"Now, do not forget your true mission, my child," Charissa said as she finished combing Rania's hair.

"How could I forget, Mother? He reminds me every night," Rania remarked as she lifted her gaze toward the palace that gleamed in the setting sun.

"His devotion is precisely what worries me," her mother remarked, as she turned Rania around to face her. She smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder, erasing the troubled expression that had been on her face but a few seconds before.

"What do you mean, Mother? You know he hasn't acted toward me without respect," Rania explained. "He has always conducted himself in a manner befitting his status, even when he was unaware of my watching him. Why should he start now?"

Charissa sighed and placed a hand on Rania's cheek, looking at her with caring eyes. "You must remember that our king is not merely under the influence of the crown." Viewing the determination that came into her daughter's eyes, Charissa's own filled with pride as she exhaled all her fears out in one breath. "Forgive me, Rania. I seem to keep forgetting that you are indeed Aharon's daughter. However . . . "

Her mother trailed off as she went over to the cot that she and Rania shared. From the dark crevices between the stone and the farther edge of it, she removed a brick in the wall. From this she withdrew a small cloth pouch, replaced the stone, and straightening, presented it to Rania.

". . .with the strength and boldness of your father comes also the empathy and feeling of your mother," Charissa finished as Rania pulled out a neckalace. It was a small pendant, with a white diamond enclosed in its center, surrounded by a rim of gold. Charissa took it and fastened it around Rania's neck, as Rania turned her head in question.

"But, Mother, Father's war pendant? Why?" she protested.

"I gave this to him as a token when he first went to war with Aknemkanan's army. It saw him through many perils, and it was the only remnant of him the remaining soldiers could find after the Theif King had finished his destruction that night." Her voice tightened, even now, so many years after her beloved's death. "I think it fitting that you should wear it at this time . . . "

"Because you rightly view my audience with the Pharaoh as my first true peril?" Rania asked, as she turned back around.

In answer, her mother hugged Rania tightly, as though this would be the last time. "I just don't know what I would do if I were to lose you too," Charissa said, burying her face in Rania's hair, her voice breaking.

Hugging Charissa to her in response, Rania said, her breath quickening a little, "Mother, I promise you, I won't let this audience change anything. I shall keep my soul as pure as the color of Father's pendant, and I will keep a clear mind. I will also be polite, but not overly submissive, especially to the corruption of the Orichalcos that our king is enthralled to. For no doubt the hour at which this audience is to take place has awoken your fears."

"Spoken just like your father," Charissa said, as she pulled back to hold her daughter at arm's length, beaming with pride. "You are wise beyond your years, Rania, and that will serve you well wherever the wind takes you." She smiled and gestured toward the palace, opening the stout wooden door of their home's entrance. "Now off with you. He'll be waiting."

...

Her heart beating even more fiercely than when she had stood in the palace's grand shadow, Rania respectfully stood before the empty throne, a few steps down from the raised dias. As one can imagine, she was quite apprehensive as to what was going to take place. Fingering her pendant nervously, to have something to occupy her hands, she whirled around at the sound of a voice that echoed throughout the previously silent columned hall. "What are you doing here?"

She came face to face with the High Priest Seto, his brows furrowing in annoyance, making a gesture, as he walked impatiently toward her. He was quite an imposing figure; both his manner of dress and his Millennium Rod publicly proclaimed that he was the Pharaoh's most loyal servent. The Millennium Rod, the sacred gift bestowed upon him by King Aknemkanan, was held in his fist. The golden sphere crowning the artifact was parallel to the floor, and it did not escape Rania's notice that it was pointed unsettlingly at her.

She dropped to the floor on one knee, bowing her head. "Forgive me, my lord Seto. Please be assured that I meant no disrespect." She kept her head bent until she heard the High Priest's slightly sinister voice.

"Why do you kneel as a soldier would before their commander?" A smirk was on his face, as his cold blue eyes looked down at her beneath the customary gilded headdress. "And why do you address me by name?" At this moment, Seto chose to hold the Rod upright, with the end resting on the floor. Even the unmoving eyes of the golden seraph near the top of his adornment seemed to shift towards her in spite.

The reemphasized reminder of the Rod's power did little to calm Rania's mind. Straightening her back and shoulders, she answered, fully aware of her honesty, "Perhaps it is because I am the daughter of the late Commander Aharon."

For a moment, Rania saw his eyes glance toward her neck, where Aharon's pendant hung on a thin golden chain. She saw them grow in size slightly, then it faded. "Next you will be telling me that the Pharaoh himself sent for you," Seto smiled without mirth as his fingers tightened on the Rod. "Only dreaming commoners can think up such tales. Now tell me, what is your true purpose here?" The Millenium Rod seemed to descend toward her slowly . . .

"Seto! What in the Pharaoh's name is going on here?!"

Isis was standing in a small antechamber that branched off of the throne room, glaring sternly at him. Rania was surprised. She'd never seen the High Priestess even remotely upset before.

Seto jerked the Rod upright and turned toward her. "I found this commoner loitering about in this room, Isis. Who knows to what tainting this ground has been subject?"

"You may rise, Rania," Isis said, gesturing for her to stand. She did so gratefully, as Seto looked at her incredulously with Isis's next words. "Your commoner, Seto, is indeed the daughter of Commander Aharon, and as it so happens, she is also late for an audience that was made with the Pharaoh a little while ago."

"I . . . Well . . . I will be on my way," he muttered sullenly, striding quickly into the antechamber past Isis as both she and Rania breathed a sigh of relief.

"Come," Isis said, beckoning towards the narrow stone corridor that led out of the antechamber. Rania nodded and fell into step beside her, viewing the end of Seto's cloak disappear behind a corner. Thankfully they went the opposite way.

"I confess, the Pharaoh is detained at this moment. He is holding Council with my comrades, and thus he only reserves his most important audiences after matters have been dealt with," Isis explained as she guided Rania through what she thought of as a maze of corridors, chambers, and antechambers. "He sent me for you now, however, so you will be better prepared to be recieved by him when the Coucil is dismissed."

Nodding in understanding, Rania asked, "Does Seto act that way toward all 'commoners'?"

"Unfortunately, he usually does." Sighing in exasperation at the mention of her comrade, Isis continued, "He seems to favor rank over any other qualities a person may possess." Smiling slightly at Rania, she remarked, "That is also why the Pharaoh sent for you when he did, so any incidental occurrences could have been avoided. In light of that . . . " she trailed off to gesture to two tall, gilded double-doors where the hall ended and widened to accomodate their size, "would you like to listen?"

Her eyes opening at the thought of this opportunity, Rania stammered, "I . . .would be honored, Isis."

"Then come in here, so that no one disturbs you," she said, directing Rania toward another small antechamber in which sat a three-legged stool. She turned to the doors, saying, "I must go hear my comrades, and signal that my duty is done. I will come back and fetch you when it is over."

When Rania signaled she had understood, Isis opened one of the doors silently, and went through, taking care to close it so it would remain noiseless. Rania instantly pulled her stool up to the wall, and rested her ear against it, letting her eyes wander over the hieroglyphs that covered each stone surface of the palace with its history.

"My Pharaoh," she first heard Isis say, announcing herself.

"Isis," his voice acknowledged. Rania then guessed that some signal must have been given, for muffled footfalls proclaimed that the High Priestess was making her way to her seat. Once they ceased, the Pharaoh resumed what must have been his previous sentence, for all had gone quiet once Isis had walked in.

"As you are all aware, I have recieved word from our outlying villages of a very troubling account. A creature has been sighted along the way to the palace, terrorizing the villagers wherever it walks. However, those unfortunate enough to lay eyes on it die within a few hours of the sighting."

"One of our own spoke to an eyewitness, Your Majesty?" Rania recognized the slightly gruff voice as that of Karim, one of the High Priests and the owner of the Millenium Scale.

"Indeed, Karim. Just within the past few days, I recieved news of these disturbances, and so Priest Mahad was sent out in order to investigate the source of these hauntings."

Inferring that a gesture to speak had taken place, Rania got into a more comfortable position on the stool, so as to concentrate all her might on the upcoming report.

"It is true what my lord Pharaoh has said so far," came the voice of Mahad, the Keeper of the Millenium Ring. "I rode through every village outside the palace walls, searching for more information. I was eventually pointed toward the village of Satus, which marked the farthest extent of the main road through the kingdom."

"And if I may ask, what did you find there, Mahad?" Rania instantly recognized the accented, easily distinguishable tones of Shada, the owner of the Millenium Key.

"The original witness, a young farmer, had passed on a few days previous. His relatives had been able to ascertain a description of this spectre that had appeared, yet, I fear they got nothing more from him than I did from hearing their stories."

"What did they say concerning this spectre, Mahad?" A voice that croaked slightly with age sounded amongst the musing quiet that had fallen upon the High Priests.

"Only that it was unidentifiable, at least to them, Aknadin. However, the farmer's relatives depicted this creature as "tattered, hardly human, and constantly moaning aloud as it shuffled down the road toward this city. It kept repeating the words, "Victory will be mine, yet not by my hand.""

"I suppose in their fright they forgot to ask the farmer for details," she heard Seto sneer.

"Seto, please. Would you condemn them for not wishing to talk of a loved one's death?" Isis asked sternly.

"I would merely regard them as insufficient givers of advice, advice that a High Priest rightfully demands."

"Peace, Seto," the Pharaoh's voice commanded. "Is that all, Mahad?"

"Yes, my Pharaoh. The only other information was that I recieved the same reports from the farthest establishments: of all witnesses perishing, and that spectre making its way toward this palace."

"Then we have some time," Rania heard the King say with what might have been a sigh of relief. "Mahad."

"My king."

"Tomorrow at first light, you are to take your best magicians up to the peak of Nesapet. You shall work together to cast a protection spell over the entire area, for hopefully this creature is not immune to sorcery."

"It shall be done, my lord."

"Seto, I am charging you with deploying a quarter of the garrison to the outlying villages, for if this spectre strikes again, I will not wish death upon my people."

After half a minute of silence, and a quiet noise of reluctance, Seto murmured, "Yes, my lord."

"And if any of you discover information about this creature, you must tell me immediately."

After some signal of affirmation must have been given, he then said, "I thank you all for your aid during this time," which seemed to Rania as a form of dismissal. Footsteps answered her suspicions, for all of the High Priests, excluding Isis, came though the great doors to make their way to their retiring placrs for the night.

The only person to pay her any attention was Isis, who filed out the doors after them. "Are you prepared, Rania?"

She swallowed and stood up from her seat, moving out of the antechamber. Her heart beat even faster when Isis announced, "He will be receiving you in his chambers" as she led Rania to the most elaborately gilded, painted door at the end of a corridor that branched away from the Coucil Chamber. Rania now knew that there was more than one portal in that chamber, for how else had she not seen the Pharaoh?

Isis put a reassuring hand on Rania's shoulder as she took her father's pendant in a tight, desparate grasp for courage. "It will be alright, Rania," Isis murmured comfortingly.

Rania took a deep, steady breath, opened the door, and walked in to meet her destiny.