The group of riders, flanked by the Suhonne patrol, entered the gates of the stronghold after the sun dipped below the horizon. The atranochs were nowhere to be seen now, most likely roosting in the craggy outcrops that surrounded the wide, low cluster of structures.

Torches lined the inner walls, their flickering light casting eerie shadows on the stone. The Suhonne riders dismounted, sliding of their mounts effortlessly.  They made their way to what appeared to be the stables, their horses following them without any encouragement. One by one, each rider and horse disappeared into the dark, wide door. 

Sashtra remained as Venalise let Sia slide down onto the hard snow-packed ground. Venalise  swung her leg over and followed as the other riders did the same.

"T'Korr Vena, emmina, you will bring your horses this way." Sashtra's chin dipped in a quick nod and she turned toward the stable. 

Venalise reached for Sia's hand and grabbed her horses reins with the other. Together they followed Sashtra. One by one, the other four riders followed.

The stables were surprisingly warm but Sia wrinkled her nose at the pungent odor of animal dung that hung heavy in the air. Wet, ripping sounds drew her eyes to the right where the most massive creature she had ever seen lay on a wooden slab laid open for butchering. Two Suhonne men worked at removing the shaggy white pelt, arguing loudly, while a third man ran back and forth between the other two, looking for something.   A mass of bloody entrails lay on the ground beneath the table. Sia swore she could see what looked like a baby animal's form among the organs and fat.

"A white stone bear," Venalise's voice startled her and she jumped. "That one was pregnant, it seems."

"Why are they yelling?" Sia looked up at Venalise.

"There were twins, apparently," she said, "and one survived." Venalise placed her hand on Sia's head to guide her away. "It is hiding from them," she whispered.

"Like us," Sia whispered to herself as she squirmed out from beneath the large blanket wrapped around her shoulders, letting it fall behind her. When she turned to pick it up, her eyes met another pair shining from a dark corner near a pile of manure. She lingered for a moment, crouching to gather the heavy fabric and watching the shadows until the eyes disappeared. 

"Is the baby dangerous?" Sia asked, staring in to the dark where the eyes had been.

"Anything is dangerous when it is fighting for it's life," Sashtra said.

"Sia," Venalise snapped. The child gathered the blanked and stood.  As they made their way across the hay-strewn floor, Sia cast several long glances behind her, hoping to find those shining eyes again, but there were nothing but shadows. Venalise placed a hand on Sia's shoulder as the two of them followed Sashtra through a squat, narrow doorway into a large hall. 

A blazing hearth roared at the end of the low, long room filled with Suhonne people. A table was placed before it and seated around one side, their backs to the fire, were three women and one man. Sashtra stopped them in the middle of the room and continued on to the table where she whispered something to the four seated there.

One woman rose and walked around the table to stand with Sashtra. A collective hush fell over the people gathered at the tables. As the two women talked, one or the other would glance in Venalise's direction. Finally they made their way to the middle of the hall where Venalise and Sia waited.

The woman with Sashtra was much older. She narrowed her nut brown eyes eyes as they neared and slowed her pace. Venalise recognized the woman and met her stare, lifting her chin proudly.

"T'Korr Vena," the older woman drew out each syllable of her name.

"Aba Steffa," Venalise replied, using her customary Eorath title..

The woman's eyebrows raised slightly. "You remember?" 

"What I remember are the whippings I received every time I fell from my horse." Venalise's tone was guarded and tense.

The old woman arched one eyebrow, "There were many," she said.

Venalise tried to suppress the smile she felt rising. The Suhonne did not take kindly to humor, though the woman, her aunt Steffa, was correct. Horsemanship was not one of Venalise's strong suits.

Steffa turned her gaze to Sia. Venalise followed the old woman's eyes and placed a possessive arm around her slight shoulders. Sia leaned into her, feeling uncomfortable under scrutiny and confused because she couldn't understand the language being spoken between the two women.

"The child? She is sama?" Steffa leaned toward Sia and began to inspect her. The old woman took her face in her withered  hand and turned her head by her cheeks. 

"No, Aba," Venalise said. "She is not my child. She is my ward."

Steffa nodded, pursing her lips in a slightly.  There was no greeting, no welcome. 

"Follow me," she simply said, and turned away.

Venalise and Sia followed Seffa and Sashtra as they wound through the tables scattered throughout the hall.  At the back of the crowded tables, one woman rose to watch as they passed by. As the four disappeared into a darkened passageway off to the side, the chatter in the hall resumed. However, the lone woman remained standing, pulling on the shoulder of the man sitting beside her.  He looked up and she leaned down. With a a quick word, he was on his feet and the pair hastily left the hall in the opposite direction.

Venalise and Sia followed the Suhonne women through the low, narrow passageways into a wide, low chamber lit by firelight. Steffa eased into the chair nearest the hearth. She lifted her hand and indicated Venalise should take a seat near her. Sashtra beckoned for Sia to follow her and the two of them retreated to the far side of the room.

When the women were both seated, Steffa began.

"You were always a willful girl, Vena. I told my sister so when I sent you back to her. You belonged in the Spire, not here."

Venalise said nothing. Steffa continued.

"Eleven years. You left your House without a word and now you return. Why?" Steffa leveled a hard look at Venalise. 

"My mother wanted me to be a warrior. Me," Venailse said, her quiet tone laced with disgust. "My weapon is my magic, but the almighty T'Korr Uhll refused to see that truth of that."

"My sister had the interest of the the Stone Reaches in mind.  You would have inherited that had you not only been thinking about yourself,"  Steffa chided.

"The Stone Reaches are archaic, aba. The scholars of Lorce-"

"Those old fools in the Spire have no business in the defense of the Reaches!" Steffa sat up straighter and gripped the arms of her chair.

"You have no idea what I am capable of now, aba," Venalise hissed, leaning forward. She cast her eyes around the room. She was going to have to speak the language of the warriors and show her power since the old woman refused to listen to reason.

"So you can make pretty lights and coax a flower to bloom? Magic is no weapon!" Steffa scoffed.

Venalise's eyes narrowed. With a flick of her wrist, a small serving knife flew across the room and embedded itself in wood of the chair Steffa sat in, the metal vibrating right next to her head. The old woman did not flinch, but instead raised her eyebrows.

Steffa studied Venalise for several seconds, then called for Sashtra.

"Take the emmina and the child and give them quarters. They will rest tonight." Sashtra nodded and motioned for Venalise to follow her. Venalise stood as Sia ran to her. 

"You will need to think about what you plan to say to your mother, Vena," Steffa called. "There have been many changes since you left. You will not find Korr the way you left it."

Venalise let her eyes linger on the back of her aunt's head for a moment, then she reached for Sia's hand and followed Sashtra into the dark hallway. She decided not to tell her aunt she had no intention of going to Korr or seeing her mother - not if she could help it.

"Who was that old lady?" Sia crawled up into the mass of furs and woolen blankets that covered the low bed.

"That, my dear, was my mother's sister," Venalise said, her irritation obvious.

"She's old," Sia said quietly, snuggling beneath a fur of white and silver-grey. 

"She is," Venalise nodded. She began tucking the furs and blankets around Sia. "Now, you must sleep. We will be heading deeper into the Reaches soon, and you will need your strength."

Sia closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again. "Why did we come here?"

Venalise thought for a moment before she answered.  The raw truth was that there was nowhere else for them to go, but it had taken weeks for Sia to begin to trust her and she did not want to appear weak. 

"The scholars at a stronghold called Lorce can help you understand your gifts," she began. "I want you to know your potential, dear."

Sia raised her eyebrows slightly, then closed her eyes again when Venalise stroked her hair. Now, if she could only find a way to get her to the scholars at Lorce before her mother caught wind of their arrival. The knowledge-keepers there would keep her secret and be able to study the child and her capabilities. 

A quiet knock at the door interrupted Venalise's thoughts. She pushed herself off the low, fur-lined bed and glided to the door. Sliding the wooden latch aside, she allowed the door to ease open just enough to make out the face in the dark of the hall. 

Uncharacteristic green eyes flashed beneath a fur hood.

"Aravae?" Venalise breathed.

"Greetings, isa,"  a lilting voice replied in Ceadari, a dangerous edge to her voice. "How kind of you to return to us."

Venalise pulled the door open despite the warning in the visitor's voice. 

"Why are you here, with the Suhonne?" Venalise reached for the woman and grasped her arm, pulling her inside. Another figure materialized from the dark shadows in the hallway and slid inside just as Venalise was closing the door.  

He pushed the hood back, letting his long, golden brown braids fall around his shoulders.

Venalise's eyes widened in surprise.

"Tasar?"

"Cousin," he nodded curtly.

Venalise stood in silence. Aravae was here. She should be in Lorce with her father at the Spire not at the edge of the Reaches with the Suhonne. 

"We've been waiting for you, Vena" Aravae said.  

"Waiting? How could you know I was coming?" Venalise glanced behind her at Sia, wide-eyed, not understanding the conversation.

"Isa, sister, we must speak privately," Aravae cast a quick look at Sia. Aravae pulled her hood back and leaned against the wall. Several red curls escaped their braids and fell around her face. 

"She doesn't speak Caedari or Eorath," Venalise said quickly.

Tasar nodded in the child's direction.

"She yours?"

Venalise's face softened a fraction. "No," she said. "But she's under my protection."

"Ha!" Aravae barked. "You? Protect anything except yourself?"

Venalise whirled around to face Aravae. "How dare you," she hissed.

Tasar stepped between the two women. "Ara," he said, placing his hand on Aravae's shoulder.

Tasar turned to face Venalise.

"Emmina, we have more important things to discuss."

Venalise's brow furrowed. "What?"

Aravae remained quiet as she looked to Tasar.

"Vena," he began, "We know where you have been and what you have been doing. We have assets in place to further your cause and see you take your place as the leader of the Korr."

Venalise laughed out loud. "Me? I don't want Korr! My mother can have her frozen kingdom for all I care. I want to go to Lorce and consult with the scholars in the Spire. My goals lie to the south, in Karth, not here."

A noise from the hallway silenced Venalise. 

Tasar and Aravae hastily pulled their hoods up and backed up tot he wall beside the door. When the noise subsided, Tasar pulled the door open slowly, listening to the dark hall. He nodded to Aravae before he slipped out.

"Vena," she said quietly, "leave this place in the morning. We will find you on the way to Lorce. There is more to tell, but I can't risk it here."

She followed Tasar, but before the shadows swallowed her, she glanced back at Venalise standing in the low light coming from the door.

"You picked a dangerous time to return, isa," she grinned. "Go in the morning. We will find you."

Venalise watched her childhood friend disappear down the low corridor. None of this made sense. Aravae was a scholar's daughter, a child of the Spire. She looked different -hardened. Aravae said there was more to tell, and that was clearly evident by her mannerisms and the company she was keeping. 

Venalise sighed. Her simple plan to slip into The Stone Reaches, make her way to the Spire,  then return to the lowlands armed with knowledge and power was becoming much more complicated than she imagined. 

Venalise lay down next to Sia and folded her hands beneath her chin.  If I could just reach Elian first, she thought. He had always been their mother's favorite. Her younger brother always  acted as a powerful buffer between herself and the stoic and inflexible Uniter of the Stone Reaches. She had to get word to him before her aunt's messengers found their way to the Korr compound.

Yes, Elian was the key to making sure her mother didn't find out she was here and get in the way. 

Venalise closed her eyes and tried her best to rest, though sleep was a long time coming.

**A/N - Venalise's backstory begins to unfold....

I apologize for the length of time it took to get back at The Mage Crown. But I'm back in business! I am trying to get chapters out weekly again. There may be a few hiccups in that goal, but I am committed to finishing this by the beginning of March. Thank you for your patience and for following!