

### TANIL

### By Rachel Gay

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2011 Rachel Gay

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Contents

Chapter 1: Of Books, Thieves, and Wings

Chapter 2: Of Humans, Serans, and Angry Monkeys

Chapter 3: Of Time, Porcupine Hair, and Nash

Chapter 4: Of Biting, Races, and Small Talk

Chapter 5: Of Names, Heatless Flames, and Kickball

Chapter 6: Of Cooking, Farrhing, and Rokir

Chapter 7: Of Leonidas, Doors, and the Cat's Meow

Chapter 8: Of Dismas, Chases, and Helpful Strangers

Chapter 9: Of Rumors, Uniforms, and Dirty Tricks

Chapter 10: Of Belief, Broken Umbrellas, and Dangerous Gardens

Chapter 11: Of a King, Nicknames, and Bribery with Food

Chapter 12: Of Bane, Juice Explosions, and Clothes with Character

Chapter 13: Of Arguments, Dolls, and Seeds

Chapter 14: Of Disturbing Sympathy, Kato, and the Professor

Chapter 15: Of Escape, the Mailin's Camp, and Aegle

Chapter 16: Of Illusion, Abilities, and Seran Stones

Chapter 17: Of Angel, Mouse, and the Tree

Chapter 1: Of Books, Thieves, and Wings

Aito hated, _hated_ when it rained on the weekend. It was a Sunday afternoon, but the "sun" in Sunday seemed to be gone. She woke up that morning to a gray, drizzly sky common to this time of year, but instead of clearing up it just got worse. The rain poured down harder than ever and made a clamor on the roof and the trees in the yard added to the sound whenever they moved from the strong winds.

The newest roll of thunder made her jump as she made a fourteenth circuit around the house. With the cable out and her dad at work, she couldn't distract herself from the bad weather. The lights flickered once or twice with each burst of lightning and Aito started to get nervous. Why is it that there was always a flashlight around except when she needed it?

The lights held on though, and boredom set her to find something to do. There were the video games she had played through so many times before. There were playing cards, jigsaw puzzles, and homework to do, but she would rather go mad with boredom first. Maybe she had a little too much free time on her hands. Being an only child with just the occasional appearance from her workaholic dad put a limit on her options sometimes.

Sighing, Aito trekked up the stairs and paused outside of her dad's room. With exaggerated caution, she pushed open the door and looked around inside. Her father's room always felt off-limits when he wasn't there. Today, shadows jerked around the room as the branches outside the window shook and rattled against the glass, and even when she turned on the light it did not look much better.

Aito stepped inside and looked around while trying to get rid of the desire to turn and run out. Tucked away in the corner beside the dresser stood Dad's ancient bookcase. There had to be a good read somewhere on that old relic, she thought. Her dad used to read all the time. Every night he would pull a book off one of the shelves, but now they were all covered in dust thick enough to write in.

Aito started running her finger along the spines of each one, reading the titles as she went. Medical book, medical book, medical book, wow, she couldn't even pronounce the title of that one. Science fiction books packed the next shelf up, but Aito's attention went instead to the picture sitting on the middle of the shelf. Reaching up, she pulled down the old photograph and looked at it intently. It was one of her mom and dad, an old one from before she was even born. Her mom still had her long, beautiful hair that draped around her flushed face while her dad's hair was lighter and even more untidy than usual. He wore the same dorky glasses then that he wore now, the kind that never stayed up on his face like they're supposed to. Aito grinned back at their laughing faces and reached to put the picture back on the shelf when she noticed a book that had been hiding behind it.

This one had no title on the spine, so she pulled it off the shelf to look at it better. The book looked old, older than any of the others on the bookcase. The cover was worn, and once silver letters had faded so much that she could barely make out the one word on the cover: _Tanil_.

Aito opened the book. It had no title page, no page with the copyright or any of that other stuff. What looked like the dedication page said simply, "Welcome, reader, to Tanil. I hope you have a journey you won't soon forget."

Aito blinked and then laughed. A bit melodramatic, but it should be a good read. It had piqued her interest at least. She turned to leave, at the same time flipping to the next page. A powerful gust of wind struck the house and the lights danced before going out. In the same moment, Aito felt as though the wind was inside of the house, pulling her, pushing her forward. She stumbled in the dark and managed to keep a tight hold of the book as her knees hit a cold floor that definitely did not belong in her dad's room.

Before her eyes could even adjust to the darkness, a wailing siren went off all around her. Far away she could hear shouting and the sounds of many people running around. Panic swept over Aito. Where on Earth was she?

Aito started to gather the courage she needed to stand up when she heard voices, closer now. A male voice rang out, quiet but clear. Something about that cold voice made her want to hide, but she could only make out dim shapes in the dark and was too afraid to move.

"Calm down already! Rokir, what's set off the alarm?"

A second voice answered, "A painting was stolen on this floor. At least, that's all we know that's missing, since someone cut the lights. Aegle's trying to get them fixed now, but until then the thief could be anywhere. As far as we know they haven't gotten out yet, but..."

The first person groaned. Aito saw a light move not far away, which looked like the light from a flashlight. The beam moved slowly and seemed to be in an adjoining hallway. Whatever room Aito was in seemed huge by the way the light stretched a long way before hitting the next wall. Several times the light glanced off several glass cases, the sort put on pedestals in museums.

Aito bit her lip, hoping to wake up. How could she be in a place like this? She'd just been in her dad's room a minute ago, and now, without any sort of warning, she was in some weird museum with guards and thieves running around. Aito moved and accidentally rammed her elbow into the pedestal behind her. She almost cried out from the pain, but stopped herself when a ray of light caught the case on the pedestal and mercifully missed her. Someone must have heard the noise, but the owner of the light cried out instead.

"Cain! The book is missing too!"

Book? Aito looked down at the book from her dad's room. Somehow, she didn't like where this was going. The footsteps grew closer and Aito forced herself into a sort of crouched position. She needed to hide, and fast.

The flashlight provided enough indirect light for Aito to see a little in each direction, but not far. A couple of feet away another row of those glass cases and pedestals ran parallel to those behind her. To the left the rows stretched on into the darkness, but to her right she could make out the dim form of some sort of statue. She started creeping toward it, with her dad's book in hand, and managed to slip around to the other side of the statue just before the person reached her row. She heard the person curse and recognized him as the first speaker. At the same time, dim lights came on across the building.

"The emergency lights...Figures Aegle would take his sweet time with it."

Aito peeked around the statue and saw the speaker standing a couple of feet away with his back to her. Very tall, he had clean-cut black hair and wore a weird uniform that confirmed the museum idea. He stood in just one of the many rows of glass cases filled with strange stuff that made up the typical museum catalog, like bones and old jars they called artifacts. The man examined one of the cases with obvious care. The glass didn't seem to be broken or open, but it looked empty.

She leaned forward to get a better look, putting her hand on the statue as she did so, and paused. For a statue, this thing looked pretty weird. Her hand rested on what seemed to be a tail, and as her gaze traveled up she saw that the statue resembled some sort of dog or wolf standing on its hind legs. It even wore clothes like a human. How strange. Maybe it was from some old legend? It looked like the werewolf Aito had seen in a movie once, late at night, except this one didn't seem likely to give her as many nightmares.

"Oi, Cain!" The shout broke through Aito's thoughts and she moved closer to the huge dog-statue as the guard turned to meet the speaker. She couldn't hear what the two were saying so she looked around the statue, leaning dangerously close to being seen just to make sure they weren't pointing in her direction.

Aito let out a little gasp when she saw the other person. He looked just like the statue! Well, except for the fact that he wasn't made from stone, of course. Plus, with his gray and white fur and sharp, pointed features, he looked more like a wolf than a dog.

The wolf guy's ears twitched. Just as the word "busted" crossed Aito's mind, a hand clamped across her mouth and someone jerked her back behind the statue.

"Did you hear something?"

"No. Why, did you?"

Aito heard someone walking towards the statue, and whoever had their hand over her mouth stiffened. She looked around and up to see a guy with long white hair that almost seemed to glow in the semi-darkness, even though he couldn't be that old. A strap over his shoulder held a tube in place on his back, and if Aito had to guess she'd probably say she just found that painting everyone was looking for. By the way he looked at the book in her hands, and then back at her, she thought he had the same idea. The footsteps stopped at the statue and both thieves turned pale. Well, one thief and one kid in the wrong place at the wrong time to be holding a book.

The thief leaned down and half-whispered in a surprisingly calm, quiet voice, "I think now might be a good time to run."

"You think?" Aito shot back as the wolf guy dove around the statue and just missed the thief, who dodged and took off running with Aito on his heels. She had no idea why she followed him; maybe just because he had some notion as to which way to go. She knew she should just stop and explain everything to the guards, and yet...She hadn't done anything wrong, but something told her that would be hard to explain. She didn't even know where she was, much less how she even got there without leaving her house. Also, to tell the truth, the wolf guy chasing after them didn't give her much incentive to stop now.

"Hey, kid."

"What?" asked Aito. Her lungs already burned even though they hadn't been running for long.

"Up ahead, go left. Down the stairs, follow the hall, and you're out." The thief bounded just ahead of her with little effort, and she felt that he wasn't going nearly as fast as he could have been.

"Why are you telling me this? Aren't you going that way too?" She couldn't help but to be a little suspicious when she could hear the guards closing in behind them. The thief shook his head and pointed straight ahead, toward the window. Before she even had the chance to question his sanity, they came to the turn he told her about. Aito darted to the left, leaving the thief to keep going with the wolf guard hot on his tail. Without realizing it, she slowed to a stop and watched.

The thief neared the window and slowed only to knock the latch open. It was all the time Wolf Boy needed to catch up. The wolf guard grabbed the thief and jerked him to a stop. The thief struggled, although Aito didn't see the point. He couldn't really get out the window, and he was just too small to overpower the burly guard.

The wolf guard growled. "Just give—Oof!" He grunted as he was knocked away by a pair of—whoa. Aito's jaw dropped in amazement as a pair of wings as white as his hair erupted from the thief's back and caught the guard full in the face. No wonder he went for the window.

"Oh my, a gaillos. Didn't see that coming." The voice came from above Aito, and with a dawning sense of apprehension she looked up. The black-haired guard leaned against a nearby glass case, his dark eyes taking in the action. Aito slowly began to creep toward the stairs with the faint hope he hadn't noticed her.

"Just where do you think you are going, little mouse?"

Aito froze. So much for that. She slowly stood up with her eyes riveted on the guard, and tried hard to remain calm.

"Eh heh...Look, I can explain," Aito started. One of the guard's eyebrows arched, in that way adults do when they already have their minds made up. Aito stuttered for a second, her mind numb, and then took off for the stairs. The guard had such a look of surprise on his face before he followed that the thief laughed from his vantage point in the window.

_Easy for him, he has wings_ , Aito thought. The thief took his leave just as the wolf guard dove at him. A mighty groan erupted from the guard when he missed and hit the windowsill instead.

"Uhrg..." He slowly staggered to his feet and his humiliation deepened when he saw the thief was already out of sight and far out of reach. Meanwhile, the wolf guard's partner held a struggling Aito by the wrist, having caught her before she even reached the stairs. She really wished she could run faster.

"Let me go! I didn't do anything wrong!" Aito struggled and tried to pull out of the guard's steel-like grip without losing her hand in the process.

"Oh, sure," the guard scoffed, pulling the book out of Aito's tight hold on it. "You just happened to find this lying around, did you? Let me guess, you were running with that other thief for the exercise."

"Paws off! That's my dad's book, not yours! I got it from his room, I didn't steal it!" Well, technically she didn't ask permission to borrow it, but she wasn't about to tell him that. She tried to grab the book, but he pulled it just above her reach and she said, "Honest! I only ran because I was scared!"

"Just between you and me, admitting you're scared in the position you're in? Bad move. If you really haven't done anything wrong, what could you possibly be scared of here?"

The guard pulled Aito along behind him as he went back toward the window. She tried digging her feet into the floor, but since she hadn't been wearing shoes before she got here—well, it's hard to put up much of a resistance in socks.

Aito's eyes widened with fear as the wolfish guard stood up to meet them and she moved behind her guard as she answered, "Well, _him_ for one thing."

The guard's eyebrow arched again and he looked around as if to see whether she might be talking about someone else. "Rokir? You can't be serious. You'd be better off afraid of me than of that harmless tyrok."

Rokir looked deeply offended by that remark. "Harmless? Hardly!" He puffed his chest out in an attempt to look bigger.

"Nice talk. By the by, where is that gaillos you said you'd take care of?"

Rokir deflated and scuffed his foot along the ground. To turn attention away from himself, he looked at Aito and then back at her guard and asked, "So what are we going to do now, Cain? After all that, we've lost a painting and caught a little kid."

"Go get the others and we'll meet up at the dean's office," Cain said, his voice adopting a harsh tone at the mention of the dean. "I'll ask our little mouse thief some questions and then we'll meet you there."

Rokir nodded and went down the stairs, leaving Aito alone with Cain.

Contents
Chapter 2: Of Humans, Serans, and Angry Monkeys

Aito could not help but breathe a sigh of relief when Rokir walked out. Not that it changed her current situation much, as she realized when Cain released his grip on her wrist. She rubbed the circulation back into it and watched as he crossed his arms and looked her over. The height difference made him all the more intimidating, considering she came up a little higher than his waist. He gave her a cold look and mumbled, "What are you?"

"Huh?" Aito did not catch what he said.

"Do you have a name, or should I just keep calling you 'little mouse?'" Cain asked with a hint of a grin, as if he just told a joke. Aito failed to laugh.

"Everyone calls me Aito. I'm telling you, I didn't steal anything!"

"Aito? That's a silly name," Cain replied in a matter of fact tone, not seeming to notice or care about her reaction. "Tell me, what's the gaillos's name?"

"Gaillos?" Aito said the odd word with a bit of difficulty. "What, you mean that thief with the white wings? I didn't get a chance to ask while we were running, sorry." Her ears turned red as she realized how rude what she just said sounded, but Cain didn't say anything about it; instead, he gave her a strange look with his cold eyes.

"You don't know what a gaillos is?"

Aito shook her head and he asked, "Tyrok? Verkoni? Mailin? Aponé? Korin? Are any of those familiar?"

With each name Aito shook her head and wondered if he tried to make her feel stupid, or if it just came naturally. On the other hand, Cain sounded interested for the first time so far. He leaned down so that he and Aito were face to face, and his eyes seemed to glow in the half-light.

"Do you know what the Seranu are?"

Aito reached the end of her patience and shouted, "No! I don't know what any of these things are! Are you happy?"

Cain didn't just look happy, he looked exuberant. That is, to anyone who knew him well enough. To Aito he appeared to be just as cold as before.

Not that he stopped his questioning. "Those are the seven races of Tanil. So then...What are you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"What _are_ you?"

Aito had no idea what in the world Cain meant. His stare made her feel uneasy too, making it even harder to think. "Um...well, I'm from—"

"No, I don't want to know where you're from, I want to know what you _are_." Cain noticed the blank look plastered on her face and tried to explain with, "Okay, simpler question: What do you call your people?"

"I'd call them human, what else?" Aito answered as the nature of his questions started to dawn on her. What was he talking about? Tanil was the name of that book in his hand, but he spoke as if it were a place. And what was with this race talk? What did he take her for, some kind of idiot? The thought struck her that he might actually be serious. After all, he worked with a guy that looked like a wolf, and he hadn't even batted an eye when that thief sprouted wings.

A strange look flitted across Cain's face before he could stop it and Aito got a bad feeling. "Wait...Aren't you a human too?" She thought she already knew the answer, but she had to ask now.

"No, I'm not. In this world, I am what is called a seran."

Aito felt her heart thump. A seran? If that gaillos or whatever he called that thief sprouted wings, what could this guy do? Considering the cold, hungry look he had to him, she wished she could have gone with that wolf guard, Rokir. Well, almost.

"This world?" she asked, trying not to think too much about it.

"Well, considering the fact that humans are only heard of in legends and old wives' tales...After all, there are no humans in Tanil, nor in any other country that I've heard of, and I doubt one would suddenly find itself in Duna by coincidence. The only logical assumption would be to assume that you're from another world." He spoke slowly and as Aito caught every word he watched her closely.

Aito didn't react at first, as a wave of surprise crashed over her. Then a thought crept into her mind: the only logical assumption? If Cain was telling the truth (And how could she doubt him, after she had seen the thief and Rokir?) then she felt sure that he knew something more.

Cain watched the slide show of emotions pass over the girl's face in quick succession, his own face unreadable until he smiled at some inner thought.

Aito squirmed and wondered what he could be grinning about.

Cain seemed to snap to his senses somewhat and looked around. "I suppose we should be heading on..." He turned and began to walk toward the stairs.

At that moment Aito came out of her shock in time to reach out and touch Cain's arm to ask him something, but he turned too fast and she felt the book knock against her knuckles.

"Ow!"

"Sorry, little mouse. What is it?"

"Cain, I can't—" Whatever Aito started to say was drowned out in her own ears by a strange sound, and the room around her became blurry. The sound grew louder, almost to a roar in her ears, until it fell silent just as she felt someone shake her shoulder.

"Little mouse!" Cain's voice sounded strained and when Aito's vision returned she saw him kneeling beside her, his face pale. _How did I end up on the floor?_ she wondered.

"What happened?" Aito sounded shaky even to herself and it surprised her. Had she fainted or something?

"Doesn't matter. Are you okay?"

Aito nodded and got back up on her feet, but only with Cain's help. She felt all right, just shaky, as though the ground could fall out beneath her at any second. When she swayed he quickly put a hand on her shoulder to steady her.

"I think it's time we went downstairs. Rokir should have the others by now," Cain said just above a murmur before he began to lead Aito down the stairs, one hand on her shoulder and the other holding the book.

Halfway down Cain came close to falling himself when the emergency lights went off and the real lights came on, including the one on the stairs that happened to be right at the tall seran's eye level. He had a lot of dirty things to say about Aegle after that, and some time passed before Aito could get a word in.

"Do you still think I'm a thief?" Though shaken, she hadn't forgotten the trouble she found herself in. It didn't look as though Cain was going to talk about what happened with the book and even she was starting to feel sorry for this Aegle guy.

"No...But Rokir does and so will the Dean. It's not like it will be easy to convince them otherwise, considering the way you ran off like that."

Aito's face flushed. "So, what are you going to tell them?"

"That you're a thief, of course. It makes things so much easier, you see."

"Yeah, if your definition of easier is getting me tossed into jail!" Aito couldn't see why he sounded so nonchalant about it. He didn't care what happened to her at all!

"Don't worry, little mouse. You'll be okay, trust me."

Cain could sound as confident as he wanted to, but Aito doubted this was going to turn out well.

***

They met Rokir downstairs, after going through several winding hallways. He stood outside of a door marked _Dean Padrone's Office_ with two others, a short guy with golden hair and a strange complexion and another dog-like person who looked more like a golden retriever.

Aito's attention went to the short guy's very large, pointed ears which were a good deal longer than any human's ears. If he pulled them back, he probably could have made the tips touch each other. She thought he looked like an elf, although she had always imagined elves looking somewhat happier and a little less haughty. Neither one looked as threatening as Rokir, who kept shifting his weight as if preparing to run or leap, but Aito still shrank a little closer to her guard.

The elfish guy shot Aito a look and then asked Cain, "What happened upstairs? Your pet dog won't give me a straight answer." Rokir growled a deep throaty growl that made Aito's heart jump.

"Perhaps if you had been quicker about attending to your own duty, you would know the answer to that, Aegle." Cain had that cold look in his eyes again and for a second Aito thought a fight would break out.

A sharp, nasal voice came from within the office and interrupted the tense moment. "I can hear you, you know! I want all four of you in here, now!" The command would have sounded so much more impressive if the voice hadn't cracked on the word "now."

Cain and Aegle shot a look at each other before everyone shuffled inside, in Aito's case only because Cain towed her along. The office wasn't big enough for this many people, a situation not helped by the enormous pile of clutter, which forced them to huddle together in front of a large wooden desk. Aito found herself standing in the rather uncomfortable position between Cain and the elf guy, so she tried looking around to keep from getting nervous. She saw that all sorts of painting and artwork covered the walls while busts, vases, all sorts of things that should have been on display in the rest of the museum leaned or perched on the remaining available surfaces. She stared at a strange, dark painting in the corner until that nasal voice spoke again.

"Busy night, I hear. What kind of guards are you, that one thief has you running around like fools? Hmph!"

Aito had to look around Cain to get a view of the desk, where what she took at first glance to be a stuffed animal moved. A small form almost completely hidden behind the desk, the little creature glared out at them from behind small spectacles. She thought he looked like a monkey with his long tail, although she had never seen a monkey with fur so faded to a dim gray or one that seemed to be going slightly bald at the crown of his head.

His tail shook in anger as he said, "One thief! This museum has a reputation to uphold, or have you forgotten that Cain? Never, in all the years this museum has been a part of Duna, have we ever had anything stolen. Now I hear that a priceless Farrhing painting is stolen, along with who knows what else? Explain yourselves!"

"Calm down, Paddywhack," Cain said, sounding extremely calm for someone who had a little monkey yelling at them. "We can get the painting back, I—"

"I don't care what you say you can do! Wasn't it you who said your little tricks could keep any thief from getting away? The painting should never have been stolen in the first place!"

Aito looked up at Cain. From her point of view she could only see a part of his face, but it was enough to tell that he was furious. That cold glare returned, this time in full force. It surprised her that Dean Paddy-eh, Padrone, didn't wilt away.

"Little tricks? Is that what you call my illusions? Listen Padstone, you can—" Cain must have been kicked from at least three different angles all at the same time from what Aito saw. In the time he winced, Rokir spoke up.

"Sir, there was actually more than one thief. It's my fault the one with the picture got away, but Cain managed to catch the other one."

"Oh really? I don't see a thief."

Aito wasn't surprised. She wondered how he could see over the desk at all, much less see her. However, it did surprise her when Cain stepped aside and, _oh the traitor_ , pulled her forward. Aito wanted to blame it on the fact that she still felt dizzy from that weird thing that happened with the book before, but she had no way of stopping him. He pulled her forward with about as much effort as moving a piece of paper, and he was being gentle about it.

Everyone's attention moved to her and she wished she could disappear. Aegle and the golden retriever girl both tried not to seem too surprised and Rokir looked rather ashamed.

"A child? Is this all that the great Cain and his ragged band can catch, a child?" The Dean laughed out loud and Aito's face started to turn a bright red. "Everyone will sleep easy tonight knowing that this notorious thief is put away!"

Cain cleared his throat, having regained his composure despite the Dean's sarcasm. "Perhaps she could be put to some use? I think she can help you find the other thief, even if he's already out of Duna. That's what you want, isn't it? To get your precious painting back?"

Aito glared daggers at Cain. What a liar! What was worse, Padrone seemed to be considering it.

"Very well. You and your lot can go find the thief that you lost, that should get you out of my fur for a little while at least. If the girl can help, then take her too. It's less that I have to deal with." The little monkey dean seemed rather pleased with his idea. So pleased, in fact, that he added, "If you can't find this thief, then you can try your hand at finding a new job instead."

Aito tried not to bite her lip. Why was Cain dragging her into this? All she wanted was to go home!

"We don't need the girl. Sakina can find anyone, and this kid probably has no idea where the gaillos went. She'd just be extra baggage," Aegle said. It was hard to tell who he directed this statement toward, because he wasn't looking at Cain or Padrone; instead, Aito found him looking at her, and not in a friendly way. She squirmed under his glare and wondered why he was mad at her. It's not like this was her idea, after all.

Dean Padrone settled back into his chair, tired of the matter. "You can have her, Cain. I don't care what you do with the girl, just get her out of Duna. I don't want her sort running around in my school." Here, Aito though she saw a victorious gleam pass through Cain's eyes while Aegle groaned.

"I want all of you out of here by tomorrow evening, and I want a full report on everything that is missing in the morning. Get it? Got it? Good," Padrone said without waiting for an answer. He waved a hand at the door and then began shuffling through some papers having dismissed them.

Everyone filed out of the office except Cain. He opened his mouth as if to say something but Rokir, sensing danger, grabbed him and dragged him out.

"Gah..." Cain pulled away and straightened out his shirt. "That was a little unnecessary, don't you think?"

"Well, considering most people find that having a job is a necessity..."

"What are you trying to pull, Cain?" Aegle asked, interrupting their conversation. He scowled at Cain. "There's no reason to take some kid with us. She can't help us."

Aito stiffened at the way he said "she." It sounded as if he was talking about something disgusting that couldn't hear him.

"Aegle! I'm ashamed of you, assuming the only reason I'm bringing the little mouse along is to use her to catch a thief," Cain said in a mocking tone. He pulled Aito and Aegle close to him in a bear hug, and then asked, "Do I always have to have an ulterior motive?"

"Let go of me!" Aito pulled away from Cain. "Stop calling me 'little mouse,' I already told you my name is Aito."

Aegle managed to free himself as well and said, "If she can't help us catch the thief, she must be able to help you in some other way..." He mused to himself.

Cain sighed. "No appreciation, I tell you. Aegle, Sakina, I want you two to go back over where the painting used to be and see if you can find anything. Rokir, check around Duna to make sure nothing else has happened, or if you can find any sign of the gaillos. I'm going to get started on the inventory, but I will be checking up on all of you, so no skipping out." The three nodded and went off down the hallway, leaving Aito once again alone with Cain. She wished that would stop happening, as Cain made her so nervous.

Cain began to go down the hallway in the opposite direction of the others. Aito looked around and, seeing that she was alone, hurried to catch up.

"Hey, um, Cain?"

"Hm? What is it, little mouse?"

"Why _do_ you want me to come with you? Aegle's right, I will just get in the way..."

Cain looked over his shoulder at Aito but kept on walking. "You shouldn't believe everything you hear. I have my reasons for taking you along, chief of which is there's nowhere else you can go."

Aito didn't like how very true that statement sounded, but something else bothered her. "Why did Aegle look so mad when he looked at me? Did I do something wrong?"

Here they came to the staircase they used to come down earlier. "Eh, well..."

Cain coughed and began going up the stairs, his boots making more noise than necessary. Aito followed him up, her socked feet not even making a creak. At the top of the stairs she recognized the hallway that connected several large rooms. They passed the window the thief had escaped from, to the right of which were the rows of cases.

Cain went down a certain row with Aito following and stopped in front of a case, empty unlike the others surrounding it. With the lights on the room looked very different from the first time Aito had seen it, but that may also have been because she was close to terrified the first time. She did recognize the statue standing at the end of the row, however.

"Oh!" Aito walked up to the statue, leaving Cain studying the glass case behind her. It had a different look to it now, but after seeing Rokir and Sakina downstairs, it was no wonder why. The statue was very lifelike, and Aito thought he looked friendly, like Rokir except less scary. She knelt and read the plaque at the statue's feet: _Stoin_. With nothing else written there, she couldn't be sure if that was the name of the statue or the sculptor. Reading the nameplate made Aito think of something else she had been wondering about for a while. She glanced over her shoulder and saw that Cain was still examining the glass case thoughtfully. She stood up, dusted off her knees, and walked over.

"Um, Cain?"

Cain glanced at her from the corner of his eye before returning his attention to the case. "What is it, little mouse?"

"Why can I read stuff in this world? I mean, shouldn't we be speaking different languages and everything? How are you even able to understand me right now?"

"Amazing. I didn't expect a mouse to think about something like that," Cain said with a smile. He opened the back of the case and then cut off the sputtering-mad Aito by saying, "To tell the truth, I'm not entirely sure myself. If I had to say, I would assume the book has something to do with it."

"The book?" Aito asked blankly. Could Cain be talking about her dad's book, the one in his hand?

"Yes, I think so. It brought you here to Tanil, after all. I wouldn't be surprised if it had that power over you as well. It's a strange thing."

"But it's just a book!" Aito said, frustrated. "If it could do all of that, then why would it be sitting in dust on my dad's bookshelf?"

Cain shrugged. "People have a habit of denying what's in front of them, and I assume humans are no different. Perhaps he thought it was 'just a book' as well. I certainly wouldn't blame him."

"You assume?"

"You don't remember what I said before?" Aito shook her head, so Cain said, "As of now, you're the only human in Tanil – perhaps even in this entire world. Congratulations. The only way we even know of humans is from legends and stories about the ancient days. That said, we need to make sure you keep a low profile while you're here. No more stealing for you, my little mouse thief. If anyone were to find what you really are, things...well, they might not end very well."

Aito stared at Cain, dumbstruck. The only human...Then everyone else was like those animal people and that elfish-looking guy? She was too scared to ask what might happen if anyone else were to find out; the tone in which he said it being enough for her. Instead, she asked, "If you're not a human, then what are you, exactly? Before you said ser-serahn-"

"Seran. We may look alike, but there are several differences between humans and serans. I doubt anyone but a seran could tell what you are, so don't worry."

"Why can you tell the difference and they can't?"

"Well, to tyroks all serans look the same, kind of like if you saw two tyroks that had the same color and style of fur, you would think they looked the same. To the tyroks the difference would be obvious, just as the same difference between you and me is obvious to us."

"But...I don't see how you're different from a human at all," Aito said, a little distracted. She tried to remember what a tyrok was, because she was sure she'd heard the word before.

"Really?" Cain turned his full attention to Aito. "You can't tell the difference between a human and a seran?"

"N-no, not really..." Aito felt uncomfortable, sure that he was laughing at her. To try and get Cain thinking about something else, she asked, "What are you doing with that case?"

"Hm? Oh, come over here and see, little mouse. I need to ask you about it anyways." When Aito walked over, Cain waved her dad's book, _Tanil_ , in her direction. "Was this book in the case when you came here?"

Aito shook her head. "No, the first thing I remember was being on the floor, holding the book. It couldn't have been in the case anyway because I picked it up in my dad's room, not here."

Cain knelt and placed one hand on the floor. "So, you woke up here?"

"I think so..." Aito murmured. She remembered the flashlight hitting the case behind her when they yelled the book was gone. "Yeah, because some...oh, I mean you, walked over and I hid behind the statue over there." She pointed at the Stoin statue and Cain stood up and began looking around it.

"Tell me, when you woke up, did you see anything over by the case or go anywhere else?"

"No, I was too scared. I didn't even see the thief until that wolf person walked up."

"Rokir, and he's a tyrok," Cain corrected as he disappeared behind the statue.

"What are you looking for?" Aito asked. He already had the book, so what else could he want?

"There were two items in that case, this book and a pendant-necklace-thing. They shouldn't have been separated." Aito thought she heard that cold anger in his voice again, but she didn't think he was angry at her.

"A 'pendant-necklace-thing?'" Aito repeated before she could stop herself.

"I don't know. Jewelry isn't something I pay attention to. It's not over here," Cain came out from behind the statue. His dark hair was stood up in odd ridges and Aito soon saw why when he ran a hand through it again.

"Do you think the thief might have taken it too?"

From the look he gave her, Aito knew he had already thought of that, and it wasn't a possibility he wanted to consider. He walked past her to examine the case once again.

"Why? You, uh, we're going after the thief anyways, aren't we?" Aito asked. It didn't seem like a big deal to her, but Cain looked worried.

"The stone in that necklace and this book were put together for a reason! I already told you the book pulled you into this world. To control that movement between the two worlds, you need the stone."

Aito felt as if a rock dropped into her stomach. "So, without that pendant-necklace-thing...I can't go home?"

Cain paused, noticing something in her voice that made him look back at her. Seeing the look on her face, he tried (and failed) to sound soothing. "Don't worry little mouse, it's nothing like that. It's just, well, without that stone you'll be pulled back and forth between our worlds."

"What do you mean?"

He sighed. He wasn't good at explaining this sort of thing, not to a kid. "Think of it this way: when you came into this world, you were pulled—in this case because you opened the book. That started a process that's almost impossible to stop without the stone. Eventually you'll be pulled back into your world and then back into this one again, and so on and so forth."

"If opening the book is what sent me here, then once I'm back in my world I just don't have to touch the book again, right?"

"Uh, no, not exactly." He struggled for a second to find the right words, and then said, "I guess you could say the book is now stuck, sending out irregular signals."

Aito gave him a blank look, but he kept going.

"With each signal it sends out, if it's strong enough it will pull you into your world or back into this one, whether or not you're touching the book. Do you remember what happened just before we went down to the Dean's office?"

"Yeah, I got dizzy for some reason." Aito remembered that sound she heard then and shuddered a little in spite of herself.

"You didn't just get dizzy. That was the result of one of those signals I told you about. If it had been just a little stronger when you brushed against the book, you would have gone back into your world for a short time. The same thing might, probably even will, happen in your world as well. You've started something that won't simply stop until we get that pendant back."

"But if that's true, then the thief —"

"Stole something you need badly, huh? There's no other explanation for it than that, I'm afraid."

"Oh..." Aito looked at the floor. Great. If Cain was telling the truth, then she really did have to go with them. It almost seemed better to think she was just being dragged along. "But what if we don't get the pendant back?"

Cain smiled and mussed up the top of Aito's hair before she jerked away. "Don't worry, little mouse. There's no way I'm going to let myself be stuck as your babysitter."

"Babysitter!"

"Well, I guess I should fix this so that Dean Patooie doesn't notice. That could cause some trouble, don't you think?" Cain asked as he opened the glass case.

"How? You aren't going to leave the book, are you?"

"No, of course not. We need to take it with us, just in case," Cain said as he placed the book on top of the case and began running his hand along the bottom of the inside. His eyes narrowed in concentration and his mouth went into a firm line.

"Then how—"

"Just watch," Cain murmured.

As Aito looked on, her doubt turned to amazement. At first nothing happened, but then slowly threads of color appeared, as if they were coming from Cain's hand. The threads began to connect and she soon could make out two shapes, although they were blurry. The lines began to tighten and slip into one another, until one of the shapes looked almost identical to and as real as the book on top of the glass, down to the worn silver letters on the cover. The second shape took a couple of seconds longer, but when Cain pulled his hand away it looked like a pendant, simple except for the small, strange stone that hung from it.

"Whoa," Aito breathed, leaning in so close that she was in danger of leaving marks on the case. "How did you do that?"

"It's time for your first lesson on the Seranu, little mouse."

Uh oh, Cain was starting to sound like a teacher again.

"Each seran has an 'ability' that is unique to him or her. Mine, as you can see, is creating illusions." There was a note of pride (and a little bit of arrogance) as he continued, giving the real book to Aito so he could shut the case. "Of course, I can make them much faster than that in the normal way, but I want it to last quite a while after we've left. Not to mention detail like that doesn't make its—"

Thankfully, a thump interrupted Cain and he realized that his little mouse was no longer there. The only sign she had been there lay with the book on the ground. He knelt to pick it up, and, unable to hold back a smile, he whistled a little tune before turning and leaving the room, opening the book to read it as he went.

Contents
Chapter 3: Of Time, Porcupine Hair, and Nash

"Miss Toft! I would appreciate it if you could pay attention in my class!"

Aito jumped and looked up into the face of Ms. Goldstein. The teacher stood in front of Aito's desk and tapped her foot on the floor while Aito realized she had been absentmindedly doodling in her workbook for who knows how long.

"If you're done daydreaming, now would be a good time to get started on your work. That is, unless you _want_ extra homework?"

"N-no ma'am, sorry Ms. Goldstein," Aito mumbled. She looked down at her workbook and started to fill in the blank in the sentence.

"Aidan..."

Aito winced. Everyone called her by her nickname, everyone, even her teachers. That is, everyone except her dad and Ms. Goldstein. And Cain, she reminded herself. No matter how many times she reminded Ms. Goldstein, she never could seem to remember. She sighed. Was "Aito" really that hard to remember?

"Yes, Ms. Goldstein?"

"We're working on the next page." The teacher gave Aito a thin, pitying smile that reminded her of Cain and went to check on another unsuspecting student.

Aito tried to fight back the blush that crept over her face as she turned to the next page and forced herself to concentrate on adjectives and adverbs. She had been trying to focus all day, but after yesterday – well, everything seemed too normal and far away to concentrate on. Wouldn't anything be boring after something like that?

After she touched the book Cain passed her, everything faded like before, only this time instead of Cain waking her it had been the rain pounding on the roof. Well, "waking" might not be the right word. Aito was pretty sure she had not been asleep, because when she came to she was standing up. Her dad's room spun around her again and again until she had to sit down, but thankfully that feeling passed before her dad got home and found her in his room, or before she threw up.

Aito bit her lip and tried to remember if adverbs were the ones that ended in "-ly" most of the time. The example on the page was not helping much.

Things had gotten even stranger when she tried checking one of the clocks to see how long she had been gone. She checked all of them before she believed it was true: she had only been gone a minute or two, and that was at most. She would have just thought it was all a dream or a temporary loss of sanity, but one look at the bottom of her socks testified otherwise. Yuck! Traveling between worlds definitely required shoes.

Find the adjectives in the following sentences and underline them:

1.The little mouse hastily scurried up the tall pole with its stolen cheese.

"Who comes up with these things?" Aito muttered under her breath.

When the bell rang, Aito stood up along with everyone else and started shoving all her stuff into her backpack. She was in a hurry to get home, where she had left _Tanil_. Once the thought of that book and world came to mind, her imagination kicked into overdrive. What if it pulled her away at school, in the middle of class? What if her dad picked it up and it pulled him away? The thought alone made Aito shudder, although it might make it easier to talk about. Last night the thought had never crossed her mind to try to tell her dad about what happened. How could she even start? "Hey Dad, I picked up this book and..." "Hey Dad, do you believe in other worlds?"

Aito shook her head. The best way that could end would be if her dad just said she was making things up, or imagining them. Her dad was the sort of person who only believed in things if there was evidence, and diamond-hard, bullet-proof evidence at that. With a story like hers, she didn't even think she would believe herself.

Ms. Goldstein caught Aito's eye about then. Aito gulped and ducked out of the classroom before the teacher could ask her if anything was wrong or any other awkward questions like that. That was another conversation she did not want to start.

"Hey, Aito!" A bubbly voice called from the left.

"Are you okay? You've been out of it all day," came a second.

Aito paused outside of the doorway only to get whacked by a backpack as the other students pushed by. Standing off to the side were Lynn and Val, both somehow avoiding all the hall traffic.

"Hey! I'm fine, just a little—" Aito quickly stepped to the right to keep from being bowled over, "—tired, that's all. How about—" She jumped back only to bump into someone else, "—you? Sorry!"

Val and Lynn looked at each other, and then back at Aito, who couldn't seem to stand still longer than two seconds.

"Good," Val answered.

Lynn chimed in, asking, "Hey, you remembered to tell your dad about Parent's Day, right?"

"Uh..."

"It's this Friday!"

"Yeah, I told my parents about it weeks ago," Val added.

"Come on, you've got to get him to come this year!"

"Our parents embarrass us every year on Parent's Day, it's about time your dad got a chance to."

Aito threw her hands up in mock defeat before someone almost knocked her over. "Okay, okay! I'll ask him tonight! I gotta go, Dad wanted me to...do something for supper," she said, trying to remember for a second. "Anyways, bye!" Aito waved before darting off down the hallway, ducking and weaving to avoid being run over by the older students.

"Bye!" Val and Lynn said at the same time.

A moment after Aito disappeared around the corner, a red-haired boy came shooting out of Ms. Goldstein's class. He glanced both ways and then waved at Val.

"Hey, have you seen Aito?"

Val looked at him, then at Lynn. Since when did Shane talk to them? Just last Friday he was one of the guys throwing paper airplanes at them and the rest of the class who was unfortunate enough to sit in front of the boys.

"She left her book under her desk," Shane explained, showing it to them. There in the front corner was her name, _Aidan Toft_.

"She left," Lynn said. "You just missed her."

"Oh man..." Shane looked at the book, thinking for a second. "I think she walks home. I'll see if I can catch up with her."

With that he was gone and Val and Lynn were left to themselves again.

"He could just wait until tomorrow," Val said, shaking her head. Shane never thought before he acted, as seen when he had to spend last Friday afternoon cleaning up Ms. Goldstein's classroom, along with about half of the school as punishment for the airplanes.

"Hey Val..." said Lynn, "Have you ever met Aito's dad before?"

"Huh? Well, no, not really. That's kind of why I mentioned Parent's Day," Val admitted. Parent's Day was a day that the school had come up with, a chance for parents to come to school with their kids and meet their teachers and other parents. As far as anyone knew, Aito's dad had never come to one. "Why, haven't you?"

Lynn shook her head.

***

"Hey, hang on a second! Aito!"

Aito hesitated and then turned around. It wasn't until she saw the red hair that she recognized the voice.

"Shane?" Aito called back, mystified. Shane lived at least two streets back, so why was he on this one?

He waved and Aito met him about halfway. He was hardly out of breath, so Aito was sure he had not run all the way from school. It would not have been at all like him if he had.

"Hey, you left this back in class," he said, shoving the textbook back into Aito's hands. She looked at it as if she had never seen it before, but there was her name on the cover. She was sure she had put this book in her backpack, but then she had been out of it all day.

"Oh, uh, thanks," Aito stammered, just to be polite.

Shane laughed and said, "That's just like you!"

Aito frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He shrugged, completely failing to notice Aito's consternation. "It's like you're always in your own little world. You should have seen Val trying to get your attention in class today!" He looked at his watch. "I gotta go, see you tomorrow!"

With that and a wave he was gone, leaving Aito to her own thoughts.

Aito stormed back toward her house, until Shane's words caught up with her. Her own little world...It figured Shane would say something like that, she thought. He was always so self-possessed and full of himself, it was a wonder he noticed anything else! What did he know anyways? Though that own world comment did hit home in another way...Aito shuddered as she went into her house.

Later, after dinner and homework (ugh!), Aito found herself in her room having a staring contest with a book. She sat on the edge of her bed with her feet tucked under her as if afraid that the book lying in the middle of the floor would jump up and attack her. The book in question was _Tanil_ , and so far it had done nothing of the sort.

Aito felt she should put the book somewhere safer than right in the middle of the floor of her room, such as, say, at the bottom of a very deep well. The only problem was that she was afraid to even touch it.

"Hmm..." Aito couldn't help but think how ridiculous this might look, until she thought of a pair of tongs she had seen in the kitchen earlier. Perfect! She jumped up and swayed. It only took her a second to recognize the sound of rushing wind before she was pushed forward. She fell with her hands stretched out in front of her, but she never hit the floor of her room.

***

Cain was walking down the hallway, idly flipping through the pages of _Tanil_ , when he heard Aegle's voice down the hall to his left. He couldn't hear the exact words, but he could hear it coming closer. He looked around and turned to go in the other direction.

"Cain! Hang on, I want to ask you something."

Cain winced and considered pretending he had not heard Aegle for a moment before turning to face him.

"Shouldn't you be with Sakina?"

"And do what, stare at a blank wall? It doesn't take two people to see something we already know: that painting's long gone."

"But obviously, it takes more than one person to turn a light on," Cain murmured.

"Listen," Aegle said, pretending he had not heard that last comment, "I can—" He stopped and looked around. "Hey, where's that little thief? Wasn't she with you?"

"She's with Rokir," Cain lied without even batting an eye.

"I just saw that tyrok, she wasn't with him!"

Cain sighed. Of course. Aegle looked around wildly.

"We need to find her, before..."

"Before what?" Cain asked, interested to see how Aegle would finish the sentence. It also helped to stall so he could think of a way to distract him.

"There's no telling what she could be up to! You can't trust a thief, especially with her pal still running around!"

Cain arched an eyebrow, but didn't comment on that.

"Considering how much you were against her tagging along before, it seems like you would be glad the little mouse has disappeared."

"That doesn't mean...Ah," Aegle stopped, and seemed to consider it for a moment. "You're not worried at all. Why is that?"

"I have talked to little mouse," Cain said with a shrug. "She cannot run away, there's nowhere else she can go." That was close enough to the truth, Cain reasoned.

Aegle snorted at that. "Yeah, right. I'd believe that kid about as much as I'd believe you."

"If you don't believe me, that's fine. You can keep a lookout for my little mouse while you do inventory on the first floor." Cain waved cheerily before he started to walk off.

"Wait, what? Inventory? But you—"

"But you said it only takes one person to stare at a blank wall, so you can help me with inventory. Of course, if that's a one-person job as well, then you can go ahead and do the whole museum by yourself."

"I – but—" Aegle faltered and, sensing a losing battle, went downstairs to get started on the inventory before he ended up with more work. It wasn't until later that he remembered Aito, who had left his mind at the mention of taking inventory, but by then he could care less.

Cain hummed to himself as he walked, turning onto a small, dimly lit hall in the back. Past a door marked "Personnel Only" were several rooms, one of which was Cain's. The museum allowed the guards to rent out rooms, and two of the others belonged to Aegle and Rokir. Sakina stayed in a dorm with Duna's other students.

Cain had to ram the door with his shoulder before it finally opened. Inside it was sparsely furnished with a bed and a dresser, and was even fortunate enough to have a window. He did not even look around as he moved to put the book on his bed. There was no reason to carry it around all night, he thought, but that thought was interrupted by a rather undignified yelp from Cain.

He dropped the book, unable to hold it any longer. Within the space of seconds, _Tanil_ had turned inexplicably hot, almost as though it were about to burst into flames. Cain shook his hand and stepped back as the book flipped open of its own accord, and then, without seeing how it happened, a human was standing next to his bed.

"Little mouse!"

His "little mouse" looked up at him and turned an interesting color. "Cain..." She swayed and Cain pushed her towards the bed, where Aito gratefully sat down.

"Are you okay?"

Aito nodded. "The same thing happened yesterday...I think it'll go away soon."

"Yesterday?"

"Yeah...That's when I went back home, remember?" She paused for a moment and Cain noticed for the first time that Aito was wearing different clothes than she had been when he had last seen her minutes ago. At least, he thought they were different; the style was so strange to him that he could only tell they were different by the colors.

"It was weird though, it didn't seem like I'd been gone long at all when I checked the clocks..."

"So, you've been in your world an entire day?" Cain asked, to make sure that he had heard right.

"Yeah, why?"

"It's only been a few minutes since you left!" Cain stood up and began to pace back and forth in the little space his room provided. "Did anyone notice you were gone?"

"No, Dad was at work."

Cain stopped and looked out the window as he asked, "What about your mother?"

Aito drew her knees up to her chest. She supposed she should have expected that question. "My mom died, when I was little. It's just me and my dad."

"Oh. I..." Cain stopped and Aito sighed. This was the moment she always dreaded, when everyone stalled, not knowing what to say. Cain surprised her by saying, "I suppose I'm not the person you want to talk about that with."

"Mm..." Aito nodded and her head drooped. Cain's voice started to sound farther away and her eyes did not seem to want to stay open.

Cain gripped the windowsill and closed his eyes for a minute. When he opened them again he said, "As I was going to say, this will be useful, your trick of missing little time in either world. Tell me, little mouse, did you—"

He turned as he spoke, only to find that he was talking to himself as Aito was now curled up in a ball on his bed, asleep.

"That, however, could be a problem."

It took Cain several minutes and some effort to get Aito underneath the covers, but she never once woke up. Cain picked _Tanil_ up and placed it on his almost bare dresser, feeling somewhat happier. After Aegle's questioning, he had realized that he had no way of explaining what would probably become Aito's frequent absences. Now he just had to figure out how to explain what would be her continuing presence. That, and where he was going to sleep tonight. Ah, well, that could wait until after he was done with inventory.

Cain tried to remember if Rokir owed him a favor as he left, turning off the lights and shutting the squeaky old door as quietly as he could.

***

Early the next morning, Rokir was groaning in a rather over dramatic way. Then again, you would probably be groaning too if you had spent the night sleeping in a very uncomfortable chair. He was just wondering if he would have been better off sleeping on the floor when Cain walked into the room.

"Where have you been?" Rokir asked, irritated. After he had spent half the night looking around Duna without seeing so much as a feather off that gaillos, Cain had talked him into letting him spend the night in his room. Unfortunately, Cain's definition of "talk" involved threatening Rokir with illusions every night for the next year, and Rokir still hadn't gotten over the last illusion Cain had used on him. He had taken to running away from the philosophy professors to keep from breaking out into uncontrollable laughter every time he saw one.

"I've been shopping," Cain answered. "Did you get a good night's sleep?"

"Did I? I slept in a chair!"

"That certainly didn't stop you from snoring the whole night."

Rokir started to growl, so Cain changed the subject. "I got you something at the store! I was getting some things for our little guest, but I saw this and couldn't help thinking of you."

"Hm?" Rokir's ears perked up and he leaned forward, watching in interest as Cain rustled through one of his bags. He saw a flash of yellow and asked, "What is—"

SQUEAK!

"Gah!" Rokir clamped his hands over his ears, wincing.

"A squeaky toy! Don't you love it?" Cain asked, making the yellow rubber duck squeak over and over again.

"I hate you, Cain," Rokir muttered, eyeing the wretched toy.

"Good," Cain said with a smile before returning the squeaky toy to its bag. "I'd better take this stuff on over." He turned to leave and, upon stepping out of Rokir's room, walked straight into Sakina.

"Ah, sorry there. Didn't see you," Cain said.

"Sakina! What are you doing here?" asked Rokir, moving to block her view of his room and attempting to flatten some of his fur that was standing up. He noticed that while he was still wearing the uniform of the museum guards, Sakina had changed into a casual outfit, the pinks of it complementing her golden fur.

"I was looking for Cain," Sakina answered, not smiling.

"Me? Well, I'm in a bit of a hurry, you see..." Cain said, trying to edge down the hall.

"I don't care!"

"Well, that is your problem. I don't think I can change whatever lack of feelings you may have—"

"No! I mean," Sakina shook her head before continuing. "I talked to Dean Padrone this morning and do you know what he said?"

"Probably a load of complete gar—"

"He said that you suggested that I be able to stay here while you two and Aegle go after the thief! That I would be 'better off here!'"

"Cain!" Rokir looked at him, sharing Sakina's outrage. "We can't leave Sakina here. You know she's a better tracker than I am. What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that Parsley could keep his mouth shut until we were gone. Curse that aponé," said Cain listlessly as he found that he was being dragged along by Sakina. He tossed his bags to Rokir. "Take that to the little mouse and keep her out of trouble."

Rokir looked at the bags, and then at Cain, who was being towed off down the stairs. "Hey, wait a second! ...What little mouse?"

***

Sakina stormed up to the dean's office and practically knocked the door down with her banging. Behind her, Cain winced at the loud noise which was soon followed by an even more aggravating sound: Dean Padrone's voice.

"Come in already!"

Sakina began to march in, only to find that she was marching alone. She spun around on her heel and glared at Cain, who was in the middle of attempting to slink away.

"Cain!"

Inside his office, Dean Padrone's tail twitched in bemusement as he saw Sakina disappear from his doorway. He could hear the sounds of a scuffle out in the hallway before Sakina reappeared, dragging a harassed-looking seran in by his elbow.

Padrone groaned and said, "Cain! I was hoping you were long gone by now."

Cain shrugged. "I wish I was."

Sakina sent another scathing glare at Cain and he quickly cleared his throat and said, "I mean, there's no way I could leave without Sakina." He added in a dull murmur, "Believe me, I tried."

The dean sighed, and then tried to reassure himself with the thought of Cain leaving soon, possibly for good. This resulted in him saying, a little too cheerfully, "Well, you brought up a good point when you spoke to me last night. Sakina _is_ still a student here, and I just can't allow her to leave Duna for who knows how long. Her first priority is to learn, not to follow you and the others after some petty thief."

"See?" Cain said, looking at Sakina. "No point at all in trying to convince someone who has already made up their mind." He turned to leave but his attention was caught when Sakina leaned forward and began to whisper in the dean's ear like a conspirator. Cain watched as the dean's eyes went from mistrustful to clever and a little smile began to spread across the aponé's face.

"On second thought, Cain..."

Cain felt his heart drop and he shot a look at Sakina, who gave him a smug smile in return.

"That thief from last night? The one you did manage to catch? How could I possibly leave her alone in your care? Who knows what an impressionable child would become like under your sort of influence?"

"My influence?" Cain laughed. "What indeed? But Paloni, you can't honestly think you can force—"

"Hm? Well, if that's the case then the child can stay here." Padrone leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling, smiling. "Duna: reforming delinquent youths! Imagine the funding I could get with a program like that!

Cain rubbed his forehead. Talk about bad influences.

"Fine...Sakina can come too."

Sakina grinned and fled the room to pack. Dean Padrone hummed happily to himself. Just a little longer and Cain, along with Aegle, Rokir, and that wretched little thief, would be long gone. Sakina was a loss, but he felt he could make the most of a bad situation.

Cain stepped up to the Dean's desk and stuck out his hand. "It's been a pleasure Parona. A shame we have to part, hm?"

The dean's tail twitched at the obvious sarcasm, but he feigned a smile and shook the offered hand for as short a time as possible. "A shame indeed. Now get out of my office."

Cain turned and left. As soon as he shut the office door behind him, he stepped to the side and listened.

Behind the large desk, Dean Padrone breathed an enormous sigh of relief. He had been sure that Cain would have put up much more of a fight than that, but it seemed that Padrone had gotten exactly what he wanted for a small price. He started to reach for a piece of paper on his desk and froze.

Sniff.

What was that smell? He recognized it faintly, but it was not until he looked up that it registered in his mind.

"Fire!"

From a small flicker in the corner, the fire had spread into a steady blaze, enveloping one side of the room. There was a clear path to the door, but Padrone sat transfixed with horror. All the beautiful paintings, sculptures, everything he had ferreted away in his room: it was all going up in smoke before his eyes.

Leaping to his feet in the chair, the monkey-like aponé threw a vase of water at the flames, but it did all of nothing.

"Fire! Someone!" The dean ran to the door and dashed down the hall, yelling "Fire!"

Once he was out of sight, Cain stepped from behind the door and looked into Dean Padrone's office. The illusion of flames flickered and then disappeared altogether. A smile lit up Cain's gaunt face as he left the museum to the sounds of the aponé rushing back to the office with all the help he could find, all of them loaded down with pails, bowls, cups, anything that could hold water. A moment later Padrone's nasally voice echoed down the hallway.

"Cain!"

***

Rokir's ears twitched and he looked across the table at Aito. "Did you hear something?"

Aito shook her head and Rokir shrugged. It was probably nothing. Aito looked around, her eyes wide as she took in everything about the restaurant they were in. It wasn't anything special, just a small place like something she could have seen back home. It was all the different kinds of people that caught her eye. There were people like Rokir and Sakina, who resembled all sorts of dogs; there were short elfish-looking people with pointy ears and fair hair like Aegle; cat-like people of all colors; people who resembled monkeys with all their fur and long tails; and, oddly enough, people who all seemed to be wearing various kinds of masks.

From what she had picked up from Rokir on the way here, Duna was some kind of school, but she had a hard time believing that. School was nowhere near this interesting, was it? Despite that, she could see several people studying or doing homework with pained expressions on their faces. That much was like school, at least.

Across from her, Rokir tapped the table impatiently. Being one to get bored easily, waiting for food was something that made his claws itch. The kid wasn't helping either: she had been pestering him with almost ridiculous questions all the way here. If Rokir hadn't known any better, he would have thought that she must have been very sheltered growing up, the way she had asked question after question after question...after question... When she kept asking about Duna, Rokir thought she had no idea where she was at, but decided that was ridiculous. Wasn't it?

He saw Aito roll her sleeve back up again and wondered if Cain had given him the right bags. There had been several things that were definitely for the kid, like a small hairbrush and other little items, and for some reason a pair of shoes, but the clothes...

When Aito had walked out of Cain's room, she looked as though she had shrunk about a foot. The sleeves draped down past her knees and it was a wonder she managed to walk with the pants legs constantly tripping her up. On the way here the kid had to stop several times to roll her pants legs back up, because unrolled they were so long that she kept stepping on what should have been the knees.

Aito cleared her throat and for a second Rokir feared she was about to ask another question, but the awkward silence continued until a waitress appeared with two plates of something that resembled pancakes. Rokir's eyes were immediately drawn to the food, while Aito struggled not to stare at the waitress's long, droopy but pointed ears. She didn't do very well though, because she kept expecting them to touch the waitress's shoulders every time she moved her head.

"Here you go, hon," she said to Rokir, flashing him a smile. Rokir grinned in return as she left and picked up his fork. In the blink of an eye he had half of one of the pancake things stuffed in his mouth, but he still managed to ask Aito, "You don't like metza?"

"Er, no... I mean—" Aito stuttered for a second and then just took a bite of the metza before she said something stupid. "Mm! I'sh good!" She found it did taste like pancakes, but it had some sort of spices mixed in it. In fact, Aito was soon reaching for her glass of water after every bite.

They ate in silence for a couple of minutes until it was interrupted by a strange sound: _whump, whump, whump_.

"Huh?"

"Hm?" Rokir looked up, and the sound stopped. "Something wrong?"

Aito shook her head. "No, no..."

Rokir shrugged and started eating again. A moment passed and the noise started again. Curious, Aito looked around and saw a flash of gray on Rokir's side of the table, just before the next _whump_. Sliding down in her seat, Aito waited until Rokir was completely focused on his food and then shot a look under the table. Rokir was wagging his tail! Aito had to take an extra-large bite of her metza to keep from laughing out loud and almost choked, but Rokir didn't notice.

"So, kid, where are you from?"

Aito really did choke on her metza and had to take a gulp of water before she said, "What?"

Rokir's ears twitched. He hated repeating himself almost as much as waiting. "Where are you from?"

Aito looked at Rokir, her face completely blank as she tried to think. What should she say? She thought about making up a name, but he was bound to notice.

"If you don't want to say, that's fine," Rokir offered, thinking she was ashamed to say. "I'm from Gard, on the south coast. Have you ever been there?"

Aito shook her head.

"Shame. It's a beautiful place, especially in the spring when it's not too hot."

"Oh, that's nice," Aito said to be polite. "But why are you here then?"

"I went to Farrhing to join the Royal Army nearly two years ago," Rokir answered proudly.

"But that doesn't make sense. If you joined the army, then why are you a museum guard?" Aito asked. She wasn't sure how things worked in this world, but being a museum security guard sounded like a step down from a soldier.

This time it was Rokir's turn to stumble for an answer. Just as things were about to get awkward again, Aito was pushed down the bench toward the window at the same moment a fork snaked over from the right and stole what was left of Aito's unattended metza.

"Hey!" Rokir admonished, but he looked relieved at the distraction.

Aito looked to see Cain sitting beside her, munching thoughtfully.

"Hullo," she said, feeling uneasy at being between the window and Cain. It didn't feel very comfortable, much less safe, but then she had spent the past half hour or so eating breakfast with a talking wolf.

Cain swallowed. "Good morning, little mouse. I'm glad to see those clothes fit you."

Aito had just been in the middle of rolling her sleeve up. Again. She looked at him, indignant. "They don't fit at all!"

"Sorry. They were the smallest I could find at a moment's notice. They just don't seem to make mouse-sized clothes anymore."

"I am not a mouse!"

"Are the shoes too big as well?"

"No, they fit," Aito admitted grudgingly and looked out the window to avoid seeing Cain's proud little smirk.

Rokir silently admired Cain's technique. He had managed to get the thief to go two sentences without asking a question, and she was even answering them too. Rokir had been unable to get a straight answer out of her all morning.

"So, is Sakina coming or not?" Rokir asked.

"Coming," Cain answered, not wishing to explain further.

"That's great!"

"Yeah, great. The whole gang's ready." Cain paused. "Actually...Where's Aegle? I haven't seen him for hours."

Rokir wondered how long Cain had been up. Did he even sleep last night?

"No idea," Rokir said, "Where's he supposed to be?"

"Outside, I think."

Rokir and Cain both looked at Aito, who was looking out the window with wide eyes. They both saw what she was looking at, and Cain stood up.

"What's that fool thinking?" With that, Cain was gone, flitting in between customers and out the door. Rokir moved to follow, but the waitress materialized, not wishing to risk losing her tip.

While Rokir fumbled in his pockets for some change, Aito watched the drama unfold outside. Aegle had walked up to the restaurant while Cain and Rokir were still talking about Sakina, but Aito had been staring at the strange animal he had in tow and hadn't quite registered who they were talking about at first.

Then a group of about three or four people, all with outrageously long ears and fair hair like him strolled up. The leader of the group had spiky hair like a porcupine, and he had said something insulting to Aegle. At least, Aito assumed it was an insult because Aegle had that haughty look on his face again when he answered. When Cain had looked out the window, Porcupine-head had already taken a swing and Aegle ducked, but then all of Porcupine's friends joined in.

By the time Cain got there, Aito couldn't tell Aegle apart from the others, they were so entwined. He reached into the fighting mass and with a mighty wrench pulled out Aegle and Porcupine. Porcupine's spiky hair was all over the place and Aegle had a cut on the side of his face that was bleeding freely.

Aito joined Rokir in running out of the restaurant now that he had finished paying for the meal, and it was obvious that Rokir wished he could have joined in the fight by his disappointed sigh when they got there and everything was pretty much over. Porcupine's friends looked as if they were about to try and help him, but Rokir stopped them with a low growl.

"Don't even think about it."

They shot Rokir a hateful look and Aito was surprised to find that she was glad to see two of them had beautiful bruises in the making, and that all three were trying not to look scared of Rokir. She felt they deserved it after ganging up four on one.

Cain pushed Porcupine away, but didn't release his grip on Aegle's shoulder. "Get out of here! That goes for your three stooges too," he added.

One of the stooges in question said, "You can't tell us what to—"

His smart remark was interrupted by another growl from Rokir, now standing right behind them. The stooge took one look at the angry tyrok and took off running, the other two with him all the way.

Porcupine stayed long enough for a passing jibe at Aegle. "Saved by a guard dog and a seran? You really have sunk low. Well, serans were always more your kind, weren't they?"

He ran off in the same direction as his friends, leaving Aito confused. What kind of insult was that? It sounded more like he was insulting Rokir and Cain.

Aegle, on the other hand, was outraged. He made to chase after Porcupine, but with his arm still locked in Cain's grip he didn't get very far.

"Let me go, Cain!"

Cain didn't answer, but he didn't release Aegle either. Instead, Rokir asked, "What were you thinking Aegle? Getting into a fight with students, especially that lot!"

"Oh please, like you've never been in a fight before. He was asking for it—"

"So you gave it to him?" Cain asked.

"I would have, if you hadn't stopped me! He deserved it, you heard what he said, didn't you?" Aegle shouted.

"It seemed quite an exaggeration to me. You've got a long way to go before you're anywhere near my level," said Cain, "Though you stooped to his quite admirably. Well done!"

Aegle's ears went red (a sight to see indeed), but he didn't argue with Cain anymore, and Cain finally released his arm. Rokir, wishing to keep them distracted, pointed a thumb in the direction of the creature Aegle had brought with him before the fight. "So, do any of you mind telling me what that thing is?"

The thing in question looked to Aito's mind like a goat, though it was as big and broad-shouldered as a horse. It looked like a goat because of its hooves (which were shod like a horse's) and long horns, which had a touch of a curl at the ends. Its coat was different shades of brown, like a gazelle's, except the hair was long and curly on its chest and some other places, and short everywhere else. Its tail was short and its ears were long, which really didn't remind Aito of anything she had ever seen before. Judging by Cain and Rokir's faces, they were of the same mind.

"Cain asked me to find a pack animal, and it's all I could find," Aegle answered sourly. "The owner didn't know what it was either, but he thought it came from the northern mountains. Apparently, its name is Nashua, but he just called it Nash."

"Why's that?" Rokir asked as he walked up to the creature. He reached out a hand to pet it, but jumped backwards as the creature lunged at him with its teeth bared.

"If I had to guess, I'd say it's a lousy joke," Aegle said and Aito wondered if he was talking about the name or the creature.

"Was there really nothing else?" Cain asked.

"I couldn't even find a regular pack mule, much less a horse," Aegle answered. "No one's willing to sell at any price we could afford."

Rokir looked at Aegle, shocked. "Don't tell me you paid for this thing!"

Nash snorted, showing what it thought of the whole business with a roll of its eyes.

***

In no time at all, they had found Sakina and gotten all their stuff together. Getting the bundles on Nash proved to be a different matter. Aito was surprised to find that for a creature that looked like a mixture between a horse, a goat, and a gazelle, it acted a lot like a mule. By the time they were ready, even Cain was looking put-out.

Aito adjusted her backpack, and rolled up her pants legs in tight rolls, hoping that that would keep them up a little longer. Aegle and Nash both wore similar haughty looks, the former leading the latter by a length of rope. Sakina looked downright cheerful, and Rokir's tail was wagging although he kept trying not to smile whenever Cain looked at him.

Cain sighed. At this rate, they would never be able to make Farrhing by tonight, and who knew how far the thief would be ahead of them by then? He had the slight suspicion that he might be the only one who remembered why they were leaving, but that was all right. They were on the move and Duna would be behind them soon. As far as he was concerned, the sooner the better.

Contents
Chapter 4: Of Biting, Races, and Small Talk

"Ow! That thing bit me again!"

"Well, stay away from it! You keep walking that close to Nash and you're just asking for it," Sakina chided Rokir, who rubbed his arm.

"I think that beast's rabid. We should just put it down," Rokir said, growling at Nashua. Nash returned it with a fierce glare and a threatening show of its teeth.

"Rokir!"

"If it was rabid, we'd have to put you down too," Aegle reminded him.

Rokir sighed. "It was worth a shot at least."

Nash jerked at its lead, pulling Aegle along as it snapped its teeth at Rokir. Aegle jerked back and Nash snorted before trotting ahead, having decided to ignore him now.

"Yeah, I don't think I can take much more of this either," Aegle muttered. After walking for a couple of hours with Nash to lead, the rope felt as if it were on fire in his raw hands. The only good thing was that it made for an excuse to get some distance between him and Cain.

"Hm..." Sakina hummed, thinking. "Hey, Aegle, is Nash a girl or a boy?"

"How should I know?"

"Definitely a girl," Rokir announced.

"How can you tell?" Sakina asked.

"Ornery, makes everyone miserable, unpredictable...Sounds like a woman to me."

Aegle nodded his head in agreement.

" _What?"_ Sakina turned around on the spot to glare at them and suddenly Rokir and Aegle both had a strong desire to be anywhere but here.

"Here" being on a dirt road that had so far led out of Duna and wound through a series of low, brackish green hills. It was impossible to tell how far they had gone or how much farther they had to go from the road because the hills rose up on each side in such a clustering way.

At first Aito enjoyed walking, but now she was starting to get bored. It was always the same around each bend, so that it felt like they were just going around in circles. They never even met anyone else on the road. Cain said that was because it was fall, and few people traveled around here this time of the year, but Aito decided they must be going a different way than usual. Who else would want to go on a lonely old road like this?

A shout came from behind, and Aito and Cain looked back to see Sakina chewing out Rokir and Aegle, both of whom were trying to put each other in between her and himself.

Aito looked up at Cain and asked, "So they really helped you back at the museum?"

"That's what I've heard, but I've yet to see proof of it," Cain answered. He winced as Sakina reached a higher pitch. At least it wasn't him, but he could feel his turn coming after the incident with Dean Padrone this morning. "So...Are you keeping up with this?"

"What?" Aito stared blankly up at Cain, wondering if he meant keeping up with his striding gait. If so, then no, because her right pants leg was coming down again.

"You've gone from your world to this one two times now, and now you're stuck with me going to who knows where after some thief. I'd assume you'd be feeling some culture shock right about now."

Aito thought about it for a moment. She wasn't exactly sure what culture shock meant, but she did feel a little lost. She'd been feeling that way since last night (or was it the night before last?). Where could she start? "Every time I go through the book I feel weird...Like I missed a whole lot, but I really haven't. I guess it's because of the time thing."

Cain nodded. "I could see that." His voice sounded odd, like he wasn't listening to his own words. Aito thought he might be distracted by the noise behind them but then he asked, "Anything else, little mouse?"

"Please don't call me that!" She didn't think he was listening though, so she said, "Erm, another thing is all the different kinds of people. In my world, we just have humans."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. I mean, there's all kinds, but they're still just humans."

Cain recalled Aito's reaction to Rokir the night before. "So, you don't know anything about the races of this world...That could be a problem." He rubbed his forehead, thinking.

"Well, I know you're a seran, and that thief last night was a guh-uh..."

"A gaillos," Cain supplied. "Rokir and Sakina are what we call 'tyroks,' and Aegle is a 'korin.'"

Aito thought for a moment. "What's Dean Padrone? The monkey-like people?"

Cain winced at Aito's description, but counted it off as ignorance. "They're called aponé. People who look like... _cats_ , are called verkoni."

"Oh!" Aito remembered some people that had caught her attention earlier. "What are those people who were wearing masks before?"

"They're called the mailin," Cain answered, almost smiling. "The mailin are a strange people. In fact, they always wear those masks. No one knows what's under them."

Aito wondered what it would be like to always wear a mask. Wouldn't that get uncomfortable after a while? "So, there are the serans, gailloses, tyroks, korin...apones...verkoni, and mailins!"

"Mailin," Cain corrected, "the plural is the same as the singular."

"Uh...right."

"But yes, those are the seven races of Tanil. Please try to remember them. And please, for all that is even somewhat good, remember you are supposed to be a _seran_ , not a human."

Aito nodded, even though she was pretty sure she wouldn't remember all those names. She tried repeating them in her head while she asked, "Um, Cain?"

"What, little mouse?"

"Before, when Porcu-, er, I mean, that korin was talking to Aegle, he said something weird about serans. It sounded stupid, but Aegle still got mad."

"Well, Aegle does have a bit of a short fuse," Cain admitted.

"But what did he mean?" Aito asked.

Cain didn't answer at first. He looked over his shoulder, where Sakina was still going strong and Rokir and Aegle both had a dull sort of look to them, as if they weren't listening anymore. "Well, the korin as a people don't really like the Seranu very much. I think Aegle did not take very well to being associated with them."

"Why?"

"It goes back to a long time ago," Cain said as if that explained everything. "Is there anything else you wanted to ask about?"

"Well..." Aito hesitated, caught off guard by this sudden urge to change subjects. Hadn't he done this the last time she tried to talk about Aegle? But there was something else that Aito wanted to ask, although she felt more than a little embarrassed to ask it.

"Erm, well, people, like, oh, uh, the tyroks, they're safe, aren't they? I mean, Rokir and Sakina both seem nice, but...Oh..." Aito bit her tongue and felt sure that she was saying something both stupid and very possibly rude.

"Ah..." Once again Cain recalled the night before, and her earlier remark. "Well, there is one thing you should probably know about..."

"What?"

"Tyroks are normally quite safe. Well, as much as any people can be. But Rokir is a strange sort. You've noticed how he looks like a wolf? Almost wild?"

Aito nodded.

"That's because he's not like others, who resemble tame dogs. Normally he can control himself to a point. On certain occasions, however, something changes. Instinct takes over."

"Instinct?" Aito asked, feeling goosebumps start to rise under her jacket.

"His basic primal nature. Along with it comes a savage hunger that just can't be satiated. Tyroks in that state forget everything they once knew and attend only to that one desire." Cain ran a hand through his hair and looked up at the sky. "When it kicks in, nothing can stop him as he does anything, and I do mean anything, to satiate that hunger." He shook his head, feigning regret.

Aito gulped, visibly shaken, and rubbed her arms.

"Don't worry, my little mouse. As far as I know, he only gets like that when he's outside, in the light of the full moon."

Behind them and out of earshot, Sakina had finished her tirade and the two unfortunate souls looked about as shaken up as Aito. Sakina sighed and looked ahead of them.

"Oh, that poor girl. We left her up there all alone with Cain."

"What's wrong with that?" asked Aegle. "He's the only one she talks to."

"Have you even tried?" Sakina asked. Aegle had to admit he hadn't. "Rokir, go up there and see if she wants to walk back here with us."

"Why me?"

"She knows you," Sakina answered promptly, but Rokir was sure this was payback for his careless female remark. Sakina would have gone up there herself, but that would mean talking to Cain and she didn't want to do that until she was ready to start yelling again.

"Fine..." He dodged Nash and walked up behind Cain and Aito, grumbling to himself.

"When's the next full moon?" Aito asked in a small voice, scared to know the answer.

Cain thought for a moment before giving her a wide-eyed look. "It's tonight!"

Aito heard the crunch of footsteps behind her before a heavy paw landed on her shoulder.

"Oi, kid—" Rokir stopped when, after one startled look up at him, the kid was gone. "What the heck?"

Cain looked equally surprised before he suddenly burst out laughing.

"Cain! What did you do?" Sakina asked, running up. She wasn't sure what was wrong, but anytime Cain laughed there was bound to be trouble for someone.

"I just told her a story," Cain answered, wiping his eyes. This was the most fun he'd had since the illusion at Padrone's office this morning. "I didn't expect her to believe me."

Rokir was still looking around, confused by Aito's disappearance. "But where did she go?"

Behind them, Aegle and Nash stopped. Aegle stared straight ahead, a look of loathing on his face. Seeming to be talking to no one, he asked, "Just what do you think you're doing?"

Aito peeked from around his back and looked up at his face. She wasn't sure how she had managed to get there so fast, but she had. Put it down to the power of fright.

"Uh...I was—" Aito looked and saw Cain, who was still laughing. Her face turned red, but she tried to cover it up by saying, "I was wondering if I could lead Nash for a while."

Aegle looked surprised, but gave in. "Sure, just don't get too close. I don't want to be the one blamed when you get bitten." With that, Aegle handed Aito the rope lead and went to catch up with the others to see what the fuss was about.

Aito looked at Nash, who looked back. Nash gave a derisive snort and followed Aegle at a fast trot, forcing Aito to keep up or be dragged along. A couple of feet behind the others Nash slowed down and Aito trailed behind, wishing she couldn't hear what was being said.

Sakina was berating Cain. "Don't you think you could be a little nicer? She looks up to you, you know."

"Oh, come on," Cain said, brushing the comment off, "Don't insult her intelligence like that. Besides, no harm done, right?"

Rokir scratched his ear. "I don't know, Cain. She looked pretty freaked out. Just what did you say to her, anyway?" He looked over his shoulder at Aito, who jumped when he caught her eye and looked away as if she couldn't hear them.

Cain ran a hand through his hair and almost felt a little remorse. Almost. "Just a little story, that's all."

Aegle snorted. "Let it go, Sakina, Cain's not going to apologize. Besides, the kid will get over whatever it is eventually."

They walked in silence after that. At least, Aito couldn't hear what they were saying. She tried looking around, but then again, the scenery wasn't that great. Other than the fact that the hills were now getting smaller, not much had changed.

And then, quite suddenly, the hills were gone. They rounded a bend to find that the endless rolling hills had ended, to be replaced by plains that stretched away into the distance. The path strolled out between low rises, where what looked like low walls made of the earth itself reared up, separating the travelers on the road from fields on either side. There were people out in the fields, harvesting. The crops in the field looked a little like a cross between wheat and corn to her.

Every now and then the harvesters would look their way and call to one another. They were too far away for Aito and the others to hear what they were saying, but all the same it made Aito feel certain they were talking about them and she didn't like it. Both Rokir and Sakina would cock their ears as if they were trying to listen, but otherwise Aito couldn't tell if it bothered the others or not.

At one point, they passed a worker who was close enough that they could talk. He looked like the thief a little, because his skin was the same odd color and he had the same sort of slant to his eyes. His hair was a dusty brown, which fitted his skin color much better than the thief's white hair had. He waved and called out, "Where are you coming and where are you going?"

It sounded like a common greeting, especially when Cain waved in return and said, "From Duna to Farrhing!"

"Any news?" asked a voice nearby. Everyone reared back as a calico catlike head popped up from behind the wall, near Aegle. The harvester grinned and with a bound was perched on top of the wall.

The gaillos in the field spread out a pair of tawny wings and flew over, landing with a thump just beyond the wall. "Sorry about him," he said, jerking a thumb over in the verkoni's direction. "He doesn't get out of the fields much."

The verkoni scowled and turned back to the group. "You're the first ones we've seen from Duna for a while now. Students don't leave for another month, right?" he asked, looking at Rokir, Aegle, Sakina, and Aito.

"I'm not a student!" Rokir said with a growl, touchy about his young appearance.

"Three weeks, actually," Cain commented, shooting Sakina a glance which she ignored. "There's not much news, but..." He paused and tapped a finger to his chin. "We did hear about a robbery last night at the school's museum. Apparently, it was a gaillos with long white hair and white wings. At least, that's what I've heard." He looked over his shoulder and, taking up the cue, everyone nodded in agreement. They had all grouped around him to listen in.

Cain looked for all the world like a man making small talk. He might as well have been talking about the weather from his casual attitude. He faked a look of shock and mild surprise when the gaillos answered, "Y'know, we saw someone like that last night. Nice fellow, he certainly didn't look like a thief."

"Really?" Cain asked. "Well, you never know these days. It just goes to show, thieves come in all shapes and sizes." He reached over and mussed up Aito's hair, and she dropped the lead so that she could move out of his reach.

_What a phoney!_ Aito thought.

Eager to step in on the conversation, the verkoni piped up, "He even stayed in Old Ben's barn last night! Old Ben's always too nice to strangers."

The gaillos nodded in agreement.

"You don't say?" Cain said.

"Where did he go after that?" Aegle asked, wanting to get to the point. He was moving restlessly and seemed tired of Cain's way of getting to things.

The gaillos frowned at Aegle's brusque attitude. "You'll have to ask Old Ben if you're so interested."

Aegle avoided meeting Cain's eye and asked, "Where can we find him?"

"Well, he's always supervising the workers in the field, or working with them. Or he might be working to get things ready in the mill. Or, well, I don't think he had to visit one of the other landowners, but it's a busy season and we've had to pull in a lot of new help," the verkoni said, all in a rush that was almost impossible to keep up with.

"Ah, well, we'll have to keep a lookout for him then, won't we?" Cain said, forcing a smile that made the harvesters back up. "Of course, it'd be a shame if we missed him. I believe that someone of his position would be alarmed to find that a thief had stayed under his roof without his knowing. Especially if he were to hear it from one of the other landowners..."

While he spoke the two harvesters' faces grew more somber until the gaillos said, "Y'know, I think I might know where to find him. Give me a minute to go check." Without waiting for an answer, he flew away with a flap of his wings, tearing off toward the innermost part of the field.

The verkoni looked at the group and scratched his ear. "I think I'll be...uh..." He looked for a distraction and found Nash eyeing the nearest row of crops. "Watch it!" cried the verkoni when Nash tried to stretch out her long neck over the wall and snag a bite. He dove toward Nash's head and wrapped his arms around her neck.

Drawing from experience, Rokir grabbed the verkoni and pulled him away. Just in time, as Nash snapped at where his nose had just been. The verkoni gasped and put a hand to his nose, as if afraid he might have lost it. Nash tossed her head and Aito caught the lead while Aegle grabbed the halter on the other side of her head. Nash jerked her head again, this time harder, and twisted it. Losing her feet, Aito hit the ground and lost hold of the lead.

She heard a flap of wings and a thump as the gaillos landed on the wall and then Rokir pulled her back up on her feet and moved her out of Nash's way. Beside the gaillos on the wall was a tyrok, who must have been Old Ben. He looked like a black Labrador, with white hairs in his coat which certainly made him look like an Old Ben. The tyrok took his time getting over the wall and gripped Nash's halter.

"That's enough of that now. Come on you," he said, speaking with a strong, rough, drawling accent that made his "o"s stretch. Nash glanced at him and made as if to jerk away again, but found the lead held taught. The tyrok gently but firmly led the animal to the middle of the path, talking to her quietly all the way.

Nash looked more confused than angry when Old Ben tossed the lead to Aegle.

"'O'nestly, you need to learn a thing or two 'bout how to treat animals, don't you? Pulling away recklessly like a fool won't get you anywhere."

Aegle looked surprised and then insulted. "It's not my fault; I wasn't the one who was supposed to be holding the lead."

"And yet you're naught helping yourself saying that." Old Ben turned to the others. "Now, why was I called here?"

Cain stepped forward. "We were told that a gaillos stayed with you last night? Long white hair, may have been carrying a tube on his back?"

"Yeah, 'twas him. He had a tube on his back, a picture I think."

Cain nodded. "Last night a thief stole a painting from the museum of Duna. We were sent to find him, but unfortunately these two weren't able to tell us any more about him."

Old Ben looked to the gaillos and verkoni and then asked, "Shad? Mesh? Who told you you could chat it up instead of working?"

Both looked at the ground and Old Ben almost smiled. "These two wouldn't have known anyways. The one you're looking for left early this morning. Headed to Farrhing, he was."

Cain shot the others a look that clearly said, I told you so. "Thank you, sirs. That's all we needed to know."

Old Ben watched Cain turn away and the others start to leave before asking, "Was it just the painting that he stole?"

"What's that?" Cain asked, and everyone stopped.

There was a new, sharper tone in Old Ben's voice. "Did he steal anything else?"

"Well..." Cain said. Aito remembered Cain's illusions and realized why he was hesitating. The others didn't know! "A pendant...er, necklace...you know, was stolen also. Rather simple, a black stone...You didn't happen to see it, did you?"

The tyrok nodded, but his eyes weren't on Cain. He watched Aegle, Sakina, and Rokir look at each other, all obviously confused. "Yes, I saw it. He was wearing it and kept touching it often, like he wairn't used to it."

"Thank you," Cain said once again, his voice strained. "You've been a great help."

"Good luck," Old Ben said, before turning back to Shad and Mesh. "As for you two..."

"Back to work, right?" the gaillos said.

"Right away, sir!" the verkoni chipped in before both were over the wall and back in the field.

Cain was not so much the undisputed leader. Once they were out of earshot, Rokir said, "I thought the painting was the only thing missing."

"It was!" Aegle said, struggling once again with Nash. "I saw the pendant myself last night! You even had it marked as there on the inventory, Cain."

Cain remained silent and simply continued walking.

"It was an illusion," Sakina said, finally getting it. "The one you saw wasn't real!"

"What?" Aegle stopped and was jerked along once again by Nash. "Cain!"

"Yes?" Cain asked, his voice betraying nothing except innocence.

Judging by the look on Aegle's face, he would have loved nothing more than to hurt Cain right there and then. Too bad they were still in the fields, surrounded by witnesses.

"Why didn't you tell Padrone?" asked Rokir.

"Because he didn't need to know," Cain said. "He has heart trouble—"

"No, he doesn't," Sakina cut in.

"Well he might after this morning, so no need to give the poor fellow anything else to worry about." Cain feigned an air of being considerate, but no one was about to buy it.

"Is there anything else you're not telling us?" Aegle asked with a bitter tone, partially caused by the realization that he'd been duped by an illusion, but the other part may have been because Nash just stepped on his foot.

Cain looked at him, then at Sakina, Rokir, and lastly Aito, who thought of the book, which she knew Cain had taken from the museum himself. "If there was, I don't think you'd want to know."

Contents
Chapter 5: Of Names, Heatless Flames, and Kickball

The harvesters grew less as they went on, until they were walking between fields that were almost barren. Then the low walls split away from the path and continued in opposite directions to follow the fields' boundaries. The path continued straight ahead into a flat plain. On either side, tall, wavy grass rose up, so tall that if Aito would have tried to walk through it the stalks would have been able to hide her completely. Aito was thankful the path was free from the grass, because she could see that otherwise it would be very easy for someone to lose their way.

Aito heard an audible sigh and looked ahead to see Cain, his head turned to look left. Aito looked that way too, but from her height she couldn't see anything except for the waving yellow-brown grass and the sky, cast orange from the setting sun.

Setting? As soon as it occurred to Aito that they had been walking almost all day now, her body decided to tell her just how tired it was, and how sore her feet and legs were. Every step seemed a chore now.

She began to long for when they would just stop and rest, but Cain led them on, even when it became dark. He only stopped when the sun was completely down and Aito could barely see the path anymore for lack of light. (Cain, that liar! The moon wasn't anywhere near full. Even if it were, clouds had rolled in and would have blocked its light out anyways.)

"I suppose this is as good a place as any to stop," he said. Aito wasn't the only one to feel relieved. Someone to her right sighed.

"Shouldn't we keep on going until we get to Farrhing?" asked Rokir, before someone hit him in the dark. "Ow!"

Cain shook his head, or at least Aito thought it was him. "Even if we could, the gates will be closing about now, remember? We wouldn't be able to enter the city. We can camp here and go there in the morning, when they open the gates again."

Cain was leaving the path when Aegle cleared his throat. "Uh, Cain?"

"Oh, right."

There was a moment's silence and then a light lit up the area. After a moment where Aito's eyes were dazzled, she could see that Cain was holding what seemed to be a small flame in his hand.

Another illusion, she reminded herself. It looked real; it was bright enough to be a real flame, although there was something odd about the circle of light that it created.

Cain was standing in a small break in the tall grass. Everyone followed him through the break, with Aegle and Nash in the rear. Aito was soon glad for the light, as it turned out that there were weeds cropping up that tended to try and wrap themselves around her feet. Aegle had to stop twice and made impatient noises while Aito freed the legs of her pants from the weeds' tight grip.

Beyond the pass was a flat trodden-down area. It looked like they weren't the first ones to stop here: there was a gray space in the middle from old fires, and there was even a metal stake about four feet high that had been hammered into the ground near the edge of the ring, which Aegle tied Nash's lead to.

"I've never noticed this before," Rokir mentioned while he darted around Nash, trying to get a bag off her back.

"Me neither," Sakina added, "and we go this way to get home during the school holidays every time."

"The mailin use this place often," Cain answered as he knelt and placed his illusory flame in the fire's circle. It stayed there, looking odd without any sort of wood or fuel at its base. "There are many places like this all over Tanil. You just have to keep your eyes open."

Of course, once that was said Cain stubbed his toe and almost fell on his face. His glare dared anyone to laugh, but he still heard some giggling whenever he turned his back.

Cain decided that a real fire would be unnecessary tonight, so Sakina turned to making something edible from the supplies they had brought, leaving Aegle and Rokir to try to get everything they needed off of Nash without losing anything in the process. Aito helped Cain lay out what he simply called "bed rolls," thick blankets sewn together. They reminded Aito of sleeping bags, except not as noisy and somewhat easier to deal with.

Considering the little warning he had had of all of this, Cain thought he had done a good job of finding Aito a nice bed roll at a second-hand store, along with most of the clothes that he had given her. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Aito struggling to lay out the bed roll before tripping over her own pants leg and winced. Okay, maybe he could have done better. Still, it was better than nothing, and those clothes were certainly less ridiculous than what she had been wearing before, at least to his mind.

When everything was set up, they sat on their bed rolls in a circle around the fire, silent while they ate cold sandwiches. Sakina had made them because they were fast and easy to make, or at least that's what she said. Aito didn't care; they tasted good, especially since eating with Rokir felt so long ago rather than just this morning. She just wished that it wasn't so quiet.

Sakina felt the same way. Clearing her throat, she looked at Aito and said, "So, why don't you tell us a little about yourself, since all of us are traveling together now?"

Aito knew that Sakina was just trying to be nice, or at least polite, but when everyone looked at her too she felt her face began to turn red and she started to wish that Sakina hadn't said anything at all. She stammered, "W-well, there isn't, uh, that m-m-much to tell. Uh..."

She was sure Cain winced, or he might have been holding back a laugh.

Aegle cut in, "A young seran such as yourself winds up with a gaillos thief? How is that not a lot to explain?"

"Leave the kid alone," Rokir grumbled. He didn't like Aegle when he started acting like this. "She can tell us when she's ready to. There's no need to pressure her right now."

Aito gave Rokir a small smile. He might look scary, but right now he was her hero.

"Tch. Well, how about telling us your partner's name at least, kid?" Aegle pushed, "We'll need something to go on when we're looking for him tomorrow, other than a basic description."

Aito remained silent. She had no clue what the guy's name was. Maybe she should make something up? But then they would find out and that would just make a bigger mess of things. Why wasn't Cain doing anything to help?

She shot him a look, but he was just sitting there, watching it all. That had better not be a smile on his face, she thought.

Aegle started to grow impatient. "You do know his name, right, kid? Though I bet—"

"My name's not kid," Aito answered, hoping to cut off whatever it was Aegle was about to suggest. It was the first thing that popped into her head, but it gave her an idea.

"I wasn't asking what your name was, I was asking about your oh-so-great partner who ditched you." Aegle rolled his eyes, expressing what he thought of the thief and Aito.

Aito crossed her arms. "I'll tell you his name when you start calling me by mine!"

Aegle froze and had the same look on his face that Aito had less than a minute ago. No wonder Cain had been smiling. Now the seran had to hide his face behind his hand to hide it, and it was a struggle not to laugh out loud.

Aegle looked to the others for help, but Sakina just shrugged and Rokir shook his head. He looked back at Aito and asked, "You are going to tell me what your name is, aren't you?"

Aito shook her head. She was tired of being called kid, and especially little mouse, but this was the only way to cover up what she didn't know. "I already said it, anyways."

"Hey, Cain...You know her name, right?" There was a pleading note in Aegle's voice now.

Cain dropped his hand and feigned a look of shock. "Of course I know my little mouse's name! What kind of person do you think I am?"

Aegle dearly wished to answer this, but he knew the consequences weren't worth it. "All right then, tell me."

Cain stretched and stood up. "It's not my fault if you cannot learn to listen. Good night all, I am turning in. Don't stay up too late, little mouse!"

"My name's not 'little mouse!'"

***

It was Aito's worst nightmare. Well, actually she had been having a pretty good dream, until Cain woke her up. Aito opened her eyes and blinked several times, but she still could just barely see. "What...? Cain, it's still dark."

"Hush!" Cain dropped to one knee beside her and whispered, "I've got the book. While everyone's asleep, you can go back to your world for a little while."

"Really?"

"Shh!"

Aito felt something soft being thrust into her hands and whispered, "What's this?"

"Your other clothes. Call me when you're ready." Cain walked away and Aito disappeared under her blanket. Less than a minute later she climbed out, enjoying being back in clothes that had that familiar, comfortable feeling.

Cain was sitting next to the illusory fire with his back to her when she walked up. She sat down a safe distance away and waited.

"Good job coming up with the name thing," he said after a moment, his eyes watching the strange little flame.

"But what am I supposed to do when he figures it out? Or if they start asking questions again?"

Cain's eyes narrowed and the little flame took on a cooler, almost blue color. "I'm not sure. I'll have to think up a past for you, I suppose."

"You mean more lying," Aito said. It wasn't a question, just a resigned sort of statement.

Cain smiled, though Aito couldn't see it. "Sorry. If you think telling the truth at this moment would make things any better you can, but..."

Aito's head dropped and her shoulders sagged. "I know, I know. But what if I forget something important or say something wrong?"

"Trust me, little mouse. Do you think I would steer you wrong?"

Aito looked at Cain and he coughed. The flame turned back to a more orange and yellow color.

"On second thought, let's not answer that."

He picked up the book which had been sitting beside him and flipped through the pages. "Perhaps you should only stay about a day in your world. That's how long you spent last time, correct?"

"Yeah, but why?"

"I just want to be careful about this. The longer you spend in the other world, the more time that may pass here, and the more chance that someone else here may notice your absence."

Aito nodded. That made sense, she supposed. Cain passed her the book and in the blink of an eye she was gone, leaving the book in her place. Cain frowned and glanced at his watch before he turned his attention back to the fire. The heatless flame's color shifted again as Cain crossed his arms and leaned forward to rest his head on his knees and to wait.

***

Aito found herself lying on the floor of her bedroom, dazed and confused, when her father knocked on the door.

"Aidan?" Her dad opened the door and stopped when he saw Aito lying on the floor, her clothes badly wrinkled and her shirt inside out. He frowned at the scene, uncertain if this was normal. "Are you all right?"

Aito sat up and instantly regretted it when her head began to swim. "I'm fine," she said.

Her dad paused and, upon remembering why he came in, asked, "Didn't you say something about school this Thursday?"

"Friday," Aito corrected, after she recalled what they had been talking about. That conversation seemed so long ago now. "Parent's Day."

Her dad looked perplexed. "Parent's Day?"

"Yeah, parents can come to the school and meet the teacher and all of the other parents."

"Really? How long have they been doing that?"

Aito shrugged. "For as long as I've been there, I think."

"Huh." He thought for a moment. "Do you want me to come?"

"If you want to," Aito answered. She wasn't sure how she felt about her dad coming to her school, but she was finding that this back and forth conversation was making her head hurt even more.

Her dad rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know, Aidan, I may not be able to come. There's a lot already going on Friday."

"That's all right," Aito said with a small, strained smile, hoping he wouldn't worry too much about it. She was sure she was going to pass out any minute now. "It's not that big of a deal, really."

He nodded. "I'll see what I can do." He started to leave and asked, "Have you done your homework?"

"Yes, dad," Aito said. She tried to keep the strained tone out of her voice, but now her head was pounding. "I think I'm going to go to bed now, so good night."

"To bed?" He automatically checked Aito's clock, as if to see if hours had passed on his way up the stairs. "You, go to bed early? Are you sure you're feeling all right?"

"I'm fine, tru—" Aito winced. She almost sounded like Cain there. "I'm just tired, that's all."

"Well, good night then Aidan."

"Good night dad."

Aito waited until her father walked out of the room before turning off the light and flopping onto her bed, not even bothering to try and change out of her clothes.

***

"Next kicker! Come on, Toft, step up!" The gym teacher yelled, gesturing at Aito before turning to talk to the assistant coach.

Now, normally Aito loved kickball about as much as the next kid, but after all of that walking she had done the day before in Tanil her legs were so sore that it was almost unbelievable. To make things worse, Shane was the pitcher for the other team. It wasn't that he was a good thrower; it was that he was, sadly, a bit of a show-off. There was no telling where the ball would go, much less if it would even make it to the plate.

Aito stepped up to home plate and tried not to wince. For once, she was certain the ball was going to get the better end of this kick. Aito consoled herself with the fact that at least they weren't playing dodgeball anymore.

Shane grinned and after a flashy wind-up, threw the rubber ball.

"Look out!"

Aito just barely hit the ground before the ball tried to take her head off. Maybe she would have been safer if they had been playing dodgeball.

"Hey, watch it Shane!" Val yelled from her position at first base.

"Sorry!" Shane caught the ball and bounced it a couple of times while Aito got back in position. This time he managed to roll the ball and Aito's foot connected. She took off running for first, and felt every step jolt up her legs.

Val tagged her with the ball and smiled in a small way. "Sorry Aito."

"That's all right," Aito answered before limping back to the line-up. She wasn't sure if she would have made it back to home if she went the long way around anyways.

Aito sat down on the sidelines with a sigh to watch Lynn kick. At least now she got to rest, until it was their turn to field again. As the pain in her legs throbbed once again, Aito remembered bitterly that Cain had told her to go back tonight. Last night it had made some sort of sense, but now in the middle of the day with all her aches and pains it sounded like nonsense. Aito wasn't going anywhere near that blasted book again. It wasn't like Cain could do anything about it, she reasoned as she went out to the field with her team.

The first up to kick was Val and everyone in the outfield braced themselves, with good reason. Val was good at sports, as she proved once again when she made it to second base before the ball even made it back into the infield.

One out later, it was Shane's turn. This time, everyone braced themselves, on field and off. Shane was as notorious for showing off as a kicker as he was as a pitcher.

Shane pointed to the back fence. "Home run guys!"

Lynn snorted and called back, "I'll believe it when I see it!"

Shane reared back, kicked, and—

"Foul!"

"You don't have to yell it Lynn!"

"Strike!"

Shane glared at third base and Lynn stuck her tongue out in return while Val tried to control a sudden case of the giggles.

As the red ball bounced his way a third time, Shane managed to focus and connect, sending the ball flying between first and second. Shane and Val took off, one running for first and the other to third. The outfielder who caught the ball yelled, "Aito!" before throwing the ball to first.

Aito planted a foot firmly on the first base and turned to catch the ball. Her fingers brushed the ball just as what felt like a train collided with her. Groans erupted from Shane and Aito, as well as from the team on the sidelines who had a full view of the collision.

The coach blew his whistle. "Time's up, get the ball and let's go!"

The class grumbled as they walked back to class, but nothing like Aito as she got back up. If she wasn't sore enough before, she certainly was now.

***

"Sorry Aito," Shane whispered for the umpteenth time when Aito rubbed her arm.

"I get it, I get it," Aito said. "Do you really have to keep saying that?" She flipped the page in her grammar book and glanced at the clock. Just a couple more minutes and she could go home.

"I just wish the coach had called it," Shane continued. "I know I was safe."

"What?" Lynn whispered from behind them, taking her attention off of the teacher. "You were so out!"

"Was not," Shane whispered back.

"Was too."

"Was not."

"Was too."

"Was—"

"Shh!" Val shushed them and Aito felt the same way. They had been like this since gym class; so far the only thing that had changed was what part of the game they argued about.

"Was too," shot Shane before turning back to his work.

Ms. Goldstein walked to the front of the class and cleared her throat. Once she was sure that all eyes were on her, the teacher declared, "All right everyone, you can go ahead and put up for today. Remember, I want you all to bring something from home tomorrow that you can use in an arts and crafts project. As I said before, it can be anything: a box, a fake plant, old newspapers, any item you wish to bring, and we'll—"

Ms. Goldstein was cut off by the bell ringing, but she managed to throw in, "Just check with your parents first!" before she lost the students' attention.

Aito thought about this on the walk home from school. What could she bring? She wished she knew what they were going to do with the stuff. One of dad's old shirts might work, but Aito didn't feel that was very interesting. Wasn't there something in the hall closet that she could use? An old umbrella would be interesting, and she was sure her dad wouldn't mind. He was the one who tossed it in there last weekend after he found out there was a gaping hole in it.

As Aito walked inside of her house, her ears started to buzz, but she didn't think much about it. Stupid sinuses were acting up again. Dropping her backpack on the floor, Aito ran to the hall closet. Darn! It wasn't in there. There was another little closet upstairs that Dad always shoved junk into when he was in a hurry. Yeah, maybe it was there.

Aito raced upstairs past the bedrooms and threw open the door. At the same moment, she felt a sharp tug somewhere inside her chest and she stumbled into a darkness that was only broken by the light of a strange, heatless little fire.

Contents
Chapter 6: Of Cooking, Farrhing, and Rokir

Aito looked around, trying to make sense of what just happened. She was back in Cain's world, but how? Little seemed to have changed, so she didn't think she had been gone long here. Everyone was still asleep, even Cain looked to be sleeping where he sat by the fire. The book was on the ground at Aito's feet even though she had been in a different room than it in her world.

"Cain! Cain, wake up!" Aito's voice was a little louder than necessary, but she was on the verge of panicking, if she wasn't there already.

Cain groaned and muttered something, but didn't wake up until Aito rapped him on the shoulder. She would not have dared to do it normally, but right now she wasn't thinking about that. Hadn't Cain said something about the book pulling her when she wasn't touching it? But that would mean she had no choice but to come into this world, and up until now Aito had always thought she could just put the book away somewhere far off if she needed to so that it couldn't reach her. In fact, that had been her plan until the book pulled her like that.

"Little mouse? Ah, that didn't take long at all, did it?" Cain said as he woke up. He looked at an old watch and murmured something to himself, but Aito didn't pick it up.

"Well, I didn't stay there a whole day," said Aito.

"Really? Why not?"

Aito explained how she had not even been in the same room with the book when it pulled her of its own accord. Cain listened and did not interrupt except to warn Aito to keep her voice down.

"So, what happened?" Aito asked once she was finished.

Cain shrugged in a way that made Aito think that he was still half asleep. "I'm not sure. Maybe the book was just 'ready,' and pulled hard enough to bring you back here."

"Wait, you're not sure? But-but you know everything about this whole thing! You knew how it was pulling, and how to stop it, a-and..." Aito faltered and fell silent.

"Where did you get that idea from?" Cain sighed and picked the book up off the ground before dusting it off. "The thing is, most of what I know about the book is from what I have...picked up. Rumors, mostly, as well as what I have inferred myself. The same thing goes for humans, though more is said about that in the old legends. As far as the book goes, I really do not know much more about it than what I've already told you."

"Oh..." Aito's face fell. Not only was it disappointing (not to mention a little frightening) to hear Cain actually admit this, but Aito's usual world-jumping sickness was starting to get to her again.

"Are you all right?"

The question reminded Aito of her dad; he had asked the same thing less than a day ago. Aito nodded and said, "Just dizzy again."

Cain stood up and looked at Aito's face. "It should wear off soon like last time. Get some sleep, little mouse."

Aito found this to be easier said than done. The book would have brought her from the middle of the day in one world to the middle of the night in the other one. Even with the dizziness brought on by the book, she tossed and turned many times before she came even close to falling asleep. She had just time to realize what had seemed so odd about this false flame's light – where a real flame's light would have flickered and jumped, this flame's unnatural light stayed bright and steady – before sleep crept up on her.

***

Sakina woke early the next morning to the smell of something good cooking. She sat up and looked around to find that almost everyone else was asleep, the exception being Cain, who was crouched down beside a small but real fire. His sleeves were rolled up as he attended to a pan set over the fire.

"I didn't know you could cook."

Cain glanced her way for a moment, but did not answer.

Sakina stood up and walked over. "Cain, can I ask you something?"

"I don't see how anything I say could possibly stop you."

Sakina hesitated, but decided to continue. Cain could be as off-putting as he wanted, but she wasn't about to let this go now. "Why didn't you want me to come with you?"

Cain closed his eyes and Sakina knew that he had been expecting this, and possibly dreading it. "What do you think?"

"I think you thought that I would get in the way, that I'd slow you guys down!"

"Shh, don't wake the others," Cain said, putting a finger to his lips. He dropped his hand and wondered how many times he would have to tell people to be quiet. Did they know nothing of volume control? "By the way, thinking another person's thoughts? Unless you happen to be a mind reader, that will most often end badly."

Sakina snorted. Like she needed teaching from Cain. "Then why?"

Rokir snored loudly and both Sakina and Cain jumped. Rokir jerked awake, groaned, and rolled over, shaking himself as he got up.

"G'morning..."

Sakina went to see to Nash, making grumbling noises as she went. She didn't want to push the topic with the others around to hear.

Rokir watched and asked, "What's wrong with her?"

"I think she did not get enough sleep last night," Cain said mildly. "Perhaps your snoring kept her up?"

"At least I don't talk in my sleep!" Rokir said, his fur bristling.

Cain looked at Rokir, his eyes narrowed. "Do I?"

Rokir grinned and cocked his ears. "I think I hear worry. Has Cain been telling his secrets in his sleep I wonder?"

At the singsong tone in his voice, Cain turned away and said, "The only thing I am wondering is what to do with your breakfast, since you do not seem to want it. Maybe Nash can eat some."

Nash's ears twitched and she snorted when Rokir yelled, "Oh come on! Don't be cruel!"

When everyone was awake (Aegle with much grumbling as he wasn't much of a morning person) and eating their breakfast, Cain asked how everyone was enjoying their meal.

Sakina mumbled something while Rokir said, "I love it. I can't believe you actually cooked this."

Aegle suddenly seemed more awake as his face turned a curious shade of green, and he looked at his plate with a dawning sense of apprehension. "Cain made this?"

"Of course I did. Oh, that's right, you were still asleep." Cain waited a moment before asking, "What do you think of it, little mouse?"

"It's really good," Aito started. Actually, she thought it was a vast improvement on what she normally had at home. "But...uh, what is it?"

"You don't recognize it?" Cain asked, feigning innocence. "It's an old Seranu recipe: it's, ah, well..."

He tapped his chin and at his hesitation Sakina and Rokir both looked at their food with the same apprehensive look Aegle had given his.

"I...think I'm full," Aegle said politely before putting his plate down.

"Me too," Sakina said, soon followed by Rokir. All three found something else they needed to attend to, leaving Aito bewildered.

"What's wrong with them?" she asked Cain as she helped him clean up.

He merely shrugged. "I suppose there are some things people just do not want to know. It seems that even curiosity has its limits."

For the first time since they had set out yesterday, Aito saw other travelers. Their path began to meet and merge with other roads soon after they had started going again. Ahead and behind them she started to hear other sounds besides the normal quiet rush of the wind in the tall grass and the trill of birds' voices. Only once did they pass a cart, pulled by a very normal-looking horse, headed in the other direction. The verkoni with the cart barely noticed them, too busy laughing and cajoling each other to pay attention to other travelers.

Anyone else must have been going in the same direction as them, Aito thought. This thought was confirmed once they passed through the last of the tall grass to find beyond a gradually sloping space, which made a sort of valley before rising up into a hill. There were houses far and near, all made of stone with thatch roofs. On the hill before them was Farrhing. Aito had no doubts as to what city this was. Thick stone walls rose part of the way up the slope, appearing even thicker and imposing because of the angle. Only spires and the very tallest buildings could be seen beyond the high walls.

Their path led to a gate in the wall, where several roads spider-webbed to meet at the wide gate on their side of the city. There was a queue around the gate, and Aito realized that the people were being let through one group at a time by a pair of guards.

Their group stopped at the rear to wait for their turn. Rokir stood on his toes as if to look over the heads of those in front of them.

"Who are the guards? Do you recognize them Cain?"

"Why does it matter?" Cain snapped, though not from anger or impatience with Rokir. He was trying to get something out of one of Nash's side bags, but she was constantly moving out of his reach, pulling Aegle along with a jerk of her lead. "Can't you hold this beast still?"

"I'm trying," said Aegle. He planted his feet against a rock and braced himself. Nash nimbly darted out of Cain's reach until she was halted by lack of lead: it was wrapped around Aegle, who had only managed to keep his arms from being pinned to his sides by holding them up over his head.

"Perfect." Cain darted in and started rummaging through the bag.

"Uh, Cain, do you think you could hurry it up?" Aegle asked out of the side of his mouth, afraid to make any sudden moves now that he was trapped face to face with Nash. Nash snorted, about as happy with the arrangement as he was.

"Got it!" Cain crowed as he stepped back from Nash, holding a packet in his hand. Nash snapped her head in his direction, causing the lead to lose its tension and begin unrolling. Aegle hit the ground and rubbed his side where the lead had bit into him.

"Oh," he groaned, "I thought my ribs were about to break." He didn't mention what he thought Nash was about to do to him there, though that had occupied most of his thoughts at the time.

"Good...creature thing," Cain said. He started to pat Nash's nose, but thought better of it just in time. The line had moved up, and they came closer to the gate.

Rokir saw the guards' faces and swiftly moved closer to Sakina and Aito. His ears had fallen and he was slouching as though he thought he could make himself invisible. The group in front of them paid the toll and the guard on the left, an efficient looking tyrok (he looked like a Rottweiler, actually) made a series of marks on his chart while he asked the next group, "Business or pleasure?"

He said it with the monotonous tone of someone who is repeating a pointless formality, not really expecting an answer.

"A little bit of both I suppose," Cain said, while the guard on the right, a gaillos with peppery hair, counted.

"Let's see, three talins a person, one for the kid, so that's thirteen talins, plus—Great Stoin, what is that thing?"

"That's Nash," said Aito. Nash nodded her head in agreement and the guard jumped in spite of himself.

"But-what...?"

Cain sighed as he pulled some money out of the packet. "Let's call it two talins for the odd creature, all right?"

The guard nodded and gulped when Nash gave him a nice view of her teeth. That was what they usually charged for other pack animals, at least.

They were halfway through the gate when the tyrok keeping track of the marks looked up. He stared for a second and then said, "Rokir? Is that you?"

Before Rokir even had a chance to answer, the guard on the right took a second look and said, "Why, it is. And look who he's got with him, Cain Crusan!"

Both guards met each other's eyes and burst out laughing, long and loud, until they were gasping for air and Aito thought she saw a tear coming out of the tyrok's eye.

"Ha, ha, h-how did you two—" The gaillos couldn't even finish his sentence, and the tyrok was doubled up.

Sakina and Aegle looked about as puzzled as Aito felt. Rokir's eyes and ears were turned to the ground, and if tyroks could blush under all that fur he would have been bright red. Cain went that cold way of his, until they could almost feel it, but other than that he showed no emotion. He started to lead them forward until the tyrok threw out an arm to stop him.

He seemed to have regained his composure enough to speak, it seemed. "This is some kind of joke, right? What are you two doing back in Farrhing?" He looked at Cain and tried to fake some sincerity as he asked, "You don't have some kind of death wish, do you Crusan?"

"No, I do not. Why, do you have one you wish to see fulfilled?"

That seemed to sober the guard up some. He said, "We were told that if we saw your face this side of Farrhing, we were supposed to send you to the caps. Hm, how do you think the higher-ups knew that Crusan would be coming back, Freel?"

The gaillos shrugged. "I don't know, maybe they heard the sounds of Duna celebrating yesterday."

Both guards started laughing again at their own wit. Perhaps what happened next was simply an accident, but Cain bumped into Aegle, who released Nash's lead. Nash, with her new found (though short lived) freedom, turned on the guards to celebrate. Several minutes later they had Nash back under control again, but the guards didn't look so happy anymore. Their uniforms had been torn to shreds, and the people outside of the gates were the ones roaring with laughter now.

"Sorry, I have no idea what came over her," Cain called over his shoulder. Once they were out of hearing distance, he patted Nash's side and said, "Good girl. I knew there was a reason why we kept you around."

Nash looked the happiest anyone had seen her since they left Duna. Her eyes were bright and her small tail was moving back and forth happily.

***

Aito's first impression of Farrhing was one of pure awe. She didn't think she had ever seen so many people in one place before. The streets were packed with people all going different ways and calling out to one another. The streets twisted away from them in so many directions that Aito had no doubt that she would get lost within seconds of being on her own. All of the buildings around them had a precise, fine look to them, and even if they didn't all look the same with some old, some new, they all had the same feeling of belonging together like they were all planned by the same builder. Aito had always lived in a small town, and all of this made it seem even smaller.

Cain sighed and it was hard to tell if he was happy to be back or not.

"Should we go to the caps now?" Rokir asked.

"I don't really have much choice, do I?" Cain said. "They are bound to send a message up soon. While I attend to that, you four can—"

"Wait, we're splitting up?" asked Sakina. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Do you think I would be suggesting it if it were not?"

"But we don't know the city that well," Sakina pointed out, but Cain was quick to strike that argument down.

"Who are you trying to kid? Rokir is part of the Royal Army, most of his time was spent right here in Farrhing."

"But—"

Cain put a hand over Sakina's mouth. "Stop that! You are not coming, and that's final." He let go and said, "The thief may be here somewhere, but we are not going to find him in the king's castle, socializing with soldiers. You four will search in the trader's district. Now that he is somewhere he can get a price for it, he will be trying to unload that painting."

Cain took Nash's lead from Aegle and left without another word. Watching him leave, Aito felt nervous. She almost wished she was going with him. Aegle was watching Cain leave as well, but with a frown.

"How did someone here know that we were coming?" he asked. "We didn't even know until last night."

"Maybe someone sent a message ahead," Sakina suggested. "It could have been Dean Padrone."

Rokir shrugged listlessly and said, "Who knows? Come on, the Trader's District is right up ahead. I guess we should just ask around for right now, until we have something we can go on."

He turned away and started to walk off. Aegle and Sakina looked at each other, and Aito could tell they wanted to ask about what the guards had been talking about before, but neither of them dared to bring the subject up with the tyrok. That may have explained the bad feeling that Aito got when they both looked at her.

"Come on guys," Rokir called from up ahead, sounding impatient. "We don't have all day."

"Coming!" Sakina called, and Aito found herself being pulled along, wedged between Sakina and Aegle. They followed Rokir, being careful to keep out of earshot which wasn't hard with the crowds all around them.

"Hey, let me go!" Aito said, struggling. It was futile however, and it was all she could do to just not be dragged.

"Shh," Aegle hushed.

"Listen, could you do us a little favor?" Sakina asked.

"Why should I?" Aito asked. "Come on, let me go."

Aegle tightened his grip, rather. "Kid, kid! We'll let you go. We just want you to talk to Rokir, find out what happened. Aren't you curious too?"

"Not really, no. And my name's not kid, remember?"

"Fine, little mouse—"

"Hey!"

"Just do this for us. Rokir will feel better if he talks about it, I'm sure," Sakina said.

"Why don't you do it then? He knows you two. Why would he tell me anything?"

"He won't tell us," Sakina said.

"But if you asked, I mean, Rokir can't say no to kids, isn't that right Sakina?" Aegle cajoled.

"That's right."

_Yeah, for brunch_ , Aito thought. After Cain's story yesterday, she had been too scared to come even close to Rokir, and she wasn't going to start now. She just shook her head.

Rokir turned down a street and stopped to wait for them. "Is something wrong?" he asked and Aegle and Sakina quickly released Aito.

"No, not at all," said Sakina. "I was just telling these two I thought it would be a good idea if we split up while we asked around. What's the phrase, 'cover more ground?'"

Rokir thought it over. "I suppose that would be all right, as long as we stick to one area."

"Great!" Sakina grabbed Aegle's arm and said, "Well, we'll start over there. You and Cain's little mouse can start on this side, all right?"

"Ah, we'll meet back here in about an hour!" Rokir called after them, puzzled by their swift disappearance.

Aito ground her teeth. She couldn't believe they would leave her like this! Well, she could, but she had been hoping for more out of Sakina.

"Well..." Rokir coughed and said, "I guess we should get started then."

Aito followed Rokir down the street. It turned out that the Trader's District was a huge street, packed with stalls on both sides, not to mention the stores. Aito found she had to stick close to the tyrok so as not to lose him in the oppressive crowds.

The first stall they came across was full of women (not human women – they were of all races, but almost all female) fighting over the fabrics there. Rokir had to lean close to the vendor and bellow to be heard.

It didn't seem that the vendor heard him though, because it sounded like he said, "No I haven't seen anything like that. Have you tried the ice cream shop?"

Or at least, that's what Aito thought she heard, but it is hard to hear when you're squeezed in between two people fighting over a horrible yellow piece of fabric. It seemed Rokir had heard something different, but it was doubtful the thief would have stopped there and even if he had walked right under the stall keeper's nose it would have been amazing if he had noticed.

Rokir said something then, but Aito couldn't hear. A gaillos bumped into Aito, and she soon found herself being bumped and pushed this way and that until she was pushed out of the crowd entirely.

Rokir soon pulled himself out too and gasped out, "That was horrible. Are you okay?"

Aito nodded, still keeping up her silence.

Rokir blinked, uncertain how to deal with this sudden change from the inquisitive kid from yesterday. "Erm, maybe the owner of that store over there will be better. What do you think?"

Aito nodded again and Rokir sighed. "Is something the matter, kid?"

"Eh, no, I mean, uh-uh..." Aito stammered.

"Is this bothering you? Looking for your friend like this, I mean. If it bothers you that badly, then maybe—"

"No, it's not like that! I mean, he's not—Eh..."

Rokir's ears fell. He was sure he had figured it out then, but it seemed something else was bothering the kid. "Okay then, let's go."

It seemed that the owner of the parts store had seen nothing of anyone that looked like the thief. Neither had the tyrok in the antique shop or the verkoni in the tailor shop, although the verkoni did have quite a lot to say about Aito's clothes, none of which was very nice. The stalls were little better, and after several of these over packed areas neither of them were in much of a good mood.

The last store they went into was one with an odd pink sign. There were a lot of odds and ends in the window, so they thought that it might be worth a shot. When they went inside, Aito thought they were the first ones to have done so in years. Everything was covered in dust and for a moment she thought the shopkeeper was too, but the verkoni's gray fur was from age, not dust.

"Can I help you?" she asked in a quiet voice, moving slowly from the back of the shop.

"We're looking for somebody, a gaillos with white hair and wings. We think he might have been trying to sell a painting somewhere around here," Rokir said. "Please, have you seen him?"

The verkoni thought and said in a slow, careful way, "It has been several days since I have seen someone like that. A very polite fellow, he came in and looked around for a while, but found nothing to his interest."

"Oh...Do you know where we might be able to find him?"

The verkoni shook her head. "I haven't seen him since. Though, most of the gaillos tend to go toward the western end of this city. Someone in that area may have seen him more recently."

Rokir nodded his head politely. "Thank you, ma'am."

"Thank you!" Aito piped in. Outside of the shop Rokir laughed with relief.

"Finally." He stretched and said, "Let's head back and see how the others did."

Aito nodded and they went back to the part of the street where they had come in at, but Sakina and Aegle weren't there yet. After a couple of minutes of waiting, Rokir started to tap his foot. "Where could they be at?"

"I don't think it's been an hour yet," Aito said. She didn't know what time it was, so she couldn't be sure.

"What?" Rokir looked at his watch. "Oh, you're right. We must have walked faster than I thought..."

Aito certainly believed that. Rokir moved fast and the crowds tended to part in front of him, though not for Aito. She had come close to losing him several times.

Rokir looked around and spotted a nearby ice cream shop. "I think we've earned it, don't you?" he asked Aito as he pulled her towards it. Aito just nodded and tried to keep up before she was dragged.

It was nice though, sitting at one of the outside tables licking an ice cream cone. Aito had no idea what flavor this was, but she liked it a lot. Rokir seemed to be enjoying himself too, and after a minute or so of swinging her legs and stalling, Aito said, "Um, Rokir?"

"Yeah, kid?"

"Um...Back at the gate, why were those guards so mean to you and Cain?"

Rokir took his time answering. "Do you remember how I mentioned that I was a soldier, and you asked what a soldier was doing at Duna?"

"Yeah, you never answered me."

Rokir coughed and said, "Well, that's kind of the reason why the guards were laughing at me. Being sent to Duna is not exactly an honor, you know."

"Oh..." Aito thought about it and said, "Did you do something wrong?"

"I ticked off more than a few people, yeah." Rokir contemplated his cone and then smiled in spite of himself. "It's not like Duna was much of a punishment, at least not for me."

"You're glad to be back here again though, aren't you?" Aito wheedled when she saw that smile.

Rokir grinned. "Yes, I am. I think deep down, Cain is too. Between you and me, I think Cain would have tried to come here first, whether the thief came this way or not."

"So why did they laugh at Cain?"

"Obviously because they didn't know him. If they did, they would have been a little more careful about it, I think."

Aito smiled as she remembered the Nash incident. She and Rokir looked up when they heard someone yelling for them and saw Aegle and Sakina running toward them.

After Sakina and Aegle had gotten some ice cream of their own, Rokir asked, "Did you two have any luck?"

Aegle shook his head. "Not a bit. I thought we had something at this store with all kinds of paintings, but the guy behind the counter said he'd never seen a guy like we described. I almost got arrested because someone accused me of shoplifting though."

"What?"

"I was talking to the owner of this stall in an off moment, and without thinking I picked up this shirt while I was asking about the thief, to get a better look at it. The next thing I knew, these crazy people were surrounding me, and I got pushed away. Sakina had to calm the stall owner down for me, and we got nothing else out of him."

Sakina nodded. "He was a little over stressed I think. This must be a busy time of the day."

Rokir laughed. "Are you joking? This place is always like this as long as the stores are open."

Sakina smiled and said, "You seem happier. Did you two find out something?"

"Not much." He told Sakina and Aegle what the shopkeeper had said about the gaillos and the western side of the city. While he was talking, Sakina flashed Aito a smile.

Aito blinked and then looked at her cone. That was right, they had expected her to talk to Rokir and cheer him up. Well, he did look better than before, she realized, but she still couldn't see why Sakina or Aegle wouldn't do it.

Her thinking was interrupted by a voice coming from behind her. "Well, well, nice to see you all hard at work."

Aito looked around to find Cain standing behind her, his hands on the back of her chair.

"How did things go up at the caps?" Rokir asked.

"Well, I've been offered a couple of rooms in the caps where we can stay the night. Apparently, there are things that still need to be discussed," Cain said. "That beast of Aegle's is in the stable there now."

"She's not mine," Aegle said. "I only got her because you told me to."

"So, we're staying the night in the caps?" Rokir asked. His face was a mixture of expressions, as though he wasn't sure how to feel about this new development.

Cain shrugged. "Yes. It seems that I, at least, have no choice in the matter."

Aito wondered what the caps was as she followed the others away from the Trader's District. It must have something to do with the Royal Army, she thought, from the way Rokir had looked. Cain and Rokir were talking now, walking ahead of the others. Sakina and Aegle were on either side of Aito again, but at least this time they weren't holding her against her will.

"So..." Sakina started.

"What did Rokir say?" Aegle asked, cutting straight to the point.

"Eh..." Aito hadn't been expecting this. She looked ahead at Rokir, who was laughing with Cain now about something. Aegle and Sakina were looking at her expectantly and after a moment Aito said, "He really didn't say anything. I think he just cheered up because of the ice cream."

This was partially true. From what Aito had seen so far, Rokir always cheered up when food was involved.

"But—"

"Come on," Rokir called from up ahead, turning to look back at them. "You guys are so slow today! Hurry up before you get left behind."

Taking this as an excuse to escape from Aegle and Sakina, Aito said, "Sorry, can't talk now!" and ran to catch up with the others.

Contents
Chapter 7: Of Leonidas, Doors, and the Cat's Meow

So once again they were following Cain, this time through several streets that twisted and turned in every direction. As they went, the buildings and houses became larger and grander, until they came out onto a wide street where it was a mixture of the biggest homes and businesses and then simply the oldest. Everything, especially the road, had not a shabby, but more of a well-worn look to it. No small wonder there, considering the number of people that were coming and going along this road and its side streets.

The way that Cain led them, through much bumping and jostling to get through the crowds, ended at a massive gate in an equally impressive wall. The gate stood open with a guard on either side staring straight ahead. Through it (and above it) Aito could see a castle, the same one that had been attracting her attention ever since it came into sight. Aito craned her neck back, but she could barely see it now because of the walls. Still, the little view through the gate was awe inspiring.

For a moment, it looked as though Cain was going towards the castle, until he veered off onto a side street. Aito looked back for one more glance and noticed that the guards were sweating in their heavy gear. They must be burning up, she thought, followed soon by, why do they need guards to guard a gate in the middle of a city? Are they expecting an attack or something? As she followed the others through the narrow alleys she decided it must just be for show, though it seemed like it must be hard on the guards when summer came around.

These alleys (they were really too small to be called streets) stretched on and around. The only way to mark where they were going was by keeping the castle in sight, until it was in front of them once again.

Cain had led them back to the castle's wall, but this part was nothing like the entrance they had seen before. The ground here was torn up and terrible. Aito's pants leg got caught on a broken stone and she had a hard time getting it free without tearing it. While she was attending to that, Cain went to a small door in the wall and, after several tries, managed to get it open with a loud, rasping creak. He had to hold the door open with his back while the others filed in, and when Aito was through he let the door go. It swung shut by itself, sending a trail of rust after it.

"If we were going to come here anyways, then why didn't we just go through the front gate?" asked Sakina.

Cain dusted his hands off and said, "I thought this way would be more fun."

"Yeah, a barrel of laughs," Aegle grumbled.

Behind him Rokir was examining the door they had come in through and said, "I thought this door was always bolted. If we had known about this when I was in training, we would have used this way to get back in at night."

"Oh, did you accidentally get locked out a lot?" Aito asked.

"Well, not accidentally..." Rokir started.

"So you got locked out on purpose? Why?" Aito asked, trying to make sense of this.

Rokir started to look uncomfortable. Why did she always have to ask so many questions? In an obvious attempt to change the subject, Rokir pointed at something behind Aito and asked, "Hey, what's going on over there?"

While Aito turned around to look, Sakina leaned close to Rokir and asked, "What _did_ the recruits do at night?"

Rokir turned away and said in a gruff voice, "That's Royal Army business, that is, and therefore not yours."

Aito hadn't paid attention to where they were at until Rokir had said something. Now she saw that Cain had brought them to a little courtyard of sorts. Straight ahead was the castle, of course, but to the left and right were two small buildings. The one on the left was surrounded by a tight group of people trying to see in through the door. Aito heard a nervous sounding horse and realized that it must be a stable. There were long flaps in the walls that could be set up to let fresh air and light in, but the ones on their side were closed off.

Cain walked straight up to the group of gawkers, leaving the others to follow. As they came closer, they could hear what they were saying to each other.

"Do you think it could be somebody from Rorin?"

"No way," a young gaillos said, "Diplomats never ride anything like that."

"But it's definitely from Rorin," an older verkoni said with the tone of someone who is sure of what they are talking about, or at least think they are. "It's gotta be. You don't see that sort of thing in Tanil, that's for sure."

"So, who do you think brought it then, if you know so much?" someone else asked.

"Can I help you with something?" Cain asked in a low voice that carried farther than it should have been able to.

All of them jumped and whirled around as one. Cain knew how to grab people's attention, that was for sure. There were several harried, half-heard responses, and then everyone found something else that needed to be done as far away from here as possible.

A korin came from around the building and stopped when she saw their group. "Oh dear, uh, Cain Crusan?" she asked.

Cain nodded. "Yes, that would be me," he answered, glancing into the stable with a small smile.

"Oh, oh! Uh, that is, we were expecting you to come in through the main entrance. Uh, not that—ah, if you'll follow me I can take you to the small dining room and then let them know that you've arrived."

"That would probably be best, thank you," Cain said. The korin turned away and Aito could see the backs of her ears were turning red. Aito knew what that was like. She wondered if Cain could possibly know how off-putting he was. Cain followed the korin and started to whistle a piercing little tune. Oh, he had some idea at least.

Before they followed as well, Aito and the others shot a look inside of the stable to see what the fuss had been about. There on the far side, in the corner, was Nash with her head down, looking both sulky and irritated. On the other side stood the horses, all trying to stay as far away from Nash as possible while pretending like they had not noticed this strange visitor at the same time.

"There's at least five war horses that I can see, and she's got every single one of them cowering," said Rokir, his voice a mix between condescension and awe.

***

The korin led them into the castle and—well, Aito didn't remember much between going in and reaching what she had called the small dining room. There was just so much to look at, but the korin went so fast that it was hard to get a good look at anything. Everything was very fine though, and there were a lot of paintings and statues similar to those she had seen back at Duna, except these had a cleaner, brighter look to them.

The "small" dining room was somewhat plainer, but it still made Aito wonder about the rest of this place, if this large room was considered small. There was a long table and the korin directed them toward the nearest end, where there was already food and settings waiting for them.

As soon as they were settled the korin mumbled something about "just a minute" and then left quickly, just short of running.

Rokir looked nervous and unsettled, which was very unusual considering that there was food nearby. He kept shooting looks at the doors that he could see, and by the way he kept shrugging his shoulders it looked as though he was just barely able to keep from turning around and looking behind him.

"Just who were you supposed to meet at the entrance?" he asked.

"That would be me," a rich tenor voice called, soon followed by the sound of the double doors behind Aito being shut.

Everyone turned to see this new entrant, except for Cain who stood up to meet him.

"Well, well, Leonidas, it certainly took you long enough," he said, surprising almost everyone by sounding as if he was glad to see the newcomer.

Leonidas was a large verkoni with smooth black fur streaked here and there with gray and silver. He wore a simple uniform, but the few decorations that it had made Leonidas look both efficient and important.

Aito heard Rokir groan behind her. "I can't believe it Cain. You actually stood up the King's adviser-general!"

Leonidas laughed at that and at the looks on Aegle and Sakina's faces when they realized just what Cain had done. "I suppose I should have expected something like this from Cain, but that doesn't excuse you."

Cain bowed, deep, low, and full of sarcasm. "My sincerest apologies. I just assumed that as adviser-general you should be able to expect the unexpected. Or is that too unexpected?"

Aito's jaw dropped, and she wasn't the only one. Leonidas seemed to be very important, but Cain was being as rude as ever.

"Why should I ever come to expect anything with you?" Leonidas asked. He didn't seem put-off by Cain at all, and Aito realized that they were friends. It looked as though they were about to shake hands, but instead they gripped each other's arms and embraced.

Leonidas stepped back and examined the spread before him. "Let's sit and you can introduce me to your friends."

"Of course," Cain said, pulling up a chair. "Well, that's Sakina and Aegle. Of course, you know Rokir," he explained, pointing to each in turn. Leonidas looked at all of them, and nodded at each although he gave Rokir a stare that had the tyrok's ears drooping.

"They are guards from Duna as well, excluding Sakina who is still a student." Sakina made a face at that, but that wasn't going to stop Cain now. "And this is someone we picked up in Duna, who is currently in my custody," he said, putting a hand on Aito's shoulder. "Her name is—"

"My name is Aito," she cut in, knowing what Cain was about to say. On the other side of the table Aegle said "Ah!" with a small, satisfied grin.

Oops, Aito thought. Well, too late to do anything about that now. At least she didn't have to worry about—

"Which seems like a silly name to me, so I just call her my little mouse thief," Cain finished.

—that. Leonidas roared with laughter, but the others didn't seem so carefree. Aito saw Sakina look at her and then back at Cain while Rokir jumped a little at the word "thief." Leonidas didn't seem to notice this though, and throughout the meal he and Cain talked back and forth about a lot of names and places that Aito didn't know of with Sakina and Aegle throwing in a word or a story every now and then. Aegle seemed especially animated, and he kept giving Aito a knowing look that she soon grew to hate. How was she going to deal with this?

That thought occupied most of Aito's mind, or else she would have paid more attention to the rich food that she was eating. She wasn't the only one who was distracted. Rokir seemed unusually melancholy. He ate with far less than the usual gusto; that is, he wasn't trying to eat three times what any normal person should ever be able to consume.

Both were jerked back to reality when, during a lull in the conversation, Leonidas leaned forward so that he could see Aito from around Cain and asked, "If you don't mind my asking, how is it that you ended up in Cain's custody?"

He looked at Cain as if a thought had just occurred to him. "She's not your daughter, is she?"

Aito and Cain both choked for a moment and then shot a glance at each other. Neither could see even the merest hint of a suggestion of a resemblance and both thought that the other did not have to look _that_ horrified. It was the closest Aito had seen Cain coming to losing his composure, but within a second he had snapped back to his former self.

"I think not," Cain said, a little more forcefully than was needed perhaps.

Without looking at Aito he leaned closer to Leonidas and said something to him in a quiet undertone so low that even Rokir and Sakina with their sharp ears could not hear.

"Ah, I see..." Leonidas said after this had gone on for what seemed an extraordinarily long minute to Aito. The adviser-general mulled this over. "Very serious indeed," he said and, seeing that everyone had finished eating, stood up.

As everyone else followed his lead, several people appeared and began taking away the empty plates. Aito recognized them from the people who had been looking at Nash by the way they kept trying to avoid meeting Cain's eyes, and the sheepish way they walked.

Leonidas pulled a verkoni aside and gestured toward Aito and the others. "Please show them to their rooms. If none of you mind, I would like a moment to talk to Cain and Rokir – separately of course."

Cain immediately started to say something, but with practiced ease Leonidas cut him off before he could speak.

"Aside from you, Crusan. You know you don't have a choice in this."

Cain shut his mouth and seemed to shrug it off. No one dared, or much wanted, to say something so Cain and Rokir went with Leonidas while Aegle, Sakina, and Aito followed their guide.

"What do you think he wants with Cain and Rokir?" Sakina asked quietly so as not to attract their guide's attention.

Aegle shrugged. "Well, he is Rokir's higher-up, and then some. What anyone could possibly want from Cain is a mystery in itself."

Aito wasn't listening to the conversation. To tell the truth, she was fascinated by the verkoni they were following, or, to be more accurate, his whiskers. They were extraordinarily long, so that even though Aito was behind him she could still see them twitching. Or jump about really. Aito was just wondering if he was sniffing at something or trying really hard to hold back a sneeze when some part of the conversation got to her.

"They're not in trouble, are they?" she asked, thinking of the guards up at the gate.

"Uh, well..." Sakina paused, not sure how to answer.

"You should probably be more worried about yourself, thief," Aegle supplied. "In fact, now would be a good time for you to tell—"

The verkoni pivoted gracefully, turning to face them. "These are your rooms. Mr. Crusan told us which items to take where, and he was very specific about which one belonged to whom. These two are for Rokir and Mr. Crusan, this one belongs to an Aegle, that one is for a Sakina, and the one on the end..." He paused and his whiskers twitched furiously. "It goes to an, ahem, 'little mouse.' Ahem."

Aito didn't even start to blush. She was beginning to expect it now.

"Thank you," Sakina said.

The verkoni's whiskers stopped, cocked at an angle. "If you'll excuse me." With a bow and a swift twitch, he was gone, going back the way that he had come.

Sakina muffled a giggle, but Aegle wasn't to be distracted. He turned to continue questioning Aito, but she was already halfway in her own room.

"Good night!"

"What, good night? But it's not even late!"

The door was shut before Aegle could do anything and now he heard the definite sound of the lock clicking.

"Blast it!" Aegle rattled the knob, but it was a futile effort.

"Don't worry about it. We don't need to know right this minute," Sakina said, managing to keep her calm attitude even when Aegle shot her a nasty look.

"Doesn't it bother you that the only people she listens to are Cain and that pet Rokir? Someone needs to keep that thief under control, and I seriously doubt those two are up to it."

"She's just a kid. And Rokir is not a pet!"

"That doesn't matter. She's still a thief. Why should she be around if she's just going to get in the way and protect her friend? Like he's doing anything to help her now."

Behind Aegle the door cracked open. "He is not my friend, and I do not only listen to Cain and Rokir!"

Aegle spun around and yelped as the door slammed shut in his face. Rubbing his nose, he called, "Prove it and open the door."

"No way, not to you! What do you think I am, stupid?"

"Well, you did get caught."

There was silence behind the door. Aegle leaned close and said, "Listen, _Aito_ , you can't just keep putting this off. If you won't tell us anything, then we'll just have to—Ow!"

Aito peered out from around the door and found Aegle holding his nose and muttering.

"Oops, sorry."

"No, you're not!"

Aito thought about it. Aegle probably had a point there. She didn't really like him much, but she was still a little sorry, so she didn't take it back.

"You still haven't told me why I should tell you anything."

"What, you mean like incentive? Well, it's pretty obvious what's in it for you, you won't—"

Aito shook her head, keeping the door in front of her as if it were some form of defense. "No...What's in it for you?"

"What?"

"Well, you won't let it go, even for a second. Sakina even said you could wait until tomorrow, but you won't."

Aegle's face went even more haughty and proud than usual. "Well, of course you wouldn't understand."

"Why, because I'm a kid or because I'm a thief?"

Sakina decided to jump back into the conversation here and said, "We just want to catch this thief as soon as possible and get back to Duna, that's all."

"And not having to deal with Cain would be a bonus," Aegle added.

Aito had not heard how Sakina had begged to be allowed to come with them, or else she might have doubted what she had said more. As it was, Sakina and Aegle just weren't that good at lying, and she knew they were lying about something. She just wasn't sure what.

Aegle took this opportunity to grab Aito's door and swing it open, causing Aito to stumble and almost fall.

"Hey!"

"No harm intended. I was just afraid you were going to keep using it to hide, or worse, use it as a weapon again," said Aegle.

Aito saw the smile on his face and returned it with a Look.

"Is something wrong?" asked someone from down the hall with the definite tone that there better not be anything wrong, or else.

Everyone looked and saw Rokir. His shoulders were hunched and his ears and tail were down. Aito knew enough about dogs to recognize those signs and backed into her room.

"Not at all, we were just having a little talk," Aegle said.

Sakina stepped closer to Rokir, worry on her face. "Are you all right? What did he say to you?"

Rokir shrugged away. "Don't want to talk about it," he said with a hint of a growl. He brushed his hand across his face and sighed. "Which—"

"Your room is over there," Aito said, pointing at the door across the hall.

"Thanks, kid," said Rokir, stumbling into the indicated door.

Aegle waited until Rokir had shut the door before returning to Aito, but when he turned around he found her door shut and locked once again.

"Darn it! Come on, Aito, open this door!"

***

At that moment, Cain was waiting by a door as well. He had been "directed" into a lounge-like room to wait while Leonidas had his piece with Rokir, and right now he had taken to leaning against the wall rather than sitting in one of the chairs.

If there was one thing Cain knew about Leonidas, it was that the verkoni could hold a grudge. And if there was one thing he knew about the caps, it might have been that if you stood in just the right place and kept quiet, it was embarrassing how easy it was to hear what was going on in the next room. Thus, he had heard everything between the adviser-general and Rokir, and now he had the unexpected benefit of another soldier coming in to speak with Leonidas.

"Sir, His Highness would like to speak with you. He did not say about what."

"I think I have an idea. Speaking of which, Cain Crusan is in the next room. If you could come back in an hour or so and tell him something like..."

"Sir Leonidas is sorry to keep you waiting, but he was called away on urgent matters?"

"Very good! Then just send him back on his way if you will, thank you."

"Will do, sir."

Cain smiled to himself and waited until the two had left before setting out on an indirect course toward his room. Like Leonidas really expected it to be that easy.

***

The next morning it was gray and overcast. Aito looked out at the sky from the window in her room and wondered it if it was going to rain. When she woke up she'd had no idea what time it was. Standing here in front of the window she could occasionally see people walk by in the courtyard below. She could even see the door that they had used to get in yesterday and the stable Nash was in. Every now and then one of the soldiers or the gardeners would stop, look around, and then look into the stable for a minute or two.

Aito wondered if the others were up, but she didn't feel the need to go and check. After the way they had been last night and all of yesterday, Aito wouldn't have minded not seeing Aegle or Sakina anytime soon. They were almost as bad as Cain. Well, she thought, remembering the book, maybe not as bad as that.

Cain had made things so complicated. Aegle, Sakina, and Rokir still thought she was a thief and that she knew something about the real thief, and there was no telling what Leonidas had been told by now. Aito didn't understand why Cain was doing all of this. Did he want everything to fall apart?

Someone knocked at the door. Aito hesitated by the window for a moment before going over and unlocking the door. When she opened it, she found Cain and Aegle standing outside in the hallway.

"Good, you're already dressed," Cain said by way of greeting. "We're going to see an...acquaintance of mine, and you're coming."

"Good morning to you too," Aito answered, but Cain just ignored that. "Where's Rokir? And Sakina?" It would have been hard to miss those two.

"Rokir has some duties that he needs to attend to now that he's back in Farrhing, and Sakina is asking around in the Trader's District once again, with specific interests," said Cain.

"Meaning they're both in trouble," Aegle said. "Rokir with Leonidas, and Sakina with Cain for not keeping a check on me."

"Don't be silly," Cain said, turning away. "If they were in any real trouble they'd be coming with me."

Aegle and Aito looked at each other silently. There was no doubt to them about what Cain meant by that.

***

Outside of the caps, Aegle asked, "Just where are we going? And who's this 'acquaintance' of yours?"

Cain smiled. "You'll see."

If that didn't make them nervous, the place he led them to certainly did the trick. Cain didn't go the way they had come from before; instead, he took them through a series of alleys, that led on and on and on. To Aito they seemed like the hidden part of the city. Sometimes she could hear the masses of people on the other sides of the buildings around them, but she only got the rare glimpse of them when the alleys deemed it fit to touch the other side.

At first it wasn't that bad. Occasionally they saw someone making a delivery to the back door and the alleys were somewhat better than the main streets because they weren't as crowded. Then the occasional graffiti would pop up here or there, and the ground wasn't quite as even as it used to be because stones were missing. It was a slow decline, and Aito couldn't quite remember exactly when she started walking closer to Aegle and Cain. It might have been when she heard yelling from another alley just around the corner, or when a rough-looking tyrok growled in their general direction from where he was slumped against the building. Subtle gestures showed that Aegle was starting to get a little nervous as well, but none of it seemed to bother Cain in the slightest.

Suddenly Cain took another turn, and Aito found that they were back on a real street again. Well, sort of.

As Aito and Aegle blinked back the stars from coming out of the shaded alley so quickly, they both saw...well, not what they had expected. After the alleys, Aito had been imagining the sort of place from the movies that was dark, shadowy with lots of mist and full of all sorts of nasty types. Of course, that was just silly. While it was cloudy, it was still a far cry from the dark of a night scene. The buildings around them were nothing like the grand buildings around the caps, but even though some had boarded up windows and one looked as though the second floor had just come down to the first's level, it was still Farrhing. The buildings had that almost-same style as the others, though less grand and more humble.

And to look at the people, Aito could have never confused them for the outright thugs that she had imagined, and not just because she had, out of habit, only imagined humans. Okay, maybe one or two she could have, but for the most part no one looked that different from someone up at the front of the city. There was even a tiny chihuahua-like tyrok sweeping the street in front of her store that looked old enough to be Rokir's grandmother.

Cain stopped and looked around. For a moment, it seemed as though he didn't know where he was at, until he started walking again, headed straight for a little place just across the street.

Aegle hesitated however, his bright eyes flickering up toward the dingy sign. "'The Cat's Meow?' You can't be serious."

"Oh really? Why not?" Cain asked, turning to face him. "This is where my informant is more than likely at."

"This early?" Aegle curled his lip. "What, now we're taking the advice of a raging alcoholic as well? Then I must assume your child was of no use then. At least it's a step up."

Aito turned red. "Hey!" She wanted to add so much more to that (she'd had quite enough of Aegle) but Cain pulled on the back of her jacket and distracted her long enough to get his say in instead.

"The validity of my informant is my concern, not yours. If you want to stay outside, then you can. Come on, little mouse."

Aito wondered why she didn't have a choice too, but then she would have to be alone with Aegle. Compared with Aegle, Cain seemed a whole lot less of a jerk (although probably more annoying).

Aegle watched the pair walk in and then, with a rather over dramatic sigh, followed them in.

Inside of the Cat's Meow it was very dim and there was an odd, muggy smell. It wasn't that the windows were covered to keep the light out, it was just that they hadn't been cleaned in so long that the dust coating was more effective than any shades. It took Aegle a moment for his eyes to adjust, and then he could see several small tables in the middle of the room, with the walls lined with more private booths. There weren't very many people, but there were more than what Aegle had expected.

Across the room was a bar, behind which stood a burly verkoni who was watching Aegle with a frightening stare. Quickly Aegle found Cain and Aito and followed them around the tables. Cain had found whoever it was that he was looking for, and he walked up to one of the booths where the occupant was sitting with his back to them.

Cain made his presence known by throwing his arm over the back of the booth and saying, in a chilling voice that did not match the words at all, "Hello there, Gear! What a surprise, how long has it been?"

"Gah!" The occupant of the booth, an aponé, spun around and found his escape blocked by the tall seran. "Uh, I mean, hi Cain. It's been about a year or so, I guess." The look on his face clearly said he wished it could have been longer. His eyes flickered toward Aito and then Aegle and he frowned. "Just what do you want?"

"I thought it was about time you and I had a little chat. You don't mind if we join you, do you?" Without waiting for an answer, Cain waved a hand, directing Aito and Aegle to the seats on the opposite side of the table while sitting himself down next to Gear. The aponé squirmed a little closer to the wall while Aegle and Aito strove to sit as far away from each other as possible while sitting side-by-side in a booth.

Cain was the only one who looked somewhat comfortable, even though he was sitting at an angle because his long legs couldn't fit under the small table without kicking someone. Aegle, on the other hand, was livid. This aponé, Cain's so-called informant, was younger than Sakina! He was just a couple of years older than Aito, at most. Their jobs depended on catching this thief, and yet Cain was going about it like this?

The aponé in question was indeed young, with brown fur that had a sheen of health that Dean Padrone's hadn't seen in years. As for Aegle's description of a "raging alcoholic," he was drinking fruit juice through a straw. Altogether, as thugs went he was not very impressive.

Cain ignored Aegle's glare and said, "Excuse my manners. This is Gear, a somewhat impudent thief that attempted a rather daring raid on the Duna museum about fourteen months ago. That would be before your time there, Aegle."

Oh, so now Cain was going to bring up his seniority. Like Aegle needed to be reminded that Cain had been stuck at this dead-end job for longer than him.

Gear's ears perked up and he smiled at the mention of his past exploits.

"Of course, it came to a rather abrupt end when he walked straight into a certain seran guard because he was too busy watching his own tail."

Gear's smile disappeared. "It was dark! If you didn't wear those silly black clothes all the time—"

"It wouldn't make it any less humiliating," Aegle cut in. "What kind of thief are you?"

The aponé crossed his arms and sat back, fuming.

"Gear, meet Aegle, one of my associates at the museum. I would watch my tongue if I were you, Aegle might not be as lenient as I was that night."

"'Lenient?' You toss me out on my tail and send dogs after me, and you call that lenient?"

"Better than a jail cell. Besides, the dogs were illusions, they could not have harmed a hair on your tail."

"Yeah, I found that out _after_ I had already run halfway to Farrhing!"

There was definitely a slight smile on Cain's face while the little aponé grew steadily more frustrated. Aegle began to wonder if Can was just going to share annoying anecdotes. Why wasn't he taking this seriously?

Cain gestured toward Aito next, and she opened her mouth to introduce herself, but Cain swiftly intercepted.

"And this is my little mouse. Much like you, I found her wandering around the museum with something that didn't belong to her."

Aito turned red, but she didn't deny anything. However, this spiked Gear's interest enough for Cain to continue.

"Now we are looking for her little friend, and knowing your circle of friends..."

"Oh," Gear said with dawning apprehension. "You want me to sell out someone. What do you know about them?" He glanced at Aito when he asked this, trying to gauge how much damage had been done.

"Just what he looks like, unfortunately. He didn't seem to want to stop and give us details of his personal life."

This seemed to go well with Gear. Aegle saw him shoot a knowing smile at Aito. The kid didn't return it; rather, she looked at Aegle and saw something that made her turn away.

Aito murmured something about a restroom and left, headed toward the back. Cain's eyes followed her, but otherwise he did nothing. Aegle had to bite his tongue to keep from saying anything in front of Gear. That snake! This was why he was looking for an "informant." Aegle knew what Cain had meant by that – he had either failed, or more likely not even tried, to get anything from Aito. Some use she was then.

Cain went on to describe the thief to Gear and press him for information, but Aegle wasn't listening anymore. One thing was for certain: Gear was a terrible liar. As much as he denied knowing anything about this guy, it was written all over his face that he knew something. There was also something in the way his eyes lit up when Cain told him about what had happened at Duna.

After so many minutes of this, Aegle decided that he couldn't take any more, at least not without saying something that Cain would make sure he regretted.

"It's been a while. I'm going to go check on the kid," he declared and stood up. Cain frowned and Gear looked panicked at the idea of being left alone with the seran, but Aegle didn't care. He was tired of Cain's stupid games.

The barkeeper shot Aegle a hostile look as he passed by and went through the small door in the back. There was a narrow, drab hallway here, which turned off to the left suddenly. Aegle halted at the corner, as he realized that he could hear Aito's voice. She was talking to someone.

"I—didn't really, uh—"

"Ah. I did try waiting, but a guard came out before I ever saw you. But if that's the case, how did you get here?"

Who was that? Aegle cautiously looked around the corner. Standing about three feet away was Aito, facing him, though she was looking at the person standing in between them and thankfully did not notice Aegle. The person she was talking to had his back to him, but by his long white hair and Rokir's description, Aegle felt that he could hazard a guess. The thief!

Aito looked pale and scared, but Aegle couldn't understand why.

"Um..." Her gaze fell to the ground and the thief's back stiffened.

"Why...?" The thief did not finish his question. Aegle saw him raise a hand to his face and sigh. "I am sorry, er—"

"Aito."

"I am sorry, Aito. I think I see what's happened, and you somehow have managed to get caught in the middle of it."

A pained expression appeared briefly on Aito's face before vanishing soon afterward, but Aegle knew what that meant: you don't know the half of it.

"My name is Dismas." Aegle supposed this was included with a smile, because Aito attempted a weak one in return. "Perhaps now would be the best time for you to get away from them. I can help you—"

Aito was shaking her head. "I can't. Cain has something that I—" She broke off here, but Dismas had heard enough.

"Cain? Cain Crusan?" Aegle was unable to pull back fast enough, so when Dismas turned around the korin went forward instead. He didn't think about it. Just three steps and he tackled the thief.

The thing about gailloses is, they are extremely light for their size. They'd have to be to pull off flying. So, despite their equal size, Aegle had easily pinned Dismas against the wall. Maybe if he had seen how that went for Rokir that night at the museum, he would have rethought this.

As it was, Dimas's wings came out, the force of them hitting the wall freeing Dismas from Aegle's grip. Aegle was knocked backwards by the gaillos and he hit the wall opposite them, hard, and slid to the ground.

When Aegle recovered from his daze, he found Aito crouched in front of him, looking worried.

"Are you all right?"

"Get away," Aegle snarled and stood up. Stars danced in front of his eyes, but they cleared away in a moment. "Which way did he go?" he asked, not expecting an answer.

Aito's eyes went toward a set of double doors down the hall which were still swinging. Aegle charged down the hall and slammed through them into a small steamy kitchen. He immediately started to back up however when he found himself face to face with the chef of the kitchen. No small wonder. The chef was a huge Persian-like verkoni, and he didn't need the fluffy fur to exaggerate his size.

Aegle gulped and then recovered. A little. "A gaillos just came in here. Where did he go?"

The verkoni made a low, throaty sound, somewhere between a growl and a hiss. "Get out of my kitchen!"

"But—"

The chef grabbed Aegle by the ear and twisted it.

"Ai, ai!" Aegle started to pull away and gasped. There is nothing more sensitive than a korin's ear. The verkoni led Aegle up to the front, slamming the door behind him. Everyone turned to look and Aegle could just see Aito with Cain and that other thief through his tears. The chef led Aegle to the front door and gave him the royal boot.

Aegle groaned and wiped some of the dirt off his cheek as he sat up. Behind him the chef roared, "And I'd better not see ya in my kitchen again!"

When the door opened again, it was Cain and Aito.

"What were you thinking? Can you not keep your head down for half an hour, or do you just have to wage a war on everyone who looks at you the wrong way?" Cain asked.

"Don't give me that," Aegle shouted. "You fool! Your thief was in that building the whole time you were 'interrogating.' If it hadn't been for your little pet thief, we would have him right now."

"What?" Any resemblance of anger faded from Cain's face to be replaced by honest shock.

"Yeah! This close—this close to the thief!" Aegle gave a hollow laugh. "And it's all ruined because she stopped him to chat. If it wasn't for that, he would have walked straight into your arms with no way out."

Aito stared hard at the ground, while Cain's eyes became more icy and distant.

"Which way did he go?"

"He went out through the kitchen."

"Which connects to the alleys," Cain finished. He walked a couple of feet away and breathed out slowly. "Little mouse, come here."

Aito didn't look at Aegle. After a moment's hesitation, she walked over to Cain, her eyes still fixed steadily on the ground. Cain spoke to her, fast and low so that Aegle couldn't pick up what was said, but he could tell by the look on his face and the way Aito's shoulders slumped that it was some kind of telling off. Aito nodded once and Aegle came close to feeling sorry for her.

Well, until Cain said, "You two are going to the Trader's District to find Sakina. Maybe she can pick up a scent, so I want you to send her back here as soon as possible. I will see what I can find in the meantime. Do you remember the way back?"

Cain gave Aegle hurried directions and he strove hard to remember them. Aegle leaned forward and whispered, "What should I do about Aito?"

Cain looked at Aito. "She shouldn't be a problem now. Just keep her out of the way."

"If you say so," Aegle grumbled. So now he was on babysitting duty? Well, at least he didn't have to go anywhere near the psycho cook again.

Cain disappeared down the nearest alley and Aegle gestured toward Aito. "Come on then."

Aito nodded and followed behind Aegle at a short distance. Seeing she wasn't in any mood to talk, Aegle was free to focus on the way to the Trader's District.

Right on Leeway...Take two lefts and keep going until Cork Avenue...Why was this city so complicated?

Aegle had to dodge his way through several crowds of people, and it seemed like forever before he reached the Trader's District, and it took even longer (and a lot of shouting) to find Sakina in the mad throng of people.

Needless to say, Sakina looked surprised to see him. "What are you doing here?"

Aegle explained about how they had found, and lost, the thief with more than a few bitter words here and there. Sakina listened, but near the end she started to frown as if something was wrong.

"So, that's why we're here. Listen, Cain is really ticked, so you should get over there as soon as possible or else he'll take it out on all of us."

"We?"

"Yeah, me and the kid."

"So, where is she?"

Words couldn't begin to describe the dread that filled Aegle when he turned around and found that Aito was nowhere in sight.

Contents
Chapter 8: Of Dismas, Chases, and Helpful Strangers

" _Do you want to go home or not?"_

Cain's voice still rang in Aito's ears as she followed Aegle away from the Cat's Meow. She had never expected to see Cain that angry, but she couldn't blame him. When she had seen Dismas the thief in the hallway, she should have gone and told them, she knew that. At least, if she hadn't just stood there he would have walked straight into the others, but she did and he saw her, and recognized her.

Aito had to dart in and out of a mass of people, and once or twice she lost sight of Aegle. She wished he wouldn't walk so fast, but part of her didn't want to catch up with the korin.

Why didn't she do anything? Stupid, stupid! Aito thought to herself. She had even seen the pendant around Dismas's neck, but it felt like she had been caught between two different things that had kept her rooted to the ground. She did want to go home (she certainly didn't want to go through anymore of this). But...

Aito shook her head and realized that she had lost sight of Aegle again. She sped up, looking around as she went, but there was no sign of him. She saw a flash of fair hair turning down a side street and chased after it, but there was no sign of him. Aito lost track of how many times this happened, only to realize that the korin in question was not Aegle at all.

Finally, she stopped and leaned against a wall in a small, deserted alleyway to catch her breath. Think Aito, think! Aegle had been going to the Trader's District, right? Aito might not be able to find her way there, but she could certainly find her way to the caps. She had been able to see the castle from really far away yesterday, so how hard could it be?

Aito looked up and found the buildings towering around her and little else. Maybe it would help if she found somewhere a bit more open to start out from.

"Excuse me, Aito?"

Aito froze and turned around, looking for the source of the voice. It wasn't until she looked up that she spotted Dismas, using his long white wings to slow his descent. He landed rather heavily a couple of yards away. Aito felt a flash of the panic that had filled her back at the Cat's Meow and backed up.

"I'm sorry to sneak up on you like this, but I didn't get a chance to say anything before," he said with a slight smile as if being jumped at a restaurant was a matter of course.

"To say what?" Aito asked, perhaps a little bluntly. She couldn't say how she felt about Dismas, not after Cain had told her off like he had.

"You're traveling with those people, the seran and the korin, right?"

Aito nodded.

Dismas frowned. "I'm sure you have your reasons, but... Think about it. Do you really think that it's safe for you to be traveling with a seran? Much less Cain Crusan."

Aito's brain couldn't grasp the full enormity of this statement at first, but she did note that the way he said Cain's name it almost sounded like he was swearing.

"What's wrong with Cain?" she asked. "Well, besides the obvious." She was surprised to feel a little defensive.

The thief's face twisted, but before he could answer another voice called out, "There you are!"

"Oh Stoin, not him," Dismas groaned, putting a hand over his eyes as if the sight offended him. Aito turned around and saw Gear running toward them. When he stopped, she could see that he was out of breath, but that didn't stop him from trying to talk.

"Hah...So you-do know him! Dismas...didn't tell me-...you were looking-ha-for a partner."

"Partner? Who on earth told you that?"

"Cain said – you two...were working together!" Gear looked at Aito with an admiration that made her feel embarrassed.

"No, he was just helping me get out," Aito explained.

"Crusan went to you? What for?" Dismas asked Gear, startled.

"He was...asking about you." Gear coughed and straightened up, having caught his breath. "But I didn't tell him anything!"

Dismas frowned and touched the pendant hanging around his neck, thinking.

"Well, I need to be going," Aito said slowly as she started to back away.

Dismas seemed to come to himself and said, "My offer still stands, you know. If you need any help with anything, just ask. More than a few people around this town know my name and how to contact me."

"Where are you going, Little Mouse?" Gear asked. Dismas gave Gear a strange look at this, but he didn't notice.

Before Aito could even answer, Gear jumped in again. "Oh yeah, Cain never said, what were you trying to get from Duna? I tried to get the Yukosan stones, pretty flashy, right?"

"Though completely worthless," Dismas added. "Gear, Aito is not a thief, isn't that right?"

Aito nodded, but Gear said, "Oh, not that again! You tried to say the same thing about me before, and I never listened. Besides, Cain said she was a thief, and who would know better than the guy being stolen from?"

"I told you that because you are _not_ a thief, and you shouldn't want to be one."

"I am too a thief!"

"Name one thing that you've actually stolen, besides someone's precious time."

"Uh..." Gear paused and racked his brains, trying to come up with something.

Dismas sighed. "This could take a while. Why did he call you 'Little Mouse?' I thought you said your name was Aito."

Aito shrugged. "Cain keeps calling me that. I don't think he even wants to try and remember my name."

"Hm." Dismas frowned again and looked up. "It's about to rain. You should get back to your..." He struggled for a word and finally said, "whatever you consider them to be."

Aito nodded before turning and running back to the street. She had better find a way back to the caps before Cain found out she was gone.

***

Aegle panicked. "Ai! What am I going to do?" A vision of how Cain would react when he found out that Aegle had lost the kid passed before the korin's eyes and he was almost sick.

Sakina managed to keep a cooler head about her. "We need to tell Cain first. Don't give me that look, we have no idea where she's at, or if something has happened to her."

Aegle made a pained face and Sakina said, "Fine, I'll tell him. You go get Rokir, we'll need his help too. She can't be that far away, right?"

"Just somewhere in this city," Aegle said with more than a touch of sarcasm.

"Well then, get going!" Sakina said. "Don't just stand there!"

The pair split up, Sakina headed to the Cat's Meow, Aegle to the caps. Sakina found Cain behind the restaurant, waiting impatiently for her.

"Good, you're here. I've been watching, no one has passed through here so the trail should not be that hard to follow."

"There's something you should know first," Sakina said, eyeing Cain. All his muscles were tense and his face rigid as if it took all of his will not to do something. She started to see why Aegle had reacted the way he had. Still, someone had to tell him.

Cain didn't react visibly when Sakina explained that Aito was missing, except he started to clench and unclench his hands. Once she had finished, Sakina waited for Cain to say something.

He breathed out slowly and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he asked Sakina, "Which way did the thief go?"

"Definitely that way," Sakina said, pointing down the nearest alleyway. That way stank of gaillos.

"Do you think you could follow my little mouse's trail?"

Sakina shook her head. "Too many people. She does have a strange scent, but I don't know..."

"Then try," Cain said, turning away.

"Wait, where are you going?" Sakina asked. "Aren't you going to help me look for the kid?"

Cain didn't answer. He merely waved over his shoulder and took off down the alley that the thief had taken.

***

To someone who doesn't know the city, Farrhing is like a maze. So far Aito had had no luck in finding her way anywhere except lost. She was fairly sure that she was going in a circle, but then after a while all of the buildings started to look the same.

Finding an open space so that she could see the castle had seemed like a good idea, but it seemed that everywhere she went she couldn't see the building for the city and had trouble just finding a way out of the endless maze of alleys. This may have had something to do with the fact that Farrhing was not on level ground, so some areas were much higher than others.

A seran bumped into Aito and she stumbled but caught herself. Seeing a large group of people turn the corner she decided to follow them, and it worked.

Well, sort of. Following them caused Aito to end up on a somewhat familiar street. In fact, she recognized the place across from where she was walking as the ice cream shop where they had eaten yesterday. She had made it to the Trader's District.

Too bad Aegle and Sakina had left this place a long time ago. Aito searched the crowds, hoping to find a familiar face, but with no luck. She blinked as something wet hit her head and looked up just as it started to rain.

***

Cain found an outside staircase not far down the alley, and he followed it up and around the building until he reached the rooftop. This part of the city had many of these old wooden staircases, and the rooftops were often considered common ground, as each was connected to the other in a series of planks and walkways. It was possible to go around over half the city without your feet ever touching the ground, walking along a city built upon a city.

Cain edged around the roof's edge, until he reached a plank leading up to an even higher rooftop. He followed this and once there he crouched down and looked around. The gaillos would surely take to the sky, or get as close to it as possible. Up here he could evade almost anyone, and if he came close to being caught then he could take off easily and be out of reach in a moment's notice.

The position that Cain had taken allowed him to see a wide area, and he scanned the rooftops in sight. Time crept by, but the seran hardly stirred.

There! On that rooftop, over there by the water tower, was that something white?

Cain had to get closer to tell. From this distance, it could have been the thief or someone's laundry hung out to dry. As fast as he could without risking his neck, Cain made his way over in that direction, following the far from sturdy paths made to connect the city's buildings.

There was someone moving there, and as Cain got closer he saw the person lean over the edge, watching something on the streets below, before slowly walking a little farther down. While he watched the street, Cain watched him. He was still far away, but Cain was certain that it was the thief. There was something about the build of the gaillos and the way he moved that was unmistakable.

Dismas's wings were out, and as Cain watched he glided over to the next building along, a lodging house with a small room on the roof for particularly unwanted guests. The thief walked along the edge, his face turned to the ground below. Behind him Cain was moving closer, sticking to the shadows and to anything that could provide cover.

Once Dismas paused and crouched down, waiting for something. Taking this as an opportunity, Cain stopped as well and began to concentrate.

When Dismas moved again, he saw something move out of the corner of his eye.

"Crusan!"

Dismas took a couple of steps backwards, teetering on the edge like a tightrope walker. Cain was barreling toward him, hardly making a sound as he practically flew across the rooftop.

Reason caught up with the thief before Cain did, and he turned and leaped, gliding out of Cain's reach. The seran jerked back just before he went over the edge himself.

Dismas turned, watching the seran. This isn't right, he thought. This was nothing like Crusan's style, compared to how he had acted up until now.

From out of nowhere, a flock of birds came straight at Dismas and he veered sharply, almost flying straight into a building. He saved himself by pulling his wings back in and falling to the ground below, slowing his descent at the end by releasing his wings once again.

When his feet touched the ground he looked up, but there was no sign of the birds or of the seran.

"Oh, I doubt you will see anything up there."

Dismas's heart stopped for a full second before he was pushed face-first against the nearest wall. One hand was on his back, holding him pinned, while another arm was wrapped around his right wing.

"Crusan? But—" The thief groaned as he realized. "The one up there was an illusion?"

"As were the birds," Cain said, keeping his hold on the thief. "Honestly, I had expected more from you. Running around on rooftops in plain sight?"

Dismas, despite his situation, managed a small chuckle. "It seems that my curiosity got the best of me. You know how it is, you can never seem to know enough."

Cain knew the thief was baiting him, but he still asked, "Oh, really? And just what did you 'have to know?'"

Dismas closed his eyes as the seran added pressure to his back. He was getting to know the graffiti a little too well, and its color was giving him a headache. "Well, a certain question occurred to me when I was at the Cat's Meow—sorry I missed you by the way."

"I'm sure you are."

"What occurred to me is, what could Cain Crusan possibly want, that he would accuse an obviously innocent child of being a thief, and then proceed to drag her all the way to Farrhing?"

The seran didn't reply, but Dismas knew he shifted his weight because his hold changed.

"There's no point looking now. She's probably several streets away by now, although she has walked in one or two little circles."

Cain made an irritated sound. He couldn't do anything about the kid now, not in the position that he was in, so he had to do what he could.

"I can give you a way out of this, thief, just—"

"Give back what I stole, and then walk away scot-free? Somehow, I doubt that," Dismas said blandly. "Besides, I already sold the painting."

Cain had figured on that. That's what he had sent Sakina scouting for in the Trader's District this morning. "And what of the neck, ah, pend-...ugh..."

"Ah, I prefer to call it a pendant. Necklace just sounds too feminine," supplied Dismas. "As for handing it over to you? Not for all of the fake pardons in the world."

Something short, brown, and furry slammed into Cain, knocking him forward. An agonized yelp followed by a groan came from Dismas as his wing was wrenched from the seran's weight falling on it, but the thief found that he was free.

Cain had struck his head on the wall and stood less than an inch away, swearing as his vision slowly came back.

"Come on, Dismas, what are you waiting for?" asked a familiar voice. Dismas turned to see Gear standing there, looking smug. The thief didn't even need a second to think; he just grabbed the aponé by the arm and took off running, seeking to put as much distance between them and the relentless seran.

"Ow!" Gear complained, being half-drug behind the gaillos, "Put your wings up or fly!"

He was being knocked by Dismas's wings with every step, and he had to spit out a feather as he said this.

"Can't," Dismas said before pulling Gear up short and darting into an alley that was half-hidden behind a stack of crates.

"What do you mean, you mmf—?"

Gear couldn't finish his question because Dismas put his hand over his mouth. Outside of the alley, less than six feet away, Cain ran by. Both thieves remained silent, listening until the footsteps had died away.

Only then did Dismas remove his hand and whisper, "I can't fly. I think I might wrenched one of my wings when you knocked into the seran—what were you thinking, anyway?"

Gear scuffed his feet along the ground, hating how Dismas had turned from self-concern to scolding. "I saved you, didn't I?" His tone and the way he stuck out his bottom lip defiantly made him look even more like a child, but Dismas wasn't falling for that.

"You were lucky. If Cain hadn't been distracted—"

"But he was, and I did! See, we make a great team, just like I've been telling you." Gear smiled, oblivious as Dismas just sighed and focused on his wing. It wasn't broken, thank Stoin, but he was sure flying would be rough for a while. Dismas put away his wings, unable to keep in a sharp gasp as pain racked the right one, shooting straight into his shoulder muscles.

"Hurts, does it?" The question came from behind the two thieves, where there hadn't been anyone standing there a second ago. Had there?

Gear looked back, but Dismas didn't feel that luxury was available. He grabbed the aponé and took off again, but even unhindered by his wings he could still hear Cain a breath behind them.

The chase sent them down the alley and Dismas took them left, Gear managing to keep pace right beside him. From above a raindrop fell on Cain's nose, soon followed by a myriad of friends.

The rain didn't slow Dismas's mad dash down though, and as he lurched around a corner and saw the stairs right in front of him he instinctively went up, two, three steps at a time. Cain was right behind them and didn't slow at the steps. Dismas had said it himself, he couldn't fly. Maybe, if Cain could summon up the right illusions, he could finally end this.

One of the steps had a bend to it (they were all uneven) and had already filled with water. The next step up, Cain's wet shoes missed their grip, and Cain slipped, then fell to the ground below.

***

"Is he all right?" Gear asked, peering over the edge.

Dismas heard a groan come from the seran far below, but he didn't get up. "He'll be up again soon enough, unfortunately."

Dismas set off again, almost as fast as he had come up here, but not quite. Gear dashed after him. "Hey, where are you going?"

"There's something I need to take care of."

The two thieves were soon long gone, leaving Cain lying unconscious on the ground below.

***

"Cain! Cain! Oh Stoin, please be okay."

Cain could hear the babbling, but it took a while for it to register in his mind, and even longer for him to even try to open his eyes.

"Sakina?"

The tyrok's face was blurry, but it soon came into focus for Cain to see the relief there.

"Oh, thank you! What happened to you?"

"I felt like taking a nap in an alley in one of the worst places in Farrhing. In the rain, of course," Cain said, adding the last sentence as an afterthought when he tried to get up. Not only was everything hurting, he was also soaked through by the relentless freezing rain that was still falling. Sakina had to help him up onto his feet, and even then, Cain had to lean against a nearby wall until the numbness wore off to be replaced by a dull ache.

"Okay, so what really happened?" asked Sakina, finding it difficult to maintain her patience now that she could see Cain was going to be back to his normal self soon.

Cain briefly explained his encounter with Dismas (and the ground), but his mind was already on another matter. Once he had finished, he asked, "So, what about the little mouse?"

Sakina rubbed her ear and wouldn't quite meet Cain's eyes. "Well, I tried...The closest I got was in a street not far from here, in between some apartments.

"And?"

"She had definitely been there, and...so was the thief. I recognized the smell from the restaurant, but both were old and with it raining I couldn't follow it."

"How old?" Cain asked, wishing that he knew how long he had been out.

"It couldn't have been that long since they had been there, about half the time we've been searching, but with the rain I was lucky to catch the scent at all, much less details."

The look on Cain's face was terrible, but it grew worse when Sakina said, "We should get back to the caps."

"N—"

"Don't argue, Cain!"

Cain moved back, cornered as the tyrok turned on him, her hackles raised. The tall seran cowered as the puppy-like tyrok ranted, "You've sent me on a goose chase once already today, and there's nothing we can do now. We don't know where the thief is, or where the kid would go now that she's on her own. I can't smell anything with the rain washing away any hope of finding a trail right now, and you fell off a building and have been lying passed out in a back alley for who knows how long."

"That phrasing makes it sound much worse than it was, I assure you."

"Oh, really? So, this doesn't hurt?" Sakina asked, pushing Cain.

The seran winced as pain shot through his chest. "No?"

Sakina sighed. "We can't just go running around, you know that. Plus, they're going to be closing the gates soon, so if we don't hurry we'll be locked out of the caps."

"That's okay," Cain said as they walked, Sakina letting him lean slightly on her to keep from falling on his face. "The recruits are not the only ones who know how to get into the caps after hours."

***

Aegle groaned when they reached the caps, a low, mournful sound that was full of self-pity. "They're not back yet."

"That doesn't mean they haven't found her," Rokir said, trying not to sound doubtful. The two were both footsore after trekking from the caps to the Trader's District, then to the Cat's Meow and back again, looking everywhere for the kid. After not even a single clue to go on they had come back here, hoping that the others had found her.

Rokir shook himself, sending water flying around. He always dreaded rainy days like this. It wasn't like the rain bothered him, but he did hate all of Cain's "wet dog" jokes.

"Watch it," Aegle grumbled, moving closer to the caps' outer wall to escape the rain. Not far away a pair of guards shared the same sentiment, huddling into the little shelter they had and praying for their shift to be over so they could shut the gates and leave it to the night guards.

Rokir and Aegle stood together, looking back over the street they had come from. There was a moment of silence, aside from the rain pouring down, until Aegle spoke up.

"The kid, she didn't even know the thief. I heard them talking and..." Aegle paused when he remembered Aito's demeanor back at the Cat's Meow. "I think she's hiding something."

"You're worried about that now?" Rokir asked, turning to face him. "She's lost in Farrhing of all places, and you're worried about a secret."

"She could have just run away," Aegle muttered.

"She could have run away loads of times before now," Rokir pointed out. "I almost lost her once yesterday in the Trader's District, but she never even tried to run away."

"Well, she likes you, she's always talking to you," Aegle said.

Rokir shook his head at that, but didn't argue. He had the feeling Aito didn't like him much, although he wasn't sure why.

"Come on, you've noticed something doesn't add up about that little seran, haven't you?" Aegle asked.

Rokir remained silent, but he was thinking back. He remembered the first night back at Duna, when Aito had been wearing those strange clothes, and how Cain had bought her (somewhat) new clothes and other stuff the next morning. He remembered all the strange questions that she was always asking, and how little she seemed to know. He also remembered how Aito had avoided his questions of where she had come from.

"Well?"

Rokir shook his head. "Can't think of a thing."

Aegle looked doubtful, but he had other things to worry about when Rokir said, "Look, is that Sakina and Cain?"

It was. Aegle's stomach clenched when he realized Aito was not with them and he held back while Rokir rushed forward to help Sakina support Cain.

"What happened?"

Cain didn't seem to want to put forth an explanation, so Sakina tried to explain as well as she could. When she was finished, Aegle stepped forward and snapped his fingers in the seran's face.

"Cain? Cain?"

Rokir and Sakina started at this and looked. Cain had fallen asleep at some point with his head lolling, and didn't even stir when Aegle called his name.

"He's in a pretty bad shape," Sakina commented.

"Yeah, falling off a building can do that to you," Rokir said, pulling Cain so that the seran's weight was on him and off Sakina. "We need to get him inside, now."

Sakina and Aegle followed Rokir inside the gate. They were halfway up the drive to the castle when the gates closed, closing off the caps from the rest of the city. The outside gates would be closing all around Farrhing as well.

The three looked back and then at each other, none of them wanting to voice the thought that had occurred to all of them.

Ten minutes later Aito was standing on the wrong side of the wall, staring up at the castle.

"Man..." Aito knocked again on the main gate, but even the night guards that walked by on the other side would have been hard pressed to hear her over the rain that was falling harder than ever now.

The verkoni shopkeeper she and Rokir had talked to yesterday had been kind enough to give Aito directions back to the caps. She had also pointed out the hood on Aito's jacket and suggested she put it on before "she caught her death of cold." (Up until then Aito had just assumed it to be a fold from her clothes not fitting right, like her rolled up pants that were catching water at the moment.) Aito ran all the way here, but she hadn't been fast enough. It was probably a good thing she didn't know that she had just missed the others or else she would have found the sight of the closed gates even more depressing.

Aito hopped from one foot to the other. She couldn't just stand here and hope someone noticed her. She tugged at her hood, thinking. Rokir had said something about recruits sneaking in at night, right?

She turned and took off, following the castle's wall. Rounding the corner, she found the door Cain had taken them through yesterday. Rokir had said it himself, everyone forgot about this door. Cain hadn't even bothered to lock it yesterday.

So she pushed. Then she pushed with both hands. Soon Aito was trying to put all her weight up against the wet, slippery door. It didn't even budge an inch.

"Oh, come on! It worked for Cain!" A nagging thought reminded Aito that Cain was a lot stronger than she was, but that didn't make her stop trying.

"Perhaps I could help?"

Aito jumped and turned around and was relieved to see that it wasn't Dismas like she thought. A person came walking up from the street behind her, leading a horse behind him. She couldn't see his face very well because he had a hood up just like her, but from the little bit that she could see she thought he was a seran.

The horse's hooves made a lot of noise, clattering and splashing over the wet cobblestones, and Aito wondered why she hadn't heard it before now. The fact that this stranger was a seran like Cain (and like she was supposed to pretending to be) made her a little nervous, but at this point she was grateful for any kind of help.

"Yes, please!"

Between the two of them the door was forced open. It didn't come open easily, but with a startling groan and other noises of disagreement. Still, it gave way and Aito could get back into the caps now.

"Thank you," Aito said once they and the horse had managed to get safely inside before the door slammed itself shut. Even though she was breathing hard, Aito was fairly sure that the seran had done all the work.

The seran shrugged. "Not a problem. We both needed to get in, so why not?"

Aito thought she saw a smile under the hood, although something seemed a little off about it. Behind him his horse snorted, its breath visible now that the rain had made things colder.

"Ah, sorry," he said, speaking to the horse. He nodded to Aito and went in the direction of the stable to take care of his horse.

Aito watched, curious about this stranger, until she remembered the whole reason she had been desperate to get inside. That, and she remembered it was raining and she was already as soaked as you could get without going for a swim. Her pockets and rolled up pants and sleeves had enough water in them to be a lake.

She took off running across the small courtyard to the castle's door and, pulling it open, slipped inside.

"Hold it right there!"

Aito jumped, blinded by the light of coming in. It took her a moment to recognize the verkoni from last night, the one with the twitching whiskers.

"Look at yourself! Ahem, dripping all over the place," he said, his animated whiskers moving erratically.

"Well, it's raining outside," Aito explained, not certain how she could have avoided getting wet.

"Hmph." The little noise came out as he looked Aito up and down. "Ahem-hem. I will go and fetch some towels. You stay here."

"But—"

"You stay here, yes?" The verkoni said it again, more firmly this time.

"Yes, sir," Aito said meekly. Once the verkoni left she shifted a little, causing a new drip of water to start up, faster now. Aito sighed and decided there was little she could do to prevent that. Cain was bound to have found out that she had been gone all afternoon. She began to wonder if Cain was mad, but that soon changed to wondering just how mad he would be. Aito soon began to wonder if she'd be better off spending the night in the stable with Nash.

"Little mouse?"

Aito stopped, having already sloshed her way back to the door. Turning around, she saw the others. She almost didn't recognize Cain; in the elapsing time, he had changed into dry clothes, although his hair was still wet. Aito briefly wondered if it was the odd effect of wearing a white shirt that made him look so ill, before Cain had swept her up into a bear hug, laughing. Aegle, Sakina, and Rokir were soon there, and Aito was surprised to see the looks of relief on all their faces.

The happy moment soon ended when Cain released Aito and said, "Where were you?" Before Aito could answer he said, "What were you thinking? Do you have any idea—"

It went on from there, for much longer than Aito would have thought possible. She stood there as Cain went on, his voice growing louder as he vented out all the worry and anxiety that had been building up since he had first learned that she was missing. He only broke off when he felt someone tapping on his shoulder to get his attention.

"Ahem," the verkoni coughed, his whiskers jumping to the left, "If you're quite finished." He was holding several towels and pointed at the substantial puddle that had leaked off of Aito.

Cain looked down at the pool and seemed to remember then how tired he was. Slowly he mussed up Aito's hair and laughed wearily before taking two of the towels, dropping one on Aito's head and using the other to start soaking up the miniature pool.

The verkoni's whiskers jerked back and forth from sheer agitation. "About time."

Contents
Chapter 9: Of Rumors, Uniforms, and Dirty Tricks

Aito couldn't believe her luck. Cain didn't seem that mad, aside from the yelling. This may have been because he was too tired to be feeling much of anything right now, but Aito still thought herself fortunate for the moment when she headed up to her room.

The next morning, she didn't feel quite so good. Sakina told her all about what had happened between Dismas and Cain while she and Rokir got ready to go somewhere.

Falling off a building? No wonder Cain hadn't been himself last night, Aito thought to herself while she watched Sakina shut her door. She hated to think what Cain would do when he felt better. He had managed to yell so loud last night that Aito's ears were still ringing, and according to Sakina he had been about ready to pass out again then.

"Where are you two going?" Aito asked, trying to think about something else. Rokir and Sakina were both fully dressed and ready to go, and at that moment Aegle backed out of Cain's room, quietly shutting the door behind him.

"He's still asleep. That medicine I gave him should help with the pain," Aegle reported.

Sakina nodded. "Good. Make sure he stays off of his feet, and try to keep him from doing too much, okay?"

Aegle crossed his arms, looking put-out. "I do know what to do, you know. Healing is my specialty after all, not yours."

Sakina stuck her tongue out at Aegle while Rokir answered Aito's question. "We're going to go to all of the gates to the city and see if the guards remember anything about our...other thief, and then get them to keep a lookout for him. That way if he leaves the city we'll know when and in what direction he's headed."

"We should have done this as soon as we got here," Sakina said. "Cain's just too proud to accept help from anyone."

"Which should make my job fun," Aegle said, making a face that caused him to look like a gargoyle with a stomachache.

"After that we'll go by the Trader's District and see if we can't track down that painting. We should be back before dark if all goes well," Sakina said, ignoring Aegle. She started off down the hall and Aegle went into his room to grumble to himself, but Rokir hanged back.

"Oi, kid. You're probably going to be on your own for most of today, so stay in the caps, all right?"

Aito nodded, looking at the carpet. There was no way she was going out in the city by herself after yesterday.

"Come on, Rokir!"

"Coming," Rokir called. "Bye kid, stay out of trouble." He took off without waiting for a reply, running to catch up with Sakina before she got too far ahead.

On her own? Aito felt slightly daunted at the thought of being left alone in this strange place. What was she supposed to do? Her stomach growled, and Aito quickly realized what the first thing was going to be.

After their first night in Farrhing, Aito and the others ate their meals in the same room as all of the other soldiers and guards. There were a couple of others who didn't fit in either, but otherwise it was a mass of uniforms.

Besides the fact that everyone was much older, the mess hall reminded Aito a lot of the cafeteria at school. The high-ranking officials all sat together at a special table like the teachers, and everyone else seemed to have a table or group they always sat with. Aito just chose a spot at random after she was through the line and sat down with her tray, feeling a little out of place.

There was another difference between this place and the school lunchroom: the food was infinitely better, although it was harder to identify. Aito poked the orange and pink fruit sitting in the corner of her tray and it jiggled in a way that made her feel more than a little nervous. Okay, so maybe not all of it was better.

While Aito dug into the more appetizing portions of her breakfast, she couldn't help overhearing part of the conversation from the group sitting nearest her. Well, she probably could have helped it, but there wasn't much to distract her from a little eavesdropping.

At first they complained about training. It seemed there was a Sergeant Bane who had it out for just about everyone. They were on this streak for quite a while, but just as Aito was almost done eating she heard something that grabbed her attention.

"So, have you guys seen them? Cain Crusan and Rokir?" The questioner was a lean verkoni that looked like a tomcat. He leaned forward as he said this, instantly garnering everyone's attention.

A korin sitting across from him shook her head. "I heard they were here, but I didn't believe it. Have you seen them?"

The tomcat nodded. "I saw them last night. The tyrok was going down the hall, supporting Crusan. He could barely stand on his own two feet!"

"So I guess it's true what they said about him," another verkoni mused.

"Wait, wait, what? What do they say? Who are Crusan and Rokir?" A terrier-like tyrok said this. He was the small, eager sort of guy that everyone else always either ignored, or failing that, made fun of until he shut up so they could ignore him in peace.

"Rokir was here before you were, Trik. Nice guy, but he got on the wrong side of Bane somehow. Luckiest thing that ever happened to him, getting sent away for disobeying direct orders," the korin explained.

Huh. That didn't sound like Rokir. He always listened to Cain, even if Cain was being...well, Cain.

"Wait, I thought everyone was on Sergeant Bane's bad side," Trik said.

"That's because Bane doesn't have a good side," said a seran who had been silent up until now. "There's the way the sarge hates everyone, and then there's the unfortunate few who cross over to the dark side. Rokir's the only one I know of who didn't quit. They had to force him to go to Duna. The guy must just be asking for it, especially if he's hanging around Crusan again."

Aito played with the jello-like fruit, trying to ignore the odd feeling she had. She knew she shouldn't be listening to this, but when the topic turned to Cain...Well, who wouldn't have listened in?

"So what? This Crusan guy got on Bane's nerves too many times too?"

"Oh, no. Cain Crusan was high-up, way over Bane's head," the tomcat said with a knowing smile. "I heard he was about equal in rank to Leonidas, maybe even higher. Of course, this was a long time ago."

Trik whistled rather sharply, causing some of the other tyroks in the room to shoot him a dirty look. Aito knew what that look meant. If Trik didn't watch it, garbage cans would be in his future.

"If that's true, how'd he end up on grunt duty in Duna?"

The tomcat sniffed, offended by the idea that he might not be telling the truth. "The only thing he could have done: he ticked off the king."

Trik pursed his lips, but the verkoni sitting next to him cuffed him in the back of the head before he made the mistake of whistling again.

"How'd he do that?" Trik asked, rubbing the back of his head.

The others glanced at each other and the tom cat shrugged. "I heard he managed to tick off the last ambassador from Rorin and the king just barely avoided an all-out war."

"Really?" The korin said, propping her chin on her fist with her elbow on the table. "I thought he ran away. I heard the king wanted him to do something he didn't want to, and lost his rank because of that."

The quiet seran nodded. "I heard that as well, but I never heard what it was the king wanted him to do."

The group contemplated this for a moment. Just when Aito thought the conversation was over, the korin spoke.

"I wonder what they're doing here now. Did someone send for them?"

The tomcat leaned back and said, "Don't know. They didn't come by themselves though. Word is, there's a couple of others, including a seran kit."

"You mean pup," Trik said, eager to point out mistakes.

"Kid." The seran shook his head and went back to studying his cup of coffee.

"Kit, pup, kid, whatever," the tomcat said, dismissing the matter with a wave of the hand. "Plus, they've got some kind of animal, probably from Rorin. Brings up some interesting ideas, doesn't it?"

Aito felt the blush coming on and started to gather her stuff together. Whatever ideas they were going to deduce, she wasn't going to be around to hear them. Not to mention the tomcat seemed to have just caught sight of her, and it wouldn't take much for him to put two and two together.

When Aito stood up, the tomcat leaned toward her, a smile lighting up his face. "Hey—"

He didn't even get a chance. By the time that one word was out, Aito had dropped her tray off and was halfway through the door.

She was out in the hall before she realized she was still holding the squishy fruit. There was no way Aito was going to go back in there now. Aito lightly squeezed it, trying to think of what to do next. Well, until someone opened up the door behind her and Aito took off again, realizing she ran the risk of running into those soldiers if she stayed there too long. On a whim she turned down a familiar hall and went out into the small courtyard, blinking in the bright sunlight.

***

"You need to be resting," Aegle said, trying to block the door.

"Oh, rest is overrated. A good walk won't hurt, I swear," Cain said, getting to his feet and holding back a wince.

"Do you want to make the pain worse? You need rest, or else you will end up running yourself into the ground again, just like last night."

"I've already had plenty of rest," Cain said as he picked his jacket up off the floor. "Besides, I feel better. I'm sure it must be your wonderful medicine at work."

Aegle looked doubtful and walked over to Cain's bed, where the cup of medicine was sitting on the table next to it. "You didn't take any of it?"

"Oh, the smell alone was enough to get me up and moving," Cain said, being quite honest. He didn't see how anyone could smell the stuff and _not_ run as far away as possible.

"Okay, how about this," Aegle started. It was hard to fight Cain, but it might be worth it to bargain with him. "If you'll drink this medicine and let me put something on your back and leg to help it heal faster, then you can go wherever you want in the caps."

So far Cain had refused any of Aegle's remedies, and seemed determined to heal at his own pace. Aegle had the nagging feeling that he sounded like a mother trying to get a child to take its medicine, except Cain was much more stubborn than the average child.

"Why not do both at the same time?" Cain asked before opening the bedroom door. To Aegle's eyes he seemed to split into two, so that one Cain was holding the door while the other left.

"Cain!" Aegle took off after Cain. There was no way he was going to allow himself to be taken in by the seran's illusions. He knew for sure which one was the real Cain; the illusion didn't even look real, and Cain couldn't run anywhere.

After Aegle's footsteps had died away, Cain stepped away from the door. "That was easier than I thought it would be," he said with a slight sigh. He picked up the cup that Aegle had left behind and with a shudder, drank it. With some overly exaggerated coughing, Cain left his room and wandered off in the opposite direction of the way Aegle and his doppelganger had went.

***

Aito walked over to the stables, looking around the small courtyard as she went. There didn't seem to be anyone around at the moment; perhaps the novelty of Nash had worn off. There was the occasional passerby, but they hurried through the courtyard, intent on other business.

The stable's slats were all open today. Even though it was colder out and there were a lot of rain puddles around, it was still a nice day. Most of the occupants were romping or lazing around the paddock that connected to the stable to enjoy the fresh air after yesterday's rain.

Well, all except one. Aito paused at the corner of the stable and looked in at Nashua, who was standing just a couple of feet away, brooding. It seemed like she didn't get along well with anyone. Nash leered at Aito, but she just ignored her and leaned against the paddock fence, thinking.

She had a lot to think about, that was for sure. It didn't surprise her to find out that Cain worked here, or even that he had been as important as Leonidas seemed to be. It made sense, considering how he knew Farrhing so well, and how he knew about the side door, and how he was friends with Leonidas. It might even explain how Dismas knew Cain, and why he hated him so much. Well, maybe.

And that had Aito thinking about yesterday, particularly her conversation with Dismas. She replayed the conversation in her head as she watched the horses graze, until a sick feeling crashed over her.

" _Do you really think that it is safe for you to be traveling with a seran?"_

Dismas had said that yesterday, but only now did Aito grasp what he meant. But no, maybe it hadn't been meant that way? It's not like he could possibly know, right?

Suddenly, and for the first time Aito genuinely wished she was with Cain right now. Feeling much colder than she had before, Aito turned to head back inside.

It's odd, but sometimes when people talk about a certain person, that certain person will show up and the speaker will say something along the lines of "speak of the devil" so that they know the speaker was talking about them. While the same thing may not always go with merely thinking about someone, Aito found it was true enough for her.

She ducked down behind the stable wall, praying that he hadn't seen her, or that her eyes were playing tricks on her. What was Dismas doing here, of all places?

Aito couldn't resist another look, just to be sure. Across the courtyard, dressed in a private's uniform, was the thief. It shouldn't be, but it couldn't be anyone else.

Dismas looked around the courtyard and, horror of horrors, started to walk toward the stables. It was impossible to tell if he had seen Aito or not as he walked over with a slow, yet purposeful gait.

To describe Aito's thoughts at this moment would be extremely easy, as they ran along the lines of: _oh no oh no oh no oh no!_ So when a shout came from on top of the castle's walls and Dismas was temporarily distracted, it was Aito's body acting on its own that propelled her over and into the stable itself. Her mind was still trying to figure out how she did that while she crouched down with her back as far against the wooden planking as she could get without becoming a part of it.

She heard Dismas walk by, his soft footsteps made louder by his borrowed boots, and then he stopped. To hazard a guess, it sounded as if he was standing in the same spot by the paddock's fence where Aito had been thinking less than a moment ago. So her first trouble was less than a couple of feet behind her, while her second was staring down at her less than a couple of inches away. Aito was crouching in Nash's stall.

Aito slowly put a finger to her lips and Nash tilted her head a little. A silent conversation seemed to happen, until Aito held up the squishy fruit as a last resort for a treaty. Nash sniffed at it and then pulled it away from Aito with her teeth. Aito watched as Nash dropped it onto the ledge just over Aito's head and, without further ado, chomped into it.

Juice squirted everywhere and Nash slurped away while Aito wiped it off of her forehead.

"Urgh! What in blazes?"

Aito heard footsteps that came to be just a board's width away and tried not to hold her breath. She didn't dare look up when Dismas's voice sounded just above her head.

"Now just what are you? Well, other than an obvious lover of juicy fruit."

Nash didn't seem to be interested in Dismas. Above the slurping noise from Nash's snacking, Aito heard the boards above her head gently creak. Dismas was leaning against the wall.

"Wouldn't you be worth a nice bit," he said softly. Aito risked a glance upwards and to her amazement saw Dismas petting Nash's neck. The creature didn't stop eating, but her front leg pawed nervously and, afraid that she was about to be kicked, Aito thumped against the wall behind her to get out of the way. Maybe Dismas hadn't heard, she hoped.

"Hm? What was that?"

Darn.

Dismas leaned forward and Aito was inches away from being discovered when the miraculous happened: Nash finished eating. Dismas lost interest in any other strange noises when Nash snorted. That noise had much more interest, particularly when it was accompanied by a baring of teeth.

"Uh...oh." Dismas's feet skidded backwards as he jerked back, barely avoiding Nash's bite. Dismas muttered something and Aito heard him walk away.

Wait for it, wait for it...Aito peeked over the stable ledge and saw Dismas walk into the castle. She could have laughed, but Dismas wasn't gone yet.

"Thank you, Nash," Aito said feelingly as she stood up, brushing straw off the back of her pants. Nash looked at her and tilted her head with an inquiring look.

"And...I promise I'll bring you some more fruit?"

Nash nodded. That was more like it. Aito walked around her to get to the stall door and left the stable. She knew she had to tell someone about Dismas, there was no way that she could let yesterday happen all over again. But how could she get to the others without accidentally running into Dismas?

Aito crept back inside of the castle, sneaking peeks around each corner before she went around it. There was no sign of Dismas as she neared the stairs that led up to the floor close to their rooms.

"Aito," Aegle called, running up, and Aito jumped and came close to having a heart attack. She wished she hadn't told him her name.

"Aito, have you seen Cain anywhere?"

She shook her head. "No, but—"

"Darn it!" Aegle said, talking over Aito. "I can't believe it, that seran duped me."

"But I saw—"

"He's not in his room, but I doubt he'd leave the caps," Aegle said to himself, ignoring Aito. "Maybe he went outside...?"

"Well he wasn't out at the stable," Aito said. She wouldn't be having this problem if he had been.

"If you see him, let me know," he said, not even pretending to listen anymore. "I'll go check outside."

"But—but Aegle!" Aito said to Aegle's retreating back. "Dismas is in here, in the caps!"

But it was too late. Aegle was out of earshot and headed in the wrong direction.

"Ugh! I can't believe this," Aito said. Yesterday Aegle wouldn't let go of the fact that it was Aito's fault Dismas had gotten away, but today when she tried to tell him he wouldn't even listen.

"Can't believe what?"

"That no one will listen," she snapped, turning around. Her face turned scarlet when she realized that she had just said that out loud.

"Oh my, you just seem to be having trouble all around," said the stranger in a mild voice. "Am I correct in thinking that you were the one I found locked out last night?"

"Oh...Uh, yeah, I mean, yes. Thank you,"Aito said, stumbling over the words, and not just because she realized that she had been horribly rude, although that was a part of it. The seran that had helped her get back inside last night wasn't really a seran. Well, not entirely.

He was a little shorter than Cain, though still tall. He looked like a seran at first, but the angles of his face and his arms were all wrong, as if his bones had been stretched. He had a mess of brown hair, and in fact was hairier than a normal seran or human in general, and his eyes were shaped like Rokir's. Another set of glaring hints at his mixed heritage were the dog-like ears which were perched on his head halfway between where a seran's and a tyrok's would be, and the long tufted tail, and there were a myriad of other, more subtle differences. To add to his bizarre appearance he was wearing clothes that were a mix of tan and purple, an interesting combination to say the least.

Altogether the effect was odd, and had Aito met him under different circumstances than at the gate, she probably would have been just as scared of him, if not more, as she was of Rokir. As it was, Aito had already formed a high opinion of the stranger who had come to her rescue at the gate, and even his strange appearance could not banish it.

Aito managed to pull herself together and said, "Thank you," again. "If it hadn't been for you, I don't know how I would have gotten back in."

The half-seran shook his head. "No problem at all. By the way, what is your name?"

"Oh, uh, my name is Aidan Toft," Aito said. There was something about the stranger that made her feel like she needed to be more polite than usual. Perhaps it was because something about him, maybe the way he talked, that reminded her of her dad; or, perhaps it was because she was still embarrassed beyond belief at how she had snapped at him. It made her a little nervous whatever it was, yet the stranger still seemed easier to talk to than, say, Cain. "But most people call me Aito."

"Ah. My name is Kyriakos." Seeing the look on Aito's face, he laughed. "You may call me Kyrios if you wish."

"Thank you," Aito said.

"So then, Aito, do you want to tell me what it is 'no one will listen to?' I assure you, I am not no one," Kyrios said with a smile.

Aito realized that Kyrios was really asking, unlike Cain who asked in a way that you couldn't say no to. She also realized that he could probably help her, at the very least more than Aegle had. "Well...okay."

She soon found herself walking with Kyrios through the halls, explaining (almost) everything that had happened: how Dismas had stolen a painting from Duna, and how they had followed him here. She left out a lot of the beginning, and some of the middle, but she talked a lot about yesterday, even about how she had gotten lost, and her conversation with Dismas. She hadn't even told Cain about that last part yet. To be honest, Aito was a little afraid how Cain would react so she hadn't told him about it last night, but Kyrios seemed easier to talk to.

And he never once interrupted, not even to ask about the obvious holes in her story, like why on earth she was here in the first place. That was why when she finished Aito wondered if she had said more than she meant to say.

"So the thief is in the caps now?" Kyrios asked, stopping in front of a door which looked more careworn than the others farther down the hall.

Aito nodded. This was the first real question that he had asked, although he seemed to have been listening intently.

"Then I will alert Leonidas and the guards immediately. Yet I do wonder how he obtained a uniform," Kyrios mused. "I take it that you would rather not run into this Dismas, correct?"

"Yeah, I don't think that would be very good," said Aito, in what may have been a bit of an understatement.

Kyrios looked up at the ceiling and thought for a moment before opening the door behind him. To her surprise, Aito saw that it opened out onto a garden of all things.

"I am sure that if you would like to stay here for a little while you will be perfectly safe from the thief."

Aito nodded, entranced by the odd trees that she could see from here, of the sort that didn't grow where she came from. She could see how she would be safe here; why would Dismas want to go to a garden? This was probably the last place in the caps that Dismas would want to get into.

Kyrios smiled, a smile that was a little too big for a seran but too small for a tyrok. "And I assure you, the door is quite easy to open."

"Well, if that's the case," Aito said, unable to hold back a laugh as she thought of the heavy, rusted over gate she had tried to get through the night before. She stepped into the garden while Kyrios shut the door behind her and left to find Leonidas, to warn him of the thief in the castle.

***

All it took was a uniform. The right clothes, and you could pass for just about anyone, if you knew how to go about it. Dismas had to admit, it was depressing how easy it was to get inside of the caps. There hadn't even been trouble finding the right rooms, as the young ladies washing dishes in the kitchen were very willing to give a handsome new recruit directions along with the latest gossip for a smile and a compliment or two.

Dismas hummed to himself as he walked through the halls of the castle. No one gave him a second look. After all, he was just another person in a uniform. What was odd about that here?

His good mood lasted until he bumped into a korin at a point where two corridors crossed. The korin was very distracted and barely glanced at him as he said, "Sorry about that."

Dismas's reply was strangled in his throat and all that came out was a hoarse sort of grunt. He had a much better memory for faces than most, which was why he had recognized Aegle in a glance while the korin seemed to take him as just another soldier.

To Dismas's growing horror, Aegle stopped to talk.

"Hey, you wouldn't have seen a seran around here? Tall, dark hair, probably limping?"

"No, can't say that I have," Dismas said, pulling his voice a pitch lower at the same time as he pulled down the brim of his hat. He mentally stored that last comment for later though.

"Darn it, are you sure?" Aegle asked and the thief could hear the desperation in his voice.

"Pretty sure," Dismas said, and then weighing his words carefully asked, "Why, is there something wrong?"

"You'd better believe there is," Aegle groaned. "If Sakina finds out about this she'll never let it go! And after that fiasco with the kid yesterday..."

"Kid?" Dismas asked, prodding Aegle to keep up his conversation. To be honest he was fascinated. So far the korin had failed to connect him with the thief from yesterday. He knew he shouldn't push his luck too far, but he couldn't help wondering if the korin simply did not look beyond the uniform or if he was just too wrapped up in himself to notice anything else.

"Oh, don't get me started on her," Aegle complained. "As if it wasn't enough that Cain would drag her along for some stupid mystery reason, she goes and gets herself lost so we have to waste all day looking for her. Plus her and that blasted thief!"

It was impossible to tell by his words that Aegle had been one of those crowding around Aito the night before, but as he had said himself then, he had been more worried about Cain's reaction.

"Cain?" Dismas asked, managing to sound as if he were surprised. "You don't mean Cain Crusan, do you?"

That started Aegle off again, much like a wind-up toy Dismas thought. It took so little to get him marching off in another direction at high-speed.

After Aegle had wound down some he said, "I suppose I'll have to get back to looking. That wretched seran could be anywhere now."

"Where all have you looked?" Dismas asked, trying to appear to be helpful.

"Mm, the cafeteria, all along the west wing, his room," (Aha, Dismas thought) "most of the training grounds, and I tried looking in the kitchens but the head chef started yelling," Aegle said, listing them off on his fingers as he spoke, unable to avoid an embarrassed look at the last one. After yesterday he seemed to have developed a fear of people in white aprons, particularly the ones with large knives.

"Perhaps the armory," Dismas suggested. He didn't know where it was, but this place was bound to have one or something similar enough to it. Where else would they keep their shiny swords and armor in case the townspeople banded together to complain about the usual stuff, like taxes and boredom?

The korin thought about it and shrugged. "I guess that's about as good a place as any other to look. Hey, thanks for listening."

"No problem," Dismas said, keeping the laugh out of his voice as he turned away and ran off down the corridor and up a flight of stairs.

Aegle frowned at the retreating back. For a second there his hind brain had tried to kick some sense into his senses about something, but it was gone now. The korin shrugged it off as he walked away. It probably wasn't that important.

***

Cain leaned in an alcove, half-hidden in a nearby statue's shadow. His leg was throbbing now and he felt a sort of painful pleasure in the knowledge that Aegle's medicine hadn't worked after all.

To tell the truth, he was verging on boredom. Oh, there was stuff to do and he had more than enough to think about, but his leg and his back had contrived to be enough of a nuisance that he preferred boredom to doing anything. Especially when he knew that by doing nothing he was still annoying Aegle.

A pair of guards rushed by, failing to give the seran a second glance if they had even seen him the first time. There was nothing anything unusual about this, except when three officers ran by in the other direction and almost collided with some luckless soldiers.

Cain craned his neck to watch, but it ended with only a couple of shouts and some threats from the higher ranks before the two groups merged and split again. It didn't take a genius to figure out something was going on, or that no one seemed to know where it was going on at.

The seran leaned his head back against the wall, making no effort to bother himself about it. It was none of his business, he was sure about that much.

There was a long pause, during which Cain contrived to do nothing. Unfortunately that delightful pause ended and with a sigh and a groan the seran began to limp down the hall.

Maybe a crutch would do, he thought to himself. Anything to take the weight off his leg, really. Well, anything except a ca– Cain shook his head and stopped the thought in its tracks. He hated puns, particularly that one.

Otherwise he walked on with a purpose, despite the fact that he didn't have a clue as to what was going on, or where. Several soldiers passed him by, but it wasn't until he found one of the servants that he stopped to ask.

"Harumph, well, apparently some brigand is, ah, masquerading himself as one of the soldiers," the butler explained with a sniff.

Cain felt a strong fascination when he saw the verkoni's whiskers jolt about and it took a surprising amount of concentration to not stare as he asked, "Really? Have they caught him?"

"Ah, that seems to be a no. There are quite a lot of, ahem, people in uniforms around here, as I'm sure you've noticed."

Cain groaned inwardly. So everyone was running about after a mystery soldier? Why not just get all of them together?

"Where is Leonidas in all of this?" He asked, not meaning for it to be out loud.

"In the training grounds, I believe," the verkoni answered with a fairly amazing twist of his whiskers. "They are attempting a, ahem-hem, roll call, I believe."

So Leonidas still had some sense.

"But I've seen others running all over the place," he pointed out.

The butler shrugged, just as mystified as he was. "Perhaps incorrect orders are to blame?"

Cain thanked the verkoni for his help and moved on, his feet turning toward the training grounds. Incorrect orders...Cain had to bite back a bitter laugh. Who would a soldier trust to be telling the truth about an imposter? Someone else in a uniform, of course.

***

Aito could hear the thrum of life going on outside of the walls, inside of the caps and in Farrhing itself, but it seemed far away. Voices shouting, the tramp of feet, animals calling, they were all out there, a surreal backdrop to the peaceful garden around her.

A gravel path marked the way, edged around by high, irregularly cut grass. Shrubs and bushes of many types were ranged out among the trees, which were also a vast variety of species, most that Aito had never seen before. There were short, gnarled trees with strange colored leaves, and tall silver trees that almost blocked out the sunlight in some places.

Of course, with fall in full swing, just about everything else was red, brown, yellow, all sorts of colors, and the leaves were falling so fast that Aito often had to brush them out of her hair.

Aito breathed out slowly, a huge breath that she didn't remember taking in. It was so calm here that she was able to push away the worries from before.

Well, almost. Kyrios was right, Dismas wouldn't come here. So what would he risk coming into the caps for?

Aito tried to catch a feeling leaf and missed it. The wind picked up and she turned and ran back to the door she had come in through. Aito had just had an idea, and if she was right then she needed to find Cain and warn him.

***

The group of soldiers that Aito had sat next to in the cafeteria earlier was on their way to the training ground. It said something about how confused everyone was that they had just heard about the roll call, and even the gossip about the imposter had yet to reach them.

The tom cat and Morse, the other calico verkoni, were horsing around when one of the doors opened and a soldier (probably a new recruit, the tom cat thought to himself) came out, nearly running into Trik.

"Watch it!" Trik said, able to sense a lesser rank when he rarely saw it.

"Sorry," the recruit said, putting something in his pocket. "I didn't expect to see someone wandering around up here. Haven't you heard?"

"Heard what?" asked Morse, ears cocked.

"Ah," the recruit said, donning a grim, but excited look. "There's an imposter running around, dressed up like one of us. Everyone's trying to rout him out now."

"So that's why they're doing the roll call," the tom cat said. There was a relief of some sort; everyone had assumed that someone had screwed up and they were all being punished for it. It wouldn't have been the first time.

"No, no," the recruit said. "Some officers sent me and some others to look up here. No one's said anything about a roll call. It's not like he'd be stupid enough to go out there with us just to be found out, right?"

"I bet the imposter got that fake order going around," Trik said and added, "He's probably disguised himself as an officer or something."

The others nodded, the recruit's eyes widening at this deduction. After all, if you were going to pretend to be a soldier then you were going to pretend to be a good one. It's what they would do, after all.

"The spot to look would be the treasury, or somewhere with important information in it," Trik added, caught up in his brilliance.

The recruit nodded. The treasury was on the other side of the caps.

"Well, come on then," the tom cat said, urging the others to follow him.

Only the recruit stayed behind, admiring his handiwork. Half of the Royal Army was out on the training grounds waiting for the other half, busy chasing after an unidentifiable imposter. When the outsiders figured out what was going on they would rush back inside only to add to the confusion, and by that time he would be long gone.

A hand clapped down on his shoulder and it was all Dismas could do to keep from crying out as pain shot through it. Even though his wing was not out, the gaillos could still feel the pain like from some phantom limb.

"Oh, well done Dismas. Quite devious in fact," Cain said. "Divide and conquer and all that."

Dismas's voice trembled when Cain tightened his grip on the injured shoulder. "I think you wrote the book on that, right? I'm sure you could have done a much better job of it."

"No, I think you did well to get this far. You could get even farther if you would just cooperate and hand over that pendant."

"No penalties and no drawbacks whatsoever?" Dismas asked. He would have laughed, but that would just add to the pain. "Let me guess, you just want the best for everyone involved, and you'll make it all go away."

Cain thought about it. "So long as 'everyone involved' excludes the dreadful Duna Dean, then probably yes. Now if you'll just let me..."

Dismas felt the seran touch the clasp of the pendant and kicked backwards, catching Cain with his borrowed boot. It was a low trick, but Dismas, surprisingly, didn't feel that bad about it as he took to the stairs.

Cain said a long string of words that didn't sound like words at all but was soon lurching after the thief. Good thing he had kicked the wrong leg, but for a few steps Cain seemed to be limping on both legs and it was a wonder he didn't fall over before he recovered.

It helped that Dismas was unfamiliar with the caps and had to pause at the foot of the stairs to remember which way to go. He had never had the problem before, but all of the floors in this place looked the same to the thief, and he didn't have his usual fail-safe escape plan of locating the nearest window and jumping out of it.

Cain was nearly on him again when he remembered, but he darted to the right and was soon going down a second set of stairs. Cain barely held back a groan as he pursued Dismas down, now on the ground floor. The seran's leg and back were throbbing again, worse than ever now, and the pain was making it too difficult to call up an illusion.

Some people believe in fate while others believe in only coincidence, but both would have called it uncanny that the moment Dismas was running down the hall, close to freedom, was the same moment that Aito opened the door leading to the garden and stepped out, straight into his path. The resulting collision was predictable and at the same time completely unavoidable.

Even Cain winced out of sympathy. As he limped closer he heard groans from both of them and Aito's puzzling words, "It's like kickball all over again..."

Dismas was quick to recover though, and by the time Cain was there the thief was up and had gotten Aito up as well so that she almost stood as a shield between him and Cain.

"Sorry about that, Aito," Dismas said in a mocking cheerful tone, his eyes locked on the seran.

"I would appreciate it if you would take your hands off of my little mouse," said Cain, stepping closer. "Honestly, do you intend to hide behind her?"

Aito didn't reply to either of them. When she had collided with Dismas something hard had hit her in the chest and now it was hard to concentrate.

"'Your?' What, do you own her or something?" Dismas asked, the contempt in his voice easy to make out.

There was something...

"Listen thief, you are hardly in a position to crack jokes."

Yes, there was definitely something she needed to tell Cain, Aito was pretty sure of that much. It was even more urgent now it seemed, but what was it? Aito wished she could think straight, but it was getting harder and harder for some reason. She was almost glad Dismas was hanging on to her; she didn't think she would be able to stand on her own now that the floor seemed to be spinning.

"Really?" Dismas replied. "And here I was thinking that I had all of the cards now."

Cain's brow furrowed. All of the cards? With a jolt he realized that he had found Dismas standing outside of his room, in the same instant that Dismas reached into his pocket and pulled out a familiar book.

" _Tanil!"_

The blank look on Aito's face faded and she looked up as Cain dove toward them. "Cain, he—"

The sound itself was cut off as Aito was suddenly not there anymore. Dismas stepped back and Cain staggered forward, caught off balance.

"As easy as that," the thief said, his voice little more than a breath. He stepped back from Cain, who had regained his balance and was standing in about the same spot where Aito had been seconds before. The door behind him was still open and Dismas shot a look at the garden behind him.

"Looks like you've lost your advantage, Crusan."

"I don't think so. The only thing lost is your shield," Cain said, gathering together an illusion.

Contents
Chapter 10: Of Belief, Broken Umbrellas, and Dangerous Gardens

It was like missing a step going up and falling flat on your face, except Aito didn't have even the steps to break her fall. She scrambled up and stood, swaying unsteadily, while her mind worked out where she was.

This hallway...Yes, she had seen it before somewhere. In fact, if she didn't know any better she'd think she was...at home. Aito groaned out loud as she remembered what had happened. Dismas knew! He knew about her, and he even knew about the book. She was sure this was a bad thing, even if she had some trouble concentrating on anything more difficult than walking at the moment.

"Dad?" Aito called, but there was no reply. It must have been like before, where little time had passed in this world again, but Aito couldn't hide a sense of disappointment.

A dim thought occurred to her and she stumbled down the hall into her room, unable to walk in anything that resembled a straight line. She soon had _Tanil_ in her hands even though she couldn't remember picking it up.

Aito's brow furrowed. Why was the book so cold? This mystery could wait, part of her decided before she crashed on the bed, asleep before her head hit the pillow.

***

"Aidan? Aidan, are you all right?" The inquiry was accompanied by a knocking on Aito's door.

Aito groaned and said, "Ye-es dad," her moan muffled by the pillow. She sat up and pushed the hair out of her face, wondering how long she had been asleep. "I'm fine, just tired," she added so that her dad wouldn't come in.

"I'm about to get something for supper. How does Chinese food sound?" her dad asked through the door.

"Great," Aito called, sounding very heartfelt. Her stomach rumbled in agreement at the thought.

Once her dad was gone Aito got up and checked the book. It still felt like it had just come out of a freezer. She turned it over once or twice in her hands, but it didn't warm up. Putting it down on the bed, she changed out of her Tanilian clothes and into her regular clothes. She felt much more awake now, but she still had no clue what to do about what was going on in Tanil. Then again, it wasn't like she had known what to do before now, so not much had changed. Downstairs Aito found her dad on the phone. He pulled the receiver away for a second and mouthed the words, "The usual?"

Aito nodded and grinned. They were no strangers to ordering takeout. She walked into the kitchen and wrinkled her nose at the smell in there. One look in the garbage can testified to her dad's latest attempt at cooking. Well, at least he tried. Aito was secretly saving up her allowance to get her dad a cookbook, although she wasn't sure it would help any. Maybe she should ask Cain for some tips. Aito shuddered. Did she just think that?

Later, when Aito and her dad were sitting across the table from each other, her dad couldn't help noticing how restless she seemed to be while he was divvying up the food. It was hard to miss when she started pulling apart one of the empty boxes and fidgeting with it, turning it in and out and twisting it into different shapes.

He finally asked, "Is something bothering you?"

"No," Aito answered. "I mean, yes. Um, why?"

"Well, you haven't touched your food...and you're mutilating an innocent paper box." He bit into an egg roll and munched thoughtfully. "Let me guess: you're just tired."

Aito started eating, hoping she didn't look as embarrassed as she felt. Had she been saying it that much? She did want to tell him, she really did, but...What if he didn't believe her, or worse, laughed?

Silence reigned as her dad waited for an answer, and a thought occurred to Aito. If she wasn't going to tell her dad, then what was she going to do, lie? That was what Cain would do, and she'd seen for herself how that was turning out.

"I'll be right back, I want to show you something," Aito said, jumping up before she lost her nerve. When she came back she had _Tanil_ , and she tried not to shiver from the chill emanating from it.

Her dad raised an eyebrow but refrained from saying anything. The serious look on her face said how important this seemed to be to her.

"Do you promise not to laugh?" she asked.

"What? Why, is it going to be funny?"

"Come on Dad, do you promise?" Aito asked, leaning forward.

Dad held up his hand and exaggerated crossing his chest. "I swear."

"Even if it sounds weird," Aito added, more for herself than him as she put the book on an empty spot on the table between them. "Well, last Sunday I was kind of bored, with it raining and everything, so..."

And Aito told her dad everything. She talked fast, and sometimes she backed up to add in something that she had forgotten to say. She kept her eyes on the book to keep from looking at her dad, though she was tempted to do so at some points. Aito was afraid that if she looked up and saw he was laughing then she would never be able to finish.

Her dad laced his fingers together and leaned on the table. When Aito finally reached a stumbling conclusion he pulled the book toward him. He did keep his promise by not laughing, and that already made Aito feel better.

"So, this book pulled you into another world, is that it?"

Aito felt a little of her confidence drain away when she heard that tone in his voice. To do him justice, he tried not to show it, but Aito realized that he didn't believe her. "Yeah, and it's true Dad."

Her dad smiled a little. She did have a wild imagination, he thought as he flipped through the pages. There were all kinds of stories about this Tanil place, as well as detailed drawings. He naturally believed that Aito had read some of these stories and then had made up her own. Granted, a thief who sprouted wings and flew away did seem to be pushing it a bit.

"Okay, okay," he said, throwing up his hands in defense. "So that's what's been bothering you?"

Aito sighed. She knew he wouldn't believe her, but it made her feel better to get all of that off of her chest. And, she thought, even if he didn't believe her, that didn't mean he couldn't help her.

"Part of it," she said. "See, I just don't know what to do sometimes. Cain says I shouldn't tell the truth about me being human because something bad will happen, but he lies all the time, and I don't know if I can trust him. Dismas is nice, but he's a thief and he doesn't like Cain at all. I don't know if either one is really trying to help me, and I'm scared I'm going to make the wrong decision."

"Well, lying and stealing are both wrong," her dad said, still flipping through the book. "But the...sierra—"

"Seran," Aito supplied.

"—seran has been trying to help you from the beginning right? Sometimes actions and words don't always match up, but you've got to trust somebody sometimes." He could see Aito was very into this, so he was trying to be supportive.

"Just try to think for yourself, and remember that you don't have to believe everything that he says. As for your flying thief...Well, he did steal the book, and if he really knows how important it is then I would be careful around him," he finished, feeling quite proud. He was sure he had given good advice. Too bad it wasn't real, he reminded himself.

Aito thought about it. Even though the "think for yourself" thing was what Dismas had already said, it did make sense. Lately she had just been believing everything that everyone had told her without ever doubting their word. She had even believed Cain's story about Rokir, and it wasn't until she repeated it to her dad that she recognized the obvious lie. She had already promised herself that she was going to get back at him for that.

"Thanks Dad," Aito said and started to really eat her food.

He dad smiled and tapped one of the drawings. "Now I wouldn't mind being one of these serans, if I could have a super cooking ability."

Aito laughed. "I think I'd rather be a gaillos, so I could fly." She had envied Dismas a little ever since meeting him for that.

"I think I would get air sick. The ground seems much better to me," Dad declared, pushing his glasses back up his nose, where they promptly fell back down again.

"Hey Dad, haven't you ever read that book before?" Aito asked after swallowing a big bite. "It was sitting on your bookshelf."

"What? Oh, no, this isn't my book. It was your mom's, she was always trying to get me to look at it, but I never got around to it. Maybe I'll take a look at it when you're done." Her dad pushed the book closer to Aito. "Take your time with it and enjoy it. Just don't tell me how it all ends, okay?"

"Okay," Aito said, smiling. She felt better about it now that she had talked to her dad about Tanil.

After Aito cleared up her dishes and ran upstairs with the book, her dad shook his hand to try to warm it up. It was odd how the book seemed to send off a chill of its own. He laughed a little and started cleaning up to banish the ridiculous thought that had just occurred to him. It was just a story, after all.

***

Aito kept the book near her all that night, but morning came without any change. It hadn't tried to pull her to Tanil at all and it still felt frozen. Her dad asked her to do some laundry and Aito slipped her Tanilian clothes in with the others, hoping that they would shrink some but no such luck. They were still way too big, but at least they smelled better.

Aito glanced at the clothes hanging on the back of her door as she got ready for school. She thought about showing them to her dad as proof, but he could have easily explained them away. At least he never laughed last night, so it turned out much better than she had expected.

Just as she was about to run out the door, her dad called, "Aidan, have you got everything?"

"Ye-oh, wait," Aito started and then caught herself. Her dad looked as she ran back up the stairs and after a series of thumping sounds came back with an old beige umbrella that had some tears in the fabric and a broken metal rod that hung limp among the others.

"What do you want with that thing?" he asked, mystified. He was sure he threw that thing away last Sunday after it broke on him and he got soaked.

"We're doing a project at school and Ms. Goldstein said to bring something from home. Is that okay?"

"Uh, sure. What kind of project is this?"

Aito shrugged. "I dunno. She just said arts and crafts."

"Huh." Her dad pushed up his glasses. "Speaking of school, I don't think that I'll be able to come to Parent's Day this Friday."

"Oh." Aito hadn't even thought about Parent's Day in a while. She was surprised he even remembered.

"It's just that things have been so busy at the hospital lately, and I'm going to have to work late for the next couple of days as it is. I'm sorry Aidan."

"It's okay Dad," Aito said. "Really. I've got to go, bye!" She called this over her shoulder after she saw the time, and sprinted outside.

***

"So did everyone bring something?" Ms. Goldstein asked from the front of the room.

"Yes," called out most of the class, but there were a few sheepish mumbles thrown in.

"Okay, for those of you who forgot, come and get one thing out of here," the teacher said, placing her hand on a box that was sitting on her desk. About three or four students came up and started rummaging through the oddities and Ms. Goldstein tried to hold her tongue. There was always someone, no matter how easy the assignment was. Kids today.

"For this project I want you all in groups of five, so—" Ms. Goldstein hadn't even finished speaking when groups began to spontaneously pop up all over the room and desks started to move. In the flurry of movement Aito found herself in a group with Lynn, Val, Shane, and Eddie, a small boy who by all rights should have been more annoying than Trik, except he was somehow able to turn around the same characteristics that made Trik annoying into something that was funny and likable.

"You probably should have waited," Ms. Goldstein said. "Oh well. I want the entire group to work together to create something. You can create anything appropriate, but you must use at least part of everyone's item in whatever it is that you make." She went on to explain how today they were supposed to make a plan and get started, and then finish it up tomorrow. They could use anything else they needed as long as it was in the classroom like glue and markers.

While Ms. Goldstein went on and on about examples, Aito's group looked at their items with some apprehension. Besides Aito's umbrella, Val had brought an old softball t-shirt that seemed to be held together by a few threads, Eddie had a large ball of string that was an unattractive mauve color, Lynn had one of those long cardboard tubes that are left over after the gift-wrapping paper's gone, and Shane had a roll of duct tape.

"Why'd you bring duct tape?" Lynn asked.

Shane shrugged and said, "It seemed like a good idea at the time. Besides, you can do a lot with duct tape."

At this everyone looked at Aito's umbrella. Aito wished she had picked almost anything else.

"So what should we make?" asked Val.

"What can we make?"

Shane picked up Aito's umbrella and started messing with it, opening and closing it over and over again. It was silent except for the occasional cough or mutter until Eddie ventured an idea.

"What about an airplane?"

"A horse?"

"A plant?"

"An octopus?"

"A frog!"

"Wait, what?" Val asked, halting the brainstorm. "How would we make a frog?"

Eddie shrugged. "I dunno. I just wanted to help with ideas."

A metallic snapping sound came from Shane's direction, soon followed by an "Oops. Sorry Aito."

Shane was still holding the umbrella, but now it was in two pieces. The two metal rods had come apart, leaving Shane holding one rod that connected to the base and another that still had the loose flapping umbrella part.

"It'll probably be easier to make something with it now," Aito admitted, taking the base of the umbrella.

Everyone started throwing out ideas again, but no one could agree on any of them, or at least agree on anything that they could do. Soon Eddie and Shane were goofing off and playing with the cardboard tube and Val and Lynn were trying to see what they could do with the top of the umbrella. On a whim Aito got one of the markers and put two dots on the handle of the umbrella. Holding it upside down, the two dots looked like eyes and the button underneath them looked like a huge nose.

Aito idly drew a smile under the nose and jumped when Val, seeing what she was doing, said, "Good idea Aito! We can make a person."

"What?"

"See, we can use that as the head and body, and the tube for the arms and legs."

"Hey, yeah!" Shane said, catching onto the idea. "We can use the string and the duct tape to hold everything together too."

After they covered up the part of the umbrella where the top had been broken off with duct tape, Lynn measured off and cut the tube into eight equal pieces, two for each of the arms and legs. They tried tying the string to the umbrella, but it kept sliding down the metal rod. It was Eddie who got tired of it and just duct-taped the strings about where the arms and legs should connect, and had the idea to tape the string to the inside of the tubes so they would dangle.

It was fiddly work and Aito kept getting the tape stuck to her fingers or taping it inside of the tube but missing the string altogether, but when it was time to put everything up it did kind of look like a person. Sort of. If you knew what it was supposed to be at least, and then used your imagination a little.

"I think it looks good," Lynn declared as they were waiting for the bell to ring.

"Better than nothing," Shane said.

"It'll look better after we do more to it tomorrow," Val said, the most optimistic of the group.

"Yeah, we've still got to add the shirt," Aito added, putting her books into her backpack. She jumped when she felt something cold brush against her fingers and jerked her hand back out.

"Something wrong?" Val asked, noticing the look on Aito's face.

"Oh, it's nothing," said Aito. She had forgotten about the book. What had she been thinking, sticking _Tanil_ in her backpack? Although she had to admit, she was a little worried...

The bell rang and everyone was up, moving and rushing towards the door. Eddie shouted and chased after Shane, who laughed and waved the hat he had grabbed out of Eddie's backpack.

Val and Lynn hovered behind, waiting as Aito got her stuff together and stood up.

"What?" Aito asked.

"So, tell us," Lynn ordered.

"Tell you what?" Aito asked, feeling defensive though she wasn't sure why. It may have been because _Tanil_ was still at the top of her mind.

"Is your dad coming to Parent's Day?"

"Oh. No, he's got to work."

"Did you even ask?" Val retaliated as they followed Aito out into the hall.

"Of course I asked," Aito said, wondering what Val thought. "It's not like I forgot or something. He's just too busy to come."

"Aw, I was hoping we'd finally get to see him," Lynn complained.

"Yeah, I wanted to get him to tell some embarrassing stories about you so everyone would forget the ones my mom always comes up with," Val added.

They all laughed, even Val, as they recalled the clown story her mom had told the year before, and Aito couldn't blame her for wishing for a distraction.

"Oh well, it'll still be fun," Val said when they reached the front of the school. "Bye Aito, see you tomorrow!"

"Bye!" Aito waved as Val and Lynn clambered into Val's mom's minivan. They carpooled together because although they lived within walking distance of school, they lived in the other direction past the highway, so it was too dangerous to walk.

On the way home Aito pulled out _Tanil_. She couldn't help wincing at how cold it felt in her hands, and she moved it so that she was holding it through her jacket sleeve, which helped a little.

What was going on? Aito knew something was wrong, but she wasn't sure what it could be. Aito wondered what was going on in Tanil, but it didn't seem like she had much of a chance getting back now.

Not that she wanted to go back, she reminded herself. After all, why should she not be glad that the book did nothing? Maybe it would stay like that. Maybe she wouldn't ever have to go back to Tanil again.

Aito couldn't explain how disappointing it was to go home to her empty house with this thought on her mind. For the rest of the afternoon and all that night she was restless. She kept starting things and stopping halfway through to do something else, and nothing seemed to hold her interest for very long. Her dad worked late too, so she didn't have anyone to talk to. Eating supper alone was strange after the caps cafeteria, and the house seemed too quiet no matter how loud she turned up the volume on the television.

Above all, she tried not to think about Tanil. She just could not understand why such a simple thing could be so hard. No matter what channel she turned the TV to, no matter what game she played or songs she listened to, everything made her think of Rokir or Dismas or someone else from Tanil. Although she wasn't too sure why the monster movie that she saw while channel-surfing reminded her so much of Cain.

Her restlessness continued into the next day at school and even when it was time to split back into their groups to finish their projects she had trouble concentrating.

"I was thinking, do you mind if we cut this up?" Lynn asked Val, picking up her old softball t-shirt.

"Go for it," Val said, grabbing some scissors. "What were you thinking?"

"Clothes," Lynn said as she cut out some pieces.

"Yeah, we can hold it together with duct tape," Eddie said, pulling off a long strip loudly.

Aito and Shane met each other's eyes and Aito shrugged. No one said it had to look perfect. Lynn and Val carefully cut out some t-shirt for the umbrella person's shirt and pants, Aito used a blue marker to color the pants so they could be told apart, and Eddie and Shane taped the clothes on.

While they were doing this, they laughed and joked around, and most of them ended up getting drawn on with the marker by the time they were finished.

Aito was trying to rub a blue mark off of her nose when Eddie said, "We should name this guy."

"How about Fred?" Aito said, suggesting the first name to pop into her head.

All eyes turned to the weird, oddly-shaped person they had made. To Aito it still didn't much resemble a person unless you knew what you were looking at.

"Fred has a weird head," Shane declared and everyone laughed. Soon Fred had a wig made out of string and tape that made him look even more ridiculous.

"I think I like Fred," Lynn said, flipping the thread hair.

Ms. Goldstein made her way to the front of the class and said, "All right, it looks like everyone's done. So, who wants to show off their project first?"

A grand total of no one raised their hands.

"Oh, come on. Somebody come up, before I start calling on people," Ms. Goldstein admonished.

After a whispered discussion, Aito's group went up together in a huddle, all clustered behind Fred as if the oddly-shaped doll was a shield. A chorus of laughter came from the class, emboldening them, and it was Eddie that spoke up for the group.

"Well, this is Fred." He seemed stuck for a moment after saying this, until his usual self kicked in. "As you can see, Fred has a weird head, and a shirt that is red. He is seriously underfed, and—"

"Yes. I think we get it," Ms. Goldstein said primly, always able to sense when things were about to get silly. "Very good. Leave Fred up here and let the next group come up."

Fred was left sitting alone on Ms. Goldstein's desk, soon to be joined by: a tower made out of newspaper, leaning drunkenly because of the plush monkey holding onto it; a submarine fashioned out of what looked like a shoebox, a comb, and some rubber bands; and a motley crew of other mismatched items.

"Everyone did a great job, right class?"

A murmur of approval met Ms. Goldstein's statement, and not just because the class was giving back the only answer expected of it.

"All of you had only one item, and if I had asked you to make something by yourself, where would you have been?"

"Up a creek without a paddle!" answered Eddie, who had never quite caught on to the theory of rhetorical questions.

"Exactly," Ms. Goldstein said, deciding to make the most of it. "You can always do so much more when you work together than if you try to do it by yourself, and the result is always much more...interesting, at least." The teacher tried not to look at any project in particular as she said this last part, but the class could see the small smile forming on her lips.

"Well, let's find a nice place for all of these so that your parents can see them tomorrow!"

***

While Aito was going through her days back home, things were still moving back in Tanil, granted at a different pace.

Dismas stepped back, away from Cain and into the garden before he turned around and started running. Cain followed, but instead of running he was building up an illusion. When it was ready, Cain placed his hand on the stone wall and felt the illusion take off, spreading and taking rest in the earth itself as it swept over the entire garden. There was no way Dismas could escape being affected by it.

The seran concentrated and he saw the appearance of the garden around him change as the illusion took effect – he felt it, he knew it had been working when everything jerked. Cain stumbled as it jerked again, a mighty yank that seemed to move everything around him and even tugged somewhere inside of him.

What was going on? Cain could still feel the illusion somewhere, but he had about as much control of it now as he did over the wind. He stepped forward and almost fell as the ground seemed to slide beneath his feet.

Dismas was having troubles of his own. He could feel the shifting as well, though perhaps not as strongly as Cain as he was able to remain on his feet. He ran in a straight line through the trees, keeping his eyes on the wall to his left, certain that there must be more than one way out of this garden. The garden must connect to an outside courtyard somewhere, and from there it was a straight shot out of this place. So certain was the thief that he sped up despite the ground, which seemed to be becoming more unsteady with every step; great was his surprise when he found himself less than a couple of feet away from Cain, back where he had started from except with one major difference: the door which they had come in by was now gone.

Dismas was sure that he had not run in a circle, but nothing else seemed to explain what had just happened. But how? The thief could see all four castle walls from where he stood, though the trees and low shrubs blocked most of the view. This place couldn't be big enough to get lost in, there wasn't enough room.

Cain groaned as another jerk pulled him again and he stumbled forward, but upon catching sight of the thief he tried to change direction. Dismas said something, but the sound was lost as another shift came and in unison the walls and everything in them seemed to move back, stretching until coming back into place with a snap.

CRACK!

Cain and Dismas were propelled forward and their foreheads met, leaving both to stagger away dazed.

"What are you doing?" Dismas shouted. At least, that's what Cain thought the gaillos said. His ringing ears seemed to be echoing inside of his head.

"I'm not doing this!" Cain shouted, but Dismas may not have heard as the ground lurched beneath them again. Both were soon dealing with the realization that the sky suddenly seemed to be beneath them in a very definite way. Cain clung to the ground itself while Dismas held onto the trunk of a tree for dear life, and Cain tried not to see how the leaves were now floating away from the ground and up (Or was it down?) into the sky.

"No!"

Cain's eyes snapped open at the thief's shout and saw in a heart-wrenching moment Dismas grab at a book that was falling up and missed. The book sailed upwards and fell open, its pages turning wildly until it landed on the bottom of a tree limb. Both watched, helpless to do anything, as _Tanil_ began to slide off of it.

Another sharp motion came, bringing gravity back with it. Dismas sagged back onto the ground, almost weeping with relief as the book bounced off of him and fell into some nearby bushes. Cain slowly relaxed his grip and breathed out again as leaves showered down around them.

This couldn't just be his illusion, Cain knew, though it seemed to be a part of it. He had never made an illusion this powerful, or this realistic, before. Something had grabbed hold of it and twisted his illusion around, even making it stronger. Cain felt around, but he knew what was left of the illusion he had started was beyond his control now. There was one good thing: it had almost been used up.

"I don't know what you're trying to do, seran, but it looks as though you've just hurt yourself," said Dismas, who was against all reason standing up and dusting himself off.

Cain couldn't bring himself to answer him. The pain was back again, with friends this time it seemed. He had used a lot of energy in forming the illusion and after the almost falling into the sky thing he just couldn't bring himself to get up off of the ground. Dimly he saw Dismas start going through the bushes. Right, the book.

"Why do you want it?"

Dismas stopped and looked over his shoulder at Cain, but the seran had only moved his head so he could watch, and even that had been an effort.

"Oh, that's right," Dismas said. "What could I possibly want with the book? After all, I'm not a seran."

Dismas was pleased to see Cain wince as he pulled the book out of the clinging branches of what he hoped wasn't poison ivy.

"Yeah, I know all about the book and the pendant. I found out everything I could when I was commissioned to steal it."

"Commissioned?"

"Yeah. Someone put in a request for it, and sadly they did it in a way that I could not refuse," Dismas said with a twitch at the corner of his mouth showing his disgust. He dusted off the book and walked over so that he towered over Cain. "At least one benefit was that I got to steal the book from you. It almost makes it worth it."

Cain was only halfway listening. He could feel it, lying where he was. The last of the illusion was coming, and he felt the jerk and twist before Dismas did. Cain narrowed his eyes; lying here allowed him to sense where it came from.

Dismas threw himself down on the ground as the trees started to shake; vines and branches started to shoot out from the foliage around them until Cain and Dismas were encased in a living cage. The light came through, filtered to a pale, weak, green thing, but enough that Cain could see Dismas reaching to push against the living wall made up of the branches and vines which were still moving, still growing.

"Don't!"

The authoritative and warning tone was enough to make Dismas draw back his hand. The branches started to sprout off even more branches backed with creeping vines, which moved in closer to them and continued to grow.

"What is this?" asked the thief.

"I think it's the garden," said Cain, eyeing the new branches. They seemed to be covered in small barbs, and he did not like the way they kept growing in closer and closer to them. The barbs themselves seemed to keep growing as well, doubling in size within seconds. "It's taken over my illusion somehow and changed it, but I don't know how."

Dismas scooted back, away from the threatening plants. "So what, we're just going to sit here and let it kill us?"

Cain and Dismas were now back-to-back, and the plants had created a sharp, dangerous web all around them. It was now impossible to move without getting scratched and the plants were still growing in. Cain could see some thorns in the back that were half a foot long already; there was no way they could break out with their bare hands.

"I think the illusion gave it energy," Cain said, gasping as a vine wrapped around his injured leg. "And the illusion is almost used up. Once it's gone, there should be nothing to work with."

There was no reply to this from Dismas; the vines were wrapping around them now and it was hard to breathe without getting hurt, much less talk. Dismas was making hissing sounds; his shoulder felt as though it were on fire and the pressure was almost unbearable.

Then without warning the plants stopped growing, and almost immediately started to shrink and wilt. In a matter of minutes Cain and Dismas were able to stand up, brushing away the dead, lifeless vines. The plants withered away until little more was left than dry, brittle grass-like strands, and it was hard to believe that they had just minutes ago been as alive as the trees and shrubs nearby.

Cain grabbed the front of Dismas's uniform before he could run away, trying not to let his arm shake as badly as he felt. Cain was still weak, and if the gaillos tried there was nothing he could do to prevent him from running away.

"I know what you think I was planning to do," said Cain, "but don't you think that I would have tried before now if I was going to?"

"Maybe the chance just didn't prevent itself."

Enraged, Cain brought back his hand in a fist, but Dismas was too fast and Cain too tired. The blow knocked Cain to his knees and the kick that followed sent Cain rolling helplessly away.

"Seran scum," Dismas spat, before taking off. Now that the garden was back to normal he could easily find his way out into one of the courtyards, and from there it was a straight shot to freedom.

Cain groaned, but there was nothing he could do to stop the thief. There was no way he could catch up with him in this state, and he had no clue who the thief was working for. Dismas had the book and the pendant now, and that meant he also had Aito. Dismas really was holding all the cards.

Cain didn't know how long he had been lying there until a voice broke through his misery and asked, "Are you all right Cain?"

The seran's eyes opened and he saw a shadow standing over him. From where he lay he couldn't see the face, but there could be no mistaking that voice.

"Little mouse!"

Contents
Chapter 11: Of a King, Nicknames, and Bribery with Food

Aito shifted her feet and tried to keep from blushing; she still found that nickname embarrassing, but she tried not to show it as much in the hopes that Cain would give up on it.

"When did you get here?"

Aito looked up for a moment, thinking. "I was in the bushes when I saw you lying on the ground and Dismas standing nearby, so I hid until he walked away and then I ran and found Kyrios." She said this sentence really fast, as if afraid she would forget something but Cain caught two things, one being Aito must have come through when the book fell into the bushes.

The second thing made him crane his neck around and say, "Kyrios?"

Standing in a place where Cain had been unable to see him until now, Kyrios nodded his head and said, "Hello Cain. I take it the thief got away?"

An odd look crossed Cain's face, and if Aito hadn't known better, she might have thought it looked a lot like shame. But this was Cain we're talking about, right?

"Yes, Your Majesty," said Cain, his voice sounding a little strained.

Aito's head whipped around and she stared in disbelief at Kyrios. Your Majesty?

"I will inform Leonidas then," Kyrios said, offering a hand to Cain. Cain hesitated for a fraction of a second and then took it, and was soon up on his feet again. "I believe he's gotten everyone settled down and together, so now should be a good time to split them up again."

"A – I'm sure Leonidas can handle it," Cain said, though his face seemed to be saying a different story to Aito.

"Hm," Kyrios said, tilting his head, "Obviously. Aito, please stay with Cain." He turned his full attention to Aito. "I'd suggest trying to keep him from going anywhere, but I doubt that's possible."

Aito nodded and Kyrios left at just short of a run. Once he was out of the garden, Aito turned on Cain and asked, "Is Kyrios – Is he really the king?"

"Yes," Cain said, bemused. "You didn't know that?"

"Wha—How could I have known? No one ever told me!" Aito groaned. "Oh, he must think I'm terrible."

Cain just laughed and said, "You're wearing the clothes that I gave you. Did you not stay in your world very long?"

"Actually, I stayed there for about two days," Aito said, and then went on to tell about how the book stayed so ice cold. "I was reading it when I noticed that it was finally getting warm, so I ran and changed back into these clothes just before it pulled me."

"Really?" Cain asked. He looked at a nearby tree critically and, after pushing it with his hand as if checking it, leaned against the trunk of the tree. "So the book went 'cold?'"

"Yeah. Do you think it was because Dismas had the pendant too?" asked Aito. She'd had a lot of time to think about it, and that was the only thing she could think of.

"It's possible, if he was focusing on keeping you in your world with the pendant," Cain mused. "That may have been why you were only able to come out when he dropped it."

"Why would Dismas do that? Try to keep me in, I mean."

"I...don't know," Cain said slowly, as if measuring his words. He reached up and pulled a leaf out of his hair, and began to twirl it with the stem between his fingers with a faraway look in his eyes. "I can't be sure what he was trying to do, or what he thought he was doing."

"Oh." Aito watched Cain twirl the leaf for a minute or so in silence. He seemed so absorbed, either in watching the leaf or in his own thoughts, that Aito asked, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Huh?" The leaf twirled a little faster now.

"Is something wrong?"

"Oh, no," Cain said, hastily dropping the leaf. "I guess we should go and see what's going on now."

"Oh yeah," Aito said, remembering as they made their way to the door. "I saw Aegle before, he said he was looking for you."

Cain stopped and for a second it looked as though he had changed his mind about leaving the garden so soon, but he sighed and continued walking. Aegle could have always given up by now.

Aito's thoughts seemed to have bounced back to an earlier subject as well and she asked, "So, Kyrios – I-I mean, the king, he's half-seran, isn't he?"

Cain nodded. "That's correct. His father, the previous king, was a tyrok and his mother was a seran. Apparently that was a source of quite a lot of gossip."

"Oh, is that not normal?" Aito asked. Come to think of it, Kyrios was the first person she'd seen that was a mix of two races.

"Very rarely there will be births between a seran and, say, a korin or a gaillos. It's even less than that with other races because the child often doesn't make it to adulthood, or even out of infancy. The mix often causes health problems, and so the child is usually very weak."

"So, Kyrios..."

"Is a rare exception, yes," Cain said, letting Aito leave the garden first before he shut the door behind them. "He had a rough childhood, but thankfully his health has stabilized over the years. Though he does have a tendency to try to push his limits too far."

Cain was exhibiting signs of actual sincerity until the last sentence, where he picked up his usual coldness again and then some. Perhaps it was this that prompted Aito to say, "Um, Cain? Earlier, I overheard some people talking. Is it true that you once worked here, at the same rank as Leonidas?"

Cain gave her the coldest glare that she had ever seen, and Aito quickly looked away, wishing now that she hadn't brought it up. "You heard that, did you?"

Aito nodded at a painting, too scared to look at Cain.

"Is there anything else that your exceptionally sharp little mouse ears 'overheard' that I need to know about?"

Aito shook her head, still looking anywhere but at Cain. She was afraid that he might explode if she said otherwise.

"Hmph." Cain stopped at a corner and faced Aito, who became very interested in the pattern on the rug beneath her feet. "Yes, that's basically true. I was an...adviser to the king, much like Leonidas. But that was years ago, and it's not important. Tell me, are you sure you didn't hear anything else?"

"Well, they said you left because you got in an argument with Ky— with the king," Aito said, now tracing the pattern with her foot.

Cain sighed. "Well, at least it's not as far-fetched as the usual theories. I recall one that claimed I released a flock of pigeons into the middle of an important meeting between the leaders of Tanil before I left." He snorted at the idea. "Like I'd stop with pigeons."

Aito cracked a smile, relieved that Cain didn't seem as angry anymore. She felt that she had already pushed her luck too far today, so she didn't ask the question that she really wanted to ask; instead, she said, "What are we going to do now? Dismas got away, and now he has the pendant and the book. Plus he knows that I'm a...you know."

"We have taken two or three steps backward, haven't we?" mused Cain. He sounded very calm to Aito, too calm for someone who seems to have lost it all.

"More like leaps," Aito said, "We have even less than what we started out with. We don't even know where Dismas will try to go now."

"That's true, but we will know if he tries to leave the city, and in what direction thanks to Rokir and Sakina. We also know more than we started out with," Cain said, "Like that he's working for someone."

Cain did not add that he had something that Dismas thought he had managed to steal as he looked at Aito. Cain suspected that once Dismas realized that it wouldn't be a matter of trying to find him.

Aito didn't say anything to that. It certainly didn't sound like a fair trade to her, but she wasn't about to argue with Cain now. "Where are we going?"

Guards and soldiers were passing them in large numbers, many of them looking harried, but Cain was pleased to see that the confusion from earlier was now gone. The decorations on these halls were noticeably less grand than in the rest of the caps, and the rugs here were bordering on threadbare. It was like the back hallways at the museum in Duna, Aito realized. Everything people were supposed to see happened up front, like the museum's display cases or the cap's finer paintings and statues, and less effort was put into decorating where things really happened.

Cain stopped and hesitated outside of a doorway. "I'm sure he should be here by now," he said, more to himself than to Aito, and then knocked on the door.

The door was opened almost immediately and Leonidas looked out at them. His ears were flat and the good natured attitude he had when Aito saw him last seemed to have disappeared, to be replaced by a much more serious one. "Oh, it's you," he said and sighed. "Come on in, then."

Inside was an office in stark contrast to that of Dean Padrone's: where Padrone's had been full of paintings, busts, and so cluttered with other miscellaneous oddities that standing room was the only room available, this one was modest, the only extraneous things being a pair of bookcases and a set of comfortable-looking chairs for visitors. At first Aito thought it was Leonidas's, until she saw Kyrios sitting in the chair behind the desk.

"Ah, I thought so. Not even half an hour to recover and you're already pushing yourself again Cain? Please, sit down," Kyrios said, smiling.

Aito could have laughed as she found a seat in the corner. Kyrios thought Cain tried to do too much, just like what Cain had accused Kyrios of doing. Granted, Kyrios had a point as Aito realized when she noticed that Cain's arms were shaking as he lowered himself into a nearby chair.

"Now, Leonidas, you were saying?"

The verkoni nodded his head and said, "We had just gotten everything under control when you came to us, sir. I've sent some of the officers to each gate with your description, and all of the guards have been split into patrols to do a thorough search of the city. The small patrols should prevent him from posing as another soldier without being noticed."

Kyrios turned his eyes to Cain, who added, "That should at least prevent him from spreading any more confusion, but I doubt that he's still in the caps. He can't fly, so his only way out of the city is through the gates. With the guards alert, it will be hard for him to slip out at the moment. Of course, just staying inside of the city will give him enough cover to stay hidden for as long as he needs."

Kyrios clasped his hands together and rested his forehead against them, as if praying. "So unless given a reason, he need not enter the caps or leave the city for some time."

Kyrios met Cain's eyes and the seran gave a small nod, little more than a slight tilt of the head. Kyrios said, "So the course now is to increase security in the caps so that today's fiasco cannot be repeated."

Leonidas and Kyrios began discussing said security, with Cain throwing in a suggestion every now and then. It was more than just boring, and Aito felt her attention waning. A pain behind her eyes that had started since she left the garden grew, and her head began to sway back and forth. Though she fought against it, within a matter of minutes her head slumped against the chair, almost touching the wall, and she fell asleep.

Sometime later Leonidas stood up and, with an acknowledgment to Kyrios and Cain, left the room. Cain stood up as well and said, "Come on, my little mouse – Little mouse?"

"I believe she's asleep," Kyrios said, smiling. "If you don't mind my asking, why do you call her that?"

"What, 'little mouse?'" Cain asked, taken back. "Well, it's better than that other silly name."

"Yes, I do prefer Aidan to the nickname Aito, but she won't have it," Kyrios said.

"Oh, so it's Aidan? I knew she told me a fake name," Cain said, with the tone of someone who has called a bluff. "Speaking of nicknames, 'Kyrios?'"

"I get tired of people referring to me by a title. As nicknames go, I have to say it's at least better than CiCi."

Cain started coughing as if something was caught in his throat, and the arm in front of his mouth couldn't hide the fact that his face was turning a brilliant shade of red.

"Oh my." Kyrios waited until Cain's coughing fit had subsided to remark, "It is a lucky thing that the thief happened to lose track of the book in the garden, is it not? Otherwise, who knows what situation Aidan would be in now?"

So Kyrios did know. That didn't surprise Cain much. "Was it just luck?"

Kyrios simply smiled. "Well, I did tell Aidan that she would be safe so long as she stayed inside the garden."

"I nearly died!"

"Oh, it wouldn't have killed you," Kyrios said, in a tone that suggested this was a ridiculous concern. "The garden was merely trying to get rid of those who came in without permission, or with violent intentions; in this case, by scaring you into leaving. I believe you fell in both categories, did you not?"

"He was trying to kidnap the kid! And how was making the door disappear helping us to leave?"

"Perhaps by creating a sense of urgency?"

Cain pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't even know how he figured out so much. How did you?"

"You think that I am unable to recognize a human when I see one? I may not be a complete seran, but I can see that much. She also told me quite a bit herself."

"She did?"

"You assume that everyone is as much a liar as you are." Kyrios shook his head. "She told me about everything that has happened since Duna, with quite a few missing pieces. I suppose that has something to do with something you have said to her?"

Cain shrugged and admitted, "The only thing I've told her is that it would be bad if anyone else found out that she was a human."

"Hm." Kyrios did not show either approval or disapproval at this, but the small sound was enough to prompt Cain to sink back into his chair and hold his head in between his hands.

"I'm in over my head here, I know that! I thought I had the book figured out, but it's been out of control since the beginning. First it brought her here from this other world, and now I think the pendant doesn't have any effect on it anymore. It's completely out of my control now."

"Well, the pendant was not created with that purpose in mind. I'm surprised that it's had any effect on it at all," Kyrios said. "I believe I said as much before you went to Duna."

"If not more." Cain remembered that conversation well. Kyrios did not like the pendant, and for good reason. Among Kyrios's suggestions for the item, the one that stuck in Cain's mind the most was, "Burn it, smash up anything solid that's left behind, then brush up the lot and bury it deep underground. The river would be better, but I'm afraid the fish would complain."

"But that pendant was my only hope," said Cain. "The book seems determined to pull my little mouse from this world to the other, and I can't even send her back when it's with that thief. What am I supposed to do now?"

"Things do seem to be at a standstill. The thief is trapped in Farrhing, unable to get any closer to Aidan or to leave the city. The book cannot reach that far, or at least we can only hope so. And you cannot do anything unless you get some rest, Cain."

"I know, I know. I'll probably even have to let Aegle use that blasted medicine he's been harping on about," Cain muttered. He didn't trust the stuff, and he didn't put it past the korin to try to put something funny in it. He did have one consolation though. "He must be furious after searching all over the castle for half the day. Though that means he'll be even more stubborn and hardheaded than usual."

"Ah, that should be fun," Kyrios said. "It's not every day one gets to talk to a younger version of oneself."

***

Aito woke up when Cain gently shook her shoulder and called, "Little mouse," and even then she was still sleepy and bleary-eyed.

"It was a pleasure speaking with you, Your Highness," Cain said, once again unusually polite.

Kyrios nodded and smiled at Aito, who managed to say a hasty goodbye before she followed Cain, already halfway out the door.

Aito drowsily remembered going back to their rooms, where they found an aggravated Aegle plus Rokir and Sakina, both of whom looked relieved to see Cain and Aito walking up the hall to them.

Aegle was the first to get his word in. "Finally! I've been looking all over for you—"

"What's been going on?" Rokir asked, starting just a half second behind Aegle. Sakina was asking something along the same lines, so all three were trying to say something and none of them could be heard.

Cain held up his hand and the others fell silent. "Please, can't we talk about this later? Maybe sometime when I don't feel like I'm about to keel over?"

"Well, if you had just taken your medicine and rested like I told you—"

"I did take the medicine," Cain said, choosing to ignore the rest of the order. Seeing Aegle was about to argue again, Cain added, "You know, I'm hungry. Who else is in favor of letting this go for now and getting something to eat?"

Rokir's hand shot up. "I am." He was always in favor of food.

Cain looked around and then lifted Aito's hand for her. "There, three to two majority rule. Let's go to the mess hall."

Aito pulled her arm back and used it to muffle a yawn while Sakina said, "It doesn't count if you make her raise her hand."

"I don't really care," Aito said. She was too tired to tell if she was hungry or not, and trying to remember the last time she had eaten just gave her a headache.

"See?" Cain said, already walking away. Rokir stood at the top of the stairs, bobbing from one foot to the other and not bothering to hide his impatience.

"But that's only two to two, with one undecided. That's not majority rule," Sakina said, putting a hand on Aito's shoulder to keep her from following Cain. Rokir let out a groan. Aegle didn't seem to be involved at all. He was checking Cain's room to see if he had taken the medicine; at least, he came out of the room looking disappointed about something.

Cain sighed. "Fine. I'll answer your questions in the mess hall, after we've eaten, not before. Got it?" Without waiting for an answer he turned and walked away, leaving them to follow. Rokir was gone in a gray flash, and his pounding footfalls could be heard all the way down the hall.

Aito found that instead of letting go, Sakina was now walking beside her, the tyrok's arm having moved to around her shoulders. Aegle moved to Aito's other side, and Aito had a familiar feeling.

"What do you want?" Aito asked, her voice dull. Part of her was still asleep, and the rest of her was still debating on whether it was awake or not.

"Oh come on kid, we don't always want something from you," Aegle said, trying to act friendly. He wasn't very good at it, probably from lack of experience.

Aito didn't say anything, and after a long moment or two of silence, broken only by the soft tread of their feet on the rug, Sakina said, "It's just that yesterday Aegle overheard you talking to the other thief, and he noticed some odd things while you two were talking."

"Oh." Aito realized this was going to be a long walk, and not just because Sakina kept them moving at a slow pace.

"Like how you didn't even know each other's names, for example," said Aegle.

"Which is odd, because we believed you two had been working together that night in Duna. That's certainly what Rokir and Cain told us," Sakina said, trying to keep her tone light.

Aito didn't answer. Maybe if she didn't say anything they would get bored and go away.

"But we also know that you talked to Dismas again, later," Sakina added. Technically untrue, as the only thing Sakina knew for sure was that Dismas and Aito had been in the same alley at about the same time. "And today the thief managed to get in and out of the caps without getting caught."

Aito frowned and said, "I did try to tell Aegle about Dismas before, but he wouldn't listen."

Sakina looked at Aegle over Aito's head and the korin shrugged. He dimly remembered Aito trying to tell him something, but he had been too focused on his own trouble at the time.

"What are you getting at, anyways?" Aito asked, too tired to try and follow Sakina and Aegle's joint train of thought.

"We just want to know if you really know this Dismas character or not," Aegle said. "Also, we want to know what he said to you yesterday, when you two were alone."

It seemed some part of Aito's brain managed to keep track of this when Aito said, "You think I helped him get in the caps, don't you?"

"Well..." Sakina started.

"Did you?" Aegle asked.

"No! That's why I tried to tell somebody when I saw him!" Aito struggled, trying to get away from Sakina's grip, but Sakina was a lot stronger than she looked and it turned out to be a wasted effort.

"Did Cain know that you weren't working with the thief?" Sakina asked. When Aito didn't answer, Sakina said, "Let's assume that he did know. If that's true, then why would he bring you along?"

"You said something to Dismas when he offered you a way out, something about not being able to leave..." Aegle prompted.

Aito saw that this conversation had taken a very bad turn, but she couldn't see how to get out of it until she remembered something she had heard before. Without warning Aito dropped to her knees, as if she couldn't stand anymore.

Aegle and Sakina both stopped, and before either could react Aito shot forward and was soon up and running as fast as she could go.

"What the—?"

"Hey!"

Aito heard the shouts but she had already turned down the stairs, half-running, half-falling down them two to three steps at a time. Aegle and Sakina were right behind her, she could hear the crash of the footsteps, but they slowed down on the stairs. Aito grabbed the hand rail at the bottom to keep herself from falling and used it to help her turn the corner without losing any speed.

She turned another corner with the mess hall in mind and found herself stopped in her tracks when a pair of hands reached out and grabbed her by the shoulders Her legs had a hard time getting the message and kept running for a few seconds after the rest of her body had come to a sudden halt.

Cain looked down at Aito, his brow furrowed. "Little mouse? Is something wrong?"

"Uh, n-no," Aito stammered, just as Aegle and Sakina came running around the corner and crashed to a halt. She couldn't say why, but she didn't want to tell Cain right now. Maybe it was because Aegle and Sakina were right there, and she didn't want to cause more trouble. Or the sudden adrenaline that had canceled out her sleepiness was keeping her from thinking straight. "N-nothing's wrong, why?"

"I was just wondering where you three had gotten to," Cain said. He turned his gaze to Sakina and Aegle and found that neither would quite meet his eyes.

"We have everyone's food on the table," Cain said, keeping one hand on Aito's shoulder. He turned and guided her alongside him. "Come on, before Rokir eats all of it or passes out from sheer excitement."

"Er, yeah," said Sakina, as taken off guard as Aito had been. She wondered why Aito hadn't told Cain anything, but when she shot a questioning look at Aegle he shrugged, just as clueless.

Waiting until Cain and Aito were far enough ahead, Aegle said in a low whisper, "I told you there was something weird about that kid. She's hiding something for sure."

"Okay, okay, so you were right," Sakina answered. "But we still don't know anything certain."

Aegle stared at the pair in front of them with a frown. "Just wait. She can't always run away, can she?"

Sakina shrugged. "I don't know about that, but I bet we'll have a hard time getting her on her own again. I have a feeling Cain doesn't like us upsetting his little mouse, and she's not going to come anywhere near us if she can help it."

"Us, definitely not. But I think I know a certain tyrok she would be willing to talk to..."

"Do you think he'd go for it?" Sakina asked.

"Well, it's worth a shot. I mean, he has to be at least a _little_ bit curious, doesn't he?"

Aegle and Sakina shared a glance.

"Or maybe we could bribe him with food," Aegle suggested. "That always gets his attention."

Contents
Chapter 12: Of Bane, Juice Explosions, and Clothes with Character

Rokir did look very excited when they came in, with his tail beating out a rhythm against his chair and his nostrils flaring at the delicious smells, yet at the same time he did try to show some restraint and wait for the others. Once they were all seated, however, all bets were off and it was some time before he resurfaced to the conversation going on around him.

"So until the thief makes a move either way, we've got nothing to go on," Cain was saying. The others nodded and Rokir felt that he had missed something important. Oh well, he'd figure it out soon enough; he usually did.

The tyrok turned his attention to Aito, who was pushing her food around on the plate and he asked, "Are you not hungry?"

"I...don't think so," Aito said and put her fork down. She attempted to stifle a yawn and failed.

Rokir tilted his head. This was a new concept to wrap his mind around, and after a moment's consideration he decided to put it down as just being tired, although even that had never put a stop on his appetite before now. The kid did look tired, almost as wiped out as Cain, who despite his eagerness in coming here was now staring his food down as if daring it to try something.

"Oh yeah," Aito said when she spotted the familiar orange and pink fruit skulking in the corner of her tray. "I promised Nash I'd bring her some more fruit."

"Wait, what?" Rokir wrinkled his nose, uncertain that he had heard Aito right.

"She likes them, I think," Aito said. She also had a vague feeling that breaking a promise to Nash would be a very bad idea.

"Well then, here, take mine too," Rokir said, passing over the fruit. "They give me—er, that is I'm not a big fan of quasi fruit."

"Why did you promise that beast you'd give it some fruit?" Aegle asked.

"It's a long story," Aito said, poking the squishy quasi fruit. It jiggled and turned the appetites of everyone unfortunate enough to look directly at it. The two on her tray were soon joined by three others to form a jiggling mass.

Cain averted his eyes from the motion sickness-inducing sight and said, "If you must, then at least refrain from giving all of them to her at once. They should keep long enough for you to give her one as a reward or something like that." Cain thought about that sentence. "Perhaps not that long. One a day should be sufficient."

Aito nodded. That should be enough of a thank you to Nash.

"CiCi!"

Cain froze, and a look of terror crossed Rokir's face.

"There you are CiCi, I've been looking all over for you!" A warm, although bordering on high voice gushed behind Cain.

Everyone looked around, Cain moving as if in slow motion, to see a seran standing there beaming at Cain. Smiling in Cain's direction was a rare enough event as it was, but she was radiating.

"Oh dear," said Cain, staring in horror at this apparition.

The seran laughed and without a word of introduction sat between Cain and Aito. "Don't be like that CiCi, I haven't seen you in ages!"

Cain winced.

Aegle couldn't hold back a grin even if he wanted to as he repeated, "CiCi?"

"Oh yes, Cain just sounds too serious doesn't it?"

Cain muttered something under his breath and then said, "For those of you that haven't had the unfortunate chance to meet her before, this is Toril Bane, Sergeant."

For a second there Aito could not believe her ears. This was the Sergeant Bane that she had heard all those awful things about? After every kind of person Aito had imagined, she realized that she had never once considered that Sergeant Bane would be female. She had the same dark hair and eyes as Cain, except that her hair was in a long ponytail that stood out nicely against her uniform and her complexion looked healthier. Also, she gushed everything. She didn't act like someone who was harsh and scary and likely to bring a man to tears, though Cain did seem very uncomfortable. As for Rokir, his fingers were digging into the table and his claws were already starting to leave marks.

"No, no, it's Tori," said Bane, slipping her arm around Cain's. "And who are these people?"

"That's Sakina, and that's Aegle, Rokir, and—"

Bane smiled at Rokir, but from her position Aito could see that the smile didn't come even close to reaching her eyes. "So this is where you have been hiding. Now that you're back at the caps, you can't shirk your duties, private. After all, you're back under my command now."

"Is that so?" Cain said, trying to pull his arm away from Bane's death grip. He was beginning to lose the feeling in his fingers.

Rokir strained to keep the growl in and tried to smile but it turned out as a grimace. Everything about the sergeant grated on his nerves: her voice, her attitude, even her smell gave Rokir a desire to bite something. Hard. They had disliked each other from the moment that she began training him with the other recruits, and mild dislike under Bane's care had turned into a furious hatred.

"And who are you?" Bane asked, turning on Aito.

Aito tried to slide a little farther away from Bane; she was starting to see how someone could think the seran was scary. "Er, most people call me Aito."

"Aw, so cute! But, I heard a nasty little rumor that you were Cain's daughter?"

"N-no, of course not!" Aito stuttered. She wondered if that was what the tom cat soldier was going to ask her this morning. Aito blamed Leonidas for starting the rumor, as he was the first to suggest it, but Cain had corrected him, hadn't he? It's not like they even looked that much alike.

Bane smiled at Aito's reaction and pulled Cain closer to her. "Of course, how do these rumors get started? I even heard one that said you were chasing after some common thief, CiCi."

Cain freed his arm and began trying to rub some life back into the numb limb. "That is true. He is the one who infiltrated the caps today, in disguise. It seems he's somewhere in the city now, but with any luck he'll out himself soon enough."

"Oh, you don't mean that, do you?" Bane asked, her voice adding another drop of sugary sweetness to it. "You've been gone for almost two years now, you can't leave again!"

Sakina, Aito, and Aegle watched in a sort of stunned fascination as Bane snuggled up against Cain. Cain took Bane by the shoulders and pushed her away as politely as he could manage under the circumstances, but that didn't seem to deter her.

"One can only hope," Cain said. "I see you haven't changed much since I last saw you, Toril."

"Unfortunately," Rokir muttered.

"Neither have you, CiCi!" Bane said, smiling while Cain winced. "I bet you still think haven't given up on that little toy soldier idea of yours."

"You are referring to my suggestion for a police force outside of the Royal Army, are you? I'd hardly call them the toy soldiers after today's fiasco," said Cain.

"Well, that does make sense," Sakina said.

Bane turned her smile on the tyrok. "What does?"

Sakina smiled back, about as friendly as Bane. "An army hardly belongs in a city. They're mostly for wars and, recently, for helping in the event of something like a fire or a natural disaster. But interacting with people on a daily basis isn't really what they're cut out for, is it?"

Bane laughed. "You sound just like CiCi. He even suggested forces for every city in Tanil, but the city leaders had their say on that, didn't they?"

Cain frowned, far from eager to revisit that memory.

"Little gangs are what they called them," Bane recalled. "Some people even accused CiCi of trying to undermine the authority of the Crown, what with trying to reduce and even replace the Royal Army. And that's a bad little road to go down, isn't it CiCi?"

Silence pooled around their little group as almost everyone looked at Cain, expecting the inevitable explosion. Aito could see Aegle and Sakina contemplating Cain, fitting this into their view of him. Rokir had one of the quasi fruit in hand, watching the juice drip from the holes his claws had made in it. He had forgotten they weren't good for taking your anger out on, or at least not if you didn't want to have to get the juice out of your eyes.

Cain smiled and Aito moved further away from the sergeant. "If I remember correctly," he said, "I believe His Highness agreed with my position. As for 'little gangs,' that is actually the phrase I used to describe the typical law enforcement of their cities. Now, what I called the city leaders themselves, that would be—" He paused, and looked at Aito. "—unrepeatable."

Bane's smile slipped a little and then she latched onto Cain's arm once again. "Who cares about something silly like that? It was a bad reason to leave, in my opinion, but now you're back and that's all that matters!"

"Not the reason, but by that point any reason was a good reason," Cain said, meeting Rokir's eyes.

The tyrok nodded to the unsaid request and spoke up. "Hey Cain, didn't Leonidas want to talk to you about the South Gate guards? We should hurry up, you know how he hates having to wait."

"You're right," Cain said, standing up despite Bane's weight. "Er, Toril, if you would...?"

"Aw, you have to leave?" Bane complained amidst the sounds of the others getting up as fast as they could. Never before had the group been in such agreement. "Well, tell Leo I need to talk to him about the latest batch of recruits. You know how it is. At least we don't have any of the kind of problems like we used to," she added with a barely concealed look of loathing in Rokir's direction. "They know what it means to respect authority now, though it did take some...effort to drill it in."

"I can hardly wonder why," Rokir muttered, trying to keep his hackles from rising.

Cain muttered something and took off for the doors as fast as his limp would allow. Being around Bane had restored his energy, if only as a survival instinct. Rokir was right behind him with the others following behind him. Before they went through the doors Rokir looked over his shoulder at Bane, and he was the only one to see the hungry look in her eyes as she watched the group leave, her eyes on the retreating serans in particular.

Bane met Rokir's eyes and smiled, and Rokir growled in return. The tyrok had to force himself to turn his back on the sergeant and leave, though every fiber of his being was screaming for a fight.

***

Cain didn't slow down until they were up the stairs again, and even then he looked eager to put as much distance as possible between himself and Bane.

"CiCi?" Aegle asked once they had slowed down, his face cracking into a wicked grin.

"If you value your life, you will never repeat that again," Cain said. There was no threatening tone in his voice, yet he said it in a matter-of-fact way that made it clear he was serious. "That goes for you two as well," he added to Sakina and Aito.

Aito nodded but Sakina frowned.

"Just who was that awful woman, and why was she holding on to you like that?"

"Like I said, Sergeant Bane," Cain answered. "If you all will excuse me, I'm going to go pass out in my room."

"But—" Sakina started.

Cain ignored her and went straight to his room, leaving the others to themselves in the hallway. Aito thought she said something along the same lines, but she may not have actually said it out loud before she disappeared into her own room.

"They really were tired, weren't they?" Rokir remarked. "It's still the middle of the afternoon."

He became aware that Sakina and Aegle were whispering to each other and not listening to him. After a brief but furious discussion Sakina turned around and said to Rokir, "Listen. Aegle and I have been talking and...Well, we think there's something a little odd about the kid."

"Oh, not you too," Rokir groaned. "Aegle tried to tell me the same thing yesterday, but I didn't think you would get caught up in it."

"We talked to the kid," Aegle said. "I asked her about the thief and she said she wasn't working with him, but when I asked her why Cain brought her here then, she got all shifty and ran off. Why would she do that unless she's hiding something?"

Rokir thought about it. He could see several reasons for running away from Aegle and Sakina right now, and he wasn't being interrogated.

"She said it herself when she talked to that thief. Cain has something she wants, or needs, and that's the only reason why she didn't leave with the thief yesterday," Aegle said. "There's something that's not right here."

Rokir grinned sympathetically. "Listen, I can tell you put a lot into this conspiracy theory of yours, but you could just be making a lot out of nothing. Maybe she's just a thief who happened to get caught. Isn't it possible that she's scared to leave now just because she could get in more trouble?"

Aegle ground his teeth. "It's not a conspiracy theory! Why don't you try thinking for yourself and then tell me that there's nothing going on?"

"Just what are you trying to prove?" Rokir asked, all sympathy gone. "First it sounds like you're accusing the kid of hiding something, now it sounds like you're accusing Cain, of what? Keeping secrets? He's always done that, no surprise there. But I doubt he has some sinister scheme going on here."

"Then why did he bring the kid here?" Aegle asked. "He must have known after talking to her that she wasn't working with the other thief. How could he miss it?"

"You missed it, didn't you?"

Aegle opened his mouth and shut it several times, unable to think of an adequate response.

Sakina decided to step back into the conversation here. "If you're so sure, perhaps you could talk to Aito? You could ask her about what really happened at the museum, and about Dismas. If you wanted to, I bet you could find out all about her."

"But—"

Rokir hesitated. He always felt like he was putting a paw wrong with Aito somewhere, especially whenever he asked her questions. She got so awkward and quiet that he felt like a bully, and he sensed the same thing happened in reverse whenever she asked certain questions too. He had almost decided in his mind that Aito had been avoiding him since he had asked where she had come from back at Duna, having never found out the truth behind Cain's story.

Before he could refuse, Sakina leaned close to him with a smile and a feeling that she was acting just like the sergeant with Cain. She drowned that treacherous thought out fast.

"Please?" she asked, letting the tone in her voice go soft and persuasive. "I'm sure she couldn't say no to you, if you just asked her. It would mean a lot to us if you would."

Rokir tried to keep himself from taking a step back, and was grateful that tyroks could not blush. "Uh, that is, um, I mean, sure, why not? No harm in just asking, right?"

"Oh, thank you!" Sakina said and Rokir did take a step backward, scared that she would try to hug him.

"I'll just, uh, do that later, I guess," he said. "Er, gotta go, stuff to do." Rokir walked down the hall at a fast pace, almost tripping over his own feet in his hurry to get out of there.

Sakina looked at Aegle and asked, "So, how did I do?"

Aegle glanced at Rokir, already almost out of sight. He was moving fast, but there was no doubt in Aegle's mind that the tyrok would do what he said he would. Rokir would have agreed to just about anything then.

"That was...masterful, to say the least."

***

When Aito woke up it was to find the sun shining straight in her eyes, now that it was lower in the sky. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, wondering what time it was. She had just been so tired; Aito chalked it up to the usual world-moving sickness and looked around her room.

The room was bigger than her room back home, and the furniture looked newer but it didn't have much character. It had been a relief that first night to find that a bathroom connected to her room, complete with an old-fashioned bathtub that was big enough to swim in. To her mind the best thing about her room was the big windows that swung out and the large windowsill where she could sit and look out over the courtyard below and over the wall at the city lights.

The few possessions she had in this world were scattered all over the place, and it still looked better in comparison to her room at home. Aito hazily thought about this until it struck her that she had no idea when she would even see her room again. Or her school, or her friends. Or her dad.

Aito pulled her knees up to her chest, wanting to shut out the horrible aching feeling that had started in her stomach. It had never occurred to her before, but now it washed over her like a roaring tide. There was no way back now, and she didn't know when she would see them again. What if they never got the book back?

Aito stared at the blanket she was sitting on, still curled up, when there came a knock at the door. At first she didn't respond, but the knocking continued until she slowly uncurled herself and stumbled to the door.

"Yeah?" She asked, opening the door a crack and looking out. She hadn't forgotten about Aegle and Sakina yet. To her surprise, it was Kyrios who was standing outside her door, wearing a jaunty hat that covered his ears. Aito opened the door wider and said, "Oh! It's you."

Kyrios tilted his head and looked Aito up and down. "Are you feeling all right?"

"Um, well..." Aito broke off, unable to finish. She didn't want to say yes, and she had a feeling Kyrios could tell if she lied. "Not really."

"Perhaps a walk would make you feel better?" Kyrios suggested.

Aito nodded. She needed to get out of this room, but she wasn't sure how much a walk would help. "Oh, will we be going near the stables?"

Kyrios thought about it and said yes, so Aito grabbed one of the quasi fruit that she had taken from the cafeteria. Aito explained the promise to Nash while they walked through the caps and out into the now familiar courtyard. He didn't make fun of her or think it was silly, and by the time they had reached the stable she already started to feel better.

Nash turned her head when they walked in and moved to the side of her stall nearest to them, stretching her neck out eagerly.

"You might want to stand back for this next part," Aito warned.

Kyrios obediently stayed by the door while Aito walked up to Nash. After a hurried thank you, Aito held the fruit out to Nash and ran back a safe distance while Nash went through the ceremony of placing the fruit on the top of the low wall separating stalls.

After the ensuing chomp and juice explosion, all Kyrios could bring himself to say was, "Wow."

"Yeah," Aito said, nodding. "I think she really likes the splash. You should have seen it when Dismas was here." Granted, she hadn't seen it either from her position, but she could imagine what it looked like from the sound effects.

She paused. Mentioning Dismas had brought the book to her mind again.

"Come on, Aito," Kyrios said. "Our walk hasn't even started yet."

Aito followed him out of the stable and they walked to the gate that she had come in by before, where she stopped again. "Oh, are we going out into the city?"

"Yes. Is that a problem?"

"Well...Rokir sort of told me not to leave the caps after what happened yesterday," Aito said, tracing a line with her foot until her pants leg slipped down so that the hem was scraping against the ground.

She bent down and rolled it back up when Kyrios said, "I promise you will be okay with me. I won't lose you."

Aito hesitated and then nodded. Kyrios opened the door and they walked through together. Outside, while he pulled the door back into place, a thought occurred to Aito.

"Why are you going through the side door? You went through it last night too."

"Sometimes I like to go out into the city and not be a king for a little while," Kyrios said after some consideration.

For the first time Aito noticed that Kyrios had hidden his tail. With his hat covering his ears, Kyrios looked just like a seran, albeit an oddly-shaped one.

"Why?" she asked.

"It reminds me that there's more to life than just what goes on around a throne," Kyrios said, and then laughed at the bewildered expression on Aito's face. "I like to get out every now and then as much as the next person, and I consider it a bit of a plus when I can do that without being surrounded by guards."

"But doesn't anyone notice when you're gone?" Aito asked. She couldn't see how anyone could miss when a king went missing.

Kyrios smiled. "I have Leonidas to thank for that. He allows people to think that I am extremely hard to get in touch with every now and then."

Aito was surprised. Whenever she had pictured royalty before, it had never included the idea of wanting to blend in. In fact, little of Kyrios reminded Aito of the far-off, distant royalty she imagined them to be. She couldn't see one of them ducking out of the castle or sneaking in a side door.

They reached the main street and Aito was surprised to find it looked so different from last time. The sun was going down now, and a lot of people seemed to have gone home. The city sounded almost quiet, although there was still the buzz of life that suggested there were some places that were still moving. Aito walked in step with Kyrios and looked up at the sky. It was starting to turn gold and orange at the edges with sunset coming on, a stark contrast to yesterday's gray, rainy day.

"Are you allowed to go out on your own like this?" Aito asked, still thinking of yesterday.

Kyrios shrugged. "I'm not alone. You're here, aren't you?"

"But you were alone last night when we met outside the gate," Aito pointed out.

"I had Pel, my horse, with me," Kyrios said.

Aito laughed and said, "That doesn't count!"

"Don't tell Pel that, he might get offended. Besides, I consider him to be great company," Kyrios said with all apparent honesty.

Aito didn't notice where they were going until they reached the Trader's District, which was still going strong. Crowds filled the street and though most of the street vendors had put up for the day there seemed to be little difference between the afternoon crowd and this one. Aito felt a vague lump in her stomach and stopped. Without thinking she began to scan the crowds, expecting...What? A flash of white hair, or wings?

Kyrios noticed Aito hesitating again and took her hand. "Don't worry," he said, not asking for an explanation.

Aito felt ashamed of her fear, but that didn't stop her from glancing around every now and then while they walked. She knew Dismas couldn't know when she left the castle, but there was still that apprehension there that she just couldn't shake.

They made their way through the crowds until they stopped outside of a tailor shop. Well, Kyrios stopped and Aito pulled to a halt a step or two after him.

"Oh, we came here before when we were looking for Dismas," Aito said, remembering her door-to-door search with Rokir.

"Ah, good, so you know the place," Kyrios said, and then without further explanation they walked in, the little bell over the door tinkling.

Right now the tailor's shop was almost empty. The day before yesterday there had been a small amount of people in here, examining the mannequins that bore what were probably the latest and greatest fashions. The verkoni behind the counter came hurrying around, eagerness on his face until he saw the customer, or more accurately, Aito.

"Oh, it's you," the verkoni said, the smile dropping off of his small, calculating face.

Aito didn't bother responding. She remembered what he had said about her clothes the day before yesterday. What kind of salesman insults the customer?

Kyrios smiled, undaunted by the verkoni's briskness. "I was hoping to get some clothes made for her, in fact. If you could do some measurements today, then...?"

The verkoni considered Aito and said, "Anything would be an improvement on those rags." He started discussing things with an assistant and Aito tugged on Kyrios's sleeve.

"Why are you doing this?" she whispered, not wanting the verkoni to overhear. "I don't really..."

"If I recall correctly, I think I remember Cain saying something along the lines of 'little mouse' needing some real clothes," Kyrios said.

Kyrios spoke to the tailor and his assistant and then said to Aito, "I will be next door. I believe I saw a hat shop. I'll be back soon, okay?"

Aito nodded and was herded into the back by the assistant where she took Aito's measurements while the tailor shook his head. Apparently closer inspection had given him more to say about Aito's second-hand clothes.

"Rags," he declared. "Absolute rags. You didn't come in a second too soon, that's for sure. Perhaps on someone a foot or so taller, maybe, but these are just an abomination."

After a while Aito started to tune him out. She supposed she was grateful that Kyrios was going through the trouble of getting her some clothes that didn't try to trip her every five seconds, but she felt awkward that she couldn't repay him. Cain had done the same thing before, back in Duna, and she had never even said "thank you." But Cain had just been trying to cover for a little while. He hadn't been expecting Aito to stay in Tanil very long, had he?

How long would she be stuck in this world? The thought made her shiver and the assistant told her to stay still.

About the time the assistant had finished the measurements and the tailor seemed to have exhausted his extensive store of clothing insults, Kyrios returned to the shop with a hat box under his arm. Aito didn't listen while he and the tailor talked. She kept trying to tell herself that this wasn't going to be permanent, but she failed to convince herself.

She followed Kyrios out of the shop and fell into step with him, not looking at anything in particular.

"Aito?"

"Huh?" Aito pulled out of her reverie to find Kyrios looking at her intently. "What?"

"Just making sure you're okay," Kyrios said.

Aito blinked and then, trying to turn the conversation to something else, noticed the hat box Kyrios was carrying. "Oh, you found a new hat?"

Kyrios smiled. "I thought it would fit a friend of mine better. Besides, I like this hat too much to replace it now," he said, tugging on the brim of his vibrant hat and laughing. "How did it go with the measuring?"

"Well, I found out that I like these clothes more just because of the tailor," Aito said, being quite honest. Now that she thought about it, she wondered why the tailor had failed to say anything about Kyrios's strange choice of colors in his clothing. Today he wore bright orange with muted grays as if in deference to the chilly fall weather.

"That bad, huh?"

"He called them rags, and said they looked like the remains of a closet explosion."

"That sounds like character to me," Kyrios said, nodding. "Original, even. I suppose you wouldn't want to give them up for anything now?"

Aito tripped when the ankle of her right pants leg became entangled around her left foot, a feat she would have considered impossible with any other outfit. "Okay, maybe not anything," she admitted.

They laughed and joked and Aito soon cheered up as they made their way back to the caps. It was getting dark now and Aito found herself keeping her eyes on the ground to keep from tripping again. Staring into alleyways to look for the thief had passed out of her mind. It wasn't until they were shutting the caps gate that Aito remembered to say, "Thank you."

"It's just some clothes," Kyrios said, shrugging.

"Well, that..." Aito said. "And for the walk, and for just talking. Thank you Kyrios."

The king paused and then said, "Don't mention it Aito. What are friends for?" He smiled, took his hat off and plopped it on Aito's head. "Feeling better now?"

"Yes!" Aito said, laughing as the brim slipped and the world went dark.

"Ah, the hat is too big for the little mouse," Kyrios said.

Aito pushed at Kyrios, or where she thought he had been standing, but she just stumbled forward, laughing. "Don't you start that too!"

***

Rokir started to knock on the door and hesitated. He had told Sakina he would, but looking back he began to suspect he had been duped. Was it fair for Sakina to suddenly start acting all...girly? Rokir imagined again his awkward conversations with the kid, and then how Sakina would react if he didn't even try. He sighed. There was no hope of him winning either way, was there?

Rokir knocked on the door and waited. Then he knocked again, the loud, persistent, and somewhat annoying knock of the impatient that continued until he was sure there was no one in there. That, or the kid was a heavier sleeper then he thought possible.

Well, it wasn't like he hadn't tried, right? It wasn't his fault that Aito wasn't in her room, and there was no telling when she could be back. Rokir shrugged and accepted that with ease. No one said it couldn't wait until the morning, right?

Contents
Chapter 13: Of Arguments, Dolls, and Seeds

Aito woke up and just laid there in bed. She didn't want to move, as the bed was so warm and the room so dark because the sun only lit up the other side of the caps this early in the morning. She knew that it was morning because she could hear voices coming up from the courtyard beneath her window, and the occasional person walking down the hall.

After a while she managed to get up and make her way across the room. She opened the door and looked to the left and the right, but she couldn't tell if the others were up yet or not. Just as she was about to shut the door again she noticed a package lying on the ground in front of her door with her name scrawled on the top.

Aito picked up the package and turned it over, but there was no other note. Taking it back into her room, she opened it and said, "Oh!"

A couple of minutes later she came out of her room wearing one of the new outfits from the package. It was blue and tan, and it fit. Aito felt so much better now that she was wearing clothes that didn't try to break her leg every time she took a step or sleeves that brushed her knees that she could have danced. She couldn't help noticing that even though they were nice, her clothes were similar to the clothes that Cain had given her in that they were thick and warm, and probably wouldn't tear easily.

Aito wanted to show her new outfit off, so she walked over to Cain's room and started to knock, until she noticed that it was already open just a crack. She hesitated and then heard Cain's voice coming from inside.

"Leonidas said that no certain reports have come through about Dismas, but Sakina and Rokir found the painting yesterday, in a shop I know deals under the table. Rokir botched the job of course and started asking too many questions, so they were kicked out of the place for their efforts."

"Hm. Of course, if you would just consent to taking care of that leg of yours, you could have dealt with it yourself."

Aito jumped a little when she realized that the second speaker was Kyrios. She started to knock to let them know that she was there, but curiosity plus the sharp tone in Cain's voice when he spoke again stayed her hand.

"I'll take care of it. Speaking of going into the city, why didn't you tell me before you took my little mouse out?"

"You knew I planned on taking her to the tailor's. I was merely afraid you would strain yourself in order to come along."

"It wasn't safe, not with the thief—"

"We stayed on public streets, and I would not have just stood by if he attempted anything," Kyrios said. Unlike Cain he sounded as calm as ever.

"That's what I'm afraid of," Cain said. "Would we end up with trees in the middle of the main street, or simply a new lawn?"

Kyrios laughed and the tension seemed broken because when Cain spoke again he sounded more normal, in his distant sort of way.

"If Aegle's right, by tomorrow morning I should be able to leave the caps, so long as I don't push it. Then maybe I can get some information out of this reluctant shopkeeper."

"Will you be taking your 'little mouse' with you?"

A long silence followed and Aito wished that she could see their faces as Cain answered in a slow, hesitating way, "The thief will be looking for her by now."

"That seems like a good reason for her to stay here."

"I know, but this painting is a slim lead, and she's all that we have left to draw him out."

Another of those long, sickening silence followed and Aito stepped back from the door. If Kyrios had not broken the silence by speaking the two in the room might have noticed the sound of footsteps hurrying down the hall.

"That is the only reason?"

Inside of the room, Cain looked away from the king and said, "Of course. What other reason is there?"

"Cain."

The seran sighed and said, "I can protect her with my illusions if she comes with me. It's not that I don't trust you, but leaving her alone in the caps is too vulnerable. That thief has accomplices, I'm sure of it. Who's to stop them from pulling the same trick?"

"Tell me, are you more worried about losing Aidan, or losing the book and pendant?"

Cain stood up, his face flushing red and his eyes flashing. "Which do you think?"

Kyrios stood as well and looked Cain in the eyes as he said, "Right now? I am not sure, and I don't think you are either."

The king left the room and Cain swayed on the spot, fighting the desire to run after him and continue the argument. Eventually his pain won out and the seran sank back into his chair, left alone to his own thoughts.

***

Aito stopped in one of the myriad of similar hallways in the caps, breathing hard. She couldn't bear staying at the door any longer, but at the same time she wished she knew how the conversation ended. She ached to know, to even hope that she had misunderstood that conversation, and wished that she had never listened in.

She leaned against the wall and sighed. For a long time Aito remained there, until the sound of approaching footsteps brought her to her senses. Aito looked to the left and saw to her horror Sergeant Bane approaching.

There was nowhere Aito could run to, so she faced a nearby picture and hoped Bane would pass her by without recognizing her. Bane had barely even looked at her yesterday, after all.

"Oh my!" said the sergeant, coming to a halt behind Aito. "Aren't you one of Cain's little friends?"

Aito winced. Why did everyone remember her?

"Oh you are!" Bane said, recognizing the awkward expression passing across Aito's face, as she had put one just like it there yesterday. "Is CiCi around?" she asked, looking up and down the hall as if expecting him to come walking toward them at any moment.

"Uh, no, he's...busy," Aito said. Although after what she had just heard, it might have been a fitting punishment to tell Bane how to find Cain. "In fact, I'd better be—"

"Oh, don't go," Bane said, latching on to Aito's shoulder. "Please, come with me. I'd like to show you something."

"But—" Aito staggered, trying not to let herself get pulled along but failing. When Bane asked something, she seemed to take it for granted that the other would obey. "I really should be going back—"

"It won't take more than a moment, I promise," Bane said. "Here we are already, my room. What I want to show you is in here."

Sergeant Bane opened the door into one of the strangest bedrooms Aito had ever seen before. Cain's bedroom at Duna had been almost completely empty and devoid of personality, but Bane's seemed to have been overwhelmed by the occupier's abundance of it.

Pictures and photographs lined the walls, and her bed was covered in a bright, almost fluorescent blanket that attracted and blinded the eye at the same time like a miniature sun. Aito's attention was only drawn away from the garish color when Bane walked over to the dresser and said,

"Here is what I wanted to show you."

On the dresser was a set of small dolls, all of them about three inches long. They had a very simple, homemade look to them, and Aito was surprised to see something like them in a grown woman's room.

"I keep these around for sentimental reasons, I suppose you would say, and I thought you might like to look at them," Bane said as if in answer to Aito's thoughts.

Aito didn't know where Bane would have gotten that idea, but she politely moved closer and looked at the dolls. They were simple, but at the same time they were very recognizable. Aito picked up a mailin doll that even had its own little mask.

"Oh, I like the mailin dolls too," Bane said. "Here's one that you might like." She handed Aito another of the dolls, and Aito almost dropped it out of surprise.

The doll was a gaillos with long white hair and bright white wings, with a very familiar little smile. Aito looked back at Bane with some surprise, but the seran showed no sign of suggesting anything. She was going through the dolls one by one, not paying attention to Aito's reaction. Aito turned the doll over slowly in her hands, and had to focus when Bane spoke again.

"You know, I still don't know why you're traveling with CiCi and his guards. Why is a kid going with a group chasing a thief?"

Aito shrugged and said listlessly, "I don't know."

It was a lie, but Aito did not want to think about what she had heard this morning. Cain was going to use her to catch the thief, she knew it. Aito pushed those thoughts in a corner of her mind and tried to block them out.

"Oh, come now, you don't have to be afraid to tell me," Bane said. "I think I might have already figured it out, after all."

Aito froze and looked at Bane, who was looking at her now, a little smile on her face.

"Are you really CiCi's daughter? You can tell me the truth, I promise I won't tell anyone else."

Aito felt a strange mixture of relief and anger, and so said a little more forcefully than she meant to, "No, I'm not! Cain is not my dad. Why does everyone keep asking me that?"

The mention of Cain broke the wall down, letting a thought escape. Had Cain been using her this whole time? Aito pushed it away, now wasn't the time for that.

"Are you sure you're not related?" Bane asked, and when Aito shook her head vehemently she said, "It's just that there's something about you that reminds me of him so much, but I just can't put my finger on it."

Sergeant Bane put her hand under Aito's chin and lifted her face so that she could see it more clearly. Aito remembered what Cain had said about how serans could recognize humans and stepped back, her heart pounding in her chest.

"Sorry," Bane said, smiling. "It's just so strange, and I've never heard anything about CiCi's family before, so when I heard the rumor going around that you were his daughter..."

Aito turned red, but before she could reply there was a knock at the door.

"Coming!" Bane called. She went to the door to talk to someone outside.

"Ah, hem, so if you would be so good as to make your way there," said the speaker at the door after a couple of minutes. Aito tilted her head and managed to make out the familiar shape of the whisker-jumping butler there before Bane blocked the view again.

"Yes, yes, all right," Bane said briskly. "Just let me take care of something."

Aito soon found herself being rushed outside, with Bane pulling her before she knew what was going on. It wasn't until she was out in the hallway that she realized she was still holding the Dismas doll.

"Oh, your doll!" Aito said, but Bane was already out of earshot. Aito tried the door, but Bane seemed to have remembered to lock it in spite of her hurry. She looked at the verkoni butler, who was watching her plight.

Seeing her questioning look he shrugged and said, "Don't look at me. I don't, ahem, carry keys with me. What do I look like, some kind of janitor?"

"So what should I do?" Aito asked. "I can't just leave it here, it might get lost."

"Looks like you'll just have to find her and give it back later," the butler said. "I certainly don't, ahem- _hem_ , envy you."

***

Cain was speaking to Sakina and Aegle in the hall just outside of their rooms when Aito found them. He looked at her and said, "Ah, there you are, little mouse. I was just telling the others of our plans for tomorrow. Sakina and Rokir have found the shop that the thief sold the painting to, and the shopkeeper may know something of the thief's whereabouts."

Aito only halfway listened while Cain talked. She felt repulsion toward him now, and looking at the seran's face was enough to make her feel sick. Had Dismas been right all along? Cain had lied to everyone else, so why did she ever believe that he wouldn't lie to her? The book, the pendant, humans, going home, when had he been telling the truth and when had he been lying?

"What about the pendant? Did he sell it at the same place?" Aegle asked. "That is, unless you've forgotten about it again." The suspicion in his voice was evident, and Aito thought he had good reason. She wondered if Cain had another reason for tracking down the stolen pendant too.

His eyes flickered toward Aito for the merest blink of an eye as he said, "I doubt the thief is willing to sell it yet, for reasons of his own. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some other things that I need to attend to."

The seran started to walk away and everyone heard the sharp hiss of breath when he put his weight on the injured leg.

"You're not going anywhere if you don't get that leg seen to," Sakina said, shaking her head. "You can't go running around the city like that."

"I know, I know! Aegle, do you have that medicine you keep going on about?"

"Yes, in my room. It's a liquid you spread over the skin, but I should warn you—"

"I don't care. Neither of you are going to leave me alone until I try the stuff, and if it means getting rid of the pain then so be it."

"Okay," Aegle said, throwing his hands up in defeat although Aito noticed a slight smile on his face. "But I'll need Rokir to help."

"Where is Rokir?" Aito asked. It had been hard to miss the big tyrok's absence, especially as he was the one person she wouldn't mind talking to right now.

"That Bane woman has him running around the caps," Sakina answered. The corners of her mouth turned down in distaste at the mention of the sergeant's name and she crossed her arms across her chest. "Like he isn't supposed to be working with us! Rokir's one of the Duna guards too."

"He's a soldier first," Cain said. "I was just going to speak with Leonidas about that. We can't have our Rokir trying to work for two people at once. It's a bit much, even for him."

Turning his attention to Aegle he said, "Tell me, why do you need Rokir's help? I just have to put this stuff on my leg and back, right? That seems like something I can do myself."

"Oh, I think you'll want us there. I just need to run by the infirmary and get a few things we'll need. Half an hour should be long enough for both of you to meet me back here at your room, right?" Aegle said this over his shoulder, already starting to walk down the hall.

"Sure, I suppose..." Cain was distracted when Sakina slipped her arm into his and said, "Come on, let's go find Leonidas."

Cain tilted his head with a bemused expression on his face but didn't argue as Sakina walked him toward the stairs.

Aito looked around and realized that she was alone again. The last thing she wanted to do was hang around inside again, so after a stop by her room she went the now familiar way to the door that led out into the courtyard beside the caps.

***

Cain knew Leonidas wouldn't give in easily about Rokir, but he didn't expect the argument to come before he even found the verkoni. Cain and Sakina made it as far as the first floor before the first mistake was made: Cain tried to start a conversation.

"Near here is the barracks for the privates. Did you know that it's possible to coat an entire room in feathers and honey?"

"You never told me why you didn't want me to come along with you and the others."

"Well that had nothing at all to do with my question."

"Just answer the question," Sakina snapped. "Why did you try to talk Dean Padrone into making me stay behind?"

Cain sighed and they both stopped walking. He did a half-hop so that he was leaning against the wall where he could look at Sakina as he said, "Did it ever occur to you that maybe I thought staying at Duna would be better for you?"

"Better how?"

"Oh, I don't know, getting an education, making friends your own age with similar interests, whatever it is people are supposed to do at school."

"People my own age? I'm an adult, I'm only two years younger than Aegle."

"Really? I thought he was younger than that. I should have been harder on the little twerp all this time." Catching the look in Sakina's eye, Cain added, "Only joking, of course. I do think you would have been better off staying in Duna, all the same."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really. Is it that hard to believe I was trying to do you a favor?"

"A favor? Leaving me to guard the museum all alone with whoever the dean gets to replace you three? Between you three Duna was actually interesting, I had something to do besides study and go to class or do the same old thing with the other girls."

Cain rubbed his forehead. He could feel a headache starting to form and he wished that he had just kept his mouth shut. He said, without any conviction, "And what if I were to say that I was sorry for trying to help you?"

"I wouldn't believe you."

"Well, that saves me the trouble of bothering," Cain said as he started to limp away in the direction of the training yard where he thought Leonidas might be about this time.

Sakina watched him limp for a couple of yards before she caught up and grabbed his arm. "Oh, come on," she said, pulling at his arm so that he would put some of his weight on her. "It'll take all day if you go by yourself."

"But then I won't have an excuse for making Aegle wait around again," Cain said with a theatrical sigh. After trying to reason with Sakina, talking Leonidas into getting Rokir out of Sergeant Bane's command would be a simple task.

***

At the time Aegle suggested Cain found himself locked in his room with the korin and Rokir. Cain might have had some trouble convincing Leonidas of his need for the tyrok, but Sakina could talk even the adviser-general into a corner. By the time she was done, Leonidas would have done anything to be rid of them.

Right now Aegle had a small bottle of some kind of brown liquid and a couple of rags, but Cain still couldn't see why Rokir needed to be there.

When asked, Aegle said with some care, "Just in case." He gestured toward the bottle, "This is an old remedy that's been passed down in my family. It just has to go on the skin, and it will take away the pain and speed up healing."

"So what are the drawbacks?" Cain asked. He might have sounded sure before, but he had little faith in medicine at the best of times, much less after the dire hints Aegle kept throwing around.

"Well, it doesn't do much of anything for broken bones or very serious injuries..."

"What's the catch?" Cain asked.

"Just take off your shirt and lie down," said Aegle.

Cain complied with some hesitation, and asked once again, "What's the catch?"

"Well, you may want to put this in your mouth," Aegle said, passing him one of the clean rags.

Before Cain could move or get away, Aegle opened the bottle, releasing a foul odor in the air, doused one of the remaining rags, and rubbed it on Cain's back, over the colorful bruises there. Almost instantly Cain felt as though his back were being burnt and frozen at the same time and his shoulders twisted as he shook until Rokir grabbed him and held him still.

"It'll only last a minute," Aegle said before he grabbed Cain's injured leg. He applied the foul liquid there, and because the ankle was more serious than bruising, he put more of the liquid on some bandages and began binding them around the ankle.

Cain howled and it took all of Rokir's strength to keep him still. As it was, Aegle's process was seriously hindered when Cain came close to kicking him in the face several times.

"There, done!" Aegle cried, backing away from the seran.

Cain, gasping for breath, said, "I'm going to kill him."

He jerked up and it took all of Rokir's strength to keep him from leaping at the korin. Cain groaned, but he couldn't shake off the determined tyrok.

"I know it stings, but the pain will go away soon," Aegle said.

"That's what I was going to tell you," answered Cain, though his voice was a little slurred. His eyes were having trouble focusing on Aegle but he didn't care. Once he got out of Rokir's grip he would take care of Aegle, every blurry version of him.

Aegle took a closer look at Cain and then suggested that Rokir not hold his arm around the seran's throat.

"Oops, sorry about that," said Rokir, releasing Cain.

Cain stumbled and found his back and leg were no longer hurting; in fact, they were numb and lifeless, and he had to hold onto Rokir to keep from falling down.

"Yeah, that should wear off soon enough," Aegle said, keeping a tactful distance all the same. "But it doesn't hurt any more, right?"

Cain grunted hoarsely.

"So what do you say?" Aegle asked.

"Thanks," Cain muttered.

"And...?"

"I'm sorry for threatening to kill you," Cain said, and then continued, "But if you don't wipe that smirk off your face I might not get a chance to apologize again."

"I'll take it," Aegle said with, yes, a smirk. "Oh, and before I forget, there was something I wanted to ask you."

"Isn't there always?" Cain asked.

"Did you find out why the thief came into the caps yesterday? You seem to be one of the few who knew anything about everything that happened then. I mean, why would he risk that?"

Cain remained silent for several minutes. He could feel Rokir looking at him, wanting to know too. "Well..."

"Here it comes," Aegle said to Rokir. "You are about to see a blatant lie in the making."

Rokir nodded his head. "Looks like it."

"Hey now!" Cain pushed away from Rokir, swayed on his numb foot and managed to land on his bed. "I don't lie all the time."

"Just when it suits you," said Aegle.

"Or when you're bored," added Rokir.

"Fine then, I won't answer you," said Cain, striking up an indignant expression. "You ask me a question, and before I even answer you call me a liar? Talk about not giving someone a chance!"

He laid back and closed his eyes before he said, "And I went through the trouble of making up a fascinating and completely unbelievable explanation too. No appreciation, I tell you."

Aegle looked at Rokir and said, "If you hold him down I can give him another dose of his treatment. I'm sure it would do him some good, after all."

Cain opened one eye and, seeing the tyrok nodding, was up in a flash. "You know, I think this would be a good time for you two to leave. Now."

He ushered Rokir and Aegle out of the room, staggering behind them, and slammed the door after they had left. A moment later they heard a thump on the other side of the door and a groan.

"Do you think he's okay?" Rokir asked.

"Yeah, sure," Aegle said with a shrug. "So, have you talked to Aito yet?"

Rokir scratched at his ear and wouldn't quite meet Aegle's eyes. "Um, well, not really. I haven't had a chance to, since she's always out of her room whenever I knock and all."

"Really?" Aegle asked, turning and looking as Sakina walked out of her own room. "I wonder where she goes?"

"Where who goes?" asked Sakina, catching only the tail end of the conversation.

"The kid," said Aegle. "Rokir says she hasn't been in her room whenever he's looked for her."

Sakina nodded. "Yeah, she's not in her room right now either. I tried to find her while you were with Cain."

"Where would she want to go around here?" Aegle asked.

"She could be with Nash," Rokir answered without thinking. When Aegle and Sakina gave him an odd look he felt he had to explain. "Well, you remember, when she was talking about Nash and the quasi fruit..."

"Oh yeah, that's right," Sakina said. "Come on, let's go see if she's down there."

"What?" Rokir paused and asked, "You mean you two, right? I don't want to have anything to do with this conspiracy theory of yours. It's ridiculous."

"But Rokir, you promised," Sakina said, adopting that begging tone again. "Please? You _said_ you would talk to her."

Rokir was determined he wasn't going to fall for it this time. He knew Sakina was just trying to play on his emotions. What he didn't know was how he found himself downstairs with Aegle and Sakina, opening the door that led outside.

It didn't take long to spot Aito, on the other side of the paddock that connected to the stables. She was sitting on the top bar of the wooden fence with her legs dangling down. To their surprise, Nash stood on the other side of the fence. The creature's ears were laid back and she nudged against Aito, who was petting her.

"She's not trying to bite the kid," Aegle said, unable to credit the strange sight.

"Nash must really like fruit," Rokir said. "Who knew?"

Sakina's ears twitched and she nudged the other two, motioning for them to be quiet. When Rokir showed every sign of talking anyway she whispered, "Aito's talking to her."

Rokir tilted his head and realized Sakina was right. Even Aegle could distantly make out the sounds of Aito's voice, but not the words.

"Come on, let's get closer," the korin said, and led the others around the fence, keeping as close to the wall as possible. Not that he needed to bother, as Aito was so busy talking to Nash that she didn't even notice there was someone else nearby, not even when they were close enough to eavesdrop without straining their ears.

"I just don't know. Hey Nash, do you think if I got him to come here you could get him to tell the truth for once?"

Nash tossed her head as if nodding and Aito laughed. She rubbed Nash near her horns and with her other hand pulled something that looked like a small doll out of her pocket. Aito looked at it thoughtfully before she showed it to Nash.

"What do you think? It looks a lot like him, right?"

Nash moved her head and Aito was just quick enough to pull her hand back before the creature's teeth could catch hold of the doll.

"Don't eat it!"

"What do you have there, little mouse?"

Aito nearly fell off the fence at the sound of Aegle's voice, and when she turned and saw the three standing a short distance away all trace of her good mood disappeared.

"Do _not_ call me that! What do you guys want?"

"Well right now we're wondering how you can be that close to that beast without getting bit," Rokir said. While Aegle and Sakina walked closer, he stayed where he was at, still not far enough from Nash and the horses for his comfort.

"Yeah, you should get down from there Aito. It's not safe," Sakina said.

Aito and Nash traded glances and Aito asked, "Do you mean it's not safe for me to be up here, or it's not safe for me to be down there with you?"

"You know what I meant. How are we not safe?"

Aito thought about it for a second. "Well, you work for Cain, when Aegle's not threatening me you two are pulling me around and asking me questions, you—"

"Okay, I think we get it," Aegle said, cutting Aito off before she could mention anything that had to do with Rokir. His quick eyes noticed Aito still had that thing in her hand that she had been showing to Nash. Before she could put it in her pocket the korin darted forward and took it away.

"Oho, what is this?" Aegle looked at the doll and then back at Aito. "Why do you have a doll that looks like the thief?"

"It's not my doll, it's Sergeant Bane's. She has a bunch of them. Be careful with it, I have to give it back!" Aito shouted the last part when Aegle tossed the doll to Rokir.

"Wow, it does look like— Wait, did you say that this thing belongs to Bane?" Rokir's snout bunched up and then he started to laugh, big, loud laughs that made him shake all over.

It seemed contagious, because soon Sakina was laughing and even Aegle chuckled a little at the idea of the fearsome sergeant owning a bunch of dolls for children.

Aito looked at Nash, who snorted and walked away from this laughing mess. It was nice to see the three of them not mad or complaining, but Aito felt she had to say something before Rokir got any bright ideas about what to do with the doll. After all, she would be the one blamed.

She stood up with her feet on the lowest bar of the fence, her hand on the nearby pole to keep her balance, and called, "Seriously, give it back."

Rokir shrugged, still laughing a little, and tossed the doll toward Aito. It was a bad toss, coming closer to her knees than her hands, and Aegle intercepted it.

"Now why should we stop the fun so early?" he asked, twirling the doll between his fingers. "After all, didn't we have some questions to ask?"

"Aegle," Aito said in as close to a threatening tone as she could manage. "Give. It. Back."

Aegle turned his back on Aito as he said, "Oh dear, Cain's little mouse is threatening me. If you want the doll so much, get it yourself."

Aegle moved his arm with the intention of pretending to throw the doll, but at the phrase "Cain's little mouse" Aito started to see red. Aegle almost stumbled when Aito jumped off of the fence on top of him. Her arms were wrapped around his shoulders and she hung from his back.

Upon looking down and seeing her feet dangling just inches from the ground Aito said, "Wow, you really are short."

From her position Aito had an excellent view of the korin's ears turning red as he shouted, "Get off of me!"

"Not until you give the doll back and promise never to call me that again."

Aegle didn't answer; instead, he twisted around, flailed, did everything he could to knock the girl off of his back short of falling over backwards. Aito managed to hold on, her arms latched onto each other around his neck in a desperate attempt to hold on.

"Don't you think you should do something?" Sakina asked Rokir. Both had been standing by, neither trying to get involved until then.

"What, and spoil the fun? I want to see what happens when she grabs one of his ears."

Sakina stared at Rokir, the sort of stare that made his fur stand up even though he tried not to meet it head-on. He tried to hold out, but after five seconds he said, "Fine."

Aito had her eyes shut, so she didn't see the tyrok coming until she felt hands lifting her up and off of Aegle. Or at least, part of the way.

"Kid, you've got to let go."

"Not until he promises!"

Aegle started to protest but Rokir growled and he said instead, "I'll give you the doll back."

Aito had almost forgotten about the doll. Slowly she released her grip and found herself dangling from Rokir's paw-like hand. Aegle turned and shoved the doll into her hand, his face red and his ears practically twitching with rage.

"What was that all about?" Rokir asked, setting Aito down on the ground. "I didn't think the doll mattered that much."

"Maybe it's because of who it looks like," Aegle said, and Aito stuck her tongue out at him.

"I just don't like being called 'Cain's little mouse,' all right?"

"That looked to be more than just not liking it," said Sakina, who had taken over Aito's perch on the fence some time during Rokir's intervention.

The last thing Aito wanted to talk about was what she had overheard this morning, especially with these three. After all, she had a hard enough time telling Nash all about it, and with Nash there wasn't the danger of her turning right back around and telling Cain. At least, Aito hoped not.

"I'm going to take this back now," Aito said, hoping that a trip to Sergeant Bane's room would keep the others from following her.

Unfortunately, when she looked over her shoulder at the door she found all three behind her. Any thought this might be a coincidence fell under when Rokir asked, "So, do you remember how to get to Sergeant Bane's room? I've never been there before."

"Of course I remember." Aito walked through the building, dismayed to find that the others were still behind her even when she passed the stairs that led up to their rooms. "Why are you following me?"

"Like I said, I don't know how to get there," Rokir answered and the other two nodded. When Aito frowned, Rokir smiled and said, "You haven't forgotten, have you? I remember that night at the museum the thief had to tell you how to get out of there all the while I was chasing you. Hold on..."

Rokir's ears fell and Aegle looked up.

"You didn't know how to get out of the museum? But surely if you broke in you could remember the short distance from the doors to the display area," Sakina said slowly.

"I-it was dark, I got turned around," Aito said, unintentionally walking faster as if to get farther away from the conversation.

The other three shared a common look and Rokir sped up so that he was now walking in step with Aito.

"The museum isn't that big, even the new students have a hard time getting lost in there," Rokir said. "Although there was that one time we found this one kid in one of the storage rooms after they had to start a search party. He—"

"Focus!" Aegle called from behind them.

"Right, right. So why did you need directions? You couldn't have gotten in the way the thief got out, so you two must have come in through the doors together. Not to mention the emergency lights were on by the time you two were running for it, which is more light than you got in by."

To her great relief Aito spotted the door to Sergeant Bane's room up ahead and knocked before Rokir could press her for an answer. At first Aito thought Bane wasn't there, but just as the others were about to start in again the door swung open with a force that made her jump back.

"Why, hello Ci—" Bane broke off when she saw who it was and looked disappointed and puzzled. "Oh, it's just you. What brings you here?"

"I just wanted to bring this back," Aito said, holding out the doll. "I'm sorry, when you had to leave so fast before I—"

"Think nothing of it," Bane said, grabbing the doll and putting it out of sight with a glance at the others. Spotting the smirk on Rokir's face she sniffed and said, "Just where have you been? You missed training."

"Didn't Leonidas tell you? I've been reassigned to Cain again," Rokir said, his grin growing wider. "Until this thief is caught I'm to help him in any way I can, then it's back to Duna."

The sergeant's frown grew more pronounced and she tossed her hair over her shoulder as she said, "Back to being a pet dog again then. Well, at least I don't have to waste my time with you any more."

"Don't talk about him like that," Sakina said, pushing between Aito and Rokir so that she stood in front of the sergeant. "He's a better soldier than you. All I ever see you doing is canoodling with Cain or bossing others around when you can't track him down. Don't you have anything better to do with your time?"

Aito heard a laugh and thought it must have come from Aegle, who was the farthest away from the seran by this point.

"Why you—" Bane swelled up as if gathering her breath together to blow Sakina and the rest of them away, but Sakina was too fast for her.

Turning on her heel, the puppy-like tyrok said to the others, "Let's not waste our time here anymore. Come on guys."

Rokir and Aegle were only too glad to get away from there, and even Aito turned to follow but was stopped short when the sergeant latched onto her shoulder.

"Now, why should you be going with them? It hardly seems right for a little girl to be walking around a castle full of soldiers and those people. If you really aren't Cain's daughter, then what are you doing here?"

Aito could see that Bane was just using her to get at Sakina, who had stopped short with the others when they saw what had happened.

"I'm here because I have to be, that's all. If I could go home, I would," Aito said, being quite honest without giving any real information. She squirmed out of Bane's grip and stood there, between the seran and the others.

Sergeant Bane was rubbing her fingers thoughtfully and said, "So that's it. All this time I've been using my ability to find people to try and find Cain, yet every time I kept bumping into you. I couldn't figure out why until now. He's used one of his illusions on you."

An illusion? It didn't take Aito long to figure out what that could be. She had wondered more than once why none of the other serans she had run into except for Cain seemed to notice that she was a human, despite what he had said. He had used an illusion to make her look more like a seran to everyone else.

"Cain used an illusion on her? What kind?" This came from Rokir, and Aito realized that everyone was looking at her now, all trying to figure out the same thing. Soon the questions would start and she would have to lie or dodge them again, just like always.

Aito didn't wait that long. She took off running down the hall before the others could think. She didn't even look back to see if they chased her; she just ran, darting through groups of soldiers who turned to look at her and maids who giggled and took no notice of her. She didn't even pay any attention to which way she was going, just taking a turn whenever she could until she ran through a door and outside into a place that was completely unfamiliar to her.

She stopped, breathing hard, and realized that she had run right out through the double doors to the front entrance of the caps, the way that she had never been before. No one came out after her, and after looking around and seeing none of the soldiers nearby she started to walk toward the gates.

She didn't plan on walking out into the city, or so she told herself. Aito walked slowly down the gravel drive and stopped just short of the gates to turn around and look up at the caps. The castle looked larger-than-life from this angle, and with the sun shining on the towers and creating deep shadows in other places on the white stone it was enough to make Aito sigh and smile a little in spite of how bad she felt.

"They say that the castle is centuries old, older than just about everything else in this city. It certainly looks good for its age, doesn't it?"

Aito jumped nearly a foot and turned to see Kyrios standing nearby, his usual smile present.

"I did not mean to startle you, Aito," said Kyrios. "I was just taking a walk around the caps, and was surprised to see you here. I thought you only liked to use the hardest doors to get through."

Aito looked behind her at the gates to the caps and said, "Oh, I wasn't planning on leaving. I just...needed to take a walk too."

"Hm...Have you ever been on top of the walls before?"

"No, I don't even know how to get up there," Aito said.

"Then why don't I show you? It's a good place to walk when you need to get a little perspective."

With a smile Kyrios led Aito to a small nook beside the gates where a set of stone steps led up to the top of the wall. There was only room for them to walk up single file, and at the top Aito found that the top of the thick walls was a walkway that led all the way around the caps with only low walls between them and the edge. Beyond that she could see out into the city, over the buildings and the streets where people scurried this way and that. It was an impressive sight but Aito felt a little vulnerable up there; anyone could see them from out in the city or by looking out of one of the windows of the castle behind them.

Together they walked around the wall, and Kyrios started pointing out buildings to Aito. Some of them had strange shapes or something else unusual about them like their color, and others Kyrios had a story for, like the row of buildings that the king claimed were homes to some of the most notorious singers in the city, their terrible voices capable of carrying for blocks. Aito smiled and even laughed every now and then, but her heart really wasn't into it.

"What's wrong, Aito?"

"I..." Aito stopped and looked up at Kyrios. "I overheard you and Cain talking this morning, about me. About how he could use me to track down Dismas."

"Ah, I see." Kyrios stopped walking and looked out over the city with a faraway look in his eyes. They had made almost an entire circuit around the walls and the stairs were not that far away.

"Kyrios, would Cain...Is that the only reason I'm still here? To help find Dismas?" Aito couldn't express how much she needed to know the answer to that question.

"Please believe me when I say that's not true. When Cain spoke this morning, what you overheard...I don't believe that is truly how Cain feels."

"So he was lying. Again." Aito sighed and blew her hair out of her face. Great. Now she really didn't know when Cain was telling the truth or not.

Kyrios glanced over his shoulder toward the stairs and then turned his attention back to the sight of the city. "He has been lying to a lot of people, himself included, for many years now. He's always thought he had to, but despite that Cain still has a conscience, though many people would try to argue with me on that point. I think that he can be trusted to do what is right, when the moment comes."

Aito traced a groove in the stone wall with her fingertip, and didn't answer.

The king noticed that she seemed less than convinced and started patting down his pockets. After a moment he found what he was looking for and pulled out a large, smooth seed. It was almost white with a seam down its middle, as Aito noticed when the king passed it to her.

"Do you know what that is?"

"A seed, of course," Aito said, wondering where this was going.

"Not just any seed; that is a seed from a tree that was once considered extinct in Tanil by many. It's just waiting for the right conditions to grow. There's potential for something unexpected to come from that seed, just as there is that same potential in Cain."

"So Cain could turn into a tree?" Aito asked with a smile. "I see where you're going with this though."

Aito moved to give the seed back but Kyrios shook his head and said, "You can hold on to it for now. Those seeds are said to bring protection, although most sayings like that are superstition."

Aito shrugged and put the seed in her pocket. However, the mention of superstition made her think of something else that she had wanted to know. After all, Cain had referred to them as old wives' tales.

"Kyrios, why aren't there any humans in Tanil?"

The king closed his eyes and for a moment Aito thought he wasn't going to answer. That is, until he said, "I'm surprised Cain didn't tell you, he knows the story well enough."

"I never really asked," Aito admitted. "He made it sound like something I shouldn't talk about."

"I think I understand that. It's not the sort of thing most people like to talk about in these days." Kyrios tapped his fingers against the stone wall and gathered his thoughts together. "There were once humans in Tanil. In fact, they were the only race a long time ago, except that among the humans there were...others, who were different. They didn't look any different from the other humans, but they passed a gift down among their generations: the ability to take away pain.

"They were set apart from the other humans because of this. They would come whenever someone was suffering or on the verge of dying, to take away the pain and bring relief. Eventually they became associated with death, and so they were feared."

Aito broke in here and asked, "Why? It sounds like they were doing a good thing. Why would someone be scared of them?"

"Would you want to make friends with the people who only show up when there's no hope left?" asked Kyrios. "It sounds simple in theory, but when your friends, your family, your entire village lives in fear and contempt of others it is hard to break those chains of thought.

"That was the normal state for generations, until one of these 'different humans' became tired of it. He hated the 'normal humans,' and realized that he could take away much more than pain. He could take away everything: fear, pain, hope, happiness, until there was nothing left, and he fed off of these emotions. Their power was rooted in emotions and feelings, and so much more that lies beneath, and taking them away from the 'normal humans' made him stronger, gave him new abilities, but at the same time they created a desire for even more power. No matter what, he was never satisfied.

"He saw no reason not to use the humans to give him this power, these abilities, and he tried to convince others like him to do the same. After being isolated and feared for so long, many were willing to listen. They began to hunt down the humans, to steal away everything that made them human just so that they could become stronger." Kyrios paused and then with a sigh he said, "These were the first of the Seranu, or serans."

Aito started at this but Kyrios continued speaking, as if he couldn't stop telling the story now that he had started.

"That is how the feud between the humans and the Seranu began, and it grew worse. Tanil was once a much larger, stronger country, but constant fighting and wars tore it apart. It was this fighting that even gave rise to the other races of Tanil. The ones who refused to follow the first seran are actually the ancestors of the korin of today, which is why there is so much animosity – bad feeling, I mean – between the two."

"The other races came to be during this time as well, usually as serans or humans grew so desperate to protect themselves that they changed their very nature, in a way that meant they lost their abilities and any chance of changing back, but it saved their lives. The exception being the mailin, of course. They came from over the sea, long after the fighting was over."

"These...wars, between the Seranu and the humans led not only to the creation of the other races, but the end of the humans. The Seranu were so relentless in their hunt that they would not stop until there were no humans left at all. To aid them they created stones of a particular mineral, in which they trapped the essence they stole from humans and acted as a focus for their abilities."

"A focus?"

"Yes, it helped them to control their abilities more and empowered them," Kyrios said, the distaste in his voice evident. "They still exist to this day, but they are relics. The technique for creating them has thankfully been lost, although the demand has grown greater. The serans' abilities as a people have decreased over the centuries, so the powers afforded by a seran stone have grown even more precious. I've had to ban the trade and sell of them, though I'd rather just destroy them all and be done with it."

"These seran stones, do they look black with strange markings inside of the stone like writing?"

"Yes," Kyrios said with some surprise. "How did you know that?"

Aito thought back to the museum at Duna. There she had seen Cain create an illusion, what he said was an exact replica of the stolen pendant, and back at the Cat's Meow she'd even seen Dismas wearing the real thing. Dismas hadn't been stealing a pendant, he'd been stealing a seran stone.

"Because I've seen one before." Aito gripped the corner of the wall so hard that her hand started to hurt. So, that's why Cain never told her. Just the thought of how the stone was created made her sick. Relying on something like that to get her home...

Kyrios put a hand on her shoulder and stood there with her. His silent presence made her feel better, and she remembered that he thought Cain was worth trusting. She reached into her pocket and held the seed, trying to remember that Kyrios trusted Cain. That thought was reassuring, even if she still didn't know why.

Aito looked around and realized that it was starting to get dark already. The days were short at this time of year of course, and it looked as though the clouds were gathering together again. She shivered and said, "I think I'm going to go back inside."

"Okay. It should be faster if you just walk around the top of the wall, there's a stairway not far from your usual door."

"Thank you," Aito said, giving the king a quick hug before she hurried away, wrapping her arms around her for more warmth and wishing that she had worn a thicker jacket.

Kyrios waited until Aito was some distance away before he went to the nearest staircase and looked down at Cain. The seran looked back up at him. Neither one said anything, but they saw enough in the other person's face to answer any questions.

Contents
Chapter 14: Of Disturbing Sympathy, Kato, and the Professor

The next morning found Cain in the mess hall with a tray of food, looking for a place to sit. He silently marveled at how after standing in line his back felt little more than stiff and his ankle gave just the occasional twinge. Aegle's medicine gave out results, but Cain still never wanted to repeat yesterday's experience. The medicine seemed more painful than the actual injuries, and it took hours before he could walk without needing to check the position of his numb foot with every step.

"Why good morning CiCi, I didn't expect to see you here."

Cain sighed but said, "Morning, Toril."

The sergeant also had a tray and showed every sign of following him. Cain looked around in the hopes of seeing a table with only one seat available, but the mess hall was rarely, if ever, that full. He did spot Aegle, Sakina and Rokir sitting nearby and decided that if he was going to suffer then it wouldn't be alone.

"Why don't we sit over there, near the windows?" Sergeant Bane said. "The view is so much nicer."

Cain ignored her and Bane frowned. Not that it stopped her from pulling up a chair beside him.

"Oh, great," muttered someone, but when Bane looked everyone was staring at their tray as if fascinated by their food.

"CiCi, I need to ask you something."

"Right now? Can't it wait until after breakfast?" Cain said, thinking she wanted to talk in private.

"It's about that little girl you have tailing you."

Cain noticed the look shared out among the others and said, "Just where is my little mouse?"

"I think she overslept," Rokir said, then winced when the two sitting on either side kicked him to be quiet. They wanted to hear this, and didn't want to give Cain any excuse to squirm out of it now that Bane was proving to be useful.

"Why did you put an illusion on her?"

Cain choked on his muffin and the sergeant had to pound him on his back before he could breathe again.

"What? How did you know that?"

"I noticed it yesterday," Bane answered.

"It's...not so much on her as in it affects her," Cain said slowly. He would have to be careful how he answered this one. "It's more to protect her. After all, the thief does seem interested in her and I told Dean Padanona that I would watch over her."

"Since when did you care about some promise to Dean Padrone?" Aegle asked. "From what Bane said yesterday, it sounds like this illusion's been on her since we got here, if not longer. It doesn't seem like it's worked well, does it?"

Cain sat back and said, "Ah, I see. You've pulled the good sergeant into your endless questioning, have you? Why are you always so suspicious?"

"I wouldn't have to be suspicious if you would just tell the truth now and then," Aegle replied. "And I didn't pull your girlfriend into anything, she figured it out herself."

Sergeant Bane had a hard time hiding her smile at the word "girlfriend," and she leaned closer to Cain as she said, "What's all this secrecy about, CiCi?"

Cain leaned away as he said, "No secrecy. I..."

He sighed and asked, "Do you really want the truth?"

"That's all we've been asking for this whole time," Aegle said.

"Fine, so be it. My little mouse isn't, and she never was, a thief." Cain briefly stopped to explain the supposed situation at Duna to Bane, who of course knew nothing of what had happened there. "Her presence at the museum was a bad coincidence. She sneaked in before closing, lost her way, and stayed out of sight until she ran into the thief, at which point she could no longer stay hidden."

"But why would she sneak into the museum?" The question came from Rokir, whose head was tilted so that he gave Cain an odd, inquisitive stare.

"That would be my fault," Cain said. "The little mouse is the daughter of a friend of mine...And she is most certainly not my daughter."

Bane closed her mouth and blushed.

"So why lie about her?" Aegle asked.

"That friend just so happens to live in Correst, the city that lies between Tanil and Rorin. My little mouse is a Rorini, and after the recent war with Rorin and the identity of her father I did not think it prudent to be honest. Dean Pacalaca would ask too many questions, so I used the thief story as the most likely excuse to get her out of Duna. I intend to get her home as soon as I can." Well, part of that was true, Cain told himself.

"Dean Pacalaca?" Sakina repeated. "Now you're not even trying to get it close."

"So why didn't you tell us?" Aegle said. "Did you think we couldn't keep quiet if we found out?"

Cain shrugged. "I didn't think it was necessary for you to know. Of course, I also didn't think the thief would take an interest in her, so it seems I was wrong on two points."

As luck would have it, Aito entered the mess hall not long after Cain had finished creating his latest fabrication. Disconcerted might be too weak a word to describe how she felt when she noticed the others all turn to look at her at the same time with varying degrees of sympathy and apology. She kept looking over her shoulder as she received her tray and approached the table with some hesitation.

As soon as she sat down Sergeant Bane threw an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close, saying as she did so, "Oh you poor dear! Cain just told us all about how you're trying to get home."

Aito's eyes widened and she looked at Cain, who winked at her. She breathed out slowly, for the first time relieved to realize Cain had been lying. Sergeant Bane was the last person she wanted knowing that much about her.

"Please let my little mouse go, Toril. She can't eat with you pinning her arms like that."

Sergeant Bane settled for sliding her arm around Cain's arm and leaning against him instead. His lie seemed to have the unfortunate side-effect of increasing Bane's unwarranted opinion of him.

"Couldn't we ask Leonidas to send her back to Correst with a convoy of soldiers?" Aegle asked. "It sounds safer than letting her stay in this city. Who knows what the thief wants with her?"

"I think it's more what his boss wants," Cain said, speaking the truth. Whoever had sent Dismas to the museum for the pendant would give anything to lay hands on a human. "That is why we need to find out who the thief is working for. That shopkeeper who bought the painting may know something, so as soon as you all are finished eating we will go. Excluding Toril, of course. I'm sure you have important matters to see to here?"

"Oh, yes, of course," Sergeant Bane said, although she didn't seem eager to admit it. The idea of Cain leaving the caps without her made her tighten her grip on his arm and lean her head on his shoulder.

Over Bane's head Cain mouthed the words "Eat fast" to the others.

***

Outside of the caps, Aito tugged on Cain's sleeve and he slowed down, letting the others walk ahead of them.

"What did you tell them, and why do they keep giving me those looks?"

"Those looks" were the way Aegle and Sakina kept looking at Aito. Seeing sympathy on Aegle's face was a disturbing sight and Aito almost missed his usual look of disdain. Sakina looked at her as if she was a lost puppy, and more than once Aito was afraid that she would try to hug her like Sergeant Bane did.

"It is a change of pace, isn't it?" Cain laughed and explained to Aito the conversation she had missed.

"You mean they believed that?"

"Nash gave me the idea, as most people seem to think the creature came from Rorin. After the last war there's been little sympathy for the Rorini in this country, and so none have dared to come this far south. There was a Rorini ship that wrecked on the shore near Gard a month ago, and His Majesty had to step in make sure that the crew and passengers made it home safely. It's easy enough for the others to imagine why I might want to hide your nationality."

"If you say so." Aito supposed this was an improvement over the constant questions, but she didn't think it would be long before the others realized it was another lie.

"Trust me, little mouse," Cain said. "And hurry up before Rokir starts barking at us. He'll have the whole city knowing where we're at."

Rokir did turn around to look back at them so Cain and Aito sped up. The tyrok scratched at his ear and said, "We should turn here to get at the shop. It's not in the main area of the Trader's District, more off to the side."

"Of course not," Cain said. He reached up and straightened his hat, drawing Aegle's attention to it.

"When did you get that? I haven't seen you wear it before."

"This?" Cain tapped the brim of the hat, a good one that looked to be made of leather which he, personally, thought made him look rather dashing. He kept tilting it this way and that to try and find the most comfortable and best-looking position. "A friend gave it to me."

Aito looked up at the hat and grinned, remembering the hat box Kyrios had carried back to the caps, but Aegle looked skeptical at the idea of a so-called friend of Cain's.

He had little chance to ask any more questions because they soon neared a large open area that Aito had never seen before where much more interesting activity was going on. A broad, flat square of pavement stretched out over the area, and a lot of people were gathered here and there. Some were stretching out canvas for small tents and others were putting up banners and flags, but most just seemed to be standing around watching.

"What's going on over there?" Aito asked, craning her neck around to look as they turned down a side street.

"Oh, they've been clearing out the square the last couple of days for the annual festival," Sakina explained. "There's a mailin group that recently arrived, and the king has asked them to play their music inside of the city tomorrow."

"Really? His Majesty never mentioned that," Cain said. "Of course my little mouse and I haven't seen anything, we've been stuck inside of the caps for some time now."

"A mailin group?" Aito had to think back to remember the mailin. She hadn't seen any of the strange masked people since she left Duna.

"Yes, mailin always travel together and are mostly nomadic," Cain said. "Of course there aren't any in Rorin, and Farrhing is one of the few cities that openly welcomes the mailin in Tanil anymore."

"So where are they at? I didn't see any back there."

"Oh, they prefer to stay outside of cities and towns, for safety." Cain smiled and said, "It's always worth going out of the walls to visit the mailin camp though. Tomorrow we will have to come back to hear them play their music, and the dancing is also rather fun when there's a lot of people. You shouldn't miss a sight like that."

Aito, Sakina, Rokir, and Aegle, as one person, tried to imagine Cain dancing and not one succeeded.

Rokir shook his head and led the way down the alley. After a few turns Aito realized that the shabby buildings on either side were stores. The signs were faded and the windows hard to see through, but the merchandise that she could see seemed to be very strange, like stuffed animals, feather boas, and furniture that hurt to even look at.

The alley had widened until you could just about call it a street even though there could only ever be foot traffic here, and this back street was far from empty. There were many people walking this way and that, and almost to a person they seemed to be just as strange as the stores they shopped in. Aito noticed one person who had gone to such lengths to be inconspicuous, from his long coat that covered most of his body to his low-brimmed hat and scarf that hid his face, that every person in the street turned to stare at him.

"Is the store near—" Cain started his question but was cut off when Rokir turned and tackled him, sending them both rolling into the narrow alley to their left, knocking garbage cans this way and that.

Several people looked at Aegle, Sakina, and Aito, so that Aegle felt it necessary to say, "Big rat in the garbage, you should have seen it."

More than one person turned around and took off in the opposite direction at that, and soon the immediate area was clear. Aito followed the others into the alley, where Cain and Rokir were trying to untangle themselves from one another and the leaking garbage.

"Oi, this stuff reeks," Rokir said, his snout bunched up. He gagged and knocked a banana peel off of his shoulder along with what he hoped were just coffee grounds.

"Do you mind telling me why you just had to do that?" Cain asked as he stood up. "You may enjoy rolling around in garbage, but that doesn't mean everyone else does."

"It's Kato, I saw him come out of one of those stores!"

"Are you sure?" Cain stopped and looked around with something close to fear in his eyes.

"I know what I saw! He's not an easy one to miss."

"But what is he doing here...?" Cain beat down his clothes to dislodge any remains of trash and seemed to be thinking.

"Who's Kato?" Sakina asked, and Aito was relieved to see that Aegle didn't seem to know either.

"He used to be the commander of a toll pass in the mountains near Yukosa," Rokir answered when he saw Cain wasn't going to. "He used the post to smuggle illegal goods on the sly. Cain's the reason why he isn't there anymore."

"So needless to say he wouldn't be too thrilled to see Cain here?" Aegle said.

"Considering he tried to kill me the first time I met him, I doubt he's grown any fonder with time," Cain said. He closed his eyes and breathed in and out slowly, long, deep breaths.

"Complete maniac," Rokir muttered. "Slipped out at the last minute and just avoided jail. I'm sure it won't take long to fix that."

Sakina threw out a hand to stop the tyrok and said, "You can't just—"

She was interrupted by a startled sound from Aito, the first to notice that Cain had been busy this whole time. An illusion was changing his appearance as they watched. The tall seran seemed to drop in height by several inches and his black hair grew, growing lighter until it finally reached a brilliant white. The shape of his face and his overall stance and posture changed, and when he opened his eyes it was far from his usual cold, dark stare that met them.

He grinned and it was Dismas's voice that came out when he said, "So? Do you think it will be enough to fool Kato?"

Sakina and Rokir nodded, dumbstruck, and Aegle said, "I don't think I like the thought of you going around looking like someone else. And why the thief?"

Cain laughed at that and said, "It takes a lot of energy and I can't keep it up for very long, so this isn't the sort of illusion I use very often. The thief just happened to be one of the first people that I thought of who would cause the least comment around here. What do you think, little mouse?"

Aito jumped when Cain smiled at her. It was the same smile that Dismas always used. "Y-yeah, it's really good."

That caused Cain to smile even wider and he readjusted his hat to better suit his new appearance. "It's best to avoid a fight with Kato right now. We can deal with him when we have Leonidas's soldiers to help. Until then, we should just avoid attracting his attention."

Rokir sighed but agreed. The group left the alley and Rokir pointed out the shop he and Sakina had found yesterday. They had not walked very far when a large korin across the street spotted them and did a double take.

"Dismas? Is that you?"

Cain stepped back and Dismas's face looked almost as startled as the time Aito had mentioned Cain to the real thief.

The korin did not seem to notice as he charged across the street and threw out an arm around Dismas-Cain's shoulders. "And here I thought you were trying to keep your head down! Who are your friends?"

"Ah, just out-of-towners," Cain said, mumbling. "Everyone, this is Kato."

Kato was large for a korin, almost as tall as Cain's normal height. He was also burly, and in Aito's world he had enough muscle to pass as a wrestler, or a bouncer at a club. Had it not been for his fair hair and the typically long ears of the korin Aito would have guessed him to be a seran. He smiled a lot and at first sight seemed to be friendly, until Aito noticed his sharp, shrewd eyes which never seemed to reflect his constant smile.

"Are you sure it's safe to be walking around like this?" Kato asked, giving Dismas-Cain a friendly thump on the back that nearly knocked him on his knees. "After all, the boss told you to keep your nose out of everything with you-know-who back in town."

Cain became very aware that the hand of the arm thrown over his shoulder tightened into a fist and he heard the distinctive crack of knuckles popping.

"Y-yes, but I thought it wouldn't be a problem around here," Cain said. "Besides, what's the chance of running into anyone around here?"

Kato glanced at the others and pulled Cain a short distance away. Cain found it more than a little disturbing to be led around by the neck by someone with a tighter grip than Sergeant Bane.

"Listen Dismas, you've done your part. Keep out of it, let me take care of Crusan, and you'll get your pay. Understand?"

Cain nodded, not meeting the korin's eyes.

Kato finally released Cain's neck and knocked on his hat as he said, "Thatta boy. Easy money, right?"

"That's why I took the job," Cain said. "Listen, I need to go, lose these guys..." He jerked his head in the direction of the others. Rokir was hunched over with his ears down, avoiding meeting Kato's eye while the others tried not to stare at Kato and Cain too much.

"Yes, yes, of course," Kato said and added in an undertone. "The boss has had enough trouble out of you already, don't push it. I'll have this wrapped up before you know it."

"R-right."

Kato waved at the others as Cain went to join them and said, "Like I said, I'll be seeing you soon."

Cain smiled and waved back as he said in an undertone, "Not if I can help it."

"He's working for the same guy as the thief?" Rokir asked, once Kato was out of earshot.

"Not that surprising, is it?" Cain still looked like Dismas, and Aito thought it strange to see Cain's way of looking so serious, the way his eyes narrowed and his lips turned into a fine, thin line, on Dismas's face. "Kato was probably desperate to find any kind of work after his business was ruined. No one in Farrhing would be able to recognize him on the street since he worked so far away, so it's not like he had to worry about being arrested."

"Couldn't you have gotten him to say his boss's name or something so we could figure out who it is?" Aegle said.

Cain rubbed his neck and said, "I had more pressing matters to think about. Is this the place?"

"Yes," Sakina said. "Are you going to go in looking like that?"

Cain looked down and seemed to remember for the first time that he still looked like Dismas. "I think I can hold the illusion long enough. He might be more willing to talk to me this way."

Cain opened the door and the others crowded in after him. The shop was small and dingy, and Aito didn't see anything that looked like the painting Dismas stole. Behind the counter lounged a tall, tall tyrok with long, skinny limbs and a narrow face that reminded Aito of a greyhound.

The greyhound tyrok looked up as they came in and said in a voice that lounged about like the rest of him, "Oh boy, it's you two again. You'll get no more out of me than you did yesterday, I'll tell you that now."

"Hello," Cain said, stepping forward. "Remember me?"

The tyrok's eyes went to the others and he said, "That depends. Who are your friends?"

"They're nobody you need to worry about," Cain said and waved his hand as if dismissing the others. "Do you remember the painting I brought you?"

"You don't want it back, do you?"

"You already sold it?"

"Well, it's a business, you see," the greyhound said with a nervous glance at Cain's face. "I can't just hold on to the merchandise forever, not with people sniffing around and asking questions."

Sakina and Rokir shuffled their feet at this and it was hard to tell who looked more guilty.

Cain as Dismas said, "Well that's no problem. Just tell me who you sold that painting to."

"I don't give out personal information on my customers," the tyrok said and flipped up the newspaper he had been reading so that they could no longer see him.

Cain stared at the newspaper for a moment before he sighed, pulled some money out of his pocket and placed it on the counter.

"That's more like it," the greyhound said as he reached out for the money.

Cain put his hand down on the bills first and said, "No, not until you tell me."

"Fine, fine. When did you get so suspicious?" The tyrok sat back and propped his long, long legs up on the counter. "Some seran came waltzing in, took one look around and then asked to see the real stuff. I could tell he had money, and with business so slow why should I say no? I took him around back and he picked out the painting as quick as you like. I'd have thought he already knew what he was looking for, he didn't even take a glance at my other merchandise, and I've got some good stuff."

"What was the seran's name?"

"Name? Name, I don't usually ask for a name."

Cain started to pull the money toward him and the tyrok said, "Though some little cringer came in and called him 'Master Kalmar', if you like that. Said he would take the painting back to the hotel."

"Kalmar?" Cain's brow furrowed at the name and he asked, "Which hotel?"

The greyhound sniffed and said, "You ask a lot of questions, you know? They were staying at that fancy place on Curling's Lane. Any more questions and you're going to have to lay a lot more than that on the table."

Cain smiled. There weren't that many hotels on Curling's so it wouldn't be hard to track down someone with a name. He tossed the money at the tyrok and said, "Thanks, see you around."

The greyhound lay back in his chair and waved them out, a distinctly pleased expression on his face as he pocketed his pay.

Outside of the store Cain shook his head and darted into the doorway of a nearby building that seemed to be empty.

"What's wrong?" Aito asked.

Cain coughed several times and it took him a minute before he could look up to face them. They could see that his face was shining with sweat and, more importantly, he looked like himself again. White hair had become black and the cold eyes looking out from that face could belong to no one else but Cain.

"Sorry about that," he said with a weak smile. "I didn't realize it was taking such a toll until then."

"We should get out of here," Aegle said. "Kato could show up at any moment and I personally don't want to have to help stop somebody from trying to kill you."

"Well you could always just stand back and watch," Cain said with a thin smile that looked more like it belonged on Dismas's face than his own.

Rokir helped the seran steady himself and they soon found their way back to the side of the Trader's District that Aito was familiar with. In the bustling crowds they had to huddle close together to keep from losing one another and Aito found Cain's hand on one of her arms and Rokir's on the other.

Curling's Lane was not far away, and just as they reached the sign that marked the street Cain said, "I think there are only three hotels here. Who wants to volunteer to run in and see who has a 'Kalmar' in their books?"

Rokir, Aegle, and Sakina all looked at each other and it was Aegle who said, "What will you and the kid be doing?"

"So good of you to volunteer," Cain said. He pointed out a nearby bench and said, "I think I'll just take a rest there if that's all right with you three."

"I didn't—" Aegle sighed and said, "Fine."

As the others went on down the street Aito joined Cain on the neat little wooden bench. Now that she looked she could see that he still seemed shaken from his illusion. His hands trembled and he rested his head against his knees for the first couple of minutes when they sat down.

Eventually he looked up at Aito and said, "I think that I may have you wait here with Rokir while we go inside."

"Why?"

Cain didn't seem to hear her. "Kalmar...I knew a Hezekiah Kalmar. I wonder if it could be the same person."

"Maybe. Why don't you want me to come along?"

Cain started to say something, though whether that would be an answer or not it was impossible to tell because he stopped and looked down the street with such surprise on his face that Aito looked around to see what it was.

At first she just saw the others and could not understand why Cain looked so shocked. Then she realized that there was a seran walking with them. He looked a little like Cain with the same sort of face, but he was not quite as tall and his dark brown hair was tinted with gray. He was well-dressed, from his brushed jacket to his polished shoes, and a ring with a gray stone adorned the hand that was clasped around the handle of a decorated cane.

"Well, well, so it really is Cain Crusan," he said in a strong, friendly voice as he looked down his hawk-like nose at them. "Come on boy, don't you know to stand up when you greet your old teacher?"

"Teacher?" Aito repeated.

Cain stood and shook the seran's hand. "It's good to see you again, Professor Kalmar. I thought it might be you we were looking for."

He turned to the others and said, "This is Hezekiah Kalmar, one of my professors when I was a student at Duna. He has retired since then, of course. But I thought you were living up in Yukosa."

Retired? Even Aito, to whom all adults looked old, thought that the prim seran standing before them could not be _that_ much older than Cain, much less old enough to be retired.

Hezekiah shrugged and said, "I thought it would be good for me to come down out of my little mountains for once. Sometimes I find returning to the city helps me to remember just why I left in the first place. And how have you been, young Crusan?"

"Well enough. Did the others explain why they were looking for you before they dragged you out here?"

"That fellow," Hezekiah pointed his cane at Aegle, "said something about a painting I recently bought. If you'll come back with me to my room, I can tell you more about it there."

Cain held his arm out so the older seran could lean on it as they walked along, back to a grand hotel just down the road, in front of which was a sweeping outer staircase and large white columns that supported the front of the building. Inside it was all shine, polished floors and potted plants. There were tall ceilings and walls that were painted a placid cream color and rich rugs here and there added to the opulence.

A double set of stairs, beautifully adorned, led upstairs but Hezekiah had chosen a room on the ground floor. Down one of the wings of the hotel he fumbled with a key, gave up, and hammered on the door with the end of his cane. A young gaillos with black hair and a peaky face answered the door.

"Oh, company? I'll just, uh, go and get some tea then?" he asked, looking at Hezekiah for confirmation.

"That would be a good idea, yes," Hezekiah said. He sighed and shook his head as the gaillos darted away. "Forgive him. I should have taken one of the other servants, but he was so excited about coming to see Farrhing for the first time. Come in then, won't you?"

Inside was a room with couches and chairs and on the far wall there stood a fireplace where a good and steady blaze roared away, making the room hot and stuffy. A set of doors no doubt led to his bedroom and that of his servant, and there were windows, although the view on the ground floor was not particularly good.

The walls were covered with long tapestries embroidered with scenes and patterns, and the polished wooden floor was covered by an elegant rug. Cain walked over to the far corner where a painting was set on the table against the wall so that it could take most of the light coming in through the windows. The painting depicted a street in Farrhing, set so that it felt as if the viewer was standing on a balcony looking down on the people below.

"This is it!"

"Oh dear," Hezekiah said, causing the others to turn and look at him. "You are very sure that is the right painting?"

"Of course I am," Cain said. "I'm sure of it, I remember using an illusion to make the people down in the street do some...interesting things."

"Why?" Aito asked.

"Oh, I did stuff like that all of the time. It gave the students something to look for, and kept the art teachers on their toes," Cain said. "Plus, it made Dean Pacone very angry, and that is always a bonus."

"Are you sure you didn't _just_ do it because of the Dean?" Sakina asked, but Cain ignored her.

"Well, that certainly is interesting," Hezekiah said. "Especially since that painting is a forgery."

"What?" Rokir's ears fell back against his head.

"That can't be!" said Cain. He touched a corner of the painting and said, "I can even feel the trace of the illusion. This has to be the same painting from Duna!"

"That doesn't change the fact that it is just a copy," Hezekiah said calmly. "I always check the authenticity of anything I buy, especially if it is of a...questionable background. I have seen this artist's other work, as well as the real version of this painting, and this is not it. The color, the values of the shadows...It's all wrong, in little ways."

Everyone looked at Cain.

"My illusion did not do that," he said in response to the accusing stares.

"But you said you could feel a trace of it," Aegle pointed out.

"Yes, in the fabric that it's painted on, and that's just the slightest traces," Cain said. "I took the illusion out as soon as I was finished; I wouldn't have left something like that in there. Well, not intentionally. There was that little incident with a certain Miyo statue, but I remembered to change it back eventually."

"Yeah, and now half of the art students that graduated from Duna last year still aren't sure what it looks like," said Rokir.

"Crusan is right," Hezekiah said. "I had to deal with his illusions a lot during his last year at Duna, and that's not the problem with this painting. It seems that the Royal Academy has been harboring a fake."

"I don't believe this! Dean Padrone sent us all the way here to catch some stupid thief who can't even tell that the painting he's stolen is a blasted fake?" Aegle clenched his teeth and stomped around the room. "Now what? What are we supposed to tell the Dean?"

Cain opened his mouth and Hezekiah reached up and smacked him in the back of the head, causing him to wince and rub his head.

"Hold your tongue boy, I know what you were about to say. As for what you can do now, here's the other lad with the tea."

He pulled the gaillos aside and gave him some whispered directions, to which the servant nodded and set the tray down with obvious care. Hezekiah would not let them leave without drinking tea with him, although after the gaillos servant left and before any of them could get a cup he pulled the tea tray over to a side table and began adding sugar and cream among other things to the tea.

"Good boy, but he can't make a decent cup of tea if his life depended on it," he explained as he passed the drinks out again.

Aito thought he had a point when she tried hers. Even after the sugar and cream the tea still tasted achingly bitter and it was all she could do not to gag. It seemed Cain also had a hard time keeping his down after just a sip, and while Hezekiah was busy telling some story about his days as a teacher she was the only one who saw Cain reach over and pour the rest of his tea in a nearby potted plant. She opted for just covering the top of her cup with her hand and hoping Hezekiah would not notice that it was still full until after they left.

She wished they would leave soon, but Cain and Hezekiah were determined to catch up on all that had happened since Cain graduated, and then they started remembering their time at Duna. They kept coming up with more stories to tell or something else to talk about, and even the others joined in now and then. The minutes stretched on and on with no end in sight. Bored, she looked around and noticed a nearby tapestry.

Like the others it showed a sort of scene, but this one was made up of several squares. Around the edge the squares each depicted one person, starting with a verkoni, and then a tyrok, a gaillos and then an aponé, then it would start again. In the middle, in the largest square there were three people picked out in various shades of silver, black, and white. To the left stood a person with his legs apart and his chest out, in the middle a person knelt on their knees with their face to the sky, and on the right stood a person with their back turned to the others.

It was beautifully made, but the people in the outside panels hardly looked real, and the middle panel made Aito shudder and turn away though she did not know why. She noticed Hezekiah was looking at her and pretended to take a sip of her terrible tea, although that just made her feel like she wanted to gag again.

So she was relieved when Cain finally stood up and said, "While it has been good seeing you again, we need to leave. The gates to the caps will be closing soon and I don't want to have to argue with the guards for an hour so they'll let us in."

"Well, I am sorry to have to give you such bad news," Hezekiah said with a motion of his hand in the direction of the forged painting. "I plan on returning to Yukosa soon, but I do hope to see you again before that."

Cain didn't answer. His gaze grew somewhat distant as the others said goodbye and he walked out of the hotel without bothering to check and see if they were with him. They had to hurry as it was not to lose him in the city streets.

"Cain, slow down," Sakina said when they almost lost him for the second time.

Cain looked around and seemed to remember them for the first time.

"Sorry," he said. "I was just worried about returning to the caps in time, but we're almost there now. Time seems to have gotten away with me."

"That doesn't give you an excuse to run away," Aegle snapped. He and Aito had suffered the most in trying to keep up with the seran's long strides.

Cain slowed down until he was strolling and said, "I was not running. Oh yes, little mouse, haven't you been giving that dreadful beast fruit these past few days?"

"What? Oh, you mean Nash," Aito said. "I—oh no, I forgot to give her any before we left!"

Aito ran ahead, she knew the way back to the caps from here, and Cain didn't bother to stop her.

"Hey, kid!" Rokir started to run after her but Cain reached out and tugged on his sleeve.

"She'll be fine," Cain said. "I need to talk to you three alone."

"What about?" Rokir asked, intrigued enough to stop and listen.

"Is it something about Aito?" Sakina asked.

Cain smiled, a grim little smile, and said, "Yes, very observant. Hezekiah also made an observation of his own which you missed."

"That you were the worst student he ever had?" Aegle said. "Don't worry, I'm sure the kid could figure that one out on her own."

"No, that is not what he said." Cain paused, reconsidered, and added, "Well, not today at least. Don't any of you think it strange that even one as utterly clueless as the Dean would buy a painting for the museum that could easily be recognized as a fake, or that it could remain there for so long without anyone noticing it?"

"By the sound of it, it would be strange if any of the teachers even remembered what the original painting looked like with you throwing illusions around," said Aegle. "What are you getting at?"

"That painting was there long before I was a guard, and yet no complaints were raised before then. That is because at some point the real painting did reside in the Duna museum, until it was replaced by that forgery we just saw."

"Someone would have noticed," Sakina pointed out.

"Not if one seran unintentionally made it so that any difference in the painting would be put down to an illusion," Cain said. He attempted a weak smile and coughed instead, his cheeks tinged a slight red.

"But even if someone switched the picture for a fake, they would have set off an alarm," Rokir said. "That's if they even get around the illusions you place on everything in case someone touches something."

"Not if they turned off the alarms," Cain said. "And I didn't place illusions on everything in the museum because it would be too much to maintain for any length of time. So if someone had access to the alarm system and knew which of the displays were safe that person could easily switch the forgery for the real painting, and do the same for other items no doubt. I only know of one person who fits both qualifications, aside from myself of course."

"You think Dean Padrone has been stealing from the museum?" Sakina's doubt was evident both in her words and in her expression.

"Yes. No doubt he's pocketed quite a lot of money by now, though I bet it bothered him, being that close to such a treasure trove and yet most of it beyond his reach. So if an opportunity to get rid of the illusion keeper and the other guards were to present itself..."

"He's Dismas's boss?" Rokir asked, to which Cain immediately shook his head and laughed.

"Are you kidding? Dean Padrone's not smart enough, nor would it explain the missing pendant and...certain other matters. However, I do think he agreed to this other person's plans as far as he knew of them, if he wasn't working for him to begin with. Now I think I know how to find this boss, but we'll need to request for some help from Leonidas or His Majesty's guards."

"Why did you need to send the kid away to tell us this?" Rokir asked.

"Oh yes, of course, I almost forgot. Considering the nature of who I think this boss to be, you should...should..." Cain trailed off and looked around. "Do you hear that?"

Before any of them could reply he took off running along the wall of the caps, toward the side gate they always used. Rokir followed right on his heels, having caught the sound earlier but not attaching importance to it until Cain said something about it.

As they neared the gate in the wall that marked their usual entrance into the caps, the shouting and clamoring that they heard grew louder until they saw a strange sight. The gate was standing open, which was odd enough in itself to make Cain slow down.

A good thing he did too, or else he would have been trampled as Nash, with a clatter of hooves and a vicious snort, darted through the gate and ran straight ahead. When she neared the corner she turned so fast that her hooves slid and the iron shoes kicked up sparks. Rokir and Cain just had time to notice the small figure clutching to the creature's back before they were both out of sight.

"Little mouse!"

Cain looked at Rokir and took off running after the strange pair. Rokir would have followed, but he caught sight of what Cain did not stay long enough to see: the group that came pouring out of the gate after Aito and Nash.

There were about five in all, although Rokir noticed the first to come running out of the caps because it was a face he had just seen not that long ago. It was Kato, and he took little notice of the tyrok. His eyes were on Cain and, putting two and two together he laughed and chased after the seran, with surprising speed for someone with as much bulk as he had.

His companions, who all seemed to be sporting limps or other injuries, caught sight of Rokir. The tyrok growled, his hackles rising, and the gang laughed. That is, until Aegle and Sakina came around the corner and the odds did not look so good.

Aegle thought fast and yelled to Rokir, "The others are on their way, and the guard at the gate went into the caps to round up some more help!"

Dealing with Rokir was one thing, but the idea of more soldiers coming was too daunting to face after their recent ordeal. When the first one ran the others soon followed suit. Rokir started to run after them but Aegle's shout was enough to distract him and make him stop.

"Where's Cain?"

"He ran after the kid, she was riding Nash that way," Rokir said, pointing. "Kato's right behind them."

The tyrok looked in the direction the majority of the gang had run and then where he last saw Cain. "What should we do?"

"Cain's going to need our help," Sakina said. "Besides, their trail will be easy to follow if we just trace Nash's smell. Come on already!"

There was little enough time to waste, as Cain and Kato already had so much of a lead on them, and there was no telling where Nash and Aito could be by now. As Sakina had pointed out, the trail was not that hard to follow; even if there had not been two tyroks to sniff out the way, they could have just followed the debris and people looking scared, angry, confused, or some mixture of all three.

That is, the trail was easy enough to follow at first. Rokir spotted the hat lying on the ground and identified it as Cain's, which made them speed up and become less careful. Also, Nash seemed to have followed a strange course and more than once doubled back or went in circles, until her trail was so mixed and confused that even Sakina had trouble telling which way to go (Rokir always had trouble concentrating on a smell for any length of time, and had given up long ago).

The sun had set and the street lights were barely visible through the mist that had crept up by now. With the cold there were few people out on the streets, so they could not even ask if anyone had seen the creature or the others. Sakina stopped at a street corner and sniffed. Once again the trail overlapped to the point that she could not tell which way Nash had last went. Now that she thought about it she could not smell Cain or Kato here. Up until now she had not bothered to try and follow their scents with Nash's so readily available, but now there was little chance of tracking either one down.

"They must have lost Nash and Aito too," Sakina said after she explained the situation to the guys.

"That or Kato caught up with Cain first," Aegle said, his frown more pronounced and grim under the dim light of the street lamp above his head. "What do we do now?"

After a minute Rokir sighed and said, "I've got an idea, but I wish I hadn't thought of it."

Contents
Chapter 15: Of Escape, the Mailin's Camp, and Aegle

Now to go back to just after Aito left Cain and the others. She was so intent on what she was going to do that she did not notice anything strange, much less the eyes that followed her as she struggled and eventually prevailed against the rusty door.

One soldier stood near the stables when she passed by on her way into the castle, but when she came out a short time later with Nash's fruit the courtyard was empty. Aito entered the stables and failed to hear the creak of the gate or see the face that saw her.

"Here you go, Nash," Aito said, placing the quasi fruit in its usual spot. "Sorry I'm so late."

"Actually, you came a little earlier than we expected."

Aito jumped and turned around. On the threshold of the stable there stood Kato, smiling his ever constant and ever fake smile.

"W-what are you doing here?"

The large korin slowly walked toward her, trailing his hand along the gates to each of the stalls. Behind him Aito could see other people in the courtyard keeping watch, although her attention was for the most part riveted on the korin.

"Just business. You know, when I was told Cain had a human I didn't expect it to be so...small. Though I suppose that makes it easier. Now, if you'll just come with me we'll make this nice and easy, what do you say?"

Aito's heart started to hammer and her first thought was, He knows! And then her second thought, which she said out loud, was, "How did you know?"

"Oh, the boss has his ways," Kato said with a laugh. "Although I think you'll see for yourself soon enough. Now be a good little girl and come along."

He stretched out his hand and gripped Aito's arm, but she pulled away and knocked the latch back on the stall door behind her. Kato grabbed her and pulled her close.

"Now, now, don't make things worse," Kato said with a snarl, but he was distracted by another, similar sound not far from his face.

Nash bared her teeth in a wide, vindictive smile, and the korin was alarmed to find that there was no longer a door between him and this strange, frightening creature. He had just stepped back when Nash lowered her head and charged.

Kato made a spectacular dive through the stable doors and Nash stampeded after him. Screams came from out in the courtyard and when Aito dared to look she winced at the sight of the mayhem Nash was causing.

Aito heard a groan and upon looking around and down she spotted Kato, who had managed to avoid Nash by rolling out of her way just outside the door. He saw Aito, and she tried to run around the stables and make a break for the castle door. She did not get very far before a tremendous weight bore down on her, knocking her against the railing of the stable yard.

"Oh, no you don't," Kato muttered, wrapping his strong arms around her and lifting her up. "Can't you fools handle that beast?"

Aito tried kicking and struggling, but Kato's tight grip was squeezing all of the breath out of her. At this rate he could just carry her away and she could do nothing to stop him.

The others tried to corner Nash and force her back into the stable, but every time they came close she would shake her horns and scatter them once again. No one seemed willing to get close to this snorting, stomping, biting beast and Nash had little trouble turning and charging at Kato. He backed up until he fell over the stable fence backwards, still maintaining his grip on Aito until his head connected with the ground.

Aito scrambled up and, seeing the only safe place left, she climbed onto Nash's back with her arms around the creature's neck. What followed next was one of the scariest and most exhilarating moments of her life as Nash made a circuit around the courtyard and took the first path she saw: the door that one of Kato's gang had left open in case they needed a quick escape.

Aito saw the wall and then the buildings speed by, and then it was all she could do to keep from screaming when Nash took the corner at a run and almost toppled over as her hooves sought for grip. Eventually Aito just buried her head in Nash's shoulder and held on as tight as she could, praying that it would be over soon.

It did end soon enough, with a bump as Aito fell off of Nash's back. Her arms were sore from hanging on to Nash's neck and she could hardly feel her legs after that agonizing ride without any sort of saddle or blanket to cushion the painful bouncing. Nash had fortunately slowed down by then, and now she was looking around the street they were in with some interest.

"Oh..." Aito groaned and used a nearby lamppost to help pull herself up. The few people walking by gave them strange looks and moved to the other side of the street to avoid the odd creature that turned to stare back at them.

"I was starting to think you two would never stop."

Aito groaned again and looked up at Dismas as she said, "What, you too?"

The thief looked offended from his perch up on the short building just behind her. He scrambled down the stairs at the side of the building and walked over to Aito. "That's not the kind of greeting I expected."

Aito retreated until she had the comforting warmth of Nash at her back and said, "What do you expect when your friend goes around trying to kidnap people? Stay away from me!"

Dismas stopped and frowned. "Kidnap? What are you talking about?"

"Like you don't know. Your buddy Kato was at the caps, he grabbed me and would have carried me out of the place if Nash hadn't done something."

Nash snorted and nosed at Aito, hoping for some kind of treat.

"What? But how could he know about you? I never—"

Dismas broke off and he and Aito turned at the sound of a shout. Cain was running toward them, and right on his heels was Kato. Kato caught up to Cain before he reached them and the two of them went over in a rolling, scrambling mass.

"Quick, Aito, get back up on Nash," Dismas said, pushing Aito.

"But Cain," Aito started. She tried to see what was going on, but Dismas had her back on Nash again before she could stop him.

"I'll help, but you need to go just in case. Head for the city gates, we'll catch up with you there," Dismas said, although Aito could not tell if he was talking to her or to Nash. Either way the creature snorted and took off on her bumping, jarring way again when Dismas slapped her side.

Aito looked back over her shoulder and saw the thief dive into the fray before Nash turned down a sloping street and nearly knocked over a group of aponé, who just managed to get out of the way and chattered at one another and at them. That was probably what confused Nash, because from then on Aito was sure that Nash went in more than one circle. Aito tried to guide her in the right direction, but she may have doubled the distance by accident.

When they finally found the main gate Aito wondered if Dismas had not reached it before them and given up on waiting. At any rate, there was no sign of the thief or Cain there, and when Aito slid down off of Nash's back it felt like her stomach slid even farther.

Aito walked the rest of the way to the gate with her hand on Nash's back, looking this way and that as if hoping Cain would step out from one of the houses on either side and everything would be all right.

Of all the people she wanted to see just then, the little aponé who noticed her, as both of them were walking in the same direction, and called, "Little Mouse!" was not one of them.

"Oh, hi Gear. Have you seen Dismas around here?" Aito asked, hoping that the sight of the would-be thief was a sign that the other was nearby.

"No, we were supposed to meet here," Gear said. "The mailin are staying just outside of the gate, did you know that? Then again, I bet you were planning on going out there too, right?"

"N-no, I mean, yes. Well, yes I knew about the mailin, but won't the gates to the city close soon? How do you plan on getting back in?" Aito realized that she was walking alongside Gear now, toward the gate.

"It's just for one night," Gear said with a shrug. "Plus a lot of people are out there already. The mailin practice the night before, you see, and it's almost as much fun as the real thing."

Aito remembered Cain saying something along the same lines. Maybe they would be waiting there, where Kato's men were less likely to bother them? It seemed to make more sense than hanging around the gate where anyone could see them.

"So are you coming or not?" Gear asked, stopping just inside of the gate. One of the guards turned his head and started to say something to them, but he spotted Nash and went back to staring straight ahead, trying not to attract the creature's attention. Her encounter with the guards on their entry into Farrhing was a story that had spread quickly among the soldiers.

Aito looked over her shoulder at the empty street behind her and saw that the sun was setting. With little time to choose she bit her lip, thought of running into Kato or one of his friends again, and followed Gear out of the city.

***

"Are you sure we shouldn't just knock at the gate?" Sakina asked, causing Rokir to groan.

The wolf-like tyrok was currently suspended some six feet above Sakina and Aegle's heads, his claws searching out crevices in between the stones of the wall that surrounded the caps.

"Couldn't you have said something before I got this far up?" Rokir said in a loud whisper that carried far enough to be heard on the other side of the caps.

"I did, while we were walking here, when we passed the gate, _and_ when you told us what you were going to do."

"Oh. Sorry, I may not have been listening."

Aegle shook his head and said, "Is this really how you used to get in the caps?"

"Yeah, all of the recruits did it. Granted, we usually made sure we brought a gaillos with us so he could just fly over the wall and unlock the gate, but I'm sure I can do this." Rokir's claws made a horrible scraping sound and a whimper followed.

"Are you okay?"

A mutter came from above and Rokir continued to climb up.

"So all of the recruits use this way. The same recruits who eventually become regular soldiers, guard the caps, patrol the grounds, keep an eye on all of the exits..." Aegle said. "Don't you see anything wrong with this plan?"

Before Sakina could come up with an answer they saw Rokir reach the top of the wall and had just the last glimpse of his tail before a surprised yelp came from above.

"Rokir? Are you okay?" Sakina called as loud as she dared but with no answer.

A few minutes later, during which Sakina and Aegle argued about what to do next, Rokir walked around the corner and waved at them.

"Come on, the gate's open."

"Really?"

Rokir's ears twitched at the surprise in Sakina's voice and he said, "Yes, I said I would get it open, didn't I?"

Sakina and Aegle, with some confusion, followed Rokir through the gate and found that he was not the only one waiting for them inside.

"Yeah," Rokir said when he saw their surprise, "I kind of ran into His Majesty on top of the wall."

Kyrios nodded and smiled. "I heard someone trying to climb the wall. I thought about just coming around the outside, but you had already gotten so far that I didn't think it would be fair. Where are Cain and Aito?"

"That's kind of why I climbed the wall," Rokir said. He briefly explained what had happened and said, "We need Sergeant Bane to find them with her ability."

"Wait, that's why we're here?" Sakina's mouth twisted as she said, "I'd rather just search the whole city than ask that woman for help. Oh, er, sorry Your Majesty."

Kyrios blinked and said, "I suppose that is understandable, but Rokir is right. Toril's ability is the fastest way to find them, and considering the situation speed is of the essence."

The king led them through the grounds and into the castle. After a moment's thought he turned toward the inner portion of the caps until they reached the door to what looked to be an office.

"Excuse me, Leonidas, I need to borrow Toril."

Kyrios backed away and Sergeant Bane stepped out of the office.

"What is it, Your Majesty?" The sergeant's eyes roamed over Rokir, Sakina and Aegle and she started to frown. "Is something wrong?"

"I need you to locate Cain and the girl that was with him, Aito," Kyrios said.

Bane closed her eyes and less than a second later she opened them and said, "Cain is near the Trader's District, close to the West End, but I'm not sure which street. There's so many that way, and they're so close together you see."

"We saw Kato when we were in the back area of the Trader's District today," Rokir said. "If he has a base there, then maybe..."

Kyrios prudently stepped in here and asked, "Is Aito with him?"

"Mm..." Sergeant Bane turned away from them, the better to concentrate.

It took so long that the king leaned toward the others and explained in a low undertone, "It helps if she has something on hand to remind her of the person. Without that, it takes considerably longer to locate them."

"Why did she find Cain so fast then?" Sakina asked.

Kyrios shrugged and said, "I think everything reminds her of him."

"She's outside of the city," Bane said suddenly, turning to face them again.

"What? Why would she leave the city?" Aegle asked.

"Is she near the South Gate?" Kyrios asked.

Sergeant Bane looked surprised and said, "Yes, she is. How did you know that?"

Kyrios smiled. "The mailin are camped there. That's a relief, because it means we can focus all of our attention on finding Cain."

"But the kid?" Rokir asked.

"I know this particular group of mailin. She will be safe with them."

"Wait, 'safe?'" Sergeant Bane grabbed the king's wrist and said, "You expected her to be with Cain. Is he in some kind of trouble?"

"Possibly," Kyrios said, though judging by his face he wished Bane had not asked. "I was just about to ask Rokir and the others if they would be so good as to go with you and a few select soldiers and see if you can find Cain."

"What?" Bane, Rokir, Sakina, and Aegle all said it at the same time, with a similar expression of disgust.

"Of course, if none of you wish to go I could simply—"

"No!"

The king's dog-like ears flattened against his head at the combined shout and he said, "Okay then. Toril, please go and select some soldiers to accompany you in case you should run into this Kato and his friends. We will be waiting for you at the main gate."

"We?" Aegle said once Bane was out of earshot.

"I intend to see you off, that's all," Kyros said.

As they walked through the caps it seemed that Kyrios had more on his mind than simply waiting with them.

"You mentioned that there seemed to be some kind of 'boss' that Kato and this thief were working for. Did either of them ever give any clue as to who this person could be?"

"No," Aegle answered. "But Cain acted like he had some idea. He said as much just before he went running after Aito and that creature. As far as I know, neither one said who they were working for though."

Kyrios sighed and, just for a moment, looked much older than he was.

"If Kato really did catch up with Cain, then..." Rokir started the sentence but did not seem to know how to complete it.

"Toril's ability can not locate the dead," Kyrios answered. "Cain is still alive."

Sakina and Rokir were visibly relieved, but Aegle seemed to still be thinking about the last thing Cain said.

"He wanted to tell us something about the kid before he left," the korin said. "That's why he sent her ahead of us, but if she had anything to do with this I thought Kato would have recognized her when we ran into him at the Trader's District."

"Not if he didn't know what she looked like," Kyrios said.

"Do you know what he was talking about then?"

By this point they were in the entrance hall to the caps, and the king looked around before ushering them outside.

"Yes. I think that Cain intended to tell you that Aito is a human."

A long silence followed this statement until Aegle finally said, "You're kidding, right?"

"Not right now, no. Cain must have thought there was some danger to her because of this fact." Kyrios tilted his head and asked, "Just what has Cain told you about Aito?"

"Well first he said she was a thief and she was working with the other thief," said Rokir.

"Then we found out that Dismas didn't even know her name, and vice versa," Aegle said.

"So then he said that Aito was the daughter of a friend who lived in Correst, and that she was a Rorini," said Sakina. "He said he lied before because he thought Aito would be in trouble if anyone found out...what she really was..."

The trio looked at each other and Kyrios smiled.

"So he did tell you something that was not a total lie. That certainly is an improvement."

"But how is that even possible?" Sakina ran a paw-like hand through her fur and said, "There hasn't been a human in Tanil since..."

"It's been several centuries, if one is to believe the stories," said Kyrios. He leaned against the castle wall and looked up at the sky. "Aito comes from somewhere very different, and was brought to this world against her will. Cain believes that certain items will be able to send her back home, one of those items being the pendant the thief stole that night at Duna."

"He never told us about the pendant, we had to find out about it from someone else." Aegle crossed his arms and walked some distance away. "This is a bit hard to believe, Your Majesty."

"I know." The king moved away from the door just as it opened and Sergeant Bane along with a couple of soldiers stepped out.

"Are you ready?" Bane asked.

Aegle answered first, after a sidelong glance at the king. "We're ready enough. You're sure you can find him?"

Sergeant Bane sniffed and walked away. The two soldiers, a tan gaillos with brown hair and a verkoni with stripes, looked at each other and followed their sergeant.

"I can already see how fun this trip is going to be," Sakina muttered.

"Please send word as soon as you find him," Kyrios said as they were leaving. "I will be waiting."

***

The first sign of the mailin camp Aito found was the sound of music, sweet music that rolled up the hill toward them, soon followed by laughter and voices. It was not difficult to trace it and soon Aito, Gear, and Nash saw the caravan of wagons spread out in a wide circle, in the middle of which was a large fire burning merrily and illuminating the scene.

The mailin were just as strange as Aito remembered: cloaked people whose faces were covered by masks of various styles and colors. Many of them were playing instruments or singing a lilting song that had Nash pricking her ears and practically dragging Aito along as she sped up to get closer.

The mailin were not the only ones in the circle. Around them stood many people of all different races and classes, some sitting around the edges, others singing, and many dancing to the music with the mailin who were not otherwise occupied playing their instruments.

Of the mailin's instruments, there were some like those that could be found in Aito's world, though many of those the mailin possessed were of such clarity, sound, and make as cannot be found elsewhere. She saw one mailin dancing and holding onto a staff, in which were bored holes to hold rings. These rings (Aito never learned what they were made of) would strike against the wood of the staff and against one another to create a reckless rhythm that rang out in time with the dancer's feet.

Gear left her and darted in and out of the laughing, dancing crowds, toward someone that he knew. Aito was left alone with Nash, and she looked this way and that, hoping that maybe she would see some sign of Cain or Dismas. There were too many people, doing too many different things for her to pick out any person in particular, even though she stood on the tips of her toes and strained her eyes.

"Who are you searching for?"

Aito was startled to find one of the mailin standing nearby. She could not tell if she (the voice sounded as if it were female) was looking at her or not, and she found not being able to see the mailin's face made them even more intimidating to talk to.

"M-my friends, a seran named Cain a-and a gaillos with long white hair named Dismas," Aito stuttered. "Have you seen them?"

"We know Cain," the mailin said, and Aito wondered if that was a good thing or not. "He has not come here yet this night, and I have not seen a gaillos with white hair."

"O-oh..." Aito sighed, and looked back at the city. The gates would be closed by now.

"What is your name, child?"

"Aidan, but every— most people call me Aito."

"My name is Ritka," said the mailin. "Why don't you join us? I'm sure you will be able to pass the night comfortably enough with us."

"I..." Aito looked at the dancers. The song had changed to an upbeat, fast-paced one that made her smile and say, "Yeah, I think I will. But Nash, she doesn't get along well with other people."

Nash's eyes widened and she snorted and tossed her head.

"Your chiraki will be comfortable enough with our horses. They have seen her kind before."

"Chiraki?" Aito looked at Nash and said, "So that's what she's called, a chiraki?"

"Yes," Ritka said with what almost sounded like a laugh under her mask. "We have seen the chiraki before, but never in this country."

Aito patted Nash's neck before Ritka led her away. So they had something in common then: most people thought they didn't exist in Tanil. Nash seemed to have taken a liking to the mailin; that is, she didn't try to bite her and followed her lead without too much struggling.

Once the strange pair was out of sight in the darkness Aito walked past the wagons into the circle of light around the fire. Near the wagons many of the older people were sitting, listening to the music and talking to one another, while others rested after their vigorous dancing before returning to the fun.

Aito was surprised to see some familiar faces of the harvesters she and the others had seen on their way to the caps, but she was even more surprised to see Gear talking to a dust-colored verkoni, the same verkoni whose shop she and Rokir had gone into looking for someone that knew anything of Dismas or the painting he had stolen.

"Hello again, dear," said the verkoni, who did not seem surprised at all to see her.

"Hello," Aito said, and then looked back and forth between her and Gear. "Do you two know each other?"

"Well, yeah, of course," said Gear. "This is my Gamma, she practically raised me."

"Practically?" The old verkoni sniffed and said, "Although I have to admit, if I had done a better job you and Dismas might not always be getting yourselves into such trouble all the time, and I might have a few less gray hairs."

"Dismas? So you're his...I mean, you—" Aito stopped, too confused to even begin to sort that one out. "That means you lied when Rokir asked about him."

"Yes," said Gear's "Gamma." "I knew he was back in the city, even if he hadn't dropped by to see me, that boy. One look at that wolf and I knew he was a king's man, though I had no idea what to make of you. It's not to me to tell someone like that how to set their hands on my Dismas."

"Have you seen Dismas here?" Aito asked, hoping she didn't sound as desperate as she felt to hear some news of the two.

Gamma shook her head. "No, but don't you worry. My boy can take care of himself."

Gear looked up, indignant. "What about me?"

"Oh, I know Dismas keeps an eye on you too, even if you're just as hard-headed as him."

Aito thought back to the fight and bit her lip, hoping that Gamma was right. Surely, with both of them there they would have no trouble getting away from Kato. The memory of how Cain had seemed so scared of the korin earlier that day kept trampling through her thoughts until she shook her head and told herself not to worry. There was nothing she could do about it now, but thinking that did little to make her feel better.

"Come on, Little Mouse," Gear said and took hold of her hand. "I'll teach you the dance, let's go before the mailin stop for the night."

Aito hesitated and then smiled and said, "Okay," before the two ran down to join the others. The old verkoni stayed where she was at, tapping her foot to the beat, and watched as a mailin joined them and showed them the steps of the dance after observing Gear's foot-crushing version of it. The thieves' Gamma smiled, although her mind was on other matters. She wished again that Dismas had not thrown his lot in with Kato and his friends, or crossed the path of Cain Crusan as she watched the children laugh and stumble through the fast song. It was a fine line he ran along now.

***

Life in the Trader's District never stopped, but it was a different sort of crowd that came to the kind of places open at such a late hour as when the group stepped through the lanes, following Sergeant Bane as she led them down the main street. She would look intently down each side street, shake her head, run on to the next one and stop just long enough for the others to catch up before she would dash off again.

Aegle looked up at the buildings and store fronts and said in a quiet voice, "This certainly seems familiar, doesn't it?"

Sakina and Rokir nodded. They had walked these streets just hours ago, although it looked a different place at night without the bumbling crowds. They had enough time to recognize the next street's name, Curling's Lane, before Bane motioned for them to hurry up and dashed down the street.

By this time they were not even the slightest bit surprised when Bane stopped in front of a hotel, threw out her arm, and declared, "Cain is in there—"

"On the ground floor," said Aegle.

"The left wing," Sakina continued.

"Third door on the right." Rokir did not bother to hold back a bitter laugh when he saw the astonishment on the seran's face. "That's where Hezekiah Kalmar's rooms are at. We stopped here before we went back to the caps. He's Cain's old teacher, and he happened to buy the picture we've been looking for."

"Maybe your ability caught an old trail," Aegle said.

"No, he's here," Bane said, her red face visible in the light of the nearby street lamp. "I'm sure of it."

Aegle crossed his arms and said, "Why would he come back here? It seemed like he had other things to worry about the last time we saw him."

"How should I know?"

"I know one way to find out," Rokir said and bounded up the stairs. Upon finding the door open he went inside.

When they followed they found the tyrok arguing with the night manager, a large aponé with a face like a baboon.

"I tell you, he knows us, he'd let us in."

The manager shook his head and said in a screeching voice, "Sorry, sorry, but policy's policy. I can't let anyone come storming in and start bothering my guests."

"We're here on the king's business," Sergeant Bane said, drawing herself up to her full height with a fierce gleam in her eye that boded ill for anyone who dared to disagree with her. "Are you sure you want to get in our way?"

"Oh, oh, then, ah, go on then," the manager said, more scared of the sergeant's attitude than anything her uniform stood for. "You know the way?"

No one bothered to answer him, because the moment he stepped aside the sergeant and Rokir raced down the splendid hallway with the others right behind them, their footsteps loud and echoing on the polished floors.

It must have sounded like someone was trying to beat the door down with both of them knocking at the same time, which might explain why Hezekiah's servant was so quick to open it. His hair stuck out at odd angles and his clothes were wrinkled, showing that he must have just woken up.

"Ah, it's Cain's friends, and others—soldiers," he said, rubbing at his eyes.

"Let them in then," said Hezekiah. When the group entered they saw the retired professor seated on the couch with his cane in hand, as if he had not moved since they left. "I have been expecting you ever since Crusan was brought here."

"Brought here? What happened? Is he okay?" Sergeant Bane fired off the questions one after another as her eyes roamed the room before settling on one of the doors on the far side. "Can we see him?" she asked, though it came out more as a demand than a request.

Hezekiah levered himself up onto his feet, told the servant he could go, and said, "Yes. Please come with me, quietly now."

He walked around the couch and eased open the door, motioning to the others to follow. Rokir, Bane, Sakina, and Aegle came but the two soldiers stayed behind, having decided they could hardly be needed at the moment.

Beyond was a large bedroom, every bit as elegant as the rest of the hotel. Crimson draperies covered the windows, and a thick, plush, intricately designed rug was spread over the floor. The furniture was all of the same style, made from dark wood that almost looked black in the low light. The massive four-poster bed dominated the room, and all attention gathered on the figure almost lost among the crimson and gold covers.

"CiCi!" Bane was at the bed side in an instant but the seran did not stir at the sound of her voice or when Hezekiah spoke.

"I was just about to send the boy for a doctor. Crusan has not awoken, even though his injuries don't seem to be serious."

Aegle joined Bane at Cain's side at once and pulled back the blankets to better examine him. While he checked Cain's pulse, breathing, and examined the small injuries that the seran had, Sakina turned to Hezekiah to ask some questions.

"You said he was brought here. Who brought him here, and why?"

"A young gaillos brought him in some time ago, said he saw him being mugged or something of the like. The gaillos was about of average height for his race, pale, white hair."

"The thief?" Rokir tilted his head, but now that he tried he could almost smell Dismas, although Hezekiah's gaillos being in the same rooms made it hard to discern one smell from another. If Dismas had been in this room, he didn't stay long.

"I don't know about that, but he said Crusan had been conscious when he found him. It seems Crusan told him to come here, perhaps because it was nearby. By the time they arrived, Cain was unconscious so we brought him to this room. The young gaillos said he needed to go, and nothing I could say would make him stay."

While they talked Aegle listened with one ear, the rest of his attention focused on his patient. Hezekiah was right, all of Cain's injuries were trivial at most, and none of them could explain the seran's cold body or his drawn face. His breathing was long and shuddering, and when Aegle put his hand on the seran's chest he could feel his heart hammering as if it threatened to burst at any moment.

"He needs a sedative."

Bane gave the korin a strange look. "But he's already asleep, getting him to wake up is the problem."

Aegle sighed and gathered together what little self-restraint he had. "If he were awake in the state he's in, the strain would be enough to cause a heart attack. Where is the kitchen in this place?"

"Ah, you get to it by going through the area just behind the manager's desk, I believe," Hezekiah said, a bemused expression on his face. "What do you intend to do?"

Aegle ignored the question, grabbed Rokir's arm and said, "Come with me, I'll need your help. No Sakina, you and Bane should stay here and keep an eye on Cain, that way you can tell me if he gets worse."

The small korin pulled Rokir out of the sick room and the two soldiers turned around.

"Need anything?" asked the verkoni, who had been fidgeting with the braid on the edge of one of the tapestries.

"Yes," Aegle said. A quick search gave him a pen and some paper, on which he wrote out a short list and some detailed instructions. "Go to the kitchens here, in a place like this there's sure to be someone on duty in case of a room call. Ask them for this, and try to avoid substitutions if you can."

"Yes, sir," said the verkoni, and both soldiers left even though one could have easily handled the job. Having come with some idea of expected trouble, it didn't take long for both to grow bored standing around in a hotel room.

"Aegle, what—" Rokir almost bit Aegle when he grabbed the tyrok's muzzle and hushed him.

"Keep your voice down, let them think we've left."

Rokir growled, but it was in a whisper that he asked, "What is this all about?"

"You know that Kato guy, right? If he got his hands on Cain, do you think he would stop at just a few bruises and cuts?"

"Depends on where the cuts were at. Hezekiah didn't say Kato did this to Cain though."

"Was the thief here?" Aegle asked, pacing around the room.

"I thought I could smell him back in the bedroom, but it was so faint I didn't even notice until Hezekiah said something."

"What about in here?"

"Are you kidding?" Rokir shook his head and put a hand to his snout. "Even trying makes my nose burn. I can't smell anything except for that horrible...urgh, _stench_."

"What?" Aegle sniffed. "I can't smell a thing. Where is it coming from?"

Rokir pointed at the potted plant sitting next to one of the couches without even needing to think.

"This?" Aegle examined the plant, a tall, ordinary household plant which had started to wilt a little. After a minute's thought he put his fingers into the soil, drew them out, and sniffed them.

"Whoa!" Aegle reared back and sneezed, the sudden whiff alone enough to draw tears to his eyes.

The door opened and the soldiers entered, bearing the results of their search: a small glass of what looked like dirty water.

"There was a little lady in the kitchens who looked at the list and mixed everything up, just like your directions said," the verkoni soldier explained as he gave Aegle the glass. "Very nice about it, too."

"Well, until we mentioned 'no substitutions,'" the gaillos soldier said, somewhat ruefully. "That made her mad, and she kept asking what kind of place we thought she was running."

"Thank you," Aegle said, his thoughts on other things.

The two soldiers shrugged and mumbled something.

Rokir nudged Aegle and said, "I don't think we'll need their help anymore. It's not like Kato will just come waltzing in here now."

"Yeah, you're right," Aegle said and turned to the pair. "His Majesty is expecting a report, so why don't you return to the caps and let him know Cain has been found?"

"We would need the sergeant's leave first," the gaillos said, remembering his place right after their initial relief showed through.

Rokir nodded and he and Aegle returned to the sick room. As the tyrok helped Aegle lift Cain up into a sitting position he mentioned it to Bane, who hesitated and then went to speak to the soldiers.

"This isn't a perfect remedy, and it will be slow to show any effect," Aegle said as he poured the liquid down Cain's throat, Rokir holding the seran's nose to make sure he swallowed. "But it should help at any rate."

Cain coughed and his eyelids fluttered, but when he did not wake they lowered him back down and Aegle replaced the covers. The seran was still cold to the touch, despite the many blankets.

"Where are you going to sleep tonight?" Sakina asked Hezekiah.

"Oh, this is not my room. There are three bedrooms in this suite. I only took it because this was the last one available on such short notice."

"Then is it okay if Cain stays here for the night?"

"Yes, of course."

"I would like to stay here as well, to keep an eye on him," Aegle said as he straightened up and placed his hand on a nearby chair.

Hezekiah shrugged. "If you wish."

"Then Sakina and Rokir can go back to the caps with the sergeant," Aegle said, and then when they started to argue, "No, I don't think I'll need your help here. You can get a good night's sleep over there, and I can send word if there's any change."

Rokir stared at Aegle and then came to a decision. "Aegle's right, we can do more back at the caps. Thank you for your help, Mr. Kalmar."

"Oh, okay," Sakina said slowly. "But can't we just send Bane ahead and _then_ leave?"

"I think it will take both of us to get her away from Cain," Rokir muttered as they left.

"If you'll excuse me..." Hezekiah followed them out of the room, leaving Aegle alone with the sleeping seran.

Aegle walked around the room and checked all of the windows and the door. Once he was sure they were secured he dragged the chair into the corner where he could keep an eye on Cain and the door. With a sigh he settled down in the chair, prepared for the long wait ahead.

Contents
Chapter 16: Of Illusions, Abilities, and Seran Stones

Quiet came over the mailin camp, or at least as quiet as it could ever be with so many people in one place. The ground was dotted with sleeping figures, all lying near the bonfire to stay warm. One of them was Aito, to whom a mailin gave a bed roll once their practicing was done. It was comfortable enough, but she just couldn't go to sleep. So instead she stared up at the clear night sky and tried not to think of anything in particular.

When she heard the flap of wings she sat up and looked around, but her hopes were dashed when she saw that the gaillos had brown hair and wings, not white. Samsa, the mailin who who had given Aito the bed roll, walked up the hill to greet the gaillos.

Aito would have lain back down then, but she noticed that the gaillos wore a soldier's uniform. A sudden thought made her scramble up onto her feet and make her way over to them as fast as she could without waking up or stepping on one of the sleepers. By the time she made it up the hill the gaillos had given Samsa a letter and was spreading his wings to leave.

"Wait," Aito called as loud as she dared.

The gaillos stopped and turned around, his expressive face showing his surprise. "Yes?"

"Did you just come from the caps?" The gaillos nodded so Aito asked, "Have you heard anything about a seran named Cain Crusan?"

She thought it too much to hope that he had heard anything about Dismas.

"Cain? Do you know him? Well, yes, I went with a group just a few hours ago, and we found him resting in the rooms of another seran, Kalmar."

"Really? Then I should—"

"Stay here, according to Our King," said Samsa, who had just finished reading the letter. Now that Aito looked she could see the official-looking seal at the bottom of the letter in the mailin's hand. Still, she couldn't help saying, "He knows that I'm here?"

"Please tell Our King that all is well, and we look forward to seeing him in the morning," Samsa said. The gaillos nodded and left with a rush of wings. Once he was gone, the mailin said, "His Majesty mentions here that he will come to the festival tomorrow, in person. The mailin would be delighted if you join us in the morning."

"Oh..." Aito wanted to go back right now, but she saw Kyrios and Samsa had a point in waiting.

That is how, when morning finally came around, Aito found herself among the group entering the city with the mailin. Samsa seemed to have found a bridle and lead suited for Nash because he was walking with her, rubbing the chiraki's side to keep her calm as they entered the city.

Despite their early arrival, a crowd met them just inside the gates and it followed them, growing in number as they approached the festival area. There were so many people pressing in on either side that Aito was glad to be wearing the mailin mask Ritka had given her earlier that morning. At first she didn't see the need, but now she was grateful to have something between her and the crowds, especially when she remembered that Kato or one of his friends could be nearby.

The large square looked like a different place now with decorations hanging from the street lamps and the surrounding buildings, tents sprawled out around the edges for other activities going on, and when the cheer went up from the crowd as the mailin warmed up and then started to play the transformation was complete.

Aito stayed near the mailin and kept an eye on the swirling, stomping, dancing mass. If Kyrios came as he normally did it would be difficult to spot him, even in his strange clothes. She grinned under the mailin mask at the thought of what color combination he would be wearing today and not for the first time wondered if the half-tyrok king was colorblind.

A mailin that she did not know grabbed her hand and pulled her into the dance, laughing as she shook her head and protested just for a second before she gave in and laughed too. It was the sort of song the mailin played on their instruments that made you want to laugh, a fast and frivolous tune where most of the singers seemed to be making up the words as they went.

The only thing that could have stopped her from joining in the next dance was that she saw a glimpse of a familiar face in the crowd. At the sight of that face she forgot all that Samsa had said and ran, twisting and pushing her way through the dancers as she tried to catch up, afraid that she would lose sight of him.

"Wait!"

***

Earlier that morning Hezekiah knocked on the door to Cain's room, he and his servant dressed to leave. He was just about to walk in, but both stepped back as Aegle stumbled out of the room.

"Oh dear, what's wrong?" Hezekiah asked, noting the korin's disheveled appearance and red-rimmed eyes staring out from a pale, wax-like face.

"It's Cain," Aegle said with some difficulty. "I've done all I can, but he hasn't improved...If anything, he's worsened."

"Should I go and fetch a doctor?" asked the gaillos.

"No, I doubt they could do anything I haven't done," Aegle said and ran a hand over his face. "I'll stay here with him, if that's all right. Perhaps he'll pull through."

"I'm certain he will," Hezekiah said, placing a hand on Aegle's shoulder. He did not seem to notice how the korin almost flinched away. "Crusan is strong. I'm sorry, I would stay, but I..."

"Don't worry about it," Aegle said as he stepped back. "I can handle things here."

Hezekiah nodded and he and his servant left. Aegle waited some time after the door shut before he straightened up, his face cleared, and he took the pitcher of water one of the hotel staff had brought with the seran's breakfast and went back into the bedroom.

Cain was where he had left him, sprawled out on the bed asleep. His face was not quite the normal complexion and he still felt too cold to the touch, but his condition had drastically changed from the night before. His chest moved with his slow, deep breaths, and his heart rhythm had also returned to normal; that is, until Aegle upended the pitcher of ice cold water over his head.

Cain screamed and Aegle thought it prudent to step out of arm's reach until the seran calmed down. It took several minutes, during which the korin wondered how he could possibly shout so much without running out of breath or repeating some of the more colorful abuses he shouted.

When the seran finally paused for a breath Aegle said, "It's good to see you again too. What happened last night, how did you end up here?"

Cain put a hand to his head and doubled over where he sat on the bed so that his head almost touched his knees. "Where is here?"

"We're in one of Hezekiah's rooms."

"Wait...What happened to my little mouse? Is she all right?" He looked around as if expecting to see some sign of her.

Aegle had hoped that question would come later, but he could see Cain would not answer any of his questions until he answered his. "The last I heard, she was outside of the city with the mailin according to Bane."

Cain relaxed somewhat and said, "Last night I found her, but the thief got there first. Before I could get to them, Kato caught up with me and it was all I could do to get him off of me. Then the gaillos jumped in..."

"So the two of them overpowered you?"

"No. The thief grabbed Kato around the neck, for all the good it did. I pinned the korin, and then I was hit from behind, I think." Cain touched the back of his head and winced. "I was unconscious, not sure for how long. I came to long enough to see...Hezekiah..."

The seran stopped and his hand went to his chest where his fingers gripped his wet shirt.

"How long have I been here?"

"Well, it's morning now," Aegle said, pulling back the curtains and letting the sunshine fall across the floor and light up the room. Both were surprised to hear the distant sound of shouting and music.

"The mailin are playing..." Cain blinked and said, "Where is Hezekiah now?"

"He didn't say where they were going. Cain, is Kato—"

"Working for him? ...Yes. I thought as much yesterday. That's why I wanted Aito to stay away while we went back."

"Because he's a seran, and she's a human." Aegle couldn't help a smile when he saw how much he had surprised Cain. "His Majesty told us. But how did you find out about Hezekiah?"

"I know him, and I saw his seran stone. It's fading, that's why he wanted a new one," Cain said as he pushed back the soaked blankets and stood up. "And that's why we need to find my little mouse, now."

"No need to state the obvious, come on," Aegle said, opening the door.

Cain took two steps toward the door and stumbled. He tried to catch himself by grabbing the bedside table, but it went over with him for a resounding crash. Cain groaned from his place on the floor and rubbed his chest.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes. I must have just tripped on something," Cain said as he got back up onto his feet.

"Tripped? On what?"

"It doesn't matter. Weren't we in a hurry just a second ago?"

Cain and Aegle were in the main room when Aegle noticed that the seran was shivering. He sighed and said, "Hold on just a second."

The korin went into one of the other bedrooms and Cain waited impatiently. He sniffed and looked around until he noticed a dead plant sitting next to the couch which seemed to be the source of the smell. He stared at it until a flying shirt hit him in the face.

"Change into that, at least it's not wet."

"And whose fault is that?" Cain asked as he pulled off the damp shirt and pulled on the one Aegle had found which judging by the holes at the shoulders belonged to the gaillos. He pointed at the plant and asked, "Was that there yesterday?"

"Judging by the smell, someone tried to water it with a slow-acting poison," Aegle said.

"Huh. I assume you know the antidote?"

"Yes. It's a good thing they keep a well-stocked kitchen here."

"And that Hezekiah's gaillos doesn't know how to make a decent cup of tea," Cain said.

Outside they only had to follow the music and noise to find the festival. As they made their way through the city streets there was no sign of anyone. It seemed everyone that could be there was at the festival.

"We should split up," Cain said. "You can look near the mailin for my little mouse while I keep an eye out for Hezekiah and Kato. The others should be—"

"Wait, split up?" Aegle shook his head. "No, we just need to find Aito and get out of there. We can deal with your insane professor later, when there are more than two of us and we're not likely to get _killed_."

"Fine." Cain said nothing more until they reached the festival where he stopped short and looked around. "Can you feel that?"

Aegle's brow furrowed and he wondered if Cain had fully recovered when he saw the feverish look in the seran's eyes. "Feel what?"

Cain grabbed at his chest again and said, "It's an illusion, one of _my_ illusions, and it's all over this place."

Before Aegle could stop him, Cain took off running through the crowded square, looking this way and that for something the korin could not see.

***

"Wait!" Aito cried out again, but still he would not stop. Why was he running so fast now? She pulled off her mask to see and breathe better and so that if the seran turned around he could recognize her. "Cain, wait!"

The seran did not slow, and it was all Aito could do to keep him in sight. A large and round tyrok bumped into her and almost knocked her down, and a little verkoni ran out right in front of her so that she lost hold of her mask somewhere, but Aito managed to free herself from the crush of people in time to see Cain open the door to a small building, little more than a shack squeezed in between two other buildings.

Aito hesitated when she saw the rotting wood that the peeling paint could not quite cover and the way the roof was sloped, as if it could fall in at any moment, but she pulled open the door which to her surprise made little noise and stepped inside.

There were windows in the front, but they did little to illuminate the dusty gloom inside. Aito had to strain her eyes to see that the room was empty except for a few pieces of furniture that were covered in once white sheets and floorboards poking up here and there. Aito heard a sound in the back and she carefully stepped her way across the room. She found a small hallway in the back and a set of stairs leading up.

"Cain?" Aito's voice sounded muffled, as if the dust was covering it up just like everything else in here. Even the stairs were coated in the stuff, although Aito could see that the middle of the steps were clear from people walking up and down.

She went up the stairs, praying the ancient wood would not break under her feet, and could hear a steady creak from up above as she went, as if someone was pacing back and forth over the floor.

At the top of the stairs Aito had to stop and rest for a minute. Her head felt like it was spinning and her breath caught in her throat so that she could not call out again. She wondered if it was the dust getting to her. Another hallway with several doors was here, but Aito did not have to wonder which way Cain went. Only one doorway was clear of the dust and other litter that cluttered the floor, and she could see a light on through the crack left by someone who had not shut the door all the way.

She started to open the door but stopped when she heard Cain talking in a low, menacing voice that did not sound like him, even at his angriest. The sound of that voice was enough to make Aito draw back her hand and wonder what she was doing here, but then she recovered her nerves enough to peek in.

"How long did you think it would take before I noticed? Or did you think you could actually get away with it?" Cain looked like a tall black shadow as he paced back and forth across the floor, his hands clasped together behind him and his back to her and the door. Her eyes followed him and it took a moment before Aito noticed who he was talking to.

In the middle of the floor with the light shining on his face sat Dismas. He was sunk down in his chair with his eyes half-closed and Aito wasn't sure he was awake, he stayed so still. His white wings were out and she winced at the sight of the right one. Even that glance could tell her it was broken, if not worse.

"Although I should thank you, in a way. This little incident turned out much better than I could have ever expected. Who would have thought that the book still contained that ability, or that it could have ever performed so well?"

Cain turned in his pacing and Aito shrank away from the door, but he did not seem to see her. He sighed and walked around Dismas's chair until he was behind the gaillos and placed his hands on the back of the chair. Bringing his face down so that his mouth was near the gaillos's ear he said in a quiet voice that still carried in the silence, "So where is it? Where is the book, and where is my seran stone?"

Dismas winced and jerked away from the seran but was hindered by the ropes that bound him to the chair. When he moved she saw a bruise on his jaw and her heart jerked when she saw the look in his eyes.

"I don't know...I must have lost it when Kato dragged me across the city. If you start looking now, maybe you'll find it. In twenty, thirty years..."

Cain grabbed the back of the chair and threw it down so that Dismas was now on the floor with his face pressed against the ground.

Dismas groaned.

"Come now, let's not play around. Just tell me where they're at, and I'll take care of everything. Who knows, you might even get a chance to prove that you're not such a worthless thief after all."

No sound came from the gaillos and Cain walked around him. Dismas watched the seran's feet with an expression on his face that went beyond simple hatred.

"Nothing? You're no fun at all." Cain stopped and rocked back and forth on his heels. "Even if you don't have them, it shouldn't be too hard to find out what you did with them. Did you pass them off to your little aponé pal, or to that old cat you call Gamma? I'm sure if you won't tell me, they will."

Dismas gave a shout of fury and managed to get on his knees in spite of the chair. "Don't you dare—"

Cain brought back his foot and started to kick out, but he lost his balance and was almost knocked over when Aito tackled him, yelling, "Stop it!"

Cain laughed and said, "Oho, look who's here. The _little mouse_."

His mouth curled in disgust and Aito kept pummeling her fists against his stomach even though it didn't seem to bother him. "Why are you doing this? Dismas tried to help you!"

"Aito!" Dismas struggled against his bonds and said, "Get out of here, now!"

"As if I'm going to let the little mouse run away," Cain said as he grabbed Aito's arm so hard that it hurt. "You're not going anywhere."

"Cain, let go, you're hurting me," Aito said as she tried to pull away until Cain struck her across the mouth.

Dismas's eyes widened and went from Aito to the seran and then he struggled harder than ever to get out of his bonds. Cain kicked out and the thief groaned once and was then silent.

"Oh, you won't have to worry about that soon enough." Cain said as Aito gasped and pressed something against the base of her neck, right at the bone and she cried out as a cold sharp enough to hurt lanced right through her body there.

And then it started to pull, as if all of her breath, her feeling, her thoughts seemed to be moving toward that icy point. Aito found that it took all she had to keep the room in focus, and then soon all she could see was the sneer on Cain's face, twisted until it wasn't recognizable.

As Aito struggled against the inexorable pull her thoughts swirled until they hit up against a rock that sent them to a crashing halt. Cain never talked like this. He never laughed like this or hit people to get what he wanted. Cain had many faults, but these weren't among them. Aito's hand dropped to her pocket and she reached inside to find a familiar object that she had forgotten was even there.

" _He still has a conscience... I think he can be trusted to do what is right, when the time comes."_ Kyrios trusted Cain.

"But not him," Aito said, almost to herself. Holding the seed made the pulling stop so that she could finally focus on her thoughts, allowing it all to click.

"What?" The seran's eyes widened; she shouldn't even be able to talk by now, much less move.

"You're not Cain."

***

Cain came to a halt at the edge of the crowd, and looked around with eager, alert eyes. "The source is somewhere around here."

"Source?" Aegle had managed to keep up with the seran only because he had been slowed down somewhat by the mass of people now behind them. "If it's your illusion, how can it be coming from somewhere else?"

"I'm not creating it," Cain said. He stared at the buildings in front of them with a furrowed brow. "We have to get in there."

"You're not—Wait, get in where?" Aegle looked at the two buildings and realized that the seran was staring at a brick wall. "You do realize that's a wall, right? There's no getting in that."

Cain ignored him and ran his hand over the wall. He stopped and went back to a certain place, rubbing his hand against it as if the bricks there felt any different than the others. "You do realize that your eyes can be fooled, don't you?"

Aegle jumped back as Cain kicked the wall. Instead of ending up with a broken foot, the seran smiled as part of the wall shuddered.

"How...?"

Aegle did not get to finish the question before Cain rushed the wall and struck it with his shoulder. With a crash that sounded more like wood than bricks, Cain opened a square hole in the wall and Aegle realized that he was looking at a busted doorway.

"It really was an illusion!"

"You think I don't know my own tricks when they're used against me?" Cain asked with a note of pride mingled with the disgust in his voice.

"Then you should have seen this coming."

Cain gasped and scrabbled at his throat as something unseen grabbed him. To Aegle it looked as if the seran was struggling with thin air until he felt his arms being seized.

"Well well, look at what we have here." The voice issued from near Cain despite the apparent absence of a speaker and a thin cord around his neck floated up, on the end of which was a seran stone. Aegle recognized it as the pendant from the museum.

Cain's hands scratched and scrabbled at his throat and his face started to change colors.

Both Cain and Aegle jumped as a scream came from within the doorway in the wall, which for a moment looked like a dilapidated shack. Without warning Kato appeared behind Cain, his arm locked around the seran's neck, and Aegle could now see his captors as well as several others standing around in a ring.

"What in blazes?" Kato ran toward the shack, dragging the half-suffocated Cain with him, and Aegle found himself being taken along by the large verkoni on either side.

Cain's vision was spotty from lack of oxygen, so it was not until he had been dragged up a flight of stairs that he could finally see enough to make out a door, and then Hezekiah holding Aito so that her feet no longer touched the ground. At least if it was Hezekiah, it was a much younger version of himself. Any sign of wrinkles and gray hair had faded and he could have passed for the same age as Cain, but his face was contorted with horror.

He dropped Aito and started to tear at a ring on his finger, which was so black that it seemed to be glowing with a dark light. As they watched it grew brighter and brighter until the stone burst, fragments flying away from what remained of the ring.

"Hezekiah!" Kato ran forward but the seran pushed him away, screaming with pain. Before their eyes years seemed to weigh down on the seran, as his back bowed and his hair passed from gray to white and his hands started to become veined and knotted. Within seconds he had passed the age he seemed to be yesterday and sped on until he looked to be over a hundred, yet the aging still did not stop. The seran's hair turned past gray to a sullen white, and his skin was like gray, crumbling ash. His bones looked to be little more than sticks, and his face—his bloodshot, staring eyes, his gaunt frame, his white, cracked lips—he looked as though he had passed through death itself and back.

Kato looked at the broken seran stone in the ring and then, thinking with a speed that would have surprised many who did not know him, ran over to Cain and yanked the pendant off of his neck and returned to his master's side.

The moment Hezekiah touched the stone his aging stopped and he was able to stop screaming, although he still gasped as if in pain. He was now closer to his original age, but sweat still stood out on his face and he examined his shaking hands.

Cain used the distraction to get over to Aito and check on her. For a moment he feared the worst until she rubbed her arm and opened her eyes.

"Cain?" She looked at him, then back at Hezekiah and seemed to put two and two together. "It is you!"

Cain did not know how to react when Aito hugged his neck, or when she looked around and said, "Where's Dismas, is he all right?"

For the first time he noticed the gaillos where he was laid out on the floor, still tied to the chair, and hissed sharply when he saw the condition the thief was in. His attention was soon disrupted when Hezekiah recovered enough to speak.

"A touching scene." He spat and stood up with Kato's help.

"What happened?" Kato asked.

"Just a miscalculation," he said, sparing Aito the merest of glances. "Although I see that's not the only thing that I slipped on. I must admit, I thought you would be dead by now Cain."

"Sorry to disappoint." Cain looked at Aegle and his two guards plus the others, his mind racing. There were too many people...

"Oh, I can fix that soon enough," Kato said with a smile as he pulled a switchblade out of his pocket and flipped it open.

"Good to see you're still putting your ability to good use, Professor," Cain said. "When did you steal the ability to control your age? It looks like you haven't got the hang of it yet."

Hezekiah laughed. "Just a few centuries ago. Although I must admit, of all the abilities I've 'borrowed,' yours has to be my favorite, except for one ability that I've always wanted to try my hand at."

"Really?" Cain said with a terrible grin on his face. "I always felt like my illusions lacked a certain something."

"Borrowed?" Aegle looked from Cain to Hezekiah. "What are you talking about?"

"Hezekiah has the ability to take another seran's ability. That is why Kato took me there last night, so that the professor could have first crack at my illusions." Cain touched his chest again, in an almost involuntary action. "But he needs a seran stone now, to control them as well as he used to."

"The ring helped, but I find this one you've brought me to be much more refreshing," Hezekiah said as he fingered the stone on the pendant. "I can't wait to try out its full power. In fact, why don't we start now?"

Cain put himself between the elder seran and Aito and Hezekiah laughed. "You think you can stop me? You're without an ability again, and you know well enough you can't stand up to me. You're little better than that human you're shielding now."

"I think I can do enough." Cain ran at Hezekiah but met the full force of Kato. The korin's blow knocked him to the ground. Once he recovered his senses Cain became aware that someone was going through his pockets.

"Knowing Crusan, if he has the pendant then not far away should be...Ah!" Hezekiah straightened up with the book _Tanil_ in hand. "So predictable."

Cain groaned and tried to get back up on his feet but Kato held him down with his boot on his back.

"I haven't seen this in years," Hezekiah said as he turned the book over in his hands. "Not since I helped you deal with your little...problem."

"It wasn't a problem," Cain said through gritted teeth.

"Really? If I hadn't stepped in you would have killed yourself in time." He opened the book and said, "I think it's about time that I collected on what's due to me for that little service."

Holding the book open in his hands, Hezekiah closed his eyes and began to mutter under his breath what sounded like a song or a chant. The book started to glow and a silver thread began to unwind from the pages as if the letters were being spun from the book. Freeing itself with a flick of its end, the thread looped over and over until it was a silver ball, and then it passed into Hezekiah's body.

"No," Cain said with a groan.

Hezekiah laughed and tossed the book away where it clattered against the floorboards near Dismas's face. When the seran opened his eyes he seemed different, and if anything the hungry look that was always prominent in his eyes seemed sharper and more noticeable than ever.

"Once I'm finished with the human, you can do whatever you want with the others," Hezekiah said to Kato. "I assume you already have plans?"

"Oh, yes," Kato said, smiling. He pulled Cain up onto his feet and played with the blade in his other hand. "But do I have to wait?"

Hezekiah started to answer and stared at the doorway, past Aegle and his captors. Now that they listened, all could hear the creak of wood as if someone was walking up the stairs. He motioned to one of the verkoni standing nearby, but before he could check the door burst open and Rokir came roaring in.

Cain thought he saw others behind the snarling tyrok, but he could not be sure. He pulled away just in time as Kato struck out with the knife, intent on removing at least one factor from the equation. He ducked and tackled the korin, dragging him down to the ground as both fought for the blade.

Hezekiah also moved fast to create an illusion with a gesture of his hand but he soon needed both to fight off the bundle of fur that was trying to attack his head.

"Get off!" Hezekiah roared, trying to knock the aponé off but finding that it had locked its legs around his neck.

"This is for Dismas and Little Mouse!" Gear cried as he grabbed the seran's ears and hauled as hard as he could.

From her place on the floor Aito saw a confusing scramble as soldiers poured in through the doorway and Hezekiah's men tried to block them off. She still felt weak from the encounter with the seran stone, but saw a glimpse of something reflective in Hezekiah's fist as he flailed around that made her scramble back up onto her feet.

The pendant!

If something wasn't done Hezekiah would use the seran stone on her again, and Aito knew that she wouldn't be able to get away a second time. Not to mention what he'd do to the others once that was taken care of.

Without thinking about what she was about to do, Aito got to her feet and sprang forward, managing to take away the pendant only because Hezekiah was rather distracted at the moment. Just touching it made Aito feel weak again—

If I break it, the pain will come back.

But if she didn't, she would never feel anything ever again.

I'll never be able to get back home without it.

Aito looked at _Tanil_ ; thanks to Hezekiah it was now a normal book, and looking in that direction made her see Dismas, still unconscious on the floor. At this point, going home was beyond reach no matter what she did.

Aito held the pendant by its chain and swung it against the wall as hard as she could.

Contents
Chapter 17: Of Angel, Mouse, and the Tree

A crack formed in the middle of the stone and the rotten wood of the wall crumbled from the blow. At the same time Hezekiah turned on Aito with a roar of fury and managed to rid himself of Gear, his strength restored by sheer panic.

Aito drew back her hand and slammed the pendant against the wall, and then again. Each time the stone cracked more but it did not break completely, but before she could try again Hezekiah grabbed her hand and it was all she could do to hold onto the pendant. The stone burned in her hands but she did not dare to let it go as she pulled and tried to wrestle it away from the seran.

Somehow in the struggle Hezekiah turned her hands so that Aito now held the stone against her chest, his hands on top of hers. She cried out as the seran stone began the terrible process again, this time even worse than the first, but she could not pull it away.

The chaos going on in the rest of the room faded away and Aito's hands relaxed. She was barely aware of the action as memories flickered in her mind before disappearing beyond reach. People, places, all flashed before her eyes and then were gone, until Aito could no longer recognize faces or recall their names.

Yet as fast as the memories went, they filled her mind just as they were whisked away until they started to blur together. Once she thought she was lying in a bed with a woman sitting next to her, reading out loud from a familiar book whose cover she could not see and for one brief moment all was still. Then that stillness shattered and Aito thought she stood in a strange room with two people, one a seran with dark hair and cold eyes, the other a human with brown hair and glasses that kept slipping down. Both were trying to speak to her at once, although she could not make out the words, and then they were gone with all the rest. Aito tried to call out to them, but her voice didn't seem to be working anymore.

"Get your hands off of her!"

Hezekiah was jolted to one side when Cain rammed into him but retained his grip on Aito's hands, holding the stone in place. For a moment the two serans fought, each striving to push the other away without relinquishing their hold on the pendant. All the while Hezekiah appeared to be like a blurred picture, his features changing from age to age as his grip on the pendant changed and its stone attended to its function.

Cain could sense the elder seran drawing together an illusion but there was little he could do to stop him. Gear, however, had recovered from his daze after Hezekiah knocked him away and knew there was only one thing to do in a situation like this. The aponé threw himself onto the seran with a bound and a shrill yell and renewed his attack on the seran's face, drawing harsh screams from the elder seran.

Cain's hand closed around Aito's the moment Hezekiah tried to save himself from the berserk monkey, and the pendant never stopped its siphoning effect during the transfer.

Cain gasped as the aching hole that had been in his chest since Hezekiah took his ability moved in unison with the power that surged from the stone. The rush was freeing, brilliant and sickening all at the same time. Was this how the professor felt all the time? This power was so great that it made all of his illusions look like the merest parlor tricks in comparison, and this was just a taste of it.

What would all of it feel like? Cain could have laughed out loud from that giddy realization, but underneath the exuberance was disgust. All this time he could feel what drove that power, the memories and voices locked within the stone, all crying and calling to be heard.

Cain blinked and came back to himself, staring down into Aito's face. She was staring back, her eyes open but unseeing. She could feel it too, and he saw the pain of those voices reflected in her face.

This time when the seran stone struck the wall, it did not just crack – it shattered beyond repair. Cain turned his eyes away from the remains stuck to his hand only when he heard the unearthly howl erupt from Hezekiah.

Hezekiah was speeding through the years again, racing through decades in leaps and bounds. This time he did not stop at that beyond-death state that Kato had saved him from. Skin and bones turned to ash and dust, and even that was reduced to almost nothing by the time all the years that the seran had cheated were finished with him.

Cain dragged his eyes away from that disturbing sight to look at Aito, who had not moved since he released her. That was enough to make him forget everything else that was still going on in the room. Shouts and voices rang out, more confused than ever by the disappearance of Hezekiah, but he could not be bothered by that.

"Little mouse? Little mouse!" Even though Cain shook her shoulders she still did not respond. She stared straight ahead, her eyes unseeing, and there was no sign that she could even hear him. Cain grew more and more desperate the more he called, and he did not notice the quiet that came over the room behind him.

"Aidan! Aidan, please wake up!"

Aito blinked and turned her sightless eyes up toward Cain's face as tears started to stream down her cheeks.

"Dad," she whispered, and plunged her face into Cain's chest, sobbing so hard that her body shook. "Oh, dad!"

Cain hesitated and then patted her shoulder, afraid to say anything. Aito was still suffering from the effects of the stone, and he didn't have the heart to snap her out of it. Within minutes Aito's sobs quieted and Cain realized that she had fallen into a half-sleep leaning against him.

A hand rested on the seran's shoulder and he heard the familiar voice of the king whisper, "I can take her, if you wish."

"No, no I can carry her," Cain murmured and lifted Aito up in his arms and turned to face the king. He found that there was what looked to be an entire regiment leading out what was left of Kato's men. Several had tried to run when they saw their leader turn to dust before their eyes, but they did not get much farther than the stairs.

Kato himself struggled against the guards who held his arms, his face livid and one shoulder bearing what looked to be a bite mark from a certain tyrok. When he saw Cain the korin fought even harder and managed to break free. Kato took two steps in the seran's direction before he keeled over, brought down by a blow to the head from Sergeant Bane.

"Oaf," Bane muttered and then turned to Cain. Within seconds her eyes turned misty and she ran at Cain. "Oh, CiCi, I'm so glad you're all right!"

Kyrios managed to block her before she could tackle him and said over the snickering of the retreating soldiers, "Perhaps now isn't the time Toril. Could you be so good as to tell Samsa that I will speak to him later? I believe I owe him my thanks."

Sergeant Bane sighed and gave the king a reproachful look as she left which just made him smile. Cain looked around at the remaining soldiers.

"How did you manage to find us here?"

"Toril's ability brought us as far as the square before she became confused by the illusions. Thankfully, Sakina has a way of tracking a scent through even such a crowd as outside," Kyrios said and showed Cain a mailin mask. "Aidan dropped this not far away from the door, and it was not hard to find our way from there."

Cain started to follow the king to the door but stopped when he saw an empty chair lying on the floor. "Where did the thief go?"

"You mean thieves, both were here. I think both left together as soon as the fighting stopped," Kyrios said as they walked down the stairs. "I'm sorry, I told the soldiers not to bother them, but I did hope the gaillos would stay long enough to be treated for his injuries."

Cain did not say anything to that. It took most of his concentration to safely manage the rickety stairs with Aito sleeping in his arms, and he breathed easier once they were out of the tumble-down shack. To his surprise the festivities were still going strong out in the square. It was as if all that had happened back in the shack came from a different world than this place that was filled with so much music and general happiness.

The king seemed to see as much by the expression on his face. "Perhaps some rest would do you good as well."

"I feel like I could sleep for days," Cain said as they walked through the square and up the street. People had a tendency to avoid bumping into the seran when they saw the sleeping girl, but he noticed that more than a few people turned and looked back at them, particularly at the king. "I'm surprised no one's made an uproar over the king walking the streets like a commoner. Hasn't anyone recognized you yet?"

"It's not like I walk around the city every day," Kyrios said. A small smile twitched at his lips as he added, "Several people assure that my health is not up to such strains. Besides, I came to the festival with a squadron of soldiers and now I am leaving with one of my adviser-generals. How is that common?"

"Former adviser." Cain looked away from the king and noticed that the street was already becoming less populated the farther away from the square they went. By the time they reached the caps they were the only ones around except for the guards at the main gate who saluted as they entered.

"Have the others already arrived?" Kyrios asked one of the guards.

"Yes, Your Majesty. Adviser-general Leonidas took charge of those with the prisoners, and the rest went inside the caps."

"Thank you."

"What will you do with Kato and the others?" Cain asked as the king opened the door to the castle for them.

"I have not decided yet," Kyrios said. "The most appropriate decision would require some proof of all of their crimes, as well as all those involved."

"I think I can do something about that." Cain readjusted his hold on Aito, his arms growing tired from the weight. She did not wake up, not even as they started up the stairs. "Are we taking her to the infirmary?"

"I told your friends to meet us at her room."

Kyrios barely had the words out of his mouth before Rokir met them at the corner, almost bumping into the king in his hurry.

"Oh, sorry, didn't see you there little guy. Cain, is the kid all right?"

"I think she's just sleeping—" Cain stopped and said, "Wait, did you just call His Majesty 'little guy?'"

"Er...Here, let me take the kid off your hands." Rokir took Aito up in his arms and hurried back to her room.

"Huh. I see your friends take after you in more ways than one," Kyrios said and laughed at Cain's expression.

"Your Majesty... With all due respect," Cain had to stop here as the king held back another laugh at that, "How can you laugh and smile so much?"

"Excuse me?"

Cain ran a hand through his hair and started to pace back and forth across the hallway as he spoke. "My little mouse had two seran stones used on her, it's a miracle that she's even still alive, and the book which brought her to this world...It's useless now. Hezekiah took the ability that was in it..."

Kyrios pulled the book in question out from an inner pocket of his jacket and said, "Yes, I noticed. Here, it belongs to you."

Cain winced but did not stop his pacing, ignoring the proffered book. "No, not anymore. She says it belongs to her father, or something like that, but that's not what's important. What am I supposed to tell her when she wakes up?"

"Cain." Kyrios said and reached out his hand but the seran's pacing took him out of reach. "Cain, stop that, you're going to wear a hole in the floor."

The seran stopped and the king put a hand on his shoulder.

"You have a lot to be thankful for just from what you said. Aidan is okay in spite of Hezekiah's best efforts; looking at you shows that you also survived running into Kato who, as I recall, swore to do some very violent things the next time he saw you; and I think I have a solution for Aidan's problem."

"I hope you do because I don't have anything." Cain said in a deadpan voice.

The king smiled and said, "Trust me."

***

Several hours passed before Aito opened her eyes and found herself back in her room at the caps. At first she thought she was alone so she just laid there as the memories of the morning returned to her one by one like spikes she kept bumping into. That soulless Cain turning into Hezekiah, Dismas being knocked to the floor, the terrible stone and what it did to her, they made her want to bury her head in her pillow and forget all of it.

"Aito? Would you like something to drink? Aegle said you might want to drink this when you woke up."

Aito was embarrassed to find the king standing next to her bed with a cup in his hands, from which rose a thin trail of steam. She looked at it with some suspicion as she asked, "Is it medicine?"

Kyrios laughed and sat down in a chair that had been pulled up next to the bed. "No, it's hot chocolate. As far as medicine goes he said all you needed was some sleep."

"Oh, then yes please," Aito said. It had become colder while she slept as she noticed when she sat up to take the cup. She noticed another one sitting on the side table which the king picked up and sipped from himself.

Neither tried to talk and the quiet was peaceful. However, Aito couldn't help but ask after some minutes, "Where is everybody else?"

"Cain asked Aegle to go with him on some business of his own. Rokir and Sakina decided to go for a walk around the caps a few minutes ago when I said I would watch you."

Aito's gaze roved around the room and stopped on the dresser, where there laid a book that she did not remember putting there. Seeing what had drawn her attention, Kryios put down his cup, walked over to the dresser and picked up the book.

"Cain left this here. He said it belonged to your father," Kyrios said as he returned to the bed and gave Aito _Tanil_.

Aito ran her hand over the cover. "My dad said it belonged to my mom. I...I thought I remembered it, when the seran stone...I remembered her..."

Aito broke off and stared at the book, her hands gripping the blankets.

Kyrios walked around to the window and looked out as he said, "I suppose the last thing you want to do is talk about it."

Something about the way he said it seemed familiar. There was no question to the statement and Aito did not doubt that if she wanted to change the subject he would have said nothing more about it.

All the same, Aito found herself saying, "I just can't get it out of my head. I-I heard something, people, and they were hurting so much. Now I can't stop thinking about them, even though there's nothing that I can do to help them."

He did not ask what she meant. Instead, the king stayed where he was at, his face illuminated by the setting sun as he said, "May I tell you a story?"

"Um, sure," Aito said with a bit of uncertainty, wondering why Kyrios would change the subject.

***

The bell rang over the shop's door and the elderly verkoni looked in from the back at the two who had just entered as she said, "Sorry dears, we're closed."

"We're here to see Dismas," said the tall seran. Beside him the korin with a black bag over one shoulder stiffened and looked up at him with obvious surprise.

The verkoni's fur bristled and she said, "Don't make me say it twice. We are closed, Mr. Crusan."

Cain attempted a smile as he said, "I understand why you don't trust us, but I am not here to arrest Dismas. Aegle here is a doctor, and your...boy needs medical attention and I have a promise to keep."

She swayed back and forth with indecision and then nodded. "But if you so much as harm a feather on his wings—"

Cain bowed and said, "I understand. Aegle, don't do anything stupid."

"What, me?" Aegle barely had time to look offended before the verkoni led them to the back of the shop, where there were several rooms. Some were obviously for storage, but beyond a small, orderly kitchen she opened the door to a bedroom where Dismas was hunched over on the bed, his white wings splayed out behind him.

When he saw Cain and Aegle the gaillos shot up onto his feet but stopped and put a hand to his head. He grimaced at them and said, "Why are you here?"

"He said that he was a doctor," said the verkoni. "Please sit down, before you hurt yourself anymore."

Dismas looked ready to argue but the pain was too much. He slowly sat down and gave Cain and Aegle wary looks as the korin set down his bag and opened it. Inside were several items he had taken from the caps's infirmary before they left and he started to rummage around for what he would need.

"Why are you doing this?" Dismas asked.

"I don't know, ask him," Aegle muttered.

Cain froze and mumbled something, causing the verkoni to nudge him and tell him to speak up. "I...Ahem. I mean to say, after this morning—"

The seran stopped, flustered, and after gathering his thoughts said, "The wing is my fault to an extent and Kato didn't help the healing along. Consider this as a thank you for last night, that's all."

"Oh, I just did that for Aito," Dismas said and looked away, but he did not resist when Aegle stretched out the wounded wing and began to examine it.

"This really isn't as bad as it looks," Aegle said after a moment. "It is broken, but just one clean break."

He began to create a splint to hold the wing in place so that it would not be damaged anymore and the verkoni said, "I'll just go and get something for you boys."

When she left Dismas asked, in order to keep his mind off of the pain, "How is Aito doing?"

"She was still sleeping when we left," Cain answered as he passed Aegle the bandages. "I don't think the seran stone will have any lasting effect on her."

"Except for the book," Dismas said and hissed when the korin dabbed something on his wing.

"His Majesty seems to believe that he knows of a way to take her home," Cain said without any real conviction in his voice. "He talked about waiting until tomorrow, to give her time to rest."

"Tomorrow?" Dismas moved suddenly and yelped.

"Hold still," Aegle muttered. "Do you want to make it worse?"

"Oh, be quiet Aegle," Cain said. "I would have asked someone else to come along if I thought you were going to make so much noise."

"What? Someone else? I'm the best healer you know!"

"Sadly, that's true," Cain said to Dismas. "The fools at the caps are more likely to make things worse if you go to them."

"What does it matter to you when she goes back, thief?" Aegle asked. "Last I remember, you were working with that crazy seran who tried to kill us."

"I only stole the pendant on his orders," Dismas said. "I didn't know anything about what he planned to do with it. Then, when I saw Aito come out of that book—"

Aegle's hand slipped and the thief had to bury his head in a pillow to stifle his noise. "The book? That thing Hezekiah pulled...whatever it was out of?"

"Yes, keep up, and pay attention to what you're doing," Cain snapped. "So you saw her come out. That's how you figured out she was a human."

Dismas nodded and said, "I didn't tell Kato. When I got to the city I dropped the painting and did everything I could to find out about what I'd seen. I found out that I'd stolen a seran stone, and so when you wanted it..."

"You assumed I wanted it for the same reasons as Hezekiah, and then some because I knew my little mouse was a human," Cain finished.

Aegle stopped in the middle of what he was doing. "But Hezekiah knew she was a human. You—"

"I didn't tell him or Kato anything!"

"That would be our fault. Or more precisely, my fault," Cain said. "I brought her right to him, and he knew my illusions well enough to see what she was. It was a foolish mistake on my part, as I knew that Hezekiah suspected the book's power. After all, he was the one who sealed my ability in it when I was a young student at Duna."

Dismas and Aegle both turned to stare at the seran. "What?"

***

Kyrios's story went something like this, as best as Aito could remember it:

There was once a boy. He was very lonely, because he was in a place where he did not belong, far from the family and friends that he knew. The only thing he had to remind him of home was a simple book, full of tales and legends.

As he grew more and more homesick, he took to carrying the book with him everywhere, though it brought the ridicule of those around him. One day, as he walked the same streets, and the same route as every other day, it happened. He heard a voice, calling out to him.

And so he ran after it, chased it though no one else heard it, and it led him to a building that he knew well. But when he entered, it was not anywhere he had ever been before.

The boy had been led to a bedroom of all places, and in the bed laid a girl. Though the room was dark, when the girl turned her face toward the boy he could tell that she was very sick.

" _Are you an angel?"_

Seeing the empty chair by her bed and the many bottles of medicine, and seeing the same loneliness in the girl's eyes that he had felt for so long, the boy replied:

" _For you, yes."_

She laughed and the boy sat down on the chair, and at her request began to read aloud from the book. In that small, dark sick room a friendship was born.

When it was time to leave, the boy went through the door and found himself back where he had started. The building stood tall and gray behind him, same as ever, and when he opened the door it opened onto the same dreary hall as it always did. There was no bedroom in sight. In body he was more tired than he had ever felt before, but inside he felt alive again, for the first time in months.

The next day the voice called again and the boy followed, but this time it led him to a park. Uncertain if he had heard correctly, the boy entered and found himself in a garden. Not far away, sitting on a stone bench under a strange tree, was his girl.

" _They said I could spend some time outside, if I don't overdo it," she said, and showed him a house that he had never seen before. The boy could not help but feel happy, seeing that the girl was this much better, and when she asked if he would read her another story he quickly said yes._

When it was time to leave, the boy went through an arch in the garden and found himself back in the park, weary but looking forward to the next call.

And so it went. The voice would call, and always the boy followed, and always the girl would be waiting for him. She grew stronger every day, and sometimes they would play games, but most of the time the boy would read to her, stories of people past. They soon realized that they came from very different places, and when the girl was strong enough they would explore while the boy told her of the world that he had come from.

However, there was a price. While the girl grew stronger every day, the boy became weaker. It began to take all that he had to make it through each day, but he hid it from the girl and he never once failed to come when the voice called.

So it happened that one day, as he was reading to the girl in their garden, he collapsed.

The girl grew very afraid and cried, "Angel! Angel, please wake up!"

With time the boy came to, and was scared because the girl was scared too. He told her that he needed to go back, but she didn't want to see him go.

So it was that he said, "I'll come back when I'm better. I promise, I will come back and see you again."

After he had left, the girl found the boy's book in the garden. She took it with her, sure that she would be able to give it back when he returned, but she never got the chance.

***

Aito waited, expecting something more, but it never came. Finally she said, "That's it? That's all there is?"

Kyrios turned back toward her and smiled. "There's always something more, but that's all you need to hear of that particular story. Don't you see the point?'

"No, not really," Aito said. "It just sounds like a really sad story."

"Sad? If you want to describe one moment, then yes. But for a short time these two lives touched, and they came away better for it."

"I don't think it was just one moment!" Aito protested. "The girl must have been so sad when the boy never came back. How is that better?"

"She regained her health through the help of a dear friend, and she helped him through a hard time in his life as well. I doubt that she did not figure that out, with time," the king said.

Aito still did not feel reassured. Why couldn't stories ever be happy here in Tanil?

"Today you broke a stone, no, two stones, and you felt the sorrow of the people who lost their souls to those stones," Kyrios said, surprising Aito. "But when you broke those stones, you also freed those souls from that sorrow. Remember that, and remember they will never have to suffer what you suffered again. Or do you not want to believe that until you feel their gratitude as well?"

Aito was silent. She had no way to answer that question.

"There is nothing wrong with grieving for others, as the girl grieved. Meeting the boy meant that someday she would also have to say goodbye. Freeing those souls meant having to share in their sorrow for a short time, but do not forget the good that came of it."

After a long time, Aito said, "Thank you, Kyrios. Um, your story...Who told it to you?"

Kyrios just laughed and said, "I think you already know, don't you?"

***

"But why did you collapse?" Aegle asked. It took all he had to concentrate on attending to Dismas's other wounds while the seran told his story.

"It was my ability to travel to that other world, but I couldn't control it," Cain said, staring into the glass of water Dismas's Gamma brought them while they talked. The room had been uncomfortably silent until she left and he could finish. "I couldn't choose when to go, and it took more out of me than I had. That day, when I made it back to this world I collapsed again. It was Hezekiah who found me."

"Hezekiah?" Dismas said.

"Ah, yes, you wouldn't know. He was my professor at the time. He was an old friend of my father's, so when I came to Duna he kept an eye on me," Cain said. "He was the only one to notice anything strange about my behavior. When I woke up in this world he questioned me, and I confessed about everything. I wanted to go back, but Hezekiah stopped me when I tried and told me that if I kept using my ability it would kill me."

"And you believed him?" Dismas asked.

"Of course not," Cain said. "The first chance I got, I tried to go back but never made it. When I woke up it was in the school's infirmary, barely able to move. I didn't even have the strength to get out of bed, and that scared me. It was only then that I believed Hezekiah's warnings, and for a while I thought it was too late. For days I never got better, and when Hezekiah came to me and said that it was because my ability was using all of my energy, I believed him. And then he offered a way out."

"His ability to take yours away."

"So that was the 'little favor' he mentioned." Aegle said as he finished tending to the last of Dismas's injuries.

"He didn't have a seran stone at the time, or else I don't think he would have bothered with getting my permission," Cain said. "So he offered to take it away, and I said yes. However Hezekiah found that without a stone to help him he could not control it either, so he put it in the closest thing, my book. I had brought it back with me, and when I collapsed they left it by my bed. That should have been the end of it. An ability with no heart can not be used, so inside of the book it should have been useless."

Cain stopped and Aegle started to gather together what was left of the medical supplies he had brought as they waited for the seran to continue.

He sighed and said, "Of course, I couldn't just leave it alone. Everything I tried on my own failed and that made me give the book up, but when I came across a seran stone years later as an adviser-general, I was sure that it would work. His Majesty found out about it, and we argued."

Cain closed his eyes and continued, "He wanted me to destroy the stone, but I couldn't. So I sent it away, to the same museum where the book was at as a donation."

"You're the reason the pendant was at the museum?" Dismas asked.

"More than that. Even with the stone out of sight my thoughts kept returning to Duna. I wanted more than anything to have that book back in my hands, I thought I could control the ability now that I was older and more experienced. His Majesty disagreed, and pleaded with me to give it up, but I would not. Finally he gave me a choice, and I chose to leave Farrhing."

"That was stupid," Aegle said.

"Yes, thank you for that obvious remark," Cain said, shooting the korin a look. "Anyway, I returned to Duna and tried to use it on the book, but it backfired and the book went out of control. Objects were disappearing all around me, while other, strange things from that world came here. I was terrified that it would pull another person from the other world here, and it was only with the seran stone that I was able to stop the book. That is why the pendant was bound around the book when _you_ stole it."

Dismas sat up, offended. "Like I was supposed to know the pendant was keeping a book from tearing a hole in between two worlds. I'm sure that's just common sense to someone like you."

"The book must have settled, so when it was released it only pulled the person who was holding it at the time," Cain said. "Good thing you didn't try to take it along with the pendant."

"No, it pulled Aito," Dismas corrected. "How could she be holding the book when it's in this world?"

"I thought about that as well. I think that when my ability was transferred to the book, it began to exist in two worlds at once. I didn't even know that, until she mentioned that the book belonged to her father, not the museum."

Aegle zipped his bag up and, looking at Cain, said, "There's just one thing I don't understand."

"Really? Just one?"

"Your ability. Hezekiah took yours when you were a student, but you were able to create illusions. Well, up until this morning. So does a seran's ability...grow back?"

"I doubt it's a common occurrence," Cain said. "Abilities have been known to change for serans, so when I lost mine the illusions were what took the place of the first. I just know that until then it felt like my heart had been ripped out."

"So you could end up with a different ability now?" Dismas asked. "Or do the old ones return to you now that Hezekiah is gone?"

"How should I know?" Cain snapped. "Who cares? Why do you care?"

"Sorry," Dismas said, throwing up his hands. "Just an innocent question. I have to know what I'll be up against when you're over this, 'let's help the guy who saved my life' mood."

"Yeah, it doesn't last long," Aegle agreed. "Although to be honest, if it were up to me we'd be taking you back to the caps right now."

"Good to know."

Cain waited as Aegle shouldered the bag and said, "Oh, I have an idea about that, but we can worry about the details later. Come on Aegle, let's leave before the nice verkoni kicks us out for keeping her boy up."

Just as he said this he turned to the door and ran into it when someone opened it from the other side.

Gear stared up in horror at the seran towering over him and said, "Cain's here? Quick, Dismas, I'll—"

"No, don't—" Dismas tried to say something but the little aponé grabbed hold of Cain's legs and said something that was muffled.

Cain rubbed the red mark on his forehead and then picked up the aponé by the scruff of his neck. "Just what were you expecting to do?"

"Er...Stop you from chasing Dismas?" Gear looked from Cain to the thief with more than a little confusion.

"Ah, I see. Well, you must be doing an excellent job." Cain dropped Gear on the ground and walked out of the room with Aegle following on his heels.

Once outside of the store, Aegle said, "Are we really just going to leave him here? After all this, we know where he is but we're giving him time to get away!"

Cain shrugged. "He won't run away, not yet. Besides, I intend to make a deal with him that he'll find hard to pass down, the more so if he thinks the better of us."

***

After a walk around the caps with Rokir, Sakina, and Kyrios Aito started to yawn and was sent back up to her room again despite her protests. It was a struggle to keep her eyes open, so she didn't try too hard to fight against it, and fell asleep as soon as she lay down.

When she heard the knocking several hours later Aito sat up with a start, wide awake. She looked at the door but realized when the knocking started again that it was coming from the window. There was a shadow on the windowsill and her breath caught in her throat until she saw something white.

"Dismas!"

With some struggling Aito managed to get the window open and the thief climbed inside. She was surprised to see that although his wings were out, one of them was bound with a bandage that looked dull against the bright white feathers.

"Did you fly up here?"

"Oh, no, I'm not going to be able to fly for a while," Dismas said. "Thanks for opening the window. I won't even tell you how hard it was to find the right one, much less climb the walls without being spotted."

Aito stared at him, wondering who in their right mind would try to climb up to her window, much less try to scale the outer walls. "But why? If someone sees you..."

"I just wanted to see you, Crusan said tomorrow—"

The thief stopped when they heard the shouting coming from the courtyard below and both jumped when a light hit the open window. "Huh, I guess I was spotted after all. These wings are more trouble than they're worth when I can't use them or put them away."

"We need to get you out of here!" Aito said. She grabbed Dismas's arm and said, "Come on!"

"What? You mean go through the building full of soldiers who are out to get me?"

"That or stay here, where they'll all be in a minute," Aito replied.

The thief nodded and said, "Good point."

Aito and Dismas ran out into the hallway and started to go down the staircase, but they could hear the sound of voices echoing up. Aito made a motion and led Dismas down the hall in the other direction, where she knew there was another way down, farther away from the door that led out into the courtyard. It was longer this way, but that might mean they could make it to the exit before the others caught up.

Down the next staircase they went, and at the bottom Aito started to lead Dismas toward the nearest exit, his wings dragging out behind them. They heard shouts coming from around the corner and Dismas pulled her in the other direction. At this rate Aito knew they would end up in a part of the caps that she didn't know.

One door was familiar and Aito stopped Dismas and pulled it open. They both ran in and shut the door as quietly as possible and then leaned on it. They could hear the sound of soldiers shouting to one another on the other side, and soon the two could feel the vibrations in the door as they ran by, just inches away.

Only when the sounds had faded did Dismas and Aito breathe out and open their eyes.

"That was some impressive teamwork you two."

Dismas froze, but Aito ran forward at the sound of the familiar voice.

"Kyrios!"

"Hello again Aito," the king said, smiling. "I didn't think I would be seeing you again so soon, much less so late at night. If you don't mind my asking, isn't this the young gaillos you were hiding from the last time you were here? I believe he left before I had the opportunity to meet him this morning."

Dismas looked around for the first time since they had passed through the door, and almost had a heart attack when he realized that they were in the garden again. He stayed with his back against the door, watching the trees in case they showed any homicidal tendencies.

"Yeah, this is Dismas," Aito said. "He was just trying to help before, I think."

The king walked up to the thief and said, "It's okay. You have my permission to enter the garden this time. I assure you that you are safe here."

"Your permission?" Dismas asked. "Wait, do you mean you're...?"

"We have some time before the guards settle down," Kyrios said. "Perhaps you would be willing to tell me how you came to work for the seran Hezekiah. I am curious, as you don't seem to be like Kato and the others."

"That's because I'm not," Dismas said, with a force that surprised Aito. "I just did it because we needed the money; it was supposed to be a one-time thing. I didn't expect all of this to happen."

"I'm sure you didn't. After all, how could you have heard of Kato's reputation? Or know that Hezekiah would put the stone to such use?"

Dismas shifted his weight and said, "I knew Kato was up to his neck in the worst stuff, but stealing a pendant seemed harmless. Who'd be hurt by that?"

"You mean besides Cain's pride?"

The thief smiled weakly and said, "That was a bit of a bonus, yeah. I'd heard of him before too, and it made it seem fairer. He's not exactly the most innocent person around either."

Kyrios did not argue that point but said, "Of course, stealing from the Royal Academy of Duna's museum is considered a crime against the Crown, which means that your punishment is my decision."

Dismas froze, his eyes on the ground. He did not dare to look up at the king, for fear of what he would see there.

Aito did look, and she saw Kyrios smile at the thief as he said, "Which means that I can also take into account all that you have done since then, including your infiltration of the caps, posing as a soldier, constant attempts to protect Aito (if in somewhat misguided ways), and refusing to give in to Hezekiah."

The thief had at first looked as though he expected the worst, but by the time the king finished his list he did not seem to know what to think. Dismas stopped staring at the ground and glanced at Kyrios, and then stared when he saw the king's smile.

"Therefore, I think that your punishment shall be a term of no less than three years, acting as one of the Royal Messengers. Starting once your wing has healed, of course."

"What?" Dismas knocked at his ears and said, "Did I hear you right? After all I've done, you're giving me a job?"

"Perhaps some honest work will be a refreshing change for you. Hm, by the sound of it the guards will be searching the caps until morning but I'm sure I know of a place nearby where you can spend the night in peace. It's a bedroom of one of the generals who went to Yukosa today, and no one will bother you there. That is, unless you want to spend the night here in the garden."

"I can stay here? I mean, in the caps," Dismas said, quick to make sure the king did not think he wished to stay in the garden. "So tomorrow—"

"I think it would be worth your while if you, both of you, return here tomorrow," said Kyrios. Something about the way he said it, and the strange smile on the king's face, made a thought occur to Aito but when she started to ask he shook his head and said, "Not right now, Aito. I'll answer your questions in the morning. It is getting late, and you'll need your rest."

Aito didn't run into any of the soldiers on her way back to the room and she hoped that Dismas had the same luck. Then again, the king went with him to show the way to the room, and she didn't expect anyone to bother him with Kyrios there.

Back in her room, she thought over what the king had said and went through all of her stuff to take care of something before she forgot. After that was done, Aito went to sleep without a problem, only waking when she heard a knocking, this time at her door.

It was early morning, and Aito noticed that the caps was quiet as she went to the door and found Kyrios waiting in the hall.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Hold on, just a second," she said, and shut the door. When she opened it again, Aito was completely dressed and ready to go.

"Um, Kyrios? Could you please do something for me?" she asked.

"What is it?" Kyrios asked.

When Aito had explained, Kyrios smiled and said, "Of course, that won't be a problem at all. Now we need to go, we're leaving them waiting as it is and I'm not sure how long either one can hold their tongue."

"Them?" Aito asked.

She would soon see what he meant when they returned to the garden. In about the middle of the garden they found a small clearing, where Cain and Dismas were waiting, though not very quietly or patiently. The two only stopped arguing when they saw the king and Aito coming.

"Aito, do you still have that seed I gave you?" Kyrios asked.

This was a question that she had been dreading ever since she checked her pockets last night and found what was left of the once smooth white seed. She pulled the seed out of her pocket, and they could see it now looked small and withered, its once white shade now an unhealthy grayish black as if it had been burnt. "I'm sorry, Kyrios, I think it's dead. Yesterday, when Hezekiah used his ring on me I touched it and something happened, I don't know what, but the seed felt warm and the stone stopped working, then it broke—"

"Aito, calm down, it's okay," Kyrios said. "I told you the seed could bring protection, didn't I?"

"You mean, you knew...You knew..." Aito's mouth moved but she couldn't quite get her mouth around what she was trying to say. "But what about all of that potential, and all of that other stuff you talked about?"

"I believe among that 'other stuff,' I mentioned how the right circumstances needed to be met." Kyrios looked at Cain and Dismas as he said this. "They have been met. Do you know what happens to a seed, only after it dies?"

Aito shook her head, and all three watched as Kyrios knelt down and scooped up a handful of dirt that had already been loosened. He pushed the seed into the soil and showed the unimpressive handful of dirt to Aito.

"It grows," Kyrios said.

As they watched, some of the dirt began to shake and move to either side as a green shoot sprang up amongst the brown earth. It grew taller with every second and roots began to wrap around Kyrios's hand. Once it was an inch or so high Kyrios carefully put it into the hole that he had made and covered it up. The green shoot came up again, growing twice as, ten times as fast with every passing second. Within a minute they were standing around a young tree whose branches were already starting to part and blossom before their eyes. It shook and vibrated with the new life that was taking it by force, but it seemed to slow down in its growth then.

That was when Aito took her eyes away from it for the first time, to look at Kyrios. He was smiling, and Aito realized that the trees behind him looked far away and not as real as they had before. She turned around and saw her house. They were standing in the back yard.

"Welcome home, Aidan," Kyrios said.

"How...?" Dismas started to say, and then realized what this meant. "Aito...Um, I mean, that is—" He shook his head and said, "Goodbye Aito."

"Bye Dismas. I'm going to miss you," Aito said, and then turned to Kyrios. "Thank you so much."

She hugged Dismas, and then Kyrios, goodbye. She turned and looked at Cain.

"Goodbye, my—I mean, goodbye Aidan," Cain said, and he smiled. "I know you can't wait to get home, so go ahead."

They all heard the back door open, and saw the man walk out and look around.

"Dad!"

Aito started to run forward, and stopped. Before Cain could say or do anything, Aito turned around and hugged him.

"Goodbye Cain, and thank you so much, for everything. I'm going to..."

Aito sniffed, and Cain said, "I'm going to miss you too, my little mouse."

Cain, Kyrios, and Dismas watched as Aito ran to her dad and held him.

Aito's dad blinked and said, "What are you doing out here Aito? We'll be late for—what are those clothes you're wearing?"

Aito laughed and said, "It's a long story."

When she turned her head to look behind her, her dad looked as well. For a moment he thought he saw someone standing out in the backyard, and he locked eyes with the stranger. The person smiled, and when Dad blinked the man was gone and he doubted whether he had seen anything at all.

"How long has that tree been there?" he asked.

In the middle of the yard stood a small young tree, its leaves bright green and vibrant amidst all of the faded colors of the fall grass and leaves around it.

As she and her dad went into the house, Aito said, "Well, it all started with that book I told you about..."

***

When winter came to Tanil, it found Cain knocking at a door.

"Come in," yelled a high, nasal voice from within the office.

Cain entered and stood there for a moment, his cold dark eyes traversing the cluttered room and settling on the back of the chair behind the desk. "Hello, I believe it's been a while."

"Cain? What are you doing here?" The chair swiveled around and the small aponé sitting within it almost flew out of it before he came to a stop and stared at the seran.

"I came to give you these," Cain said and placed some papers on the desk. "Four notices of resignation."

"Ah." Dean Padrone sat back in his chair, his relief only hidden by his smugness. "So you failed to find the painting. Well, well, no one really expected you to succeed. Did the others decide not to show their faces?"

"Actually, it turns out that they're not too concerned about the guard position anymore. Rokir was reassigned to his former post in Farrhing, and some fool went and recommended Aegle for a position as the healer-in-residence at the caps."

"Healer? Since when?"

"He came with very good references."

"And what about Sakina?" The dean asked. "If I remember right, she needs this job to pay for school."

"Yes, just enough to scrape by," Cain noted. "I suppose you could say she received a royal scholarship. She is busy speaking with her professors right now to discuss what to do about her missed classes, and I believe she is also helping a new student register for the next term."

"Hmph. Well, as for you, you have some explaining to do. It seems that the painting was not the only item missing from the museum as we discovered some time after you left. A valuable book and pendant have also been stolen, but you never reported it."

"As far as the painting goes," Cain said and placed a tube on the dean's desk. "You'll find it in there. That is, one of them."

Dean Padrone's eyes widened but before he could say anything Cain continued.

"Regarding the book and pendant, let's not use the word 'stolen.' As I'm the one who donated the items in question, why not say the loan was taken back." Cain looked around the office and said, "Thinking back, I wonder how I could never have asked why all of these paintings and other artifacts are here. A terrible oversight on my part, I must admit."

"What do you mean?"

"You know well enough. These are all fakes, knock-offs, forgeries, just like this painting the thief stole. How many have you already switched out for the real items in the museum?"

The dean stood up in his chair and shouted, "How dare you make such baseless accusations to my face! Get out Cain, I won't stand for it!"

"Baseless? Hardly." Cain opened the door and Dismas walked in. "Meet your thief. Of course, you two are already acquainted, I believe."

"You can say that again. After Hezekiah hired me to steal the pendant, Kato introduced me to this guy, who goes and asks me to steal his own painting."

"You want to know what the best part is?" Cain asked Dean Padrone, who had to lean on his desk to keep his legs from falling out from underneath him. "That's the same thing he told the king, and wouldn't you believe it, that's what Kato said too. Well, once he saw that he had nothing left to lose with his boss gone."

The dean collapsed back into his chair and moaned.

"To put it simply, you're under arrest, Mr..." Cain pushed the door so that he could see the lettering on the other side. "Padrone."

Cain and Dismas left the office so that the pair of soldiers standing outside could come in and deal with the former dean. Outside of the museum they met Leonidas, who was going over a document.

"How did it go?" Leonidas asked.

"Well, I certainly enjoyed it," Cain said, and Dismas nodded in agreement. This was the most fun they had had all week.

"So what will you do now?"

"I have to go back to the caps," Dismas said. "The king only gives me so long to be out of the city when I'm on business."

"What about you?" The adviser-general asked Cain. "You'll be coming back to Farrhing, right?"

Cain sighed and said, "I've already made my choice, you know that. After all that's happened between me and the king..."

"But His Majesty said you could come back," Leonidas replied, with a twitch of his ears. "You've learned your lesson, haven't you?"

"Nah," Cain said and attempted a laugh that sounded hollow even to his own ears. "There's no place for me at the caps now, and to be honest I'm not ready to go back yet. What's the rush?"

"He said you would probably say that," Leonidas said. "That's why I have this."

He passed Cain a package and while Cain unwrapped the paper Leonidas shook out the document he had been reading over.

Inside of the wrappings was _Tanil_. Cain hastily unfolded the paper sticking out of the book and read the note scrawled there.

Cain,

I thought about it, and I think Mom would have

wanted me to give this back to you. Thank you.

Still, and always, your little mouse,

Aidan

"Says here that with the Dean gone, you're to be the stand-in until a replacement is found," Leonidas was saying. "And if you're still not ready to come back by then—"

"You can stop now," Dismas said. "He's already halfway back to Farrhing."

"Wow, His Majesty called it to the very word," Leonidas said, checking the document.

Cain ran through Duna, the book in hand. He only stopped once to pull away a strange flower that had fallen on his face. He stared at it and looked up, but there was no sign of where it had come from. Cain smiled to himself and breathed in the rich smell of the flower, everything on hold until he remembered where he was going.

***

Aito often went out to the tree in the backyard, and when it wasn't too cold outside she would sit there with her back to the trunk and look up at the leaves. By the time spring came in her world, the tree had already reached maturity, and with it came some of the most beautiful blossoms Aito had ever seen before. She wished she could keep them, but no matter how hard she searched she could never seem to find the flowers when they fell.

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