it was still too early to take him-norian had already sent mindspeech to ry and tory. too many others were involved in this-some norian and lendill could only guess at. they were getting a good look at the high commander and his three wizards, however, and lendill was running their images through his comp-vid even while he and norian watched.

"it's a good thing ry is disguised-arvil would recognize erland's son in a heartbeat," norian muttered.

"what could arvil do to ry, even if he did recognize him?"

"no idea. probably nothing on a personal level. what would he do to mandil?"

"something to think on," lendill agreed.

"on another note, where do you think all his usual thugs and bodyguards are?" norian asked as they watched the high commander take his guest through rows of drakus seed.

"most likely back at crown city-perhaps the high commander doesn't feel comfortable around them and ordered them to stay behind."

"or those wizards are on arvil's payroll, and the high commander only thinks he pulls their strings."

"more than likely that's the case," lendill agreed. "have you ever seen so much drakus seed in your life?"

"my friend, we've only seen small plots before, because the punishment for growing this drug is so severe. i am astounded at the breadth of this endeavor." norian shook his head over what he saw through ry's vid feed.

"the seed is close to harvest," alvis was kneeling, massaging the prince's feet and ankles. the massage looked wonderful-i'd never had anything like that before. the prince was dressed in gold silk and he and alvis were talking-albeit quietly, since the high commander and his three wizards were away, tending to a problem at one of the outer villages. at least that had been their excuse.

the prince was unaware of arvil's presence until i informed him quietly before running my morning errands. one of those errands had taken me to the military station, to station commander gorth's office. he didn't seem to recognize me either, and i wondered about that. i was glad, but it still made me curious. i'd seen dane and dory in the distance while on my way back, and was extremely happy they were helping others patch the hole in the station wall and ignoring message bearers. it might have been nice to talk to them, but i had no idea if i'd frightened them the last time i'd seen them. making contact certainly wasn't a good idea.

"re, i would very much like to take my midday meal on the patio," the prince waved an arm. "invite my wives." i nodded and he and alvis were deep in quiet discussion when i went out the door of his suite to inform the kitchen staff.

"you wish to visit the summer house in the mountains, do you not?" the prince looked at each of his three wives later over a meal of spiced meat wrapped in flat bread with fresh fruit on the side. at first, they looked at one another in confusion, before turning back to their husband. "yes, husband, that is indeed what we desire," the oldest dipped her head obediently to the prince.

"well, it is early, but i suppose i must humor my wives," the prince smiled indulgently. two of the kitchen staff stood nearby, and i think the entire charade was for their benefit. i had no way to tell who might report to the high commander regarding the prince's actions. "and since it is such a fine day, why not gather your things and leave this afternoon? you keep telling me you wish to stop at hedil to buy silks."

"that is indeed what we wish," the youngest was giving the prince a heart-melting smile.

"then that is what you shall have. alvis will see that you have plenty of money to spend. go now-the light will still be good in hedil if you leave soon."

i helped load their things into the prince's coach later-the vehicle was solar powered and all three wives had guards, several attendants and two drivers to take them on their way. the prince waved fondly at them as they drove off, then retired to his suite, pulling alvis and me inside with him.

"re, the station commander will arrive shortly, asking to speak with me regarding a thief he is holding in his cells. see that he is brought to me promptly." the prince breathed a troubled sigh and flopped onto a chair laden with silk cushions inside his suite. the fabrics and rugs that furnished it would have fetched a fortune on any alliance world-all of it had been handmade from the finest materials mandil could supply, and in beautiful colors. mandil created some of the best natural dyes i'd ever seen.

"as you will it, my prince." i bowed and walked out of the suite. the station commander came half a click later, and i escorted him to the prince royal's suite.

"we move now," the prince was standing and dressed as if he were going to do battle. a lot had happened in half a click, it seems.

"re, stay steady." delvin had come and dropped two ranos rifles into my hands. the prince's palace was now prepared for a siege. several of his servants had been arrested and escorted to the holding cells at the military station. two hundred soldiers and officers now knelt behind windows, doors and any other opening, waiting for the high commander and his wizards to return. i sent mindspeech to tory and ry, sounding hysterical, i think. i had no idea things would happen this quickly.

we already have the message from bel-delvin informed him the moment the prince called for him and the station commander, tory replied. reah, don't do anything foolish, avilepha. we will be there shortly.

"i didn't expect it to happen this quickly," norian grabbed the jacket to his uniform and bolted through his office door, lendill right behind him. ry had sent the message to norian as soon as he'd gotten notice through bel's mindspeech.

"they'll attack the palace first thing, to get to the prince." lendill was racing down the hallway behind norian.

"are you ready?" norian shouted to his six handpicked operatives. they were all armed and ready as norian burst into the meeting room. they'd been watching the live feed from mandil, just as norian and lendill were.

"ready, director," his senior officer replied, shifting a laser rifle onto his shoulder.

"let's go." few knew that norian could fold if he were forced to do so. this situation called for that talent. that particular gift had come from lissa-it was something she could give should she desire it. she had given it to protect norian after she was released as liaison for the asd. norian used the gift sparingly.

even now, i may never know exactly who alerted the high commander, and the prince wasn't aware that arvil had brought additional troops with him when he'd come to mandil. some of those troops were wizards, i discovered, and any one of those seven power wielders were capable of alerting arvil to the prince's troops, all of whom were armed and waiting for his return to the palace.

arvil and his allies folded in, the wizards with him sending out blasts as they landed. delvin stood beside the prince and alvis, pretending to hold up a shield. i was the one protecting the four of us as blasts and poison gas spells were hurled in our direction.

the troops the station commander placed around the palace were being killed by the dozens; they had no protection other than their rifles. those still alive were making inroads against the non-wizard attackers, until they drew the attention of arvil's wizards. the wizards would carelessly toss a spell in their direction, and they had no hope of surviving those blasts.

bodies, none of them whole, littered the palace and surrounding courtyard. the high commander and arvil were now surrounded by all seven wizards, and were being shielded by one of them-delvin shouted that information over the din and chaos that continuously erupted around us.

we now fought in the courtyard before the prince's palace; there were fountains and elaborate stonework there, all of it being blown to bits as each blast landed. bel, hish, ry, max and tory finally came, and to my surprise, director keef, vice-director schaff and six others armed with laser rifles were with them.

bel had brought some of the hedge wizards from the desert, but all of them immediately moved to protect the prince's regular troops, who were being slaughtered. ry was hurling blasts of his own at the seven wizards, attempting to get to the high commander and the one called arvil. that divided the attention of the high commander's wizards; half of them turned to fight off the new threat. tory was providing a shield to his group, just as i was shielding mine. hish was forced to help whenever huge chunks of stone and other debris blew upward and then rained down around us-i wasn't any good against a physical threat-only the magical ones in my current form.

don't turn! tory's voice sounded in my head-somehow he'd known i was thinking about it. fleetingly i wondered why-i couldn't see that either side was winning this fight and my thifilatha would certainly turn the tide in our favor. tory, too, could turn and do the same. a large, decorative fountain was hit right after tory's mindspeech came and the prince, alvis, delvin and i ducked as water and chunks of stone blasted toward us. an arm came around my waist and i was physically pulled away from the prince's side. delvin's hand came over my mouth as he rushed me toward the knot of wizards surrounding the high commander. if delvin hadn't held me in the tightest of grips, i'd likely have been left behind. as it was, my thifilatha still trusted him at that moment and i was jerked-not folded, jerked-so far away from mandil i couldn't have said where we were when i landed.

"reah," delvin's voice whispered in my ear as i saw others land around us-all the wrong ones. "reah," delvin repeated, "don't give yourself away." the high commander, arvil, the seven wizards-all of them surrounded me. "i swear i'll protect you. i swear," delvin whispered again before letting me go. i jumped backward, knocking into delvin again as arvil pulled a ranos pistol from his belt and shot the high commander in the head. delvin's fingers closed on my shoulders once more.

"you won't fail me again," arvil snapped at the headless torso. the ranos pistol he held had obliterated the high commander's head, and blood and bits of bone were scattered everywhere. i could only stare in horror, my gaze darting from the high commander's body to arvil and then back again.