"Imala outvoted you."

"Since when?"

"Since she's scarier than you are."

I just looked at him. "The chief of goblin intelligence is scarier than I am."

"There, you said it; I didn't. That little lady makes people disappear."

"Imala wouldn't make you disappear. She adores you."

Kesyn didn't say anything.

I gave my teacher a slow smile as realization set in. "And you adore her. She asked you to clean yourself up and you did it. For her."

"That's not the reason."

"It's the only reason. She's a spymaster and a woman. She knows how to get what she wants."

He barked a hollow laugh. "Ain't that the truth. And those are some dangerous dimples. One smile and a 'please,' and before I knew it I was wearing brocade. Gods help us if the woman had more magic than she does."

I nodded sagely. "With greater power would come even greater responsibility." I paused. "So you're saying Agata Azul wouldn't work with a reformed dark mage."

"Dark ain't got a thing to do with it. Whenever there's been a political shitstorm-or even a shitstorm of any kind-you've been in the middle of it. It's a fact and everyone knows it. Anyone who signs on to help you do anything will be taking their life into their own hands. There's no amount of money worth that, and I know for a fact that Aggie doesn't care about money."

"Tell me what does she does care about."

"It's been several years since I spent much time with her, so I don't have an answer for you, but I can tell you that survival would be near or at the top of her list."

"If she cares about survival, she'll understand why she should agree to help."

"I have to admit if any gem mage can sniff out this Heart of Nidaar, it'll be Aggie." Kesyn paused and his brow furrowed. "Though you'd think if there were goblins living over there we'd have heard something from them by now."

I gave him a look. "If you were living a peaceful and tranquil life, would you reach out to us?"

"Good point. If we're not at war with each other, we're at war with someone else. We do excel at screwing things up for us and everyone else, don't we?"

"Not to mention, if you had a self-sustaining city, peaceful, and full of gold, would you want to share? Since Chigaru and Mirabai have confiscated all of the Nukpana and Ghalfari lands and given most of them to my family, I'm certain Sandrina wouldn't mind filling up a few bags of whatever treasure is there after she gets the Heart."

"I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that you're going after another rock."

"I'm not appreciative of the irony, but the Khrynsani lost their chance at the Saghred. They and their new off-world allies need an energy source to power Gates to give them access to any place in the Seven Kingdoms at any time. The Heart of Nidaar would meet their needs."

"So you're sure that thing's still in Nidaar?"

"The Khrynsani are convinced. Right now, that's enough for me. Sarad Nukpana believed it since he was a child. I first heard about the Heart of Nidaar from him, when he was younger and hadn't yet mastered discretion. Sarad had a tendency to brag. I had a tendency to listen. Later, I did my own research."

"And you've since lost the tendency to listen. How sad."

"You sound like my parents."

"The highest compliment you've ever paid me. Tam, you're going to search for a city that no one has gone looking for and survived."

I raised a finger. "Some have."

"Due to realizing they were in over their thick-skulled heads and turning around before it was too late."

"I won't be 'searching' for Nidaar. I know where it is. I've seen a map."

"Where?"

"The Khrynsani library."

My teacher swore. Expressively. "When?"

"Don't worry, it was after the Khrynsani were overthrown. I wouldn't set foot in that mausoleum of a temple unless there was the direst of needs. Like now."

"Tam, it's not safe for you of all people to be in there. Leave the cataloguing and removal of those books to people qualified to handle them."

"And not be tempted."

"I didn't say that, but yes, and not be tempted."

"I've only read those books with information on Aquas and the Heart of Nidaar."

"That's another thing. In case you haven't noticed yet from your experience with the Saghred, only really evil rocks get names."

"Denita Enric, Dakarai's sister, is overseeing the inventory and moving of the library. She sent a messenger over saying she'd found another book for me."

"When are you going to look at it?"

"I need to stop at my office and see A'Zahra as soon as we're finished here. Then I'll go to the temple."

"I want to go with you."

It wasn't necessary. I knew it. Kesyn probably knew it. However, we both knew it'd be a good idea. I was a dark mage, and I always would be. My magic was a part of me, a part that was still susceptible to temptation.

"If that's what you want," I told my teacher.

"It is."

"I've asked Denita to pull out any journals or records from previous Khrynsani expeditions," I continued. "Sarad had to have gotten his information from somewhere. Sandrina probably read them to him as bedtime stories. I've also done some digging on most of the previous goblin expeditions to Aquas. All were funded-some openly, most covertly-by the Khrynsani. Some of the expeditions even predate the discovery of the Saghred. Once the Guardians took the Saghred for safekeeping, Khrynsani sponsorship of the expeditions continued."

"So you're saying that the Khrynsani lost their chance at one all-powerful rock, so they need to get their all-evil hands on another."

"Exactly. Sandrina isn't taking her new allies to Aquas for the vacation ambience. The Khrynsani-Sandrina included-never had an evil master plan without an ace up their collective sleeve. For the past thousand years, that preferred ace has been a stone of power. They came entirely too close to success with the Saghred. Sandrina's dreams were dashed on the broken pieces of the Khrynsani temple. She has nothing left to lose. Now she has everything to regain. Without the Saghred to power their Gates, the Khrynsani's plan to invade and conquer the Seven Kingdoms fell apart. The Saghred is gone. The Heart of Nidaar is the only chance Sandrina has left."

"I can't believe after what happened with the Saghred-and what nearly happened-that you would even consider going within a thousand miles of another soul-eating stone."

I almost smiled. "The Heart of Nidaar doesn't eat souls. It's said to be completely self-sustaining."

"That's one thing in its favor."

"It will power her Gates, and she doesn't have to sacrifice people to it. A win-win for her."

My teacher leveled his dark eyes at me.

"What?"

"Power without sacrifice. I can see in your eyes that Sandrina Ghalfari isn't the only one that notion appeals to. Just what do you intend to do with this rock if you get it before Sandrina?"

"To be honest, I don't really know. Considering what it is reputed to do, it's in the Seven Kingdoms' best interests that we locate and secure it first, as the Guardians did with the Saghred. I am well aware that we need to keep it out of the hands of anyone who would abuse its power. Is there a good way to use its power? I don't know enough about it to answer that question. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

Kesyn voice was quiet and solemn. "I'll contact Aggie for you, if that's what you really want. And once you cross that bridge, just make sure you take the right path afterward."

Chapter 3.

In the goblin court, no level of paranoia was excessive. It was a way of life, and of staying alive.

Walking into the Mal'Salin palace put all my defenses on high alert. I automatically murmured my shields into place, and cleared quick access to my weapons. Most people would think that a royal palace would be the safest place to be. Goblins weren't most people.

Admittedly, I was a special case. Any who had been loyal to Sathrik wanted me dead. Any who were loyal to Chigaru didn't trust me. I had been away from court for nearly three years. I was no longer the man I had been when I'd served as Queen Gilcara's magical enforcer. Goblins' allegiances could change with the wind, but the complete change I'd undergone had been met with anything from skepticism to outright disbelief.

However, those who hadn't personally witnessed the battle between me and Sarad Nukpana had heard about it. Sarad had drawn on all the knowledge and power he contained by consuming the souls of six of history's most evil mages. He had created a towering skinform that held a multitude of demons, all struggling to tear free of the confines Sarad had used to imprison them and bend them to his will. It had been nothing short of every nightmare brought to life.

I had used all of my black magic skills to summon a bull-horned demon lord.

It had been close, but in the end-thanks to Sarad's concentration wavering when he saw Raine about to destroy the Saghred-his creation had crumbled, and the demon lord I'd made a deal with had carried Sarad screaming into the Lower Hells.

As a result, everyone in the palace now gave me an even wider berth than they had before.

That wasn't a bad thing.

But death didn't have to be dealt up close. A crossbow had killed me once and it could do it again. Though that time I had stood still in the middle of a street on the Isle of Mid and begged for death. Sarad Nukpana's soul had taken over my body, possessing me, bringing with him the souls of those six mages. The only way to freedom had been death. At the moment of my death, Sarad had fled, taking the souls he had consumed with him. Mychael Eiliesor had frantically worked to repair the damage while the nachtmagus Vidor Kalta had forcefully held my soul in my dead body until my heart could beat again on its own.

I had no intention of being killed by a crossbow bolt again.

Someone had once said that you couldn't come home again. You could, but if you were a goblin in the royal court, you'd better watch your back.

Those courtiers who didn't want to kill me, also didn't know what to call me.

Chigaru and Mirabai had wanted me to have the title of prince, indicating that I was their heir until they produced one.

I told them that I'd be their chancellor, but I'd drawn the line way before prince.

Also, there would be no robes and no ceremony. If I held the position, it would be on my terms. No discussion.

Chigaru had enough to deal with without arguing about my wardrobe choices.

While I was away, A'Zahra Nuru was the mage who would be taking over my job. I couldn't even begin to say how many favors I would owe her when I returned. She already had apartments here, and she probably wouldn't even set foot outside the palace walls for the duration. She had taken Chigaru under her wing when he'd been exiled by his brother, and that wing hadn't moved since. There was not a doubt in my mind that had she not done so, Chigaru would not have grown into the fine man that he was. She had steadied an otherwise impetuous temperament, one that would have gotten him and many others killed long before now. The goblin people didn't know it, but they owed their very lives to this tiny woman with a will forged of nothing less than tempered steel.

A'Zahra had taught Chigaru's grandmother, as well as his mother, the late queen. After I had been forced to leave Regor and was no longer there to protect her, Sathrik had killed his mother and had taken the throne. Sathrik had banished Chigaru and strongly encouraged A'Zahra to retire. He'd provided her with a modest house and annual income in Mermeia, which was where I eventually ended up. A'Zahra Nuru had become my mentor. Black magic was like an addictive drug, and she had brought me back from the brink.

A'Zahra's job was to work with her granddaughter Imala Kalis to keep Chigaru and Mirabai not only alive, but healthy. Their food tasters had tasters. Her secondary job was one Imala and I had begun in earnest the night Sarad Nukpana had been defeated-finding any Khrynsani sympathizers and getting rid of them.

There had been a lot of executions since that night. It had been unavoidable. To imprison them offered the possibility of escape, and these men and women ever seeing the outside of a cell was too great a risk.

The ones who we knew were inner-circle or upper-level Khrynsani had been executed immediately. When there was any doubt as to a courtier or court official's allegiance, the person was interviewed and their mind examined. Refusal of either put them on the executioners' list. Few were wholly innocent. However, there were a significant number who had faked their Khrynsani ties in order to survive. Many a noble family had had members imprisoned in the Khrynsani temple dungeons, held to ensure a magically powerful or politically influential relative's cooperation. These were the people we wanted to make certain did not pay for doing what most would have done to save themselves or their family.

A'Zahra had been heading up the mages in charge of the interviews. If A'Zahra told me a man or woman could be trusted, I believed it without question. And mages she had recruited to work with were likewise beyond reproach.

Those people whose Khrynsani ties had been against their will were housed in a guest palace. They were guarded, but were taken good care of, and treated with dignity and respect. They, too, knew the qualifications of the mages interviewing them, and if they were truly innocent, this would be determined and they would be released and could reassume their lives free of suspicion and Khrynsani blackmail or influence.

We had few enough people whom we trusted without potentially alienating-or making enemies of-anyone. Hence, their treatment as temporary guests, not prisoners.

Imala had assigned four of her best agents to protect her grandmother. If A'Zahra hadn't sensed me, she would have instantly picked up on the increased alertness of her guards when I'd entered the outer office.

They didn't trust me.

I didn't take it personally. Some days I didn't trust me, either.

My office door was open. I stopped, leaned my shoulder against the frame and waited.

A'Zahra knew I was there, though I had made no sound. She had probably known the moment I had set foot in the palace.

Silence meant survival. At least it gave you a better chance. My enemies couldn't kill what they didn't know was there. The reverse was also true-stealth meant success in eliminating your enemies.

I hoped those days were over, but I wasn't about to hold my breath.

My mentor normally wore simple gowns of fine fabric, but since returning to court, precautions were called for, such as gowns that left room for body armor beneath. A'Zahra's magical talents were at an archmage level, so she would know before an assassin got within stabbing or shooting distance; but all it would take was a momentary distraction. All too often, mages had been killed due to a split second of inattention. I was determined that A'Zahra Nuru would not become a statistic. Entirely too much was at stake.

The diminutive goblin's silvery white hair was elaborately styled and held in place with tiny, jeweled pins. More pale gems glittered on the lobes of her upswept ears. Her pale gray skin was still smooth over high cheekbones and fine features. I'd been told A'Zahra had been breathtakingly beautiful in her youth. In my opinion, she still was.

Having taught three generations of the Mal'Salin ruling family, A'Zahra was advanced in years, but not as far as one would think. Three generations of students would indicate old age anywhere in the Seven Kingdoms, except in the goblin court.

Life expectancy was significantly shorter for Mal'Salin monarchs.

That was another statistic I was determined to change.

"You're looking comfortable in your new home," I noted.