the streets and houses were on many levels, built into the towering pieces of light rock and towers. we were walking down the street and stopped in front of a banner that waved softly in front of a flight of spiral steps. joss cleared his throat nervously and sadness shadowed his face. "ahem, we're here."

i followed behind joss as we followed the winding steps upward. some parts of the stairs were open to the view of the city and then we would turn and wind through a tower. finally the steps ended inside an enormous round room with a mosaic domed glass ceiling. the room was spacious and airy, with wide windows that overlooked the city and the veil of mists which muted the thunderous waterfalls. there were stools and couches with brightly colored pillows on the floor and scattered throughout the whole room.

a silent girl came in with a tray of drinks and offered us refreshments. i took the drink and sniffed it thoughtfully before tasting the most heavenly concoction. the drink was served warm, with a hint of cocoa and milk and cinnamon. hemi took a sip and then chugged the rest of the drink down greedily, milky foam covering his beard and upper lip. he held out his cup to the girl who smiled softly and offered him a refill. kael refused the drink and stood on the outskirts of the room in a relaxed position facing all the entrances and exits. i knew that even though he looked at ease he was ready to do battle at a moment's notice.

with no one else in the room to greet us, i took the chance to observe the girl. she was about my age, with brown hair and hazel eyes. a small beauty mark was present above her lip. she looked exotic like the drink she served.

"mona." joss asked quietly when she brought him a drink. "how's my mother?" she looked away sadly before answering.

"not well, joss. she was on the mend and then your sister disappeared and it seems she has taken it badly."

joss nodded and then went to a window and waited. mona picked up her tray and left as silently as she appeared. it was only a moment before a large blonde haired man came down the steps and entered the room.

"joss! i'm glad you came home," the blonde man said and walked over to embrace joss in a hug. the resemblance between the two was obvious; the man was a relative. "we are at our wits' end and are no closer to finding tenya than we were a few weeks ago. your mother has fallen into despair. her illness isn't getting better and this is only affecting her worse. i wish we had news to give her; any news at all."

joss grasped the man's arms and shook his head. "i know. that's why i have come home and i've brought help." joss gestured to kael, hemi and me. "this is thalia, hemi and kael. they have come to help locate tenya. and this," joss pointed to the blonde man next to him. "this is my father, nero jesai. lord of skyfell."

chapter 19

i never knew joss' full name and had never asked. he was joss jesai, the future lord of skyfell. when darren introduced him to me, he was always known only as "joss." i never thought anything of it because i was only known as thalia, until i rediscovered my family. there were many well-known families at the citadel and it was obviously the school's attempt to create equality by hiding some of the heritage of the students. i thought sarcastically of syrani and her boastful bragging about her bloodlines and how well that worked.

after the banished kings war and the denai reestablished avellgard into calandry with a council instead of a king, a few human traditions still remained in the small clans; the human titles. few were reluctant to give up their title of lords or barons, while other clans were more than willing to follow in the example of the denai. our clan chose to release all titles of a kingly hierarchy whatsoever to preserve our way of life. so we have a clan leader instead of a lord. obviously skyfell kept their titles.

what worried me the most was that made joss' denai bloodline even that much more important. he would need a powerful denai heir to lead after him. all of a sudden, everything made sense; joss' reluctance to speak about the changes that were happening to me. he would get uncomfortable whenever i brought up the experiments and my un-denai like powers. he would have to marry and lead skyfell and i would have to marry and lead the valdyrstal's. my heart dropped into the pit of my stomach like a cold stone.

my lips drew into a frozen, uncomfortable smile as i grasped nero's hand in greeting. kael refused to shake hands, just nod. nero froze when he came face to face with my giant clansmen hemi. my people came in very large packages, well, except for me, i looked like a small child standing next to hemi. hemi was also intimidating looking when he pulled off his sack of weapons he carried everywhere with him. he was a walking arsenal.

"how are they going to help?" nero asked puzzled. "what can they find that denai haven't?"

"because, father, we believe that tenya was kidnapped for a reason and may still be alive. there are others from all over calandry that are being kidnapped." joss conveniently left out the 'tortured and experimented on' bit when confronting his father. "thalia and kael escaped from those who we believed took tenya. they may know how she was taken and find clues that the other denai missed."

nero looked at us incredibly. "so there is still hope. my daughter may escape just like these two. she may be able to make it home to us. this may just be the news that my wife needs to hear, to aid in her recovery."

kael took this moment to speak up and i almost wished he hadn't. "it is very unlikely that she would be able to escape without help. they keep most of the prisoners drugged. it would take a very strong denai and a determined will to escape the septori."

nero's hopeful face dropped in discouragement. "she is neither. our tenya is sweet natured and delicate like her mother, never coming into her gifts. you are right; she wouldn't be able to escape without help."

kael strode right up to nero and confronted him. "you had better pray that she becomes strong. because where she is, the weak don't survive."

nero paled and grasped for a chair behind him and sat down heavily. he placed his face in his hands and took a few moments to collect his thoughts. looking up at us, i saw the love and desperation he had for his daughter.

he turned to kael. "please, please find her and save her. i will give you anything you wish; just bring her back alive." in this moment the lord of skyfell looked broken and tired. "i don't think i could survive the loss of my wife and daughter."

"what's wrong with your wife?" i asked as politely as i could. "is she ill? can your healers do nothing for her?"

"we are at a loss. there is nothing physically wrong with her body but she is wasting away. we have tried healing her, and have even ordered a watch by her side around the clock to try and extend her life and find the answer, but nothing. she is young and still in the prime of her life. we don't know the reason for her illness." nero shrugged dejectedly. "we don't know where else to turn."

the silence that befell created a general feeling of discomfort, and no one had any answers to give him. finally, nero stood and straightened his shoulders. "come, i will show you to your rooms. then i will leave you to yourselves so you can get acquainted with skyfell and see if you can find out what happened to my daughter."