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within. Someone must know where Aveta is holding her imprisoned in exile. I will have to work hard on this, but I promise you that I will not rest until I discover her hiding place.” Ilarial reached out and gently patted Shade’s shoulder. Shade nodded, acknowledging the reassurance Ilarial gave her, and slowly rose from the floor. She was feeling exhausted.
    “One more thing,” Ilarial added. “Before you go, your powers have grown since your first exposure to Faerie. I did not know that scrying would be so intense for you already. Next time, we will have to approach the looking glass slower; perhaps after I have started using it first, in case I need to channel your powers.” Shade nodded again, feeling a little defeated at letting her magic get the best of her.
    “I’ll remember for next time, Ilarial.”
     
    *****
     
    SHADE FOUND HERSELF staring at the TV screen, its soft rambling banter filling the room like white noise. She didn’t really see anything on it, her thoughts were absorbed elsewhere. Thinking about Ilarial’s scrying session had most of her thoughts tangled up. Her confusion added to the headache of everything else she was worrying about. Her vision blurred as the flashing of the screen faded into a commercial.
    She couldn’t help but wonder about having a grandmother. After all the years of not having anyone else besides her mother around, a grandmother could possibly help her solve everything that was so wrong with her right now. If only she could find her. Somewhere in Faerie she had been exiled. Shade wondered if her grandmother even knew she had a granddaughter. Frowning, Shade could almost bet that she didn’t. Maybe her Grandmother would have looked for her already if she had known about her.
    The glare of the TV darkened as a figure came to stand between her and the screen. Her eyes focused on it and moved up towards Dylan’s face. “You’re not see-through, you know.” Shade told him.
    “What’s wrong with you,” Dylan asked. “You seemed distracted.” He moved to slip down onto the couch next to her. She glared at him for a moment then looked away. She sighed and resumed her zoned out stare at the TV.
    “I have a lot to think about. Ilarial said my vision today was of events most likely happening right now, but she has a lot of work to do to help me out more. Especially in finding my Faerie grandmother and keeping my wild magic in check.”
    “Wow, she said all that?”
    “Yes, but with not so many words.” Shade yawned as she stretched and slumped onto the arm of the couch, blinking her heavy eyelids. The day had lasted forever and her muscles ached from training. She had been sleeping like a rock since she had started the fight training. She was hoping it would get better with some time and practice, but her muscles still protested with all the physical work.
    “You look exhausted, Shade. You need to rest, especially for tomorrow.” Dylan smiled at her as he shifted on the couch.
    “What’s tomorrow?”
    He turned toward her, lips pressed and eyes looking almost as exhausted as she felt.
    “We’re leaving, again.”
    Shades eyelids flipped open from the dreamy half-awake state she had been hovering in. Sitting up, she stared at him, shocked.
    “What? What the hell do you mean we are leaving? I’m not going anywhere.” She watched his face assume its flat expression at her answer. She was getting quite sick of his blank facial mask that he had seemed to wear a little bit too often lately. She longed for some sort of feeling other than nothing to seep through his façade; wondering what was lingering in his empty stares.
    “Well, I didn’t know either until this evening while you were with Ilarial, if that helps any, Shade. Queen Zinara has asked us to meet up with Prince Lotinar to discuss our alliance. He has agreed to meet halfway from the Santiran City. He requested to meet with you in particular besides the rest of the Queen’s advisors. We leave at