Claire's eyes shot open and she nearly drowned herself in an effort to reach the edge of the pool and her discarded clothing. Coughing and sputtering, Claire pulled herself close to the tiled wall before she peered into the darkness and frowned.

       She knew that voice.

       "Draz?" she called out.

       "The one and only," the voice replied. There was a rustle of fabric and a moment later Draz came sweeping into view, his arms latched around one of the decorative drapes hanging from the ceiling. His feet hit the floor with a light thud and he swept his hair from his face in order to grace her with an impish grin.

       "It seems foolish to ask all things considered..." he eyed the pool of water where Claire was doing her best to keep her naked form from view, "are you okay? That bastard hasn't hurt you has he?"

       Claire shook her head. "I'm fine. Xeiren keeps insisting I am his guest."

       Draz scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Of course he does, he's always working an angle."

       "You know him then?"

       "I didn't recognize him at first, he wasn't wrong, time has changed us both," Draz replied with a shrug. "I used to run errands for him, collect payments, acquire things ... things I'm not proud of doing."

       "You aren't that person anymore, Draz," Claire reminded him.

       "Yeah, maybe," he said, his tone distracted as he looked around the room. He saw the balcony and headed towards it. "Did he say what he wanted?"

       "Something about a business deal, someone apparently hired him to kidnap me," Claire replied.

       "The best laid plans and blah blah blah, let's get you dressed and get out of here," Draz said, leaning over the railing of the balcony. "Yeesh, that's quite a drop."

       "I think we should wait," Claire replied.

       "Wait? What do you mean wait? Xeiren isn't someone to be trifled with," Draz said, walking back into the room. "He comes across as dashing and gentlemanly in that borderline psychotic kind of way, but I've seen the other side of him, the dark side of him. His loyalty only extends as far as your next payment, so unless you have a pile of coins stashed away somewhere that you haven't told us about, you aren't going to negotiate, you aren't going to get any more information out of him then he feels prudent to share, you aren't going to appeal to his humanity."

       "I can't leave without finding out who is funding this little fiasco," Claire insisted. "If we don't, we'll always be looking over our shoulder wondering where the next attack will come from."

       Draz groaned and looked like he wanted to protest further but was interrupted by the sound of a young woman's voice.

       "Is everything all right, mistress?" Meili called, the sound of her feet against the marble floor barely audible as she approached.

        "Everything is fine," Claire called back.

       Meili came into view a moment later, a frown looking out of place on her petite face. "I thought I heard voices, mistress."

       Claire glanced to where Draz had been but the fire mage was nowhere to be seen.

       "Um, nope, just me," Claire said with a shrug. "I was playing around, talking to myself, maybe that is what you heard?"

       Meili looked skeptical and for a moment Claire worried she might push the matter. Finally the girl nodded.

       "Yes, mistress, perhaps that was what I heard," she said. "It is time to get dressed and join Master Zou for dinner, mistress."

       "I don't have anything to wear," Claire replied.

       Meili simply smiled, light steps carrying her over to a door Claire had not noticed before. It was painted in such a way that it blended right into the wall, Meili stepped inside and after a few moments emerged with something draped over her arms. Closing the door behind her, Claire watched in awe as it disappeared without so much as a seam left in its wake.

       She carried the garment over to the bed and set it down carefully before turning to face Claire once more.

       "Come, mistress, we will help you dress," Meili declared.

       Before Claire could ask, she turned to see the other three girls had returned and now stood quietly by the pool with various items stacked in their arms.

       "Oh, well..."

       "There is no time to argue, mistress," Meili continued, her voice remaining calm and collected. "Please, allow us to assist you, we mean you no harm."

       Claire glanced around the room and wondered if Draz was still there simply watching the scene play out. As she approached the stone steps that would lead her out of the water she hoped for his sake that he had his eyes covered.

       "There," Meili declared as she slipped one final ornament into Claire's hair. The four girls had spent the better part of an hour poking and pulling, combing and braiding, until Claire had nearly reached her wits end. As she turned to view her reflection in the mirror, she found herself slightly taken aback. The outer gown was more robe-like in its construction and made of a sheer, lightweight fabric that faded from a pale yellow at the shoulders to a deep gold at her feet. Beneath it was a similar gown of crimson with long flowing sleeves and cinched at the waist by a wide sash of white silk embroidered with swirling black clouds and lotus flowers.

       Her hair had been pulled back into an intricate array of braids and twists laced through with thin gold chains and colorful ribbons. They were all held in place by several gold sticks and pins decorated with jewels and delicate silk flowers.

       "Master Zou will be so pleased," Meili beamed, clapping her hands together. It was the most emotion the young woman had shown since Claire had first met her. "We should hurry, it isn't good to keep him waiting."

       "No, we wouldn't want to do that," Claire replied. "What about my shoes?"

       "Oh, you won't be needing them, mistress," Meili replied, motioning for Claire to follow her out of the room. All this and no shoes? It made little sense to her, but who was she to question the infamous Master Zou?

       Meili led the entourage back through the center of the garden and when they emerged they were greeted with a staircase spiraling down into darkness that Claire was certain she hadn't seen earlier. Looking around Claire couldn't help but wonder how many other doors and stairs some sort of magic might have masked from view.

       Meili stopped at the landing and motioned for Claire to go ahead of her.

       "You'll find Master Zou is waiting for you," she explained.

       "You aren't coming with me?" Claire asked, suddenly feeling anxious. She wasn't sure why, but the thought of going down those dark stairs alone was unsettling.

       Meili shook her head and laughed. "No."

       "But why?"

       "Now is not the time for questions, mistress, please," Meili motioned again to the stairs.

       Claire nodded and took one last look around the garden for any sign of Draz before approaching the landing.

       "Take this, mistress," Meili said, handing her a small lantern one of the other girls had been holding. The lone flame flickering within was not very bright but she supposed it was better than nothing. Claire smiled and took the lantern.

       "Thank you," she said before turning and beginning her descent.

       The wide stairs were polished smooth and felt cold beneath her bare feet. She kept one hand on the wall to better navigate the darkness; the orange glow seemed barely capable of penetrating it. Claire had never been fond of the dark and her time spent in Oria had only served to make the fear of the heavy shadows that much deeper.

       As the stairs continued to lead her in a slow, lazy spiral downward, Claire couldn't help but wonder if she had any destination at all. Perhaps this had been Xeiren's plan all along, perhaps she would be trapped forever with no actual destination.

       Fortunately, a faint glow rising up from somewhere below marked the end of her journey and she couldn't help but let out a relieved sigh. As the light grew brighter she began to hear the sounds of music and laughter, as though she would come around the corner any moment and find herself confronted by a room filled with guests.

        When she did finally reach the ground floor and passed through an arching doorway into the light, she was surprised to find herself alone. The sound of music was gone, the laughter and conversation gone. Had she simply imagined it? Was her mind playing tricks on her? It was possible, she supposed, but she wasn't so certain that was the case.

       Putting the thought aside, she took stock of her surroundings. The stairs had deposited her into a wide, open air corridor lined with massive pillars made of white stone and wrapped in deep green vines of ivy. Between the pillars hung drapes of sheer blue silk which fluttered on the cool breeze wafting in from outside.

       Just beyond she could make out what appeared to be a garden illuminated by the silvery light of the full moon hanging high overhead. This puzzled Claire who swore it had only been a few hours since she'd arrived -- nowhere near long enough for morning to have given way to night.

       Curious, she approached, her feet silent against the tiled floor. As she passed through the curtains she saw a long, low table had been set up. It was surrounded by plush pillows in nearly every color she could think of from teal and gold to crimson and emerald green. The table itself was barely visible beneath the vast array of food, enough to feed a dozen people or more though there was not a single soul in sight.

       Candles were scattered through the garden, flaring to life the moment she passed from the tiled floors and onto the soft, damp grass.

       "You look breathtaking, my dear," Xeiren called from somewhere deep within the foliage of the surrounding landscape. She turned, trying to figure out just where it might be coming from and when she looked back he was there, standing before her, surveying he with a critical eye. "I hope everything is to your liking?"

       "It's fine, thank you," Claire said, remembering what Draz had said about Xeiren having a darker side. "This is quite a lot of food for just two people."

       Xeiren chuckled and moved towards her. "I am expecting more guests," he said. He looked as though he might stop but instead he brushed past and motioned for her to follow. "There is no need to wait, if you're hungry please feel free to indulge yourself. I had a variety of dishes prepared since I did not know what you might prefer."

       Claire let him get a few steps ahead of her before she followed and when he motioned for her to sit, she made sure to keep several feet of distance between them.

       "Wine?" Xeiren asked, pointing towards a decanter filled with a deep red wine.

       "No, thank you," Claire replied. She needed to keep her wits about her and wouldn't risk even a small amount of wine dulling her senses.

       "Come now, I had this opened especially for you, it's very expensive, the wine of kings they say," Xeiren replied, leaning forward to grasp the decanter by the neck and pluck it from the table. "It will help you to relax, to enjoy yourself."

       "I don't need to enjoy myself," she replied. "I need to know who you've made a deal with."

       Xeiren chuckled and poured some of the wine into his own glass before setting the glass decanter down again. "Patience, Claire, patience. You'll get the answers you seek soon enough. In the meantime why don't you invite Draz to join you? I imagine he's quite hungry and smelling all this delicious food must be hell with his appetite."

       "I- you- what?" Claire was struggling to keep her surprise from exposing the truth but the statement had caught her completely off guard. Xeiren laughed.

       "You didn't think I knew? Nothing happens in this tower that I do not know about," Xeiren assured her. "Come on out, Draz, I would hate to have to hurt something you care about."

       Claire held her breath and lowered her gaze in an effort to hide her growing unease.

       "Enough playing games, Haval, if you think I won't hurt the woman then you've gone soft in the brain, I shall give you until the count of three..."

       "One," Xeiren said, his hand going to the hilt of a sword that hung at his hip.

       Nothing.

       "Two," Xeiren continued, the sound of his voice accompanied by the hiss of metal as it was drawn from the scabbard.

       It was so quiet Claire could hear each ragged breath as it forced itself form her lungs.

       "Three," Xeiren lifted the blade into the air with a flash and Claire flinched instinctively and ducked in preparation for the downswing -- the sharp sting of the blade as it bit into her flesh.

       The blow never came and when Claire looked she saw Draz standing over Xeiren, the blade caught between his hands which were pulsating with a deep orange glow. Thin lines of crimson ran down from his hands and left thin trails down his arms. Close as she was, Claire could see the meta of the blade beginning to heat, the vibrant yellows and golds illuminating the strained faces of both men.

       Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Xeiren withdrew and Draz released the blade. He stepped back and then turned towards her.

       "I'm sorry, Claire, I was almost too late."

       Claire didn't care about that, her attention was on his hands -- both palms decorated with long, welts seeping blood. "Let me see your hands," Claire insisted, grabbing him by the wrist and drawing one close. He didn't argue and presented the other hand to her as well. Claire looked for something to clean the wounds and her eyes landed on the decanter.

       "What in the world were you thinking?" Claire asked, grabbing the bottle. She heard Xeiren begin to protest but he wasn't quick enough to stop her from pouring the remainder of the wine onto Draz's palms. Streams of expletives erupted from the mouths of both men, each pained by the use of the wine in very different ways.

       "Who stops a sword with their hands?" Claire continued. She grabbed the nearest napkin and began to wrap it around his hand. Once it was secure, she reached for another cloth napkin and began to work on the second hand.

       "I was saving you," Draz declared.

       "Saving me? You were showing off," Claire replied with a scowl. "You said it yourself, did you not? Xeiren is all about lining his pockets. Why would he kill his payout? If dead was as good as alive, I wouldn't be sitting here lecturing you right now."

       "Do you have any idea how much that wine cost?" Xeiren asked.

       Claire ignored him, focusing all her attention on Draz.

       "Does it hurt?" she asked.

       "Huh?"

       "Does. It. Hurt," Claire repeated, motioning to Draz' hands.

       He nodded.

       "Good," Claire replied. "Now, will you stop playing stupid games and tell me what the hell is going on? Who is paying you?"

       "My, my, Claire, good to see your time away hasn't put a damper on that attitude of yours," another voice interrupted, a voice that made the very blood in Claire's veins run cold and hot at the same time. She rose, turning towards the darkness which loomed like a living thing at the far end of the garden.

       Sevik.

----------------------- Author Note --------------------

Once again I want to thank everyone who has supported me to this point! I love you all and I appreciate each and everyone of you <3 I hope you enjoy Chapter 14 and while you're waiting for me to post the next chapter I want to encourage you to check out a new project I am working on called Star Runners! 

It's a leap from my usual fantasy and dives into a futuristic sci-fi world that follows the adventures of Karis Lin, a sixteen year old girl capable of manipulating fire and who might one day find herself having to face down an invading alien race hell bent on eradicating all humankind.

Remember, your comments, kind words and constructive criticisms are what keep me motivated to keep on writing! <3