"How did you find them?" Reisz asked, suspicious.

Shandower shook his head. "I had secreted away a sizable fortune, then arranged for my own 'death.' Months after my estate had been picked apart by the government and my business associates, I once again became a public figure, albeit one of a very different kind. I knew that there were agents of the Night Parade everywhere. As the city I called my home had been the site of their last festival, I guessed correctly that several of the monstrosities would still be present in Calimport.

"Disguised as a mad prophet, I walked the streets dragging signs that proclaimed, "The Night Parade is coming. Protect the souls of your children!' I was jailed several times as a public nuisance, but eventually my efforts paid off. I was attacked by a member of the Night Parade who wished to silence me. I was able to overcome the creature, and I tortured the being until it revealed all the secrets of its kind.

"With the knowledge I had gathered, I was able to steal the apparatus the Night Parade needed to begin its next festival. The Night Parade has been trying to retrieve the object and punish the thief, but it doesn't know who I am.

"No matter the cost, we must stop the Night Parade creatures from gathering again and slaying thousands; they can only do this if they regain the apparatus, which I've kept safely hidden."

Krystin was silent. For a moment she felt faint as bizarre images sliced across the theater of her consciousness without warning or invitation. For a moment she thought she was being chased, though she did not know by whom, or for what reason. The images vanished as quickly as they had arrived.

I was their dog, she thought. They sent me to sniff out their prey.

Self-loathing surged through the girl. Hugging herself, she noticed the odd manner in which Myrmeen was staring at her. "If you have something to say, say it," Krystin spat.

Myrmeen exhaled a ragged breath. "My name is Myrmeen Lhal. I am the ruler of Arabel. Fourteen years ago I had a child that my husband told me was stillborn, like my younger sister. He lied to me and sold the child to the Night Parade."

Krystin stared at her without blinking. "Me."

"Yes," Myrmeen said warmly, a trace of the wonderment she first had experienced when she saw Krystin in the desert returning. "You are my daughter."

"Perhaps, perhaps not," Shandower said. Myrmeen looked up at him sharply. "I have another story that I believe you will find interesting."

"Tell me," Myrmeen said cautiously.

Shandower related what he had learned in the desert from the Night Parade members who were among Djimon's men.

"You're saying that they arranged for us to find Krystin? Why would they go to such measures?" Myrmeen asked.

"Because they wanted a peaceful way to get you out of the city," Shandower replied.

Reisz gave a bitter half smile as he glanced at Cardoc and said, "The spook must have frightened them."

"Perhaps," Shandower said without looking away from Myrmeen. "I believe they thought that if you had your daughter, you would leave. By this time they knew who you were and exactly how much attention your death would have attracted. They prefer to keep to their own, to keep to the shadows. You were forcing them to expose themselves to the light, to risk discovery. This way would be easier. Now we must address the issue of the girl."

"I have a name," Krystin said.

"Yes, you have much to lay claim to," Shandower said.

"I don't have to listen to this," Krystin said. "I didn't ask to be rescued by you people." The child shot an angry glance at Myrmeen. "And I didn't ask for your name."

"Nevertheless, you would have it," Shandower said. "It might be desirable to them to place one of their own in succession for your throne, Myrmeen. They often need money and favors. In time, you could pass on and she-"

"But you can see our resemblance," Myrmeen said, fighting to preserve what she now perceived as a fragile illusion. "Look at our faces, our eyes."

Shandower laughed bitterly. "And how many of the Night Parade have you encountered who possess the gift to change their appearance?"

A river of ice suddenly leapt from Myrmeen's heart. She felt an unexpected vertigo and tried to calm herself.

"That's it!" Krystin said. "I've had about as much of this as I'm going to take. You think I'm one of them?"

Shandower said nothing. Myrmeen looked at Krystin with an expression of fear intermingled with hope. Prove him wrong, she seemed to plead with her eyes. Krystin suddenly felt Myrmeen's overwhelming need, and the sensation made her uncomfortable. She crossed her arms over her breasts and stared at Shandower with her best, most penetrating gambler's stare. The man did not flinch, but he eased back a few inches. Restraining a grin, Krystin said, "All right. That glove of yours. When it's charged, the magic will kill any of them at a touch, right?"

"Yes," Shandower replied.

She held her hand out, palm down. "Then do it."

"Krystin-" Myrmeen began desperately.

"Shut up," Krystin said. "If you are the woman who gave birth to me, you waited a damn long time to come get me. I don't much care if you think it was worth the effort. But no one says I'm one of those things. How do I know the whole lot of you aren't with the Night Parade? This whole thing could be a punishment for me. They like to play games. That might be why you dragged me back to this filthy city."

Shandower regarded Myrmeen with the detachment of a professional assassin. "Do you wish this?"

"Forget her," Krystin said. "This is what I want." She placed her hand over his gauntlet, suddenly realizing that the flesh around his wrist was fused to the metal. "Do it."

He nodded and called upon the energies residing within him. The glove exploded in brilliant bluish white light. Snakes of green fire slithered up Krystin's arm. She remained perfectly still, only the sudden sweat that had broken out on her forehead revealing her fear. Then she smiled, the beautiful soft lights flickering in her eyes.

"What about the rest of you?" she asked.

One by one the Harpers rose and took the gloved hand. When it was over, Shandower allowed the mystical fires to retreat. Myrmeen placed her hand on Krystin's arm, attempting a weak smile. The girl shook her head impatiently and pulled away. The tall brunette felt her last embers of hope smolder and die within her heart.

Several minutes later, Lucius said, "As long as there is a chance that Krystin is not your daughter, as long as there is doubt, I will remain at your side. Both of you deserve to know the truth."

"But who can tell us?" Myrmeen asked.

"They can," Krystin said. "The monsters. They're probably the only ones."

"Do you want to go to Arabel?" Myrmeen asked. "It will be safe for you there."

"No." Krystin rose slowly and walked past Myrmeen and the Harpers. Without looking back, she said, "I've spent fourteen years not knowing who my parents are. I didn't think it mattered." She looked over her shoulder, at Myrmeen. "But it matters. I'm not saying that you can ever be my mother or that I could ever be your daughter, but it matters anyway."

Ord nodded. "Yes. More than you know."

"I can't ask the rest of you to continue," Myrmeen said.

"You don't have to ask," Reisz said. "Remember Morlan? We avenge our own. I'm with you."

"As am I," Ord said.

Myrmeen stood and addressed the group. "If we're to do this thing, it should be for the right reasons, not for vengeance, and not for personal gain." She looked down and shrugged, her hands open at her sides. She never knew what to do with her hands when she was making a speech. "I sound so pompous." She laughed. "It's just that I think of my friends, those we lost today. Burke and Varina were family to all of us. If they had a vote, they would vote to do this only to fulfill the sacred duty and obligation of the Harpers. That is what they died for, as much as anything else. More importantly, that's what they lived for. I think we should honor their memories as best we can."