“Hagen!” Pan shouted.

Her voice echoed through the hall as she approached Alban’s office. From the opposite end, Hagen approached. Before Hagen could answer, Pan passed Alban’s door and reached the dream invader. She blocked his path into Alban’s office.

“You stay out of my dreams,” Pan warned.

“I haven’t been in your dreams.” Hagen frowned.

“I know a lie when I see one.” Pan felt a strong grip on her arm. She recognized the feeling of that hand as Sotir’s.

“Pan, no,” Sotir said. “Why would Hagen be in your dreams?”

Chara and Kat approached from behind Hagen, and Pan avoided their eyes. They didn’t need to hear what Hagen had done or especially what he had seen.

“Is everything alright?” Kat asked.

“It’s fine,” Pan answered.

Hagen shouldered past Pan, bumping even Sotir on his way into the office. Pan kept her eyes hidden from Chara and Kat but not Sotir. She turned around and met his gaze. He seemed confused, ready to go after Hagen and get some answers of his own. He also seemed ready to ask Pan exactly what she wanted to accuse Hagen of. Pan shook her head subtly.

“Pan?” Chara touched Pan’s shoulder. “You think Hagen invaded your privacy last night?”

Pan shook her head. “I was mistaken.”

Chara sought Sotir’s gaze, but he avoided it expertly. He still wore that perplexed and somewhat violated expression. He couldn’t know that Hagen hadn’t seen an image of he and Pan in a bedroom setting. In fact, Sotir might think that Hagen saw just that. After all, that was a topic he often dreamed about, but Pan’s dreams revolved around ghosts and other weird happenings.

Pan would have to relate the zoo dream to Sotir. She dreaded it, as Sotir still didn’t know about the Hokamilos birds.

Humor and embarrassment aside, Sotir would be distressed. Hagen could tattle on them to the mentors. He could tattle on them to all of Scaldigir. What would be his motive? Well, Pan could think of one very good one: their shared experience of the mine. He hadn’t been a Pan fan before that. Afterwards, he was probably anti-Pan.

“Come in here, my arcanes. Let’s have our meeting.” Alban stood by his door, waving Aria inside.

Although the meeting was for all the arcanes on the ship, plus Alban, Gavain followed Aria. Irini’s head peeked out of the doorway the moment that Aria and Gavain were swallowed by it. Alban applied light pressure to Irini and coaxed her back inside.

“Come on.” Alban beckoned. “We have a day of travel at most, and then, we have to talk to the Iruedians again.”

“You’ll actually be able to talk them yourself.” Kat sauntered into Alban’s office.

Chara followed. “You might feel better about them if you can do that.”

Pan had cast her shortcut circle on Chara, Kat, and Alban that morning. They knew Volanter, and they weren’t the only ones. Alban kept her busy till lunch, casting the circle over and over. He had her cast the circle on the entire crew. Everyone volunteered. Who wouldn’t want to learn Volanter, minus years of study?

Alban called again, “Pan? What’s wrong? Too tired after you added some worth to the crew’s resumes?”

“She’s fine,” Sotir answered on her behalf. He guided Pan in the direction of the office.

Pan was not fine. She’d missed her chance to tell Sotir her dream that just so happened to have Hagen in it.

Every arcane gathered in Alban’s office. With so many arcanes aboard the Ischyros, it was a cozy fit. Kat and Chara got the chairs across from Alban on account of their age. Alban rounded his desk and went to his chair, but he didn’t sit. Pan couldn’t help feeling someone should use it – maybe, Aria.

Poor, sad Aria. Pan still longed to ask Sotir about that situation, but a promise to a friend was a promise to keep.

“Alright. Let’s review the information we have on our Iruedian friends. I can’t shake this feeling that they set this up. How do we know they aren’t spies for actual Volanters?” Alban’s gaze found Aria.

Pan thought it was a valid question, but she knew Aria disagreed. Irini disagreed. Hagen might have some interesting information to contribute – concerning Iruedim and Pan both.

Aria stepped forward. “Their auras are so like ours that I’m confident I read them right. And, before you bring up my botched reading of Pan all those years ago, I’ll just state it for the record.”

Alban glanced at his shoes but not for long. “Alright. Let’s review their colors.”

“Overall, they’re a friendly group. Much friendlier than us.” Aria’s eyes met Pan’s.

Pan gave her a short encouraging nod.

“And, I may have failed to mention that one of the main colors in Rooks’ aura is gold.” Aria stared Alban in the eyes. “I think we can trust her if no one else.”

Alban straightened. “That was a big piece of information you left out.”

Aria shrugged. “I didn’t want you to feel inferior.”

Alban gestured to a point somewhere outside his office. He probably knew which side of the ship the Fauchard was on, so Pan took his word for it. He gestured at Fauchard.

“You don’t have to worry about me feeling inferior. I think it’s safe to say that she outranks me by quite a bit. That ship is twice our size. It outguns us, and from what I understand, she commands at least five other vessels of similar sizes. I don’t worry about feeling inferior to Rooks. I worry about getting home.” Alban leaned on his desk. “Irini go ahead with your report.”

Irini’s mouth formed a little o. “Well, I agree with Aria. They’re friendly. They haven’t lied to us. I don’t have anything new for you.”

Alban let out a long breath and looked at Hagen. “What do you have?”

Hagen glanced briefly at Pan. She threatened him with her eyes.

Hagen straightened and spoke, “Rooks dreamt about their experiment. And, that’s just what it was.” Hagen shrugged. “An experiment gone wrong. They want to manipulate the wormhole’s exit, but they failed. She’s afraid they’ll fail again and let us and the Iruedian crew down.”

“Straightforward dream,” Alban said.

Hagen half-laughed. “Believe me it wasn’t.”

Pan narrowed her eyes, wondering what Hagen would say about her dream. Would he laugh, with such insincerity?

Alban’s eyes roved around the room. “We’ve established that they’re friendly, but is it possible they have a Volanter hiding among them, manipulating them?”

The entire group stood a little straighter.

“What a…paranoid…and yet probable concern,” Pan agreed. “If a Scaldin can cook up such a scheme, a Volanter can make one tenfold better.”

Alban pointed at Pan. “Exactly. Now, let’s reinterpret our arcane information, using that as our premise.”

Pan watched Aria, as did everyone else. Aria had read the Iruedian auras first, so she should reinterpret first.

Aria frowned. “They like the Volanters. They’re grateful to them. Well…except Eva. She’s wary of the Volanters. It’s subtle because her aura is so withdrawn, but I see it. And, if I think back, Camellia’s colors when I talk about Volanters are a little…strange.”

“How so?” Irini asked, with more than a hint of innocence.”

“She shows pain when we talk about them. But only some of the time.” Aria stared into space. “It’s entirely possible they could have a spy or a Volanter among them. In fact, Camellia might be a good candidate for it.”

Pan drew in a sharp breath. “She’s the person we communicate through.”

Alban waved a hand. “She wouldn’t be that obvious. She’ll convey the messages as said – for now. Besides, Eva – the wary one – can also communicate with us, and she would have said something.”

The whole group relaxed.

“Irini?” Alban asked.

Irini startled. “I don’t think there’s anything I want to change.”

“You might want to ask a new question,” Kat offered. “Maybe one about finding a Volanter spy among the Iruedians.”

Irini glanced at her hands.

Alban waved her off. “Not right now, Irini. Save it for when we see them again. You can get a better read. As for you Hagen, anything you care to reinterpret?”

Hagen nodded with vigor. “Rooks felt forced into the test. I would add the two young mages, Inez and Eder Ferran, to our list of suspects.”

Pan tried to recall the two young mages. They were vibrantly colored compared to Scaldin, even compared to some of the Iruedians. They wore colorful clothes in beautiful patterns, and Pan understood that they could make cloth that held circles. Pan wondered if she could make something to stand in for her casting. She had a lot to learn from the casters on the Iruedian ship. She’d hate to think any of the mages were suspects.

Alban nodded slow. “See. We need to be careful.” Alban looked to Sotir. “Now you.”

Pan couldn’t remember when Sotir had done a read on the Iruedians. They’d been together most of the day, and he spent quite a bit of time helping her with her casting. When he wasn’t helping her cast, he was…well, that was best left unsaid. Pan guessed Sotir must have skipped an hour or two of sleep to get his read.

“My read is rather broad at this time.” Sotir stepped past Pan to stand by Kat and Chara’s chairs. “I don’t know if there is a Volanter spy aboard the Iruedian vessel because you didn’t introduce that angle till just now. I do, however, know that Volanters are nearby.”

Kat and Chara exchanged a panicked look. Irini moved close to Aria, and Gavain put his hands to Aria’s shoulders. Hagen, Alban, and Pan shared their expressions of shock. The surprise moved through the whole room. It was as if they’d been told someone had died.

But, it was quite the opposite.

Sotir continued, “Whether the Volanter know of our presence yet, I don’t know. I do know that we, Iruedians included, are all in danger from the Volanter. And…” Sotir glanced around the room. “I don’t know if we should travel through the shortcut. On one hand, the longer we stay, the bigger chance we have of encountering Volanters. That’s a strike against the long route. On the other hand, the short route seems to take us closer to the Volanter. I don’t think the Iruedians know that.”

Alban fell into his seat. “I’ll talk to their Curator. Right after you do your language spell on the Iruedians.” Alban nodded to Pan. “We’ll confide in Curator Rooks because she seems most likely to have been duped in this situation. She’s also in charge of that giant ship. If we can get her to understand what we dislike about Volanters, we’ll have a powerful ally.”

Sotir nodded. “I agree.”

The meeting fell silent after that, but other little arcane business was due to be discussed. Sotir fell back to a place beside Pan. She sidled close to him, wishing he hadn’t seen the Volanter in any possible future. Maybe, that little fact would keep Hagen out of her dreams and occupied with his own nightmares.

Camellia shifted in her seat. Rooks had a called a meeting with the native Iruedians while her first officer and crew flew the Fauchard and kept an eye on the Scaldin ship. At the great table, Camellia had Rooks’ right hand and was very flattered for it. Sten would have been the first candidate for that position, but he and Florian skipped the meeting to serve as emergency translators, should trouble arise.

“Tell me, Meladee, why do you think I dreamt about that random Scaldin man?” Rooks drummed her fingers.

Meladee exchanged a glance with the Ferrans. “We all think that it was some kind of dream watching spell. Probably something cool and Volanter.” Meladee looked at Camellia, with some apology in her expression.

At first, Camellia didn’t understand. Then, she got it.

Meladee’s glance and apologetic eyes referenced the Obsidian mirror. Though some people would describe it as cool, Camellia was no longer one of them. It was related to dreams. It was related to the dark parts of a person’s subconscious. It seemed the Volanter had more dream-type spells; spells they had passed on to the Scaldin.

Inez twiddled her fingers. “It’s a powerful spell. He reached you from a distance that Eder and I couldn’t cross working together.” Inez kept her eyes on the table, not on Rooks.

“So, we know they’re powerful.” Rooks folded her hands and leaned forward in her chair. “We also know they’re suspicious of us. Why?” Rooks seemed to know the answer.

Camellia knew it too. “They don’t like Volanters, and they see us as threatening.”

“They might be right about Volanters,” Eva said.

Rooks raised a hand. “We can’t say for certain who’s right about Volanters. But, we know the Scaldin have been burned before. A fight between us would be bad. Aside from the fact that we’ve gotten a taste of it, we also know it would hinder our ability to get home.” Rooks studied the table. “We want to work with them, and they seem willing to work with us.”

Camellia nodded along.

Eva frowned. “Their mages seem to be powerful beings. More so than any of ours. I think we should be the ones worried about them.”

Rooks shook her head. “We need to be friendly. We need to show them that we aren’t a threat. Remember, we could have a long-term link to these people. They could be the group that we’ve been searching for. Their solar system might be the ideal place to stick our wormhole’s exit.”

Camellia looked at the table and dreamily added, “What better people to trade with than those with who we share a common ancestor? Real allies for Iruedim.”

“Right,” Rooks agreed. “So, we’ll be friendly. All of us. We show them that we aren’t Volanters. Let’s not make them more distrustful. Don’t do anything to make it worse.”

Meladee spread her hands and brought them back in to her chest. “Why are you looking at me?”

Camellia suppressed a laugh but not a smile.

Meladee leaned in and gave Rooks a wide-eyed look. “I swear I’ve worked on this friendship thing for the past year. I’m a solid friend now.”

“You are, but just think before you talk,” Rooks said.

Meladee threw up her hands.

Eva smiled at Camellia. Then, the smile left Eva’s face. “I believe we should share the Scaldin’s wariness of the Volanter.

Camellia frowned. She didn’t want to. What sacrilege that would be in Cernunnos’ name.

Rooks looked between the two women. “It doesn’t matter unless we see one, but we will, of course, be cautious.”