Imperial Palace, Calabria

Although Trey told her to wait in his room until he returned, Arora could not just sit still without making any attempt to help her brother. The first sun was high in the sky before she finally worked up the courage to disobey Trey by leaving the security of his suite. He hadn't sent her a message informing her of any progress on Apolo's behalf, so she was worried about his safety as well although she doubted Zeno would murder his remaining heir so soon after recognizing him. Arora decided to head straight to the emperor himself, but when she reached his reception hall, she found her way blocked by guards.

"I am sorry, Lady Arora, but you cannot enter." The guard who stood in her way looked extremely distressed to have to confront her.

She debated pushing past him to see if he would actually physically stop her, but decided not to press him when he was only trying to follow orders. "Is my lord prince inside?" she asked him instead.

"He stopped by earlier, but I was also under orders to prevent him from entering."

The poor guard didn't seem to know who to be loyal to. "Did you hear him say where he was headed?"

"To visit Lady Virineia, I believe."

Arora nodded to herself, thinking that was the right move. Lady Virineia seemed to have some influence with the emperor. So Arora retraced her steps back to the living quarters and went straight to Lady Virineia's quarters where she hoped to find her husband. But Trey's mother was sitting by her window watching the activity in the spacious courtyard where the servants and slaves were busy setting up the banquet to take place that evening. Her face gave evidence to the extreme anxiety that was feeling. One glance around that room told Arora that Trey was no longer with her.

"My lady," she said softly as she reached her. "I am looking for your son."

Lady Virineia turned to her and stared at her for a moment in silence before she snapped out of her tortured reverie. "He left some time ago with Wattan."

Arora thought of the men who were gathering outside the city in support of her husband. "Trey has certainly told you what Emperor Zeno has planned for my brother."

Nodding, Lady Virineia turned to look out the window again. "They are building a scaffold even now facing the emperor's table."

Arora looked past her to the courtyard. The scaffold seemed larger than necessary for the execution of one man. What did Zeno have planned? Her heart began to beat faster with fear. The emperor must be planning to execute more than one man!

"I fear for Trey!" she blurted, unable to keep it inside.

Virineia raised trembling hands to her own cheeks. "I fear for Zeno!"

"How can you feel anything but loathing for that man?" demanded Arora angrily, taking Virineia's shoulders in her hands and shaking her not so gently.

"I love him," the other woman admitted, pushing Arora away.

"How can you?"

"Do you think I would have chosen to feel this for him? I have been sitting here trying to convince myself that Dax brought this curse on me, but it isn't true!" Virineia covered her face and began to weep. "I am a foolish, foolish woman!"

Arora backed away from her. She could scarcely imagine the pain Trey's mother felt, and she felt regret for her outburst, but she said nothing. Instead, she turned and left the woman alone with her misery.

In the hall she found a guard waiting for her. "Lady Arora, you are to come with me."

She wished she had her sword, but Arora had left it behind, believing herself safe as the wife of the crowned prince. "Am I under arrest now?"

"No, my lady. I am taking you to see your brother."

Relieved and anxious to see Apolo, Arora followed him to the prisons on the other side of the palace, and as they passed through the empty corridors, she wondered what had happened to the other prisoners. As if her escort could read her thoughts, he informed her that the prisoners, mostly the Warlord's captured followers, had been released in an act of mercy in celebration of the crowned prince's return. Arora was furious that Zeno couldn't show the same clemency to her brother.

Apolo was pacing in a stark, squalid cell that did not even have the comfort of a blanket. When he saw her, he hurried to the door, but then backed quickly away after the guard growled a warning. Once she stepped inside, Apolo threw his arms around her and hugged her tightly, but Arora was frighteningly aware that the door had locked behind them.

She spun to look at the guard.

"Just a precaution, my lady. You are not a prisoner."

"Can we have some privacy?" asked Apolo.

"No Guerani tricks?" asked the guard.

Arora wished their powers could save them, but for Trey's sake she dared not use hers, and Apolo's were too weak, especially after his encounter with Dax. "I promise, no Guerani tricks."

When the guard walked away, Arora burst into tears, and Apolo held her in his arms until they had subsided. "What are we going to do?"

"There is nothing we can do," stated Apolo. They sank to the dirty floor together, sitting facing each other, their hands joined. "Zeno is furious that we abandoned Trey in the human system. He is using my rebellion in the Wastelands to punish us for what he perceives as breaking our blood oath to his son."

"We did it for Trey!"

"What we did was wrong. We both knew there might be a price to pay."

"Trey would have been killed by Dilan! He wasn't ready to challenge anyone!"

"We could have protected him." Apolo hung his head. "I am ashamed by our actions."

Arora had always been ashamed of those actions, but there was no way they could change the past. "He should kill me too! I was part of the betrayal of our lord prince."

Apolo did not look up for a moment and Arora realized that Zeno had wanted to take her life as well before her brother confirmed it. "I begged to spare you."

Shocked that Zeno could consider it after welcoming her to his house, Arora could not even speak.

Looking at her, Apolo reached one hand up to touch her cheek with the backs of his fingers. "You must not die. You have life inside you again, Arora, Trey's son."

"How do you know that already?" Arora pulled her hand from Apolo's and stood before him trembling with anger.

Apolo sighed and looked away from her. "I knew from the start that the first child would be a female."

"You…you…" Arora wanted to slap him. "You let me believe that I might give Trey a son!"

"I knew you wouldn't want a female." Apolo grabbed her arm and forced her to sit down. "You know as well as I that females are more important to our race than to these Calabrians! These pigs have made you think like one of them! Even Dax did not betray our people by killing you."

"He tried!"

"He knew Zeno would save you both times, Arora."

"You are sacrificing yourself so that I might live!" Arora couldn't stop the tears from pushing over her lashes to trickle down her cheeks. "If you die, Apolo, I cannot feel whole. I cannot go on alone, the last of our people."

"You will never be alone, Arora. I have given much thought to what must be done." He brushed away her tears with his fingers. " I want to be one with you and Trey until the day we must join our people in the sacred hills, as our mother remained with our father. I want you to take my essence at the moment of my death. "

Arora choked back a sob at the thought and her throat was so tight she couldn't respond.

"I love you, my dear sister, as I love Trey. Promise you will take my essence."

"I…I don't know how to do it." She was finally able to say.

"You need to take my hands at the moment my body dies."

"How will I be able to do that?" She could not imagine the emperor allowing them to be together on the scaffold. He would suspect them of "Guerani tricks".

"Speak to Zeno. I think he will understand." Apolo went to the door of the cell. "Guard! We are finished!"

Arora managed to keep from weeping as she joined him at the door. "You used your healing powers to save Shamara and to keep her from Dax. Now you cannot even save yourself."

"It weakened me considerably," he told her. "There is a price to pay for such power. Our grandfather was on the brink of death after saving Zeno's life from an illness, which enabled Zeno's father to destroy our people."

"Now Zeno continues his father's legacy!" Arora knew the fury Dax must have felt to see his family killed by the ignorant Calabrians of the plains. "You truly believe that he will allow me this last favor?"

Apolo didn't answer before kissing her forehead as the guard opened the door.

She left Apolo with a heavy heart. There knew there nothing more she could do to help him. Zeno was inflexible and unpredictable, yet she had to approach him again. The emperor was not in his receiving room, so Arora was directed to his private chamber again.

This time, however, his guard seemed relieved and stepped aside. "My orders are to let you pass, my lady."

Arora did not waste time wondering what was going on in the capricious emperor's mind. She entered the room and stopped suddenly when she saw that Zeno was practicing swordplay with an unseen enemy. She watched for a moment, amazed by his technique and the raw power of his strokes as he sliced his sword through the air. When Trey had challenged him, Zeno had been younger and most likely even more powerful. How could Trey have believed he could defeat him? Zeno had certainly spared his young son's life when he had foolishly challenged him! Trey had been little more than a boy then, certainly no match for Zeno the Butcher.

Sensing her presence, he set aside the bejeweled sword to take up a cup, which he drained before placing it on the table near the sword. "I have been expecting you, daughter."

"I am no daughter of yours!" she denied hotly.

Zeno chuckled as he stared at her. His eyes, much like Trey's, made her feel uncomfortable. "Yet we are bound as much as Trey is with his female child. You became my daughter when I saved you. You were raised in my house, not in the Demon's"

"If you feel some bond with me, then grant me the life of my brother."

"I cannot do that, Arora. He has already made a pact to spare your life."

"You would not have executed me! Trey would never forgive you."

Zeno snorted derisively. "Trey's feelings have nothing to do with my decision. Trey will never forgive me as it is. What difference would it make to put you on the scaffold as well?"

"What do you want from him?" cried Arora angrily as she came closer to him.

"I know and accept our fate, Arora." He sighed sadly. "Trey must accept his."

"You speak of our fate!" She threw herself at him, daring to grab handfuls of his robes. "Tell me what I showed you that night you spared my infant life! What is my fate?"

His hands closed over hers. They were cold and stiff. She desperately tried to read his thoughts, but he was thinking only of his wife and Arora felt the agonizing pain that he now did. She jerked herself away, finding it difficult to shake the deep regret he felt for Virineia and the son he had abandoned, the son who must kill him.

"You have given Calabria much, Arora. The time is at hand to make the ultimate sacrifice."

"You ask me to sacrifice my brother!"

He stared at her for a moment in silence, then sighed. "You should return to your rooms and wait for Trey."

Zeno turned away from her, but Arora refused to allow him to end their interview. "Will you grant me the right to be at my brother's side when he dies. He wishes for me to take his essence."

"Do as you wish, Arora."

She didn't press him, but left the hall and returned to her own room. There were women cleaning who paused to bow to her. One of them brought Shamara to her, and the infant was starving. By the time Shamara had finished feeding, the women had replaced the bedding that Larya had destroyed. They knew nothing of Larya's attempted assassination but had assumed that the woman had been sold to the pirates because of her connection to the disgraced Lady Xuxa. Arora didn't enlighten them in deference to Trey's wish that Larya not be punished further.

The woman who had brought Shamara to her was showing Arora a proper way to change her baby's wrappings when the door slammed open. Arora quickly reached for a dagger she had secreted amongst her robes, then relaxed when she saw that it was Trey.

But he seemed furious as he stared at Arora.

The women scattered like frightened birds, snatching up Shamara before leaving them alone.

When they were gone, he spoke, his voice deadly calm. "I told you to stay here."

"You find me here," she said just as calm.

Trey crossed the room to her and stopped when he was standing close and looking down at her. His eyes were dark with anger. "You have been busy in my absence!"

She flinched. "I…I couldn't sit here and wait…"

"I told you to do exactly that!"

Arora should have lowered her head and begged his forgiveness, but she was furious. Unlike those silly women who had fled in fear of the Butcher's son, she would not be intimidated. "Who do you think you are talking to? I am your imperial guard!"

"You are my wife!" Trey grabbed her shoulders and jerked her close to him. "You could have been in danger!"

She was relieved that he had only been worried about her and not on a rampage to exert his masculine superiority. Arora put her head against his chest where she heard his heart pounding erratically. "I was not in danger. I have been treated with all respect due the wife of the crowned prince."

"I am not a fool!" He gently moved her back. "I already know that Zeno was planning to execute you as well as Apolo but spared you in some moment of weakness no doubt brought on by Apolo's powers!"

Arora wondered if that were true. "What difference does it make? Zeno has no plans to harm me."

Trey ran his hands through his hair and clasped them behind his head. "I met with the captains of the forces. They will back me, but not while Zeno still lives because they have taken an oath to protect the emperor." He didn't need to explain to Arora what that meant. "Now that I have taken my place as his heir, they will wait for the inevitable."

"You are not going to challenge him!" Arora didn't want to see him fight the man she watched practicing. "Do you think you are ready?"

"Am I ready? Is a man ever ready to kill his father?"

A Calabrian would not question his destiny. But Trey was not a full-blooded Calabrian, even though he had grown up knowing that his duty to kill Zeno to take the throne, his experiences with the forgiving people of Earth had made him question that duty. Arora wished there were something she could do to help him, but there was nothing she could say that would soothe the ache he must feel in his heart.

Trey was feeling helpless. His mother could not help him to resolve the battle that raged within him. She did not want to choose between her husband and her son, nor did Virineia believe that she had any influence over Zeno, so she did not even want to try to argue for Apolo's release. Perhaps she was fearful about her own ready acceptance back into Zeno's life. Zeno could just as easily turn around and execute her for her activities on the pirate satellite. Whatever her reason, Virineia chose to accept Zeno's edict without question. When she tried to explain Zeno's motives, Trey had turned on his heel and left her. He suspected she was talking to herself anyway, trying to justify her husband's actions.

So now Trey was left with no option. The men would not support him until he removed Zeno, and Apolo could not be saved unless Trey had the power to pardon him. Trey wasn't sure he was ready to take this step so soon after returning to Calabria, and yet he had no choice.

"Where are your friends?" asked Arora, interrupting his thoughts.

"They are dressing for the banquet." Trey sighed. "I have tried everything, Arora. I was not even allowed to speak to Apolo."

"I spoke with him." She bit back her tears. Trey didn't need to see her upset the visit had made her. "He wishes me to carry his essence in my heart."

Trey could not believe what he was hearing. "He is accepting this? He has no intention of fighting?"

"He made an agreement with Zeno."

Trey knew about the agreement, but he didn't want to believe his father would actually execute the wife of his son. Then again, Trey didn't really know Zeno.

There was nothing left to do but to prepare himself to do what had to be done. Without any further comment, Trey moved away from Arora and found clothing to wear for the banquet. Arora left the room after mumbling something about seeing to Shamara's needs. When he had changed into clothing befitting the ceremonial occasion, Trey picked up his sword and was examining it when Arora returned.

"She is sleeping."

Trey thought about visiting his daughter, but he didn't need that distraction now. In some respects she did make him weak. Trey didn't want to die this night, nor did he want Apolo's death. Yet it seemed that one of them was destined not to see the suns of Calabria rise again. Trey did not worry about Shamara. Her destiny had already been shown to him.

When they left the room together, guards waiting for them explained gruffly that Dilan's cohorts might make an attempt on his life so they were there to protect him. But Dilan's cohorts had fled to the Wastelands or the second moon fearing reprisals for their association with the pretender prince, so Trey guessed these guards had been sent to prevent a possible escape attempt. Duo and Heero joined them at the entrance to the courtyard where Trey could hear the music and laughter as the celebration had already begun.

Heero seemed to understand his dilemma. "I know that the decision you make will be the right one."

"I don't think I have a decision any more," Trey told him.

Heero raised a brow. "I've got a gun with a couple of bullets. Give me the word and they might end up in just the right place."

Trey almost laughed about the simplicity of such an act, and he did not doubt that Heero would assassinate Zeno in the blink of an eye. "Thanks for your offer, my friend, but that isn't how we do things around here."

Heero sighed. "I know. Your people wouldn't respect that."

Duo snorted. "Newt told me bullets aren't much good against imperialists anyway."

"Whatever happens," Trey told them, "do not interfere. When this is all over, I want you to take your women and return to L10."

They nodded in understanding. Trey knew they were eager to return to Relena and Trynity and wished they had done so already. They had even argued about it that afternoon when Trey had visited the imperial guards amassed outside the city. Newt had arrived with news that the women were safe, and after Duo had a long, quiet discussion with his pirate friend, Trey was sure he was going to announce his departure, but Newt left without him. Heero simply refused to go until Trey had resolved his crisis. Heero believed he would prevail. Trey wasn't so sure.

The moment he stepped into the courtyard, he was greeted with loud cheers, and Zeno came to him to proclaim his beloved son had returned. Trey felt as if he were in a nightmare as he looked at the sea of faces, smiling and shouting encouragement and praises for his return. Zeno made a long speech about his son's adventures, but Trey didn't listen. His eyes were drawn to the scaffold platform where Apolo would be put to death as a warning to anyone who might attempt rebellion against the empire. When Zeno introduced Arora as his wife, there was a more subdued greeting. News of her Guerani blood had spread fast. No doubt these people would enjoy watching her execution alongside her brother.

When they had taken their seats at the head table, the servants rushed to begin dishing out food to the many imperial noble visitors who made the quick trip to court to acknowledge the return of the true crowned prince. Seated next to his father with Arora at his side Trey felt as distressed as his mother, on the other side of the emperor, looked.

"Dear Virineia, this is a joyous occasion," chided Zeno as he covered her hand with his own where is lay on the table. "Try to smile."

"Don't patronize me!" She jerked her hand away and tried to rise, but he seized a handful of her gown and forced her back down.

"Stay at my side, Virineia."

"Or else what? Are you going to put me on that scaffold with Apolo for all the attacks I lead against your people in space?"

Zeno released her, and Trey noted she made no further attempt to leave.

"I wouldn't dream of it, Virineia. You have suffered enough." He turned his attention away from her and looked at Trey. "You are quiet, my son. How unusual. Perhaps you have learned some humility on Earth."

Trey was ashamed to remember how he had behaved before Dax had sent him into space. He had been spoiled and willful, quite used to having anything he wanted. The one thing denied him had caused his downfall. Yes, he had been taught humility, but it had been by Dax, not the people of Earth.

"I don't think you ever could have learned such lessons here on Calabria," Zeno continued. "I thought once you might be weakened by your human blood."

"You have ever despised me for it," commented Trey.

The corners of his mouth drew in tightly, then Zeno said, "If I despised anything, it was my weakness where you are concerned. From the moment of your birth, Trey, I had been so very proud."

Trey could not believe what he was hearing. "You have scorned my existence!"

"I scorned my feelings. I didn't want to be hurt again." He glanced at Virineia, then back to Trey. "I had to be strong. You understand? All these people gorging themselves at this banquet rely on the strength of the emperor, his ability to maintain order."

Trey looked at his father. "What about compassion? What about justice? Fairness? Is there no room for that in this empire?"

"You have foolish ideals, Trey." Zeno signaled to guards standing at the foot of the steps leading up to the scaffold.

His heart began to pound and he heard Arora's soft gasp of dismay as the men returned leading Apolo. A hush had fallen over the people gathered in the courtyard when Apolo mounted the steps between the guards. They stopped to turn toward the head table, and Zeno rose.

"Apolo, son of Dax, you are accused of leading rebellion against the empire. How do you answer the charge?"

Trey wanted to jump to his feet to answer for him, but Apolo was quicker. "I am guilty, my lord."

As if they didn't know exactly what would be said, there was an eruption of outraged shouts and surprised cries. "You are aware that the penalty is death?"

"I am, my lord."

"Do you have any last request, Apolo, son of Dax?"

"Only that my sister be allowed to attend me and that my hands be unbound from my back. I give my word that I will make no attempt to escape."

"So be it!" Zeno sat down and Arora rose. She was trembling, but she made her way to the scaffold with a grace and dignity that made Trey proud.

Trey spun to look at his father. "Reconsider! Apolo is my imperial guard."

"Yet he sought to undermine our authority in the Wastelands," Zeno reminded him. He leaned closer to Trey so that only he could hear. "He left you in another system and denied me the knowledge of your whereabouts. For that alone I would gladly see him die. Thank me for not killing your traitorous wife as well although she aided him then hid the fact that she was carrying your child!"

Trey watched impotently as Wattan lead Arora to her brother, and his throat was tight with emotion when Apolo's bindings were cut and he put his arms around Arora to hug her one last time. Over her shoulder, his eyes met Trey's, and then he released Arora and dropped to his knees.

The executioner stepped forward, his large sharp blade catching the dying rays of the first sun setting. Trey was trembling as he rose, having to hold the edge of the table to keep his balance. He could scarcely breathe as his heart clamored against his ribs. "Please, father, I beg you to stop this!"

Zeno looked at him but said nothing.

Apolo lowered his head, and the executioner raised his sword. Arora was kneeling near her brother, tears rolling down her cheeks as she waited to take his hands. Trey could see what was coming. Apolo's head would be struck from his body, and Arora would be bathed in his blood as she took his hands. Where would she find the courage to do such a thing? Where was his own?

"Stop!" He suddenly shouted, unable to hold back. Trey jerked out his sword and raised it to put the tip against Zeno's chest. "You have corrupted Calabria long enough, Zeno."

Zeno was not surprised. Virineia reached out to touch his hand, and Trey saw much emotion exchange between them as Zeno squeezed her hand before pulling his away to pick up his sword. "Are you going to prove yourself worthy to take my place now?"

"With all these witnesses," stated Trey, stepping back.

Zeno nodded toward the scaffold. "Then we will let them all have a good view, Trey."

Trey didn't think he had the strength to walk to the scaffold, but his legs took him there. The guards pulled Apolo out of the way, and Arora wisely followed although she gave Trey one look, which mingled terror and relief.

Wattan mounted the scaffold after them. "My lords, are you certain that this is what you want?"

Zeno nodded to Trey. "My son has made the challenge. Ask him. I am merely answering the challenge."

Wattan looked at Trey. Trey raised his sword. "I am certain." He stared at his father. "Regardless of the outcome, I want your word that my friends can leave Calabria and that Apolo and Arora be released. If I should die, accept my blood as payment for any wrongs they have committed."

"So be it." Zeno nodded. "You have my word." He raised his sword.

Trey swung his sword, and as it connected with the blade of his father's, he faintly heard Wattan call out, "It has begun! To the winner, Calabria!"

But the world seemed to spin around him, and as Zeno thrust him back, Trey did not see the crowds around them anymore.

He saw Dax watching with his cold, dark gaze, Xuxa standing nearby with Dilan at her side.

"You have become strong, my son!" Zeno seemed to be laughing at him. "But not strong enough for what needs to be done."

Trey swung his sword again and shook his head to clear it, but he could not escape the memory.

"I am going to rid Calabria of a poison!" His arm shuddered with sensation as his blade hit Zeno's again.

"End this foolish fight!" hissed Xuxa. "Kill him now!"

Zeno stopped another of Trey's blows before he began to attack with his own. Trey stumbled back again and again from the force, and he began to know fear for his own life as Zeno bore down on him. "You are just a child! How dare you believe yourself capable of taking me down!"

Trey realized his father had no intention of allowing him to defeat him and he could do nothing but protect himself from the blows that came one after another from Zeno's sword. Dilan was laughing as Trey stumbled back, barely managing to raise his blade to hold off another attack.

"You are holding back," Xuxa accused Zeno who laughed as Trey tripped and fell, his sword flying from his hand. "Finish it now!"

But Trey rolled in time to avoid the descending tip of Zeno's sword. He scrambled to retrieve his sword.

"Fool!" Xuxa's eyes were bright with anger. "You could have killed him!"

"Shut up!" Zeno snapped at him before swinging his mighty sword again.

Trey ducked, then swung with a frantic backhand motion, intending only to block another blow. But Zeno had not expected him to raise his sword, and his own sword was knocked from his hand and clattered to the floor. Trey didn't waste any time. He quickly brought the point of his own sword to Zeno's throat, but he didn't shove it through.

"I didn't come here to kill you! I do not want your empire!"

"To have what you want, you must kill me!" Zeno was panting as he glared at him.

"I only want Arora," he insisted, returning his father's stare, trying to make him understand with that look that there need be no blood shed.

"Enough!" Dax strode forward and before Trey could react, he used his own sword to club him over the head. Trey was stunned but not unconscious as he lay at the feet of his father and his imperial guard.

"You should have killed him when you had the chance!"

"He is just a boy," argued Zeno. "He is my son!"

"Coward!" cried Xuxa. "You are not fit to be emperor, and neither is he!"

Dax crossed the room to strike her, and Zeno did not admonish him. "Shut your mouth, you whore!" He returned to Zeno. "Shall I take care of him for you?"

"Do not kill my son!"

"His fate will be in the hands of the gods."

"Trey!" Arora's cry brought him back to the present. Amazingly, he had been holding off his father's attack, but now he was on his back. This time Zeno did not hold back, and he quickly thrust down his sword. Fortunately, Trey's sword was within reach, and as he twisted to seize the handle, Zeno's blade grazed his side. The fabric of his garment ripped and he felt the blade slice his flesh as he sprang away with agility honed in the imperial guards and practiced in the circus on Earth.

Zeno had controlled the duel to that point, but he was older and was now tiring. Although he seemed to realize his disadvantage too, he continued to launch his offensive on Trey who parried each blow and turned aside every potentially killing thrust. Zeno was strong, but he could not keep up a sustained attack. He managed to draw blood off Trey a couple more times, and each time the crowd roared with mingled approval and dismay. Trey couldn't let their opinions sway him. He was in a fight to the death now, and so he took control of the duel. His father was already tiring, and with Trey moving quickly, slashing at him with his youthful vigor, Zeno was soon trembling with fatigue from the constant parry of his blows. This was how an old emperor was displaced, thought Trey dispassionately as he continued to hack away at Zeno. His bloodlust was rising, and he felt the same desire to kill that he had when he had ended Dilan's life. The crowd jeered Zeno as he stumbled away, barely avoiding the blade of Trey's sword. To them, he was as good as dead.

One last blow made the sword drop from Zeno's shaking hand, and the emperor fell to his knees. The crowds burst into wild cheers, and cries for Zeno's death filled the air as the second sun began to set and the first moon rose. The light was eerie, and the scene seemed almost unreal. Trey might have believed this a macabre dream except that his body was aching, and blood was staining his clothing where Zeno had penetrated his defenses many times. He felt dizzy and light-headed, but a great relief spread over him as he realized that it was over.

He remembered everything now.

"I could have killed you the first time," he told his father as he looked down upon him.

Zeno was gulping in his breath; his face was red and sweaty. "You should have killed me then, but you were not ready to take your place."

"You allowed Dax to determine my fate. I hope you are pleased! Today, just as I did that night, I have defeated you in honorable battle. The gods have shown my way to be right!" Trey ignored the cries of the people to kill him. Instead he thrust away his sword, and it slid several feet away. "I will not begin my rule over your corpse." Trey turned away from Zeno. "Today begins a new era in the history of Calabria," he announced to the people who fell silent to hear the words of the man they viewed as the new emperor.

Arora could not believe Trey had succeeded, and yet his father still lived! As Trey addressed the people, she looked at Zeno and only her instincts as an imperial guard warned her of danger. Zeno had no intention of losing this battle. From inside his boot, he pulled out a long, sharp dagger, and as he started to rise, Arora lunged forward.

Trey heard a shout of warning and turned in time to see Arora roll and pull up the emperor's dropped sword. He could not move in time to stop either Zeno or Arora as they came together. When he heard Arora's cry of dismay and saw the startled look in his father's eyes, Trey sprang to them and caught Arora as the weight of Zeno's body drove her backward. Blood seemed to be everywhere, and Trey shoved Zeno away from Arora. He fell on his back, his own sword protruding from his chest.

His dying gaze rested on Arora. "You …have fulfilled…your…destiny." Then the light was gone from the Zeno's eyes.

"Trey?"

He took his eyes from Zeno when he heard Arora's dazed cry. When he looked down at her, he was horrified to see that Zeno's dagger was buried in her chest.

"No!" He gathered her to him. She was cold and trembling.

"I understand him now," she said, her voice raspy. "This is what I showed him of my future. This is the ultimate sacrifice he meant I must make."

"No, Arora!" Trey shouted for a physician even though he could see that he would not arrive in time to be of any help. With each shallow breath she released, blood spilled from her lips.

Her eyes met his. "We knew that one day I might give my life for you. The gods have honored my love for you by allowing me to save your life," she forced out. Arora's face was pale and her eyes were closing. "I love you, Trey. I have always loved you."

She blurred in his vision. Trey couldn't even speak to her, to tell her how much he loved her. He was paralyzed with grief.

Arora took one last breath and Trey heard her call for her brother.

Apolo hurried forward, and as he reached out for Arora's outstretched hands, Trey closed his eyes to the dizziness that became unbearable. He felt as if he were falling from a high cliff into a bottomless black pit.