A vaulted dome capped the highest tower of the Palace of the Hmyr. On its interior surface were painted the stars and planets of midnight on the Winter Solstice. Along the walls star charts hung between shelves overflowing with scrolls and books. The room possessed no windows, only a single door that led to a balcony. Two small tables sat in the center and were surrounded by plush cushions. Here Nalsyrra studied her secret arts and divined whatever schemes occupied her time while Karphon developed his military stratagems for conquering the East.

Mardha knew her father treasured Karphon. Once, in a good mood, he had remarked that if he could extend immortality to others, Karphon would get it after Mardha and Jaska. No others save Nalsyrra would get this boon, and she would get it only because Karphon depended on her.

Karphon was valuable because he readily turned a blind eye toward palymfar atrocities and administrated Hareez with iron-handed efficiency, something Salahn had no interest in doing. Salahn also valued Karphon's lack of jealousy. An odd sort of tyrant, Karphon seemed to have no trouble sharing power as long as he could freely enjoy those comforts that pleased him most.

Mardha and her guards, Nalsyrra, and Karphon stepped out on the ten-foot wide balcony that encircled the tower then climbed a rope ladder to the top of the dome, a flattened surface thirty feet in diameter. The ocean and the nearby marshes scented the cool night air. The vast palace grounds lay quiet below. On a hill a mile away, the Grand Temple of the White Tigress stood out against the night sky, eerily lit from the torches within. The heart of the city lay between them.

While the others crammed into a protective circle near the roof's edge, Nalsyrra stripped. Her inked body disappeared into the night except where it contrasted against the white lines of the pentagram she knelt within. She arched her spine and leaned back with her head tilted up. Mardha had seen Nalsyrra work before, but she still found the bizarre celestial rituals fascinating.

* * *

Thousands of stars twinkled above in hundreds of familiar patterns. Nalsyrra chanted for nearly an hour, until her energized breaths rose toward the stars shimmering like heat waves on the desert horizon. Stars swirled and bent, refracted through the waves. The distant, burning orbs shifted into new patterns, forming a script known only to the Ojaka'ari. Nalsyrra read what the stars revealed to her request this night, though she would tell to Mardha only those things she wished Mardha to know. The fulfillment of Nalsyrra's destiny depended on many secrets, and the timing of revelations mattered immensely.

Though finished with her reading, she continued to sway and murmur. It was theatre to add to the mystery of her powers. After some minutes more, she turned toward her observers but did not dismiss the lesser Star Spirits whom she had called down to power her ritual.

"Jaska Bavadi has not been under the stars for seven days now, but he’s alive. The stars have not witnessed the passing of his spirit."

"Is he held captive?" Mardha asked.

"I do not know. He was wounded and dying when taken into a cave by the priestess Zyrella and her templar captain. He has not emerged since."

"Did he see the White Tigress? Did she attack him?"

Nalsyrra knew the truth but didn't speak it. "The stars do not know. It was storming at the shrine when the Tigress was freed."

"What of Jaska's qavra? Does he have it with him?"

"I do not know."

A long silence followed.

"What else have the stars whispered to you tonight? Surely there is more."

A slight grin twisted at Nalsyrra's lips. "The stars whispered many prophecies to me this night, some of evil, all of great significance."

"What prophecies?"

"Those which brought me here, those which shall soon culminate."

Karphon froze in shock. The prophecy that had brought her to him would soon come to pass? He had no clue what that destiny might be or whether a new one would take her from him afterward. He feared she would leave. He would give her an equal share of all his titles and power to keep her with him. A greater share. But, of course, that wouldn't work. She already took less than he offered. Besides, her destiny had brought her across a continent to a foreign land to serve a failed mercenary. If the next destiny didn't keep her with him, he would lose her.

“Tell me of them,” said Mardha.

“I will not. Such prophecies are my business to know and mine alone.”

Seething with anger, Mardha stepped forward out of the protective circle. "You will tell me everything, witch, or you will suffer the wrath of my father."

A wave of intense vertigo swamped Mardha. She fell to her knees. The world was only shadows and stars, spinning rapidly. The stars closed in on her. She vomited. A high-pitched whine that had traveled for eons shrieked in her ears. Glaring spirits, alien and burning cold, closed in upon her. Inhuman, exacting, wrathful…

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Hands reached out and drug her back within the circle. The vertigo and all the other sensations fled from her. She panted and spat bile from her throat.

"If you would please," Karphon said.

Mardha looked up. Her palymfar guards had drawn their sabers. One had his blade against Karphon's throat. The other faced Nalsyrra with blank, whitened eyes. The next moment the other's eyes glazed over as well.

Karphon sensed the difference and moved the palymfar's sword away. "Never mind."

He helped Mardha up. "You were lucky that Nalsyrra's charms shield me somewhat. Otherwise, I could not have pulled you back in."

Mardha cursed at Nalsyrra. "You could have done something."

"No, I could not. Otherwise, why would I draw the protective circle? The Star Spirits are not your Zhura demons. They are not cowed by arrogance and bluster, nor can your guile or your father's charms protect you. A single Star Spirit holds more power than all of us combined. If I could command them for more than a few moments, I would rule the world."

Mardha glared and thought of a dozen ways to kill Nalsyrra. But she reigned in her anger and swallowed her pride. Her father needed Karphon and his bitch. And the mistake was Mardha's. She was too impulsive and not used to being denied anything.

"Only this more have I read and can speak of," Nalsyrra said. "The omens read good for the coming war, and Mardha, you shall see Jaska again, though under what conditions, I do not know."

Mardha’s anger eased somewhat as Nalsyrra dismissed the spirits and finished the ritual. Only then did the palymfar guards return to themselves, confused and groggy. Mardha convinced them everything was all right. Sensing the intent in her voice, they obeyed and showed neither surprise nor fear.

Mardha bowed to Karphon. "Thank you for your aid, Hmyr."

"I am sorry things went poorly. Hopefully you have learned what you needed to know."

"Some of it at least."

"Tell the Grandmaster the army will be prepared to leave in a week."

After Mardha left, Karphon stalked about the balcony. "You could have told me about Bavadi."

"I am sorry, master."

"If Salahn falls to some plot of the White Tigress, so will I. You really should have told me."

"If such a time were to come, as long as you guarded yourself wisely, you could remain a great Hmyr."

"Will such a time come?"

"I cannot say."

"Cannot or will not?"

She smiled seductively and leaned back, exposing her body. "Cannot."

He noticed then her nakedness. His sex rose and ached with its sudden hardness. He could discuss this with her later. After all, she never left his side. And lovemaking always proved best on the rooftop with traces of the Star Spirits hovering about.

* * *

Moonlight fell through the skylight above and cast Grandmaster Salahn in shadows as he sat on his throne in the Grand Temple. He was worrying about Jaska and how to manage without him. Without his chief disciple, he had to redistribute many responsibilities within the order and himself handle many planning aspects he had ignored for the last decade. Also, mastering the White Tigress' power was taking longer than he had expected. Energy flowed through him differently now and disrupted many magical techniques he had spent decades perfecting. He had also lost his domination over most of the demons under his control. He could only reliably summon and control a few dozen of them now.

Familiar footsteps pattered through the temple. Salahn smiled for a moment as he considered the benefits of having a younger and enhanced body.

Mardha knelt before her master, her lover, and her father.

In the air he traced a pentagram within a circle and everywhere his finger went, blood-red flame followed, lighting the sanctuary. When finished, he allowed the glowing diagram to rise and rest against the stone wall above him. He examined Mardha carefully before speaking.

"You look shaken, daughter. And you reek of Nalsyrra's sorcery."

Mardha bowed her head and whispered, "I nearly died tonight. She commands far more power than I thought."

Grandmaster Salahn tugged at his beard. His dark eyes narrowed as he leaned forward. "Explain."

He listened attentively, making no comment until she finished. "That was foolish. Nalsyrra's sorceries are extremely powerful, though more limited than mine.”

"What game is Nalsyrra playing, father? She is always hiding things from us and from Karphon, too."

"I cannot tell what her motives might be. From what little I have uncovered about the Ojaka'ari cultists, their beloved destinies are far-reaching. She might be here to set in motion events that will culminate years from now. We cannot trust her as we do Karphon, but for the moment, she poses no obvious threat and she might even be here to help us. Certainly, we owe much of what we have accomplished so far to her efforts.

"Now tell me what you have learned of Jaska."

"Your spell that detected his life-force was accurate," she said, and then she told him what few other details Nalsyrra had given her.

Salahn boiled with anger, his rage driven by fear. "One of our search groups perished tonight. I sensed their demise. They fell swiftly."

"The priestess?"

"Who else could it be?"

"How could she defeat twelve palymfar? She doesn't have that much power."

"Indeed. And now you confirm Jaska's presence…"

"You don't think he helped them?"

"I can think of no other way. Jaska has betrayed us."

"The priestess might have him under her sway. Even Jaska couldn't hold out forever if he was sick and injured, especially since he has been bound in such a way for so long."

Salahn restrained his anger. "You are right. I should not forget other possibilities. Still, until proven otherwise, Jaska is now our enemy, and he must be eliminated at all costs."

"Will you see to it personally?"

"I am not ready to leave here yet. I have preparations to make within the Shadowland. I will not get the planetary alignments I need again for another decade. We shall send Adynarh, a sorcerer, and fifty warriors."

Grandmaster Salahn stood and lifted Mardha up by the hand. He drew her into an embrace. One hand slid down her back while the other squeezed a breast. His breath touched her ear.

Then he shoved her away and slapped her with the back of his hand. Though he withheld most of his strength, the attack knocked her several paces back. Blood sprayed from her busted lip and nose as she struck the floor.

"Never do anything so foolish again," Salahn said as he stalked forward.

She spat blood as she murmured, "Yes, father." Her jaw barely moved. It was probably fractured. He would heal it later, though, if she didn't further displease him.

Salahn ripped the gown from her body. Then he shoved her face-down against the hard stone floor and took her. His body pounded against hers until she cried out, gasping in the throes of both pleasure and pain, blood dripping from her face onto the floor.