A Shimat walked into the cell of the two prisoners and pointed to Faryl. "Take her out, and then leave us."

Me'shan looked up in surprise. No Shimat had ever ordered to be left alone with him, for fear that he might use his "magic" against them.

The orders were followed, and Faryl was dragged out of the room.

The Shimat was a young man with raven hair and sad eyes. For several minutes he did nothing but look at Me'shan's face, searching for something hidden. When he spoke, it was almost in a whisper.

"I cannot see beyond the beatings you have received, but I cannot help but feel that the rumors are true."

Me'shan considered whether or not he should answer, and decided to go against his usual deathlike silence. "What rumors?"

The young man stared at him in surprise. "They said that you never spoke."

He didn't care what the guards said about him. "What rumors?" he repeated.

"That you are Adesina's fathera"the L'avan girl raised here in the fortress."

There was a flicker in Me'shan's eyes as he heard his daughter's name for the first time.

The Shimat saw it and nodded slowly. "My name is Kendan. I am an instructor at this school, and I taught Adesina for a year. After she finished her training, I was her contact to the Shimat order while she was on her first mission."

For a moment it seemed like he was going to say more, but he changed his mind. Me'shan heard as much in the silence as he had in the spoken words.

"She means something to you."

Kendan found himself nodding as he stared at the ground. "She means something to all who know her."

"But more so to you," the prisoner pried.

The hopelessness in the young man's eyes was overwhelming. "It does not matter. I am a traitor in her eyes."

"How did you betray her?"

He began pacing back and forth in an agitated manner. "Most Shimat do not know the true character of the order until years after they complete their training. They are eased into the truth so slowly that they do not notice what is happening until any moral feeling they may have had is completely gone. That is, if they were not already morally desensitized by their training."

Me'shan waited for the young Shimat to resume.

"That was not the case with me," he continued. "The Sharifal is my aunt, and I learned the truth about the order at a young age. I was not always at ease with the methods used or the objectives set forth, but I knew how honored I was to have been given such knowledge so early, so I held my peace and followed my orders."

The L'avan wasn't sure why he was being told all of this, but was more than willing to listen. He nodded to show that he understood, and waited for Kendan to go on.

"I did not really feel I was doing wrong until I started working with Adesina. She had such high ideals and pure motives, and I began to see the contrast between us. When she discovered the truth, she a.s.sumed that I was ignorant and would feel the same outrage that she did. Instead, she found the coward that I really am."

Me'shan sat up. "She knows the truth about the Shimat now?"

Kendan felt a surge of guilt, knowing that he was giving unauthorized information. "Yes. She disappeared from her post for many weeks, and was recently found in the company of other L'avan. I do not doubt that they were the source of her discovery."

A feeling of warmth welled up inside the deadened body of the prisoner. He smiled softly to himself. "Is she still with them?"

"I do not know," admitted the young man. "I was sent away from the northern missions when my loyalty to the order was brought into question. I was instructed to oversee the running of the fortress while the Sharifal is away."

A feeling of apprehension filled the cell. "What missions? Why is the Sharifal away?"

Kendan realized that he had said too much and hurriedly turned to leave. "I have some important matters to attend," he mumbled as he walked out the door.

"Wait!" called Me'shan, but to no avail. He was left alone in the darkness to ponder all the things he had heard.

King L'unn stood in the small balcony just outside his study. The sun was setting, and the sky was ablaze with color. It reminded him of the times he had stood with his father in this very spot, talking about what had happened each day and their plans for the following day.

He had treasured those moments with his father, as a king's time is precious. His thoughts turned to his own sons, and he wondered if he had shown them the same love that his father had shown him. He often worried that he hadn't been a good enough father to his children.

A familiar step sounded behind him, and he turned to see his eldest child approaching. L'unn smiled and gestured for L'on to join him.

"Good evening, L'on."

"Good evening, Father. You seem troubled."

He sighed softly and turned to look out at the sky again. "No more than the worries of every king," he replied. "A burden that will be placed on your shoulders all too soon."

L'on gave a small smile. "Not for many years yet."

The king shook his head distractedly. "You would be surprised how quickly time pa.s.ses. It seems only yesterday that you and your brother were children chasing each other up and down the palace halls."

His son regarded him with a solemn expression, guessing a major source of his worry. "L'iam will be fine, Father. He has always been good at taking on tasks such as this, and he is surrounded by loyal and capable friendsa"not to mention that Shimat girl. No harm will come to him."

L'unn's worry did not ease, but he smiled at his son anyway. "Of course."

They stood in silence for several moments before it was shattered by the frantic entry of a messenger.

"Your Majesty!"

King L'unn turned quickly. "What is it?"

The messenger was gasping for breath. "The Rashad reportalarge armyamarching towards Pevothema!"

L'on stared at his father in disbelief. "Do you think that Adesinaa?"

"Of course not!" insisted the king.

He turned to the messenger boy and poured him a gla.s.s of water. "Sit down, young man, and rest."

He then hurried over to the cord hanging against the wall by his desk and pulled it urgently. A bell sounded in the next room, and they were soon joined by two guards and another messenger.

"Yes, your Majesty?"

"Call an emergency council. Pevothem is under attack. Send out a message to all L'avan to begin defensive measures."

Adesina found herself standing in a forest meadow bathed in moonlight. She expected the rustling behind her to reveal her mother, but instead L'iam stepped out of the shelter of the trees. She stared at him in shock.

"L'iam!"

He looked around in wonder. "Where are we?"

"You are in my Dream."

His expression was confused. "What? How is that possible?"

Adesina didn't know any more than he did. "Have you ever Dreamed before?"

L'iam shook his head. "Never."

The Dream was starting to shift. She could feel that it was becoming more powerful, pulling both of them forward.

"What is happening?" he asked.

Her eyes turned to the sky, which was slowly being stained red. "The Dream is changing."

The forest surrounding them faded and swirled into a thick fog. L'iam advanced to stand next to Adesina, looking very nervous. Adesina herself was anxious. She had never experienced a Dream such as this.

Everything around them lost its color except for the crimson sky. They found themselves standing in a gray field of dead gra.s.s, covered in dead bodies.

L'iam gasped at the sight. "Where are we?"

She knelt down to examine the closest corpse. "This is the result of a battle. See the armor and the wounds sustained?"

She looked around, searching for some sort of indication of where they were.

It was L'iam, however, who said, "I think we are in the north."

The young woman stood slowly. "What makes you say that?"

He pointed to a mountain range to the south. "Those are the peaks we pa.s.sed to enter Pevothem."

L'iam's eyes filled with tears as he surveyed the carnage around him. "I do not understand. What has happened here?"

His companion was still staring thoughtfully at the mountains. "I think we should be asking when we are, rather than where."

"What?"

"Location rarely matters in Dreams," explained Adesina. "Most of the time it is symbolic rather than literal. We should be finding out when this Dream is supposed to be portraying, rather than where."

He raised his hands in a helpless gesture. "How are we to do that?"

She hadn't the faintest idea. She wished desperately that her mother was with her. E'rian would know how to guide Adesina through a Dream such as this.

"Ma'eve?"

Her guardian came trotting up over a small knoll. The sight of him made her so happy that she could have laughed and cried at the same time.

"Ravi!"

He looked around the dismal scene with a solemn expression on his face. "What is happening?"

She shook her head in dismay. "I do not know. How did you get here?"

"I am here because you called me," his eyes flickered to L'iam, "and it appears I am not the only one you have pulled into your Dream."

The winds were picking up, blowing her silver and black hair across her face. She pushed it back impatiently. "We need to find a way to get out of here."

Black clouds billowed in the distance, drawing closer with every burst of wind. Adesina stared at the crimson sky in apprehension. "I have never intentionally broken from a Dream like this before. I do not know if I can."

"I do not know if we should," inserted Ravi. "All Dreams have a purpose, and we do not yet know what this one serves."

The inky clouds had settled over them and began raining scarlet drops. Adesina held out a hand to catch the blood-like rain, staring at it in horror.

She slowly turned in a circle, taking in the sight of destruction and despair. A chilling sense of foreboding swept through her body, making her shiver with fear.

"Something terrible is about to happen."

Chapter Forty-three: Unseen Spirits.

Adesina, Ravi and L'iam all jerked from the Dream at the same time. It had shown them nothing beyond the field of the dead, but that had been more than enough to leave them feeling cold.

It was still several hours before dawn, but none of them could sleep. They sat huddled around the embers of the fire discussing what they had seen.

"Is Pevothem in danger?" wondered L'iam in concern.

"Not necessarily," said Ravi slowly. "The location could be symbolic of the feeling of home or familiarity."

"It may have been a manifestation of your greatest fear," added Adesina.

L'iam gave her a searching look. "You mean your greatest fear. It was your Dream, after all."

She stared at the glowing coals of the former fire. "Perhaps you are right."

Ravi's brow furrowed, not entirely convinced. "It also may have been a glimpse of the future, or a warning."