She led us up the hallway and down a side corridor, past an open-air garden and metal sculptures. The house of magnetism embraced metal in every aspect of the design of their home. We passed metal furniture and metal decorating the walls in splendid disks.

The duchess turned at the end of the hallway and opened a door that was just off the garden. I felt small as everything towered above me. It was like being a child again and everything was sized for massive twenty-foot creatures. Even Vasalisa was who was a full head or two taller than I was, still didn't feel like an adult in this room.

The office had a massive metal desk that was surrounded by bookshelves. The books themselves might have been the only thing that wasn't metal in the room. An old giant behind the desk was twenty feet tall and bald. His bronze eyes looked down at us, and I felt even smaller in his presence.

Beside him was a giant who looked middle-aged with rose-gold hair and pale green eyes. I guessed this was one of Moreno's uncles. He had glasses on the end of his big nose, and he was looking over a ledger book.

"Duke Sete," Ezra bowed to the old giant. "And Baron Osiris."

I made an inclination with my head, but I didn't bow. I wore royal gold. The rules for me were undefined but different. I was a princess and an Oakeley, after all.

"Why have you come?" Duke Sete's voice rumbled. "What shame has my grandson brought upon me now?"

"With all due respect, this isn't about Lord Jordan," Ezra said.

"Who are you?" Baron Osiris adjusted his spectacles. "Where is Jordan? He isn't dead, is he? That would be a shame."

He didn't sound like he meant it. I knew Moreno said that his own family didn't care about him, but it was hard to watch on display. If I told them Moreno was dead, they might throw a party.

"I am Ezra Kyleigh'son, daughter of Bryan Japhros'son of Phillipus House," Ezra said. "And this is Theresa Oakeley."

"I gathered that," Duke Sete said stiffly. "My granddaughter Hellene spoke highly of you. She also mentioned that you'd befriended my grandson."

I found my words. "We are friends. Your granddaughter was kind and very hospitable when I last visited your beautiful home."

It was important to be civil but also flattering. The giants wouldn't put this much wealth on display if they didn't want people to discuss it. Thanking them for hospitality was just basic manners.

"We came on behalf of the halfant council," Ezra said. "Doctiana Sims, Lyssa Johnson, my grandfather Bryan Station, and my father, Tyler Meager, send their regards."

He sounded so educated. For the first time, I was glad that Alana had sent Ezra with me. He knew how to talk to these nobles in a way that I didn't.

"That cannot be the only reason," Duke Sete said. "Where is my grandson? He isn't here, so whatever reason you've come must concern him."

"This isn't about Moreno," I said. "We're here about Carisma."

Osiris snapped his ledger shut. "His name is Jordan, Your Highness. Moreno is the name of my brother's distasteful human lover, and we don't discuss her in this household."

I balled my fists. "This isn't about Jordan. We're discussing Carisma."

"Esperanza Carisma is ten years old and little concern of ours," Duke Sete said. "The halfants have our full permission to raise her however they wish. Jordan knows this, and it has not changed."

Ezra set a hand on my back as I thought about charging over the desk and punching this unfeeling giant. Alana was right to keep Moreno out of this room. He might have killed his grandfather for that statement.

"Esperanza Carisma Ethesis has been kidnapped," I said.

The Duke raised an eyebrow. His son looked taken aback for a moment before a smug smile settled across his face. The Duchess, who'd been quiet until that moment, gasped.

Cold fury filled the Duke's voice. "Who would have dared to touch a member of our family?"

"It appears a halfant traded her for money to escape Jontun," Ezra said. "We won't know who they sold Carisma to until we find the halfant."

"It must be the rebels," Osiris said. "Perhaps they did it to help Horus. Or they may have killed her. An attempt to rile our house and, by extension, the king. It seems like something Ellenora would try."

He didn't seem bothered by the fact that he'd just hypothesized that the rebel giants had his niece. He brushed it off and gave the facts almost in a way that I had to assume that it was what he wanted to hear.

"We will not give in to any demands," Duke Sete said. "But we cannot allow a member of our family to remain in rebel control. The halfants must recover my granddaughter."

"We will," I said. "Everyone at Redwood is working tirelessly to make it happen. We want to bring her home safely, your grace."

Duke Sete sighed. "As when my grandson reported you missing to me weeks ago, I must take this news to the king."

That I hadn't been expecting. What would King Tytan Nikone do when he learned a ten-year-old halfant was missing? Probably nothing, but we certainly didn't want him to take an interest in our search. That might make things complicated.

"As you wish," Ezra said. "We are his servants."

"I will ask again," Duke Sete said. "Where is my grandson?"

"Locked in a cell at Redwood Compound," Ezra said, and I looked at him with a shocked expression. "Jordan broke explicit orders not to leave the compound. He tried to follow us here, and the commander had him put under lock and key."

"I see," Duke Sete said. "I trust he won't disappear on your watch as well."

"He won't," I said. "And we're going to find Carisma. We just don't want Moreno to do anything foolish in the meantime. He cares about his family."

I glared at Baron Osiris. He'd stiffened in disgust at Moreno's name again. He probably played a role in Moreno and his sister getting thrown out of this place.

"We should return to our search." Ezra bowed again. "Thank you for your time, your grace."

He grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of the room before I could realize what was happening. I wrenched my grip from his hand and pushed him against the nearest metal wall, and dug my arm into his throat as Moreno showed me in the training room.

"Never touch me again," I growled.

He backed off. "Sorry, I didn't... I didn't mean it that way."

"Just don't touch me," I said, and I lowered my arm.

Ezra rubbed his neck. "You sure Alana didn't train you? She's the freak that jumps a mile at the slightest flesh contact."

I glared at Ezra. "What's wrong with you? Ever since you got here, you've been complaining about my friends. Moreno and Alana are good people. Better than you. You're a douchebag."

"You understand nothing about our world, do you?" He hissed. "The decorum and our politics. Some of us had to earn our place at the table. Nothing gets handed to us, princess. What we take is how we make our mark."

I laughed. "I know who you are, Ezra Meager. Your dad is a commander. Your grandfather too. Don't tell me you earned your place."

"Suppose you're listening to Moreno then," he said. "That boy is bad news. Trouble and one of these days, he's going to do something that ends up with his head on a chopping block. He trained you for one. Imagine what happens when the king finds out about that."

A voice came from behind me. "He'll want you dead and my grandson alongside you."

I almost jumped out of my skin as I turned to see Duchess Vasalisa standing in front of a closed door. She ran a hand up to her hair and then sighed.  "We meant no disrespect," Ezra said.

"My grandson knows what he's doing," Vasalisa said. "He's a lot like his father in that way. But my granddaughter is someone precious. She is too innocent to be forced to grow up quickly, like her brother. You will find her and make sure she's safe."

"We will," I said. "I promise."

She led us back to the entry hall of the house and left us alone to let ourselves out. I was pulling my shoes on my feet when I heard someone running. Hellene burst into the entry hall and the big metal front door swung closed, likely at her command.

"Terri, tell me what's going on?" She asked.

Ezra shook his head, but I wasn't going to listen to him. Hellene was the only member of Moreno's family he actually liked, and she was my link to Victor. I had a feeling that I might need my uncle before this was all said and done. After all, he was the only Nikone in my corner.

"A halfant kidnapped Carisma," I said. "We're trying to track her down, but we aren't sure who has her or what they want."

Hellene sucked in her cheeks. "I'll let Victor know."

"That's really unnecessary, milady," Ezra said. "Terri, we really should go."

I gave him a silencing glare and turned back to the giantess. "Do you think he might know who would take a lady of Carisma's standing?"

"The rebels have kidnapped young nobles before for extortion," Hellene said. "But it's been years. Carisma, though, isn't well known by any means. I don't know what the rebels would want from my grandfather if they were trying to get his attention. I'll keep an eye out, though."

"Thanks," I said. "Moreno is pretty upset."

Hellene's eyes widened, and some of the metal bracelets on her arms shifted and flexed. "I imagine. I wonder if Horus gave this order... or if someone else is working on his behalf. It's possible that Victor and I could talk to him, but that might take time. My uncle was always a rebel sympathizer. I mean, he married a human."

I hadn't wanted to believe it, but if Hellene thought Horus was involved and using his connection to the rebels, that made this so much worse. There was no one the rebels wanted more than me. If my mother tortured Carsima like me... I tried to banish that thought.

"Horus Ethesis is locked up at Gorgon's Keep," Ezra said. "I've seen his cell. It's secure and away from the other giants. I mean, it's not one of the red vaults that the king uses for the top prisoners, but he can't escape."

"Red vaults?" I asked.

"Permanent solitary cells," Ezra said. "They were used to lock up and hide away threats to the crown. No one's used them in a century, I think. A few giant kings of old would disappear their rivals there. My Phillipus cousins always joke that if you're bad and piss off the king too much, you'll end up in a red vault."

"They were considered inhumane," Hellene said.

Tytan had gotten rid of me by shipping me to Earth. I wondered briefly what he did with his other threats. Before I could even react, I found myself sucked into a whirlwind of swirling colors.

I stood inside a cell again. Ric sat on the floor in a yellow jumpsuit with his back to a big metal red bank vault-looking door. He watched a trickle of water flow down a rock wall across from him. The only light in the room was dim and dripping candle on a large rock that looked like Ric used it as a table.

Ric was poring over a book written in what looked like Arabic. He nodded to himself and tapped his fingers at his side. His fingernails were grimy, and I guessed it was from the hard packed earth below Ric that served as the floor.

I spotted a pad on the floor of the cell that I guessed he slept on. This didn't look like the prison I'd seen in my dreams. It was far more primitive, and that red door made me think that Ezra's tales of the red vaults were true. He was just wrong that they were unused.

It looked like Ric had carved a family tree of some sort into the stone. I didn't recognize half of the names until halfway down the tree, I saw Tytan connecting to three children, Ellenora, Savannah, and Victor. Savannah was connected to her husband, and a line fell down to Andromeda.

That made sense. The rest of it, however, my eyes widened to see Ellenora connected to my father, Chuck Oakeley. There were two lines off the pair. They labeled the first line of the pair as Theresa. That was me. But the other one had a simple label—TP.

I had a bad feeling that it did not stand for Toilet Paper.

Ric looked up from his book. His eyes seemed to meet mine, and it was a match of gold and blue to my own. If he was a Nikone, he could likely see the future just like me.

The vision dissolved, and I found myself on my butt on the floor of the Ethesis house. Ezra was shaking my shoulder, and I glared at him to stop. Hellene just watched unconcerned, and I wondered how many visions she'd witnessed Victor view.

"What did you see?" Hellene asked.

I shook my head. I wasn't sure why, but I didn't want to share that vision. It made little sense. Ric was in a red vault and he had a Nikone family tree. It was something I wanted to keep private until I at least could puzzle out what it meant.

"Nothing important," I picked myself up off the ground. "We should get back to the compound."

Hey friends!!! The search for Carisma continues. I hope you're enjoying the story. What do you think of the Ethesis family? Until next time!!