Allia gave him a look, then she laughed. "That's very clever," she said. "Most Sorcerers won't walk the city streets without a Knight attending them. That effectively traps them in the Tower with us."

"Yes, but I'm just touched that Darvon and the Knights would do this for me," he said with profound respect in his voice.

"I see. And they Knighted us to give them an official standpoint?"

Tarrin nodded.

"You do know that we have succeeded beyond anything that Keritanima hoped," she said.

"What do you mean?"

"She wanted the Tower in an uproar. What more could we possibly do put the Tower on its ear and make it spin in circles?"

Tarrin considered that. Pitting the Knights against the Sorcerers would only confound the confusion Tarrin had caused by going on strike. He hadn't heard anything back from his actions yet, but he had no doubt that there were words flying in the Chamber of the Council at that very moment. It could very well be what would push them over the edge, and make information that they needed shake from tight-lipped mouths. Where Keritanima's spies would pick it up and bring it to her, through Miranda. He had to laugh. "I guess I could go claw up the library," he said with a teasing smile.

"We'll save that one for later," she said with a wink.

"I'm shocked that the Knights are willing to take it this far. Their motto of All Are One Under Karas is more than just a pretty phrase."

"They are worthy of the honor they hold," she said quietly. "To put all at risk for the sake of one, that is true honor. I must sing of this to my clan. It must be recorded in our histories."

"A Knight," he said, his voice trembling. "We're Knights."

Allia put a hand on his arm. She knew about his youthful dream, and her warm eyes rejoiced with him that he had attained a goal he felt had been forever put out of reach. "There is only honor in it for me because I stand at your side, my brother," she told him. "You honor my family and our clan. My father cannot deny that."

"That reminds me," he said, coming back to earth for a while, "we have to decide what to do with Kerri."

"What do you mean?"

"Your clan won't give her refuge if they don't trust her," he said seriously. "I can't make the decision to allow her to accept the brands, but I don't know if your people will accept her unless she has them. It comes down to your wisdom, deshaida. What should we do?"

"I've been pondering that for a while, brother," she replied. "I don't know how my clan would accept her. She has the manners, but she would seem to them to be weak. Many of my people hate the outsiders, even Wikuni. She would have to be better, stronger, faster, than my people for them to accept her."

"She's a Sorceress, sister," he said bluntly. "You told me yourself that the Selani respect the katzh-dashi."

"After we explain why we're there, that respect will disappear, my brother," she told him. "She would have to carry the brands. They wouldn't accept her any other way."

"That's your department, my sister, and your decision. You would be her sponsor. Is she worthy?"

"From what I know of her, yes. I do like her, my brother. A great deal. She is calm, intelligent, and she is loyal. And she makes me laugh. I would find great honor in having one such as her to be my sister. But I will have to ask the Holy Mother. As always, it will be her decision."

Allia and Tarrin walked back towards their rooms, thoughts on the future, spirits riding high in the achievement of a long-desired dream, and hopes that they had done well by their Wikuni companion, who wanted the Tower to be so shaken up that the information they desired sifted up to the top. Tarrin felt that things were beginning to look good for them, that they would find what they needed to find, understand what it meant, and if it was not good, then make plans for the future to confound what the Tower wanted of them. They had found new allies in the Knights, staunch and determined men that would help them fight against the injustice being done to them. And they would help Tarrin and Allia most simply by standing up to stir the pot which the three non-human conspirators had brought to a boil.

If they only knew what chaos they were causing at that moment. Chaos that would shake the very foundations of the world.

To: Title EoF

"He did what?" the Keeper exploded from her desk, jumping to her feet only moments after taking her seat. Amelyn, her face pale, stepped back from the diminutive Keeper, rightfully fearing to be singled out by the Keeper's wrath for the bad news. The Keeper was notorious for punishing the messengers who were bearing bad news, and because of that, nobody wanted to be the one to break things to her. Not even members of the Council could escape such wrath.

The Keeper was in a foul mood. Her appointment at the court of King Erick had not gone well. Erick had men of learning around him to explain to him what the light from the Tower had been, and the legends of what it meant, and now he was starting to interfere with their plans. Erick wanted Tarrin, and he wanted him now. It was all the Keeper could do to remind the young, brash king, only two years on his throne, that the treaties between the Tower and the Crown could not be broken, nor could they be used to force the katzh-dashi to hand over their young charge. It had turned into a shouting match, much to the shock of the court, a shouting match where truly ugly threats of invasion and magical retribution flew between the Keeper and the young king freely. The Keeper had never liked Erick. He was a spoiled wastrel whose only talent was finding men capable enough to run the kingdom in his stead, while he spent vast amounts of the kingdom's money on horses, palaces, and debauched luxuries. He was lazy and hedonistic, interested only in his fortunes, his possessions, and his power as king. He was such a disappointment coming from the line of Aralon, which had put a long succession of outstanding kings and queens on the Lion Throne of Sulasia for six hundred years. Erick represented to the Keeper the end of the Aralon dynasty, and the noble houses of Sulasia were already beginning to jockey for position to succeed them. The nobles were as dissatisfied with Erick as the Keeper was, and the Keeper didn't forsee him surviving long on the throne. Erick wasn't stupid enough to understand this, and had managed to surround himself with competent people who were paid more than other noble houses could match, money that ensured their loyalty and his continued reign. Erick was mad for power, but only for power that he didn't have to dirty his own hands to acquire. That made Tarrin and the pending events very appealing to him.

What King wouldn't jump at the chance to gain the powers of a God?

It was already starting to look ugly. Reports from the Tower in Sharadar had arrived, and the news was grim. The Mage-King of Zakkar had already begun to mass his impressive array of army and navy, all reinforced by thousands of Warmages. The Emperor of Arak, the mightiest nation on the face of the world, was beginning to call in his legions from their war with the empire of Godan, which was itself a mighty kingdom on the continent of Godan-Nyr and Arak 's longest and most hated enemy. Nyr, the smallest of the Three Empires of Middle World, had remained carefully neutral through their larger neighbor's century-long war, but now it was massing its armies. Even among the smaller kingdoms of the West, there was activity. Arkis was building its own legions, and the mountain kingdom of Daltochan had closed its borders. Draconian knights had begun attacking Dal mining caravans around the Petal Lakes, and the Ungardt had begun to call in their warships.