Don't worry, Irys said. Tell them what happened.

I walked to the podium, guessing that was the witness stand.

"Explain yourself," Roze demanded.

I told them about the kidnapping and my escape. A collective gasp sounded when I explained about taking control of Goel's body. Whispers about the Ethical Code started to spread.

Irys stood and said, "There is nothing illegal about using magic to defend yourself. In fact, she should be commended for extracting herself without harming Goel."

The Council members asked an endless amount of questions about Goel's motives. Only after the guards that had been assigned to protect me confirmed they had been drugged did the Council run out of inquiries.

"You left Goel chained in the shed, and that was the last time you saw him?" Roze asked.

"Yes," I said.

"She's telling the truth." By Roze's sour expression, I knew that statement had been hard for her to say. "The investigation into Goel's murder will continue. Yelena, you may sit down." Roze gestured to a bench located behind her and the other Master Magicians. "That leaves us with the other matter. I call Cahil Ixia to the witness stand."

As I moved toward the bench, I passed Cahil. His blue eyes held a hard determination and he refused to meet my gaze. I sat on the edge of the wooden bench, and, even though I braced myself for his accusations, Cahil's words made my heart squeeze with fear.

"-and compounding Valek's deception is the fact that his soul mate and master spy is Yelena Zaltana."

The room erupted with a cacophony of voices. Roze pounded her gavel, but no one listened. I felt the force of her magic when she ordered everyone silent. She held them quiet for only a moment, but it was enough to get her point across.

"Cahil, where is your evidence?" Roze asked.

He motioned to one of the Keep's guards. The guard opened a door in the back wall and Captain Marrok and four of Cahil's men entered the hall, dragging Adviser Ilom with them. Ilom's arms were manacled behind his back and the four guards had their swords pointed at him. Ambassador Signe and a handful of Ixian soldiers followed the grim procession.

I strained to catch Valek's eye, but he looked at the Council members with an annoyed frown.

Ambassador Signe was the first to speak. "I demand an explanation. This is an act of war."

"Cahil, I told you to release the Adviser until this matter was settled," Roze said. Fury flared in her amber eyes.

"And let him escape? No. Better to bring him here and unmask him in front of everyone." Cahil strode to Ilom and yanked on his hair.

I cringed, but Ilom's head jerked down as he cried out in pain. Undaunted, Cahil pulled Ilom's nose then clawed at the flesh under his chin. Ilom yelped and blood welled from the scratches on his neck. Cahil stepped back astounded. He reached toward Ilom's face again, but Marrok grabbed him and held him. Cahil's mouth hung open with astonishment.

"Release the Adviser," Roze ordered.

Ilom's manacles were removed as Cahil, his face red with rage, and his men were escorted from the room. The session ended and Roze rushed to make amends and apologize to the Ambassador and Ilom.

I stayed on the bench, watching as Signe's anger and Ilom's pout transformed into more agreeable expressions by Roze's words. I was afraid to call attention to myself, hoping no one would remember Cahil's other accusations about me.

Cahil's shock over Ilom had matched my own. Even knowing his tricks, Valek continued to surprise me. I scanned the Ixian guards, and, sure enough, one blue-eyed soldier looked mighty pleased with himself. Ilom probably dressed as a guard when Valek disguised himself as the Adviser, and they probably switched places when Valek needed to sneak around Sitia.

Eventually, the Council members and Ixians began to leave. Irys joined me on the bench.

Tell Valek to leave, Irys said. The danger is too great.

You know.

Of course. I expected him to be with the delegation.

It doesn't bother you that he's here. That he might be spying on Sitia.

He's here for you. And I'm glad you had some time together.

But what if he killed Goel?

Goel was a danger to you. While I would have preferred to arrest him, I'm not upset by his demise.

"Go get something to eat. You look a little pale," Irys said.

"That's just great. I went from having none to having two mother hens."

Irys laughed. "Some people just need the extra help." She patted my knee and went in search of Bain.

Before I could leave, though, I saw Bavol Zaltana heading toward me. I waited for him.

"Ambassador Signe requests a meeting with you," Bavol said.

"When?"

"Now."

Bavol led me out of the great hall. "The Ambassador has been assigned some offices so she can conduct business while a guest here," Bavol explained as we walked through the Council Hall.

The entire Sitian government was housed in the vast building. Offices and meeting rooms hummed with the daily tasks of running a government. An underground record room stored all the official documents, although the local records remained at each clan's capitol.

I wondered about the Sandseed's moving capitol. Did they haul their records with them as they traveled throughout the plains? Remembering Irys's lecture about the Sandseeds, I realized they kept a verbal record, telling history through the Story Weavers. An image of Moon Man painted blue and sitting in the Council's underground room caused me to smile.

Bavol gave me a questioning glance.

"I was thinking of the record room," I said. "Just trying to imagine how the Sandseed Clan reports information to the Council."

Bavol grinned. "They have always been difficult. We indulge their...unusual ways. Twice a year, a Story Weaver comes to the Council and recites the clan's events to a scribe. It works, and keeps peace in our land. Here we are." Bavol gestured to an open door. "We will talk again later." Bavol dipped his head and shoulders in a half bow and left.

The invitation had not included Bavol. I walked into a receiving area. Adviser Ilom sat behind a plain desk. The scratches on his neck had stopped bleeding. Two soldiers guarded a closed door.

Ilom stood and knocked on the door. I heard a faint voice, and Ilom turned the knob. "She's here," he said, then pushed the door wider and gestured me inside.

I entered Ambassador Signe's office, noting the simple functional furniture and lack of decorations. Guards stood behind her, but she dismissed them. None of the soldiers had been Valek, and I wondered where he had gotten to. Ari and Janco were probably off-duty.

"You caused a considerable stir last night," Signe said when we were alone.

Her powerful eyes scanned me. I marveled at her appearance. She had the same delicate features as the Commander, yet the long hair and the thin lines of kohl around her eyes transformed his face into her ageless beauty.

"I hope your sleep wasn't interrupted," I said, sticking to a diplomatic approach.

She waved away comment. "We're alone. You may speak freely."

I shook my head. "Master Magicians have excellent hearing." I thought about Roze, she would consider eavesdropping on the Ambassador to be her patriotic duty.

Signe nodded in understanding. "Seems the Wannabe King has gotten hold of some wrong information. I wonder how that happened."

"A miscommunication between several parties."

"There will be no more false accusations?" Signe asked.

Her gaze pierced me as if she held a knife to my throat. She wondered at my ability to keep her disguise a secret.

"No." I showed her my palm, pointing to the scar she had made when I promised not to reveal the Commander's secret to anyone. Not even to Valek.

That thought reminded me of Irys's suggestion that Valek leave Sitia. I pulled my Butterfly pendant out. "Some rumors tend to smolder, and it would be best to make certain there is no fuel left to ignite another fire."

Signe had to know about Valek. "I will take that under advisement. However, I had another matter to discuss with you." Signe pulled a sheet of parchment from her black leather briefcase. She rolled it up, and held it in her hand.

"The Commander has sent a message for you. He has thought in depth about your last conversation with him. He decided that the advice presented was valid and would like to thank you for the suggestions." Signe handed me the paper roll.

"An invitation to come visit us when your magical training is complete. We are planning on returning to Ixia in a week's time," she said. "Your response is required before we leave."

A dismissal. I bowed to the Ambassador and left her office. I puzzled over her words as I headed toward the Keep. The Commander had signed an order of execution, visiting Ixia would be suicide.

I waited until I had a warm fire lit in my rooms before unrolling the Commander's message. Staring at the dancing flames, I contemplated Commander Ambrose's offer. I held the order for my execution in my hands. But tossing it into the fire would not be a simple act. A brief note had been written on the document.

Prove my loyalties to Ixia and the order would be nullified. Show the benefits of having a magician working for Ixia to the Ixian generals and an adviser's position would be mine. Do these things and I could return to Ixia. Return to my friends. Return to Valek.

Without knowing it, Cahil had seen my possible future when he had called me a master spy at the Council's session.

29.

I GAZED AT THE FIRE AS MY conflicting emotions, my conflicting loyalties and my conflicting desires all burned and danced in my chest, mimicking the flames. Coming no closer to a decision, I hid the execution order in my backpack. It might be better to think about it later.

Remembering my promise to my parents, I headed toward the dining hall, hoping I would find them eating lunch. Along the way, I encountered Dax.

"Yelena," he said, falling in step with me. "Haven't seen you in days."

"I'm sure you're just dying to tell me all the campus gossip about me. Right?"

"I do have a life. Maybe I've been too busy to listen to rumors," he huffed, pretending to have hurt feelings.

I looked at him.

He sighed. "Okay, you win. I'm bored out of my skull. Second Magician is busy playing detective, and Gelsi is neck-deep in some project and I never see her anymore." Dax paused dramatically. "My life is so boring that I have to live vicariously through your adventures."

"And since the rumors are so accurate-"

"Your adventures have turned into legends." He swept his arms wide, laughing. "So where are you off to now? Going to slay a dragon? Can I tag along as your lowly squire? I'll polish your staff of power every night with my shirt. I promise."

"I'm glad my problems are keeping you entertained," I said with some sarcasm. "I'm searching for my...ah, for the Tree King and his Queen. We're going to plan our attack against the evil Tree Varmints who have assembled an invisible army in the Keep."

Dax's eyes lit up. "I heard about the Tree Queen's adventures this morning."

The game soured. I didn't want to hear the students' gossip about my mother. Before Dax could elaborate, I invited him to tag along.

I found my parents in the dining hall and we joined them. While we ate, Dax's presence worked to my advantage. The topic of conversation stayed on school and horses and mundane matters, giving my parents no chance to question me about the Council session. And when my mother offered to distill a special cologne for Dax, I knew she was glad I had found a Sitian friend.

After saying goodbye to Dax, I went to the guest quarters with my parents. As Perl brewed some tea in the small kitchen, I asked Esau about the Curare. Irys had told him about the drug when she feared Ferde had kidnapped me.

He ran a calloused hand over his face. "I never thought it would be used like that," he said, shaking his head. "When I discover something new, I always experiment with it until I know all the side effects and know how the substance could be used or abused. Then I weigh the good against the bad. Some discoveries never see the light of day, but for others, even though they might not be perfect, the benefits outweigh the risks."

Esau stopped speaking when Perl entered the room carrying a tray of tea. The warning in my father's eyes told me that my mother didn't know about Ferde's gruesome use of the Curare.

She served the tea and sat close to me on the couch. She had worn her cloak during lunch, but had removed it when we entered their suite.

"What happened at the Council's session?" she asked me.

I gave them a watered-down version of Cahil's accusations against Adviser Ilom. Perl's hand flew to her neck when I mentioned Valek's name, but she relaxed when I told her Cahil had been proven wrong. Neglecting to mention Cahil's claims about my involvement with Valek, I informed them about Goel's murder.

"Good," Perl said. "Saves me the effort of cursing him."

"Mother!" I was astonished. "Can you do that?"

"Perfumes and scents are not the only things I can concoct."

I looked at Esau. He nodded his head. "Good thing Reyad and Mogkan were already dead. Your mother has quite the imagination when she's angry."

I wondered what other surprises I would discover about my parents. Changing the subject, I asked about their journey to the Keep and about the Zaltana family, spending the day with them as promised.

When the hour had grown late, Esau offered to escort me to my rooms. At first I declined. I hadn't been assigned guards since the episode with Goel. When he insisted and when Perl frowned, I remembered her comment about curses and not wanting to be a target of her ire, I agreed.

The campus atmosphere hung silent and empty. Moonlight glistened off the ice-coated trees. Only four more days until the full moon. My hand found Valek's snake and I twisted the bracelet around my arm.

When we were halfway to my rooms Esau said, "I need to tell you another thing about Curare."

"There's more?"

He nodded. "The stinging nettle plant was the reason I sent the shipment of Curare to the Sandseeds before I finished all my experiments on the drug. The plant grows in the Avibian Plains and the sting causes unbearable pain for many days. It's usually the children who wander into a patch without realizing it. In low doses, Curare is excellent for numbing the wound. It had never occurred to me that someone would use high doses of Curare to paralyze the entire body." Esau frowned, running a hand through his shoulder length gray hair. "Later I discovered another side effect that seemed minor at the time. But now..." Esau stopped and turned to me. "At high doses the Curare will also paralyze a person's magical abilities."

I felt the blood drain from my face. That meant Curare could render even a Master Magician completely helpless. Tomorrow night was the time of the secret exchange. Since I had taken over Goel's body with my magic, I planned to take over Ferde's, believing that, even if I was incapacitated by the drug, I could still use my magic. It now seemed imperative that I avoid getting shot with Curare.

My father must have seen the horror in my eyes. "There is an antidote of sorts," he said.