Libuse was seated on the dais in the Great Hall, with those of her Councillors who had remained at the citadel. The candidates were all assembled before them. Tallulah and Chantal had separated themselves from the others, in order to repair their wounds discreetly. Both had received nasty gashes to their torsos — Tallulah to her abdomen and Chantal to the sternum.

They had brought with them a girl who appeared to be about seventeen, maybe eighteen. She looked at everyone and everything around her, but became fixated on Myrddin. She examined him as if attempting to commit every feature, every gesture to her memory. She frowned slightly and then shook her head, appearing somewhat dazed, before returning to her former blank stare. Her gaze fell finally on Libuse, who signalled Aoife and Balthazar to stand on either side of her. Tweldor had permitted the girl entry, so she was not malevolent. However, her intentions were yet unknown. Libuse attempted a smile, but the girl's expression remained blank.

Myrddin was affected deeply by the way the girl looked at him; also, by her appearance. It was true. He had understood that when Theodora had explained it to him, but seeing was truly believing.

His "daring Dora" had spoken openly to him about her past. It had frightened him but he was beginning to trust for the first time. He knew they would be okay... Then, she told him what she had seen. That had shaken him.

It was usually Rosemonde who dreamed the past. Not this time. Theodora saw that Myrddin's carnality, had not been without consequence. He too had a daughter. She had described the mother with such accuracy that he knew instantly of whom she spoke, and that she had spoken the truth. It was the first woman that he had ever been intimate with. They say you always remember your first.... As a teenager, he could not have known that she moonlighted as a succubus.

Looking at the young girl before him, it was as if it were, she, who was standing there. His eyes misted. He could neither speak nor look away. She looked so much like her. He knew it then. This was his daughter.

He glanced at Theodora who was at his side. She nodded. Leaning towards him she whispered, "Later. It's protocol for the Queen to speak first."

Libuse motioned the Queen forward. "Welcome your majesty," she said graciously.

Romaine inclined her head toward Libuse but it was Theodora that she addressed, "We meet again, child."

Theodora stiffened. "You-you remember me?"

"Nothing is forgotten," the Queen replied. "I think the answers you seek come sooner than you expect them. She pointed at the strange expressionless girl. "She is the reason I am here."

The girl cocked her head at Romaine, but remained silent.

Romaine stared at the girl with intensity. "Tell them what you are!" she ordered.

The girl looked back at her quizzically, nevertheless she answered, "I am Jezebel Eden one hundred and eleven."

Max frowned as if trying to resolve a puzzle "Eden? We went to school in a town called Eden. You remind me of someone, a girl who..." He paused. He looked at Myrddin, then at the girl, then back at Myrddin again. "OH!" Ursula elbowed him and he stopped talking.

"It is evident what she is, however this girl appears oblivious to the reasons behind your question. As do I," Libuse said impatiently. Now that she had acknowledged the fairy's royal status, she could address her less formerly. "Explain yourself, Romaine."

"Apologies, Domina. Although, to be honest, I cannot believe you are unaware of what has been taking place right under your nose."

Renweard gnashed his teeth and lunged at Romaine. "No one insults our Domina," he cried.

"Easy little brother." Balthazar tried to maintain the peace. "I am sure the Queen of the Seelie Court, would not dare insult the elected leader of the Luminous Warriors." He glared at Romaine, who merely looked bored.

"Calm down, everyone," Libuse chided. "Romaine, stop being cryptic. None of us is in any mood for your games. Two of my Councillors returned to Tweldor wounded, at the very moment that you make your presence known. I want, no I demand an explanation."

"You will not harm me here," Romaine drawled.

"No, the citadel is a place of peace," Libuse agreed. "You could not have entered if your intent was evil. However, you will leave eventually. Make no mistake, you can and will be attacked in the grounds if your fey ways harm any of those in my care! Now, explain."

"Domina, if I may," Chantal interjected. "Queen Romaine did not cause our injuries. We stepped in to save her."

"For that you have my profound gratitude." Romaine inclined her head to Chantal and Tallulah.

"It's what we do." Chantal shrugged.

"I am beginning to understand." Romaine smiled at her. "I have misjudged you all, forgive me."

"Have you been compromised?" Libuse asked the siren.

"No, we were both careful. We are still employees," Chantal reassured her.

Libuse literally breathed a sigh of relief, before turning to Romaine once again.

"Romaine, I have asked you repeatedly for the circumstances that brought you here," she said pointedly.

"Well if I could get a word in, I would," Romaine rejoined.

Leonardo snorted. He couldn't help it. Before becoming a Luminous Warrior candidate, he had considered anyone over the age of thirty to be old and potentially boring. Now, he knew that it wasn't the case, and he loved it when his elders showed sass. Mairead nudged him and Gianna whispered for him to be quiet, but both women were smirking. Romaine was certainly entertaining, but did that mean the fairy could be trusted?

"GET ON WITH IT!" Libuse bellowed. "Everyone else be silent."

Romaine proceeded. "After the fall of Atlantis, the demons simplified their methodology. Boy meets succubus, girl meets incubus, they'd dance the horizontal tango and the issue was harvested; usually by means of trickery. Then the sex demons continued to their next conquest.

"It seems however that even hell, moves with the times. While the demons still use their...er, foot soldiers so to speak, they are no longer reliant upon them completely. Advances in DNA technology have created far more opportunities for them to access human genetic material. Laboratories dealing with stem cell research, fertility clinics, abortion clinics, they are all accessed, all utilised. Just as Tweldor's Warriors are out there in the field, so too are the demons, as I am sure you are aware. They too are scientists, doctors and healthcare workers.

"However, I have found something even more insidious. What the human world sees as a brothel, I have since discovered is a harvesting site — just like the one in Atlantis. Jezebel's is home to six hundred and sixty-six female cambions. There is something about that particular number that incites fear in some humans, though I do not recall the reason why."

"But how can the demons hide them?" Tallulah asked in confusion, "We'd have smelt them, seen them! Neither Chantal, nor myself have ever seen a cambion enter or leave Jezebel's."

"They do not have to," Romaine declared. "You have concentrated your investigation on the staff and management, mainly at Bedlam. Am I right?" Chantal and Tallulah nodded together. "Had you thought to look into the demon owner's human persona, you'd have been demystified. Allow me to elucidate." Romaine was beginning to enjoy having an audience.

"Please do!" Libuse said, exasperated.

Romaine inclined her head towards the Domina before continuing, a smug smile upon her lips.

"Ashley Medai, agent to the stars and sitting board member for The Du Malum Corporation did not just purchase Bedlam. No. It transpires that the old cock owns the adjacent plot and its building! Jezebel's operates from the ground and first level of what was formerly a hotel. The cambions live on the levels above."

"That still doesn't explain why we haven't seen any cambions prior to finding Jezebel Eden one hundred and eleven. Sorry your highness, I'm obviously still missing something." Chantal sighed in frustration.

"Tell them, girl. They won't hurt you." Romaine prodded the young cambion.

Jezebel Eden one hundred and eleven consented. "We come and go via an underground tunnel. Lord Asmodeus constructed it with magic. It runs between Jezebel's and Bedlam," she said.

Romaine explained further. "There are boys living there too, but I think they are someone else's responsibility... Asmodeus seems to be concentrating on programming the girls. He calls them his 'Jezebels'."

The young Jezebel who was now staring at Theodora, smiled for the first time. "You smell like Sydney Forty-two," she said, before returning to her blank state.

Theodora's knees buckled and Myrddin caught her before she fell but he too was badly shaken. They were both in shock.

Romaine seemed almost sad. She turned back to Theodora. "Eden one hundred and eleven says you smell like Forty-two. You did have a child! You did not uphold your part of the bargain." She turned back to Libuse. "This is why I distrust humans. They never keep their word."

"NOT INTENTIONALLY!" Theodora yelled. Tears were now streaming down her face. "HE KEPT HER FROM ME! She manifested the cambion traits but I thought she was human so I believed her dead. He told me that she was! I had no reason to think otherwise, and so believed him. I believed him, and I walked away and left my child with that monster!"

"Oh...I see," Romaine said softly.

Theodora was calmer now, sobbing quietly in Myrddin's arms. He and Jezebel Eden one hundred and eleven continued to stare at one another.

"What do you do with the children, Romaine?" Libuse asked.

"Those able to be rehabilitated, we raise as fey. Those that can't be, or who are weak and frail..." She left the rest unsaid.

"Changelings, Romaine? Seriously? It's the twenty-first century." Rhys sighed.

"Some humans deserve it, wizard! Besides, at least the child has something of a chance that way. Consider the alternative. You know what your father is capable of. In addition to being potential incubators for the antichrist, these innocent children grow up to become sex slaves and assassins, and everything else in between."

"So, you approach the mothers if you find them, and take the children as soon as they are born?" Libuse asked.

"Usually, yes. That way I could keep a low profile. If the mothers did not return to Asmodeus before the birth, he would assume they had miscarried or had come to some harm. He did not care, and he rarely checked on them if they went missing. He would merely prey upon someone else or send one of his succubi to collect sperm from potential male candidates on his behalf. I would cast a memory spell on the mothers. If they returned to Asmodeus and gave up their child willingly, they would have no recollection of me."

"I remember you and yet I returned to him willingly," Theodora said bitterly.

"At first I assumed you recognised me because you had never carried the demon's seed. Now I think it has to do with that concept my son is always on about — et amor in lumine, living in love and light," Romaine replied.

"I don't understand," Theodora said between sobs.

"Somehow the light is penetrating even the demons' den. The cambion children are actually seeking me out asking to be rescued."

Libuse gasped. "Et amor in lumine," she whispered, with awe. "That's wonderful!"

"Yes, I was sure you and your Warriors would be thrilled with that rather surprising development; but me? Meh, not so much... I now have a demonic bounty on my head!"