Laura left the High Sorcerer's chambers feeling very perplexed. She couldn't understand a thing he was saying, except to act inconspicuous until the stage was set. She was sure Jemaine couldn't understand the man's language either. Her sister had a strange blank expression on her face that she had never seen in a very long time. Amor and Alexa had not seemed to find anything queer in Master Lord Thom's words. They actively participated in devising whatever plan it was, and it was only through them that Laura learned anything at all.

Shaking her head, she hurriedly walked ito a corner just as a lord passed her by and started to ask about the two strange pointy things peeking out of her hair (apparently, the man saw her slanted elven ears). She could make out another wall in the darkness. Another dead end. She wondered how she could find her way around the winding passages of the castle when Lord Thom never said anything about accommodations.

With a sigh, she turned to go through another passage, thinking that she didn't want to end up in anyone else's room, most especially Amor's! The young wizard frightened her yet fascinated her at the same time. She had never seen such wild energy and grace in any man before, even among the elves, which she thought were the one perfect race the gods created. His dark mysterious features filled her rapture. His charming smile took her breath--

"Lost, princess?" The soft musical voice made her shver with breathless delight.

Spinning around, peering through her long golden bangs, she found herself face to face with the object of her imagination. Amor looked as charming as ever, smiling at her. Her voice box suddenly paralyzed as her insides practically burst, Laura could only nod shyly.

"You left before I could take you to your room, my lady," he said with a touch of sarcasm. "You will come with me now?"

She flushed feeling very stupid. Of course Lord Thom would have provided for her rooms. "I'd like that, Master Firestorm," she squeaked getting redder by the moment.

Amor laughed as he took her hand and led her down another corridor. "Oh please, princess, just call me Amor. I've done away with the Master Firestorm thing since I first came here. Besides, I want to hear my name spoken by lips as kissable as yours." His eyes twinkled as she glanced up at him in shock.

"What--ooohhh, all right, if you insist, sir. But doesn't that feel degrading when lords and ladies call you that?"

He grinned. "They can call me what they want, I don't mind. I especially don't mind if anyone close to me calls me by my name." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "I think it gives more respect to me than to my rank."

"Oh. Well, do I give you enough respect for that? Am I close enough to call you by your name?" She knew he was teasing her and she wasn't letting him off without giving him a taste of his own medicine. Unfortunately, she didn't know he had a suitable comeback.

"More than you know, dear lady," he replied, laughing, knowing he had the upperhand of the conversation.

The room he showed her into was an antechamber of his rooms. It was too big, too wide for her thin elven blood that she stopped for long moments to gasp for breath. Agoraphobia had been one of her problems since a child. Amor was immediately at her side, helping her up when she almost staggered.

Laura was seeing stars when the young man steered her to sit by the large oak desk at one end of the room. "I'm sorry. It's just that I am very sensitive to open and closed spaces..."

Amor smiled mildly, conjuring up a cup of tea which he offered to the elfmaiden to calm her agitated nerves. "I'll have you moved to another room then--" "No, no, that's not what I meant," she hastily interrupted. "It's just that I've lived half my hundred how-much-more years in a small room. I think this might take a bit of getting used to." Amor nodded fiddling with a quill pen on the desk while Laura tried to catch her breath. He seemed absorbed in looking around the room, something which Laura found strange for he looked oddly detached when earlier he had not been able to take his eyes off her.

"You know this used to be my private study," he said softly, almost to himself. "There was this woman... ah she discovered me. I had to get rid of her before she alerted the palace guards of the presence of a sorcerer in their court."

"But how did she know?"

He smiled inwardly, apparently preoccupied with his thoughts that he almost forgot about her. "The spell components..." Laura frowned. "What did you say?"

Amor suddenly seemed to snap out of his reverie. "What? What were we talking about?"

"Nothing," she answered, downcast. She knew the face of a mage when he was thinking things that were of no concern to clerics. She had pretty much seen the same expression on Parrise's face. Seeing it on Amor's made her feel very lonely.

He frowned, seeing the darkness cross over her face. "What's wrong?"

"You remind me so much of my husband," she muttered, looking down at the floor. "He worked with magic, the same as you."

"Does he? What kind of magic?"

"Necromancy." Her voice sounded like the knell of funeral bells, haunting, ghostlike. "He somehow managed to disguise himself, hide among my father's courtiers. Oh he was truly evil, the dark elf he is. But how he overflowed with love! You cannot imagine how happy I was with him." She sighed. "He died several months ago, killed by one of my order. But I still think of him, he lives in my heart, if not in hell."

"Oh." The mage dropped his hands as though he had lost all interest in her. The glimmer in his eyes was gone, swatted out by the elfwoman's words. Of course she loved her husband! The idiot he was, believing she, she of all people, would fall to his charms! "I should be leaving now. You should be dressed. My master intends to set the plan into action immediately. Tonight, if possible. He expects you to join as at dinner."

Bowing sardonically, he walked out of the room, leaving Laura stunned by his abrupt and cold exit, and wondering what she had said to merit such a reaction from him.

Jemaine grunted unappreciatively as she entered her own room. Unlike Laura's luxuriant quarters, hers was small and restricting, obviously furnished for a mage.

The dark room was cluttered and stuffy with books lining the shelves that covered all four walls of the room. A curtained four-poster bed loomed at one side of the room, overpowering the rest of the furniture. The dark linen curtains were drawn, obstructing the bright moonlight that poured through the tall windows. Besides that, there was nothing else, save for a small desk covered with all sorts of funnels and tubes. "This was my laboratory," Thom said, suddenly appearing behind her. He shrugged. "Too conspicuous. I almost got caught when I was conducting an experiment on creating life." He pointed to a small wooden panel beside one shelf. "I strongly suggest you don't open that. The sights in it aren't very pleasing."

Jemaine snorted. "Bah, I've seen worse. To tell you the truth, Lord Thom, I'm wondering why I should follow you anyway."

"Maybe because... you have no choice?" he offered with a sarcastic laugh. "It's a very rewarding quest, Jemaine, dear girl. A few measly spells used, some magic energy drained. What's that compared to dying and going to hell?" The look on his face made Jemaine feel like slapping him with all her might. "Hmm... ah well, something to interest you, pass your time while I handle the more mundane things of this masterplan, check out the spellbooks. I heard you elves don't learn real magic, only rely on a bunch of prayers. To my mind, the gods just won't listen. They're too busy fighting among themselves to care. But who am I to say such things?"

"You have a very big mouth for a mage," she snapped, irritated by the idle chatter.

Thom grinned. "All the better to pronounce the spellwords with, long ears."

"That goes too far!" Her shout echoed through the vaulted room, making her cringe at the noise she made.

Thom smiled amiably. "Come, come, princess. You don't want those courtiers to catch you when you haven't even made a grand entrance. Perhaps you would like to change into something more presentable, less suspicious clothing. I'll be back before you know it."

He made his graceful exit just as Jemaine started to argue with him again.