The purification rituals did not go well. One of the lamps sputtered and smoked causing the candidate to cough at an awkward time. The Mistress of the Dawn held to her part with a strong force of will but only just. A few pebbles rolled under her feet during the closing dance nearly sending her out of place. She did not miss the beat but marked the investigator's sly grin. Her face remained a tranquil mask until she was alone with her companions.

"How dare he? Why would he want to interrupt his own candidate's confirmation?"

"Perhaps he had a different target. You know how some of the male orders chaff at your role. A missed step would give them an excuse to question your sanctity," the older guard whispered.

"Don't they understand the shadows won't just fall on me?" The Priestess sighed heavily.

"True and I do not like it. If they are willing to interfere with sacred rights, what else might the conclave have sanctioned for its agent," the other guard paced around the room.

"He could well have acted on his own," her partner said with a calming tone. Their Mistress inclined her head and touched one ear. The other women nodded and switched to a discussion of the tasks for preparing their departure.

After the morning salutations the women left their luggage near the temple's front gate. The monks were disconcerted to see an emissary from the palace requesting the Mistress of the Dawn come for an audience with the Dowager. The Priestess expressed her delight at the invitation. She left one guard to supervise loading the packs, and took the other one along to the palace.

Hae-sung waited anxiously, moving between the windows of the teahouse to see if he could spot his favorite aunt. Her distinctive white mule was tethered in the back but there was still no sign of the woman. His nerves were not helped by his mentor wearing full court robes instead of the simple attire common at the forge. Knight-Master Lei Wen-Hou did not show his aristocratic lineage many times but this was one of them.

"Boy, she won't be coming that way," the man said with amusement then patted a chair. "Sit. Breath. Tell me how the horses are doing." The last instruction caught Hae-sung's attention and the boy took a moment to organize his thoughts before listing the strengths and weaknesses of each animal.

Hae-sung paused at the end of his report and shuffled his feet back and forth before adding, "If you don't mind me saying, Sir, you should look in on Rufus. He seems to be pining after Junseo so it would do him good."

"Thank you for reminding me. Maybe we can take Rufus over to the Go's stable. He took a shine to San Jin's little mare."

"In-Yeon would probably like that too. He has a lot of respect for your old guy." Hae-sung smiled at the memory of how their youngest member made friends with the warhorse. He would have said more but was precluded by his famous aunt arriving. The sight of her many shimmering veils had Hae-sung tongue tied for a moment but his Knight-Master stepped forward and eased the initial awkwardness.

The Priestess sized them both up and told them to relax. She then removed her distinctive headgear and shook out her long hair. "Ah, that feels better. It might also make it easier to see me as an interested relative, not a venerable," she rolled her hand in the air as she listed some of her titles before asking, "Right nephew?"

"Oh, auntie! You always know how to make me feel better but the situation we are in, is well, difficult. I need you to know I really can't go back to the Sun Temple now. Even if they wanted to invite me, which they probably won't. Not after what they did." He thrust the written report, with the notarized summary on the top, into her hand.

"Even without reading this through, I can say you are correct. You should steer clear of the Sun Temple for now. My concern is how you will keep up all the forms, not just the fighting ones. I don't know if your teachers here understand the special empathy you have for living beings, and how it can make you vulnerable to energy fluctuations. Everyone needs to stay grounded but you, doubly so."

Hae-sung nodded solemnly. Knight-Master Lie came over and placed a hand on his student's shoulder and said, "I understand. He is not the only member of our little team who needs to keep up the disciplines. We are looking for coaches with a solid understanding of energy work and have to trust the right teachers will find our students."

"The need calls," the Priestess answered automatically as she scanned the summary then flipped through the material to check specific references. Once Knight-Master Lie could see she had finished with the testimonials, he brought out an ebony box and showed her part of the manacle they had removed from In-Yeon's wrist.

"Do you recognize this device?" he asked slowly.

She leaned in and her face paled, "As far as I know, it has never been authorized by the conclave. The risks are too great."

"We know members of the Sun Temple, in collaboration with a man claiming to be investigator from the conclave, took that risk. On a boy who is not through middle school, no less." His disgust was clear.

Hearing this Hae-sung did not hold back, "In-Yeon figures his accidental workings scared them but they had no right to treat him the way they did. I don't care who they think he is."

"You are right. We must hope our future guardian suffered no lasting damage. I am glad he has friends such as you to protect and guide him to his prince." She stopped at the startled look on her nephew's face. Redness spread from the boy's neck to his ears. "I don't need your secrets," she tried to assure him.

"No. It's just In-Yeon told us something a Shaman said about a new court forming, and well we teased him quite a bit. Even Junseo made out like it was no big deal but it is, isn't it?" Hae-sung gave a pleading look first to his aunt and then his training-master.

"It is for the fates to decide but I am glad you are here. Stay safe." She reached over and patted Hae-sung's back before donning her veils to return to her formal role to offer a heartfelt blessing.