The area around the World Tree looked different than the last time Sizilen had seen it. Gone were all the remnants of the Embrayyan invasion force. Not a single tent, hastily-erected fence or even overturned vehicle remained. Instead, the tree itself was surrounded by a tell chain-link metal fence, topped with spirals of razor-sharp metal. A large structure she assumed was designed as a barrier stood nearby.

Surrounding the area were a number of tents of a different sort– tents and vehicles and crates no doubt belonging to the military forces of Canada, and their international allies. Not far from her were a number of men and women running around preparing to send the robot through. It was a curious device, set upon treads and connected by an electrical tether linked up to a computer nearby.

Weeks ago, she could never have imagined what a computer was, or what it did. And yet now, she found them to be a common thing in Canada. Computers were in everything from their hand-held phone devices to their televisions and even inside their cars.

Kia had helped her choose an outfit that morning. Sizilen had insisted her style of dress be as close to Embrayyan fashions as possible, so they settled on a loose-fitting robe befitting of someone of her station.

Her station was, however, more complicated than she’d initially let on to the Canadians. Miles knew of her status, that her claim to being a Clan Mother was yet to be officially recognized. After all, the King had not yet made it official– that was to be done after she’d done her duties and returned to Tyrant’s Fall. However, the fact was that she had done her duties. She had kept her word, done the bidding of the King. The King would risk much by not keeping his word to her, a promise made in full view of the Fifteen Clans at the Sunshod Palace.

But there were other issues. Arianell Duna being one of them. Arianell was an uncertainty to Sizilen. She’d unknowingly befriended Arianell’s niece, Ayla, when they’d fallen in with one another in Cielcia. It was Ayla’s doing that saw her released from the cells beneath Freia after she’d run afoul of the Ciel Clan. Ayla did not seem overly fond of the Clan Mother, which made it all the more confusing when she’d discovered her return to Ar’Duna after they’d recovered the Seed of Vaste’lon.

Arianell Duna was the head of Clan Duna, of course. And as a Clan Mother, was bound to the trappings of the station. Namely, the hidden plots and pacts she’d come to know the Fifteen Clans were known for. Arianell had lobbied for the World Tree to be situated in Ar’Duna. She had been a strong supporter of the annexation of Outworld from the beginning, and for the life of her, Sizilen couldn’t identify exactly why she was so eager for it, especially considering the skepticism she displayed toward her on their previous meetings.

Arianell Duna had a goal in mind. She was the mother of the King’s first wife, and the grandmother to Caradoc’s heir, and yet she seemed to skirt dangerously close to open contempt for Clan Caradoc in general, despite her closeness and support of her grandson.

Sizilen had met him once. Mael Caradoc was close to her own age, and introduced himself with the pomp and poise of someone expected to be a King, but the way he looked at her made chills run up her spine. As if he was looking past her, not out of contempt or disinterest, but as if she were an object or a tool presented for his own uses.

Thankfully, their meeting hadn’t lasted long. His betrothed was a daughter of Clan Talei, and she demanded much of his attention.

She shielded her eyes as she looked up at the World Tree’s limbs. The last time she was there, she was a very different person. Since being captured, and learning what she had about the link between Ayndir and Earth, she wondered if she would even be recognized as an Embrayyan anymore.

“You okay?” Miles asked in English as he came up from behind her.

She looked over to him. He was wearing his dress uniform, which he wore more often since he’d taken his position as part of her detail.

“Thinking,” Sizilen replied. “I am another step closer to home.” She looked back to Miles. “If all goes well, do you know how soon I can return? How soon Casimir and the others can return?”

“There’s still a lot to be done. Once the talks start, we’re going to need your help. You’re the bridge between our worlds right now. You’ve experienced enough of our culture to at least understand us.” He motioned toward the Shimmer. “They still don’t know what to expect.”

Sizilen nodded with a sigh. “They will be guarded,” she replied. “Arianell Duna is shrewd. Clever. Her words and actions often hide her intent. She may rebuke me. And if that happens–”

“We’ll deal with it,” Miles said. “Colonel Burke knows you’ve been cooperative. I’m sure no matter what happens that will be taken into account.”

“Perhaps,” she said. “But cooperation isn’t enough for me to get back. There is still much I–” she trailed off. “There are more things of importance to me than the relationship between our two worlds.”

“So you’ve said, but you still haven’t told me what,” Miles reminded her.

“Allow me my secrets, Miles Brady,” she insisted. “But trust that it has no bearing on what happens here today.”

She looked over Miles’ shoulder to see the approaching form of Colonel Burke, accompanied by an older woman dressed in a formal suit. She looked to be in her early fifty’s with short but greying hair.

“Lieutenant. Miss Oringard,” Burke greeted. “This is Eileen Soros from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development. She’s been briefed on everything she needs to know to handle the talks with the other side.”

“Lieutenant Brady,” Eileen said, shaking his hand. She looked to Sizilen. “So good to meet you, Lady Oringard. I want to thank you personally for your help in this matter. It can’t be easy.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Sizilen replied.

“If we’re all ready, I’d like to get the ball rolling on this. Would you care to have a seat at the table?” Burke asked, gesturing toward the tent erected near the entrance to the portal. There were a number of guards standing around, and some plates had been set up on the table itself. The smell of food lingered in the air around them.

With a nod, they all started toward the table.

“Send it through!” Burke ordered the technicians. With a nod, the robot started to climb the roots of the World Tree toward the Shimmer.

As Sizilen sat down, she watched as it passed through the threshold and disappeared.

“Forgive my ignorance,” Eileen began. “But how long does the transit take? What does it feel like?”

Sizilen looked over to her. “It it… instant. I only passed through once. There is a slight different in… how the air feels. But I breathed in Embrayyan air before passing, and then breathed the same air out on the other side.”

“Our scientists seem to think it folds space,” Eileen added. “Is that accurate?”

Sizilen blinked. She knew those two words in English, but together, she had a difficult time grasping their meaning. “I do not understand,” she admitted. “To fold space? What do you mean?”

Eileen pulled out a piece of paper from her case and made a mark on one side. “Say this is Embrayya,” she said. She made a mark higher up on the paper. “And this is Vancouver. If we were to assume both worlds exist in the same universe, it could take thousands of years to travel between them by traditional means, even if we had the technology,” she explained. “Two points in space in a three dimensional universe, right?” She then folded the two halves of the paper, joining the two points together. “So what the Shimmer would do is fold the universe like so, making it so we can travel between these two points instantly.”

“To fold the universe in half?” Sizilen shook her head. “I… I don’t think so. Before the Seed was engaged, Annika opened the void between our two worlds. It was… unstable, and it cost her life, but even so I do not think she would have been so powerful as to fold the universe.”

“I see,” Eileen responded. “I guess the secret to how it was done died with her, then.”

Not entirely. She had been taught how to do it. Taught by none other than their father, who was profoundly ungifted when it came to communion with the Elder Law– but he understood it better than most Augurs. Unfortunately, the how had never been explained to her. But something Eileen said made her wonder. Was Ayndir in the very same universe as Earth? She’d learned since coming to Earth that they believed the stars in the sky were simply distant suns. If that was the case, and every star had a world beneath it, then was Ayndir potentially beneath one of the stars she saw at night?

Was Earth hanging in the skies above Ayndir?

Would she ever truly know?

“We have contact,” Colonel Burke said, motioning toward the Shimmer.

The four of them looked up toward the Shimmer. There something poking through it. Sizilen recognized it immediately. It was the sigil of the waterfall, the banner of Clan Duna. A moment later, a distinctly female form stepped through.

Arianell Duna. She passed through and looked around, disoriented at first. Two others walked through at her sides.

To her left was…

…General Borou. Sizilen furrowed her brow at the sight of the man. Part of her wanted to scream at him for what he’d done. But she knew that would be a mistake.

“Well if it isn’t Target Alpha,” Burke commented.

To Arianell’s right was a face she hadn’t seen in at least a year, but one she recognized instantly.

“Ayla?” Sizilen spoke under her breath.

“You know her?” Miles asked.

She nodded. “Ayla Duna,” she explained. “Arianell’s niece. She’s… an old acquaintance.”

A fourth form passed through the Shimmer then, trailing behind them. It was a man of at least thirty-five years, wearing the colors of Ar’Duna. She didn’t recognize him.

The four of them stood near the entrance down toward the tent where Sizilen and the rest of them say. Arianell locked eyes with Sizilen for a moment, then leaned back and said something to General Borou, and then to Ayla.

Ayla nodded, and then was the first to step forward. She gingerly walked down the roots to the road below and stood several paces away from the fence. She looked to Sizilen.

“Sizilen Oringard,” she said aloud. Her tone was formal, unlike what she was used to. “Where did we first meet?”

The three Canadians suddenly looked to Sizilen. Why was Ayla asking about–

The answer suddenly struck her. They did not fully trust that Sizilen was acting by her own accord. That’s why Ayla was there. As someone who knew her, she would be able to tell if she was in trouble.

She smirked. “In a cell beneath Freia,” she answered. “A cell I am still grateful you got me out of.”

Ayla returned Sizilen’s smile, then looked back to the others and nodded.

“A cell?” Miles asked in High Embrayyan. “You’re going to have to tell me that story when we get back to the hotel, you know.”

“It’s a boring story,” she admitted.

Miles turned to Burke and translated what was being said as the others walked down toward the table. Borou furrowed his brow at Sizilen while the fourth man behind them looked nervously to the soldiers standing guard nearby.

Sizilen stood up. “Wise Mother Duna,” she said, bowing her head and placing her fist to her heart. “Thank you for accepting the invitation.” The other Canadians near her also stood, and copied her gestures.

Arianell walked toward the table. “It is not every day a metal creature comes bearing a letter from a dead girl,” Arianell responded.

“Dead girl?” Sizilen asked. She looked to Borou.

“General Borou’s eyes must have been playing tricks on him, of course. You’ll have to forgive him in his old age.”

Sizilen looked to Borou and flashed him a brief scowl. “Of course,” she said. “How silly of me.”

“I am here,” she said. She scanned the other three sitting at the table with Sizilen. “So these are those who would speak for Outworld?”

“This is Colonel Burke,” Sizilen said, gesturing toward the older man. “He is in command of the Canadian military forces present here today.” She then gestured to Miles. “Lieutenant Miles Brady, he will be assisting us with translation of our two languages.”

Arianell raised an eyebrow toward Miles. “You speak High Embrayyan, young man?”

“I speak enough to understand,” Miles explained.

She laughed. “So it appears. I must admit I am surprised you would learn our language so quickly. You must have a… gifted tongue.”

“I try, Wise Mother,” Miles said.

“And the woman?” Arianell asked.

“Eileen Soros,” Sizilen said. “She is here to speak on behalf of the leaders of this nation.”

“Well I am happy to see a woman in that role,” Arianell said. She looked behind her to the man she didn’t know, who quickly ran up and pulled out a chair for her to sit in. Arianell took the seat.

“I’m sure your people already know of General Borou,” she said to Miles. “This is my niece, Ayla. And Dalin Eero, Commander of the Third Regiment.”

Colonel Burke started to speak, catching Arianell’s attention.

“What an odd language,” she said. “It sounds… dull.”

“Colonel Burke asks if you are hungry or thirsty,” Sizilen explained.

Arianell laughed. “Oh yes, I shall eat and drink what my enemies offer me without question,” she explained sarcastically. “There’s quite obviously no chance of poison.”

“I trust them,” Sizilen offered. “They have showed me nothing but kindness.”

“Truly?” Arianell asked. “How then, I wonder, would they react if you were to stand up and walk back into Embrayya with us? Would they allow it?”

Sizilen froze in place, unsure how to respond.

“As I thought,” she said. “They may not have harmed you. You may not wear their chains, but you are still bound, Sizilen Freia.” She met Sizilen’s uncertain gaze. “Or is it Oringard now? Might I ask why you decided to adopt the name of your father?”

Sizilen shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “When we were captured, the men… they needed someone to rally around. Casimir–”

“Casimir lives too?” Borou suddenly asked.

“Quiet!” Arianell yelled at him. “Say nothing until I ask it of you, do you understand?”

Borou looked as though he wanted to speak back at her, but he opted against it.

Arianell looked back. “So you positioned yourself as the Mother of a Lesser Clan and took his name for it, isn’t that right?”

Sizilen furrowed her brow. “I… Yes.”

“Your sister’s blood barely cold,” she said. “And your mission unfulfilled, and you dare to presume the King would grant you the station you covet?”

“I fulfilled my duties. As did my sister. It is owed to me,” she said.

Arianell looked to the others sitting around the table. It was clear to her they were confused by what they were speaking of. She looked to Miles. “What has she told you, Miles Brady, about her station?”

Miles looked to Sizilen for a moment, then back to Arianell. “That she made a great sacrifice. That her sister played a role in opening up the World Tree.”

Arianell raised an eyebrow and looked back to Sizilen. “So, knowing her role in the deaths of many of your people, you still trust her enough to speak to me on your behalf?”

Miles translated what she had said, and then Eileen spoke.

“She says we’re very well aware of her role in what happened. But we share one thing in common. A desire for peace and friendship between our peoples,” Miles explained. “We hope that you are open to exploring that.”

Arianell wore a wide smile. “As it happens, Miles Brady, I am,” she explained. “Which isn’t to say our King does. Unfortunately his will far exceeds my own.” She looked to Sizilen. “But knowing what I know of this place, I think peace would be preferable to war. The strength of our own forces was… vastly overestimated when put up against yours. Embrayya made some foolish missteps in crossing over. But what’s done is done. We have all the scholars in Tyrant’s Fall and beyond looking for ways to destroy the World Tree. To sever the link between our worlds. But I have seen some of the wonders of your world, and I think that peace and trade may be a better option than war with the people of Outworld.”

As Miles translated her words, Eileen began to speak.

“She says we are prepared to begin talks of peace,” Miles explained. “But there is the matter of the people taken to Embrayya against their will.”

“The tributes?” Arianell asked.

Miles nodded. “We’re happy to begin talks, but first we must insist on a prisoner exchange.

She turned back to Borou. “How many tributes were taken?”

“No more than twenty,” he explained.

“And how many prisoners do you hold?”

“Besides Sizilen, eleven others,” Miles said.

Arianell thought about it for a moment. “You must know I cannot make decisions for the King,” she said.

“But you may be able to convince him,” Miles replied.

Arianell laughed. “Othniel Caradoc isn’t a man who is easy to convince. He is a man who must come to conclusions on his own.”

“Then help him come to his own conclusions,” Miles offered.

Arianell looked Miles in the eye and smiled. “I like you,” she said. Her gaze passed over to Sizilen. “All right, Sizilen Oringard. I will back your claim to a Lesser Clan. I know how important it is to you, and I myself should like to see Emrys Oringard once more. I will arrange transportation to Tyrant’s Fall and speak with him myself. I will attempt to show him the benefits to both of our people to maintain more… friendly relations. But I ask for one thing.”

“What’s that?” Miles asked.

She pointed to Eileen. “I would have her accompany me.”

Sizilen looked over to the woman. “But… she doesn’t speak High Embrayyan,” she protested.

“Then I would ask for one other that does,” she replied, looking to Miles.

“Miles Brady has duties here,” she explained.

Miles quickly translated what Arianell Duna had asked. Colonel Burke and Eileen spoke frantically with one another before Burke had Miles translate for him.

“We would require a guarantee of their safe return,” Miles said.

“Of course,” she explained. “You may keep General Borou in her stead–”

Borou suddenly sputtered in protest, but a swift glare from Arianell shut him down.

“And for your second… Commander Eero? I would have you accompany Borou for the duration of the journey,” she said.

Eero, on the other hand, only gave a nod and a salute to his Clan Mother.

“Give us the day,” Miles said, translating for Colonel Burke. “We will reconvene tonight and make the exchange. How long will it take?”

“It will take two days to get to Tyrant’s Fall,” Arianell said. “I promise they will travel in comfort. Give us two days there, and then two more to return.”

“We’ll give you seven days,” Miles said. “And if our people aren’t returned by then, we’re coming through whether you want us to or not.”

Arianell smiled. “Your terms are acceptable,” she said.