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"Well, next time you'll have something you didn't have the first time."

"And what's that?"

"Me. You'll have me to protect you. We just found each other. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. And I'll pit my Silver tech against their Shadow tech any day."

She looked up at him, big-eyed. "May I request a small favor, since I was good at the meeting with Kilos even though I wanted to fight her bad?"

"Anything."

"May I have a kiss?"

"Syg, must we do this again?"

She put her coffee cup down. "One kiss, what's the harm in that? Please, Dav. One kiss, and I promise I won't bug you anymore about it."

Davage sat up a little. "Fine, Syg."

She smiled and kissed him on the lips. It lasted about a minute. When they separated, she looked up at him and purred. "Was that so bad, Dav?" she asked, breathless. "Was that so horrible?"

Davage looked at her.

She stared at him. "I want you, Dav. I want you because I love you, not because I'm trying to annoy you or because I'm trying to embarrass you but because I adore you, because I know that, if you let it be so, we could mean the world to each other. You came to me of your own free will because you wanted to help me. And you faced all the ugliness and evil that I could mete out with goodness and patience, and in the darkness, you shared your light with me. You parted the clouds and ended the long, terrible dream.

"I have been waiting for you my whole life, waiting for your light in the dark. You saved me … you saved my soul. Don't be afraid of me anymore. There is so much I want to give you …"

And without a further word, they kissed again.

Before long, they were in her adjacent bedroom, laughing, sighing, lost in each other, their clothes scattered all about.

The future, Syg had said. There was no escaping it.

16

"So," Kilos said, taking a big drink of buncked narva, "Who's it going to be tonight?"

Syg thought a moment. "Well, I think we've covered most of the more notable ones. How about Demona of Ryel—I recall you mentioning her. Tell me about that one."

Kilos laughed. "You certainly love talking about Dav's past flings. Fine, fine, then—Demona of Ryel."

Kilos and Sygillis sat in the noisy, bustling mess, near the far wall—Davage's favorite spot. From here, through the window, the vast expanse of the ship could be seen, the wings, the long neck, and the front section far away. Syg sat back with her narva mug, feet up, her tiny sandals almost non-existent. As usual, she was wearing her favorite Chancellor's bodysuit with her blue shawl rolled up in the front. Recently, she had found one of Davage's old belts in his closet, one with a large buckle that was embossed and painted with his Blanchefort family coat-of-arms—the right side of the shield being composed of lines and symbols, the left side emblazoned with some sort of multi-armed creature. Syg wore the belt all the time now, the buckle slung loosely at her hip—it made her feel close to him. Kilos, tall and lanky in her red Marine uniform, sat near her, leaning forward, drinking her brew.

Passing crewmen hailed them both as they moved by with their food and drinks.

The cold animosity that had lingered between them had largely melted away in the past few days. One could almost call them friends now. The revelation that Syg had been abducted into the Black Hats and didn't "sign up" on her own made a big difference for Ki. Being pushed into something that you couldn't control—that was something she could relate to.

Kilos thought a moment. "Demona of Ryel … She was a ship's captain from a confederation fairly far away. She was a good captain, a commander through and through. Very different sort than Dav— more bookish, more formal, more by-the-rules. Not nearly as flashy or personable as Dav, but she was still brave and capable. I probably wouldn't have been a very good officer for her, though, too by-thebooks for me, I suppose. She had a pretty awesome starship called the
Triumph
. It had all sorts of interesting technologies that the Lady Branna of the Science Ministry was drooling over: tach drive engines, a very powerful cassagrain-type weapon called a Sar-Beam, and a type of matter-energy teleporter."

"A what?"

"A teleporter, sort of like a Waft, only done with electro-mechanics. With it, one could teleport hundreds of miles, underground even. The Lady Branna swore to master those techs and incorporate them into future League ships. I also remember seeing Lord Probert admiring the
Triumph
."

"What did she look like?"

"She was short—well, a little taller than you, but still short. She had an aged face. All the men seemed to just love her face. Pay Master Milke, Admiral Pax, and Captain Farr of the 10th Marines were ready to raise swords over her. She had thick brown hair that she wore up in a lock, small, pointy features, big green eyes—sort of like yours. A pretty lady all in all, I suppose, except she had a sort of strange, metallic squeaky voice that I, I hate to say, found a little annoying."

Syg giggled. "Did she love Dav?"

Kilos thought. "She … I guess so, I guess she did. Dav doesn't think so, but she did. She was a very reserved person. She never did anything obvious in front of us that jumped up and said, "I love you, Dav," or anything. I mean, with you, it's obvious that you care about him, the way you light up and get all sappy when he's around, but I never detected anything like that from her. They spent a lot of time alone together, so I have no idea how she acted then."

Syg looked at her mug. "I don't care for Dav, Ki … I love him. He's all I think about."

"I think she had some sort of run-in with Captain Hathaline over him. That was all the gossip for a while."

"Captain Hathaline? I think Dav's mentioned her once or twice, and I hear the crew mention her name every so often when I pass by."

"Yes, I'm certain you do. She was Dav's first officer and former navigator when I came aboard and eventually took command of the
Dart
, our sister-ship. She was also Dav's neighbor, so to speak. Their castles are within eye-shot—within Dav's eye-shot, I should say."

"Let me guess … she was in love with Dav too."

"Yes, she was. It was a very arrogant sort of love, though. Her family, the Dursts, and his have always been allies, and since they knew each other all their lives, she felt like he should have loved her just because—like she was entitled to it. He was very close to her but never returned her love, just his friendship."

"And she took exception to Demona of Ryel?"

"So I've heard. Captain Hathaline was a stern, tough lady. As you can probably guess, I ran afoul of her many times."

"Did you end up in the gym together?"

"She was very Blue and never lowered herself to fight fair with a Brown, so our confrontations never got that far. She just put me to a hard Stare, and that was the end of it."

Syg laughed. "The Stare, huh. I'll have to remember that for next time."

Ki winked at her. "Don't you even think about it."

"Where is this Captain Hathaline now?"

"Dead … killed by Princess Marilith of Xandarr right before the First Battle of Mirendra 3. That was the first time I'd ever seen Dav completely overcome with grief. They'd had a fight … and then she got herself killed. Hasty words were spoken, I suppose. Dav was broken up over it for a long time. It tore my heart up seeing him like that."

Kilos looked hard at Syg. "What has Dav told you about Captain Hathaline?"

"Not much. I think he mentioned her by name at some point. Of course, I wasn't doing too much listening back then." She took a drink of her narva.

"I don't know if Dav's ever told you this, but you look almost just like her. By the Elders, you look exactly like her."

"I do?"

"Yes, you do. She was a bit bigger than you are, and her eyes were brighter green, and you wear your hair a bit differently, but other than that, you two could be twin sisters. I mean, at first I didn't think you looked too much like her—you had this creepy expression and all."

"I was a creepy person back then."

"That's why Dav asked the Sisters to spare you … because you look so much like her."

"He did? He's not said anything in detail."

"He Sighted you sitting in the brig and nearly died of shock. That was when he went on his crusade to save you."

Syg sat there, trying to digest this news.

Ki thought a moment. "Maybe that's another reason I gave you such a hard time before—because when I looked at you, I was seeing her. When I was punching you, I was hitting her too."

Syg sighed. "So, the only reason I'm still walking around is because I look like someone else?" She looked at her narva mug bitterly.

"Maybe at first. He was curious as to why you look so much like her—who wouldn't be? But then, as he got to know you, he found that he liked you, Syg."

"Because he thinks I'm someone else …"

"You're nothing like her. If I'm being blunt, Captain Hathaline was an arrogant ass. He's made mention of it himself, that as he got to know you he found you charming."

"He finds me charming?"

"He does. He likes you, Syg—obviously. I remember when he used to have dinner with me every evening. Not anymore—he's always with you."

Syg cheered up. "Sorry. I'll have to ask Dav about this Captain Hathaline in further detail. What House was she from?"

"House Durst."

"Maybe I'm a long lost daughter of Durst. Were they missing any children?"

"None that I'm aware of. They had seven daughters, no heirs. The Standing Durst name is done—they've all married off, except Hath."

"Looks like everybody loves Dav. He's just … so loveable I guess. Tell me, I don't understand Dav's relationship with Princess Marilith. She hates Dav, she spends her days and nights thinking up schemes to kill him, yet she still seems to care for him … if you read between the lines. And he still cares for her?"

"He does. He loved her—they fell in love. Wasn't meant to be, I guess. It took Dav a long, long time to get over her."

"He's still not over her. She has this annoying hold over him that I can't fully break, no matter what dirty, underhanded trick I try. I'll not give up, though. I'll hear him tell me that he loves me, I swear it."

"Does Dav mean that much to you, Syg?"

Syg smiled. "I'll share something with you, Ki … something I've never fully explained to him."

"What is it?"

"Before, when I was, well—"

"When you were evil, you mean."

"Yes, thanks. When I was evil, I sat in my temple, lost in a fog. I'd have this vision from time to time. I'd see a misty expanse, and far in the distance I'd see a man—a man with glowing eyes. He'd get closer and closer, his eyes shining in the night, searching." Syg exhaled. "Have you ever seen his eyes glow?"

"Yes, of course. I'm a Brown, Syg, it takes more than glowing eyes to impress me. They're pretty, sure, but…"

"No buts … his eyes, that's what pulled me out of the fog. Those were his eyes in the dark, in the distance. His was the Light. I think I've been waiting for him my whole life—waiting for him to save me … so, yes, he means that much to me."

Kilos drained her mug.

"And all because I look like his neighbor." Syg sighed.

The evening bell rang, and crewmen and officers shuffled out of the mess to assume their posts. Ki and Syg were virtually alone in the mess.

"Well …" Ki said, looking at her empty mug. "You know Dav's father was well known for wanting to make peace with the Xaphans."

"Really, tell me," Syg said, interested.

"Dav loved his father very much. His father, Sadric, dreamed of the day that the Xaphans returned home and we'd be one again. It was his greatest ambition.

"But, Sadric, unlike Dav, wasn't a doer; he was mostly an idea man—and he had little if any notion how to bring his ideas into action. Look what his big thing was—a wedding, a unifying League-Xaphan wedding. As if a stodgy League Society function meant anything to the Xaphans. No, if it's going to be done, it'll be the way Dav did it with you—one to one, face to face, right in the mouth with everything on the line, so to speak."

Kilos lamented her empty mug. Sygillis handed over hers. Kilos accepted it with a cry. Crew coming off their shifts began filtering in. Soon the mess was again crawling with life and chatter.

"Anyway," Kilos said, continuing, "Sadric was heartbroken that the marriage to Princess Marilith didn't work out, and he sulked the rest of his life away, locked in his tower."

"Zoe Tower?"

"The very one. Dav was beside himself, one because he loved his father and two because Marilith, the girl he Zen-La'ed with, turned out to be a bad, monstrous error. I think Dav has been waiting all these years to continue his father's work, and the Sisters gave him the chance to do it. The fact that you look like Captain Hathaline probably helped jump start him."

Kilos drained Syg's mug. "I've been thinking …"

"You think, Ki?"

"Shut up," she said, smiling. "The Shadowmark, the birthmark …"

"What about it?"

"I think I finally know why Sadric was so keen on making peace with the Xaphans."

"All right, why?"

"Because I think one of Dav's sisters has it."

Syg was shocked. She almost choked. She sat bolt upright, and her sandals flew off.

"What?" she said nearly speechless.

"Yes, the more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that's the case."

She scooted next to Kilos. "Tell me," she said. "Hurry up!"

Kilos held up her empty mug and shook it. Syg seized their mugs, ran to the bar—red hair bouncing—and soon came back with two frothing mugs of buncked narva.

"All right, spill it," she said with growing excitement, handing Kilos her fresh, cold mug.

Kilos took a huge drink. "Dav has told you that Marilith tried to kill his sister Pardock, correct?"

"Yes, because Countess Pardock wouldn't pass the baton, so they couldn't get married."

"Correct—right there in the chapel, she threw it down. If she could have broken it over her knee first and then thrown it down, she would have. See, with you—you were abducted, you had no choice, it was either be a Black Hat or die, but Marilith, she is who she is because that's who she is … and Pardock saw it. She Stared her right through. Pardock saw that she was a rotten, murderous wretch who was going to lead Dav into a long, dark night. Apparently, Captain Hathaline did something to Marilith's persona … made it look a lot worse than what it really was—but I don't believe it. Marilith is evil. Sadric was blinded by his ambition, and Marilith had charmed him into near insanity, but Pardock wasn't going to let her brother be sacrificed and had the courage to call her out. For that, Marilith was determined to kill her, and she broke into Castle Blanchefort and tried to murder Pardock with her own two hands. The way Dav tells the story, Pardock Dirged Marilith out a high window in Zoe Tower, but if you think about it—that's not possible. Marilith, short of being a Black Hat, is incredibly skilled with all the Gifts, except the Sight. Two Dirgists cannot Dirge each other, right?"