Jenn slid off the bed and pointed a finger at Adelia. "Guard! Seize her!"

Before the guard took his second step, Adelia flung a blazing fireball at him with a flick of her wrist. He let out a hollow gasp as it burned a hole into his chest, creating a sickening sizzle sound. Foul-smelling threads of smoke rose from his body as the guard slumped to the floor.

Ceres jumped to her feet, pushing Eira back behind her. She lifted her hands. Lyr, the Elemental Spirit of water, flashed into presence above her head, pulsing a blue light that challenged the Fire Spirit across the room. Streams of water spiraled around Ceres as she drew them through an open window from a nearby pond.

Ceres' voice cracked as she challenged Adelia. "Why? You are sworn to do no harm!"

Adelia's fireballs burned brighter as she replied. "The will of the Spirits! It is time for the Order to assert itself and bring stability to the Realm. You, Ceres! You betrayed your duty to the Order. Reverend Quar foresaw this!"

Waithe cast Jenn a glance. She returned a knowing nod to him. He drew a knife from his boot and circled into Adelia's view, pointing it at her.

"Back, man! Or... or you will burn." Her words seemed tentative, more desperation than threat. "I said back!"

Adelia hesitated, then cast a fireball at Waithe. He dove out of the way and felt the heat of it singe the hairs on his arm as it whooshed by. The fireball struck an upholstered wooden chair in the corner of the room and set it afire.

With Adelia's attention on Waithe, Jenn came up behind her and swung a wooden staff. It contacted the side of Adelia's head with a loud smack. She slumped to the floor and moaned. Jenn stood over her, pulling seething breaths of air in and out.

Ceres called out to the red light above Adelia. "Pyr, be gone!"

The fire Spirit disappeared. Ceres directed a portion of the water that circled her to the burning chair, extinguishing the fire. The rest of the water retreated out of the window from whence it came and the water Spirit Lyr disappeared.

Waithe stood up. "Well done, my Lady Jenn." He bowed his head toward Girald. "It seems, my Lord, that your wife still possesses the heart of a warrior."

Girald smiled as he sat up in bed. "Indeed she does. As do you, my friend."

Jenn shook her head as she sat down on the bed next to her husband. "I could not bear another word of her foul diatribe. Why must villains babble on so?"

Waithe smiled. "A great mystery, my dear Jenn."

Ceres approached Girald. "How do you feel, my Lord?"

"Better by a league, thanks to you, Lady Ceres. I think I might join you all for dinner."

"The poison still be within you, my Lord."

"Can you remove it?"

"Aye. It shall be done."

*****

"I must say, I am a bit disappointed." Lord Girald tipped back his tankard and drank deep of it.

Ceres, who stood with the others in an uneven circle, lifted her eyebrows. "My Lord?"

He smiled as he wiped ale froth from his red beard. "I had hoped to witness a grand Shaman duel of the Elements. But as it was, my dear wife cut it short."

Ceres nodded toward Jenn. "For which I am grateful. Never have I done such a thing, victory was not at all assured. I am ashamed though, my Lord, that a fellow woman of the Order would do such an evil thing."

Before Girald could reply a slim young man with bushy reddish-brown hair and soiled clothing burst through the door into the dining room and widened his eyes. "Father? Is it true, are you well?"

"Much stronger am I, thanks to a remarkable young Lady of the Order and an old friend." Girald stood and swept his arm to his honored guests. "You may remember Waithe Rand from years ago. May I present to you the Lady Ceres of the Order of Medice and her young ward Eira. Lady Ceres, may I present to you my youngest son, Alden."

Ceres bowed her head. "Alden, I am pleased to meet you."

Alden only just now seemed to notice the young blonde woman. His eyes lifted from her feet to her eyes. With mouth hung open, he stuttered his words. "I... Indeed... My Lady..."

Jenn interrupted him. "My son, go change from those dirty clothes and join us for dinner. This is a time of great celebration."

Alden nodded and walked toward the door. He turned his head back and gazed again at Ceres, then collided with the door frame. A few tools clattered to the floor, spilled from a small satchel slung over his shoulder. His face reddened as he scooped them up and dashed out of view.

Lord Girald shook his head. "The grace of a warrior he has not. Unlike his older brothers."

Jenn said, "But he becomes a learned man, and he has a kind heart."

Ceres nodded. "The Realm has need of such men."

As the group took their chairs at the table, Alden reemerged wearing a clean beige shirt and brown pants. Jenn excused herself and went over to him to fasten two buttons that had allowed his shirt to gap open at his belly. His face reddened again as he caught Ceres' eyes.

Lord Girald sat at the head of the wooden table with his wife Jenn to the left and Waithe to the right. Ceres sat to Waithe's right and Eira next to her, who peered back and forth over the table edge.

Waithe stood up and pointed to his chair. "Alden, please take my seat. I think Lady Ceres would enjoy your company."

Alden nodded. Waithe made a sly smile as Ceres cast him a narrow-eyed glance. He took a seat on the other side of the table next to Jenn.

Girald stood up and lifted his cup. His tall frame towered over the table. "A toast to family and friends, old and new. And to a certain Lady of the Order!" Everyone lifted their cups in response. He drank with a flourish and sat back down. "I so look forward to a hearty meal, as it is, my clothes seem to have grown too large."

Ceres said, "My Lord, I must caution you. Although your symptoms are cured, for now, the poison still lies within you. It will take time to purge it."

Alden jerked up. "Poison?"

Jenn replied, "Aye son, by the hand of the deceitful Lady Adelia. We have quite a tale to tell you."

Lord Girald and Lady Jenn took much joy in recounting the tale as they ate, sometimes embellishing parts. Alden listened with rapt attention.

As the tale concluded, Alden turned to Ceres. "You were very brave, my Lady."

Ceres lowered her eyes. "Thank you, but I am not so brave, I think. Fear had its grip on me. I have not the courageous heart of a true warrior. That I grant to my protector and your mother."

Girald responded, "Nonsense, Lady Ceres. You performed with valor. To you, we owe my new found health and a traitor's reveal."

Waithe asked. "What have you learned from Adelia?"

Jenn responded. "The witch cowers in her cell and begs for mercy. We found the poison hidden in her room. She claims that the Reverend Quar herself ordered the poisoning."

Alden asked, "Won't Adelia call on the Spirits again to escape and exact revenge?"

Ceres responded, "I called on the Spirits to not heed her call. Most will comply, but the fire Spirit Pyr defied my request. Such is Pyr's arrogance."

Alden thought for a moment. "Then leave a vat of oil in her cell. Adelia would not dare call the fire lest she burn herself."

Girald nodded. "Well thought, my son."

Ceres said, "She spoke of the Order asserting itself, of bringing some sort of stability to the Realm. But why would the Order poison you, Lord Girald?"

Jenn answered. "My husband is the next logical choice for Overlord once Lord Hagan gives up the title. Hagan grows old and frail, his grip on power fades. The only others with enough influence to become Overlord are Lord Eudus of Moeras and Lord Scias of Kust. Eudus has no desire of it, so that leaves Scias if Girald dies."

Ceres' eyes widened. "So the Order wishes to make Scias Overlord? That would be a dark day for all the Realm. And he actively seeks my capture."

Jenn nodded. "Somehow Lady Ceres, you are a player in this power game. I know not how."

Girald put a hand to his chin. "Troubling that is. There may be corruption at the highest levels of the Order." He pounded the table with a clenched fist. "This cannot go unanswered!"

Ceres asked, "What shall become of Adelia?"

Jenn frowned. "She should suffer the same fate that she would have done to us, what she did to the guard. Fire for fire, poison for poison."

"If I may ask, my Lady and my Lord." Ceres bowed her head. "I would plead for mercy."

Girald turned his head toward Ceres. Waithe spoke up before he did. "There may be a way that serves the purposes of all. Travel to the house of the Order to make a formal complaint. Take Adelia along and let her testify on our behalf. Surely she would agree, given execution as her only other choice. Then leave her to the Order's justice or retribution, whichever it may be. The Lady Ceres and I would accompany you. It be her intent to search the Order's archives for knowledge of how to end the Taint, but we also would look for evidence to expose this corruption."

Jenn asked, "Would not they recognize and arrest her?"

"Not so if she poses as your aide, with sufficient disguise. I would pose as a guard."

Girald thought for a moment, then glanced at his wife, who nodded. "Very well. Make plans while I continue to heal. Draft letters to the Order and all the other Lords, except Scias, of what occurred here. All eyes will be on the Order of Medice, and they will then have to receive us."