In the dancing shadows cast by flickering lights from towering torches belching thick black smoke higher and higher, Princess Lyla stood alone in her softer and more princessly silks. The air was cool, as it was every night with the suns down. But it was not cold as the desert sands expelled their pent up heat of the daylight hours. The lack of the day's oppressive heat did not bother her.

Atop the spear head shaped bastion marking the southeast corner of the curtain wall surrounding Ison's Lower Ring, she watched faint outlines beyond the light. They scuttled across the desert sands. Each kept their distance, but they were eagerly waiting.

Every night the Black Rohs searched for a way through the barrier of light ringing Ison's walls. Every now and again, they found one. Even soaked in pitch, the torches were often unreliable. And if someone didn't rush to relight one that had gone out, or replace it with a new beacon, the creatures would swarm through the opening and into the Lower Ring.

For those who could manage the cost to do so, they kept their own personal torches alight along the outer walls of their residences. But for most of Ison's poorest in the slums of the Lower Ring, such was a luxury they could not afford.

Princess Lyla looked over her shoulder at the wall of the Upper Ring, It stood as though it were a malevolent god above those inhabiting the slums. It's wall had five times as many torches along its length. Even if one failed, it wouldn't have left enough of a gap for a Black Rohs to get through.

"It is very surreal," another woman's voice said to her. "Is it not? That they protect themselves so vigorously while others are left to suffer."

The princess did not turn to address her sister. She only leaned forward onto the wall and supported herself upon the stiff muscles of her arms. "In the days of old, when our ancestors and our sisters protected this desert, it was far less of a murderous waste."

"Indeed," Princess Lyla agreed. "The Black Rohs were a nuisance rather than a daily threat to life and limb."

The other woman came up beside her. She was six inches taller and dressed head to toe in black silk. All that remained visible of her were her emerald eyes and her hands. But based on the way her clothing fit, she was of similar build to Lyla: fit, trim, and solid muscle. "Soon it will be that way again," she added.

"Do you think Prince Kolad will succeed?"

"No." The woman in black shook her head. "In fact, I am already well aware that our brother has failed. Not that his success was ever intended. I only need a distraction."

"Oh?"

"Yes," her companion said. "One that would allow me to come and see my sister without a possibly of Ison's arrogant prince noticing. I hear that you are engaged. That my brother has named himself a Karo Shar."

"Is that all you've heard?"

Even though it could not be seen, the way the other woman's black veil pulled up on either side indicated a smile lay beneath. "I hear this supposed Karo Shar is not much of a man at all."

Princess Lyla turned on her visitor with restrained anger dancing in her eyes. "Do not speak ill of my future husband, sister."

The woman in black laughed. "Future husband? You honestly intend to go through with this farce and abide by the Decrees of men? You know my brother has only elevated him to such a lofty position because this boy is his only witness to his killing of a Night Terror. And it's only the title and the fear of what a Karo Shar should be capable of that keeps him alive. Aside from that, as soon as others rightfully decide he's weak and not at all a warrior, he will be dead."

"Do not underestimate him," Lyla warned. "The boy has heart and is blessed by the deepest luck I have ever seen."

"I heard he almost had his heart taken by the Night Terror. Is it true? That you can see it beating inside him? Through a wound in his chest?"

"It's healed more than you might know, but yes, if you look close enough, you can still see it pounding his blood through veins. As I said, he has been touched by luck in a way no man, or woman, ever has."

"You know what they say about luck," the woman in black warned. "Even those with lots of it have it run out, eventually."

"I will personally make sure he lives." The oath sworn by Princess Lyla was sharp in its tone. "I have already done so twice, and without his knowledge. Until he is fully trained, and can defend himself properly, those who seek to kill him will have to go through me."

The woman in black's eyes narrowed. "I warn you, sister. If you think that with our brother's Karo Shar at your side, and the luck you assume runs strong through him, that you will try to lay claim to my rightful place—"

"I do not have any intention of standing in your way, sister. Only by your side. With my husband by mine. I know what you are capable of. You are far more well versed in the old ways than I will ever be. Mother saw to that. Even with the Karo Shar at my beck and call, and his balls firmly in my hands, I could never beat you."

A nod from the black clad woman. "Best you continue to remember that, sister. I would hate to have to kill you."

After a brief silence, Lyla replied. "I would hate to have to die. As I know you would do as you threaten if you thought I would betray you."

"Not just you, sister. But anyone who thought of such."

Princess Lyla bowed before her sister. "I only seek that you reward me for my loyalty."

"And you shall have a reward greater than any you can imagine, sister." The woman in black waved a hand across the darkened desert. "The Barren Sands, Ieron, shall be yours to rule. And an army of our sisters will bow to you, even as you bow to me."

Princess Lyla rose from her bow. "Thank you, sister. There is one more thing, however."

"And that is?"

"The Karo Shar has taken up the Rohs Fang."

The woman in black tightened her gaze on the darkness and the creatures inhabiting it. "A true Rohs Fang?" she asked. "Not some poor imitation someone created from an incomplete description found in a book somewhere?"

"No," Lyla confirmed. "A real one. As real as yours. I held it myself. Its weight and balance were perfect. The locking mechanism holding both halves together is authentic as well. I do not believe it is as old as yours, dating back to when Ieron existed. It was made much more recently by someone who knows the old ways. It seems it was given to our brother once as a gift."

"A gift?" The woman in black silk pondered that statement. "Perhaps more like a warning? One our brother was too ignorant to understand."

"But by who?"

Princess Lyla's sister shook her head. "Not by anyone I have commanded to do so. Although it is certainly and interesting tactic."

"Was it one of our allies, do you think? Acting on their own?"

"Possibly." Princess Lyla's sister agreed with the sentiment. "It's hard to keep everyone marching to the beat of the same drum when you are forced to live in the shadows. I cannot rule out the possibility that I will have competition for the High Throne when the day comes for me to claim it. There are other Sava Warrioresses out there. From other lines. We've always known this. Mother warned all of her daughters of such."

"I will do what I can to see if I can help unravel this mystery, sister."

"Good." Then the woman in black added, "And do make sure your Karo Shar is ready when we need him to be."

"I have every intention to, sister. Do you think our brothers will ever figure out that you are playing them like pawns?"

The woman in black contemplated before answering. "I think Prince Relastin suspects as much. As does our father. But their pride convinces them that the result will be different than they fear it might, and prevents them from seeing how the game will ultimately end for them. And for all who stand in my way."

Princess Lyla took up looking at the Black Rohs beyond the light cast by torches once more. "They shall all fear you."

But when she turned to give her sister another courteous bow, the woman in black was gone. Like the night itself come the rising of the suns.