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Syg thought a moment. "No, they'll cancel each other out."

"So then, what blasted Marilith out the window? And for that matter, what scared her enough to not try it again? Marilith's usually not one to quit once she has something in her head."

"Are you saying Pardock has the Shadow mark? Are you saying Pardock used Shadow tech and blasted her out the window?"

"Not Pardock … Poe."

"Poe? Lady Poe?"

"What has Dav told you about Poe?"

"Not much. She's his older sister, and she still lives in Castle Blanchefort. She never married."

"No, she didn't. Pardock married into House Vincent and became their Countess, but she outlived her husband—he was killed at the battle of Embeth—and came back. She came back with some of her younger children to help take care of Poe."

"Why?"

"Poe has always been a daunting enigma, a huge, looming Blanchefort question mark. Sometimes, on nights when I really get Dav talking, he'll relate his fears about Poe, about how he worries about her, about her health and safety. He had wanted to be rid of his castle. The Marilith thing, it holds a lot of bad memories for him there, but he kept it for Poe, so she'd always have a place to stay."

Ki thought a moment. "It's not a good thing in the League to be sick—especially to be sick in the head … to be mentally ill. Nuts, as we say back in Tusck. Poe has been mentally ill her whole life—or has she been? Maybe she's not been crazy this whole time; maybe she's been afflicted with something else. The locals of Blanchefort, in the shadow of his castle, are afraid of her, though they'll never tell Dav that…they think she's strange, haunted … possessed by something frightening."

"I believe I see where you are going with this, Ki, but it does not add up. A Shadow tech girl needs constant care, constant training, or the Shadow tech will kill her. The Sisterhood didn't declare it illegal for nothing. Besides, what about the Shadowmark? The mark is a hard thing to miss. Dav's never said anything."

Kilos shrugged. "Poe went away for a long time as a child and young woman. Some say she was in the care of the Sisterhood, some say she was out of her head with madness. Did Dav tell you all that? She was always a little strange … silent, like she wasn't all there. But other times she was a bubbly, charming lady—think of Dav, only female with blonde hair.

"And, as for the mark, I was at Castle Blanchefort for a ball with my husband a few years ago. Dav threw it to celebrate ten years of the
Seeker
. It was a lot of fun. The whole crew got to go. Even the Sisters showed up."

"You were at his castle with your husband?"

"Yes, I do manage to drag him away from the university every so often. We've been guests there lots of times."

"When do I get to see his castle?"

"I've no clue—ask Dav. Anyway, I was in the bathroom getting sick …"

"Go figure."

"Then Poe came in. She went to the mirror and stood there, looking at herself. She was sort of in a daze and didn't see me. I seem to recall her waving her hand, and the door locked by itself. She then took this thing off of her face, this type of flexible appliance, and there it was. I saw, reflected in the mirror, a huge black mark on her face near her right eye. I thought she'd had an accident and had been badly stitched up and was hiding the scar out of vanity. I mean, it was
really
big."

"But how can this be—how was she not taken?"

"Don't know. Maybe it's because there were no Shadow tech men involved—what did you call them?"

"Invernans."

"Yes, Invernans. I mean, Dav and his sisters look just like Sadric— there's no question he's their father, so there are no 'hidden genes' at work here, no midnight interlopers. Maybe the Black Hats didn't calculate on House Blanchefort bearing a Shadow tech girl and weren't watching. Perhaps it was just one of those things."

"Maybe …" Syg thought about her parents, who they were, where they might be.

"So, given that, I think Sadric protected Poe her whole life. I think from the moment she was born he saw this thing on her face, this birthmark, and went to the Sisterhood for answers. He was very friendly with them. Maybe they told him about the Black Abbess's work. Maybe that's why he was so keen on making peace with the Xaphans, for the sake of his daughter."

Sygillis gazed off into space and looked sad.

"You could be right. But what about the Shadow tech? I can tell you firsthand how it feels to let it build up inside you—it's a wrenching feeling. Poe could not go for any length of time without releasing it. Without training and discipline and frequent casting, it will kill you."

"Well, that's the kicker, isn't it, the final piece in the puzzle." Kilos took another massive swig. Sygillis sat there, impatient, her mug of narva untouched.

"I just told you that Poe oftentimes seemed a little out there, yes?"

"Yes …"

"What has Dav told you about his castle … about Castle Blanchefort?"

"Only that it's his ancestral home—an old Vith structure and that it's located in the north by the sea. I can't wait to see it."

"It's a pretty place. There is a strange phenomena that happens at Castle Blanchefort, a weird sort of thing that happens fairly regularly. The locals call it Sadric's Rain. Some call it Marilith's Tears, but that drives Dav crazy. The locals think that the castle is haunted because of it."

"What is it?"

"A strange sort of fog. It starts somewhere near the castle, probably near the Telmus Grove, and glides its way down the mountainside to the village and then into the bay where it hangs for a long time."

"Have you ever seen it?"

"I have, last year whilst the
Seeker
was parked in the bay for a refit. I was drinking in the village bars—"

"When are you not drinking, Ki? Good Creation."

"Shut up. Anyway, it was a cold, clear evening—Blanchefort has lots of those. All of a sudden, I see this strange, clutching sort of cloud billowing up near the castle. It obscured the castle's spires and then worked its way down the mountainside and before I knew it, I was blanketed in it. It didn't feel like fog—it felt strange, warm, crawly."

"Was it black?"

"No, it was gray—like a storm cloud. Now, remember I mentioned that every so often Poe acted like she was in a daze, and other times she seemed fine?"

"Yes."

"Well, that day I noticed that Poe could barely talk and was stumbling around like she'd been drugged. Then there's this weird cloud event, then the next day at breakfast, there's Poe, all bright and cheerful. I like Lady Poe. She's so kind and innocent—it's hard to spend any time with her and not like her."

Syg thought a moment. "You might be right … You might be right …"

Kilos finished off her mug. "Well, we should be in Com range of Drelsar by now. I think I'll head to my quarters and drop a transmission to my old man—all your sappy talk has given me the urge to tell him I love him."

"See you, Ki."

"Are you going to wait up for Dav?"

Syg smiled up at her.

"All right, fair enough—stupid question."

Kilos put her Marine cap back on and straightened her jacket. "Listen, Syg—don't worry about this, okay? Dav's always had a knack for attracting the ladies, and I suppose he always will. He's a handsome man, he's filthy rich, and he's a good person to boot, so if you want to be close to him, you're going to have to get used to that to some extent. However, I've made light of your fears, and I didn't mean to. Dav has the best Sight of all; he can see things that no one has ever seen. And he saw something in you, something he thought was worth protecting, worth fighting for—back when me and the Sisters and everybody else wanted you dead. Knowing Dav the way I do, I can't imagine him just throwing you aside because some new star-struck lady happened to show up. He has reacted to you like he has to none other—not Demona, not Princess Marilith, and not Captain Hathaline either."

Sygillis smiled. "You really think so?"

"Yes, I do."

"Thanks … that means a lot to me."

Kilos left through the wooden doors of the mess.

She sat alone for a while, lost in thought, her mug of narva losing its froth.

She thought of Poe, Dav's sister—a Shadow tech girl who didn't become a Black Hat because of chance and because of a father who had the courage and tenacity to protect her from the gaze of the Black Abbess. She guessed Sadric was a lot tougher than people gave him credit for.

She thought of the Silver tech flowing inside her, a product of love. She thought of all her Black Hat sisters sitting alone in their dark temples, wretched and terrible in their evil and their ignorance, never knowing what it felt like to be good, to touch someone, to feel love, to turn their black Shadow tech into silver.

Syg guessed that, as far as Dav was concerned, she could be very jealous and very vindictive, and that was a dangerous thing. She figured she'd become another Princess Marilith, heartbroken and spurned— forever on the outskirts, on the fringe, forever harassing Dav—forever giving him no peace.

She thought about Dav—the man she hopelessly, deeply loved. She wondered why she didn't try to kill him in the beginning; she wondered what had stopped her. She had killed many people over the years—enemies, League, her own Hulgismen by the score. She'd even killed other Black Hats—ones who'd angered her, crossed her, all without any hint of hesitation or remorse.

So, why did she spare Captain Davage?

Certainly the threat of being killed by the Sisters wasn't in play— she had cared little for her own death at the time.

It must have been a combination of things. Maybe Dav had kept her off balance, kept her confused. Maybe, deep down, she admired him, admired his courage, his raw nerve.

Maybe, as she once told Dav herself, maybe she'd loved him from the start, from her first good look at him. Maybe, beyond all hope, something inside her had wanted to be saved … had wanted to be free of her Black Hat sash.

The man with the searching golden eyes. The man who was finally right in front of her.

The maybes could go on forever. Perhaps Dav was the right man, and perhaps she was the right woman. In any event, at one hundred ninety years old, Sygillis was living for the first time. For the first time her life meant something to her.

After a while, a cheer rose up in the mess. She didn't have to look— Dav was here. In quiet excitement, she sat with her small hands on the table, her now warm narva mug in front of her, trying not to look in his direction. A loud chattering followed Dav around the mess as he mingled, talking to everybody, clapping them on the back and hoisting his mug with his crew.

She knew after he had completely made his rounds that he will end up at her quiet, out-of-the-way table and sit down. Then, eventually, they will make their way back to her quarters, where they would talk and laugh, and then make love.

Her heart quickened in anticipation.

After a while, Davage approached her. Smiling, she tried to pretend like she didn't know he was there.

"Sygillis, good evening and well met."

"Why, Captain Davage," she said looking up at him. "This is a pleasant surprise …"

1

"You three want to hear my thoughts? I don't think the Xaphans will come at us aloft."

Davage stood by the viewer in the meeting room. Kilos and Sygillis sat at the table. Ennez sat nearby, his silver helmet sitting quietly on the table.

"I'd agree with that, Dav. They have a healthy respect for you, and they don't really have much of a force to send into battle," Syg said.

"My thoughts exactly. So, Syg, with that in mind, where do you think the Xaphans will try to mount an attack?"

"I'm not really big on military strategy, but I'll guess that they'll probably try to snare a planet and let you stumble into it."

"Right—exactly. Ki, bring up a list of all planets within thirty light years of here."

Kilos pressed a few buttons on her desktop terminal and a massive list of names popped up on the screen.

"Hmmm, quite a few. I think it's safe to say that we can rule out all of the gas giants on the list. Ki, take them off."

She pressed a few more buttons, and about three quarters of the list vanished. Davage surveyed the smaller list. "Excellent. Now, I don't think that the Black Hats will inconvenience themselves by snaring a very inhospitable planet, one that's very hot or cold, and I'm certain they will avoid planets where life support will be required. Ki, take them off."

Again, the list shrank, this time down to fifteen names. Davage looked at it.

"Yes, yes … this will do. Syg, how long does a usual planetary snaring take?"

"Depends on how elaborate the snaring's to be. I wasn't a Painter, though. I did the fighting, remember?"

"Be creative for a moment. If you really wanted to pull out the stops. If you really wanted to make a statement."

Syg thought. "About a week and a half, possibly two. That's a lot of Shadow tech to be throwing around."

Kilos looked at Davage. "What are you thinking, Dav?"