*slaps chapter's hand* naughty, chapter! Naughty naughty chapter! *sighs* this chapter got a little out of hand . . . you'll know when you read it. *cringes* don't flame me too much.

*cringes again* wow . . . cliffhangers really piss people off! I didn't even think that the last chapter was a cliffie, but apparently it was. Also, I had no idea that so many of you read my story! I mean, thirtysomething reviews in one chapter? *sobs* you like me! you really, really, like me! responses are at the end of this chapter . . . maybe. I haven't decided whether it would be the right place for them.

urf. Dog breath. *gags*

Haha! Yay for smart people! A couple people have already figured out the last clue! *pats smart people on head* good. Good.

grrr. I'm listening to everclear. Everclear is good ranting music. Grrrrr. If anyone tries to talk to me I'll EAT THEM. not really though.

Okay, we're getting to the good stuff. A GREAT BIG ECSTATIC THANK YOU goes out to Keita, who pointed out some very obvious things to me that I would have overlooked, and therefore saved the plot and my reputation as an author. (If I even have one).

And now, on to the story!

A Short Respite

Kel and Neal hadn't moved. They were frozen, staring at the place where Pitken had been.

Thoughts whirled through Kel's head. The entire Realm of Chaos — after us? Oh, Goddess and Mithros, how are we going to do this? I'm not even twenty yet! she thought, closing her eyes.

Neal spoke, interrupting her thoughts. "Kel, we don't have time to think of 'what ifs.'" He knew her so well that he guessed what she was thinking. "We have to figure out the clue to the Sixth, and fast."

Kel opened her eyes and nodded. "But not here. We're in the open, and the horses are sinking."

Neal looked, and saw that she was right. The horses' weight had been pushing them into the soft sand at the water's edge. He grabbed Topaz's reins, and led her to the treeline, followed by Kel and Peachblossom. Byrn perched amiably on Peachblossom's mane.

When they reached the relative safety of the forest, Kel turned to the phoenix. "Um, Byrn?" she asked hesitantly. Byrn chirped in response. "Do you think you could play sentry? Let us know if anyone comes close?" The immortal took flight, and soared into the forest.

Neal shrugged. "I guess that means yes."

Kel opened one of Peachblossom's saddlebags, shaking her head in wonder as she saw that everything that was originally in them was still intact. She pulled out a blanket and tossed it to Neal, who spread it on the ground. He folded his legs and sat down on it, and Kel toted over another blanket — it was cold so close to the ocean.

Their horses moved quietly off into the forest. Kel was about to call for them to stay here, but thought better of it. Horses were no fools, especially ones who had been around Daine. Their mounts knew enough to stay away from any other people, and she knew they wouldn't go so far as to not be able to hear their riders calling for them.

"So," Kel began. "Pitken didn't really help. I thought he was supposed to make it easier for us to find the Sixth!"

"I'm sure he thought he was being helpful," said Neal.

Kel rolled her eyes. "All he did was point out that you had a home. Of course you have a home! Everyone has a home! I have one too, but–" she stopped, realizing what she said.

"You have a home, and I do, too," said Neal slowly. "That makes two homes."

"That's it! What's in the center of Mindelan and Queenscove?" Kel said excitedly.

"Kel? Unless you're forgetting, the scroll says three homes. Not two. Three." Neal spoke as if he was talking to someone extremely dull-witted.

"Oh. Right." Kel looked sheepish. "So where's the third home?"

"I don't know. Like Pitken said, I only have one home, and I know you only have one home. I mean, you're not Lady Knight Keladry of Mindelan and Somewhere Else, like milord Raoul, or Alanna." Neal said thoughtfully.

"But maybe it's not as obvious as that," Kel pointed out. "If it's been hidden for this long without someone else finding it, it can't just be somewhere where everyone can find it."

"Pitken said that the clue to the Sixth was one that only we could figure out, so no one else would be able to find it," Neal countered.

"Well, it's not like we have a house together," Kel said wearily.

"It said 'home,' not 'house,'" Neal corrected.

"Does it even make a difference?"

"It could. A house is just a house. A home is where you have people who love you, and where you love to be."

"Fine. It's not like we have a home together. Are you happy now?"

But Neal didn't reply. He had furrowed his brows in thought. Kel poked him in the ribs. "I said, are you happy now?"

"A home— A house —" Neal was clearly preoccupied.

"What are you talking about?" Kel asked him.

Without warning, Neal jumped to his feet and gave a whoop of joy. "That's it! We were thinking of it in terms of houses, but it's homes, not houses! And that's where the Sixth is! At the center of three homes!"

"That's all well and good, but where's the third home?" Kel yelled the last words.

"Think." Neal crossed his arms across his chest.

Kel sprang to her feet and grabbed Neal's arms. "I don't want to think. You know where it is, and we're being chased by gods-curst legions of troops from Chaos! Tell me, before I kill you!"

"Ahh, but then you still wouldn't know where the Sixth is, would you?" Neal said, eyebrows raised. He closed his mouth right after finishing his sentence and pressed his lips together to keep from laughing. Kel screamed in frustration.

"It's really quite obvious, once you think about it," Neal offered. Kel growled, glared daggers, and began shaking him.

"Ow-w-w-w!" he cried, voice going up and down as she shook him. "It-t-t-'s C-c-c-or-r-r-rus-s-s!"

Kel stopped. "Where?"

"Corus! It's Corus, and the Palace!" he said, laughing in spite of his situation.

Kel paused, thinking it over. After half a minute, she threw her hands up in the air, crying, "You're a genius!" She lowered her hands around his neck, and surprised him by leaning forward and kissing him thoroughly. He responded, slipping his arms around her waist and deepening their kiss. Kel forgot what she was supposed to be doing. Minutes passed — or maybe seconds, or maybe hours — she had no grasp on time anymore.

Neal's hands drifted to her tunic front and slid up her sides, making her shiver. The shiver brought her to her senses. She pulled away, gasping, "No, we can't! We don't have time!"

He started nuzzling her neck, whispering, "It's okay — we'll make it fast."

"No! We can't— We ca—" Kel gave up trying to form a coherent sentence and moved her hands to the side of his face, pulling his mouth back to hers for a burning kiss. "Well, fine," she murmured against his lips. "But this is the only time I'm going to let you win."

Neal laughed and drew her down to the blanket.

***

A short while later, Kel sighed. She had her eyes closed and was smiling. "That was fast," she said.

"Told you so." Neal's voice was muffled. She looked at him. He was pulling his shirt over his head in the process of dressing. Kel lay under the blanket and admired his muscles. (I couldn't help it!) His head emerged from the neckhole, and he caught her staring. He raised one eyebrow, and she blushed and turned away.

"And I promise I'll never do it again," he continued. Her head whipped around to see Neal grinning wickedly. She rolled her eyes and yawned. "I should probably get dressed," she said regretfully.

Neal was looking for his breeches. He finally located them, but stopped moving and snorted. "You'll probably need those," he told her, and pointed to his left. She looked over, warily. It was her loincloth.

Kel groaned. "Leave me alone," she said. She leaned over and grabbed them. She found the rest of her clothes and fiddled around under the blanket until she was fully dressed.

"The Palace, the Palace, the answer is the Palace," she hummed in a little sing-song voice as she tied her shirt laces. "The Palace, the answer is the Palace—"

"Really."

That was not Neal's voice.

Kel bit her tongue to keep from shrieking. Neal yelled.

Standing right in front of her was the man from the King of the Copper Isle's secret chamber — Ichaeruut, the servant of Uusoae.

Kel groped around her for her sword, her bow, her daggers — anything. Ichaeruut smirked brought his hand from behind his back. He was holding her sword by the hilt, dangling it from his hand. "It helps, Lady Knight, if you are dressed when you try to fight," he said scathingly. Kel colored, but her eyes never left his.

"Here." Neal tossed her a dagger. She jumped to her feet as he moved to stand beside her, holding his sword at the ready.

"How do you know who we are?" Kel shot her words at him.

He laughed. "All of Chaos knows who you are! The two petty mortals whose quest it is to find the Six. And I know that you know who I am — or did you think I hadn't sensed you, hiding under the whore's bed?" he remarked.

They didn't move.

"You should be happy," Ichaeruut continued, talking to Neal. "Thanks to your . . . companion's . . . stupidity, you saved me the trouble of prying the location out of you. She saved you a lot of pain — although," he said, tapping his chin with his free hand, "not in the long run."

"What do you need the Six for?" Neal hissed. "You don't have the Five!"

Ichaeruut's eyes flashed, and he began to glow. "What business allows you to question me, insignificant pest? I am Ichaeruut, the greatest power of Chaos, second only to the High Queen herself, Uusoae, even as she lays imprisoned! You should die for your insolence!" His voice had slowly raised to a bellow, louder than any mortal's voice could be.

But he stopped glowing abruptly, and forced a smile. "Let me oblige you. By having the Sixth, the most powerful, I can call all the others to me. But I waste time in idle conversation. I must get to the Palace. I take my leave of you." He bowed.

As his head was bowed, Kel threw her dagger. It went straight through his head. He straightened immediately, laughing. "You think to kill me. I can no more be killed than the gods. Save your energy for more . . ." He glanced at the rumpled blankets, "domestic pursuits. You seem to enjoy them. Now let me leave you!" he finished loudly.

"They'll never let you in the Palace!" Neal yelled. "We mortals are perceptive; we can sense that you're evil! The King will never let you in!"

Ichaeruut looked pityingly at them. "Have you heard nothing? Tortall is free no longer. All that is left is Corus, and we are within scant days of conquering that." He laughed at the pain in their eyes. "And there is nothing that you can do to save it, especially since I will be in possession of the Six by the end of tomorrow." He vanished with a bang.

Neal let loose with a string of Alanna's finest curses. "This is terrible. He knows where the Sixth is! And he's going to get there first, and we're going to—"

"Shhh," Kel cut him off quietly; a very important thought was trying to make itself known. It came to her suddenly. "No, it's all right," she said.

"How is it all right?" Neal was livid.

"He thinks that the Sixth is at the Palace. It's not. The Palace is the third home, not the center. And the center is where the Sixth is."

Neal paused. "You're right," he said slowly.

"I know. But Ichaeruut's no idiot; he'll realize his mistake soon enough, and I've no doubt he knows where we're from. Which means that we have very little time to find the Sixth. Get the map."

Consciously, both of them refused to speak of Ichaeruut's last words, and the fall of Tortall.

Neal ran to the saddlebags. He rooted through them before finding the maps of Tortall, including one that was of the entire country. Kel had been busy folding up the blankets, and as she stacked them, she whistled for their horses to return.

Kel unrolled the map and secured it with four stones at the corners. "So," she said slowly. "Queenscove, Mindelan, and Corus." As she spoke, she placed pebbles on each location. They formed a triangle.

"And the center of the triangle is . . ." Neal paused dramatically while looking at the map. "Greencroft. Greencroft?"

Kel shrugged in answer. She pulled one of the keys from the keyring and drew a circle around the village in question. A bubble appeared in the air above the map, showing a stereotypical village as the view rotated 360 degrees.

Kel leaned back. "I remember learning about this place. Don't you?" Neal shook his head. "It's where the Goddess first appeared, way back in the beginning of the world. And the people who live in the village built an immense shrine to honor her, and people make pilgrimages there, and it's really holy, and . . . You don't remember any of this?"

"I've told you before," he said with a straight face. "I slept through lessons. But I understand that we have to go to this Greencroft place to find the Sixth." Just then, Peachblossom and Topaz came into their clearing at a leisurely trot.

"Right, then," Kel said. "Let's go."

Hahahahahaha. Greencroft is the name of my grandmother's assisted living place in indiana. Hahahahahahahaha.

Shoot. Let me explain . . . I read a story, and it screwed up my writing style. It was a bad story, and the author kept switching from past tense to present . . . i.e. "she still practices all the days she could." Arrrrrgh. It was driving me UP A FREAKING WALL. And I think it rubbed off on me. because I don't like how I wrote in this chapter. so yeah.

RESPONDATIONS:

Larzdinn (L L L L L): yes, school is the spawn of the devil. Happy birthday! And wow. I had no idea you felt so . . . heatedly about your pen name. I didn't mean it was bad, it just sounded to me like it could be some scandinavian god, or something . . . and making up words isn't bad – my screen name used to be figyjet. (pronounced "fidgy-jet")

Camisole: why hello there! fancy meeting you here! Nice weather we've been having, isn't it? and I'm glad that it was still shocking and exciting – that means I'm (somewhat of) a good writer. NEAL IS A SWEETIE. And I'm sorry about your toe. Get a hot guy to kiss it and make it all better . . . although I don't know if anyone would want to kiss your feet . . . okay, moving on. Hehehehe . . . our story's gonna KICK MAJOR . . . gluteus maximus

Bubblegum*girl: "brilliant" is one of my FAVORITE adjectives! It makes me happy that you used it to describe my chapter.

Purple_Eyez04: I think that the next chapter will suffice your need for more confusing obstacles . . . I hope.

KeladryLadyKnight: Kealers forever! And wow . . . seven cousins? I have three.

Loony: AHHHHHHHHHHH. What can I do to make you happy?????? AHHHHHHHHH. I feel so stupid! Of course I should know how to use Olde Engleesh correctly! *bangs herself on head* but thank you for writing all that . . . I'm sure it will come in handy sometime in the future. However, I am too lazy to go back and change it. if you had enough time and the inclination, I would be willing to send the last chapter to you for fixing up . . . but only if you wanted to. And part of the reason is that I don't DO "hath" and "dost mine ears deceive me?" that's just too complicated. It's just "thee" and "thy" for me. I think your name is pwetty! And ben affleck IS HOT. But he is square-looking, I agree. And I think orlando bloom is hot . . . I have a piccy of him on my Wall Of Hot Men. Hmmm . . . music . . . everclear, but the old stuff, with song titles like "you make me feel like a whore" and "all f***ed up," not the new, poppy stuff, silverchair, green day, aerosmith, jimmy eat world, blink 182, dave matthews band, no doubt, to name a few.

Min: Neal is just a sweetie, and I had to point that out to everyone! And I'm happy that you think my fic is creative and well thought out – I actually just have the general outline, and I'm thinking it up as I go. And isn't it weird that we both used the same term for "party" in our stories? – "gala." *hums twilight zone theme*

Felix: ya know, you could be Felix the Phoenix. That would be cool. Or maybe not. And thanks!

Aric: yes, Byrn and Pitken both are vital to the plot. Sort of. Well, Byrn is. Pitken's just kind of my cool dude.

Prophecygirl: I did, I did, and I hope you liked it!

Lady Kel of Masbolle: hmmmmm. LOVE YOUR NAME. *coughs* I sort of have started a new story, but I put it on hold until this one's done . . . you might check it out – it's called In Pursuit of Azure's Sadness.

Ice-Otter: I know! Isn't that weird?

Princess Sanidaylene: hehehehe. You win!

Dragon queen: yay again for little birdies!

Karina: one more chapter, hold on, hold on . . .

Lady rose: I know! I did it, too!

PurpleSakura: yeah, that was pretty bad. *cringes* don't hate me! cliffhangers are just literary devices!

Penfin: why thank you! ummm, I never said that the Sixth was in the Isles . . . well, now you know!

Songbreeze the Omnipresent: you're back! Yay! ENCORE indeed!

Hyperchick88: wow, you really are a hyper chick.

Faithful: It did! Your review did cheer me up! And you know, I hadn't thought about what will happen to Byrn . . . but now that I have thought, I know! But YOU'LL just have to wait . . . hehe.

ThePenMage: *looks down nose at you* I'm very disappointed. But it doesn't matter, because you decided to review again! And THANKYOUTHANKYOU for alerting me to the "kissed HIM" thing . . . that's just disturbing.

And I'm sorry, but I'm only responding to people who reveiwed chapter 31, because I'm too lazy to go back, and I don't remember if I've already said something . . . just another reason to review every chapter – you never know when I'll get happy and talk back! More coming soon . . .