Jumping back from the door of the crypt and the view of Tyreth standing next to the rebel leader, Kate ran into the darkness at the back corner of the crypt and touched the center of the master medallion. There had to be someone who could help her rescue Tyreth from the rebel leader. As soon as she was in the anteroom, she moved directly into the chamber without even glancing at the broken door, but to no avail for none of the stars on the doors were glowing. In desperation she touched a finger to Tyreth's door, then leaned toward the invisible barrier to look inside. To her surprise her hand slipped right through into the small room.

  The light in Tyreth’s anteroom flickered and Kate took a tentative step inside. "Tyreth?" The light brightened slightly. "Can you hear me? It's Kate."

  Tyreth's voice crackled around her, like their phone party line in a storm. "Kate? Where are you . . ."

  "I'm in your medallion room,” Kate said loudly. “Can you hear what I'm saying?"

  "I can hear your voice but I'm not sleeping this time or in my bed."

  "Is it safe to talk like that?" Kate asked.

  "I don't need to talk out loud. I'm just thinking the words. This is so strange but Kate, I need your help. I went out on my own to look for Corvan, the rebels captured me and now their leader is about to make me his counterpart. They've taken me to a clearing in the crypts and . . ."

  "I know. I just saw you."

  "You saw me? How?”

  "I saw you enter the clearing in the tombs next to a tall man that has funny hat on."

  "You're here?"

  "Yes. Look over the heads of the men to the back wall of tombs. One is a bit taller than the rest and has long vertical crack but it’s actually a door and I'm inside at the back hiding in the dark so I can be in the chamber. Can you see the one I mean?"

  "Not at the moment. The rebel leader is so close and he’s telling me about the ceremony and how he is sending for Jorad so we can be joined. Ugh, doesn't this guy ever wash? And his breath stinks too. Oh great, now he's shaking my shoulders and telling me he’s leaving for a while. I can't talk to you pay attention to him at the same time. You need to let me go before he gets mad. I'll find a way to come over to you."

  Kate closed Tyreth’s chamber door. As she was turning away, the star on Jorad's new door began to glow. Morgan said Jorad couldn't be trusted but Morgan also said Jorad truly cared about Tyreth. Besides, if he was in the chamber that meant the rebel leader’s men hadn’t reached him yet and she would warn him.

  Kate touched the door and found Jorad waiting inside.

  "Kate. I am so glad you’re alive. Where have they taken you?"

  Kate forced herself to stay calm. What she wanted to say was that he knew exactly where they had taken her because she heard him scheming with the rebel leader in the cave. "It doesn't matter where I am now. I need to tell you about Tyreth."

  He leaned into the barrier. "I was informed she went out into the city on her own and hasn’t been seen since. Do you know where she went?"

  "The rebel leader captured her and very soon he is going to marry her."

  Anger rippled across Jorad's face. "I won't be helping him anymore. It’s time to make a new alliance. There is someone else I can work with who will help me rescue Tyreth from that madman.”

  "There's no time for your schemes. He left here to instruct his men to get you so you can perform the ceremony."

  Jorad nodded. "Then we will play by his own insane rules. I can delay his plans while I set things up to rescue her. Where do they have her?"

  "In the same place you took me last time to marry the same madman," Kate said dryly.

  Jorad took a deep breath. “I'm sorry, Kate. At the time I was only thinking about how to save Tyreth's life. It all got a bit too complicated, and things got out of control."

  As he spoke his face softened and the dirt on his robe faded to dull smudges. Kate knew all too well that sometimes people did irrational things when they loved someone.

  "He is sending his soldiers for you," Kate said.

  "Let them come. They won't find me here. If you can get word to Tyreth, let her know I have a plan to set her free and I will be there soon. I must leave right away before his soldiers get here." He nodded to Kate, then vanished.

  As Jorad's door shimmered closed another star light appeared to her left. The grey-eyed man with the curly hair was back in his anteroom and he might be able to get to where Tyreth was faster than Jorad. Crossing the chamber, Kate opened his door.

  Atiya stood just inside, her cheeks streaked with tears. She quickly wiped them away with the sleeve of a knee length green robe embroidered with filigrees of gold braid that twisted up the sleeves and onto her shoulders. Dark pants with sharp creases and pair of thigh length black boots completed her military looking outfit.

  "Kate! I'm so glad you got here,” Atiya said, her voice catching. “He . . . he said you would come if I let myself sleep and I thought he was just trying to make me rest so I closed my eyes just for a minute to make him feel better." She blinked back more tears. "He's hurt bad. The blast knocked him off the cliff and he's coughing up blood and I think his ribs are broken." Atiya glanced over her shoulder. "He's resting under the tree in Gavyn's garden. I brought him here so the spring water will help him heal quickly, but he keeps on insisting on going to that tomb of his to find you. His real name is Morgan but he's nothing like the stories you hear. He was never on the side of the Chief Watcher and was trying to save Kadir. He wanted to keep looking for you after the explosion but I insisted he come with me to Gavyn's garden instead." She swallowed and blinked away fresh tears. "I knew I shouldn't have let him stay behind. It's my fault he was hurt."

  "No Atiya,” Kate said. “He knew his plan might not work but he was willing to risk it to get us both out of there. Let him know you've talked to me and that I'm okay and the master medallion is safe. Tell him not to come to the tombs. He needs to rest, and I'll talk to him as soon as I can.”

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  Atiya nodded and wiped her runny nose with a richly embroidered sleeve. "Are you in Kadir? Have you found Tyreth?"

  "Yes. She's been captured by the rebels, but Jorad just told me he is going to work with someone else he knows and ask for help to rescue her. Let Morgan know. He was worried about Tyreth's safety and was not sure if Jorad could be trusted but it seems like he is our only hope right now."

  A shadow crossed Atiya's face.

  "Are you all right?" Kate asked.

  The younger girl nodded but her jaw tensed as she chewed the inside of her cheek. "I need to go back and check on Morgan. I’ll talk to you later."

  The light faded above Atiya, and she too was gone. Kate closed the door and the light of Morgan's star faded away.

  In the silence of the chamber, Kate heard movement behind her. Slowly she turned her face to the shattered door. A hairless, rat-like creature sat on its haunches, cleaning its claws, and staring at her with beady eyes. When Kate shifted her stance, it scuttled back through the broken door and vanished into the floor. Running back to her own anteroom, Kate shut the door, touched the center of the medallion, and was immediately back in the darkness of the crypt.

  Across the small room, shadows were flickering across the crack of the door. Kate tiptoed closer and listened. Tyreth was outside making a grand fuss. She certainly knew how to get things done.

  "Do you honestly expect me to prepare to join with our great Cor-Van out here in the open? Get that tent up right away. I want to be as far as possible from all these unwashed sweaty bodies. And I require that you to keep everyone far away from here. I know all too well what you soldiers are like. Just look at them gawking."

  Something scraped against the tomb walls and the crack went dark. Tyreth's voice came again, a bit calmer this time. "That's better. I will inform the Cor-Van about your prompt service as soon as he returns. Now I am going to retire for some much-needed rest. Make sure no one comes near this tent unless I call for you."

  Kate waited a minute before sliding the door open a few inches. A heavy cloth had been pressed against the wall. "Tyreth," Kate whispered, "are you there?"

  "Just a minute." The cloth lifted from the ground and Tyreth appeared holding a small bright light set upright on a round holder. She handed it to Kate. "Be careful not to set the tent on fire," she said as Kate took the strange looking candle from her. Tyreth crawled into the tomb, stood to her feet and the light between them fell on their faces. For a moment they just looked at each other before Tyreth touched the scar on her cheek. "It's like looking in my mirror at the palace.”

  Kate touched her own cheek. "Its because we have the same scar, and my hair is also turning darker. They said that might be from hitting my head."

  "It's more than that. We could easily pass for sisters." She raised her eyebrows and smiled. "That could explain why Jorad is so interested in you."

  Kate's face flushed and she shook her head. “I think he was just being nice in the garden so he could find out what I knew about the medallions."

  Tyreth's forehead creased. "He was using you?"

  "No. Maybe? I'm not sure but I did just return from meeting him in the chamber, and he told me to tell you he's finding someone to help rescue you. He said he was going to make a new alliance. From his appearance inside the chamber, it seems he truly cares about you and Kadir."

  The furrows in Tyreth's brow deepened. "I bet he is planning to speak to the captain of the guard. I must get back to the city right away. If the palace tries to rescue me, many good people will die on both sides of this foolish conflict. My father said one of the other cities is pitting Kadir against Rozan to weaken both of our forces before they attack."

  "Corvan is in one of the other cities."

  Tyreth touched Kate's hand. "Which one?"

  Kate flinched and pulled away. Tyreth's interest in Corvan still bothered her a bit. "Corvan said it was the one on the other side of the waterfall but now he's sick. He was cold and blue, even his lips and tongue. I hardly recognized him."

  Tyreth’s eyes narrowed. "What was he wearing in the chamber?"

  Kate avoided her gaze and looked to the side. "A loincloth thing, sort of like shorts."

  Tyreth dropped her hand from Kate’s shoulder and turned to face the door. She didn't speak for a long time, and when she turned back, she was wiping tears from her eyes. "When you told me earlier of his troubles, I thought perhaps he had started down that path."

  "To the other city?"

  "No Kate. Corvan is eating lumien seeds. It is a capital offense in the Cor to consume our light and it awakens a terrible desire. Once a young man starts, they cannot stop and the need for lumien power takes over their lives and darkens our cities. A few of the strongest have survived, but only to become Rakash. I believe that is what has happened to Corvan." She took a deep breath. "He is now, or soon will be, our worst enemy."

  Taking Kate by the shoulders, Tyreth held her firmly. "You must never talk to him in the chamber, Kate. Now that he has eaten the seeds there is nothing he will say that you can trust."

  Kate twisted free of Tyreth’s hands. "But I can help him. He will listen to me."

  Tyreth shook her head. "He is not only beyond our help but now that he has joined forces with another city, he will be used by them to take over Kadir, then the entire Cor." She turned for the door of the crypt. "I must return to the palace and stop Jorad from coming here."

  Kate grabbed Tyreth’s sleeve. "There's no time. The rebel leader has men who are dressed up as palace guards who are going to stage a raid at your wedding. He said you are going to die in the battle and that will be his excuse to send his men to attack the palace."

  Tyreth's eyes widened. "He really is insane."

  "He said you're too much trouble and that he wants a counterpart who won't be so stubborn."

  Tyreth's eyes blazed. "I'll show him trouble. Leave him to me. I'll convince him to delay the wedding but you must go to the palace and ask the captain of the guard to get in touch with my father. The captain will think you're crazy because my father is supposed to be dead but tell him my father is hiding in the caretaker's caves at the lair of the Volisk below the temple karst. Can you remember that? The caretaker's cave below the temple karst. The karst is that pool of water between the boots of the statue."

  Kate shook her head. "Why would the captain believe me? He'll think I'm part of the rebel leader's plan and take me captive."

  Tyreth reached inside her tunic and withdrew a pouch. "Show him this." Opening the strings, she pulled out a black hammer and placed it in Kate's hand.

  A powerful sense of purpose flowed through Kate as the interior of the tomb glowed with the blue light from the base of the handle. The memory of holding this hammer over the lizard's head and setting the creature free of the black band surged back. "This is Corvan's hammer. Where did you find it?"

  Tyreth paused. "Maybe this might not be the best idea,” she said as she took the hammer back. "The captain of the guard might think you stole it and this is a trick of one of the other cities." Tyreth reached up to her neck and drew out a silver ring on a slender black chain. "Give this back to him and tell him," Tyreth's face flushed as she pulled it over her head, "tell him I wore it while I considered his request to be his counterpart. If you tell him that, he will know you are speaking the truth."

  Kate accepted the ring and tucked it away in her pocket.

  "You shouldn't have any trouble at the city gates," Tyreth said. "They are used to me coming and going at odd hours and respect my privacy, but watch out for Mara."

  "Who’s that?"

  "Mara was my guardian growing up, but she likes to think that she’s my mother. She knows me well so don't talk to her or take off your hood around her. Go only through the front door of the palace and tell the man at the door you wish to see the Captain right away. My room is at the top of the central staircase. Go to the right; it's the only door without an arch, mine is flat on top. No doubt Mara will follow you inside the first room but she won't come into my bedroom because I told her she's not allowed anymore. That hasn't stopped her from listening at my door so be careful what you say to the captain, even inside my bedroom."

  Tyreth tucked the hammer back into its pouch and Kate pointed to it. "I once used the hammer to set a creature free from a black band that enslaved it. Couldn't we use its power to set Corvan free from eating those seeds?"

  Tyreth shook her head firmly and tucked the pouch inside her tunic. "No Kate, we can't take that chance. If Corvan takes the hammer to someone in another city, many people will have given their lives for nothing."