procedure at that high a level."

Duric did not believe a word of what he had said in the second part. He did not believe that the Emperor could be reasoned with any longer. Nor did he think Z'haas above what Uras was afraid might happen. While he still thought it unlikely, it was enough of a possibility that he intended to tell Janna to tread as lightly as possible. It was bad enough if she brought attention to herself, but he did not want it escalating to the point where Z'haas was seeing conspiracy where there was none.

Or worse: seeing the conspiracy that was indeed there but that Duric wished to remain hidden.

Yet Duric's speech appeared to have an effect. Uras' expression softened, and he slowly unclenched his fist. When he spoke again, his voice had less of an edge to it. "I will be counting on you, Duric. Realize that you have more prestige and influence than someone of your youth has any right to claim. I sincerely hope you do not squander it!"

Duric wondered if Uras would consider raising an army to take the Imperium squandering his resources. He supposed that in the end it would rest on whether he succeeded or failed. In Narlass, the same was true as in many other words: the victor writes the history scrolls.

"Is there anything else I may do for you, Uras?"

Uras shook his head, making his jowls dance. "Simply see to it that your representative ... Janna, was it? ... is there on time. Five days, no more."

"She will be Porting in with three other Lords from the continent," Duric explained. "From Selemas. It is a three day journey from here, and I will see that she leaves sometime tomorrow."

Uras huffed. "Damn the Emperor's paranoia about Portals! Yes, I will be forced to share a Portal with other Lords as well. I would not mind so much if it was anyone other than Lord Werris K'ollon! The man is a boor, a lout, and a lush! How he achieved the governorship of Appalanchia I will never know!"

Duric could not help but give a shadow of a grin at this. This sounded more like the Uras he knew. "We will all have hardships in this, and will look forward to the end."

"Indeed, indeed. I will be in touch with you, Duric. Good day to you."

"Good day to you as well."

Uras turned away just as his image faded into nothingness.

The Mage Q'yros found that he had little patience remaining anymore. He did not let the Emperor remain in silent brooding for more than a short span of time. Without turning towards his sovereign, he tapped his staff upon the floor lightly.

There was a long pause as the Emperor continued to stare into the space where the image of Gronnus had shimmered in Farview earlier, his elbows on the sides of his throne, his fingers steepled. "Yes, Q'yros?"

"Your thoughts, my Emperor?"

Another long pause. "I do not know."

Q'yros turned his gaze to Z'haas with some surprise. "Did he not just inform you of what you had said many, many times we must watch for above all else? Collusion between the Overlords and the Nobility?"

Z'haas turned his head towards the Mage, his eyes cold. "And you believe that automatically makes his information valid? Because he told me something that perhaps he guessed I wanted to hear?"

Q'yros' eyebrows rose.

"Did you or did you not tell me that a Portal was detected near his Manor of the type used by our enemy? Again!"

Q'yros nodded slowly. "I did indeed," he said with a tired sigh.

"One I was willing to consider coincidence. Two is looking far less so."

"So what are you saying, my Emperor? That Gronnus is feeding us false information now? Mind you, his information about Gondas was correct."

"As you have reminded me on numerous occasions," said Z'haas acidly. "Perhaps that was merely to do exactly what you are implying, trust him implicitly and without question."

"I say no such thing. I do not advocate sending the bulk of your armies to Lord K'garon's palace and Roquan's Manor, for example. But would it not be wise to keep an eye on their movements?"

"So long as it is not to the point of distraction. It could be a feint, an attempt to make us focus on a false threat while the real threat comes at us from another direction."

"And what direction would that be?" Q'yros said in something close to a challenging tone of voice.

Z'haas' expression darkened. "I received a brief message from Lord Uras early this morning. He and the rest of his insufferable lot will be arriving a full quarter moon earlier than expected."

Q'yros was rather surprised at this, but not particularly alarmed. He also noted the Emperor's shift to the more "familiar" form of address, calling him "Lord Uras" instead of "Lord K'vaarik." From a fellow Lord, it was a sign of camaraderie. From an Emperor, it was a subtle form of insult, an insult of dismissal. Q'yros would adapt his speech accordingly.

"Perhaps that lessens the threat rather than increases it," said Q'yros. "If you are worried that they will arrive at the head of an army, arriving early gives them even less chance to field one. And where many of them must come across water, it is impossible for them to transport forces without the Imperial Navy learning of it."

The Emperor nodded slowly at this. If there was one thing that made him feel a bit more secure, it was the fact that half of Oceanus was not on the main continent, but scattered around the ocean to the east and the sea to the south. The Oceanus Navy was the most powerful seagoing military force in Narlass, and it answered directly to the Emperor, as allowed in the Charter. The Nobility were expected to handle local defense matters in times of crisis, though the strength and size of the navy saw to it that they never faced that threat from a foreign power.

At least those that could not use Portals with such accuracy.

"Have you reports of any military moves on the continent itself?"

"I do not," Z'haas admitted.

"And the Lords must already be on their way. And it would be foolish to have underlings launch an attack while their Lords are at the Imperium and in danger of being harmed. Unless you suggest that Lord Duric is seeking the throne himself?"

"That is what makes Gronnus' information suspect, Q'yros. If I thought Duric had the ambition and the resources to do such a thing, I would be less doubting of this revelation from the Overlord. I cannot take the chance that Gronnus is leading me into a trap."

Q'yros sighed through his nose. "As you wish, my Emperor."

Z'haas rose and stepped down from the throne. "And in light of this, I am growing more convinced that I should go with my original plan of having the Lords escorted at all time."

"That will not be necessary."

Z'haas raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Q'yros managed a small smile. "I have devised a way of tracking them without their noticing. If I do it right, even the ones among them that are magic sensitives should not detect it."

The Emperor was silent for another long moment. "It must be foolproof, Q'yros. We cannot afford to be lax."

Q'yros despised it when someone openly doubted his abilities, but he held his tongue on that score and instead said, albeit in a tense voice, "It will work as you wish it, I will stake my reputation on it."

"Very well. I will leave it in your hands."

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