Imperial Palace, Calabria

Shamara took a deep breath before passing through the door that led to the private residence of the emperor. She half-expected her mother to pounce on her immediately, or her father to shout her name in anger, but none of that happened. Servants were rushing about, placing food on the table, two of her sisters were sitting around her uncle listening to one of his stories while her mother stood with her brother Staefyn, her youngest daughter propped on her hip whimpering for attention. Amyr, crowned prince of Calabria, was speaking to Lord Duo. She didn't see her father, but then he was usually late for the evening meal due to the demands of his position. They would wait for his arrival before sitting at the table, and in the meantime, Shamara hoped her many siblings would find some way to distract him.

"So, you finally show up."

She turned to see Taeron approaching her and Shamara smiled at him. "I heard that your mother was here, but I don't see her."

"She was tired after the trip from the moon so she is eating in her room," he said. "I was going to join her, but Lord Duo asked me to stay."

By his awed glanced at Duo, Shamara knew that he was honored by the request. Shamara was glad for him. She had known Taeron since they were children. He was a part of their family when he was not on the moon with his mother, and Shamara had always assumed it was because Duo was Taeron's father although he would never admit to it. Her father strictly forbade her from meddling in that situation, so she kept her hands to herself when Taeron was around, but anyone who saw them could see the resemblance between them too.

"Tomorrow you will receive a great honor that you have earned," she remarked to the handsome young man who was as much a brother to her as Amyr.

"Yes, I am to receive my imperial sword. I am hoping to be given the assignment of protecting my lord prince." He nodded toward Amyr who waved to them.

Shamara nodded to him, then looked at Taeron again. "I am sure my father would wish that, and I know Amyr will. Perhaps tomorrow you will be able to swear your oath to him." Only one thing would make him happier, but that was not likely to happen she thought with a sigh as she looked again at Duo.

"I'm sorry I am late." Trey entered the room and went first to his wife to take her into his arms, ignoring the squirming baby she held. "I haven't seen you all day."

"I'm starved!" announced Duo as headed to the table. When he came to Shamara, he hooked his arm around hers. "Come along, princess."

Her father didn't say anything to her for most of the meal. He carried on a lengthy discussion with her mother, Duo and Apolo concerning some religious fanatics causing trouble both in the Wastelands and on the second moon where Duo was governor. Her father was a tolerant man, but he drew the line at beliefs that caused harm to innocent people. Duo assured him there was no need to worry, that they were just a doomsday cult, and Apolo agreed with them. Shamara was glad that the followers of the dark lord Camridaeus could distract her father from her problem.

Unfortunately, when that subject had been exhausted, her father brought up the one that Shamara hoped he would avoid. "You have been back a full day, Shamara, and you have not told me how your trip to Bayman was."

"She didn't come back with a husband," remarked Staefyn. Second oldest of emperor's sons, Shamara rarely saw him because he spent a lot of time in the Sacred Hills charming the local women. His presence at the palace was a rarity she could do without at this moment.

The elder of her three sisters, Chaela, who was less than a year younger than Amyr, giggled. "Is it my turn to try to win the heart of Prince Dagan?"

Shamara laughed when she saw the twinkle in her sister's eyes. "Be my guest."

Trey chuckled. "Don't be so quick to pass on the young man, Shamara."

She looked at him. "Father, he would not even greet me!" He didn't need to know why.

"Indeed, and I am very insulted by that fact. I sent a message to Bayman informing them of my displeasure." Trey smiled at her. "I have been assured by King Seighen of Bayman that Dagan will be making amends for his behavior."

Shamara didn't want to believe what that meant. "Am I to return to Bayman?"

"I have already made plans for your trip." Trey nodded to Duo. "You do not mind escorting Shamara again?"

"I have nothing better to do," he muttered as he stared at his food. Shamara knew he would rather not return to Bayman. He made no secret of his dislike of their people, and Shamara sensed during their visit that they did not care for him either. Shamara did not know the details, but she had heard that Duo had angered the Baymani many years ago. She certainly had no intention of going back to suffer through the courtship of a reluctant suitor.

"I have also decided that you need an imperial guard. Duo has responsibilities on the moon and can't be at our beck and call. So this is the last trip he will be making with you." Trey looked at Taeron. "I think you would make an excellent guard for my daughter until such time she takes a husband."

Taeron had been smiling, but that smile faded. "I…I was hoping…"

"I know what you were hoping, Taeron, but as I said, you need guard Shamara only until she is married. Then she will be Prince Dagan's responsibility."

"Prince Dagan!" Shamara clenched her fists as she looked at her father. "Are you so sure that we will be compatible?"

Trey was unmoved by her anger. Shamara began to feel for the first time that she had no control over the situation. "I couldn't be more sure. What I have heard of the young man leads me to believe the two of you were meant to be mates."

Shamara could not even think of a response. She looked to her mother for help, but Lady Arora merely shrugged. "This is not fair!" she burst out. "I don't want to be married to that spoiled, selfish Bayman dog for the rest of my life!"

"You'll probably outlast him," remarked Apolo between bites of food. "Your Guerani blood should ensure that."

"I feel so much better!" She slumped back in her chair and crossed her arms. Shamara looked for a sympathetic face, but there were none amongst them. They were all aware that she had a duty to marry Prince Dagan. Shamara wasn't as confident as her father that she could be happy in that arrangement.

Her eyes fell on Duo. "Tell my father that I can't marry him. You heard the stories on Bayman!"

"Hey, leave me out of this!" Duo didn't even look up from his plate.

"What stories?" asked Trey, his brows raised.

Shamara looked at him. "That he spends his days studying black arts and his nights with any number of his several concubines."

"Sounds like he has experience," commented Apolo. "I wouldn't complain about that, if I were you, Shamara. Might come in handy."

Arora glared at her brother, but he merely shrugged, and Shamara heard Amyr snicker and exchange a knowing glance with Staefyn. She wanted to launch her plate at both their heads.

Trey looked at Duo. "Is what my daughter says true?"

Duo looked up, clearly annoyed at being interrupted from his greatest joy. "Rumors. The prince keeps to himself, so the royal court makes up stories."

"They are not false!" cried Shamara. "Father, you cannot make me marry him. He might even be hideously deformed from his incantations."

Trey didn't respond for a few moments, and he merely sat drumming his fingers on the table, then he said, "I wonder what Prince Dagan has heard about you, Shamara."

She was taken aback. "But…but what could he possibly hear…."

"Perhaps that you are spoiled and selfish, that you are cursed with powers that he himself has witnessed."

"My powers are not evil!" she sputtered helplessly.

"I imagine he has heard how your mother transformed into a beast and murdered her own father."

"That's a lie!" Shamara gave her mother a pleading look. "Are you going to let him say such things?"

Arora shrugged. "I cannot help wagging tongues. I know the truth. Can you say the same about Dagan? You should have learned by now that what is said at court may not be the truth."

Shamara shuddered as she remembered the feelings that came to her when she had touched Dagan's hands two years ago. "He is not what he appears to be." She couldn't really explain what it was, but it made her feel uncomfortable.

"Are you?" asked Trey. "Are any of us? I suggest that you refrain from touching people with your hands if you cannot control your powers."

"That was over two years ago!" Shamara's face was flaming with embarrassment. "I didn't even get a chance to see him this time, let alone touch him."

"Have you any better control?" asked Arora with a raised brow.

Shamara couldn't lie to her. Her mother could just read her thoughts anyway and she would be in greater trouble if she did lie. "I try."

Apolo chuckled. "An honest answer, at least."

She took at deep breath and turned her most beseeching, wide-eyed look on her father. He had never been able to resist it! "Father, you must give me more time." She didn't even bat her eyes as she continued to turn her most soulful gaze on him.

Trey stared at her in silence for a moment and she was sure he was going to give in. When hadn't he? Then he said, "After tomorrow's ceremony, Taeron will swear an oath to protect you, Shamara, and afterwards, you will leave for Bayman with Duo and your new imperial guard."

Shamara wanted to throw her plate, smash her glass, and scream in frustration, but she only sighed, folded her hands in her lap and bowed her head. "Yes, father."

Somehow she would get out of this. She had no intention of being locked to Dagan of Bayman for the rest of her life.

Bayman

The clicking of boots and the rattle of swords was unnerving to Dagan as he walked the length of the antechamber of the throne room. The nobles, the guards, the dignitaries seemed to stop talking when he had appeared in the door. Their heads were bowed as he passed by, but they were watching him with morbid fascination. They didn't give a damn who his father chose as his heir as long as they were allowed to weasel and toady to that heir for favors that were undeserved. That is what they disliked about Dagan and his mother. She had spirited her son to the hills and had remained hidden for years before the king found her and dragged her back to court. Only a few months of an existence akin to a caged animal had elapsed before she had died. As Dagan grew older, he suspected poison, but he did not know yet who had been responsible.

His eyes fell upon his older, half-sister Ryana when the door to his father's private office closed behind him. A likely suspect. A very likely suspect. If King Seighen hadn't chosen Dagan as his heir, he might have perished also, but his position had insured his safety at court. Now he threw back his cloak and fell to one knee before his father who was watching him with clear annoyance.

"I answer your summons," stated Dagan through gritted teeth.

"By the gods, you have not answered my summons of your own will!" exploded the king, coming to his feet to stand over Dagan. "I sent a small armed force to bring you back to court."

"Hardly the behavior of a proper crowned prince," remarked Ryana smoothly. "Come, father, sit down. The healers say you should not exert yourself."

This was new. His father was sick? Dagan lifted his head to look into his father's eyes, but the king saw his regard and quickly turned away. Dagan sighed, then lowered his head again. He would never be trusted.

The king settled in his chair, and Ryana came behind him to massage his shoulders. "You were summoned to court seven days ago to meet your future wife."

"I have no future wife," stated Dagan. "Certainly not of your choosing."

"I will not tolerate your rebellion!" thundered King Seighen. Dagan did not flinch. He wasn't afraid of his father, but Ryana was a force to reckon with. She didn't bother to hide her smirk. "This alliance with Calabria is vital to the future of this planet. They have developed trade with the outsiders from other worlds while our own has stagnated. If you do not take Shamara as your wife, we will be left behind while Calabria grows stronger."

"We were once a strong planet," said Dagan. "We can be so once again without the help of Calabria."

"This is a dying planet!" King Seighen pounded his fist on the arm of his chair. "If you did not hide away in the caves in the hills studying nonsense, you would see how desperate we are for the help of our sister planet. We have had years of drought and famine, our natural resources are becoming depleted, and all the while Calabria has blossomed into a thriving empire. I am grateful for Emperor Trey for allowing my son to marry his beloved first-born."

"If you are so grateful, perhaps you should marry her," suggested Dagan. He expected his father to explode, but King Seighen merely sighed.

"I see you have not changed your mind. Very well, then I have no choice. I will send you to Calabria under guard. If you fail to bring Princess Shamara back to Bayman as your wife, then you are not welcome to return."

Dagan lifted his head to look at his father. He could not believe he would exile him! "You cannot do this to me! My studies are not complete…"

"I don't know what you study out there in the hills with that old wizard, but you can now consider that education to be at an end."

There was so much more for Dagan to learn. "I cannot do that!"

Seighen rose to tower over Dagan. "If your studies are so important, Dagan, then you should do as you are ordered. The sooner you bring back your wife, the sooner you can return to your other amusements." He raised a brow. "However, my advice to you is to be a little more discreet with your other amusement. The practice of taking concubines on Calabria was abolished completely several years ago. I doubt Princess Shamara will want to share you with your golden-haired toy."

"She's not a toy!" Dagan straightened and glared at his father. "I love Oxana! I want to marry her!"

"What you want and what you will do are two entirely different things." King Seighen walked to Dagan and they stood eye to eye for a moment before he said, "You will leave in the morning. You may decide whether you will be wearing shackles."

Dagan watched him leave his courtiers scrambling after him already begging him for money or favors. Dagan trembled in fury, and he could feel uncontrollable power bubbling inside. This was why he had to return to the hills to study. Ryana had remained behind, but now she ducked behind their father's chair. Dagan couldn't stop the force, but at least this time he was able to direct it toward the window. The stained glass groaned as it bent, then shattered outward. Dagan released his power to the evening sky, and when it was spent, he dropped weakly to his knees. The drapery around the window had been reduced to cinder and was still smoking.

"Quite the show," remarked Ryana as she settled in the chair she had been using as a shield. "You are a lot stronger now than when you almost burned down the dining hall."

His head was pounding and his body was weak. He couldn't control these powers and his father knew it. Every other generation of Bayman rulers possessed these powers, and while his father resented that he had been passed over, Dagan considered them a curse. He was feared by some people, and rejected by the rest. He would never forget the horrified look in Princess Shamara's eyes when she had taken his hands. Dagan had seen her arrive, had watched her secretly before actually meeting her. She was all that could be perfect in a female, and he thanked the gods that she would be his wife. Then they met, and when their hands clasped, Dagan couldn't stop the jolt that had run through him. At first he thought it was just the excitement of touching her, but then he had seen the emotions that she could not hide in her eyes. Dagan had been ashamed, and he had stayed from her sight so not to offend her. To this day he wasn't sure if it was a blessing or not that she had avoided him also. Regardless, Dagan was certain Princess Shamara could not accept him.

"Cheer up, brother." Ryana was watching him.

Dagan frowned. "I wouldn't be in this mess if you had been able to marry Prince Trey."

Ryana laughed. "You would still be in this mess. I do not have your powers, Dagan. You were meant to become the next king, so our father sent me to Calabria to get rid of me."

"It's too bad you came back."

"And I was planning to help you out!" She clucked her tongue in disappointment. "You have hurt my feelings."

Dagan was able to stand now although he still felt weak. "And just how do you intend to help me? Father doesn't listen to you."

"I have no intention of interceding on your behalf. I think you should bring Princess Shamara to court. Once she is here, I doubt she will trouble you for long." The look in her eyes chilled Dagan. "I have a score to settle with Trey of Calabria and the witch Arora."

"I want no part of your schemes."

"Regardless, I assure you that you need not worry about Shamara of Calabria. Do as father commands and leave the rest to me."

Before he could respond, she walked past him and left the room. Dagan didn't leave the room until he was certain he could move without hobbling. The antechamber had cleared once his father had left, so he didn't have to suffer curious or frightened stares. Servants were already busy cleaning up the mess in the courtyard below the window he had destroyed.

So he had to leave tomorrow? Dagan really had no choice, so he would go without the threatened shackles, but he would go on his own terms. Dagan could take his teacher and mentor, and he would sneak Oxana aboard his ship. Princess Shamara would just have to get used to seeing her.

Dagan was allowed to leave the city, but only under armed escort and only after he was reminded that his presence was required on the ship scheduled to leave Bayman the following day. He took his personal hover transport back to the hillside home of his mentor and teacher. Both suns had already set by the time he arrived, so Master Nazzar was sleeping. Moving around to the back of the cottage to his own room, he was relieved to see Oxana sitting in a chair on the porch.

Before he had a chance to speak, she came to him and put her arms around him. Dagan held her close, stroking her hair as he considered her complete devotion to him. He felt guilty about what he had to tell her.

"How did your meeting go with your father?" she asked as she raised her head to look at him.

Dagan didn't speak until he had sat in the chair she had vacated, and pulled her onto his lap. "I will have to do as he commands or he will make my life miserable."

She caressed his cheek with her delicate fingers. "I will always be here for you, Dagan."

"Oxana." He pulled her close and buried his face in her warm, perfumed neck. "I cannot do this! How can I marry Princess Shamara when I love you?"

"Oh, Dagan, you are so sweet." She ran her fingers through his hair and tilted back his head to kiss him. Oxana could make him forget his father's orders, and for a while she did. After a moment she stood and walked to the door, paused in the doorway and gave him an enticing look that he couldn't resist.

He awoke the next day before the first dawn. Oxana was sleeping soundly beside him, so he carefully left the bed and after pulling on his clothes, went out of the cottage to watch the first sunrise. His life would never be the same after this day. He doubted Princess Shamara would understand him. Like everyone else she would view him as a freak to be feared.

"Quite a sight," remarked a gruff old voice.

Dagan didn't take his eyes from the sunrise. "I feel the power from the sun."

"Have you ever watched the second sun rise?" asked his master.

Dagan turned to look at him, puzzled by the question. "I have not. I have never noticed it."

"The second sun is also powerful, my young prince, although the light from the first masks its beauty. They reign together in the Calabrian-Bayman system."

"Are you trying to tell me something?" Dagan sometimes disliked the riddles his master used.

"You wield the power of the first sun, Prince Dagan, yet you take for granted the second sun. Do not underestimate any one or any thing." Master Nazzar turned to leave.

"Master!" Dagan took a step toward him. "I must leave this day."

"I know that already."

Dagan was in awe. "The gods spoke to you? Did they tell you of my obligations?"

The master snorted. "No, those unruly soldiers out front waiting for you informed me of your imminent departure."

Dagan sighed. "Master, I want you to come with me."

"I am too old to travel, and besides, this is a journey you must make alone."

"The gods?"

Dagan was deflated again when Master Nazzar answered. "No, those soldiers have orders to prevent anyone from accompanying you. I have already been warned not to pack my belongings. Don't bother waking Oxana."

Dagan scratched his head and put his hands on his hips. "Did the gods say anything to you about my journey?"

"Well, those young soldiers told me you are leaving to bring back a bride."

"They are hardly gods, Master Nazzar! I was hoping you would have some advice for me from them."

"Only the advice of an old man, Prince Dagan. For the sake of this planet, you should marry Princess Shamara and bring her back here. Only then can you release the demons inside of you."

"I have no demons inside of me."

Master Nazzar didn't respond although his dark gaze was rather disquieting.

"Dagan?" Oxana was in the doorway, the rays of the first sun falling on her. How could he ever leave her? Yet he had no choice. "Are you leaving?"

"I must." He turned back to Master Nazzar. "Can Oxana stay here while I am gone?"

"She will do as she wishes to do," he remarked cryptically. "And you will do what you must. And in doing so, you will be greatly rewarded."

"Let me guess, the soldiers also told you of my father's threats."

Master Nazzar chuckled.

Dagan blew out a heavy sigh. "I will send word when I return."

"I will know when you return, Dagan. The gods will tell me."

"They haven't been very informative up to now," muttered Dagan as he returned to Oxana. "I must go."

She kissed him. "Have a safe journey, Dagan."

"No one can ever replace you, Oxana." He brushed back the shimmering blonde hair from her face, then kissed her once more before turning to leave.

Much later, after he had listening to another round of his father's threats, Dagan boarded the ship that would blast him into space. As he was buckling into his seat, he glanced out the window of the craft and was surprised to see the second sun peek up from the horizon. Dagan stared at it speechlessly as it rose, casting out its first rays over a land already bathed in the light of the first sun.

Suddenly he saw the vision of a beautiful woman with long dark hair and large eyes the color of forest leaves, golden flecks gleaming in their depths.

"So you are finally coming! You have wasted too much time already, Dagan."

He was frightened, but he could not take his eyes from her.

"Leave him alone, my love, he has quite an adventure ahead of him."

The voice was not unfamiliar to him, but he didn't know who was speaking.

The gods! The gods were speaking to him!

But they said no more and the woman faded from his view.

"We are ready to lift off, your highness," stated a soldier. "Ground control has reported a disturbance in space, but nothing too dangerous to delay our departure. It may be nothing more than a micro-meteor shower and our shields are at maximum strength."

Dagan was convinced the gods were sending him a sign. As the ship began its ascent, Dagan laid his head back and closed his eyes. He had a great adventure ahead of him.

The gods had told him so.