Corvan leapt onto the rim of the pool, but Kael yanked him back to the floor. Whirling about Corvan tried to punch at Kael’s face but the man held his hand in a powerful grip. "You are making him into a Rakash!" Corvan's throat constricted, and his chest heaved. "You blinded him!"

  “No, Corvan. His eyes were covered by our healer to keep the elixir from seeping in.” Kael pushed Corvan's hand down and his grip relaxed. "Your father is not becoming Rakash. He is in the elixir to save his life. When he arrived, he was close to death. His skin was covered in disease and his body was full of a sickness we have never seen before. Our healer believed the intense power of your great light had been slowly killing him.”

  Kael released Corvan and turned him to the pool. “In the past we would have tried to repair his skin with our ointments, but he was too far gone. Our healer believed the Gatekeeper's fluid would be more effective, as long as it was not taken internally. Your father wanted to live, to see your mother and you again, so he willingly agreed to be put to sleep and submerged in the fluid.” Kael touched the breathing tubes. “When it is time to remove him from the fluid, he will be completely healed and stronger than before."

  Corvan studied his father’s face on the surface of the pool. For the first time, it was peaceful; the tired wrinkles around his eyes and mouth had been completely erased. Corvan ran a hand through his hair. But if his father had to remain here, he would be separated from his mother. His father would never accept that, even if it meant dying sooner.

  Kael's hand squeezed Corvan’s shoulder and this time he didn't pull away. "I promise you he will recover in due time,” Kael said. “But we need your help, or he will be healed only in time to suffer greatly at the hands of my grandfather. We must defeat that old man and keep him from finding the Lifelight. In order to do that, we will need the master medallion, the hammer, and the scepter. Once we have all three, I will go to the Kholm, return them to the council chamber, then seal it up again. After that, the remaining cities can come together, restore the Council of the Cor, and bring my grandfather to justice. It is the only way we can defeat my grandfather’s evil plans, but it needs be done before your mother attempts to rescue your father. She can’t become involved in this."

  Corvan continued to study his father's face. Even if he agreed to help how could he ever get the three objects to Kael in time? Kate held the master medallion, Tyreth had the hammer, and what was the scepter Kael referred to? Was it in the black box his father was going to give him for his birthday? If so, that would mean finding a way back through Castle Rock to retrieve it without his mother knowing.

  As if reading his mind, Kael nodded to him. "I know this may seem like a difficult task, but I and our people will help you. We are all committed to this plan. It is the only way to save both the Cor and your family."

  Corvan took a deep breath. "I'm willing to help, but how do I know I can trust you?"

  "The true members of the Royal Family do not deceive others,” Kael replied. “I always follow through on my commitments." He pulled an embroidered pouch hanging on a red cord from around his neck. White symbols on the pouch glowed with an internal light through the black cloth. “This is why Tsarek trusted me and why he returned. I promised him a drop of the Lifelight if he would help us find you." Kael extracted a small bottle from the pouch and Corvan squinted at the brilliant light moving inside. It was as if a sunlit storm was trapped inside the crystalline vial, rising up in thermal clouds, then turning to rain and falling back to the bottom in endless cycles. "This is the makers potion. Its value exceeds that of the hammer, master medallion and the scepter, indeed the entire Cor - at least to some."

  Watching the Lifelight swirl inside the vial, Corvan found himself wanting to move in closer, reach out, and feel its light against his skin. He glanced up and found Kael studying him intently. Keeping his hands close to his sides Corvan looked over at Tsarek. This must be the potion that Tsarek’s mentor had referred when they were in the colony.

  Kael strode toward the table and Corvan followed. The man carefully removed a cork from the top of the vial. A small wire ending in a tight loop stuck out like a tiny bubble blowing ring. "I will follow through on my promise because I am a man of my word. I do not need hold the hammer to know what is right." Kael leaned over the table and touched Tsarek’s face. Tsarek opened his mouth as a tiny drop of liquid, bright as midnight star, formed in the wire circle. Kael tapped the wire with one finger and the drop fell onto Tsarek's tongue. The lizard’s mouth closed, then a long shiver ran through Tsarek’s body.

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  At that moment Corvan detected a pinprick on his own tongue. The sensation flowed from that tiny spot though his mouth and into his head. Instantly he realized that the smallest bit of the storm in the vial had traveled through the air, and he had breathed it in. Within his mind, the light grew and rose up like a thunderhead over the prairies, then in a flash it collapsed in on itself, leaving only a dark space behind — a space he knew could only be filled if he could get more of the Lifelight.

  Corvan shook the thought away as Kael stepped back from the table. "That one drop would have bought my way back into my grandfather's goodwill, yet I gave it as I promised." He turned to Corvan. "That is what all the rulers of the Cor once did. We all lived by our word. The hammer, medallion and scepter were only there to safeguard the Council from deceit, but the ruling families did not need to rely on them to know right from wrong." He twisted the cap into place, put the bottle back in its pouch and tucked it into the front pocket of his tunic. "Unfortunately, the very creation of the Lifelight has made it necessary to have all three returned to the chamber before we can remove my grandfather from power and rebuild trust between the cities of the Cor."

  Kael pointed to Corvan. "Now that you have agreed to help us, you are bound to our family and also must live by your word. I will show you how you can travel back through Kadir without being seen. Tsarek will guide you from there back to your home on the surface and help you to retrieve the scepter."

  At those words, Tsarek pushed himself off the table, stood to his feet, and his eyes rose to meet Corvan's.

  "I would rather go alone," Corvan said.

  Tsarek's face clouded, his eyes grew sad, and his shoulders sagged.

  "That would be unwise," Kael said.

  "It is my decision,” Corvan stated, “and I will live by it."

  Kael frowned, then nodded to Tsarek. The lizard's head drooped as he clambered to the floor. Tsarek took one last hopeful look at Corvan, then shuffled away through a curtain into one of the temporary rooms.

  Corvan turned back away. Tsarek had betrayed him to get a dose of Kael's potion. He could not trust him anymore. A nagging thought at the back of his mind told him he would have done the same thing to get a drop of the Lifelight, but he immediately dismissed it. It was better this way. If he took Tsarek along and his mother saw the lizard she would know something strange was going on and would ask too many questions. He looked up to find Kael studying him.

  "My men can take you through the tunnel to Kadir, but no further. It is not yet time for us to be seen. You will have to make it across to the portal door on your own. I hope you made the right decision for I know Tsarek would have been an asset on your mission. Now I fear you may be as headstrong as Jokten and that your family’s stubborn nature may impact all of us negatively, yet again."

  Corvan looked to the pool and father's submerged figure. He didn’t really care what Kael thought. He didn't mind being like Jokten, even if Kael did not think that much of the man. His family always stuck together and stayed to themselves. That's the way it needed to be if they were ever to get out of this situation intact.

  "The tunnel through to Kadir is inside the bottom of the broken tower on the far side of the Rakash barracks. Be warned that the time is drawing near for their allotment of the elixir, so they are more aggressive and sensitive to any movement in the cavern. I will take you across personally after they are all asleep.”

  "Is that the same tunnel the Rakash are going to use to attack Kadir?"

  Kael scowled. "That is the Gatekeeper's plan, but I will make certain it is not carried out."

  "How?"

  "I have an agreement with the leader of the Rakash. In return for his help, I have offered the Rakash the opportunity to make a permanent home for themselves here in Katay Alba. When you return with the scepter and the chamber is restored the council will rule on the fate of my grandfather. If they approve, I will personally lead my people and the Rakash Army to the city of Dubok Kholm. It is time for my grandfather to die."

  Kael's words held no malice, but his simple statement made them even more startling. Could he trust a person who would kill his own grandfather? Leaving Kael standing by the table, Corvan went back to the pool and watched as his father took another long breath, his face breaking the surface. “I’m not sure what to do,” Corvan murmured. “I wish we could talk before I have to leave.” A fresh thought struck him. Perhaps Kael put his father into the fluid to make sure he couldn't ask his advice. Maybe the speech about honor and truth was intended to manipulate him so Kael could get his hands on the scepter.

  There was no way to know for sure, but his father had tried to send him a message. In the vision with the blue and white pieces of glass, his father gave Gavyn a scroll. His father had sent it with the boy before Kael put him under the lumien water, so the note must be instructions for what he wanted Corvan to do.

  Corvan looked over that the stairs and double doors where he had entered Kael’s library headquarters. He needed to get out of here and find Gavyn as soon as possible.