Yelena sat back as the Council continued to bicker amongst themselves. It had taken all morning to agree that the medallion's very existence let alone benevolent use was against the Ethical Code.

The session had stretched from there until sunset as they decided what was to be done with it.

Yelena had suggested placing it in the Shadow World. It seemed to be far less accessible than if it were placed at the bottom of the sea or in some cavern in Soul Mountains. At this point, Bain was still arguing for the Keep's treasury.

She sighed, silently envious of the servant who came in to retrieve the dinner plates. At least he could go back to his room and sleep.

Irys raised a hand. "It appears that we will not be reaching a compromise at any point in the next few hours. Might I suggest a recess so that the Council Members may retire? Well rested members tend to be more aware of points that may be compromised."

"I second that." Yelena leaned forward and added without hesitation.

Bain's eyebrows knitted together with his consternation. But before he could add his own soliloquy to counter Irys's, several other voices raised in assent as well.

He shook his head, muttering something about the inefficiency of the new youth. "Very well. All those in favor of a recess say aye."

Majority won and the exhausted members of the Council session began to make their departures.

Yelena went to Irys. "There should be a rule that if a decision can't be reached before dinner it'll have to wait until tomorrow."

Her mentor laughed. "You'd be hard pressed to pass that one. Bain will immediately bring up Fire Warpers and how absurd it would be to wait to decide on what to do."

She raised her eyebrows. "Letting a discussion over that carry on for that long wouldn't be considered waiting?"

"Any discourse is productive discourse, child." Irys puffed her chest out.

Yelena laughed and shook her head, unable to suppress a wide yawn.

Irys placed a hand on her shoulder. "Go. Sleep. The hardest part of the battle is already won. And we have you to thank for that."

She smiled and nodded before leaving for her rooms.

A sudden movement in the suite made Yelena stop, her hand going to the switchblade at her side.

He called out to her. Dust riddled his black boots and pants from his swift ride.

She turned the blade off but didn't go to him straightaway. Instead, she turned her back to him and went to light a lantern.

Valek leaned against the bedpost. "Long day?"

Yelena's hand paused in mid air before she caught herself and set the matches down. "Something like that."

His face didn't change. "Anything I can do to help?"

"Not unless you know how to convince an entire Council to make a decision."

"I can do that. But then again you don't tend to approve of my methods." White teeth flashed in a mirthless smile.

Yelena released a slow breath. "Why are you here?"

He withdrew a missive from his grey cloak and handed it to her.

She took it from him and opened it with ease. He hadn't bothered to make it look unread. She paced as she read. She stopped abruptly.

The letter slipped from her hands.

"It came for you only today. If you hadn't left so soon you would've caught it."

Yelena sat down slowly on the edge of the bed.

"You were never built for espionage, Yelena." Valek picked the letter up and fed it to the flame. "Not that there was ever anything really wrong with that."

She watched Arcane fade away on the paper before turning to him. "Will you help me?" Her voice was steady despite the way the rat gnawed at her stomach.

"Of course, love." He said without emotion. "He's important to you, after all."

"Thank you." She willed herself to keep the tears out of her voice.

"We'll discuss this tomorrow." He began to undress for bed.

Yelena lay back against the pillows. She still couldn't completely read him but being no stranger to insomnia herself could always perceive when sleep eluded him. Her fists closed around the covers, unable to release them. "It's not true. What they say about Arcane and me."

Valek opened his eyes at the ceiling. "I know."

"What are you thinking right now?"

"How this could have all been prevented had you known how to be more discreet." He turned on his side away from her.

"I know about Pazia."

A soft sigh escaped him. "Do you really want to do this now?"

Yelena sat up. "It's not as if we were really going to be able to sleep."

"Then in that case I know about Arcane. And what you've been doing for the last five years."

She didn't bother to lie. "Nothing gets past you does it?"

"I've not only seen it all I helped to build the very system you've been trying to play. So yes, I would say that there's a slim chance of anything getting past me."

"Brazell got past you. But oh wait you let him so that doesn't really count."

A growl of frustration escaped Valek and suddenly Yelena was pinned to the headboard. She only narrowed her eyes. "This isn't going to work again."

Valek's grip around her tightened as he considered. "The Commander won't let you go, Yelena. Not even..." His hands began to slacken around her. "Not even if I do."

Her hands came to rest on his shoulders, gently but firmly. "What has he been saying? Tell me."

He looked away.

"Dearest. Aren't you tired of this?" She whispered as she rested her forehead against his. "Aren't you so tired of this? Tell me."

One Week Ago

The Commander swirled his brandy in the glass before setting it down again. "I have heard an interesting rumor. Will you confirm it's unfounded?"

Valek folded his hands and leaned forward. A quick movement or shift will disguise many inevitable emotions. However, you will have to be able to anticipate its trigger. "That will have to depend on what it is."

"A notoriously powerful artifact has been recently acquired by the Sitian government."

"I will have my network look into it."

"That wasn't the rumor." Ambrose never took his sharp eyes off him, giving Valek the impression of being a fly watched by a frog.

Valek sipped from his glass.

"The rumor was that the item was surrendered by the Liaison, immediately after her visit here. And given the extremely low probability of there being anything of value to discover on the frequently traveled road from the border where Sitia begins, one can't help but presume that it was acquired here."

Unfortunately, he respected his old friend too much to lie. "You want to know if I helped her."

"Did you?"

"No."

"I would consider a blind eye turned to be undue assistance." He finished his brandy, swirling the remains against the dark light of the dying fire. "Make no mistake, Valek. If I were to ever again order you to neutralize her it would be done out of pure kindness."

Valek bit back his own threat to neutralize anything that would dare go near her. "She has been loyal to you through me, sir. In many ways."

"The question of her honor is not the reason why I consider her a threat. Need I remind you of her last night as food taster?"

"I haven't forgotten." His nails dug into the palm of his other hand.

The Commander tapped the armrest, the medals on his uniform glittering in the firelight. "Ixia is my priority, even when it has never completely been yours. And in terms of its well being, she is dispensable, whereas you are not."

"Sometimes I wonder," Valek stood now, "how you manage to convince yourself that you are better than the despot you overthrew when you wouldn't hesitate to condemn someone like her to a fate worse than death."

"Sit down, Valek. We're not through here."

Valek obeyed stiffly.

"Fortunately for you, the burden of my conscience is mine alone to bear." The Commander continued. "Your only concern is to ensure that Yelena stays in her place."

His nails dug into the armrests now.

"I do wonder," The Commander mused, "how you manage to convince yourself that you are better than me for insisting that Yelena stay with you under these conditions."

There was a bait in that statement. Valek decided to take it. "If I wasn't bound to her that way what would you do?"

"Now that is an interesting proposition you bring up." The Commander poured more brandy. "So let's consider it. If she were to be a Liaison without any of the added advantages that would have been unbeknownst to anyone else in her position, her movements would be significantly more limited. There would be less reports of a Soulfinder appearing in several of my districts throughout the course of one delegation, both causing undue chaos and challenging a very essential part of my Code of Conduct. And at the same time I would regain a more focused Chief of Security."

"You'd leave her alone." Valek finished for him.

"For approximately a season." The corner of his mouth turned up. "This woman is as resourceful as she is adaptable. And she will adapt to being without her greatest asset in Ixia, you cannot doubt that."

"So a mutual heartbreak isn't going to make things any better."

"For my purposes, yes, your emotions are immaterial."

"Is there even a purpose to this discussion?"

The Commander's sharp eyes turned to Valek, pinning him to his seat. "It isn't difficult, Valek. If I have more reason to believe that you're incapable of controlling Yelena or that your loyalties have changed, I will be forced to take matters into my own hands."

"My loyalties have not changed." Valek snapped. "I have always-"

"Yes, you have always, as duty commands of that. But Yelena makes you inclined to forget that and all that we have worked to build." For the first time that night the Commander's voice took on a wistful quality.

"And what have we built?" Valek asked quietly.

"A nation. One where oppressed people and the generations that follow them have more opportunities than their grandparents could have ever dreamed of." He leaned forward and compassion slipped into his tone. "There is a price to be paid to bring about such a change and then there is a price to pay to ensure that it doesn't all go to ruin. You two are a part of that as something far greater than your romance."

"You're asking me to be no better than the men who abused her." The Security Chief made a beseeching motion with both his upturned hands. "I'm the reason she can scarcely breathe on this side of the border."

"You haven't set her hair on fire yet, have you?" The Commander rose at this point, a sign of dismissal.

Only when he was safe again in his own suite and in his carving room where he had whittled away dark hours did Valek allow himself to utter her name again. It came out a ragged, choked sound. The hurled rock shattered into dust against the wall.