Cinq Kingdom Space, L12 Sector

"You're not dreaming again, are you, princess?"

Taeron's voice disturbed Shamara from her thoughts, and she turned to look at her imperial guard. He appeared to be worried that she might disappear before his eyes although her body had never left his sight except for the moments she needed to take care of her personal needs. Taeron was taking his job very seriously now. Shamara wondered if he had any sleep the last two days on the ship. Duo was slumped in his chair snoozing, but Shamara couldn't sleep. The next time the wormhole opened, they would be going through, and she knew instinctively that it would be soon.

"I am not dreaming, Taeron." She looked back out to space, dark and quiet now. Soon it would be disturbed by the wormhole, and she might leave this system forever.

"I will be glad to return."

You are the only one, she thought sadly with another sidelong glance at Duo. His heart was in shreds, his emotions in turmoil. She wished she could tell him something that might make him understand the flame-haired woman who turned his life upside down, but Shamara knew she should not meddle in his relationships.

She forced herself to smile and looked at Taeron. "You are doomed to be my imperial guard until I wed. Without a groom, I suppose it will be a long time."

Taeron frowned and rested his chin on his hand, but he didn't respond. Shamara knew he would rather be with Amyr. She couldn't blame him. "Perhaps I can talk my father into releasing you from your oath."

His eyes widened. "Princess! Do not dare speak to him on such a matter! I have given my word to protect you until you take a husband, and I will do so. To do any less would bring dishonor to…to…" His glance strayed to Duo although they both knew he had no right to claim to be a part of Duo's house.

Shamara sighed. She couldn't meddle in that relationship either. So they sat in silence for several moments until Taeron said, "I was afraid Lord Duo would not return with us."

She looked at Taeron. In the depth of his eyes she saw fear and she understood what he was feeling. "I never doubted him."

"I think he wanted that orange-haired woman," grumbled Taeron so quietly that Shamara almost didn't hear him. "My mother will be no man's concubine."

Shamara reached out to touch him, but Taeron jerked his hand back before she could. She should be hurt, but she wasn't. "I am sorry, Taeron."

"You would know everything about me," he said in explanation although his own face was a shade of pink. Taeron was worried about offending her.

Shamara put her hands to her side. "I would be able to tell you and Lord Duo the truth."

"I know the truth!" Taeron glanced at Duo, then back at Shamara. "My mother would not lie, and she would know who my father is! I am forbidden to speak of it, and she will not take the matter to your father. She would be furious to know I am speaking of this with you."

"Lord Duo must have his reasons for not believing her." Shamara couldn't think of anything else to say. In truth, she thought Taeron resembled Duo, but he seemed to be blind to it. .

"He told my mother he is incapable of siring children."

"Where did he get such a foolish notion?" Shamara had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. This was why he would not acknowledge Taeron?

"His human concubine did not present him with any children."

Shamara glanced at Duo. He was still sleeping deeply. Then she looked back at Taeron. "He doesn't know everything he should. Anyway, if only you would allow me or my mother to touch you, we would be able to tell him the truth. I believe your mother, Taeron, but Lord Duo is a stubborn human. He needs more proof than a woman's word."

"I believe her, and I do not need Guerani magic to tell me what I already know and feel! If he needs more proof, then perhaps he is not worthy to be called my father." Taeron turned away from her to stare belligerently out at space. He was so deeply hurt by Duo's rejection that Shamara wanted to comfort him, but he would be angry if she touched him.

"I see it," Taeron suddenly said.

Shamara looked in the direction he pointed and she also saw the wormhole beginning to open. Taeron changed the course of the ship to take it toward the wormhole and the change caused Duo to wake up. Seeing the cause of the disturbance of his sleep, he ordered Shamara to strap into her seat, and as Taeron did the same, Duo pressed a few buttons which shut down all but the most necessary controls of the ship before buckling into his own seat.

The ship was dark but for the light of the stars, and Shamara was reminded of their exit from the wormhole. This time they weren't spinning out of control. The gravity from the wormhole would pull them into it, and once they exited from the other side, they would be able to re-establish control of the ship by turning on the power. All they had to do was sit back and wait, and soon she would be back with her family.

Shamara closed her eyes. She wasn't sure she wanted to return just yet.

Something wet slid across her cheek, and her eyes popped open. She found herself eye to eye with an animal, but she wasn't on the ship anymore. Shamara was lying on a grassy ground, stars above her, but the two moons she saw were tiny, not like the greenish-blue, large moons of Calabria. The wolf was still licking her face, but it stopped when the eagle swooped at it. Shamara was relieved when the wolf bounded after the bird and they disappeared into the darkness.

"I wouldn't be so easy to chase away, especially from such an pleasant task."

Shamara sat up and looked into the dark where the voice came from. "Perhaps I prefer the wolf's company."

"I will call it back."

"You don't have any more control over him than I have over the eagle," she retorted. She wished Dagan would step out of the darkness.

"Her."

"Her?"

"The wolf is a female," he informed her as he stepped into the dim light reflecting from the small moons. "Your eagle is a male."

She frowned. "How do you know?"

"The markings. The male bird is always more colorful than the female." He came closer to her. "How do you come to be here? Where are we?"

Shamara stood to face him. "I thought you had drawn me here. I do not know how I am here. Lord Duo says it is a Guerani trance."

Dagan's brows drew together in a frown. "I am no Guerani! Nor do I believe you to be one. Such beings are a myth used by you imperial Calabrians to frighten your ignorant people."

"Do you think we have the same dreams?" she asked, annoyed that he wouldn't believe her. "I almost died from the poisonous bite of the serpent."

Dagan reached up to touch his head and Shamara saw that the wound he had received in their last encounter was healing. "I don't know what is going on. I do know that every time we are together, our lives are in danger, and I am not sure you are worth the risk."

"Then you need not worry much longer. I am returning to Calabria." Shamara crossed her arms and glared at him. "I won't be around to trouble you anymore."

He didn't respond immediately. Silence stretched out between them until Dagan finally said, "You are leaving without me? Are you going to leave me here among these filthy barbarians? You may as well kill me now, Shamara, because it is only a matter of time until they do."

"I do not know where you are," she said. Shamara felt guilty for snapping at him.

"I have heard them call it Mars Colony."

She nodded. "The healer who saved me from the poison said the beast was a creature of that place."

Dagan stared at her in silence for several more moments. Shamara stared back at him until he said, "I cannot ask you to risk coming here to find me. I must find my own way. That is the will of the gods."

"You speak much of the will of the gods!" Shamara blew out her breath in exasperation. "Perhaps it is the will of the gods that I help you! Why else would they bring me here?"

"They brought us both here," he reminded her. "Perhaps you are right. The gods must have a purpose to bring us together in this place."

Shamara laughed. "I hope it is more to my liking than my father's purpose."

"You do not like me?" Dagan seemed affronted. He looked down as if searching for whatever she found distasteful. In fact, Shamara didn't find anything distasteful about Dagan of Bayman in the least, except maybe his attitude.

She wondered what he thought of her.

"It doesn't matter," he said when she didn't answer his question. "I do not intend to marry you, princess or not."

Shamara felt hurt. She couldn't remember anyone ever rejecting her like this! "Then why should I do anything to help you?"

The screech of the eagle and the howl of the wolf prevented him from responding. Dagan shook his head. "That is an ill portent."

The animals seemed to be calling them because they heard them again. Shamara looked at Dagan, her brows raised. "I don't think the gods want us to ignore them."

He frowned at her, and without a word he headed in the direction from which the animal calls came. Shamara followed him reluctantly. No good had ever come from following the lead of those beasts.

"Don't be so distrusting!"

Shamara spun around. "Who said that?"

Only the howling of the wolf and the screeching of the owl could be heard. Shamara shrugged. Probably a trick of Dagan's. He was responsible for this entire escapade. As she shoved aside the thick, huge leaves of the foliage and hurried to keep him in sight ahead of her, she tried to think of ways he could be tortured. Unfortunately, Shamara didn't quite understand the concept of torture and could not come up with one suitable method besides sending him to his room without dessert. That had happened to Amyr once when he shot a spoonful of his meal at the Ambassador from Teralon, a planet several days distant. Somehow her father had managed to soothe the man's ruffled feathers…

"Try to concentrate on the mission," scolded Dagan from ahead.

"Are you reading my thoughts?" she demanded angrily as she caught up to him.

"I can't help it when you think so loudly," he returned, not breaking a stride. "Fortunately, you can't read mine."

"I can so!"

He chuckled. "Not when you are too busy with your own silly musings."

Shamara shut her mouth and tried to concentrate on his thoughts, but she could not read them. Frowning, she wondered how he could block him as efficiently as he could her.

"You would never be able to do it, princess." He came to a stop and she bumped into his back. Peering around him, she saw the wolf standing in the middle of the trail he had been making. The wolf turned and growled into the darkness.

"I don't need to read your thoughts, and you don't need to read mine," said Shamara as a frisson of fear wriggled up her spine.

"I see something ahead," he announced.

"If it has fangs and more than one head, I think we should go back the way we came," she suggested.

The owl screeched and she jumped.

Dagan turned around and put his hands on her shoulders. "I will understand if you cannot go through with the trials the gods have set out for us."

"When did your trials and quests suddenly become mine?" demanded Shamara, raising her chin and glaring at him. "Especially when you have already announced your decision not to marry me."

"You said yourself that the gods brought us together."

"Did I?" Shamara thought she should watch what she was saying around him in the future.

"Too late to back out now." He pushed forward into the darkness. Clouds obscured what little light there was from the moons, and afraid to be left alone, Shamara hurried after him, the wolf running beside her. They came to a clearing, and as Dagan took her arm and drew her closer to him, the wolf lowered its head and its hackles raised as it growled. The eagle landed on a branch nearby and ruffled its feathers.

"I see a cave."

Shamara looked past him and saw the black yawning mouth of a cave. "You don't think we are going in there do you? There is no light and…"

Dagan lifted his hands, and she felt him go tense for a moment before a blast of fire blew forth and lit several branches of the tree on fire. She watched speechlessly as he walked forward, snapped off a branch, then headed toward the cave.

"I'm not going in with you!" she called after him. She stood in the burning clearing alone with the wolf and the eagle. The wolf stared at the cave growling. The eagle seemed to be staring at Shamara as if accusing her of some crime. She stamped her foot. "All right! I'll go, but only because I think he needs protection!"

Shamara felt much better when she had gone into the cave and saw that Dagan had not gone very far. He was holding up the torch that he had made to look at the wall. Shamara wondered if there was some type of creature there, but as she looked closer, she saw symbols carved into the rock.

"What is that?" she asked.

"The words of the gods," he said reverently. Shamara thought he was going to get on his knees and start praying.

"I doubt the gods would make such crude drawings," she remarked as she continued to study the symbols. "I have seen this type of marking before, but I cannot remember where."

Dagan looked at her. "How can you have seen this before? You have never been to this system!"

She shrugged. "I do not know, but I very much doubt the gods made these marks."

The ground rumbled, and Shamara lost her footing. Dagan caught her to keep her from falling. "It is not safe in here."

He started to lead her from the cave, but from deeper inside, a sound that was akin to moaning and growling at the same time made him freeze. "I know that sound," he said quietly, releasing Shamara and drawing his sword. He threw aside the torch, and Shamara scrambled to pick it up before it extinguished on the damp cavern floor.

"Where are you going?" she demanded furiously as she followed.

"In the bowels of this forsaken planet there is a beast who feeds on the flesh of men. In the other world I cannot do anything to save the poor men who are sent to their deaths. In here, I will not allow such an abomination to live."

"Dagan! You will get yourself killed!" Shamara stopped and watched him until he disappeared into the darkness headed in the direction of the sounds. What did he think he could accomplish? Based on what she had already seen on this planet, she could very well imagine what the creature he stalked looked like. And he was going to fight it with a sword?

Annoyed and frightened, she followed after him. "Dagan, where are you?"

"Princess, go back. I do not want you to get hurt."

His voice was several feet ahead, so she continued forward. "I am not going to leave you alone in here!" The ground was sloping downward. "Dagan, I can't find you."

"Watch your step. There are holes…" His voice suddenly trailed away and she heard a scraping sound. Shamara forgot fear for herself and hurried forward, barely able to stop as she came to the edge of a huge pit. Kneeling at the edge, she swung the torch as low as she could and was able to make out a form lying prone on a ledge.

"Dagan?" He didn't move. Shamara realized he must have bumped his head when he fell. Idiot, she thought. And my father wants me to marry him? She would spend the rest of her life protecting him from his foolish pursuits claiming that the gods were directing him. This certainly wasn't the Prince Dagan she had heard about!

Setting aside the torch, she allowed her eyes to grow accustomed to the dark, then surveyed the sides of the pit. If she were careful, she could climb down, if she wanted to. She could also just leave him. This wasn't really happening, was it? As if in answer, the recently healed wound she had received from the serpent began to throb. Shamara knew if she left Dagan there, he might die in this world, and his body would die in the other. Shamara couldn't let that happen.

Slowly, she lowered herself into the hole and almost panicked when she couldn't find a foothold. Finally she did, and she carefully climbed lower, each movement seeming to take an hour as she searched in the dark for something to hold onto. When she came to the ledge, she realized there was no room for her to stand, so she had to straddle Dagan. She felt very uncomfortable in such a position, but he was unconscious, so she shook off her embarrassment.

After determining that the ledge wouldn't be able to support too much movement, she leaned forward to see Dagan's face better. He wasn't bleeding. She would have to touch him to determine his injuries, and she was afraid to do it. Shamara didn't know what she would see if she put her hands on him.

Fortunately, his lashes fluttered, and then he opened his eyes. At first, he didn't seem to recognize her, and then he chuckled. "You are determined to mate me, aren't you, princess."

Shamara was glad it was dark and he couldn't see how heated her cheeks were. How did he get that idea?

"I am not complaining." He moved his hips. "There, now that is more comfortable."

Shamara almost agreed until she realized where she was sitting, how she was sitting, and that it affected him in ways that had nothing to do with their present danger. Did that have something to do with mating? "Just what are you doing?"

His hands were moving up her legs. "I thought you wanted this, princess."

She slapped at his hands. "That was when I thought it was a dream! This isn't a dream! And there is a beast in here that you said yourself feeds upon the flesh of men."

"Don't worry, Shamara, I will make it seem like a dream." His hands were suddenly on her shoulders and he drew her downwards.

She tried to twist away from him. "Let me go, you…you …"

His lips cut off any word she might have been able to say. Shamara was stunned at first, and then she simply did not want to stop this glorious kiss. This was her second kiss, she thought. And she had not even been kissed in real life. Would a real kiss with Dagan be this good, or would it be as dull as she suspected the true Dagan was?

"Stop thinking," he murmured as he kissed a trail to her neck.

"This is silly," she whispered, but she ran her fingers through his hair while his hands worked on the sash that kept her intricate robes together and his lips nuzzled lower. Her garment fell over her shoulders, and Dagan's hands grazed over her bared ribs as he moved them upwards.

A roar startled him into drawing back. It wasn't an animal! It wasn't the beast! It was…

"Shamara!"

Her eyes flew open, and for a moment, the bright light blinded her. She was lying on a soft bed, and she could feel a warm breeze. Shamara moved her head to the side and she saw the familiar sight of the two Calabrian suns.

"I have to go back!" she exclaimed, turning quickly but finding herself face to face with her father. His expression was anything but indulgent. He looked murderously angry as he rubbed his knuckles. She glanced past him to see Apolo standing behind with a faint smile on his lips. Shamara realized he must have seen her trance.

"You are not going anywhere!" Trey pushed himself away from the bed and turned away from her as if he couldn't stand the sight of her. Shamara was hurt. He was trembling, and his voice was shaky. "I thought we were going to lose you when Duo brought you back in that state, and now I find out you were merely having some kind of sexual fantasy! I should beat you!"

Shamara almost burst into tears. "It wasn't what you think!" She had never seen this side of her father before. "I can explain!"

But he walked out, slamming the door in his wake.

The tears began to slide down her cheeks, and she looked at her uncle. "What did you tell my father?"

Apolo chuckled. "I didn't tell him anything. He entered a trance once before, so he touched your hands, and I'm afraid he saw more than he wanted." Now Apolo threw back his head in laughter, and Shamara picked up a pillow and pelted him with it.

"Get out!"

She could still hear his laughter as he walked away down the hall and she had buried her head under her pillows. Only a few moments passed before the door opened, and Shamara quickly peeked out to see if her father had returned, but it was her mother.

"You were rather rude to my brother," she commented.

"He didn't seem bothered," muttered Shamara resentfully.

Arora sat on the edge of the bed. "Your father is quite furious."

Shamara swiped at her tears. "He shouldn't have come into my trance!"

"I think he knows that, but he hoped he could bring you out. Shamara, you have been in that trance for three days since you returned."

"It wasn't three days!" Shamara could not believe what she was hearing. "No more than an hour could have passed in there."

"Perhaps your perception of time was skewed by the wormhole. Whatever the reason, we were afraid you would starve." Arora laughed softly and brushed back Shamara's hair, then wiped her tears with the back of her hand. "Who was the young man?"

"Prince Dagan," she said, hoping that would make a difference.

"Duo reported that Dagan's ship disappeared and likely crashed."

"Dagan is alive! I have to go back and help him."

"Or finish what your father interrupted?" Her mother raised her brows in a way that made Shamara blush and cringe with embarrassment. Arora laughed again. "I would love to know what he saw."

"Nothing for which I should be ashamed!"

"Then why is your face so pink?" Arora pinched her cheeks gently. "I will go talk to your father. Perhaps I can get him to see some reason. After all, I don't think he gave much consideration to what my father might have thought when he seduced me on Earth."

Her mother left before Shamara could question her further about that comment, especially the details about the seducing, and soon enough, her sisters, all demanding to know about her experience in the trance invaded her privacy. None of them had Guerani powers and they would never enter a trance, but Shamara was reluctant to give them any details. All but Chaela were too young to understand anyway, so she told them only about the monsters and showed them her healing wound which had almost faded to nothing. When the two younger ones left, Chaela remained behind to draw a perfumed bath for Shamara.

She helped her wash her long, thick hair, then pulled up a stool and leaned forward to look Shamara in the eye. "So, are you still a virgin?"

Shamara splashed water at her. "What kind of question is that?"

Chaela laughed and wiped her face. "You aren't answering!"

"Of course I am!" What was Chaela talking about? How would Shamara know if she were or were not a virgin?

"Good. I heard from someone who heard from a Bayman trader who heard the gossip at the Bayman court that if Prince Dagan finds you are not pure, he will not be forced to wed you. He wants to marry his concubine."

Shamara shrugged. "He told me already that he loved another." Although she presented a calm façade to Chaela, Shamara was seething with fury. If she knew how to enter a trance and pull that Bayman dog prince in with her, she would find some suitable way to punish him for his duplicity. So he was going to seduce her in a trance so that he could claim she was unpure? Shamara wondered if she was already unpure.

"So, is he handsome?"

"The ugliest man alive," she muttered.

Chaela laughed. "There is still hope for me, then?"

Shamara glared at her. "You couldn't handle a man like him."

"I probably know a few tricks you couldn't even dream of." Chaela was laughing as she left. Her sister was exasperating, but she wasn't mean spirited. She had no designs on Dagan, but she liked teasing Shamara. Chaela had the luxury of doing as she pleased, and she did just that even though she often angered their parents. Shamara didn't care anyway who ended up with Prince Dagan of Bayman.

After bathing, Shamara dressed, then decided to speak to her father. But he was busy, so she spent the rest of the day with her family telling them stories of her adventure in the human system. For an hour she practiced her swordplay with Amyr and Taeron until the former noticed the females watching from the balcony over the practice yard, and the latter was dragged away with her brother in his pursuit of the giggling young women.

As they hurried after the pair, Shamara put away her sword and noticed her mother sitting on a bench, her youngest child playing around her feet. "Do you think they are going to have innocent relations with those females?" asked Shamara with disgust.

Arora shrugged. "Who knows what a male will do? Ah, here comes your father."

Shamara dreaded looking up. Emperor Trey was approaching, and although he wasn't smiling as he usually did when he saw her, he wasn't glaring either. His advisors stepped back, then disappeared back into the palace along with the courtiers who seemed to be necessary ornaments at the court. Her father usually ignored them.

Trey stopped when he was standing over Shamara. "How are you feeling now that you have had some rest?"

"Ashamed."

He sat beside her on the bench and took her hand. Shamara felt his regret more strongly than if he would speak it. "I should not have disturbed your trance. You mother tells me you were with Dagan."

"Does that make it so much better?" She drew her hands away from him, then looked into her father's eyes. "I have been told that when I bonded with you, I allowed you to see my life."

"That is true, Shamara, but I cannot reveal it to you. You must make your own decisions." He stroked her hair back from her face. "I am not ashamed of you, my little princess. Your mother reminded me quite efficiently that you are not my little girl anymore, that you are a young woman with feelings and needs beyond my control."

"I don't have those kinds of needs! Amyr might, but not me!" She didn't even know what those needs were, but she wasn't going to let him know of her ignorance.

He smiled faintly. "I think you should be married as soon as possible."

"I won't marry Dagan! He tried to trick me!"

"I question his honor and his worthiness to be your mate anyway."

Shamara was about to agree, but she remembered how he had saved her life. "Well, he is lost to me anyway." Her voice sounded lame even to her.

"Good. You are seeing my point of view. I will be sending his father a stern reproach. I would not be proud to claim one such as he."

Shamara glanced at her mother and found that she was smiling. She looked back at her father. "We aren't just going to leave him on the Mars Colony?"

"Mars Colony?" His brows raised. "Is that where Dagan ended up?"

"It is a horrible place!" Shamara grabbed his arm. "We can't just leave him there!"

"Shamara, you give me the impression that you have some feelings for that young scoundrel."

She released him and sat back. "I do not! I pity him as I would any helpless creature! He is so ill suited to be there. Father, you should have seen his deplorable skill with a sword! He couldn't defend me if my life depended on it! Someone has to defend him."

"Are you volunteering?" asked Arora. Shamara knew she was laughing at her, could tell by the tone of her voice and the twinkle in her amber eyes, but Shamara ignored her.

Trey frowned. "You still want to marry this laggard of a swordsman who cannot defend you?"

"I didn't say that!"

"Good. I have already begun negotiations with the ambassador from Teralon."

"Father! They have feathers!" Shamara shuddered as she thought of the people from that planet whose males could morph into beings with wings.

"I'm sure you would get used to it," commented Arora with that little smile of hers.

Shamara felt trapped. "I…I…" She looked at her father. He wouldn't really make her marry a birdman! Would he?

"Shamara, you are the most eligible princess in the galaxy." He smiled proudly. "I can't help it that my influence is widespread or that you are beautiful in the bargain. I have already had twelve offers of marriage for you since you returned and word of Dagan's disappearance and possible death has spread. If I don't marry you off, one of those hot-blooded princes from another planet will carry you away in a forced marriage."

"But…but Dagan is not dead!"

"You said you didn't want to marry him, so we really have no reason to send anyone through the wormhole to find him."

"But…but…"

"The trip back through that wormhole could be dangerous, and I think Seighen has given up on his son. When I asked if he wished to cooperate and send a rescue mission through the wormhole, he refused. Now I don't think I want to risk any lives on a whim of yours to search for him on Mars Colony. "

"It's not a whim!"

"So you say, Shamara." He was grinning at her.

Shamara knew he was toying with her. "You are unfair! Mother, tell him so!"

Arora shrugged.

"So what is your answer?" asked Trey, still grinning. "Is this match with Dagan still on? I got the impression that he was less than repulsive to you. I doubt the Prince Avar of Teralon is as adept at using his fingers."

"Father!" Shamara felt faint with embarrassment. She looked to her mother for help, but she could only smile at her husband.

"Your answer?" His brows were raised.

"All right! I'll marry Dagan, but only because I don't want to live in a nest for the rest of my life hatching eggs!"

Trey threw back his head in laughter that Shamara didn't join. She might have to marry Dagan, but she didn't have to like it. She would make him regret his scheme to dispose of her.

"I know I told him he wouldn't have to do it again, but he is the most qualified to assist you. I'll ask Duo to escort you back."

"Excellent!" Now Shamara smiled, for although her life was taking a turn for the worse, this trip would be the best thing for Duo. "Lord Duo's mate is on the Mars Colony."

"Lord Duo's mate?" Trey couldn't look more surprised.

"The healer," Shamara told him. "She saved my life with her knowledge of potions."

"Duo found some woman?" Trey stroked his chin. "This is interesting news. I have been discussing with my advisors the feasibility of combining the governments of the two moons, so I was considering asking him to marry Larya. But if he is interested in another woman…"

"The flame-haired woman," said Shamara. "Her name is Trynity Nelson, and she has already given him a son and daughter although she did not tell him so."

Her father looked amazed. "He saw Trynity? He spoke to her and yet he came back without her?" Then he frowned. "Nelson? By the gods, that reunion must have gone badly!"

"He pretends to not want her, but I saw how he looked at her. She is in his heart." Shamara smiled. "And I think she has deep feelings for him."

"Interesting. So she had twins as Apolo predicted." Trey chuckled. "Did you also meet them?"

"Yes. I liked them." She looked down at her hands guiltily.

"Oh my, you touched them!" Arora was dismayed.

"Just the girl. She grabbed my hand! That is when I realized she was Duo's daughter."

"Did she know it already?" asked Trey.

Shamara shook her head. "Her mother married another man who raised her children as his own. I am not sure if I let her know the truth or not. She did not say anything about it, not to her mother or to Duo or to me."

"I don't think we should get involved," said Arora. "Don't touch either of them again."

Trey chuckled, and Shamara knew that he was going to do as he forbade her. He was going to meddle in Duo's life. "I will send Apolo to Duo and see if he would be willing to escort you back to the Mars Colony to find your beloved groom."

"He is not my beloved groom!"

"Then I will send you back to the Mars Colony to rescue that bungling prince."

"Much better," muttered Shamara. And she would make that bungling prince regret trying to use her!