Yevon was dismayed to find that he had let his attention wander, yet again. He blinked and brought his attention back to the matter at hand. His councillors were going over the latest published findings on the attacks, trying to determine what course of action to follow at this point.

It was hard, trying to act as if he were listening, when all he could think about was the fact that he'd sent his best friend on a fact finding mission without telling the council, and now, he seemed to have gone missing.

He knew that, chances were, Legolas was simply drawing it out, attempting to give Dolan and Cleese as much time as he could, but still, he worried.

He looked down the table where Tisha sat, next to Lord Benkat. She was diligently recording the meeting, and notating any bits that might be especially useful, but she was pale and drawn. Benkat had questioned her about it earlier, but she'd carefully repeated the story that she was still recovering from her exertions against the 'craft that had attacked them.

He was grateful for her willingness to go along with his plan. Although she'd nearly flown into a rage when he'd originally told her where her husband had gone, once she'd had a chance to consider it, she agreed that the council would most likely demand immediate retribution.

Yevon still had to fight the council's perceptions of him as 'too young to know better' on many decisions, and he had grown tired of the arguments and bickering. This was too important to spend time trying to convince the council to remain calm.

He blinked and realized that he was clenching his jaw, painfully, and made a conscious effort to relax.

At the far end of the heavy council table, he could see Lord Sambrian looking at him oddly, and he rearranged his expression into polite interest, doubling his efforts to pay attention. He felt like a young student, distracted by the fact that he hadn't finished his assigned work.

Over the chatter of his Ministers, he heard the heavy door behind him swing open against the thick carpet. A young messenger appeared beside him, bent down, and said, quietly, "Lord Yevon, there is a ship's captain awaiting your pleasure in the hall. He claims to have important news. He insists on speaking to you, personally."

Yevon frowned and nodded. "I'll be right there."

Standing up and addressing his Ministers, he said firmly, "Please. Continue without me." Yevon arrived in the hall a few moments later. The messenger bowed and said quietly, "I

took the liberty of seating him in meeting room three."

Yevon thanked him and headed down the hall to the proper room. The man inside was quite obviously uncomfortable in the elegant surroundings. He looked to be a simple fishing boat captain, and he was sunburned and windblown. He quickly took off his cap and ran a hand through his sun bleached locks as Yevon approached.

Uncertain of the proper protocols, the poor man bent at the waist in his best bow, and kept his head down. "M'lord. Thank you for seeing me."

Yevon's mouth twitched a bit at the formality, and he said, "The pleasure is mine, my good man. Please. Rise and seat yourself." Taking his own advice, Yevon moved to the table and sat down in one of the upholstered chairs.

He could see the man's adam's apple bob nervously as he ducked his head once, and moved to the chair.

"I'm very sorry to interrupt you like this, m'lord, but I have bad news. We was out following the fish out south of the bay, when we seen some wreckage and went to investigate. When we got close enough, we seen a survivor, floatin' there on part of the hull. We dragged him up and put him in the cabin...He was pretty beat up, let me tell you." The captain's thick brows went up in emphasis.

"Anyways, I got a healer on board who got him patched up a bit, and got him conscious, and he says he's from the S.S. Teppo, and he has to 'speak with Lord Yevon immediately.'"

Yevon leapt up from his chair, and shouted, "The Teppo! Where? Where is he?"

The captain lurched backwards at Yevon's sudden move and stammered, "On m'boat, m'lord! It's docked at twelve..."

A quarter hour later found him striding purposefully down dock twelve, headed for the only ship berthed there. At his approach, the two sailors keeping an eye out for him called out to their mates below, who enabled the gangway so that he could board.

One of Yevon's guards strode up the gangway and quickly assessed the potential threat posed by the frightened sailors, and finally deemed it safe for Yevon to board.

As he stepped onto the deck, the crew all bowed low. Impatiently, Yevon signaled that they should rise. "Where is the man that you rescued from the S.S. Teppo?

A skinny weatherbeaten man gestured mutely to a small cabin at the fore of the ship. Belatedly, he snatched off his cap and smiled gamely at Yevon. "That ways, Sir."

Nodding curtly, Yevon strode firmly through the doors, startling the healer within.

"What do you think you are doing?" She snapped.

Yevon frowned at her as she quickly blocked his path. "I am Lord Yevon, of Zanarkand."

She crossed her arms mulishly and said, "I don't care who you are. This man is under my care, and he needs to rest!"

"He is one of my citizens, and has asked for me. If he is in need of care, he will be cared for at the hospital here in Zanarkand. Move aside." One of his guards stepped forward, intending to move the woman aside by force, if necessary.

Sensing the inevitable, the small woman glared at him and moved out of the way. "I won't have you upsetting him. I just got some of those wounds closed. From the looks of it, that ship must have blown up, for some of those injuries..." She looked at him warily. "Do you really have to speak with him right this minute?"

Yevon reigned in his impatience, and looked down at her. "Yes."

She struggled with it for a moment, and then stepped away from the door. "Please. For his sake, keep it short. He has been badly injured, and can't take much excitement."

Yevon nodded, acknowledging her warning and moved through the door into the dim interior of the room. He quickly crossed to the bed where the survivor was resting.

He closed his eyes in pain when he realized that the man in the bed wasn't Legolas. The still form had been badly wounded, from the looks of it. His torso was wrapped in gauze, and his face was swollen and burned. Small cuts and bruises trailed down his arms to the bandaged hands that rested on the covers.

Yevon swallowed and knelt down beside him. "I'm here..." he said, softly.

Dolan's bloodshot eyes snapped open and he looked around wildly.

"It's me, Yevon! It's okay, you're safe, now. You're home." Yevon said, hastily.

Dolan blinked and looked up at Yevon, uncomprehending, for a moment. Recognition trickled in, and he relaxed back onto the bed. His eyes closed briefly.

"They knew we were coming." Dolan whispered through his cracked lips.

Yevon's mouth opened and closed, soundlessly. "What?"

"They knew we were coming. We never had a chance, Yevon." Dolan swallowed, harshly. "Cleese and I made it in, without any problems. We snuck past the guards, borrowed some robes and blended in with a group of priests. We made it down to the inner chambers of the primary complex, where they house some of the officials..."

Dolan's jaw worked as he struggled with the memory. "We chose a likely office and managed to pick the lock. We slipped inside...They were there. Waiting."

"Who?" Yevon said.

"Lord Denno, and his guards." Dolan said, softly.

Yevon blinked, stunned.

"Cleese and I don't mind a challenge, you know. We're trained like the rest of them, Yevon, but anyone from the street knows, when you come up against a mage, you run like hell." Denno said.

Yevon frowned. "Dolan, they don't have mages in Bevelle. That, I know for sure."

Devon smiled, wryly. "They have some sort of... mage weapons. I don't know what they were, but one of them turned it on and it spat fire just as well as a mage. Cleese and I didn't stick around to see what else they had. We ran."

He turned his face away, then. "They cornered us before we could escape."

"They took us to a room and started questioning us. When we refused to answer, Denno started...torturing Cleese, to get me to talk." Dolan's jaw worked for a moment before he continued. "I couldn't tell him what he wanted to know. He kept asking us about our plans to take Bevelle...I told him we'd never planned any such thing. He didn't believe me, and kept hurting Cleese..." Tears started to run down Dolan's cheeks.

Yevon could feel the rage building up. He put a hand on Dolan's unbandaged arm and said firmly, "It's not your fault, Dolan."

"He's not sane, Yevon. I could see it in his eyes." Dolan looked at Yevon, searching for answers. "I think he would have killed us then, but he didn't, for some reason."

"I managed to get the keys from one of the guards, without him noticing, and when they finally left us, used them to get us both free." He said, lost in the memory. "We split up, figuring it would slow them down, when they discovered we were gone. We agreed to meet back at the ship, but...Cleese never showed up."

"I came aboard, and went to our cabin to wait. It wasn't long after that Denno's men stormed the ship and killed everyone." Dolan said, dully.

Yevon's eyes went wide in horror.

"I heard them, before they got to the cabins and I hid myself. The crew fought, but the weapons they used...No one could get close enough to attack them." Dolan continued.

And I insisted that they bring no mages, Yevon remembered, horrified.

"They set fire to her hull, and sent it out to sea, to burn...I had to wait until it was far enough out to sea for me to jump without them knowing I lived. I have no doubts that they would have chased me and killed me, too, had I not. The ship exploded only moments after I leapt into the sea..."

Dolan trailed off, exhausted. Yevon swallowed thickly, and said, "I can only imagine your pain, Dolan. There are no words to express my sorrow at what you have gone through to aid Zanarkand. But know that you and your brother will be remembered as heroes." Yevon bowed his head and continued, "The healer says you need your rest. I will arrange to have you moved to the hospital, in a short while."

Dolan looked up with hollow eyes at his liege, and nodded.

Yevon turned and left the chamber.

He wiped a hand across his face, and thought, the council must be told.