Magelights lent a soft glow to the dining room, like candles but without the flames so dangerous to vampires. Flashes of light danced through the room, as magelight reflected off the crystal wine glasses and bright silverware wielded by the dinner guests. Muted sounds of the string quartet in the ballroom drifted through the room to meld with murmured conversations and the clink of silverware against plates.

"Lady Cassandra, may I present Commodore Micajah Thorn?" said Marsden as he placed a hand on the ancient war mage's shoulder. I looked up from my salad.

"Retired, of course," rumbled the surprisingly strong voice. He peered at me with clear hazel eyes, as though I were some new gadget whose workings he was trying to figure out. "Hmm…I sense why John backed her," he murmured after a moment. He turned to Marsden. "You've vetted the Guard, correct?"

"John did. He was ahead of us in that regard."

"No surprise there. He never does anything partway."

"Do you know Mage Pritkin well?" I asked conversationally, not really expecting the good stuff on him.

"I would say so. I was his commanding officer at Pan Bar," he said quietly. All conversation at the table ceased, even nearby tables went silent. Pritkin had mentioned Pan Bar to me once, but I had no idea what was significant about it. It must be some pivotal historical mage moment, I thought. I would ask Marsden later.

"John was awarded his first Order of Merlin for his actions at Pan Bar."

I glanced at Thorn's uniform. He had twice as many medals as Pritkin, but no Order of Merlin.

"I see you have a Master at Arms – Wards among your medals. Is there some reason Mage Pritkin does not have one? He seems to know so many spells," I asked Thorn.

"Yes. He did not bother to complete the award criteria. He was just interested in the Potions badge, since that would allow him access to the restricted section of the Corps Armory so he could get his hands on some of the rarer potion ingredients. Nalisa knows something about that, don't you?" He turned to the witch, who started to blush, obviously uncomfortable with the way this conversation was heading. Her lips pinched as a frown creased her brow.

"That's in the past and I am not going to discuss it further." She slammed her water goblet onto the table to emphasize her point, then picked up her fork and savagely attacked her salad. I wouldn't be getting any story out of her tonight, I thought.

"Where are the vampires and the Fey princess?" I quirked an eyebrow at Marsden.

"The Fey have left. The princess has a young son she wanted to get back to. The vampires are graciously allowing us to have dinner without them. They are trying to appear magnanimous by not monopolizing your time. After all, you'll still be here as Lord Mircea's guest even when the party is over and the rest of us have left," he frowned.

The wait staff cleared the salad plates and deposited our dinner plates in front of us.

"Ah…venison!" exclaimed Sebastian. Each plate also had a small portion of grilled salmon and a nice medley of root vegetables. I had told Robert I did not want a long, drawn-out dinner with multiple meat courses and lemon ice in between. This was a nice compromise and the plate was beautifully presented. I didn't know sweet turnips could look so much like a rose. I picked at my food and only sipped at my wine while the others finished the meal in soft conversation and reminiscing with the Commodore. I was still smarting from Pritkin's reprimand. I left the dining room with my hand resting on Marsden's arm as he led me to the ballroom. The guards were in place, strategically located around the halls and rooms. Magelights glittered infinitely in the mirrors placed alternately with the sconces on the polished marble walls of the ballroom. Pritkin stood at the far end of the ballroom, calmly chatting with another uniformed war mage. Perhaps the spells on his tunic had invoked, I mused. He was standing with his legs slightly apart with one hand on his holster while Jeannie leaned against the side of his thigh, one arm wrapped around his leg, yawning. I guess he wasn't taking any more chances with her. I stopped a passing photographer and whispered my request to him. He nodded and continued into the room. I noticed three witches enter the ballroom, one of them stopping short when she saw Pritkin. Her two companions turned to her and she nodded towards Pritkin, then said something to her friends that caused both of them to stare at him. All three of them turned around and quickly left the room. Mircea broke away from a group of vampires and stepped over to me, gazing at me calmly. I wondered if he had staked the three vampires yet.

"My Lady, may I have the first dance?"

I snorted gently. Mircea would have my first and only dance tonight. Robert had told me I was to avoid touching any of the guests, so I had used that as an excuse to escape from the dancing early. Even though I had told Robert I could dance, I didn't tell him how bad I was at it. Rafe had tried off and on to teach me, but I always managed to stumble and look awkward. The musicians started to play a waltz as Mircea led me onto the gleaming wood dance floor and took me in his arms. He leaned close and whispered near my ear.

"Follow me just like you practiced with Rafael." I briefly saw myself in the mirrors, the tiny gold embroidery on my dress sparkling in the magelight.

I nervously squeezed his hand. He led me flawlessly through the waltz, his confident hands guiding me through the steps. We finished without any embarrassing mistakes on my part. Augustine would be pleased. He had spelled my dress to make me more graceful. Other couples applauded and then joined us on the dance floor. I saw Rafe swing a giggling Jeannie up into his arms and onto the dance floor, positioning her hands as though she was dancing even though her feet dangled near his thighs. As the next dance started, Mircea led me from the dance floor and walked with me to one of the sitting rooms off the main hall, guarded by two vampires.

"Dulceata…I must leave you with your staff for now." He opened the door to the room and turned me over to Robert with a small nod to me, closing the door as he left. He still had a full night of politics ahead of him.

"My Lady," said Robert, "I trust your evening has gone well so far?" I guess he hadn't heard about the vampire's faux pas in the kitchen. He inclined his head towards a petite brunette standing nearby.

"This is Epatha Baker, your Pythian Secretary."

"My Lady." She bobbed her head. "I knew Elizabeth O'Donnell. You have your mother's eyes," she smiled softly as she looked at me.

"I don't remember her very well. I was young when she died," I answered solemnly.

"There are some photos of her in the archives, and she made several entries in the Chronicles when she was the Heir. Let me show you how to access them." She gestured to the sofa and I sat down as she opened a laptop sitting on the coffee table. She handed me a small piece of paper.

"That is your login and password," she told me. "Change the password as soon as you are able. Now…let's see if Lord Mircea's wards are going to stop us tonight," she murmured as she brought up the web page for the Pythian Court.

"Try your login."

I typed the information in and the web site welcome page came up.

"Well that's a good sign. See if you can get to the Chronicles link."

I clicked on the icon, but nothing happened. Epatha sighed.

"I thought as much. Lord Mircea isn't taking any chances. With so many powerful leaders of different factions here tonight, he erred on the side of caution and had the big wards put up. I'll have to show you this tomorrow. " She folded her hands over her knees. "I did load several directories onto this machine so that you have something to review while we wait for clear access. You may browse the folders at your leisure," she instructed. "Now let me show you your new iPhone."

Epatha demonstrated my new device, showing me several of the apps and how to speed dial the Pythian Guard, herself, Robert and Mircea. There was also a number for 'bodyguard' but no name. I wondered if Pritkin was going to start carrying a cell phone. If he couldn't kill someone with it, he probably didn't want it.

"Do you have any questions?"

"Not about these." I waved my hand at the laptop and phone. "But I would like to know how you knew my mother. She has been dead for almost 21 years, and she was in hiding for a few years before then."

"I was an initiate at Lady Phemonoe's Court at the same time your mother was, although she was older than me. When she left I thought there might be a chance I would be chosen as the Heir, but Myra was selected in her place so I moved on."

"But you are still at the Court," I pointed out.

"Yes, but not as an initiate. When it became apparent to me that I would not be selected as the Heir, I petitioned Lady Phemonoe to release me. You see, I had fallen in love and I wanted to start a family with my beloved. Initiates cannot marry. Through the years many initiates have grown old at Court, waiting to see if they would be named the Heir. I did not want to become like them. Lady Phemonoe was afraid the drain would kill me and was reluctant to release me."

"What? A drain?" I was confused. Was there an incubus at Court?

"The Silver Circle does not want there to be any chance that the power will go to a seer that is not under their control, so when an initiate chooses to leave the Court her power is drained. But the amount of power that must be drained varies widely among the initiates and sometimes too much is taken and the girl dies. Lady Phemonoe was determined to end that practice, but had not succeeded yet. So she asked me to stay at Court as an employee instead, getting around the rule. She paid for my college and I got my degree in computer science. She had been very supportive of my efforts to computerize the Court." She grinned. "The Silver Circle is full of old fashioned men who have little use for modern information services. The Court now has lots of features that the Circle does not know about." My opinion of Agnes just increased exponentially.

We chatted for a while longer until I said goodnight. "It's getting late. I did not intend to stay up all night with the vampires. May we continue this tomorrow?" I was eager to review the folders on my new laptop. My escort of vampire guards fell into formation around me as I headed for my suite. I spent the next few hours with my laptop, reading files and looking at digital images of Court activities. Epatha had loaded all the files with database access, so I could search the thousands of files using text strings. On a whim, I entered 'Pritkin' as a search string. There was one hit…a reference to a file labeled "Pan Bar Incident". I skimmed the file and found that it contained a report written as a summary of a war mage fight. Pritkin was mentioned in only one sentence and was credited with saving his entire regiment. The report was an internal critique of why the Pythia and her staff had failed to foresee the incident. I was suddenly reminded of the responsibility I now held, responsibility that went hand in hand with my power. Many lives could depend on my visions, and I was once again finding myself sick with worry that I would fail. On that grim thought, I went to bed and eventually fell into a restless sleep.

I awoke early, even though I did not have any scheduled Pythian duties until after lunch. I pulled out my faded jeans and a favorite tee shirt to wear. I would change later. There was a breakfast set out for me, but I left it untouched and went to find Pritkin. I had to talk to him and clear the air between us. I couldn't stand it when he was angry with me. I fervently hoped he had calmed down by now. I knocked on his door and when no one answered I headed to the kitchen. He wasn't there either, but Mage Peter Tremaine was.

"Good morning, my Lady," he greeted me as he jumped to his feet, nearly dumping his coffee.

"Hi Peter. Have you seen Pritkin?"

"No, my Lady. Not since last night when his shift ended. He is off duty for the next three days. I am your Guard today. May I assist you in any way?"

"No," I sighed. "Not unless you know where he is?"

"He might be over at the ranch house visiting some friends before they leave. There was a troop of war mages that spent the night over there in case they were needed. Would you like me to escort you?"

"Just point it out to me."

He led me out of Mircea's hillside home and pointed through the tall trees to a large house set in a distant clearing. I shifted to the yard of the ranch house, walked to the back porch and tip-toed up to the screen door. Tension tightened my whole body as I wondered how Pritkin would react to me today. The scent of pancakes and sausage wafted out to me, making the knot in my stomach churn unpleasantly. Early morning light brightened the comfortable kitchen. Pritkin was sitting at a rough wooden table littered with breakfast dishes. Jeannie and Caleb were at the table with him. I stood in the doorway and listened to the friendly banter of the domestic scene inside.

"I can't believe you turned down pancakes for – what do you call it? – porridge," complained Caleb to a giggling Jeannie as Pritkin pulled her reading primer out of her pink backpack.

"What are you on about…it's a good healthy breakfast." He glanced at Jeannie. "Are you ready to begin?" Pritkin picked up the reading primer and started the next lesson while Jeannie sat at the table eating her morning oatmeal.

"The letter D makes the sound 'deh'. What are some words that start with that sound?" he asked her.

"Doll", Jeannie said immediately, "dish, dessert, dog..."

"Demon," said Pritkin. "Daylight," he added. "Most demons can't be outside in the daylight," he told her seriously.

"Dislocater," offered Caleb helpfully. Last night I had noticed that Caleb had a Master at Arms – Ordinance badge on his uniform. Caleb knew all about how to build magical explosives.

"Dress," I countered evenly as I walked warily into the kitchen.

"Dangerous, dumb…" Pritkin said after a moment, looking at me. "Dead," he said flatly. I cringed.

"Departing," Caleb murmured as he excused himself and left the room.

"Despondent…" I said over the lump in my throat as I looked into angry green eyes, my vision smearing with tears. "Desolate," I finished as a tear leaked out and ran down my face. Damn it, I did not ever want to cry in front of this man. Tears were a sign of weakness to the mage. He believed they should not appear unless you suddenly lost a body part in some gruesome fashion accompanied by massive amounts of blood, preferably in a spectacular explosion or at the hands and teeth of some fearsome creature.

"Are you finished?" he asked curtly.

"No. I came to apologize," I sniffed as I wiped my face with my tee shirt.

"I don't want an apology. I want your promise that you will not behave that way again." He ran his hands through his hair and exhaled sharply, glaring at me. I strongly suspected he wanted to grab my shoulders and shake me hard. "Do you not understand, Lady Cassandra? Every time you attempt to 'rescue' someone, you endanger that person because you are not trained, you endanger yourself by shifting directly into an area of conflict, and you endanger your guards, who must now scramble to retrieve you at great risk to themselves. And not that I care, but three vampires were staked as an end result of your action. If your behavior had been otherwise, they would have simply been chastised. I understand those vampires did not belong to Mircea. I hope their master does not try to take retribution out on the child." He stood and crossed his arms over his chest. "You are thoughtless and reckless, and you are dishonoring the office of the Pythia," he told me bluntly. He looked over at Jeannie. "If you are finished with your breakfast, go brush your teeth and visit the toilet. We are leaving shortly," he told her quietly as he handed her a toothbrush from her backpack, then stuffed her reading primer into it and zipped it shut. He looked at me again, somewhat calmer. "I think it is best that the child does not come to the Court with me. I will make other arrangements for her." He paused, as though he was debating with himself whether or not to voice the rest of what he was thinking. "As for my position at your Court, my oath to the Pythia ends when I leave the Corps and I only agreed to stay in the Corps just until after you were installed. I will decide during the next three days whether or not I want to continue this assignment. I suggest you shift back to your Guard now before he gets fired for loosing track of you."

"What?" I asked, stunned. My heart was pounding and the knot in my stomach grew larger, almost to the point of nausea. I could only take tiny breaths, making me dizzy. Pritkin's frame of mind was much worse than I thought it would be, especially since he had had the night to calm down. "Ar…Aren't you going to be by my side? Aren't you my partner?" My voice trembled.

Jeannie returned and he helped her with her backpack, then donned his leather coat and shrugged into his own pack. He gazed at me, resolve tightening his mouth.

"You have thrice the number of guards than the previous Pythia, thanks to your vampire. You shan't miss my services." He strode out the door with Jeannie trotting behind him and headed across the dew-dampened grass towards the ley line. I watched numbly as he bent down and scooped her up with one arm, holding her pressed against his side as he reached up with the other arm and ripped open the ley line. They disappeared into the pale green energy as the ley line flashed closed.