"Yes, she did." He stood, studied me intently again as though something about me bothered or fascinated him, but then he said, "Rest. I will see you tomorrow."

I waited until he left the room, then walked to the window seat and stared outside, everything he'd told me running through my head. Singing and laughter filled my head, but this time, I could filter it like a person tuning a radio. I listened, dimmed some, and made others clearer. Below, I actually saw people. They kept appearing and disappearing in the courtyard, although I couldn't tell what they were doing.

One particular guy stood by the gazebo and stared up at the castle. Not the castle. He seemed to be staring at my window. I felt a slight pressure inside my head then a soft voice said, Lil.

A chill shot up my spine. There was something very familiar about the voice. I angled my head to catch more words from him, but all I got was the knock on my door.

"Come in."

The door opened and Lady Nemea walked in with two men and a girl around my age. They avoided looking at me, just pressed hand to chest and bowed, then grabbed the table, chairs, and tray before teleporting, leaving me with Lady Nemea.

She joined me at the window and glanced outside. The guy by the gazebo was gone. "They are getting the castle ready for the celebrations. Your father wants it to be spectacular."

Lord Valafar looked like the type who always got his way. "Is he always so curt and distant?"

"What do you mean?" Lady Nemea asked.

Something in her voice had me evading her question. "It's hard to explain. He just seemed, uh, preoccupied."

"He's a busy man. Our people here and around the world depend on him to guide them. If he seemed distant, it's because he's still worried about you. When was he curt with you? What were you discussing?"

I shrugged, not wanting to discuss my father anymore. "How do you teleport? Lord, uh, Father was supposed to explain but he forgot." Lady Nemea threw me a brief look of pity. I learned another thing about myself in that instant. I hated to be pitied. "Forget it."

"No, it's okay. You keep a mental picture of where you want to go and will yourself there," she explained. "You dematerialize and become energy, then rematerialize when you reach your destination. Most people can't stay in the energized state for too long, so the sooner you reappear the better. Otherwise, you might reappear too soon and crash land or get stuck inside a solid object." She reached out and stroked my hair, which was still wet. "Teleporting is one of those things you never forget once you learn it. It's like riding a bike."

I moved, forcing her hand to fall from my hair. "So, is teleporting a special ability?"

Lady Nemea chuckled. "Oh, no. All Hermonites can teleport and use telepathy. Even the minions with their weak psi energy and lack of abilities do it."

From her words, we were Hermonites. Did that mean I was to unite Guardians and Hermonites? Two factions of the same race. The idea was mind-boggling.

"How does telepathy work?" I asked.

She shook her head and stepped away from the window. "I'm sure your tutor will explain all these abilities better than I can ever do."

"I just wanted to see if I can do it, but I guess I can wait."

Once again, she sighed. "Telepathy is no different from talking to a person, dear. When you want to talk to someone, you either call out or whisper to get their attention, depending on the distance. When you want to do it, you send your thoughts to them."

"But won't others hear you?"

She nodded. "Yes, but there's a way around that. You know how you reach out and touch someone when you want to get their attention? We send a burst of energy when we desire a connection. They can either let you connect with them or ignore you. Once you are connected, thoughts flow back and forth."

I felt and then her voice. Did you feel that?

Grinning, I nodded. I'd felt the same tag earlier before a voice said Lil. Should I ask her if anyone called me Lil? Or had I intercepted a communication between two other people?

"That was a ping, followed by my thoughts," Lady Nemea said. "When your powers are back, you'll be able to connect with anyone. Prime Psis can send ma.s.s pings and block people from pinging them or even noticing their presence." She smiled. "Your father said you might want to explore the castle."

I nodded. "Do we have a library?" Once again, it was weird how I remembered basic things like libraries, but I had no memories of ever being inside one.

"We have two. I can escort you in a day or two. You need to rest now."

I've been resting for nearly seven months, I wanted to protest. "What floor are they on?"

Lady Nemea frowned. "One is on the second floor and another on the first sublevel."

"Sublevel? How big is this place?"

She chuckled. "It's huge, with a city underground. We have more levels below and inside the mountain than above it. The library caters to all of us. We have all kinds of books. From history books about our people to contemporary human books-"

"Human books?"

"Yes, popular fiction they read for entertainment, as well as newspapers and magazines. We have them here and at the Academy for students to learn and understand human behavior."

I frowned. "Why do we need to understand their behavior?"

She chuckled. "As their future leaders, we must learn about their desires, weaknesses, and strengths. Right now, only a few hundred of our people live among them. In a few years, we'll be living with them"-she made a face as though disgusted by the idea-"heading most of their organizations. At least, that is your father's vision. The island may be our home now, but not for long. The majority of us, even your father, own businesses and homes in major cities around the world. He lived among them for many years after he became an adult, and he got to know their world very well."

No wonder he wanted to save it. Maybe I should read a few human books too and learn about them. "I'll check out some books later." I was getting tired again. "I'd like to rest now."

"Of course, dear. I'll make sure you're not disturbed."

When I woke up, the sun was setting. My stomach growled. For a moment, I stood at my window and watched the colorful sky. Something about the sunset over the mountains was familiar, yet I couldn't put my finger on it. As shadows appeared in my room, the crystals under the sconces on the walls turned on. The silence was spooky.

Where were Lady Nemea and Solange?

Facing the room, I waved my hand and the door opened to reveal the room where I'd seen Lord Valafar talk to those two people. It was a large room with sofas and tables. I left my bedroom to explore. It looked like a living room or an entertainment room. There was a big-screen TV on one wall and a bar of some kind across the room.

"Princess?"

I smothered a scream when I realized the room wasn't empty. It was also bigger than I'd thought. Two guards were bowing near the couch at the far end of the room. When they lifted their heads, one of them moved closer. She had short hair and gray eyes, and wore everything black-pants, a tunic, a sash, cloak, and soft boots. There was a red logo on the breast of her shirt.

I waved halfheartedly. "Hi. I'm, uh, just looking around."

"If you need anything, we'll be at our station," she said.

"Okay. Thanks." I watched her walk back to the other end of the room and join her partner. Their eyes followed me. I could either let them bother me and go back to my room or ignore them and continue to explore. My curiosity won.

I opened a fridge and studied the contents-bottled water and soft drinks. I grabbed a bottle of water, twisted the lid open, and guzzled. Two doors opened when I stood in the middle of the room and waved. Soft music came from one of the rooms. The tune was beautiful, soothing. Once again, I ignored the guards and went to investigate.

It was another bedroom, a little like mine, except it had a huge round bed and the decor was gold and black. A pile of female clothes was on the bed. The scent in the air said the room was my sister's.

"Solange?"

No response. Where was the music coming from? Curious, I entered the room. The door started to close, but I raised my hand. Stop.

It stopped. Nice. I followed the sound to the bedside table. The music came from an iPod on a docking station. I grinned. An iPod, another thing I remembered.

I studied the a.s.sortment of makeup boxes on the dresser. From the pictures hovering about her crystals, this was definitely Solange's room. Most of them showed her with two other girls, a blonde and a brunette. They were all stunning and, going by the number of different guys with them in some of the pictures, popular. Having modern and angelic magical objects side by side was weird.

I left Solange's room before she could catch me snooping and hurried across the room to the second door. It led to another bedroom, a smaller one. It had two beds and was less luxurious.

Where were the stairs? Castles had stairs.

Back in my room, I picked up the clairvoyant crystal with pictures and curled up on top of my bed. For a moment, I studied the recent images, trying to recall when they'd been taken. From the dagger in my hand, I was dressed for battle. Must have been the day of the Great Battle. For some reason, tears rushed to my eyes.

Soon I was sobbing, though I couldn't explain why.

I didn't wake up until the next day and was surprised to see doors with k.n.o.bs. Even the drawers in the bathroom and my closet had k.n.o.bs. I ate breakfast in the outside room, which I called the family room, while Lady Nemea watched and directed the maids. Then she "encouraged" me to rest. It was more like "ordered."

Days blurred as I ate, slept, and talked to my father and Lady Nemea. Or rather, they talked while I listened. My father acted the same. Cold. Distant. Always issuing orders. He left clairvoyant crystals with the recorded history of our people for me to watch, and grilled me during dinner. We had quite the collection, but I found it all so tedious.

"I'm bored out of my mind," I complained after several days.

Lord Valafar paused in the middle of explaining a historical fact and frowned. "You can explore the castle now. The celebrations are not until next week, but we can postpone them until next month if you are not up to it."

"Nooo, I'm fine." When he chuckled, I realized he had been teasing me. That was a first.

I grinned. I wasn't about to miss out on a chance to mingle with others. I was tired of talking to only three people-Lady Nemea, Lord Valafar, and Solange, who only appeared during dinners and disappeared again. The minions didn't count because they walked with their heads down and never made eye contact. The guards never said anything except to ask if I needed anything, and they kept changing shifts, so I went days between seeing the same ones. And the people in the courtyard were too far away to be entertaining.

"Are you using your powers?" Lord Valafar asked.

"Not yet."

"Good. Give your body time to heal and your psi energy a chance to grow stronger."

"I need to do something else besides watching recordings from the crystals. I tried to find the stairs to the library, but there aren't any."

"Most floors contain sleeping quarters for visiting members of the High Council and are only accessible by teleportation," he explained. "Privacy means a lot to most of them and we offer it."

I guess that meant no stairs. "They don't live here on the island?"

"No. They live among humans where they work, though some of their children attend Mount Hermon Academy. Do you want to see the rest of the castle?"

"Oh, yes, please. And the people."

He smiled at my eagerness. "Then I'll be happy to escort you."

We teleported to the floor below ours. Guards jumped to attention, dropped to their knees, and pressed hands to chests.

Lord Valafar nodded, but he didn't introduce me. These were his quarters, he explained. The layout was similar to ours except he had larger rooms, including a private dining room. The floor below his was for his private guards. More guards. More bowing. The guards, men and women, wore the uniform-black tunic, pants, and sash. The rest of the floors were in total darkness until our arrival activated the light crystals. The decor was different, but each floor had several bedrooms and a family room.

"What's at the top of the castle?" I asked when I realized we hadn't gone to the top floors.

"More bedrooms and at the very top, offices of the security guards monitoring the island. Do you want to see it?"

I shook my head. "No."

The next stop was the main hall, a soaring room that started from the first floor and ended above the second floor. Huge golden chandeliers dominated the ceiling, and gilded torches of crystals lined the walls. Along the second floor were ornate mirrors.

Before I could appreciate the hall, Lord Valafar whisked me to the library, then the offices. Workers appeared to be communicating with holographic images.

"Real-time clairvoyant images," he explained.

Clairvoyance was the ability to see things, people and places through time and s.p.a.ce. Something about the workers was familiar, like I'd seen them before. The dress code was casual and modern. So far, only Lady Nemea appeared to favor long gowns. A few of the workers noticed us and scrambled to their feet to bow.

Lord Valafar nodded as we left. Next stop was the gleaming rail running around the second floor. Two ornate stairs wound to the hall below. Six large pillars etched with battle scenes between Archangels and the Princ.i.p.alities rose majestically to the arched ceiling above us. Since both the Archangels and the Princ.i.p.alities had wings, the only way to tell them apart was through their clothes. The Archangels wore battle armor while the Princ.i.p.alities had flowing robes.

Everything around the foyer was done in gold and white marble-the floor, the water fountain in the middle of the floor, and of course the pillars. In the middle of a fountain, a statue of a woman with ma.s.sive bat-like wings carrying a dagger stood on top of a mountain. The dagger was like the one I carried in my pictures. I didn't have to ask who she was-Queen Coronis, the exalted founder of our people. I'd seen enough statues of her in the clairvoyant crystals I'd been watching.

To our right, doors opened to the terrace that faced the courtyard. The island with its lush vegetation spread before us like a land from some fairy tale. I could see people near the waterfalls, but I couldn't tell what they were doing.

A few garden workers noticed us standing on the balcony, stopped whatever they were doing, and bowed, fists pressed to their chests.

"Do they do that all the time?" I asked.

Lord Valafar nodded. "Yes. It's a demonstration of their allegiance. Ah, Malax."

I turned to see who he was talking to. An older man dressed in all black like Lord Valafar joined us. Unlike the others, he wore a black cloak with red lining. He had a hawkish nose and weird eyes. On close inspection, I realized why. One eye was black and the other yellow. Since he didn't drop to his knees right away like the others, I got to see the crest on his shirt. It was an image of a flying black bird on a red background. The bird had red eyes.

"This is Sir Malax, head of security," Lord Valafar said. "If you need anything when I'm not around, ask him and he'll get it."

"Princess Lilith, your servant." Sir Malax bowed, then studied me intently as though searching for something. "Our offices are accessible through here and there," he said, indicating the doors at the top of the left and right stairs. "They connect to the Throne Room on one side and the High Council chambers and Judgment Hall from the other, so if you need to talk to Lord Valafar, just come inside and see me, and I'll escort you."

In other words, I had to go past the security before seeing my father.

"Join us, Malax," Lord Valafar ordered. "My daughter wants to see the rest of the castle and meet the people."

"What's down there?" I pointed at the doors across from the grand entrance.

"An arena, a ballroom, a dining room, and more offices," Sir Malax said.

I headed for the stairs. The gold carpet that covered the stairs blended nicely with the ornate railing. Several doors from the hall led to an indoor arena with a platform on one side. An ornate throne and two smaller chairs sat on either side of it. About three dozen fancy chairs were on either side of the dais, which gave way to cushioned benches.

Workers stopped dusting the benches and bowed. I wasn't sure whether they were bowing to me or Lord Valafar. I just smiled and kept going. The ballroom was gorgeous, with gilded windows frames on one side and arches of mirrors on the other. A large mural of the Princ.i.p.alities dominated the ceiling.

Sir Malax led the way to the dining room, which was decorated in white, eggsh.e.l.l, and tan. Gorgeous chandeliers hung over long dining tables with embroidered tablecloths and ladder-back chairs. Then we backtracked to the arena and to the three double doors in the back. The one he opened led to a broad hallway lit by crystal sconces. Voices and laughter reached us, but I couldn't tell where they were coming from until we reached the back terrace, and my jaw dropped.

The balcony opened into what appeared to be an underground city. Six-story buildings ran in three different directions-straight ahead and to our left and right. Crystal lights lit balconies and front porches, stairs, and the main three roads that converged in front of the castle. It was like the castle had two courtyards-the one at the front, which opened to the outside world, and one in the back facing the underground city. Curving stairs led to the city center.

"The buildings are made of marble and gla.s.s," Sir Malax explained. "Stairs connect floors on each building and lead to the main streets. No elevators. Along the courtyard and the three main roads are play areas with jungle gyms and benches for parents to watch their children."

"It is beautiful." The only things missing were trees and gra.s.s, and of course sunlight. But who needed sunlight when crystals lit everything up? "It's like Vegas at night."

"You remember being in Vegas?" Lord Valafar asked.

I hadn't realized I'd spoken out loud. "I know stuff like that. You know, cities, landmarks, various things and their uses, but I don't remember when I saw them."