A'Zahra responded without pausing in her writing. "I do wish you would stop referring to your office as my home, dear. I have no intention of keeping this arrangement any longer than necessary. The very hour you return, this distasteful and distressing position is again all your own."

I pushed off from the doorframe. "You can't tell me you don't enjoy the power, just a little," I chided gently.

My mentor glanced up at me and leaned back, her small form dwarfed by my office chair. Admittedly, it was large for me as well. In the goblin court, you employed every defensive measure, including making yourself and your surroundings as imposing as possible. My desk chair functioned much like the hood on an annoyed cobra. It was cheap theatrics, but it worked.

"I enjoy the power about as much as the accompanying and incessant itch between my shoulder blades," she said.

I grinned. "I can assure you, ma'am, that the daggers are more likely to come at you from the front. My court enemies usually dispensed with subtlety."

"Only because you goaded them to the point of exasperated rage."

"What can I say? I hate to be kept waiting. If someone wants to kill me, I want them to get on with it." I took a seat in one of my two guest chairs-after angling it ever so slightly to give me a view of the door, even though I'd closed it. I didn't take chances lightly.

The adjustment wasn't lost on A'Zahra. "I can assure you that my guards' trustworthiness is beyond reproach. Imala selected them herself."

I chuckled. "And after she did, you linked with each one to confirm that any homicidal tendencies they possessed wouldn't be directed at you."

"That goes without saying."

"And Imala wasn't offended at you vetting her choices."

"That also goes without saying."

"Imala and I are finding more people we can trust, but there aren't nearly enough of them."

"We're goblins, dear. Intrigue and subterfuge are in our blood."

"I am more than aware of that, but for once I'd like to experience it not being aimed at me and mine."

"Imala is doing an admirable job rooting out the riffraff. At the rate she's going, she'll have the court tidied up within the month-quite possibly by the time you return."

"That would be a wonderful homecoming gift."

A'Zahra put her pen back in its holder. "Is your ship all packed for your little excursion?"

"It is." I smiled. Eighty percent of the expeditions that had gone to Aquas never returned. Those that did make it home came back with less than half their original complement. Aquas did not welcome visitors. I hoped our expedition would be the exception.

A'Zahra wasn't the first to refer to our expedition using a term with lesser gravitas. My parents had taken to calling it my "little trip." While I seriously doubted prefacing their descriptions with "little" would positively affect our chances for survival, I could hardly blame them for trying.

I leaned forward. "Have you given any more thought to my proposal?"

"Aside from that it's dangerous? Not much. Paranoia over who's going to make the first attempt on Chigaru and Mirabai's lives is a full-time job."

"But you agree it's needed?"

"If we're invaded."

"It will have to be in place before then."

"I know. If we must battle Khrynsani and alien invaders in our very streets, we will need battle mages from every shade of magic-light to dark. I do not disagree with you on that point." From her tone, she knew and she didn't like it, but it was past time for the people I'd spoken to A'Zahra about to be able to come out of the shadows.

Some were dark mages; others were mages of mixed blood, either goblin and human, or goblin and elf. The time had long come and gone for talented individuals to stop fearing for their lives and hiding behind glamours and veils.

Even among goblins, black magic was scorned and feared. However, I knew through my own experience that sometimes the only solution, the only way to survive, was by using dark or even black magic. I didn't consider myself evil. I was a man who did what was necessary to defeat evil. On occasion, that meant meeting black magic with black magic.

Then there was the issue of half-breeds-goblins who were half goblin and half elf, or half goblin and half human. In our not-too-distant history, such children would have been killed at birth, and never allowed to reach adulthood.

I had told A'Zahra that even black magic had its use, and those of mixed blood should not have to fear for their lives at being known for what they were.

Chigaru and Mirabai had agreed.

I knew that A'Zahra agreed, even if her granddaughter Imala hadn't been of mixed goblin and elven blood. I also knew her one reason for reluctance.

The dark mages.

She had accepted what I was because she knew me. She knew she could trust me.

"You're playing with fire, you know that, don't you?" A'Zahra said quietly.

"I'm willing to risk getting burned to keep from being annihilated," I told her.

"These dark mages could be Khrynsani spies."

"And some of them are trusted friends and allies. Friends who I have enlisted more than once over the past few years to help me when no one else could. Talon wouldn't be alive today if not for them. Neither would Raine and Piaras. In fact, if you take the series of events to their conclusion, without the help of my team of dark mages whom I personally can vouch for, we wouldn't be sitting here in this office having this difference of opinion. There are others out there just like them. I only ask that we give those men and women a chance."

"It's not that I don't trust your instincts in this..."

I finished the thought that she was reluctant to voice. "It's that you distrust anyone who has even delved into black magic. I would not be taking four of these men and women to Aquas with me unless I trusted them implicitly. Once we land, we must reach Nidaar quickly, do what must be done, and get out. That can't be done with an army, regardless of how small." I paused. "When I return, we can discuss this further, but I assure you that we will be thoroughly confirming the loyalty of each and every one of the dark mages on the list that I gave you. Those more skilled in battle magic need to be brought on board first. Khrynsani mages were embedded with our army units, and now that they're not, we have large defensive and offensive gaps in our ground forces. If we are to stand any chance at all against invaders capable of decimating an entire world, we need these men and women on our side and at our side."

"Yes, I am more than aware of our present weaknesses. I have them staring me in the face before my feet even hit the floor when I get out of bed. That is, when I've been to bed."

"You're not sleeping?"

"As much as you are."

I raised an eyebrow.

A'Zahra smiled. "Barrett is my spy in your household."

"Of course he is."

"He worries about you-especially now that you've returned. He's determined that nothing is going to happen to you. And he knows I worry about you, too. It is still dangerous here. Perhaps even more so now than in the past."

"Predators are at their most deadly when frightened or cornered," I said. "Goblin courtiers only believe what they see and hear for themselves, and even then they will continue to doubt. We have had Chigaru lay out very carefully how he will conduct his reign. Which things will change, what will remain the same. The people see his actions and hear his words, but until they accept both, then yes, the capital will remain a very dangerous place."

"As will any place you go."

I laughed quietly. "Kesyn said much the same thing. For me, threats are expected."

"On a ship, quarters are close-and so are your enemies."

"What's one more target on my back?"

"At least on a ship you'll have all the people who want to kill you in one place."

"I've taken every precaution possible to ensure my safety and Talon's. I always have and always will, as you well know."

"I'm not concerned about someone on board being bribed or blackmailed as much as I'm worried about mind control. The victim wouldn't even be aware of it-before, during, or after."

"It's a scenario I've considered."

"The Khrynsani have mages who can manipulate their chosen operative over any distance-"

"Mages who have not been captured," I finished for her. "Believe me, I am only too aware of what the Khrynsani are still capable of, Sandrina Ghalfari in particular. She escaped from us once; it won't happen again."

"Is that pride I hear?"

"That's mortification that she escaped the first time. Sandrina is a mess that we made. We should be the ones to clean it up. In the meantime, I'm surrounding myself with good people, people I trust."

"And whom do you trust?"

"Aside from yourself, Kesyn, my family, and a few select friends, the same people I always trust-no one. Those I will watch. If I only took people with me whom I know and trust, I would be going to Aquas in a rowboat. This is far from the first time that I've had to watch my back, front, and both sides, and I'm still here." I paused meaningfully. "Most of those who have made attempts on my life are not."

"Most, not all."

I arched an eyebrow. "Advocating violence now, are we?"

"Advocating survival. There are times when you cannot achieve one without the other. Unfortunately, we are living in one of those times."

I smiled. "But we are living."

"Exercising caution will ensure that we continue to do so. I know that you will be careful-most of the time."

"And since you won't be there to remind me when you perceive that I'm slipping, you're doing it now."

"With you, dear, I must do what I can when I can."

I leaned across my desk and put my hand over hers. "I've always been grateful for it, even when I haven't said so."

A'Zahra turned her tiny hand beneath mine, entwining our fingers. "I know, but it is nice to have you say it."

I raised her fingers to my lips and gently kissed them.

She gave me a tiny smile. "Insufferable charmer. Now run along so I can get some work done-and attempt to straighten out the mess you're leaving me with. Your organizational skills are abominable."

I stood, went behind the desk, and dropped a kiss on top of her head. "I can't be the best at everything."

Chapter 4.

The Khrynsani temple was guarded day and night. All entrances had been found and sealed except for one.

Curiosity was a powerful thing. The Khrynsani had occupied this building for over a thousand years. Now, for the first time, it stood empty, with most of the main temple having been destroyed the night the Saghred had been shattered. Sarad had summoned the pair of sea dragons that lived in the caverns beneath the temple's many sublevels to join the battle in the temple itself. The dragons had ripped their way up through those sublevels and through the temple's floors. The Khrynsani temple had never been safe for anyone, now it was even less so. However, goblins were inquisitive by nature. We liked to explore, to discover.

The Khrynsani treasury had also been here in the temple. We had found it soon after the order had fallen, and the gold was now back in the royal treasury where it belonged-and from where vast quantities of it had been stolen.

That would not dissuade the greedy. Where there was one cache of treasure, there could very well be more. There probably was. It would be found and the contents would be taken to the royal treasury. Chigaru's intention was to repair the damage-to property and people-that the Khrynsani had done. Money would be needed, a lot of it.

Just because there were no Khrynsani here did not mean there was no danger.

The Saghred was destroyed, but there were other, lesser objects of power in the temple. Those that were out in the open had been deactivated or contained and removed. I was sure there were others that were still to be found. And they would be found, but only by those trained to encounter such objects, not a thief or curious youngsters who would endanger themselves and others by attempting to steal or manipulate them.

The only remaining way into the temple was through the repaired front doors. They were locked by ways both magical and mundane. Four guards were posted with four werehounds. What the guards couldn't sense, the hounds could.

The goblin people were safe from the temple, and the temple was safe from the people.

Kesyn didn't believe that I was safe from what it still contained. He was right. I wasn't. Thanks to his teaching-and me learning from my mistakes-I was much better able to resist the calls of the artifacts and books inside. I had been inside many times since the temple and the Khrynsani who had controlled it had fallen. I had been tempted each and every time, but had not come close to succumbing.

Bad experiences were good teachers.

Kesyn Badru was also a good teacher. The best, if truth be told. He hadn't known that I'd been inside the Khrynsani library multiple times without, shall we say, a magical chaperone. Now that he knew, he was determined that I wouldn't be doing it again. Just because I didn't need him with me didn't mean I didn't want him with me.

Books contained knowledge. Knowledge was consumed. In inexperienced or careless hands, the books in the Khrynsani library could consume you.

I smiled grimly. And there were people who actually believed that words had no power.

The guards knew me. They were Imala's people, chosen by her and approved by me and A'Zahra Nuru. They were mage-level talents, but especially gifted in locking things up and keeping them that way. They were called prison mages or vault mages. There were no living prisoners here, but none of the objects or books inside would be leaving without a qualified escort, so in a sense, that made them prisoners.

I was here to examine one of those prisoners that, unless I was careful, would be every bit as dangerous as a living Khrynsani dark mage.

The vault mages opened an access point in the wards they had laboriously conjured and constructed over the temple's massive set of black iron doors. To get inside, we had only opened one of those physical doors, but the resounding boom of it closing behind us gave me an unwelcome flashback to fighting for my life in here only a few months ago.

Kesyn's voice was an eerie echo in the empty space. "When is this mausoleum going to be torn down?"

"Once we've taken everything out that needs to go, and destroyed the rest." I shivered, and it wasn't from the cold. "That day can't come soon enough for me."

Kesyn glanced down the hall at the blue lightglobes flickering in their sconces.

"The lights are on in here all the time?"

"Oh yes. I've ordered that they be activated and glowing at full power day and night."