They all agreed and headed up. There, they found Kar and Tor discussing the logistics of starting a new dragon clan with Nim, Jo, Remtani, Jaidu, and Andy. Dae and Ti were talking with Shunati who’d left the party early because of the crowd. “Time to go?” Dae asked Pt’this when she saw them. “Nah, Pisha said she’d check on the kids when she took Ruzi home.” “We were giving the servants a chance to clean. Morina was going to explain why she hid that she was the queen to the point of even changing records,” Emeton said as he pulled up a chair. “I was?” Morina asked. “Yes, you were,” Emeton insisted “I’ll tell them if you don’t,” Kritalla threatened. “Don’t you dare.” “I will,” Chapado offered. “I’m not afraid of you. I’m stronger in magic and I can beat you in a fight. It’s not like it’s anything major.” Crito scowled at her, but held his tongue. Morina sighed. “No, it’s not. When the king died, the heir couldn’t take the throne. We thought she had tricorcelbra. She was having seizures daily. The potions weren’t helping. It turned out she had a different problem, but we didn’t find that out for many years. Our son was underage. So I acted as regent until he was old enough. When he came of age, some didn’t want me to step down and let him be crowned. Others were strongly against me ruling. There was almost a war over it. I stepped down. I wasn’t part of the royal line. “I stayed in the area because I was still stationed here. Twice I was asked to act as regent and both times, there were problems because I was immortal. So I removed my name from the records and asked for a transfer. It wasn’t long before the humans forgot who I was. Some of the older dragons might remember me, but so far John’s the only one who has shown any recognition.” “Is that why you did it?” Janta asked. “I thought it had something to do with keeping the Tamerians from finding you, or at least your family line here.” “Why would they care about that? Dae asked. “They live on the other side of the desert.” “What?” Morina asked. “Tameria is near where Kar’s clan settled. Kith mentioned it.” “He never said that to us.” Pt’this protested. He turned to the other group. “Kar, did you settle near a place called Tameria?” He called. Kar and Tor glanced at each other. “No.” Kar moved to join them and Tor followed. Emeton motioned for his son to come. The others did too. “When the clan had firedeath, a man came and did something to Kith that made Kith spike a fever. Within a few days he started improving and woke. The man said that was proof he could cure us all. He said he would, if we let him take Kith with him back to Tameria,” Tor explained. “It’s part of why we brought Kith back here. We worried that he’d try to take him while the rest of us were still weak. And we weren’t sure if we’d make it. Carrying Kith across the desert allowed me to study what the man had done to heal him. It helped me heal the others. “The man did come back looking for Kith. We claimed he’d died. It’s why we waited so long to return for him,” Kar added. “We assumed he’d have died off. But I think that man at the school was him. After two hundred years, it’s hard to tell.” “How could he still be alive? He was human.” Lillan protested. “There are anti-aging spells. Humans live about five hundred years,” Chapado said. “There were no spells on him,” Andy said. “I would have seen it.” “Tamerians easily live that long,” Kritalla said. “Enough” Morina snapped. Kritalla flinched at her tone, but held his ground. “No. They aren’t stupid. They’re going to figure it out. You had me tell them Tamerians are immortals. But this Tamerian doesn’t have magic. There’s no such thing as an immortal without magic. It’s how you fullbloods live so long.” “They can’t know.” “We already do,” Janta pointed out. “They’re the ones who attacked Trito when the castle had to be moved.” Lillan frowned. “I thought that was immortals. That’s what we learned in school.” “No. Someone wants us to think that. Most of the books have been altered to say that. But if you look close, you can see something was changed, just like when Morina removed her name from the records. But I found one that called them Tamerian,” Janta insisted. “And while some claim it’s just another name for immortals, when have the Ertonians had to destroy an entire city just to stop a few of their own?” “Where did you read that?” Morina asked. “I wiped out every reference.” “It was in a book Ann had.” Janta gestured to his sister. Ann nodded. “Kith gave it to me. Sri had brought it when she returned from the western clan. It was in his grandfather’s handwriting.” “So that’s where that book got off to,” Kar said. “I knew she had taken some with her. That was a copy of one written by her mate’s mother. Dad made a copy and hid it. He told me about it before he died. I’d tried to give it to Pt’this, but he wasn’t speaking to me at that time.” Morina looked at Chapado. Chapado shrugged. “I always thought it was a bad idea to keep it from them. And if they’re a threat again, they need to know.” “One man isn’t exactly a threat.” “It’s not one man,” Yilina said. “When I was a child, five came to Ventara to steal our horns. A few years ago, seven others came.” “And they’ve been coming to Noria and taking children,” Thailyn added. “To where?” Andy asked. “It’s another kingdom of elves. I had a partner who’s mom was from there,” Thailyn explained. “When we visited him the other day, there was a Norian woman there hiding from the Tamerians. She didn’t want us to say anything. Had I understood the threat, I would have said something sooner.” “How can they be coming?” Morina asked. “The hidden lands are protected.” “Maybe the wards aren’t as strong as they once were,” Raylee suggested. “I agree they need to be told.” “We’ve already figured out that they aren’t from Torthoc,” Tylan said. “The question is how they’re getting here if they have no magic.” “How do you know they aren’t from here?” Morina challenged. Tylan waved it off with a shrug. “Several centuries ago, the king sent out an expedition to find the Tamerians. Nim helped fund it so I was curious about it and read up on it. They were gone much longer than expected because they checked much further than they originally planned. They found people from all over had contact with the Tamerians, but no one knew where they came from. “And all the stories confirmed none of the Tamerians had magic. There is no other race that didn’t have magic. There are other worlds out there, each one different. There must be some without magic.” Morina sighed. “We might as well tell them everything.” “And hope the senate doesn’t decide to kill them off,” Chapado added. “Kill off my family? Never. They know better,” Morina insisted. “They’re also mine,” Raylee added. “The senate thinks I’m a myth. If they hurt any of these, including Yilina, they’ll wish for a hundred insane crossbreeds.” “As Tylan guessed, Tameria is a different world. And it’s where I was born. They held me prisoner for longer than I know. I finally escaped to a different world. There are a few dozen that can be reached through magic and not all of those have their own magic. Tameria and Earth for instance, don’t. I’m assuming Andy and Jo are from Earth. It feels like it. “It’s easy to get stuck on one of those worlds. Of all the worlds that I’ve been to, Torthoc has the strongest magic. Most times when I come, I stay as long as I dare. I enjoy the feel of the magic. Usually, I stay alone. I’ve spent most of my life in solitude in fear of the Tamerians finding me. One of the few exceptions was when I went to Tricon.” “Is that why you left your family behind?” Mishtali guessed. Raylee nodded. “I feared what the Tamerians would do to them and the whole clan.” “The Ertonians and Tamerians once lived on the same world. The Ertonians had magic. The Tamerians developed technology to compensate for the lack of it,” Morina told them. “Our history claims the Tamerians were jealous of our magic, but given how oppressive we can be of mortals, it wouldn’t surprise me if they were trying to prevent that. But it doesn’t matter what started it. There was a great rift between the two peoples and war broke out. The whole world was destroyed. It’s completely gone. The mages came here. The scientists went to Tameria, a world completely without magic. They still tried to fight with us. They pushed the development of the technology and imported magic to help in the fight, charms and things they could steal.” “Like our horns?” Yilina asked. “Exactly,” Raylee agreed. “Because unicorn magic is based in their horns the Tamerians thought they could gain their own magic. “They captured some unicorns to use for experiments, but it was too difficult to keep the unicorns in captivity. So they started stealing the horns. None of it worked but they discovered they could use them to nullify magic. They gave up and made me instead.” “What about this guy that hurt these women?” Remtani asked. “They did look into using the horns as a weapon, but most agreed it did too much damage. Though some were kept in case of a war against the Ertonians.” “Have you considered peace talks?” Ann asked. “Mages stay here. They stay there.” “We’d like that. But they don’t trust us,” Chapado explained. “We invited a group here as a show of faith. It ended with the battle of Trito. We wanted to show them that mages and non-mages could live together in peace. The hidden lands seemed like they would do that.” “Except, they weren’t interested in peace and convinced the troll king to attack,” Raylee added. “The size and strength of the trolls with the advanced weapons of the Tamerians were too much for us. We had no choice but to collapse the city on them.” “What do you mean we?” Nim demanded. “I was there. You weren’t.” “I think I would’ve remembered you too,” Chapado added. Rayee’s face changed to look like Lyra’s. “I couldn’t very well let the people I’m hiding from see me. Lyra was more than happy to stay out of it. Chapado, had I known who you were, I would have let you know who I was.” “You can make your alternate form look like other people?” Dae asked. “It’s just a glamour.” She reverted to her normal face. “What were you doing here then?” Remtani asked. “I learned the Ertonians were lowering the protection spells and letting the Tamerians come. I wanted to make sure they didn’t double cross them.” “What protections?” Remtani asked. “The college, Thager, Trito, and Paosij are all runes for a protection spell on Menthanla,” Janta told them. “You were the one looking into that?” Chapado guessed. “Kritalla mentioned it.” Janta nodded. “They protect more than just Menthanla,” Raylee told him. “The protection is stronger here, but it protects a quarter of Torthoc.” “How did you manage to cast that?” Mishtali asked. “Not even you can be that strong.” “I didn’t cast it. The Ertonians did.” “They’re powered by the shades, aren’t they?” Ann guessed. Morina nodded. “There are four wells that were created to collect power for the spells. We said they would help stabilize magic, and they do. But they also power the spells. At the site of each well, the protection is strongest. The hidden lands is the only place the well is in a populated area. When the wells overcharge and burst creating the shades of night, the amount of magic in the area is overwhelming, as you all know. But because of the location and natural defenses, we put one here. The land is a double refuge.” “Double refuge?” Remtani asked. “You know why the area is called the hidden lands don’t you?” Remtani nodded. “Yeah, because the natural boundaries make it difficult to get to. You can’t approach directly by the ocean and there are only three ways through the mountains.” “But all of Torthoc is a refuge. We were refugees from Lerton. Those who were looking for a new place to live had two criteria, it needed to have magic and couldn’t be populated with any sentient beings. As we searched, we found mages on other worlds who struggled either due to persecution, like the elves, or environment, like the humans from Earth. Once we were settled, we offered the other mages a chance to join us. Many accepted.” “Is that where the pinholes came from? Emeton asked. “It is. Keeping gates open long enough for whole populations to go through caused them to become permanent. We can’t close them now, only shrink them.” “When the wells fill and we have the shades of night, why don’t the spells fail?” Mishtali asked. “Not all the magic leaves the wells, only most of it. And the time is staggered. Each well bursts at a different time. That portion of the shield is weakened for the time.” “That’s how Vishom got in, assuming he’s Tamerian and not human,” Tylan reasoned. “Tamerians are humans,” Raylee said. “Of course, so are Ertonians. That’s why healers have trouble telling them apart.” “So I really am half human?” Ann asked. “Yes, and no. The basic makeup is the same, but there are minute differences caused by originating in different environments. And mages with what you call human or mortal magic came from different worlds than Ertonians did. Most of what healers detect is illnesses or injuries too old to belong to a mortal. Sometimes there might be minor abnormalities caused by the magic, but that’s rare.” “So there’s no way for us to know if he’s from Torthoc or Tameria?” Emeton asked. “There is,” Raylee assured him. “It’s the same way I can tell Andy and Jo aren’t from Torthoc and John and Mishtali have spent a great deal of time on there homeworld. Each environment affects us physically. The amount of sunlight, the makeup of the air, the foods available, the temperature, and pollutants all affect us. I can show the others what to look for to tell if this man is Tamerian.” “If we find him,” Ann pointed out as she got up for tea. She was still upset that he’d gotten away. “Didn’t you say he had a child?” Raylee asked. “He has three.” “It’s possible I can tell from them.” “How will this affect Ruzi’s citizenship?” Mishtali asked. “It won’t. Thailyn is legally married to Pisha and Vishom is a fugitive. He’s lost his rights to protest the adoption,” Ann said. “As long as he’s found guilty,” Emeton reminded her. “If Ann defends him, he won’t be,” Remtani pointed out. “I won’t. Talk to Chitoy or a magistrate. He attacked me, my brother, my mother, several other people, and was the catalyst for my madness. There’s no way I can defend him. I won’t even try.” “We need to know if Vishom is Tamerian so we can talk to the senate and get their help,” Morina insisted. “They’ll help if he is Tamerian, especially if there’s more than him.” Emeton frowned. “Given our history with so many immortals, I’m not sure I trust having a bunch of Ertonian soldiers here.” Morina nodded. “I understand. I was queen here once and my descendants are still on the throne. That will give me priority of command.” “And no one who has ever served with her would dare cause trouble under her command. And her reputation as merciless is well deserved,” Kritalla said and put an arm around her. “Talk to the kids’ mothers. If they agree, check them. Then talk to your senate and see what they’ll say. We’ll go from there,” Emeton decided.