Rath looked shock. “Tonight? But the council members have been celebrating most of the day and those that aren’t drunk, are probably passed out.”

“We need to call the meeting tonight,” Zan said decisively and then turned to Vilandra and handed her the crystal. “Take this to our scientists. There is information on there about a planet that may be of use to us. Tell them to organize the information and have it ready to present to me in the morning.”

Vilandra took the crystal from Zan and asked, “What happened to her, Zan?”

Zan turned to look back into the room where Arya was lying peacefully. “Vilandra, will you ask Carek to arrange a proper burial for her, a Royal burial.” He turned back to Vilandra. “She gave her life to help her people, she deserves at least that.”

Vilandra nodded and waited for Zan to explain.

“She’s been working with Visery,” Zan stated.

“What?” Vilandra asked, surprised. “How’s that possible?”

“I don’t know, but that’s not important now. We have a spy. Visery’s cover was blown because someone close to me has betrayed us.”

“No,” Rath gasped, “that can’t be.”

Zan looked at Rath and said, “It’s true. We have to be very watchful who we talk to from now on and what information we share. Someone in the war council is the most likely candidate so we have to be especially careful what we say to them." Zan then looked at Vilandra and continued, "All of us need to be extremely careful."

"Did Arya know anything of their plans?" Rath asked.

"She had no details, just that," Zan said indicating the crystal Vilandra held, "but she did say that Khivar is more powerful than we know and that we needed to get the Granolith out of the palace and hide it somewhere so that Khivar could never find it."

"The Granolith, they want the Granolith?" Vilandra asked, surprised.

Zan nodded. "I'm not sure why, I'm not even sure how they knew about it, but I hope that that crystal will help. Will you stay with the scientists as they go over the data? Don't let the data be comprised."

"Of course, you can count on me."

Zan took a step toward his sister and then put his hand on her arm and smiled at her. They had been through so much together, without her, Zan would not have been able to get over losing Arya the first time. "I know I can."

Zan turned to Rath and said, "I must attend to Avadia. Have the war council convened in an hour."

"What are you going to tell her, Zan?" Vilandra asked.

Zan looked toward where Arya lay and said, "As little as possible." He then turned to Vilandra and continued, "She is very young and inexperienced. I fear that if what Arya told me is true, she, along with the rest of us, may not have much time. The least I can do for her is make her time left bearable. If I tell her about Arya, she won't even have the illusion of happiness."

"What about Mother? Are you going to her about Arya? She will wonder about the Royal burial."

"Tell Carek to make it a quiet ceremony. I will be the only one to attend."

"We will come with you, Zan," Rath stated, then looked at Vilandra for support. Vilandra nodded slowly agreeing with Rath.

"Thanks both of you, but I don't want you there. I have to say my final good-byes alone. Now, please go do as I asked. I will be along shortly."

Zan watched as Rath and Vilandra walked down the hall and into the secret passageway. He then turned and took one last look at Arya who was lying peacefully on the bed in the servant's room. His heart was filled with such pain and anger, he had no idea how he was going to continue. He was upset with her for sacrificing herself for him. It wasn't fair to her or him. She deserved better than to die like this. He was angry at himself for not realizing she was still alive. It was absurd to think that she would have committed suicide, why didn't he see that? He was angry at his father for telling him that he had to make a choice. How can one choose between one's heart and one's duty? It was too much to ask. Zan walked over to the bed, placed one last kiss on Arya's forehead and then used the blanket to cover her. He must attend to his duties now, but his heart would always be with Arya. Zan closed the door and headed toward the secret passage.

When Zan arrived at his suite, Avadia was asleep on the settee. Zan picked her up and placed her in the bed, trying not to wake her. It would be easier for him if he didn't have to explain things tonight. When he pulled the covers up over her, Avadia stirred and opened her eyes. When she saw Zan, she smiled and said, "Zan, I'm sorry I fell asleep."

"No worries," Zan said kneeling next to the bed and smiling at Avadia, trying very hard to appear normal. "You have had a long day. You rest now. We will talk in the morning."

Avadia smiled and sleepily tried to sit up. "But it is our wedding night."

Zan gently stopped Avadia from getting up. "I have things I must attend to Avadia. We will spend time together tomorrow, I promise."

Avadia nodded and laid back down. Zan noticed the disappointed look on her face, but he couldn't do anything about that now. He had to meet with the War council. After tucking her in, Zan quietly left his suite and went to the meeting room of the war council.

When he arrived at the council room, it was alive with activity. He looked around the room and saw Rath near the front talking with Ferin, who used to be one of his Father’s most trusted advisors and was now an advisor to him. He walked over to them and frowned when he realized that they were discussing the Paseis moon.

“What’s happening?” Zan asked.

Rath turned to Zan and said, "Zan, they've started their attacks."

"What?"

"I guess they realized that there was a chance we would find out about their plans so they stepped up their timeline. They've started an attack on the outpost on the Paseis Moon."

"No. When did this start?”

“Within the last hour,” Ferin said, “and the reports aren’t good.”

“If they get control of the Paseis moon, it is only a matter of time before they…" Zan couldn't finish his sentence. With that one move, Khivar could win the war. The Paseis moon was the most highly protected and valued military outpost of Andorra. He couldn't believe he had allowed this to happen. He had failed his people. "How long do we have?"

"I suspect they will gain control of the outpost within hours and I don’t think we can prevent it. They are too strong and there are too many of them. We may have 3 weeks before the palace falls, but at a great loss of life," Ferin replied.

Zan couldn't believe it. This war had been going on for close to 10 years and now it could be over in 3 weeks. How did this happen? “There’s nothing we can do?” Zan asked desperately, afraid of the answer.

Ferin walked over to the monitor that was linked to the Paseis moon. “Take a look for yourself.”

Zan followed Ferin to the monitor and saw his worst nightmare. It was worse that he could have ever imagined. “And we believe that this is just the first wave,” Ferin told Zan. “Their numbers are immense.”

“Then the information Visery got from Khivar's camp may be our last hope,” Zan said.

“You’ve heard from Visery?” Ferin asked.

Zan nodded and said, “It’s not important,” realizing he should be careful what he said with an unknown traitor nearby. Zan turned to Rath. “Do what you can here, I’m going to go find Vilandra.”

Rath nodded and then Zan turned and quickly headed out of the room. A few hours ago, all was quiet, there was hope that Andorra might survive this war. He was getting married to fulfill his obligation to his family and his people, but now, Zan was terrified and alone.

His world was about to fall apart around him and all he could think of was Arya. She had given up so much for him and he had no idea what she'd been doing for the last seven years. Arya’s mother had died when she was very young and she never knew her father was. Arya was raised by her Mother's sister who was a servant here in the palace before she died 10 years ago. Initially, Zan's father had taken a liking to Arya. He had allowed her to be educated with Zan and Vilandra, but when Zan and Arya became too close, his father forced Arya to start attending school with the other servant's children. When her aunt died, Arya left the Palace and tried to start her own life in the Capital city.

By then, Zan and Arya were madly in love and nothing Zan's father did could keep them apart. Zan didn’t care that she didn’t know who her father was or that she had no title or position. It didn’t even bother him that the only job she could find was at a pub in the not so good part of town. Zan was in love. He tried to give her money, to help her out, but Arya was proud and determined to make it on her own. More than anything, she wanted to earn the respect of Zan’s father, so she worked and saved and even started taking classes at the local university.

But then Khivar came to Andorra determined to change things. The war he caused changed everything for Zan and Arya. Zan's father became more determined to keep Arya and Zan apart. He could not have his son marry a woman like Arya, a woman with no title or position who worked in a pub in the city. Zan pleaded with his father to give her a chance and even threatened to leave his title and position behind to be with Arya. But Zan’s father was smart. He went directly to Arya and told her that if she didn’t push Zan away, he would be forced to disown Zan and that would cause chaos and the war would surely be lost.

He must have been pretty convincing, because the next time Zan went to see Arya, she was gone. She had left a note telling Zan not to look for her, but Zan did look for her. He wasn’t about to give up on Arya. She had traveled across the sea to a new city, but Zan had many resources and was able to find her. Zan remembered that night when he found her well, at first, Arya pushed him away, saying it was over, but as soon as he touched her and felt her skin come alive with his touch, he knew it wasn’t over. That had been a beautiful night, the happiest of his life, but when he awoke the next morning, she was gone.

Arya left a note explaining to Zan that it was over and that her life meant nothing, because she knew she could never be with him as husband and wife. Zan went and found some co-workers of Arya to try to locate her, but they told him that she had not been around. Zan scoured the city for her that day, but to no avail and that night he went to the local authorities to see if they could help him find her. When he got there, he was told that a woman fitting Arya’s description was seen jumping off the Mattera Bridge early that morning. Zan didn’t believe it at first, but the authorities had witnesses that described Arya perfectly. They also told him there was no hope of recovering the body from the Pilomara River.

After weeks of hounding the authorities to find confirmation, Vilandra had to come and get him to bring him home. Zan was so angry at his father for pushing Arya away. He wouldn't even look at him for weeks. Vilandra helped him get through the pain of losing Arya. She literally saved his life, because without Vilandra he didn’t have a reason to go on. Zan finally forgave his father on his deathbed, but he never forgot Arya.

Now Zan wondered how Arya pulled it off. She must have had help, and a lot of it. Was it his father? Did he help her deceive him? It didn’t matter now of course. Arya was dead and so was his father and it was possible that everyone else would be dead soon. Was there any hope? He felt like his whole world was falling apart and there was nothing he could do about it.

Zan found Vilandra in the lab, overseeing several scientists as they sorted through the data from the crystal Arya had given him. “So what have they found?” Zan asked her.

“It’s amazing. It seems that Khivar's people have been studying this planet for many years. In fact they have plans to plant some of their own people there. The problem is, they can’t survive there very long, and that’s why they need the Granolith.”

“The Granolith will help them survive?”

Vilandra nodded. “I don’t understand it all, but that’s what the scientists have told me.”

“Is there anything that can help us?” Zan asked the scientists who were working nearby.

One of them looked up and walked over to where Vilandra and Zan were standing. “King Zan, your sister told us you wanted a report by morning. We haven’t had time to sort through all the information yet.”

“Well things have changed since I last talked to my sister. I need to know if that information can help us in any way as soon as possible. Tell me what you’ve found so far.”

Zan spent the next few hours working closely with the scientists and Vilandra. The information they found would not help with the immediate problem with the outpost on the Paseis moon, but it could possibly be of use later.

After five hours, Vilandra turned to her brother, her features filled with concern, and said, “It’s morning, you should attend to Avadia. Explain to her what’s happened and get some rest. I’ll go touch base with Rath. We will come get you in two hours.” Vilandra could tell her brother was worn out. The past 24 hours had taken a lot out of him.