"Thrust. Parry and slash. Be careful; don't overextend your reach there. Yes, that's it. A little slow there. Better. That's ri-- aah." I stopped the King's instruction with my wooden sword at his throat. "Like that?" I asked, smirking.

"You have a marvelous natural ability. But if you do not use swords in your world, what weapons do you use? You must have some way to defend yourself," the King asked curiously.

"We unfortunately have developed many ways to kill something. But in my world, we don't usually have to defend ourselves. Disputes aren't solved by duels anymore, but fists occasionally still solve them. But if you want to kill someone, there are plenty of ways to do it. Guns, bombs, drugs . . . there's a long and deadly list. I'm glad I don't have a lot of experience with any of it," I said as we walked back into the castle from the practice grounds.

"I wonder what these things are that are so deadly. What is a gun? What--"

"That's why we have guns, because people were curious. I don't really like to talk about it, okay?"

"This phrase, okay, I do not know, Princess. If this subject troubles you, I shall not ask again," the King said humbly, as he bowed at the entrance to my room.

*****

"This has been one of the best - and weirdest - days of my life," volunteered Zachary. "I learned all sorts of things, and that ring . . . I still can't describe it."

"Don't try, Zach. We both know how it feels, and we can't describe it either," I said.

"Milady, if I may interrupt you?" Lucas's voice floated from the shadows of the archway. "You wanted to see me . . .?"

"Oh, that's right, Lucas. Come, sit with us . . . we won't bite. I just wanted to ask you a favor. You see, Zephihl keeps sending me weird looks - excuse me, he keeps making strange faces after something I say - and he's so secretive." I paused, searching the environs for that presence I had sensed last night, finding nothing. "I just want you to watch him. Unobtrusively, and only when you have time, of course. It's just - I don’t know. He's not like us," I said lamely. I couldn't explain why I felt wary of Zephihl; it was just a bad feeling.

"I shall look into it, your Highness," Lucas said formally.

"Oh, Lucas, don't call me that. Just call me Lauren - I mean, Lauriel," I stumbled over the giving of my name. It still didn't seem like it was mine.

"Lauriel, your Highness." He turned back to the archway, slipping silently out the door.

"Lauriel, you're very right in your assumptions about Zephihl. I do not know if he is worthy of being followed; but he is assuredly not like us, being an image child, and a faceless changer. He is not human, and so much is unknown about him. The last time I saw him was several years ago, before he left for his fostering on another world. He was like a child then. I suppose he might have a different aging process, yet now he seems of an age with us, and that is peculiar." She stirred restlessly in her chair. "I know not what to make of it. He is very strange. Almost vengeful, yet I have no idea what he would have to revenge."

"Yes! I've felt it - his rage. I can sense it, but until now I didn’t know what it was. Remember last night, Zach, when I said there was someone nearby? We went upstairs and the feeling went away, but I remember the anger. It was his. It has his signature, somehow. I don’t think I'll ever get used to my powers," I said ruefully.

"Sensing a person's signature - hmm. I don't think I can do that, anarae. I can sense feelings, but not the owner of those feelings. And sister: I will never get used to my revalanh, not even I, who has known power all my life," Cat said gently.

Throughout this, Zach looked somewhat puzzled, but did not say anything. Now, however, he interjected," Could someone please clue me in? I'm feeling a little out of it here. Sensing? Revalanh? I don't know what language you're speaking, but I don't speak it, so help me out, huh?"

"Oh, Zach, I'm sorry. I get caught up in this, it's so new still. Believe it or not, but I've got questions too. It's all so strange. Who would have thought that fantasies could come true? That's what this is. Did you ever think you would experience the Change, or learn to fight?" I said.

"Well, no, but I can do all that you can. I can only . . . Change. I don't understand your feelings, or any of this, for that matter. I mean, we don't even know why we’re here. There's something wrong with this picture and I want to know what it is," Zach said, sounding almost angry.

"Zach, I understand. But you know why we're here. It's to fight storm knights. That may sound corny, but it seems real enough to me," I said, somewhat tersely.

"So why us? Why not people who know what they're up against? Why this planet, or wherever we are? I don't know how you're accepting this, Lauren, but I am having just a little trouble living a fantasy."

I started at the use of my former name, but Cat spoke before I could confront Zach. "Anehara is a beautiful planet. It seems like I have been in a place like this before. Do you feel uncomfortable here? I have heard that it is not so different from Earth. I should think you would feel at ease as I do, being from another world as I am."

"Your world is like this one? When you say 'another world,' I think of all that sci-fi stuff they throw at us back home. I never thought of it that way," I said, ignoring Zach's anger for a moment.

"My village was as the one down in the valley, yet not quite as verdant. It was a time of great sickness when I left. The grasses had been burned by the long drought and water was scarce. Many died. My mother-" she paused, and let out a slow breath. "My mother was sick also. But I healed her, just as I came into my powers. Then the Chief said that Ane- no, that Zephihl had been taken to Anehara, and he's the Chief's heir. I had to come, to save him. Although it seems he is in no need of my help, now. Not in this place. It seems Allehara is safe from the wrath of Anehara without my help. And I wonder why the Chief was so worried, now." Cat said, a furrow appearing in her brow.

"Cat, just a minute. The King- and Zephihl- said I was in Allehara when I first met them. Why would he tell me--"

"What!"

*****

"Chief, how could you lie to me like that? You said I was needed in Anehara! What about the arretemps? And the sickness! I-"

"Cat, I did not lie to you! I admit that I did not tell you the whole truth, but I never lied. If you will calm down, I will tell you why I acted as I did. If you will not, I fear you will destroy something other than a mead cup," the King said, entirely too calmly for a man with an angry star warrior standing next to his bed.

I had a sense of déjà vu. That first night, when they had argued . . . they'd never resolved that, because Cat suddenly found she had a sister.

"Cat, listen. What I said to you at the temple . . . it was true for a while. Zephihl was in a castle in Anehara. I was not sure, but I thought it to be the one where your enemies train. The ransom was real. I was worried for his safety. So I came to this castle here. It is a kind of waystation between the worlds, yet a part of Allehara. When I arrived, though, I found Zephihl here, waiting for me. He seemed sound, and said he had never been in Anehara. He would not tell me where he had been, but somehow I dismissed that. He convinced me he was now ready to be my heir.

"When I showed you the ransom note, however, I had already done all I just spoke of. You had just healed your mother, and I knew you were ready to begin training for battle. I told you Zephihl was in trouble because I needed a reason for your disappearance. The people could not be healed and then find the reason for their healing had forsaken them. They would think the sickness was of a daemon and the daemon was you, Cat. I would have told you before, but the Princess arrived," he said, glancing at me. I moved deeper into the shadows of the doorway, not wanting to be in the path of Cat's anger. Cat shot me a look, her eyes blazing, but then turned back to the King.

"But Chief, what about the arretemps? Did it happen? Did they-"

"That was another excuse for your departure. They knew the source for the healing, and were abundantly thankful for it, enough that they would let you leave without an uprising. There is a spell for arretemps, but I did not perform it. They woke up as any morning, but with you gone. They did not question the fact that their savior was no longer among them. I cannot imagine the chaos that would have ensued had they questioned it," the King said.

"But Chief, what about the sickness? You say the people were healed. How could they have been? I but healed my mother," Cat asked, concerned.

"You blessed the water in the temple, etoiline, by your practicing in the sancta. Many partook of that water, and others were healed simply by being in your presence the eve of the supposed arretemps. You are powerful, Mage."

"You did not lie to me, Chief, but you lied to the people. But I see no other way, if they would have acted as you say. And I have no wish to be seen as a daemon. I'm sorry I was angered. Thank you for what you did." Cat bowed her head. I gestured to Zach, and we slowly slipped out.

*****

I had just sat down on my getting-slightly-uncomfortable bed after the scene between Cat and the King, and I truly did not want to get up. So I experimented, and waved the door open. Lucas stepped in, not looking at all surprised to see me sitting instead of with my hand on the doorknob.

"Milady - Lauriel, you wished me to tell you of Zephihl's doings? I have some small news." He spoke quietly, as if we were overheard.

"Yes, thank you. Come, sit. Tell me." I asked.

He elected to remain standing. "Prince Zephihl has left, milady. After the morning meal, he went to his chambers, asking for a saddle bag. I brought the bag to his quarters, and inquired to his plan, but he did not enlighten me. I followed him to the courtyard, ostensibly to help him with his horse, but I could not follow him past the gate, or he would have suspected. I know not where he went. That is all, mil- Lauriel.

"Thanks, Lucas. Can you do me another favor? Ask Cat to meet me here, when you see her. I just want to talk to her."

"Of course, milady. At once."

*****

I opened the door midsentence. "Hi, Cat. Come in. Listen to what Lucas just told me." I motioned her to the bed and told her.

She stared at me, intrigued. "It seems he was worthy of closer watch. Where would he go? It doesn't seem he had the opportunity to talk to the Chief, so it must not be at his bidding," she mused.

"Cat, we could follow him. We could find him right now, and follow him, and he would never know! C'mon, Cat, let's go!" I whispered excitedly.

"Wait, Lauriel. What about Zachary? You cannot just leave him behind. He will suspect something and try to follow us," Cat said prudently.

"I guess you're right. But I want to know where Zephihl went! Don't you?" I said, after thinking it through.

"I do. But if Zephihl is planning something underhanded, we could scare him if he finds that we are watching him. He might abandon whatever it is that he is planning."

"You sound like someone from a mystery movie," I said ruefully. "Oh, I know that you don't understand. Thanks for being my balance. Do you think we should tell Zach, just to be safe?"

"Perhaps. Not yet, though. I think we ought to wait until we have more proof. They work together. You do not want him to begin acting strangely around Zephihl," Cat said.

"Glad to have you around, sister. You have a point. I won't tell him. Yet."

*****

Zach and I sparred occasionally with wooden swords, as neither of us had a real one, as yet. Zach was surprisingly good with his "stick," and he confided that he had always been interested in swordplay from watching movies and such. As good as he seemed, though, I, with so little experience, always managed to have an edge, no pun intended.

Cat had a magnificent sword, the blade liquid bright and the pommel wrapped in gold. An amethyst was set in the crosspiece, seeming always to sparkle, no matter what the light. The sword seemed to sing as it moved through the air - but only in Cat's hands. I had held it, as had Zachary, but neither of us could wield it with the same grace as Cat. I had no idea a piece of metal could be so beautiful. Someday, I would have one of my own.

Cat and I would spar frequently, although always with hands or blunted swords. Cat said she had never used her sword on a person, had never even used it for other than practice. It would be Tyger's place to do that, she said.

Cat never told me how she found her sword, and I suspect she would not ever had I not asked. I was surprised when I heard her answer, one night after a particularly hard sparring session, and I could understand her reluctance to share it with me. But we were as sisters, and we had no secrets.

"Anarae, this sword. . . it came to me when I first became Tyger. Well, I assume that. After that first time, when I went back into the sancta, the mirror of water had returned to the pool. I plunged in my hand to see if it would act as before and become a mirror; but my hand encountered something hard. I looked to see what be there, where there was no bottom, and I saw the sword. Andwele majela. "Royal water." But andwele is also our word for ice, and vapor. The power of three in one element. Just as water can transform into different states, so can an etoiline. Fitting, don't you think?

I pulled it from the pool, and knew it had been made for me. It was perfectly balanced and the edge was sharp; but it did not cut me. We had knowledge of each other. But I know not from whence it came. I did not think it strange, but of the natural pattern for an etoiline. When you make the Change, thence comes the sword."

"Then where is mine, anarae?" I said, trying to keep the plaintitivity out of my voice, gesturing at my empty scabbard, sitting against the wall until my sword presented itself. Zachary, who had been standing in the doorway, walked over to me and put his hand on my shoulder. We walked out onto the balcony of my room.

"I know not, Lauriel." Cat shifted uncomfortably. "It will come to you, or perhaps you will come to it, when the time is right. You are the second. Perhaps things are different for you--"

"Milady Lauriel - please excuse this interruption, but would you like to hear this news?" inquired Lucas, stepping from the shadows of the archway.

"What news, Lucas?" I asked, curiously.

"You do not wish to speak in private?" he asked, cocking his head questioningly.

"Ah, Lucas, with these people I have no secrets. Spit it out." He looked at me askance for a moment, perhaps revising his comments.

"Then, I speak. You had asked me to inform you of Lord Zephihl's doings, yes? His highness arrived late this afternoon from his trip. I have yet to ascertain his destination, but he was gone for over five days - and I did not see a horse brought in for stabling, which means he left his horse wherever he went, and somehow obtained other transportation to the castle." Lucas bowed once he had related this information, and vanished back to the shadows.

"Um, Lauren? Er, Lauriel? Why did you want to know about Zephihl? And all along I thought I was your love interest. . . " Zach pouted.

"Oh, Zach." I chuckled. "I only wanted to know what he's doing." I sobered when I thought of why I had asked Lucas to watch him. "Zephihl seems so mysterious, suspicious, he always disappears. He makes me feel like I'm being watched, sized up, every time I'm around him. And these trips, without horses - I can't imagine where he's going."

"You mean he's been gone before? And you didn't tell me?" Zach stood, his anger at being excluded evident in his aura.

"Zach, he's only been gone just this once. And besides, I didn't want you confronting him, scaring him off, when you spend so much time with him. He can't know we're watching him. Who knows, though. Maybe he was just on a pleasure trip." Ha. Some pleasure trip. Who leaves with a horse and comes back on foot? Zach made a disbelieving face. At least we were all in agreement that Zephihl wasn't out partying all week.

"I don't know what to think about this. We'll have to wait and see," I said. "But I'm not going to wait much longer for dinner. Anyone else notice how dark it's getting? I'm sure Lucas has outdone himself as always. Let's go inside and worry about this later."

*****

The next day, Cat and I went for a walk in the forest near the castle. Deep woods covered the land surrounding the moat. The only area free of trees was the thoroughfare leading to the city.

A stream ran through the forest, a clear rill that joined with several others to create a good sized river which culminated in a spectacular waterfall. That waterfall had beccome my favorite place to relax in the week I had been there.

Cat had walked away sometime earlier, lost in her own contemplation. There was a place befind the waterfall where you could stand and not get wet. As I walked along the passage, I trailed my fingers across the glistening rock, and gasped as the stone seemed to give way , to melt, beneath my fingers. I stopped and stared at the outwardly solid wall, into which my fingers were halfway sunk. I pressed my palm harder into the stone, feeling it warm to my touch. Suddenly a shaft of light shone around my fingers. Curious, I brought my other hand to bear, and the stone melted obligingly until there was a space I could peer through.

Inside was a room, a naturally carved canyon cut eons ago. A soft amber glow emanated from an unseen source, lighting every corner of the cavern but for a thin vertical crevice.

I moved my hands over the warm rock, watching it dissolve into ether, until I had created a hole large enough to climb through. The second my body ceased touching the stone, the hole I had wrought disappeared as if it had never been there, and I could only assume it looked the same on the outside as well. I touched my hand to the rock, relieved when it again flowed away. I turned toward the dark crevice, wondering what it hid.

As I proceeded farther into the fissure, the as yet sourceless light seemed to come with me. Looking around, I could see that the light ended a few feet from my body; when my gaze fell on my hand trailing the wall for support, I realized I was the source. I stared at my hand, limned in the amber light, transfixed. Etol i'amani na'rin, I thought. A light in dark places.

I shook myself out of my stupor and continued down the passageway, until suddenly there was no passageway. The gap I had passed through opened into a cavern so large it was only dimly lit by my newly discovered incandescence. At the limit of the light, I could make out a pedestal, an upright pillar, no doubt a vestige of the river's course ages ago. I placed my hands gently on the top of the pillar, hardly surprised when the rock yielded to my touch. I had thought to mold the stone into something (I wondered if my newfound ability would make me a master sculptor) when I felt the cold harshness of metal within the warm rock. A surge of excitement raced through me. As I ran my hands over the length of the pedestal, the stone melted to a shapeless mass at my feet, revealing its treasure.

What lay there on its bed of stone was more beautiful than I could ever have imagined. It was a sword, so far surpassing anything I'd seen that I could hardly begin to describe it. All I could think was that is seemed similar to Cat's sword, but this was wholly mine. She and her sword had an understanding, and now I knew what she meant. The weight, the feel. . . it seemed the hilt molded to my hand when I picked it up.

A stone was set in the hilt, not the purple amethyst of Cat, but pearl-colored, milky yet sparkling at the same time. I recognized it as a moonstone, just like the one at my throat. My left hand reached up of its own volition and pulled the charm towards the stone in the hilt of the sword. A great jolt of energy ran through me, and I realized the two moonstones were two pieces of one whole. With the combination of stones I felt even more powerful than before.

I ran my index finger along the blade. Sharp as it was, it did not cut me. A fine leather sheath, covered with intricate stamping, encased it as I drew my hand up the blade. I hooked my treasure to my belt and made my way back through the crevice and walked towards the spot where I had come through the wall. I could hear the thunder of the waterfall through the stone, and as I pressed against the wall, the rushing water grew louder. I still marvelled that the stone melted at my touch, but had no time to contemplate the magic, for a hand grabbed mine as I climbed out.

"Anarae, where have you been? I have been looking for you for an hour! Have you been here the entire time?" Cat's voice was barely audible over the roar of the waterfall.

"Cat, I have to show you something." She nodded, glancing pointedly at the widening hole around my hand. "I'll explain this in a moment. Let me get out first." I pushed my way through the wall, pullilng Cat away as the stone flowed back into place. We made our way carefully over the moisture-slick rocks and into a bright clearing nearby. I flipped my cloak away from the scabbard now hanging at my waist, and drew my sword. Cat gasped as the sunlight hit the hilt.

"Lauriel, sweet Bardur! Where. . how did you get that? Did you find it in there? It . . . looks like my sword. We must truly be sisters, anarae, we both of us have found the same sword." She smiled, gently mocking.

"I noticed the similarity, Cat, but this is definitely mine. You see, it has a moonstone in the hilt, like the charm on my necklace. But you found yours in water; I pulled this from a pillar of rock." Cat raised an eyebrow at me, so I gestured for her to follow me back to the cave under the waterfall.

"Watch, then you try." I placed my palm on the wall of stone, and felt it warm to my touch. As the stone melted, she gasped, hesitantly reaching toward the volitile stone. "Can you feel it?" I asked. She jerked her hand away quickly as the grey rock fell awa from her hand, surprising both of us.

"What is this? Something new to write in the annals of the Etoilines, my sister," Cat exclaimed.

"That is definitely not something you see every day. It just melts! Weird, huh?"

As we cleared a hole for ourselves, Cat asked, "Wyrd? You have this word in your language? But of course whatever is fated to us shall happen—this was part of your wyrd to discover." She peered through the hole, then shook her head. "I can see nothing—tis dark as pitch in there."

"Put your hand through the opening," I suggested. And sure enough, as she reached through the hole, the amber light began to fill the chamber. "Etol i'amani nar'in," I reminded her.

I drew my sword from its scabbard, and Cat straightened at the sound Once again I felt a rush of power as I gripped the hilt. "Cat, you've got to teach me."

"Teach you? Lauriel, you don't need my help. You are nearly my equal in skill, and you want me to teach you?

"But Cat, I've never practiced with a real sword, Cat, listen to me! I don't know how to do it! Humor me, okay?"

"Anarae, I will do what you ask, however absurd it seems to me. But let us not talk of it now, it nears time for us to sup. And by the by—do not tell anyone of your sword. They may notice, but do not offer any news of it. Yet. It—"

"Cat, everyone knows about yours," I pointed out. "Why should mine be any different?"

"Because you are the second." But before I could ask her what she meant, she forestalled me with a hand and said, "There is a power given when you bond with a sword. Those who do not know it can be mislead in thinking they know the extent of your relavanh. I should not have openly practiced with Andwele but what is done is done. It was a mistake I should not have made, so I advise you not to let anyone see you use it." She looked at me gravely.

"Oh, Cat, you have a way of being so bloody grim sometimes. C'mon, let's go get some food.

******

"Lauriel has received her sword—and she will not use it. You must watch her carefully, now. 'Tis progressing nicely, yes?" the man said. The other beside him nodded. "You do a superb job, you know. You are sure they did not see you?" The other let out an eerily wolf-like howl, throwing his head back and laughing evilly.