Silence followed, then Lord Valafar said, "It will all come back to you."

He said that a lot, but so far nothing from my past had popped up. On the other hand, it had only been a week since I woke up. Sir Malax watched me with narrowed eyes as though trying to understand.

"I only remember certain things," I explained.

He nodded, and I had a distinct feeling he was relieved. I couldn't explain how I knew that. Maybe I was an empath. From the clairvoyant crystal movies I'd watched, I knew empathy was one of those special abilities that some of our people had.

"How many stories is the castle? How many people live here? How was it built?"

Lord Valafar smiled. Twice in one day. Progress. "I think you have toured enough for today."

"No, please. I don't want to go back upstairs yet." I was so tired of being cooped up in my quarters. "I can explore alone if you have to leave and do some kingly stuff."

His smile became a chuckle. "No, we'll finish the tour, but if you feel fatigued, let me know." He nodded at Sir Malax.

"I'll show the princess the first sublevel, sire," he said.

The library took up half of the first sublevel. It was huge and packed with shelves of books and cases of clairvoyant crystals. It was bigger than the one upstairs. Through the windows, I could see some of the streets and children in the playground. A door opened to stairs leading to the eastern side of the courtyard.

People noticed us and did the whole bowing thing, except the ones in one of the smaller rooms, who appeared to be having a serious discussion. They wore a uniform of some kind-navy-blue pleated skirts and pants, light blue shirts, and red-and-blue-striped ties.

"Students from the Academy," Sir Malax explained.

Lord Valafar handed me a few books. "You might enjoy these."

History? Was he serious? "How long did it take to build the city?"

"A year." Sir Malax explained how the Prime Earth Hermonites built the castle and the city by using their ability to manipulate solids, turning rocks into gla.s.s and various building materials. "Air vents open to a ravine and the water supply comes from the waterfalls." He lost me as he went on and on about the infrastructure. I sighed with relief when he said, "I'll show you the kitchen."

A large hallway separated the library from the kitchen. The cooks and their helpers looked up in surprise when we appeared, then stopped whatever they were doing to bow.

The kitchen was huge and very modern, like a restaurant kitchen. I didn't know how I knew that, either. The place was busy, the scent of freshly baked pastries mixing with spices. Lord Valafar introduced me to Bilal, the head cook.

"If you need any special dishes, just send word to her," he added.

"There are so many workers," I whispered.

"They're preparing for next week's banquet," Sir Malax explained. "Continue with your duties," he ordered.

One guy carrying a sack on his shoulder caught my attention. Maybe it was his thick, long, wavy black hair, or the way he carried himself, but something about him was familiar. As he left the room, he turned his head and our gazes met. He had startling green eyes.

I felt a ping, then Hey.

I recognized his voice. He was the same guy I'd seen staring at my window, the one who'd said Lil. Then he'd worn a green shirt with matching pants like all the gardeners. Today, he wore white pants and shirt like the kitchen workers.

He winked and my jaw dropped. As though my reaction amused him, he smiled and a lone dimple flashed on his cheek. He was gorgeous.

I smiled back. Then I remembered I wasn't alone.

My eyes flew to Lord Valafar to see if he'd noticed the guy, but he was busy talking to Bilal. Sir Malax stared at the door through which the guy had disappeared. Had he seen the green-eyed guy wink at me?

"Sir Malax, does this floor lead to the city, too?" I asked, effectively distracting him.

"Yes. This way, please."

We went through the door Green Eyes had used. They opened to stairs leading to the western side of the courtyard.

We moved to sublevel two, then three and finally four, which were warehouses packed with barrels of water and crates of food. Were they expecting a war, or total world destruction? I met Ka.s.set on the second sublevel. She was in charge of food and seemed nice.

The castle workers lived on the fifth sublevel, which had broad tunnels that led to the sixth sublevel and homes in the underbelly of the Mount Hermon City, Sir Malax explained.

"Who lives down there?"

"The minions," he said.

"Are there more floors below the sixth?"

He hesitated, glanced at Lord Valafar and said, "Just the dungeons," then he led the way back upstairs. I guess the subject of the dungeons wasn't open for discussion.

I chose several books from the second-floor library before my father escorted me back to my quarters. It was nice to read something instead of watching doc.u.mentary on CCs, as Lady Nemea called the clairvoyant crystals. I already knew about the four different groups of our people-the Neteru, the Werenephils, the Nosferatus, and the Lazari.

The Neteru were humanlike. Most of the people I'd met so far were either Neteru, or the other groups taking humanlike form. Werenephils had the ability to shift into human form, some animal or half-human and half-animal form, or into smoke. The smoke shifters were called the Lazari and were considered a group, not a subgroup of the Werenephils. They controlled humans by possessing them. The Nosferatus were what humans called vampires. They enjoyed drinking warm blood from living things.

All the groups could teleport and use telepathy, but some had special abilities and controlled elements. These were the Primes. The Primes' powers came from having strong psi energy.

The more I read about psi energies and Nephilimic abilities, the more I wanted to see what I could do, but Lord Valafar and Lady Nemea discouraged it. They had a way of encouraging me not to try or do certain things that sounded more like orders.

-3-.

It was the day of the party and I couldn't contain my excitement.

I stared out the window at the sun-kissed valley and grinned. No matter how beautiful the underground city was, I loved sunlight and fresh air. Not that the air in the city was stale. Sir Malax had explained about the ventilation system. Since I was forbidden to explore the city, I'd found a spot by the ground-floor window where I could watch the children and their parents on the playgrounds un.o.bserved. Watch and envy them their freedom. Today, I was finally going to mingle with others.

There were so many people on the grounds and I was bombarded by their excitement, further confirming that I was an empath. I fought the insane urge to teleport to the grounds and mingle with them. Run around barefoot on the lush gra.s.s and pick up flowers. Talk to people like a normal person without the bowing and "Princess, do you want this" and "Princess, do you need that."

People were erecting something huge to the left of the castle. It was so tall and wide, it blocked the waterfalls. Colorful tents dotted the grounds under it. I couldn't wait to mingle. Maybe I'd see the green-eyed guy who'd winked at me.

I hadn't seen him since the kitchen. Maybe Malax had thrown him in the dungeons. I was sure there was a law against minions winking at the daughters of the king.

I chose to test my powers despite my father's warning not to. I looked at my bed, kept the image in my head, and closed my eyes.

Teleport to bed.

One second I was seated on a cushion by the window, the next I was floating. I opened my eyes, but I couldn't see me. Instead, I was surrounded by energies of various objects in my room.

Lady Nemea never said I could float around. I just a.s.sumed I'd hop from one place to the next. She'd also said I had to know exactly where I was going. Maybe I teleported differently. My way was much cooler. I could control my teleport, go slow or go faster. Maybe I could float out the window and drift away without anyone noticing I was gone.

No, better stick to shorter distances.

I reappeared on my bed and grinned. Next, I tried the bathroom, which meant going through the wall. It felt weird, ticklish. The bathroom lights were off, but with the glow from the objects in the room, I knew where everything was. I drifted back to my bed and reappeared. Laughing, I bounced on the bed.

"That was easy," I mumbled to myself.

Telepathy wasn't. The people I pinged were rude. A few times, I thought I felt a ping, but no one telepathed me, so I just listened to people's thoughts and soaked in their excitement. Occasionally, despair mingled with the euphoria, but it was faint, as though coming from far away or from the dungeons.

"Meditating, little sis?" Solange asked from behind me.

I was p.i.s.sed at her. I never saw her except at dinnertime. Even then, she ate quickly and was out the door. If she were in my position, I would have visited her, maybe even sneaked her out of the castle or something. Instead, I'd been stuck inside these four walls for days and she hadn't even cared.

"I'm eavesdropping on people's thoughts while thinking up ways to make you suffer," I said, turned, and realized she wasn't alone. With her were the two girls from her pictures. The blonde's condescending smirk sent a feeling of dej vu through me.

The brunette laughed. "She's funny."

"Yeah, she's a hoot," Solange retorted. "What did I do?"

I wanted to whine about being confined in the castle but decided against it. I shrugged. "Nothing."

Solange frowned. "If you are p.i.s.sed because I'm never around, I'm sorry, little sis. I work. This is Kimber"-she pointed at the blonde, then the brunette-"and Riesa. They are my friends. And they"-she indicated five other women in the doorway-"are here to pretty you up."

"I don't need to be prettied."

She laughed and her friends joined in. My face warmed. "You are about to be officially introduced to the Hermonite Nation. Believe me, you'll want to look your best."

In minutes, I was getting a manicure and pedicure while someone did something to my hair. Solange issued instructions about hair and makeup like a drill sergeant, then went into my closet and called Lady Nemea every name imaginable before "fixing" my clothes again. Lady Nemea had brought someone to change them back to their original colors. To be honest, I preferred Solange's warmer colors.

"Tell Lady Nemea not to touch your clothes again," Solange told me before she and her friends left. "I'll be in my room if you need me."

Lady Nemea wasn't amused when she saw my clothes.

"Where is she?" she demanded.

I shrugged. "In her room. It's okay about my clothes."

"No, it's not. That's too much makeup; wipe it off," she ordered the women. "She has gorgeous eyes that don't need to be enhanced, so no eye shadow, just mascara. Use gloss instead of lipstick and very little blusher."

Lady Nemea marched to Solange's bedroom. Within seconds, her voice and Solange's reached from my closet. They must have teleported there. This wasn't even about my dresses. There was bad blood between them, and they were using me to stick it to each other. It was so stupid.

"Excuse me." I got up, their voices getting louder as I crossed my bedroom.

"Your father wants Lilith to look a certain way," Lady Nemea said. "You know, innocent...harmless."

"Innocent and harmless?" Solange asked in an incredulous voice. I wasn't sure whether the idea that I could be innocent and harmless shocked her, or the fact that my father would want me to appear that way. "That girl out there is..." she mumbled the rest of her words.

Lady Nemea said something in response, but I didn't catch it. I inched closer and strained to hear her next words. "Your father didn't want you involved because he wants the two of you to get along. Not a repeat of the past."

Repeat of the past? What past? Solange mumbled something.

"The people don't trust her, Solange. Some think she shouldn't be here. Others believe she's a spy for the Guardians, just because she lived with them for so long. The way she appears tonight is important. She can't be seen as a threat."

"That's nonsense! She looks like the wind might blow her away. How can they possibly think she's a threat?"

"Because she's a Special, Solange. Those of us who didn't fight in the Great Battle know just how powerful she is. Maybe too powerful for one so young. We have to convince our people she's not here to hurt them. That she's one of us."

"She's not more powerful than me," Solange retorted, sounding a little sulky.

"Of course not."

There was silence.

Shocked, I left the bedroom and hurried back to the living room, where the women fixing me up were waiting. I was a threat? Too powerful? And what the heck was a Special? I didn't say anything as the women went back to work, not even when Solange joined us to make sure I looked... right.

Innocent.

Non-threatening.

I didn't care what dress they chose. I stood in front of the mirror and studied the results-minimal makeup, my hair falling in gentle waves down my back, and a white dress that flowed to the floor. I looked ethereal, delicate, and fragile as one of the b.u.t.terflies my mother had embroidered on my bed canopy. All that was missing were wings.

The thought had barely entered my mind when Lady Nemea came out of the closet with a white cloak with red lining and draped it on my shoulders. It was longer than the dress.

"If you are cold, pull it to cover the front. Now just let it fall back."

Just like wings. And despite what I had heard, I really did look nice. Sweet, even. The nude flats Lady Nemea chose added to the illusion of a barefooted sprite.

"You look amazing," she said, stepping back.

"Perfect," Solange said, but she couldn't meet my eyes. "I think I might have a pearl haircomb she can borrow." She disappeared and came back with one, which she tucked neatly above my right ear.

"Thank you," I said, dying to ask her what else Lady Nemea had told her. Did we know each other while I lived with the Guardians? Maybe hated each other? Was that what Lady Nemea meant by a repeat of the past?

"Meet us downstairs when you're dressed," Lady Nemea added, glancing at Solange. "Your father wants to see both of you."

Lady Nemea took me to Lord Valafar's waiting room. She kept fussing with my dress, my hair. I was about to tell her to stop when his bedroom door opened and he stepped out, expensive-looking boxes in his hands.

He looked regal in a black-and-red ceremonial robe made of some heavy material. Around his neck was a gold neckpiece set with colorful jewels. I squinted and realized the stones made a raven behind a rising sun. It was the same crest that I'd seen on the security guard uniforms. Ravens must mean something to our people.

"Very nice, Lilith," he said. "You chose well. I don't recall seeing that hairpiece in your jewelry case." He pointed at Solange's borrowed comb.

"It's Solange's," I said. "She let me borrow it."

He nodded in approval. "That's good. I have something for you, too." He opened the top box to reveal a pearl necklace with a ruby heart pendant and a matching bracelet. The core of the pendant appeared to move like a trapped liquid.