"Mistress, slow down," Allia said, grabbing her by the arms. "What is going on?"
"Jesmind came to me before she left, and asked me to find out what was going on," she said. "I have been looking into things. Last night, I came across a horrifying discovery, something that has made me doubt the integrity of my own order. It is awful, young one. The Council has become monsters!"
"Dolanna!" Allia said, shaking her. "Tell me what is going on!"
She put her hands on Allia's shoulders. "Allia, Tarrin was not attacked by Jesmind on accident," she said with haunted eyes. "The Council had Jesmind captured, and they set her loose on him on purpose!"
Allia stared at her in shock.
"The Council wanted him to be non-human, so they captured a lycanthrope, the first one they could find, which was Jesmind. They had her infect him with her condition. They had a device left over from the time of the Ancients, a collar that controlled Were-kin. They used it on Jesmind, and made her attack Tarrin."
"You mean the katzh-dashi did that to him deliberately?" Allia said breathlessly.
Dolanna nodded. "Two days ago, that collar was stolen from the vaults," she said. "The Council kept it quiet, but they've been trying to find out who did it. This activity is what allowed me to find out the truth." She stared directly into Allia's eyes. "If Tarrin is missing, then whoever stole that collar has used it on him, and he has no defense against it. It enslaves a Were-kin's will." She pushed the Selani away, for her grip was starting to draw blood on Dolanna's arms. "Last night, there was some kind of war between two shadow groups in the hallways. The thief probably used that to cover Tarrin's capture."
"Holy Mother!" Allia gasped. "Miranda's plan backfired on us!" She grabbed Dolanna by the arm. "We must go see the Council!" she said hysterically. "Keritanima is finding Tarrin now, and we must be ready to take him back! By combat if necesary!"
"I will not go to the Council!" Dolanna said adamantly. "They did this to him, Allia! I will not face them! If I were to come face to face with them right now, I would try to kill them! All of Tarrin's pain, all of his suffering, they caused all of it! You did not see the worst of it, Allia, when he first changed-" she stoppped, her voice breaking. "He has come very far, but even now he feels the pain, and lives in fear of what he has become. And they sit there and watch him suffer day after day as the study him, knowing what they have done to him!"
The impact, the horrible truth of those words, they crashed on Allia like the most powerful sandstorm, and she reeled back from it. They destroyed her brother's life, and they sat there and studied him day after day, saying nothing, yet seeing their handiwork every time his tail moved. That they did it willingly, actively capturing Jesmind to infect him, it declared their evil and dishonor plainly. Dolanna was right. Allia would not be able to face the Council, else she would try to tear their faces from their heads.
"But we must have help!" Allia said helplessly. "If Tarrin is being held against his will, we may have to fight, and we may need the Sorcerers' magic! Where do we go?"
"Tarrin has friends among the katzh-dashi, Allia, more than he knows," Dolanna told her. "They will come to his aid. But right now, your best help stands with the Knights. He is one of them, as are you. Go to Darvon, go to him and tell him what happened. The entire order of the Knights will rise up behind you, and that is a force that no one in all of the West would want to face. If Keritanima can find him, the Knights will be the ones to get him back. I will go and speak to those who support Tarrin, and convince them to come and help."
"Yes, but are you safe walking the halls, Dolanna? If you know this horrible secret-"
"They do not know that I know, young one, not yet," she assured her. "The one who told me was killed during the night in the fighting. I will be very safe."
"I will send Faalken to you, Dolanna," Allia said decisively. "Do not leave until he gets here."
"I, I thank you," she smiled. "I would feel much better with my old friend standing vigil for me. I no longer feel safe walking the halls of the Tower."
"You are my brother's friend, and that makes you mine as well," Allia told her with a gentle pat on the arm. "You stay here, and Faalken will come to you. You do not have to face such a burden alone."
The relief in her smile, in her eyes, spoke volumes. "Go now, Allia," she said. "It will take the Knights time to mobilize. If Tarrin is still in the city, or even if he is not, then they will find him."
The sudden arrival of two hundred fully armed, highly disciplined Wikuni Marines at the fringes of the Knights' training field at first caused a bit of a panic among the Knights supervising the cadets. They had no idea why they were there, for the Marines had direct orders to stay away from the Knights. But on the other hand, the famous discipline of their military organization also told the supervising Knights that if all of them showed up like that, then they were ordered to do it.
But before Darvon arrived on the field and a Knight could go over to the Marine Colonel in charge of the detachment and find out what was going on, Allia was seen running at full speed towards the field. Allia was Selani, and few alive could rival her foot speed. Her silver hair flying out behind her, she skidded onto the field and almost bowled over Ulger, who stood fast and helped catch her from her wild sprint. "Allia, what is the blazes is-"
"Not now!" she said in a strangled tone. "Faalken, go to Dolanna, right now!" she barked in a hysterical tone. "She needs you!"
"Allia, what-"
"Right now!" she screamed. "Ulger, I must see Darvon! Tarrin's life depends on it!"
"Tarrin? Allia, slow down," he said in a reasonable tone. "What's going on?"
"Tarrin has been kidnapped!" she said in a strangled tone. "Keritanima is out trying to find him now, and she wants us to be ready in force in case we have to fight to reclaim him!" She motioned at the Wikuni quickly assembling at the edges of the field. "She's called out her Marines, and she wants the Knights to stand ready as well!"
"So that's why they're here," he said. "Runner, summon Darvon!" Ulger barked harshly to a cadet standing at the edge of the field. "I don't care if you have to drag him out of the privy, but get him here now!"
"Yes, sir!" the cadet said with a salute, then turned and ran back towards the barracks.
"Could the commander of the Royal Marines come forward?" Ulger called to the assembling Marines, as Faalken rushed off towards the main Tower.
The Wikuni that approached was an eight span tall monster of a leopard Wikuni wearing a gold braided rope that attached to the epaulet of his right shoulder and looped under his arm. He was huge, with a large chunk of his right ear missing and a wicked scar puckering the right side of his muzzle. Large amber eyes blazed down at Ulger as he approached, but the man's high discipline caused him to salute Ulger sharply. "Colonel Manx, commander of the third Special Division of the Royal Marines," he greeted.
Ulger saluted as well. "I'm Ulger," he said. "Your Princess ordered you out here?"
He nodded. "The command was conveyed by her maid, but we know it to be a lawful command. She gave us the password."
"Where is she now, Allia?"
"She's in the city, tracking Tarrin with her magic," she replied. "She said she would come back here when she found him."