Crevan thundered out of Adara's chamber, slamming the door hard enough to break its hinges. Rion! Rion had changed his mind and was inside the mountain with-- Kahlest! Were they even now planning to free the searcher girl?

He knew what he'd seen even if Adara did not. He had seen the Harpyiae Rion had just told him he was not going to meet with again! And there he was!

Hot rage poured through him. Rion was betraying him! His closest brother!

He took the steps to the ramparts two at a time. At the corner, he found himself near the top of the castle built into the steep mountain walls overlooking Auditorium. What he should do was find the scepter himself, free the girl himself, and use it and her to destroy Quildor and Adara.

Then he would ally with the Harpyiae and become the most powerful man on the planet.

He... could do this!

A saner side rationalized.

It couldn't be what he thought! The Harpyiae were powerful but limited. They were young and inexperienced, they needed help! Kahlest had no way to free the searcher girl herself, that was why she had come to him! He had to contact her, and formulate a plan!

He started back the way he had come to find Rion.

*****

Adara bent over the huge alabaster shell inlaid in her summoning table. She held it with both palms. Would Crevan help her? She'd been a fool to go to him. She overestimated her allure. She must have misread the signs of his attraction to her. He was Captain of the Quarso. Of course, he would go to Quildor, and Quildor would have her executed.

Fear.... ugly, impossible, fragmented.... fear!

Not for the first time Adara was seized upon by a series of random thoughts. In her brittle mind, she saw her sister, Nimiane, as she had been as a beautiful young girl. They two had played together in such a carefree manner as children, hadn't they? They'd been so close once! They'd held such promise!

Nimiane! Nimiane! It is time for us to ally once more! You must help me, sister! I cannot stay here any longer!

She recalled them both as older teens, long black hair, and ruby red lips, enticing and inviting. The tri-realms beckoned.

Both had been assured that their lives were important. When their mother died, they would become respected Council Women. Their training had come easy for them. They were clever, quickly grasping complicated political and mystical concepts.

Betrothed to powerful men from the most elite families, they would be Queens someday!

Nimiane loved her future husband from the first moment she'd set eyes on him. Quildor Aquaria was the son of the Highest King in the Tri-realms. He would someday rule in Etrusia with his alliance to her.

But Sebille, as she'd called herself then, had not been quite as fortunate. She'd been given a land kai, unusual for the times, when everyone who received kai was given sea creatures. She was to be married to Archer Valdemar, the highest ranking official in the land city of Valdemar. The thought of breathing the toxic air was abhorrent to her, the thought of bedding a man whose body was not kai melded but actually mutated was revolting. 

There had always been jealousy after her mother had told the young girls of their betrothals.

Nimiane may have been happy, but she soon realized that her betrothed was in love with another. She met Ondrea Carrigah in Etrusia, where the future Councilwomen were often trained. She was betrothed to Taan, the eldest son of the High King. She was an ambitious and talented young woman, rumored to be the most beautiful in all the tri-realms.

These two visages swam in Adara's mind. Ondrea! Nimiane!

The first to clarify was the one closest to her. Zalez often found proximity first. She hadn't concentrated hard enough to contact her sister.

Ondrea, you are awakening!

Sebille, how nice to hear your voice, dear, it has been years!

Don't play that game with me, I know you listen to my unguarded thoughts, and Quildor's as well. You still have your strength, if not the power to free yourself.

Zalez, dear, as you know, is a gift from the planet. We are Children of earth, and were not born with its capacity, but have developed it.

Yes, yes! I know. Stop lecturing me on planetary philosophy!

Why have you contacted me today, little traitor girl?

You know things, Ondrea! You know that Quildor has captured your daughter, Kara, the Princess of Aquaria.

I know this, yes.

You know what he is planning to do with her.

Use her to get to Taan and Galantyne.

If he goes to them even to return her, he will take the scepter and kill them.

Quildor cannot use the scepter without my permission and I will never give away its secrets. Give the scepter to me, and I will prevent this from happening.

Adara knew Quildor would exile her as soon as Crevan revealed that she was plotting to kill Ondrea and wield the scepter through her daughter.

She knew where the scepter was hidden, but couldn't get to it alone. She would need to cultivate Ondrea's help. How could she trust her? If Ondrea were to wield the scepter, surely she would kill Adara and then go after Nimiane for what they had done to her!

I have the vial, Ondrea, I can still hold you powerless, even if I need you to get me the scepter.

Yes, that is true. I can only use the scepter if my powers are not limited by your vial. But you can allow this. Reverse the vial curse and I will help you.

Why would you help me?

If you free me, we can return my daughter to her father, and seek asylum on Aquaria. From there we can thwart Quildor's plans. Please, Adara Sebille! Free me, and I will convince Taan to harbor you and give you pardon for your crimes.

Adara's splintered mind grasped several of those thoughts. Freedom from Quildor's rule, his revenge, his exile! This was paramount in her mind!

To return to those days when she'd been free to run and tumble in the grass on Etrusia! This would be desirable! To spend her days frolicking once again with Nimiane. Yes! If Crevan wouldn't kill Ondrea, then perhaps she could be convinced to help her.

Adara lifted the shell and set it aside. Beneath it lay the vial containing powers to keep Ondrea from using the scepter. With it, she ensured that Ondrea could do her no harm.

*****

Nimiane walked the grassy knoll where she often came to get respite from the constant cares of Council life. While consulting with Sossana and Pellanor, she'd chanced to 'hear' a strange tickling feeling inside her mind which had coalesced uncomfortably into the image of her demented and broken sister, Adara Sebille.

Once she might have welcomed such an invitation, hoping that Adara who had now defected to Quildor's side--  would also discover a way to release the power of Ondrea's scepter. With the scepter, and its ability to destroy, they two could rule the tri-realms.

It was Nimiane's fondest dream to kill Quildor for betraying her with his love for Ondrea-- and to destroy Ondrea for daring to steal her man.

Nimiane long ago gave up such thoughts of her sister. The Witch's plots and plans had become corrupt. Nimiane knew that not even Adara knew whose side she was on.

But Nimiane was very clear in her own mind. She knew that the tri-realms could be ruled by one ruler. And she intended that ruler to be herself.

Years ago, she had given birth to Quildor's second son. To hide his identity from Quildor, the Council decided to give him to the most politically powerful of them all, Belakane. One day, they determined this boy would serve them, return the Council to its rightful place, and become the High King of the tri-realms.

Nimiane had watched this boy from afar, carefully constructing experiences for him that would eventually lead him into power, and into her care. His name was Evian.

The time had come, and Evian was prepared to do her bidding. She had devised a virus created by some scientists on Etrusia that would render the adult population of that undersea dome as soulless and will-less as those Adara had helped Quildor assimilate in Auditorium. Although it was created from the same planetary magic, it did not require the blood or body of an indigenous sentient life form, just its plant counterpart. This she had gathered from the sea.

Evian had carefully cultivated the trust of these scientists and disenfranchised Etrusians for the past three years, and was now meeting with them to test the results.

The virus would not alter the children of Etrusia, who could then be taught a new loyalty.

Etrusia was the first of the tri-realms to be infected. If all went well, Carrigah would be next. From there, Aquaria would also fall.

With the exception of two loose ends, all was in place.

One loose end was the King's daughter, Kara.

Councilwoman Lady Pellanor had seen in her mirror that the King's daughter Kara and Ondrea's hidden daughter, Jerrika would one day fulfill the prophecy and find the Talisman which would free the people from their undersea domes.

Once the people got to the land, they would be impossible to contain. This was unacceptable to Nimiane.

Kara must be made to wed her son, Evian, and thereby be controlled by herself!

The mind tickle had ceased, and she no longer felt her sister's essence, so she turned her thoughts back to Kara. Tonight she would plan a special dinner and include the Princess and Belakane's foster son, Evian.

Next, she would have to pay her ex-husband a visit, kill Ondrea and retrieve the scepter.

*******