Quildor sensed the intrusion as soon as the trespasser entered his frontal lobes and tried to project into the inner recesses. He knew immediately it was one of three people, Adara, Ondrea or Nimiane. Adara had tried before and had been reprimanded so forcefully he knew she would never attempt to breach him again. Ondrea had never tried, and he was relatively sure the vial magic was still in effect and her innate powers couldn't penetrate past the walls of her room.

Nimiane.... He breathed her name into the air around him and conjured the image of her. The last time he'd seen her, standing on the grassy ledge overlooking the sea, her long unbound dark brown hair flying out behind her slim body, her dark eyes piercing his in hatred and betrayal.

He had stolen Ondrea's scepter. Even without the full ability that only Ondrea held, the ability to organize and dispense magic, her authority to rule. He'd hidden it, and waited for the right time to force Ondrea to use it with him. He knew she had another Talisman, he believed she had hidden it inside the mountain creating the need for searchers.

Why would Nimiane be inside his mind now?Nimiane had fled to Taan. Was she coming for the scepter?

Carefully, aware of movement within and completely protected from any attempt at control, he followed the intruder. He could sense her entering areas of his mind where memory flowed freely and he pondered what memories would do for her. He was aware that they contained incidents only pertinent to his wife. He was convinced now that Nimiane had breached his Zalez.

"Nimiane." He easily rested against a wall as it came into focus in her searching quest. He could see her immediately, frantically opening memory doors, peering inside, shutting them again. She froze and then turned, casting a huge cloud of fog between them and then disappeared out of his sight.

He felt her immediate recession and was astonished at her ability to exit so quickly. She hadn't been in the core, and therefore had protected herself. As he tried to follow he found the way blocked by pitfalls, illusion and traps, brick walls and images of Shadow Eaters.

There was no way to numb his fear, she knew him too well. He was trapped inside his own mind, unable to retreat past the memories, all he could do was to push through to consciousness.

*******

Nimiane tightly grasped the tail of the floating memory she needed and watched it till it ended with Quildor hiding the scepter in a floor safe in the room beyond his own. She exited Zalez and rushed past his prone physical shape on the bed to the door beyond.

There was a huge tapestry carpet in the middle of the floor with an amazingly heavy gilded table and chairs atop it. The hiding place was there, and she knew what she needed was in it. With dexterity she didn't feel, but prodded by adrenaline, she tossed two chairs out of her way and heaved with all her might against the table.

It was no use. She simply wasn't strong enough. She knew it was only a matter of seconds till Quildor figured out how to get out of her mind traps. She heard her own frustrated cries as if from outside herself and wiped a hand across her sweaty forehead.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a man standing in the doorway with his sword pointed at her.

"Please!" she whispered.

"The fate of the realm depends upon this moment." Crevan advanced slowly.

"Yes! I agree!"

"Tell me who you are and why I shouldn't kill you?" his voice was deadly, his eyes frozen on her.

"I am Nimiane of Etrusia, I am the exiled wife of Quildor Carrigah Etrusia. He stole something from me twenty years ago, and today I am getting it back in order to save our civilization."

"I know of no Nimiane of Etrusia. Who can verify your identity?" He lied jerking his head in Quildor's direction. "It seems my liege is unable to answer for himself."

"Take me to Ondrea! Ondrea can identify me!"

Crevan sneered. "Ondrea is protected." But he wasn't surprised that she knew of Ondrea's resurrection, as it were. "You were not exiled from Etrusia?"

"I lived here with Quildor! Until he stole my property! I realized he was using it to destroy rather than build and I left with the only other Talisman I could." Her hands were outstretched toward him as she leaned heavily against the table. "Please! This table stands on a safe that holds my property. I must have it. Help me!"

"What did you do to Quildor?" He jerked his head toward the prone man not taking his eyes or his sword off Nimiane.

"I trapped him in memory. He will be out soon enough, maybe minutes, and then he will kill me! Please, you must help me! It is not just my kingdom I wish to safeguard, it is yours as well." She pushed against the table with all her might and unsuccessfully moved it barely an inch.

"What Talisman do you still have?" Crevan waved the sword menacingly at her as he advanced and Nimiane shrank back against the table, standing her ground, but knowing any moment could be her last.

She glanced around for water in the room, water she could manipulate for her own benefit, but there was none. The room was ornate, but spare, perhaps used as a study for its owner's privacy.

"I don't have it with me." She spat furiously as she saw Quildor begin to stir in the other room.

"What is it? Is it the Talisman the searchers are looking for inside the mountain? If so, what will it do?"

"By itself, it is not that Talisman, but it created that Talisman. Please, what is your name?"

"I am Crevan, Captain of Quarso, and son of Cadwallon of Etrusia." He stated advancing on her. He arrived at the table and placed the tip of his sword against her skin, just below her chin.

"Cadwallon? Cadwallon was my cousin, married to Pellanor of Aquaria, acting Lady of the Council of Aquaria. We are related, young Crevan." She choked back a grim smile. "Would you kill your cousin?"

"I don't know who you are or who you claim to be. And it matters not either. I want answers. You shall answer my questions and then if I am pleased by your answers I will help you move the table." Seeing the acquiescence in her eyes he nodded and lowered his sword to pierce her breast and draw a tiny bead of blood. Nimiane did not flinch. "Where is the daughter of Taan, our captive? I assume you set her free."

"I left her at the gates to the mountain where I am sure she has returned to Galantyne." In Zalez she searched her thoughts and feelings, believing with all her heart that Jerrika would actually return to Galantyne.

"What is the Talisman they search for and where is it?"

Nimiane hesitated but the sword nicked her again, deeper, drawing a trickle. "The Talisman is the egg of a dragon, a male dragon, when hatched it will have the power to communicate with the planet and effectively heal the toxic atmosphere of this planet. If it has hatched, I don't know where it is, it could be anywhere. If it has not hatched it could be anywhere, because I allowed the mother dragon which I own to hide it safely."

Crevan's eyes were lowered in absolute confusion.

A dragon? They searched for a dragon?

Inside Sentinel?

Did they even know they were searching for a dragon? Did they not know it could be an egg? It could have been destroyed by Shadow Eaters long ago. Why were they searching? Galantyne was a fool. His own people had deceived him.

Or wait. She said she was from Etrusia, perhaps she was not loyal to Aquaria after all. She was Etrusian.

Nimiane read the confusion there in his eyes and decided to get the answer to one of her own questions. "Is it possible, Master Crevan, that you know Rion Etrusia?"

Crevan's eyes snapped up to hers in guarded reflex. "What of him?"

Her breath caught in despair and primitive hope. "Do you know him?"

Crevan inclined his head once. "Yes, I know him. He is Quarso, one of my men."

Nimiane nodded. "He would be about your age." She mused, and a sentimental look came into her eyes. "He was raised here in the castle with you?"

"Why do you want to know? No, he was raised in the village of Granite Fears not far from here. He was orphaned during the war and a village woman took him in. Quildor has educated and supported him to honor his parents who were killed in the war."

Nimiane's sharply in-drawn breath did not go unnoticed.

"Do you know his parents?" Crevan questioned, letting the sword tickle her throat once again to make sure she'd answer. Of course, Crevan knew who Rion's father was---- but was it possible this woman knew who his mother was?

Her nod was succinct. "I do."

"Then you would honor them by honoring Etrusia. Why would you fight against Quildor now? Why help Jerrika Taan escape?"

"I am Aquarian now." She gulped bringing the sword closer to her slim throat.

He knew her lie right away. "You are no more Aquarian than I am. You may live there, but you are not loyal to them."

"You know nothing of my loyalties, Master Crevan! Nothing! And that is all the questioning I am putting up with. Help me lift this table, or don't." She whirled away from him, allowing his sword to slice cleanly through the one sign of her status as an active and practicing Lady. He even gasped as her hair fell neatly to the floor in one fell swoop. Crevan lowered his sword in shock, but Nimiane watched it fall quietly, and then bent her arms to the task once more, a feeling of sacrifice permeating her, the same as it had the day she'd left Quildor and Rion here in this fortress of destruction.

Crevan sheathed his sword and shoved the table back, pushing the heavy tapestry rug aside. The safe was easily located and Nimiane reached down to open it. Inside was the scepter looking exactly as it had the day she'd last seen it, like a jeweled and crystal baton, that was all. She lifted it carefully, pointed it straight at the ceiling and said a few words. The Scepter began to glow and Nimiane gave Crevan one last look before she disappeared.

*******