Leif stood in the living room of the cottage, pacing. It was already a dire situation if he had to resort to using the now very limited glass messengers to contact me. But he seldom paced and the newly found habit worried me. He hugged me as soon as I walked in but continued to frown.

"You don't look too good. Did you and Mara have a bad quarrel?" I teased.

Leif's face brightened with complete adoration at her name. "Not even! We're still on our honeymoon."

"You've been on your honeymoon for the last year."

He shrugged and grinned silly. "Marriage is fun! You ought to try it sometime." He shot me and Valek a very pointed look.

I cleared my throat and gestured for the party to sit. We made our greetings before I asked, "Any recent news?"

"We've spoken to some of the captives: The ones who were able to talk anyways." Leif said, "One thing that their stories all had in common: they were taken to dark rooms and the perpetrators were masked. No surprise there. But one disturbing trend has been found." He tugged at his collar, uncomfortable. "They're starting to leave on their own. Some of them go after being discharged and others will leave in the middle of the night."

Already putting the story together, I prompted, "And I'm guessing they all head to the same place?"

Leif nodded grimly. "They don't go home or back to their rooms in the Keep. But there doesn't seem to be a fixed destination either. Thus far, we've been only able to find…dead bodies. And here's the kicker: all causes of death have been determined to be suicide."

"That can't be right."

"Every single body was examined more than thoroughly by a variety of magicians – including the masters - and healers searching for signs of foul play."

"What were the methods used?" Valek asked in a flat voice. His face hardened as he began to pace.

"There were six who managed to leave. One of them was just discovered yesterday." Leif sighed with weariness as he kneaded his temples. "We found their bodies near the Citadel. The methods were asphyxiation by hanging for one, two cases of cut wrists, one jumped from a lethal height, and two died by ingesting poison."

Janco scratched the bottom half of where his left ear used to be. "So if they were found near the Citadel, they couldn't have gotten far. Which might mean they weren't on horseback. But if you were going to do something like this you might want to be a bit farther away to prevent discovery. So it seems that they weren't really planned?"

"Suicide is not typically an impulsive decision." I cut in. My voice was more wistful than I intended as my mind drifted to several souls I've come across...and to my own past. "It's usually thought out and does take careful planning. So this would be out of the ordinary. And we also have to ask how they managed to get a hold of these methods. Finding a sharp blade and possibly a sharp ledge wouldn't be too difficult. But where would they get the ropes and poison from?"

"You think someone else is involved." Ari said. It wasn't a question.

"Yes. Someone had to give it to them. Even a sharp ledge would be difficult to find, now that I think about it." Being surrounded by flat plains made that difficult. That left tall buildings. The Master Magicians' daunting towers suddenly came to mind. I turned to Leif. "And there were no failed attempts?"

He fidgeted. "There was one. One of our people managed to catch her before she could… jump. She managed to get to the balcony on the tenth floor of Master Bloodgood's tower in the middle of the night."

"Did anyone talk to her?" Maren spoke.

Leif sighed as exhaustion lined his face. "Briefly. Master Bloodgood has been trying. And so has Healer Hayes. But she was mostly unresponsive to us. That's where it might be handy to have a Soulfinder on our side."

"And if there was someone involved, they would make sure the one who got away can't talk." I said. "I'll pay her a visit. We'll go to the Keep tomorrow and continue our investigations there."

Leif nodded reluctantly, avoiding my gaze.

Sudden realization struck me. "Was it May?"

When he affirmed this, I stood and walked across the room. "I'll do what I can." My voice sounded absent as my mind went back to that night. The night when I killed Reyad – not for me, but for all my other brothers and sisters – so he would never be able to do this to anyone again. The fact that Brazell and Mogkan got to her regardless…it was too much.

I felt a firm hand on my shoulder and turned to see Valek peering at me with concern. Shaking my head, I smiled to indicate I would be fine. "Does she have any family with her? Their bonds to her may help wake her soul."

Leif thought for a moment. "A message was sent out some time ago…roughly when I contacted you, if not before. Either way, they would be on their way." He grinned. "This is good timing. We might be able to meet them just in time."

We spent the next hour charting our journey and preparing for any "surprises" we may encounter on the road.

"There's also this." I glanced quickly at Valek before continuing, "We found eerily similar developments in Ixia."

A rapid explanation followed, "Someone is targeting the same kind of people. Systemic disappearances have been reported. Paperwork never helped too much as the most a border guard would chart down in their log book is a departure and an arrival. They never put down anything specific, such as their destination or point of origin. That's kept on the transfer papers which get lost all too easily."

Valek interjected before we could go on, "We need to focus on one problem at a time. There's no sense in stretching ourselves out too thin, even if it is all linked. We'll conclude our investigations here and return to Ixia to do the rest and uncover all the players."

"On happier news... and speaking of good timing…" Janco chimed in, "It's a good thing the wedding will be in the Citadel, huh?"

I agreed, "Although I honestly can't believe Vyncenza really needed to put in all this time and energy for another wedding to begin with. It surprised me though. I was sure she'd stay a bit closer to home so her family wouldn't have to travel so far."

Leif explained how he had acted as witness to the first. "Well the first wedding was at the Citadel. Perfect reason to be sentimental: celebrate the first anniversary with a second wedding. Speaking of which…Mara and I have been married for a year…"

"Go ahead," I shrugged. "I'll just be there for the party. Not napkin folding. Although…" I looked at Valek and we both grinned conspiratorially at the fond memory of other "activities" we managed to sneak in while making swans. I cleared my throat. "Still, I would've thought the ocean to be a perfectly romantic scene to be married by."

Leif smirked in the most annoying way. "You're not planning anything are you, little sister?"

I laughed – I wasn't even going to grace that with a retort. "Unfortunately, no. But from my very important diplomatic training I can say that it would've boded far better and helped with her relationship with his mother."

All traces of humor disappeared from the faces of the men in the room.

"Um, Yelena?" Leif stammered, "Are we still talking about the same guy here?"

"The Stormdancer. Kade." I said without hesitation. "He's rough around the edges but he is a very stable match for her. And his mother can be a difficult person to hang around with but I'm sure they'll get used to each other eventually. Don't tell me you objected Leif…!"

The tension in the room failed to dissipate. Glances were exchanged threefold and I didn't need to be a Soulfinder to know they were all deciding whether to tell me something important.

Ari spoke first. His voice was unbearably strained. "We thought you knew…"

"Knew what?"

Ari, Janco, and Valek all fidgeted.

"Opal isn't marrying Kade." Leif choked out the confession. "They officially broke up after the battle with the Bloodrose clan."

Not marrying Kade? That made no sense. If not him, then who else could it have been?

"See there was this other guy…" Janco began.

It clicked. And it took all I had not to pounce at him. "What other guy? Surely not Devlen?"

Their collective chagrined expressions were all I needed.

I turned to Valek – who looked the worst of them all - and gave him a nasty look. Honest, open ended communication between us from now on, my ass. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Leif gaped. "I thought you knew! Why didn't anyone tell her?!"

"It didn't seem like you needed to know." His voice was strained.

I began to pace in agitation. "I didn't need to know? This woman married the same man who kidnapped and tortured her a year ago. And I was going to go bless a second wedding of all things. AND I didn't need to know?!"

"Wait, bless?" Leif squeaked.

I whipped around to face him. "Yes. It was supposed to be a big secret like the groom somehow was. But yes," I pointed to myself with mock fanfare, "I was supposed to preside over this wedding."

"And you didn't know?"

"She only told me she was going to marry 'the love of her life.'" Cold fury spiked my words. "I would only assume that it'd be the guy she had been going steady with for over a year."

Janco scratched where the bottom half of his left ear used to be. "They've been married for an entire year, Yelena. And Devlen has proved himself at the Bloodrose Clan battle. We all trusted him with our lives and he followed through."

"The so called reformed are ones to be leery with." Ari conceded. "But he really has reformed. Even the Sandseed horse, Quartz, called him 'Changed Man' and welcomed him into the 'herd.'"

"Opal loves him." He added quickly after a tense pause. "And when he nearly died, he made his mutual feelings known as his last words."

I looked to Maren, who seemed to be the only sane one in a world gone mad. She matched my outrage. "And all four of you thought this was a good idea on the basis of something as flimsy as love? It doesn't matter how much he's 'changed.' He can't be completely reformed if he had the gall to marry someone he traumatized."

Leif asserted, "You two don't know anything about what she's been through. And you haven't been through what she's been through, Yelena. You can't just make assumptions about this."

Somehow, I never got around to telling my family about Reyad's abuse. It was never necessary. But seeing as to how I wouldn't be able to sway them with my words, I sat back down, fuming. I would talk to Opal. At the end of the day it would only matter if I could get her to call this off and leave.

Valek reached for my hand but my arms were folded firmly.

I yanked at the lock picks in my hair so impatiently it hurt.

"Opal asked me not to tell you." Valek said from across the room.

I threw the lock picks unceremoniously on the armoire and turned to face him. "After you advised her to request that of you, no doubt." Travel weariness had added to my irritation, sharpening my words.

His annoyed, rather than remorseful, expression only fueled my anger. I watched as he casually removed he undressed and the worst desire to jab him with a dart full of truth serum came to me. I decided to go to bed before either one of us started an actual fight.

As Valek climbed in from his side, a sharp, sarcastic comment came to me. But I swallowed it and rolled onto my side, away from him.

The lights were dimmed and we were quiet as a palpable, hard tension lingered in the space above and between us. For a moment, I gazed at the window and let my mind drift away and out it. I found Shadow in my excursion and, with his consent, joined him on his journey for dinner. We flew through the night and grew fuller with each insect we ate. Shadow was more interested in the taste and contentment in his stomach. I shifted away from that and focused on his other sensations – the feel of the cool night air and the absolute, carefree freedom of being in flight.

A sudden dip in the bed brought me back. Valek draped his arm over me, clutching my wrist. My hair was tucked aside as his lips brushed reverently against my cheek: a white flag.

My anger had abated from the meditation and time that had passed. But I was still sleep-deprived and annoyed. "No. Not tonight."

He wordlessly released me and rolled back over to his side.

His voice rang out in the still darkness. "I love you, Yelena."

At least we still knew how to be kind to each other. "You know I love you, Valek."

I sighed and closed my eyes as I let my mind drift away again. Soon I was out the window and away from all this once more.

As always, review please! Thanks to the anons who did! You two are absolutely lovely. 333