Chapter Two
The Planet Airai
Two Years Later


All was quiet in the deep darkness of the underground crypt, and there was noone to disturb the young woman as she crept carefully between the stone pillars and distinctive engravings towards the doorway she sought. For a moment she paused, running her finger over the characters that scribed her sister's name, and a sense of melancholy washed over her. Then she gathered her wits, determination on her face as she slipped into the chamber beyond, pausing to light the lamps that hung around the walls.

On the bier in the middle of the chamber, a young woman lay, dressed in the traditional robes of death, with her long silver hair braided back from her face and her hands clasped together over her chest. She seemed to be sleeping, but as she approached, the visitor knew that no breath entered her sister's lungs. There was no sign of blood on her face, carefully and lovingly washed before her enrobement, but the pallor of her skin told the truth of what had happened, and slowly she dropped down on her knees beside the funeral platform.

"Najya-neechan." She whispered. "I've done all you asked of me, and I trust that it will be enough. Kagato and his men have finally lost interest in us, just as you said they would. My sister, I hope your gamble will pay off. Father is worried...how much strength you had already lost when you came here, and how much more it took to seal yourself away like this. Will you wake again, Oneesama? I wish I knew the answer. With Masaru and his people so strong - I am afraid to be named Father's heir, and more - I am afraid that it will prove to be true. My sister, please don't be dead in there. Please be sleeping...whatever happens to us, if your life is forfeit because of it, none of it will be worth it."

There was not a murmur from the still form on the bier, and tears rolled down the visitor's cheeks as she surveyed her companion's serene expression.

"You seem at peace, but Airai is not." She whispered. "Whether Kagato's interests here are truly just about strengthening his magic, I couldn't tell you. But he has been here, Najya. Of this I am certain. Spies have reported seeing the Souja more than once over the atmosphere. Father is vigilant, and there have been no attacks on the Akara since Kagato's knights came to confirm that you had died of the wounds he inflicted. But it almost seems greater than that. That this son of Jurai and Airai seeks to hold more power in his hands than even Masaru can claim. In the two years or more since you came home, Najya, so much has happened. So much ill...so much you sought to prevent. First Akito, now you - will I have to lose everyone I love before this is resolved?"

"Aya."

At the sound of her father's voice, the girl glanced up, meeting his soft ruby gaze with a hopeless one of her own. At her expression, he came to sit beside her, resting his hand on her shoulder.

"I have done all she asked of me, Papa." Aya spoke in soft tones, her hand flitting absently to the pendant that hung around her neck. "I helped her complete the spell to seal her spirit. I have kept safe the half of her life force she entrusted to me, and I will continue to do so. But she was so badly hurt, and when I see her this way...I didn't realise how much I missed my sister, that's all. How strong Najya really was, going to Jurai and risking everything to learn about Prince Kagato. Now...now...what if she does lie dead, Father? What if..."

"We must hope that is not the case, though for the time being, it is not important." Her companion said gravely. "Najya has taken a big risk, in sealing herself thus. She protected her family from Juraian interest and invasion, and for that we must be grateful. This Prince Kagato that claims Saotome blood is a more dangerous foe than any of us realised, and I fear he will continue to be so for some time. The more he learns of Arian ways, the more difficult it will be to eliminate him. And Najya knew this. The less interest he has in the Akara for the time being, the better."

He sighed, brushing his hand against his eldest daughter's still, pale hand.

"Even if it means she and I will never again speak." He added sadly. "I am grateful for her sacrifice. I do not believe she is dead, Aya. You and she, you have always been closer than sisters often are in this harsh, backbiting climate. You are her junior, and yet in some respects I imagine you more like twins than simple siblings. That connection between you allows you to protect Najya's spirit more strongly than any other member of the clan...I believe she has chosen wisely in asking you to be her guardian. But in doing this, we both know that she expelled all of her energy. If she is to wake, it will only be when my magic passes to her. For the time being, we must let her sleep. And we must not come here so often as you have been...we don't know if the Saotome watch us, or if they have completely lost interest in light of their treating with a Prince of Jurai. But if they are to be suspicious of our coming here - they may realise that Najya is not completely dead. And should they choose to destroy her body completely while she is in this vulnerable form - or if they were to come after you and destroy the pendant you carry - I do not know what would happen."

"I understand." Aya got to her feet, drying her eyes as she nodded her head. "Papa, do you really think Kagato will be our enemy, alongside Masaru?"

"I don't know as he cares as much as Masaru, about the feud between our peoples." Her companion said thoughtfully, taking her gently by the hand and leading her slowly back up the steps towards the surface. "I think his eyes are set on bigger goals. The throne of Jurai, in the first instance. Whether Masaru is manipulating the Prince, or whether the Prince is using Masaru to gain in strength..."

He paused, shaking his head.

"I would not like to say which savage beast controls which, or whose ambition drives them." He said at length. "From all Najya said to us in her reports, we know that Kagato's focus has generally been Jurai. That to succeed the throne there, he has sought to eliminate all those who have learnt of his bastard origins...all those who he perceived as a threat to his claim."

"And if he should choose to annexe Airai, or unite with the Saotome once he has grabbed power?"

"I hope we shall not have to witness that event." The mage grew grave. "Najya told me she had revealed to Lady Aiko that she knew the nature of the connection between Kagato and Akito Saotome. Then your sister was forced to flee Jurai, badly wounded and in fear of her life. In light of that...I don't believe it is safe to send anyone else to Jurai at present. It is possible that Lady Aiko is an ally of her son and more involved in this than we should like to think. All we can do for now is hold on to our own and defend our lands and people if such an attack comes."

Aya frowned, as her father helped her out of the steep cavern opening, gazing thoughtfully up at the clouded sky for a moment as she considered. Then,

"What about Najya-neechan's friend? The one from the Science Academy?" She asked softly. "Is she not an enemy of Kagato?"

"You mean the scientist, Professor Hakubi?" Her companion rubbed hs chin, shaking his head slowly. "No. We cannot involve others in our fight, Aya. Especially not innocents. From Najya's own testimony, her friend Professor Niwase was murdered by the taint of Masaru's curse. If she has not already been slain, we must not risk arousing suspicion on Professor Hakubi or ourselves by venturing too far from home."

"Then we can do nothing?" Aya sounded frustrated, and her father shook his head.

"No, we can do nothing." He agreed quietly. "At least, not until Kagato and Masaru's plans become clear. I expected a far more ferocious assault after Najya's return, and it has not come. Something is stalling them - and for the time being, we know too little to act. Patience, my child. I have thought about it all in some detail - trust your family's mage to act with wisdom when the time comes."

"I do trust you. Papa, I'm sorry." Aya sighed, leaning up against him. "It's just, with Najya..."

"I know." The mage nodded his head. "But for now, there's nothing we can do to help Najya or change her situation. Whilst Kagato lives, it's not safe for her to be seen to be alive, anyway. She told you herself, did she not, of the blood vow Kagato made with Masaru? So long as Najya is alive, he remains at risk from the Saotome mage's cursed power. If he should realise it - that he has not completed his part of the bargain fully - he would come after her again. For the time being, your sister is better off dead. You saw how thoroughly those knights examined her body - how one of them sought to put his blade through her chest to see if she would bleed. We cannot risk such a thing happening again."

Aya shivered, closing her eyes at the memory.

"She did not bleed." She whispered. "But I felt the pain as if it were my own. All right, Father. So long as Najya relies on me to protect her, I will do as you say. She is close to me always, in any case. I don't have to see her to let her know I'm thinking of her. Our bond is bigger than that - just as you say. I've been weak, that's all. But I...I must be stronger. I must be like you and like Najya, and put the family first."

"Good girl." her companion smiled, squeezing her hand approvingly. "I believe your sister will live again, and Aya, you will be here when she does. Bound as you are now, you and she exist outside of time. Like Najya, you will not age or grow older until the seal is released. I may not see my daughters together again, but I have faith that they will be, one day. And until then, we must work as hard as we can to maintain peace for the Akara. That is my duty as the mage of this clan...and I will do my utmost to hand on peace to my heiress, so when she wakes, she'll wake to a land of calm, not one of war."

"Whatever I can do to help, Papa, I will." Aya made up her mind, her hand clasping around the pendant tightly as she felt a flicker of energy stir within it. "For you, for Najya, for the Akara...for Airai. Whatever I must do, I will do. That is my duty...as a daughter of the Akara mage!"

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"There is no new information, my Lord."

The knight bowed low before his master, anxiety and wariness flickering in his odd gaze as he raised his head to the Prince. "I am grieved to bring you such news, but it is true. And despite our best attempts, it has been impossible to find any trace of the stolen artefacts on the planet Airai."

"I see."

The young man in the chair looked thoughtful, sitting back as he considered this. He appeared calm, but a flicker of dark energy danced in his golden eyes, keeping his servant on his guard, for he knew that in the two and a half years since the death of Professor Mikamo Niwase, the temperament of Prince Kagato had proven unpredictable and occasionally violent.

"Well, Tessei, then I suppose we must presume that the stones were not taken to Airai, either."

At length he got to his feet, moving across the chamber to the window. "Which leaves us with the very real problem...doesn't it?"

"My Lord?"

"You and Tetta seem to have become adept at discovering where things are not." Kagato turned, and Tessei took an instinctive step back towards the door, ready to flee should his master's quick temper be unleashed in the form of the dark magic that had begun, little by little, to pierce his soul. Since the slaying of his best friend, Tessei had seen the once amicable, mischievous Prince change from an ambitious young hopeful to something dark and embittered, and even the knowledge that the late Professor's death had been at his hand did not seem to have brought Kagato any comfort. If nothing else, Tessei mused now, taking in the rigidity and frustration on the young man's face, the opposite had been true. Since Mikamo Niwase had been laid to rest on Seniwa, Kagato's obsession with securing Jurai's succession and the power of Airai had increased threefold, as if somehow in his dedication he could justify to himself the loss of a man he had once called an ally.

"My Lord, if I may, the Dark Heart of Jurai is not so easy to locate." Tessei spoke softly now. "We are doing our best, but Prince Kagato, I am beginning to think that our first impulse was the true one. That somehow Professor Niwase secreted the stones somewhere before his death - and that he did not tell anyone what his intentions were."

"In other words, I killed him too quickly." Kagato spoke in low tones, and Tessei bit his lip. Had he gone too far, in mentioning the scientist by name? "Perhaps so. Perhaps Mikamo did secrete them, as you put it. But even so, I find it hard to believe that, if they are on Jurai, we have not located them."

"And yet, Highness, if they had been taken by Professor Hakubi or Dr Akara, I am sure we would have discovered them by now." Tessei said evenly. "My Lord, we searched every inch of the laboratory at the Science Academy. We spoke in detail to Professor Hakubi, and even used the drug on her that you said would loosen her tongue and persuade her to speak. She could not tell us anything. She does not have the stones."

"And yet you still failed to kill her." Kagato sighed, resting his chin in his hands. "Why do I rely on you both, Tessei, when you are constantly failing to do what I ask of you?"

"Honestly, my Lord, I do not understand myself why my poison failed to kill Professor Hakubi." Tessei admitted, spreading his hands. "It was a potent dose - three times enough to kill an individual. I was as frustrated as you were...her suicide would have been most timely."

"Considering what she must know about me." Kagato muttered. Tessei frowned, his eyes narrowing as he took in his master's expression anew.

"My Prince?"

"She was Mikamo's lover, and Dr Akara's friend." Kagato folded his arms across his chest. "Can we believe she knows nothing? Even with your interrogation, Tessei - can we be assured while she remains alive that she is not a potential leak? That she might not yet reveal our plans to those around her?"

"Tetta and I were very careful in conducting our enquiries." Tessei said levelly, inwardly cross at the doubt in his master's voice. "We used the magic you bestowed us with and we mingled among the Academy students as though we were alumni. And we secured the services of Dr Clay to spy for you. I firmly believe that, if they knew anything about your purpose or the Dark Heart of Jurai, we would have learnt it."

"Yes, perhaps." Kagato sighed, rubbing his temples. "All right. I accept that you have been thorough in your work, Tessei. As for Professor Hakubi, I shall have to think again about her, and what to do about her. I won't have a potential loose end, even if she is nothing more than Mikamo's heartbroken lover. It would have been convenient for her to have taken her own life in a fit of griefstricken pique, but I see that she is not to be so easily destroyed. I will have to look at this from a new angle...and in the meantime, you can tell me what you learnt from Airai. More specifically, from the Akara. You did, I trust, infiltrate their camp and investigate thoroughly the circumstances surrounding the death of Najya Akara?"

"Yes, my Lord, for the third time, just as you asked." Tessei bit back the impatience from his tone. "She lies as she did the first time we visited - dead of the wounds inflicted by my Lord before she fled Jurai. Her family continue to mourn her - but there is no life in her body."

"And of this you are sure, Tessei?" Kagato's eyes glittered a warning, and Tessei bowed his head hurriedly.

"Yes, my Lord. Tetta pierced her heart himself with his blade." He said quickly. "And no blood gushed from the wound. She is a lifeless corpse - My Lord, you need not fear any more from her."

"And there is no sign that the Akara have the Dark Heart?"

"None whatsoever." Tessei shook his head. "On the contrary, they seemed eager to please the emissaries of a Juraian lord."

"Suspicious, surely, in light of Najya Akara's sudden death?"

"Perhaps, but it meant we could move freely about their premises and conduct whatever searches we liked while there." Tessei spread his hands. "The stones are not on Airai."

"Masaru agrees with you on that." Kagato sighed. "He says that if they were, he'd have sensed their presence. Such strong magic - I'm sure he's right. But then, I don't sense them here on Jurai, either. And my magic grows in all ways - but even so...even so..."

He clenched his fists, flickers of strange energy flaring around his hands as he did so.

"Where the hell are they!" He demanded.

"My Lord, I have one further suggestion." Tessei said hesitantly. Kagato glared at his companion.

"Well?" He snapped. "Don't prevaricate. Tell me!"

"That somehow they were buried on Seniwa with Lord Niwase, Kagato-sama."

"Buried with...?" Kagato's golden eyes widened with disbelief, then, "Do you think that even a remote possibility?"

"I don't know." Tessei faltered. "But...Prince Kagato...Lord Niwase's cause of death was never in any doubt to his kin. The shame of his suicide - they did not seek further investigation into the matter. There was no autopsy, and he was interred on Seniwa. I have been thinking, on our flight back to Jurai. What if...what if Professor Niwase swallowed the capsule containing the stones before Masaru-sama's dark magic compelled him to take his own life? What if the reason we can't find them is because, in a moment of mad desperation, he sought to take them with him to his final resting place - well away from the planet Jurai?"

Kagato was silent for a moment, staring at his knight as he digested these words. Then, at length, he whispered a curse.

"You might be right." he murmured. "Damn it, and how am I meant to overcome that hurdle and find out, if that is indeed the case? Demanding my friend's exhumation cannot be seen as anything other than suspicious, and asking for an autopsy may reveal the scars of the magic Masaru left inside of him. Desecrating the grave of a Seniwan Lord is not the behaviour of a Prince of Jurai, for sure...but damn it, what if you are correct?"

"My Lord, perhaps Tetta and I could travel to Seniwa." Tessei said softly. "And convey our continuing respects to Lord Niwase's family, on the behalf of yourself and Lady Aiko."

"And that would achieve what, exactly?"

"Nothing directly, my Lord." Tessei said simply. "But if vandals were to attack the crypt whilst we were visiting, it might be prudent of us to offer our support. And for my Lord Prince to take an active interest in restoring the resting place of one who was a dear friend - if you follow my meaning."

For a moment Kagato's eyes flickered with something close to genuine grief. Then they hardened, and slowly he nodded his head.

"I understand perfectly." He said softly. "And you have restored my faith in your intelligence, Tessei. Go, and do this thing. I have trust in your discretion, if nothing else - discover whether or not Mikamo was fool enough to take the Dark Heart with him when he died. It is too important a matter not to know for sure...so make sure you are quite certain either way before you leave Seniwa."

"Yes, my Lord." Relief flickered in Tessei's reddish eyes, and he bowed his head, his strange, silverish blue hair falling over his shoulder as he did so. "As you wish."

With that he withdrew, closing the door behind him slowly with a sigh as he contemplated the meeting. At times, he knew, serving such an unpredictable Prince was a danger in itself. And yet, with the power that Kagato had already massed...

He shook his head, clearing his mind of any doubts. Even since the alliance with Masaru of the Saotome had begun, Kagato's strength had grown and both Tetta and Tessei had benefitted from the focusing of their master's power. He had already bestowed both of them with the ability to conceal their true appearances when conducting his business, and Tessei knew there could only be more to come for those who had served their Prince loyally. How he had come to wield so much Arian magic, Tessei had his own suspicions, but he had chosen to ignore them.

"After all, if my master is a bastard or not, it matters nothing at all if he has enough strength to take a crown by force." He muttered to himself as he hurried along the hallways towards the barracks where he knew Tetta was awaiting him. "Whoever has the power to hold Jurai is the true leader, whatever the truth of his blood. Emperor Shigure is strong, it's true - but even he cannot imagine the magic that Prince Kagato may one day wield, if he succeeds in fully uniting Jurai's Power with the dark magic of the Saotome. He will be a fearsome enemy then...and I will not make him my enemy."