Enira stepped out of her suite with the vague intention of finding a nice marble bench, one of the ones set into the walls of the halls of the Palace, to spend some time thinking and maybe sleep more.  She was spending most of her nights sleepless lately for varying reasons.  First had been sick with the bug that had swept through the Palace, which some Rel and Shadan were still fighting off, then there was the week of nightly thunderstorms which boomed and crashed around her room leaving her wide eyed and very much awake, and finally there was her assassination attempts from not even a month ago.  Sora was different now, no less maniacal and suspicious, but in a less threatening way.  She seemed to offer her talents for use within the crowd that knew of her double identity; only Enira, Teyl and Ral of course.  Teyl was unlikely to accept or need help from a spy since he was one himself, ironically enough with Aesha around.  Enira found that situation enormously funny when she was sleepy because then the possible disasters were housed way back in the far recesses of her mind.

            So on this sleepless night she was wakeful, actually morning because it was 7d and it would be just 2 hours till people roused from bed at 1m.  Enira had gone to sleep at the normal time of 1d when the night grows dark and all sleep craving sane members of the Palace slip off to bed and restful sleep.  She had woken up a few minutes ago and had only gotten 6 hours of sleep.  She had a full 16-hour day ahead of her and needed all 8 hours of sleep plus an extra few to make up for the past sleepless nights.  Instead she woke up 2 hours early making her day 18 hours long if she managed to stay awake till bed time tonight.  Anyways here this drowsy Shada was attempting to wander the cold deserted Palace well before sunrise with her mind still foggy from sleep.  As of yet her mind was on automatic and her senses ruled so when her bare feet hit the cold green marble floors of the hall she leapt back onto her deep grey carpet.  Her mind was slow enough, even if she could not sleep, that this minor set back puzzled her and she stood staring at the frigid green and grey floor a few feet in front of her.  Eventually her eyes slipped to the side of her doorway and glanced her fuzzy slippers set on the floor right below her dark grey robe.  She sighed in relief at this solution and slipped on both the slippers and the robe because she could suddenly feel a draft in her shadowed room.  She slipped out into the hallway once more and felt her slippers slip slightly on the smooth polished expanse of floor.  Smiling playfully she pushed off with one foot and skidded a good few yards down towards the end of the lengthy Shadan hallway.  She looked around to see if any other sleepless soul had witnessed her less than royal behavior and repeated it back towards her room and then past it.  Eventually she slid into a tall standing vase and while it didnt even wiggle she bounced backward and landed flat on her back.  She managed not to bang her head because shed had lessons on what happens when skull meets floor.  They had been painful lessons and she had been long in the learning because of situations just like this one.  Drowsiness still flooded her mind blocking off her common sense and inhibitions; so she slid a few more times before slidding up to her door, pulling it shut, and locking it with the small key hanging around her neck on a long thin silver chain.  Not all Shadan had rooms that locked from the out side as well as the inside but Enira was strict on personal space and she was somewhat more disgruntled that Aesha had entered her room uninvited than the fact that Sora had been trying to do her in.  Her room was her space, her haven, her temple, her Eden, anyone inside for too long -invited or not- was a tainting influence and she had to spend a half hour rearranging items and giving her room back its Niraness.  So it was quite expected that she had asked for a lock to be installed that could be locked from the outside, along with an extra deadbolt for the inside and that she had traded to get this particular room with the hidden exit.  About a quarter of all Shadan rooms had such exits, about three fourths of these were tricky to exit due to size or timing limits of the actual passages.  Her old room had had a door leading to the vents above the dinning room one level down from that level.  This had been a major set back because at certain times of the year or the day the air blasted through them from the lower furnaces or ice rooms was too cold or hot to stand.  Also, the vents had excellent acoustics, the smallest squeak of a rat in that crawl space echoed through a whole hall of Shadan rooms above it.  Enira had put up with this uncomfortable exit to freedom, which exited in the laundry room right above the pile of clean towels- a plus, until she grew enough that the squeeze room was tight and she had an increasingly tricky time slinking, or rather scrambling, through the airway silently.  So on her seventh birthday she rummaged around in the library till she found a few of the many separate volumes in the private section of the library that held detailed versions of the Palace floor plans.  These tomes were considered too valuable to destroy and too secret to keep in a public place, so many different government officials had hidden the volumes they valued most in separate places.  Only problem was that Shadan like Enira, who were deeply fascinated with the many misplaced texts in and among the shelves, manage to dig up a copy every year or so and then promptly re-hide it in a new secret place where another inquisitive soul stumbles across it.  So Enira spent a month raiding all the nooks, crannies, hidey-holes, and just scanning shelves at random till she found a total of four.  There were supposedly at least a dozen and Enira thought so because the Palace houses all the Tiran, Shadan, fosterlings, Rel, and has a wing or two for exalted Liran, along with rooms for each of the above to work and play in.  It would take at least a dozen of these thick musty tomes, which only show about a wing each, to cover all the floor plans.  Two of the tomes were useless to her as they showed the inner workings of the underground Rels work place.  These opened her eyes as to how tricky and twisty the Palace was that even the workers and up keepers of it had short cuts that only they used.  She wanted to scan it further to see if any passages passed high enough up in the Palace to be of use to her but she had a strong reason to need an easily exit able room in the very near future.  Images of dark halls and schemes passed through her head but she shoved them down into her subconscious so that none of the highly telepathic librarians would pick up on them.  It was likely that many Shadan had snuck into the lower Belzak before they were of age before, but she would not risk being caught now.  So she paged through the other two of her temporary treasures and wished that private books were allowed out of the library, but these were not even supposed to exist so she would have a lot of trouble smuggling the hefty thing out of the library in her small back pack that could really only hold a lunch for a picnic.  Instead of further pondering impossible plots to steal these books she made quick use of them finding that one was a detailed description of the Rels quarters outside the Palace and some of the underground tunnels connecting the two, along with a chapter at the end going into depth about a few of the Palaces Rels tunnels.  Enira found these books at once frustrating and hilarious as who ever had written them had not only cared that such places exist but also how they had come into existence.  He or she had put a page or two with each sketch to explain who had made what for what reason and who currently used it and sometimes for what that occupant used it.  Some of these details were scandalous, others merely historical, but they made her mind fill with images of the lives of the Shadan of long ago millennia.  Just smelling the pages seemed to transport her back in time and she longed to make her own private library of all these books.  She wondered suddenly if one of these tomes held information about the library, perhaps a hidden passage or two out of this place that could be used to abduct certain classics and favorites, and all of this informative collection naturally.  Her eyes glowed greedily at the thought of owning such knowledge, trinkets and jewels had never caught her eye so much as this room of knowledge had sparked her hunger.  She wanted this library, all of it to be hers.  It made her stomach knot whenever she found one of her hiding spots raided and her stash of books emptied among the library shelves or stashed in other secret holes.

            The last tome was of immense use to her as it luckily held the plans for a whole floor, not just hall, of the Shadan wing.  She scanned through them flipping from page to page trying to connect where tunnels lead and figure out what room she wanted.  Eventually she found a nice middle room with an exit from the bathroom under the sink leading down a level of stairs first and then in between hollow walls to exit out of the fireplace of an abandoned Liran suite.  She had asked around for a bit to figure out who owned this perfect room and then to ask why the Lirans room was in disrepair.  She found out that her elder sister Serile was in possession of the room and that the Lirans room had some structural damages that had the Rel had only been able to repair with extensive use of boards and nails in the far corner of the ceiling.  So now the room was stable but not suitable for any but a Rel or a less picky Liran, and since the room was far out of the way for the Rel and there was no unpicky Liran stationed in the Palace. For Eniras needs it worked quite well, if she could get Serile to part with her wonderful room.  As it turned out Serile hated her room and seemed to have no idea that there was any sort of secret passage.  Enira did have to give Serile her own new stallion Stormsweep, a daring and fast paced horse to challenge even her own fine horsemanship.  He had been her birthday present and Serile was curious as to why her room meant so much to Enira, but Enira just shrugged it off.  Most Shadan would have refused simply because Nira would not elaborate on her mysterious and almost irrational actions but it seems Serile had other things on her mind because she didnt take up residence in Eniras old room and instead rode off on Stormsweep to Endaci where it is said she knocked on her distant lovers door and they ran off together somewhere with most of his inheritance and all of her spare spending money; enough to buy a sizable mansion and get rid of any questions about their past.  Enira was surprised but not shocked to hear this and she moved into her new room that same day before some older Shadan could challenge her claim to it or just up and steal it.  So now she had a safe secure room that was hers and no horse or bribe or sweet Lir or Shads face could steal her from it.  This was her firm yet vague thought as she stared at her finely engraved wooden door and ran her hand over the curving metal door knob; hers.  All that she had to be proud of or possessive of resided in that room and she knew she would crumble and die if it was burned or ransacked.  With these pessimistic thoughts spinning in the back of her head she hesitated to leave her doorway.  Right now on the edge of sleep and wakefulness was a time when random impulses ruled and irrational thoughts wound around the facts; one in the same.  So with a wrench of her will she slid her feet down the hallway to where a pair of doors lead to another Shadan hallway and that one in turn to led to another.  It was a literal maze of curving or straight, twisting or bending halls.  All flowing nicely from one place to another, all built at the same time with enough room in the Shadan wing for up to 400 Shadan, which was possible with two veryenergeticTiran.  So Enira wandered and wandered until she rounded a corner and found her favorite stone bench; in the corner of two walls with a window behind it and drapes you can pull in front of it.  It was a popular spot to sit but it was 7d for goodness sake!  How many people could you expect to be wandering the Palace at such an early hour?  She stared blankly and somewhat confused at the two girls lost in a discussion, she half thought she was imagining them.  She wasnt though, and it wasnt a dream because her dreams were all filled with people smiling at her and this couple noticed her after a moment and looked at her warily and with slightly disguised hostility.  The blonde with lazily sweeping wings looked at her somewhat eagerly while the wingless brunette glanced between the blond and Nira cautiously.

            Wings? Enira though very slowlythat means Perna?  Air Realm?  Ah yes they have good reason to be wary of any random native Shadan wandering the halls.  Many of the Shadan consider Other Bloods tainted or inferior and avoid them like the plague, some just ignore them or are polite at best, and Enira was none of these.  She had read many books and legends in the library dealing with the other Realms and she found them fascinating along with any visitors from those places.  This is why her good friends consisted of people like Ralun and Sora, or Aesha; the first two were from Sperin and the third from Caharn.  But Other Realm visitors from the Lezaran Realms, Natural Realms, were more tolerated than the alien like guests from the Nimaren Realms, Elemental Realms.  For example the blonde with waves of golden blonde hair and striking coal and sapphire butterfly wings was considered a freak in Rillain but her status as Shada kept the commoners and Liran polite and kind, Enira recognized her as one of the 25 or so Shadan from Perna that had stayed behind.  Enira just looked longingly at her favorite bench, smiled at the sleepy pair and turned around to go, she wasnt in dire need of that particular spot and she could wander on to another.  She looked back once before turning around the corner shed come around and found the blonde looking at her measuringly and the brunette somewhat thoughtful and surprised.  No doubt they were surprised she had not turned up her nose at them and marched on by arrogantly instead of throwing them a neutral smile and retreating back the way she came.  Nira eventually found herself on the library level in front of a side pair of doors and wandered inside.  The library was never locked, as there were some very hard working Rel that poured over books copying and restoring old works by hand all hours of the day or night.  It was an all hours place in the Palace and Nira had spent many wakeful nights reading by the light of the hour candles.  So she found her favorite velvet chair in a very non-traditional color; burgundy.  It was understood that the majority of furniture, clothing, buildings, and anything else the decorators and Rel could remember would be fashioned in colors of green, preferably dark green so as not to match Sperin.  Enira had found this chair shoved back in a back room and dragged it out into the corner of one of the common rooms near by, often it got moved back out of the public space but she had moved it back here dozens of times and all the librarians had seen her cozily curled up in it just as many times, so now it was here for good.  Because it was such an out of the ordinary color it was very unattractive to the same Shadan that discriminated against the Other Bloods and was always open for her to use.  So she curled up in the chair and pulled her latest book out from under its edge.  She sat for a good half hour, getting close to 8d the candles near by read, before she heard footsteps and a not so distant conversation.

            Was the whole castle awake tonight or something?  She thought, because it was rare to meet anyone besides the night guard, all of whom she didnt even notice any more, when wandering the halls.  She listened to the voices come nearer and frowned grumpily, this was her spot, her other had been stolen.  The quiet talking rounded the nearest bookshelf and both Nira and the blonde and brunette from before blinked in surprise to meet once again.  This time the brunette Shada turned to go but the blonde tugged on her sleeve and plopped down confidently on the couch across the narrow table from Enira.  Nira looked at her warily, this Shada was not one to fear others scorn or opinions.  The brunette didnt seem to want to stay or to leave the skinny blonde alone with a dangerous native Shada and she hesitantly sat down next to the blonde, who promptly resumed their previous conversation totally oblivious to Enira except when she shot her challenging glances every so often.

            "So Auri you gonna foster here?"  The blonde asked the brunette whose name, Enira remembered suddenly, was Auril.  Auril looked at Enira frowning, this was a conversation best discussed alone, and certainly not in front of an eccentrically kind Shada. "Well?" the blonde asked, pulling Aurils eyes back to her.

cutting into her.  Oddly she also felt sorta comfortable with them there talking and somehow didnt want them to go.  Her mind snagged this as an instinct and her confidence boosted, there was something about this pair worth finding out, something worth her time to get to know them.

            "All Shadan and fosterlings get horses and suites." Enira piped in.  She herself had gotten a mare on her eight birthday, to replace StormSweep, another feisty character named WillowSpice.  She met the blondes sharp stare with her own stormy grey eyes and didnt flinch.

            "A horse eh? The blonde asked thoughtfully, What use is a horse in the Realm of Air, what use is a horse that cannot rise to the clouds with her owner?" She put in and smiled at Auril who was thinking about the blondes question.

            "There are horses for all Realms, even horses fit for Perna, Realm of Air," Enira used the long formal name just as the blonde had, "It is true such horses are difficult to birth and to train but such a horse would be presented to you as you are a Shada of Perna."

            "Flying horses?  I have seen some around in my home Realm but there are few live births in our capitals stables and I did not know where a Shada would go about getting such a creature." The blonde said impressed.

            "Oh yes Rillains stables are the best in Merendi!" Enira winced immediately, this was the wrong tone to take with outsiders and the blondes eyes went from intrigued back to cold and distant.

            "How could Out-Realm horses possibly be better for Perna than our own locally bred stock?" She asked slowly.  The strong loyalty to ones own Realm was a bond not easily broken and very quick to surface.

            "If you do not want a horse and do not like my Realm then go home Perna Shada." Enira said and pulled her book back up in front of her eyes.

            "Maybe I will Rillain Lira." The blonde had no hint as to Eniras status but Enira had been wandering the upper halls and it was good manners to assume a higher status and an insult to assume lower.  Enira straightened in her seat and calmly looked at the blonde.  Auril the brunette was grimacing and shaking her head at the two of them facing off, this was not a good start to the morning.

            "I am Shada Enira Leoren for your information Shada, and I will watch you leave through the tele-station with as much happiness as I watched you arrive."

            "The trace of Empathy was you?" Auril asked surprised.

            "Uh...actually yes." Enira admitted and looked ashamed for a second before bringing back her calm composed Shadan gaze.

            "Impressive...my economics tutor and one of the ambassadors on this visit thought you a spy Shada Enira."  The blonde put in, unexpectedly complimenting Enira with the comment and the use of her name as well as correct title, a sort of apology Enira realized.  Looking into the blondes eyes she knew it would never be admitted as such though.  Enira smiled.

            "No, it was quite rude of me but I saw crowd of exotic visitors with an unknown intent and was curious as to what the over all...Really I was very rude. Enira stayed looking embarrassed this time.

            "Exotic visitors...that is the most...diplomatic...way we have been described all week.  You are not disgusted by us Other Bloods?"  The blonde asked, Enira was getting very curious as to what her name was.

            "That's foolish, if you do not mind me then why should I mind you?  I am an Other Blood compared to you.  My siblings are foolish, I find the Other Realm fosterlings much more interesting than my own biased siblings, the fosterlings are more accepting of other Realms because they are living in another one.  I prefer more intelligent company than those who stick up their noses at anything that is odd." Enira ended in a determined note and was surprised to find herself talking so much to almost complete strangers.  The brunette, Auril, was smiling at her approvingly and the blonde was at worst neutral. "So um...who are you two?  If you are really considering sticking around I'm gonna see you around, even in a huge Palace like this."

            "I'm Shada Auril Saspen and this is my sister Shada Ruora" Auril said for them both and Ruora looked at Auril coolly, she obviously didnt like being spoken for. "Oh come off it RuRu this is a nice Shada and she isnt going to be afraid of you." Ruora gasped and stood up swiftly.

            "Thanks to you of course not!  How can a girl keep any dignity with her siblings around her?" The blonde Ruora spat, but without much malice, at her sister.

            "Too true." Enira grinned and stretched, some how the tenseness in the room was broken and even the ferocious blonde seemed to be loosing her grasp on either arrogance or anger, and the last dissipated with Enira's quiet comment.  Ruora glanced at her and realized here was a kindred Shada with similar sibling problems and parental neglect and her eyes became somewhat confused as her view of the sprawled red head Shada shifted.  Then she motioned her head at Auril and rolled her eyes sarcastically, conveying infinite frustration and at the same time caring.  Enira winked at her and Ruora was pleased at this sudden parallel of minds.  The odd communication was broken when Aurils stomach growled loudly and everyone laughed, and then stopped surprised by their ease around each other.  There was a long uncomfortable silence filled with three sets of thoughtful eyes and that was broken when Eniras stomach twisted and grumbled too.

            "Well then I guess its settled Ruora said arching a blonde eyebrow, To the kitchens!" And she stood up and dashed off leaving Auril sighing exasperated, and Enira blinking surprised, in her wake.

            When they caught up to her waiting in the exit to the library closest to the kitchens they all strolled down the corridors of the public regions of the Palace at a loss of what to say.  Every so often one of their stomachs would protest as all of them realized a gnawing hunger and sped up to the kitchen.  The odd silence was broken when they came across a newly shined patch of marble inlaid with wood near the main entrance.  As they were all dressed in pjs, a robe, and slippers for their early morning walk they all slid a few feet and sprawled in a many-limbed pile as they grabbed for a steadying hand from one another.  This of course ended all claim to dignity and they detangled themselves and crawled on hands and knees over the treacherous patch of floor.  When they were able to stand up once more they looked back on the shiny patch of floor, which was starting to shine with the light of the sunrise, and doubled over laughing remembering the simultaneous collapse.  Enira winced as she stood up because her stomach ached from laughing, and from not enough food.

            "Food" Auril said tentatively and received emphatic nods all around and they set off once more and found no more traps in their path.

            Upon reaching the huge kitchen double doors they were met by the scent of baking bread, cooking bacon, and something sweet in the back ground, a dessert for tonight perhaps.  They girls pushed through one door and into the small swarm of Rel making breakfast.  The Rel had probably been up since Enira had and the piles of already cooling food suggested perhaps longer.  All three of them snagged plates and wandered through the counters and islands of tables.  It was quite impressive but when they went to the back they found an even more gorgeous site, chocolate.  Not only was there enough for tonights dessert there was enough for a party!  It must be some Shadans birthday and Enira hadnt heard, she had a good many siblings.  There were chocolate cakes on green glass platters, and chocolate cookies, brownies, and pudding in bowls and plates of similar green glass material.  There were a few of the Rel, those not working on breakfast, fixing some of the treats and there were bowls of batter and casks of chocolate chips on the rare empty portions of tabletop.  Enira and Ruora just stared but Auril glanced over it and remembered something.

            "I havent had my morning tea" And she wandered back into the small crush of Rel, it would grow in numbers during the day, and started opening random drawers and cabinets and rummaging inside spilling out what she didnt need.  The Rel stared at her wide-eyed and a few tried to help her by asking what she wanted.

            "Tea...my Tea...its a special kind, your kitchen is weird but you must have it, we always do in Perna, and this IS a Palace right?" Enira was astonished at this recently calm Shada's suddenly spontaneous behavior.  The Rel saw the mess she was making of their neat and orderly kitchen and made efforts to remove her from their place.  They might have been successful except for Ruoras interception.  Ruora pulled a short sword and a sharp dagger from her robe somewhere and advanced on those Rel that were harassing her sister.

            "Leave! Now!" Was all she said while placing herself protectively at her sisters side.  The Rel hesitated and looked at Enira pleadingly, the Other Bloods were ruining their kitchen!  Enira grinned and shrugged.

            "Hey I'm just one unarmed Shada, what am I supposed to do?  Besides tea sounds kinda good right now" She said casually leaning on a counter top and earning a smile from Ruora, a bright thing it was too.

            The Rel fled, even their own Shada was not on their side, their job did not entitle fighting off 3 Shadan to be able to make breakfast.  So Enira, Ruora, and Auril were left alone in the massive Rillain royal kitchen and while Auril continued to ransack the cupboards Ruora and Nira made a B-line to the chocolate horde.

            Enira stared at the rivers and hills of chocolate for a minute or two letting her eyes savor the perfection of desserts.  The perfection was somewhat ruined when Ruora went around sticking a small finger delicately into each and every bowl, plate, and container of chocolate.  Soon every dessert, finished or not, had a small hole in it and Ruora was looking thoughtfully at them all.  She eventually wandered back to a plate of brownies and a bowl of pudding.  Taking a bite of one brownie and a fingerful of pudding she compared them both.  With a quick smile she got an idea and took an unbitten or tasted brownie and dipped it in the warm pudding.  She fully submerged the treat and her fingers came up painted brown, but from the look on her face everything tasted good.  Enira decided shed had enough fun watching and bit her lip trying to figure out what to pick first.  Then her eyes gazed something hidden beneath a stack of green dishware.  Round bits of chocolatechocolate covered...something.  If luck was on her side it was coffee beans, if not it was raisins or ants.  She waited till Ruora had finished her trial of a few brownies and was moving on to a new dessert to demolish but not devour totally, till Ruora was looking and away, and then she snagged the small bowl filled with small chocolate spheres and sank down behind the counter with her horde.  Plucking one out of the many she stared at it for a few seconds hoping, practically praying that her wishes were true.  Then she popped it into her mouth and tasted chocolate on her tongue while she moved it back between her teeth and bit in.  It crunched softly and then harder between her teeth, and while the sweet warm taste of chocolate grew on her tongue another sweetly bitter and intoxicating taste that she knew well seeped beneath the comparatively ordinary taste of chocolate.  They were chocolate covered espresso beans, the most jolting and tasty she had ever had.  The rest of the chocolate delights faded from her memory and she slowly ate the treats one by one.  She had only gone through five before a golden framed face popped over the edge of the counter and looked at her questioningly till the grey eyes spied the bowl of chocolate and darkened hungrily.

            "What are those Enira?" Ruora asked quietly as she slid halfway gracefully over the counter and down beside Enira behind the counter.  Enira narrowed her eyes and moved the bowl to her side away from the foreign Shada.

            "They are mine, you can have whatever you want from behind me but these are mine." Enira said firmly and with a steel glint in her similarly grey eyes, Enira was not as unarmed as she had claimed before to  the Rel, and such a rare treat as these might just be worth blood shed.

            "Oh just tell me what they are at least!  Then I wont be curious anymore." Ruora said lightly, but Enira could tell she had her mind set on the horde even if it was just because they were being refused from her.  Enira could see no easy way to keep them all to herself and handed one over to Ruora.

            "They're chocolate covered coffee beans Ruora, not poison." Enira said gruffly when Ruora merely examined the sphere suspiciously.  Ruora arched an eyebrow, it was clear she had never tasted nor heard of these before.  But Auril, appearing behind Ruora, had.

            "You do not need any caffeine Ru, you are bouncy enough!" Auril stated and grabbed the chocolate ball herself and popped it into her mouth. "Now has either of you seen my tea?"

            "Since when do you drink tea so religiously Auri?" Ruora said laughing but still there was a hard glint in her eyes from the denied treat.

            "Since Rel Asrei showed me her new mix of herbs!  She got most of them from the southern Rillain forests and claimed that she sent out samples to all the Realms because there have been people in Perna flocking to the Kitchens for it.  It has to be here somewhere, here of all places." Auril said scanning the open shelves with a suspicious glance.  Then she speared the two seated Shadan with that glance.

            "Neither of you have seen it have you?"

            "I...uh...no I just have these" Enira said motioning to the bowl of chocolate spheres.  Enira had the habit of looking guilty and even feeling guilty when she hadnt done anything wrong.  It seemed this guilty feeling had expressed its self to Auril and the other Shada looked at Enira suspiciously.

            "I have nothing either." Ruora said in a sweetly innocent voice that was mildly spiced with guilt.  Enira was half convinced Ruora had seen and hidden the tea but somehow she doubted it.  Either way Aurils demanding look now looked at Ruora.

            "Give it back!  It's mine!" Auril said hauling Ruora up by a wrist.

            "It's not yours I found it!"  Ruora spat back but there was a glint in her eyes of humor and Enira realized with a small jolt of instinct, Path, and Lepa that Ruora had found nothing but chocolate in the kitchen so far.  Enira grinned and realizing this opportunity of distraction in the Perna Shadan she tossed the bowl and her treasured horde of coffee beans in a random cloth bag she had been sitting next to.  She slipped it into a cupboard and under a pot while Ruora and Auril faced off.  Then, standing up smoothly she watched Aurils face change expressions from suspicious to hassled.

            "You dont have it Ru do you...witch" and Auril spun on her heel and went back to ransacking the cabinets more thoroughly.

            "You are evil you know that Ruora?"  Enira said quietly but laughingly.

Scrambling to flee she was not fast enough and Ruora smeared her sugary handful deep into Eniras long curly copper hair.  Enira whimpered at the thought of washing it all out and she grabbed Ruoras foot pulling her off balance.  Now both Shadan were slightly coated in chocolate and sprawled on the floor and in the background was the sound of opening and closing cupboards and quiet mutterings of tea and where.  Now that both girls were still they could hear Auril ransacking the kitchen for tea again and the humor washed out all lingering dissention.  Both girls grinned and eventually giggled at Aurils increasingly frantic rampage around the huge Rillain kitchen.  Enira felt a small pang of sympathy for the Rel who would return later to find the kitchen turned inside out and all of the chocolate desserts partly but not totally eaten.  But the small guilt was not enough to keep her from laughing on the floor with Ruora at her sisters crazed search for, of all things, tea.

            "Auri!  Come on theres enough chocolate for the whole Palace!  Chocolate is infinitely better than any old tea." Ruora sang out still smiling and her eyes dancing with humor.

            "Chocolate?  I can well see what chocolate does to a fine respectful Shada." She said once more rounding the corner and widening her eyes at the wreckage.

            "Auri I have never been fine nor respectful, have you Enira?" Ruora said rolling her eyes and glancing at Enira.  Enira thought for a second.

            "Uh does naïve or innocent count?' She said slowly.

            "Nah neither will get you respect." Ruora answered.  Enira nodded thoughtfully to that and Ruora wondered for a moment what odd thoughts swept through this rather odd Rillain Shadas mind.  Enira, though, was not about to give away such information and instead took a brownie and handed it to Auril to try.  Ruora smeared some frosting on it before it was out of reach and Enira just shrugged.  Auril looked at it doubtfully but bit in and was pleasantly surprised.  She did go back to ransacking the kitchen but now she took a few handfuls of chocolate sweets with her to tide her over till she found it.  By now Ruora and Enira were certain it was not here to be found and returned to the mountains of delectable sweets.  When both girls were almost painfully stuffed but smiling sugary sweet smiles Auril was still on her quest for satisfaction, her quest for the now infamous tea.  Enira sprawled length wise along one of the tables she had accidentally cleared with Nesis and watched Auril hunt.  Her head kept offering dramatic narratives for what was happening and she let her mind have fun with it. Soon Ruora spied Enira lounging and took up residence on the parallel table that Enira had also cleared with Nesis and watched Auril too.  They exchanged quite a few amused glances especially when Auril seemed near to tears.  A few of Ruoras glances seemed triumphant and Enira once more entertained the thought that Ruora had done something with the missing tea.  Though Enira didnt know Ruora well she could very easily picture her doing just that.  She sent out a low key Lepa tendril to Ruora and wondered if the Shada had the gift at all.  Ruora grasped her thought link lightly and weakly, but the Shada did have Lepa if only at Regular.  Enira caught Ruoras gaze as it flicked between Auril and Enira, obviously the Perna Shada was not used to Lepa and could not feel the Flavor of the thoughts.  Enira decided to give Ruora some practice, especially if the girl stayed to foster here.

            You causing? Enira thought at Ruora slowly and firmly.  Thinking in such a way was thinking loudly in thought speech and could be picked up easier, but then Ruora could also pick it up easier too.

            She thinks yes, but not me. Came the light response, grammar sent in images and thoughts was tricky and Ruora had a good grasp of it.  So perhaps Ruora was practiced, but with another Regular telepathic, not a Maxed telepathic like Enira, Auril maybe?  It seemed likely that that was the case.  A person usually does not have any indication of anothers Talents until they are friends, and Eniras outreaching with one of her talents was a proposition to friendship, and well taken it seemed.  If Ruora hadnt been welcoming she would have mentally slammed the door on the link.  Since Enira was so practiced and gifted with Lepa she would have not felt the discomfort that most rejections cause in the receiver, and she could have reopened the link by force.  But that would have been a proposition to war between the girls, to be so rude with anothers mind.  So Ruora had said that Auril thinks she has the tea but truly she doesnt.

            You like that she thinks yes? Enira asked curious.

            Oh yes, much fun! Ruora grinned at Enira across the chocolate strewn path between their respective tables, she was having fun with this.

            "Yes!" Auril crowed and brandished a small jar of tea leaves.  Enira and Ruora slipped of their tables and rushed over to stare at the jar shocked, it was here!  Ruora grabbed it and plucked out the cork plug.  She sniffed it and nodded with a satisfied smile, it seemed there was more than one Shada in the room who liked tea.  Enira pulled it close but not out of Ruoras grasp to smell it too.  It was spicy and fragrant with a hidden bit of something that Enira could not only smell but also Sense.  There was something strange about the tea.  She stuck her finger into it and Ruora dragged her and the jar back to the cleared tables.  Enira stuck a tiny taste of it onto her tongue and tried to Identify what mystical ingredient this Asrei Rel had added.  Ruora plucked the jar from her hands as she tasted and plugged the jar with the cork again.  She then stowed it inside her billowy white robe that was half brown now too.  Enira concentrated on the taste on her tongue and finally identified the Feel of Korani brew.  The seldom found drink of Belzak, commonly served at the Kingdoms Royal conventions there but it was supplied by the live in God, NovyDeri, and that was all.  That Rel had more knowledge and spare time than most to mix up this tea and no wonder Auril loved it so; Korani brew temporarily boosted spirits and Talents and had a nice relaxing influence.  It was a nice attitude to have at a political meeting but perhaps not to be distributed to the populous.  Either way it was out of her hands and out of her Realm so she had no say any ways.  Auril walked over and Ruora cleared the table on the other side of her for her sister to relax on.  The door to the kitchen creaked open and a wide green eyed youth, that Enira recognized as the Rel Ruora had stabbed on her first night here, poked his head in to scout out the kitchen.  Upon seeing the wreckage he gasped in dismay and then seeing the three girls with eyes fixed on him he turned white as a sheet and dashed off with out shutting the door behind him.

            "What rude manners that Rel has. Ruora said offhandedly. Stealing dishes while they are being used, not shutting doors when he leaves, and not addressing a set of Shada with mlady when he meets them." She said shaking her head in dismay while her eyes glinted malevolently.

            "Hey!  That poor Rel boy is my cousin Nelun and hes just scared of you thats all." Enira said defensively.  Auril stretched groaning.

            "I think I ate too much chocolate." She complained to Ruora.  Ruora and Enira looked at the chocolate and found more gone than they could themselves account for.

            "See Auri? Wasnt that good?" Ruora said confidently.

            "Mmmm yeah, nice Rel you have here Enira." Auril said satisfied.

            "Cept for that one Rel boy Nalin or whatever." Ruora added.

            "Nelun." Enira corrected. "And I told you you have yourself to blame for his manners."

            "Hmph whatever. Ruora stated unconcernedly. You know what sounds good right now Nira?" She asked.  Enira stared at Ruora who had just causally used her shortened name, as if on accident.

            "Uh, a shower?" Enira said dumbly while peeling chocolate out of her hair.

            "Nah before that, before we leave the kitchen." Ruora said.

            "More chocolate?" Enira guessed grimacing, and Auril grimaced too.  Ruora just sighed and shook her head.