Diana awoke with a start, disoriented and frightened at the sight of huge silver-green trees and dark, purple grass instead of her family's backyard. She scrambled out of her sleeping bag and saw Lauren nearby, seated crossed-legged on the grass, sword by her side, gently stroking Alaeric's hair as he lay asleep with his head pillowed on her thigh.

Lauren looked up and put a finger to her lips for quiet. "Good morning, Diana," she said softly, "Do you feel rested?”

Diana sat down next to her and watched Alaeric's face, which was much paler than before. "I-Is he okay?" she whispered.

Lauren grimaced. "As well as I can make him right now. His wound ripped open and he started bleeding very badly last night. I have only now gotten it under control but he needs to rest still." She sighed deeply. "He insisted on taking second watch, that he was fine. Why did I listen to him?" She stroked his forehead softly. "Regrettably we must delay our search, Diana. But not long."

"But it's already been two days since Mark and Lisa disappeared. They could be anywhere!”

"Lower your voice," she replied coolly, "Without Alaeric's blood, we would not even be in the same universe with them. So I would suggest we try to keep him alive first.”

"You mean, he could die?" Diana asked in a horrified whisper.

"Not if I can help it,” Lauren snorted grimly. "While he has lost a lot of blood, and the infections of your world are really dangerous for him, I think he will manage fine. He insists that as the hereditary war-leader of the Olenteas, he can go on forever." She chuckled softly. "But I managed to pull rank on him and force him to rest.”

Diana looked at Alaeric's still face. She didn’t really understand what Lauren was talking about, but she could see that her friend was worried. The big man looked more like he was unconscious rather than sleeping. She remembered when her little sister got very ill long ago, and the family worried for her life.

Lisa had been so pale and helpless...

Lauren interrupted her thoughts. "I suppose you have many questions."

Diana did, but settled on the one that aroused her curiosity the most. "What happened exactly? Why were you exiled?"

"It is a long story. I only gave you the merest sketch of it yesterday.”

"Well, I want to understand, but all you do is talk in cryptic half-sentences and assume I know more than I do."

Lauren sighed. "Alright. As I told you last night, we are cousins. Alaeric's father and mine are brothers. We are also the eldest-born children of the Olenteas Clans of Dal Ryeas, our world.

“For many years Clan Tadiak ruled the kingdom. In the early days of the kingdom of Dal Ryeas, Queen Rikara bore nine children: Tadiak, Pyramus, Olenteas, Cynthea, Leantas, Sylva, Tersa, Bilateas, and Bogeas. From the families of these nine children sprang the great clans that settled the different parts of Dal Ryeas. Each clan was named for its founding parent and all of us to this day take the clan name to identify us to others, no matter what our individual family names are.

“Anyway, Queen Rikara encouraged loyalty and affection for her land in each one of her children. Being a wise mother, as well as a Queen, she gave her sons and daughters vast lands to rule under the over-lordship of the crown. She found them worthy mates and assisted them to recruit loyal followers to help them develop their lands. For her eldest child, her daughter Tadiak, she kept the crown lands and the lands around the City of Tadia. Pyramus, her second child and oldest son, got the sea coast lands while her son Olenteas was given the Forest Mountains that overlooked the sea. The other six children each received lands in the interior of the country.

“For years the crown kept a loose reign over the clans. Every King or Queen knew the power of the clans and called on them only in times of dire need. And then the clans rose and defeated all opponents to the Kingdom of Dal Ryeas. Fierce in their loyalties, they repelled all invaders. Great deeds and much glory covered their names. For five hundred years all the clans thrived until a plague came and wiped out the desert clans of Bilateas and Bogeas. Only a scattered few clans’ folk survived and they were given refuge within the other clans. Soar of Bilateas wed Rorick Pyramus and Maron Bogeas became husband to Lucia Olenteas. And the original nine became seven while Pyramus and Olenteas increased in lands and power.

“A hundred years later, Clan Tadiak began to falter. For countless years, against the advice of their doctors, councilors and enchanters, Clan Tadiak chose their mates only from within its dwindling kinship. Intermarriage brought strange genetic disorders and the Crown of Dal Ryeas was under the control of weaker and weaker rulers. Tadiak was letting go the reins of power and chaos was becoming the norm throughout the land. The last Tadiak King, Philos, was insane by the age of twenty-five. He was the culmination of Tadiak’s perverse breeding program and had inherited its congenital madness. In your world he‘d be diagnosed as bi-polar and psychopathic. In ours, he was watched warily, but nothing was actually done. He was crazy, but not stupid.

“In a cunning power-play, the King invited each of the clan lords to send him children to foster at court. The clans, answering an age-old custom, and never dreaming he would use these children for ill, complied and sent their sons and daughters to court. Philos then attempted to consolidate his power and essentially become an autocrat instead of an overlord. He used the children as hostages for their parents and subsequently their clans’ good behavior. When he suspected a problem with a clan, or if someone disagreed with his new policies, Philos would punish the hostage child.

“At one point he suspected Clan Pyramus of plotting sedition and decided to take action to stem any thoughts of revolution. He killed Leas Pyramus’ daughter in a gruesome public ceremony that was supposed to squelch any thoughts of revolt. Instead, Leas Pyramus went ballistic.

“Clan Pyramus, lead by Leas, exploded in violent rage and the Tadiak lands ran with blood. Other clans sided with Pyramus, for they too had lost children. Leas Pyramus led Cynthea, Olenteas, Sylva, and Tersa to victory. When the bloodshed was over, the throne stood empty. King Philos fled his kingdom, taking with him his young daughter Killia and his enchanter Sindelar with him. In his haste, however, Philos forgot the one great weapon in his arsenal, the one thing that could have restored him to his power - the Tal. The stone that Holy Wisdom assigned to each world to protect it and that focuses the power of the world in the hands of the ruler..." She chuckled. "I am certain that Sindelar was livid when he found out that Philos had left it behind.”

She went on. “After the defeat of Philos and clan Tadiak, the clans elected Leas Pyramus as the new King. He ruled fairly and well for fifteen years and then abdicated the crown to his son Tyrmandos. For the next seventeen years Tyrmandos maintained the peace and brought prosperity and calm to the kingdom. A hunting accident ended his life at the age of sixty and brought his son Tarq to power.”

Lauren closed her eyes and Diana thought it looked like the woman was hiding tears.

“What happened to the exiled King?” Diana asked, trying to change the focus of the story.

“Sindelar kept Philos and Killia hidden. He is a formidable sorcerer and understands the magic, path making, coreworlds and edgeworlds as few others do. So, even though Leas and Tyrmandos tried to find the renegade Tadiaks with the full power of the Tal, Sindelar was able to hide Philos, his child, and his loyal followers from detection.

“If you think about it, it was an incredible use of power and energy. The exiles were able to travel the paths undetected and well camouflaged. They were safe from the vengeance of the new King and especially the clans, solely guarded by the powers of Sindelar. Travel along the paths is an uneasy business, as you saw, unless you hold a Tal and let it guide you or you have an exceptional sorcerer to assist you. Or you can do as we did and mark the path with blood..." Lauren shook her head. "But as you have witnessed, that can be quite messy and dangerous."

Alaeric stirred on her lap and she lowered her voice. “During the reign of Tyrmandos, after there was some distance between the rage that overtook the clans under Leas and the calm of the new reign, Sindelar got in secret contact with the clan lords of the Olenteas. The Olenteas lords were harboring grudges against the new rulers, thinking that the new kings, in spite of their assistance, had slighted them after the revolution. They sent Sindelar a bride for Philos to marry and to help him raise Killia. Once Philos went completely mad and had to be restrained, Sindelar and the Olenteas stepmother turned their attentions to grooming and training Killia. The Princess became the focal point of hope for Tadiak’s restoration.

“Her stepmother lobbied for Killia to marry Prince Tarq, Tyrmandos’ oldest child and heir, thereby becoming Queen and widening Tadiak’s gene pool. Negotiations commenced when the children were about six or seven years old. I do not think that the King was serious about saddling his son with a wife with her genetic predisposition to madness, but as long as they kept up the charade that the two would marry, no active revolution would take place. It was a good ploy but about ten years ago, King Philos and his wife were found in what appeared to be a murder-suicide.”

Diana shivered a bit, that last hitting her like a sudden bucket of ice-cold water.