I frowned. What do you mean?

You are a powerful psi. When angry, you pulse.

Pulse?

Release energy in short bursts. If a ping is a tap, your bursts are like a punch. No one can withstand it for too long. We get headaches. Minions, on the other hand, have no defense against it. Their psi energy could be damaged and they could lose their ability to teleport or telepath.

Could that explain why Master Kenta kept rubbing his temple and the minions had left the yard? How do you know these things? And you said, "We get headaches and minions have no defense..." If you're not a minion, why are you pretending to be one? And where did you get the book on the Kris Dagger?

Do you want to talk about Kenta or what?

I want to talk about the book and your weird behavior. Tell me who you are and how you know so much about me.

I can't.

Then we're done talking.

Lil. He said my name and sighed.

Goodbye. I was surprised when he didn't push, but the gentle brush against my energy happened again. I liked the feeling accompanying it. It made me feel warm and happy but, at the same time, tingly.

After showering, I changed and went to the family room for lunch. Lady Nemea had already had minions lay out my lunch. I ate under her watchful eyes. I bet she was making sure I used the right fork and spoon.

"You are unusually quiet today," she said when we started our lessons.

I shrugged. "I'm being a model student."

And I was. I listened and cooperated so well that I must have scared her, because she kept frowning. Like Master Kenta, she ended our lessons early.

"Do I release energy when angry?" I asked before she left.

She gave me a strange look. "Yes, but it's nothing most of us can't handle."

"What about minions?"

She shrugged. "There's nothing we can do about that. We told them to head to the city and stay there. The distance and the shield dampen the effect."

"There's a shield around the city?"

"And the island."

As soon as she left, I headed to the library, where Master Rahm waited with the history pre-test. I hated history with a pa.s.sion, but I didn't complain. I was all about controlling my emotions.

"You are unhappy," Master Rahm said, his irises narrowed.

"You're an empath now?" I asked rudely.

"No." He studied me. "What's wrong?"

I made a face. "I did something I shouldn't have done."

"What did you do?"

I shook my head. "Last night, I... It doesn't matter. It was a mistake."

"You helped find the traitors."

I cringed. "Everybody knows?"

He nodded. "Our people are very proud of you."

"Then why am I not proud of me? Why do I feel so awful?"

"Because you don't like hurting people." He studied me with knowing eyes. "You know, I knew this woman once, a human, who through no fault of her own picked up a man from a lineup and swore he was the one she'd seen robbing a convenience store. After the man was convicted, she started having doubts about his guilt and tried to do something about it. At first, she tried to visit him, but he was too angry and didn't want to see her."

Fascinated, I nodded. "Then?"

"She found a way to have the case reopened and eventually set him free."

I frowned. "Are you saying I should find a way to set the spies free?"

Master Rahm shook his head. "I'm not saying anything, Princess. Whatever you decide is up to you."

I wasn't interested in freeing the spies. Ever. I'd deal with the guilt some other way.

-9-.

Days rolled into weeks. I still couldn't find the stupid crystal Lord Gavyn had given me. In fact, I'd given up on ever finding it. I hope whoever had stolen it wouldn't use it against him.

Between my morning and evening practices, Lady Nemea's debutante lessons, and studying with Master Rahm, I had little time for anything else except nursing the guilt over the couple in the dungeons. They were never far from my mind.

I hated feeling guilty. Hated feeling like I should do something to set them free. Since I couldn't think up a way to do it, I focused on studying my b.u.t.t off and memorizing the names of every minion in the castle. I shamelessly interrupted their ch.o.r.es in my room, the kitchen, and the storage areas. I visited the kitchen so often that Bilal, the head cook, always had treats waiting for me. If I could, I would have eaten lunch with her and the others in the kitchen. They finally stopped pressing their hands to their chests. Instead, I got a nod and a smile, or a slight bow.

My dislike of the Guardians only grew as Master Kenta continued to regale me with Guardian stories between sword practices and sparring-Guardians chasing Coronis and her followers from Xenith's cities and marooning them in the frostiest part of the land. I already knew about that, but not about the number of Hermonites who'd lost their children because of the harsh conditions. Then there were Guardians destroying businesses without provocation, putting hundreds out of jobs, slaughtering our people, and leaving children without parents, wives without husbands, and vice versa. That they would kill their own for humans made no sense.

I didn't lose it again like the first two days. I came close a few times, but the gentle brush on my psi energy often calmed me down even though I had no idea who was doing it. I knew I wasn't the one doing it, and my father wasn't either.

"How can I stop shooting off psi energy?" I asked him one evening.

"By controlling your emotions," he'd said.

My father could be so doting one minute, and curt the next. I realized his moods had nothing to do with me and didn't take it personally. Instead, I teased him or shared silly anecdotes until he smiled or laughed. He tested my knowledge of history whenever he could, which drove me crazy. The worst part was that I always had this weird feeling we'd done this before-the endless Q&A, the disapproval when I complained.

Master Rahm, on the other hand, was easygoing, patient, and an amazing teacher. When I complained, he always listened.

"Stop," I said several weeks later, imitating the commanding tone my father often used when he wanted to get everyone's attention.

Surprisingly, Master Rahm responded and stared at me with wide eyes. Immediately, I felt bad. I wasn't my father or my sister, and ordering an older person like my tutor just seemed wrong.

"Please," I added in my normal voice. "I can't do this anymore."

"Do what, Princess Lilith?"

"Sit in here every morning and afternoon studying the same things."

"But your father said you're not ready for the Academy."

"Then let's change venues," I said and got up. "Study outdoors? Walk on the beach? Visit the Academy? At least focus on something else every other day?"

He pursed his lips. "History is your weakest subject, Princess."

I sighed. "I know. I just need a break from the monotony of it."

"Okay. We can use the gazebo and focus on languages for the next couple of days."

"Thank you," I said with relief. "You are the best."

"Then we'll go back to history," he added.

"I take it back. You are a slave driver."

He kept a straight face and waited.

"Fine. Can we do it in another language?"

"We'll see. Come on. Gazebo it is." We teleported outside and the two guards followed. I was learning to ignore them. As always, workers teleported in and out, pruning hedges and maintaining the gardens, but Green Eyes wasn't among them. He tended to appear during my sessions with Master Kenta.

A servant brought fluffy cushions for the already-padded wooden gazebo benches, and another brought out a pitcher of lemonade and two gla.s.ses.

"Okay, we'll start with French," Master Rahm said in French, picking up a book. "Let's see how fluent you are."

I chuckled. "I understood everything you just said," I answered in fluent French.

His eyebrows shot up. "Nice." He put the book down. "Describe the gardens."

I did, standing on the gazebo bench to see the pond and the colorful birds floating in it.

"Very good. What other languages can you speak?"

I shrugged. "Pick one."

"Okay, describe the gardens in Latin." After forty languages, he said, "Your grasp of languages is impressive. From now on, we'll study history in a different language every day. No eye rolls or groans. Your father insists you learn our history, Princess Lilith."

"Why? I already know about Coronis, the Guardians, and the Great Battle."

"To prepare you for your future, you must learn from your past," Master Rahm said. "History is more important than metaphysical training or math."

"Meta what?" I asked.

"Your abilities or powers over elements."

"But I want to see what I can do."

Master Rahm's expression became reflective. "Next week."

True to his word, Master Rahm helped me work on blocking people from my mind, hiding my energy, and reading thoughts without anyone knowing it. All I had to do was will it, just like Green Eyes had said. The ease with which I mastered these stealth moves said I must have known how to do them before. Another thing I learned from the Guardians.

Everything always came back to the Guardians.

"What was my life like with the Guardians?" I asked Master Kenta one morning.

We were by the gazebo, taking a break after an intense round of handto-hand combat. I'd fought asking him this particular question, preferring not to dwell in the past. But after walking the streets of Mount Hermon City, I'd wondered how and where I'd been raised.

Master Kenta chugged water, then wiped his lips and squinted. "The old man who took you in didn't raise you among the Guardians. He knew your father was searching for you, so he chose to live among humans."

Now, that was a surprise. "Humans?"

"He was married to one, a Gypsy. You stayed with his wife's people. When you turned sixteen and your powers started to show, he took you back to the Guardians' community."

Was the old man the face I'd seen when my father had smiled? I tried to recapture that image, but it evaded me. "Who was he?"

Master Kenta shrugged. "A respected and revered Prime Psi, or Cardinal Psi as the Guardians called them. The others were wary of you and your powers because they came from your father. Even when they learned you were the wielder of the Nephilim's most powerful weapon, their att.i.tudes didn't change. I remember you in tears when your fellow trainees learned you were an empath and didn't want you near them. They thought you might read them. Another accused you of using air abilities to attack her during sparring when it was obvious you were a superior swordsman. A few times, you left the training room in tears."

A lump formed in my throat. How could I forgive them? How could anyone on the island forgive them?

"They never trusted you enough to take you to Xenith, either. You didn't know why, of course. You were not good enough because you are your father's child."

I wanted so badly to lead a raid against the Guardians and make them pay.

As though he knew what I was thinking, Master Kenta said, "It's all in the past now, Lilith. You are home now. One day, you will rule over them, and then you can decide the best punishment for their treachery."

His words stayed with me, and the idea of me as the future leader of my people started to sink in. I wasn't sure how Solange would react to that, but I wasn't going to worry about it. The whole leadership thing depended on my wielding the Kris Dagger, and it still wasn't responding. My inability to link with it was beginning to eat at me. I tried several times a week.

"Okay, back to training," Master Kenta said.

I drained my water and then I heard it, the clang of metal hitting metal. I searched for their source. "What's that?"

"The knights training the guards."

More metal hitting metal reached my ears. "Where's it coming from?"