It was only lunch time, and already this day had gone from bad to worse. My head pounded as I watched the reports on the imager.

"Sources say the ship, a cargo vessel, was in violation of the recent flight restrictions put into place to ensure the safety of all citizens. Repeated attempts to hail the vessel went unanswered, and it is suspected that the craft was carrying information about prism children to areas outside the border."

Truth or stratagem? The possibility of attacks on our prisms certainly had opened a lot of doors for Janis.

"There you are! I have been looking everywhere for you. I should have known I would find you glued to the imager."

Essa rolled in like warm breeze, carrying the scent of freshly baked bread and hot plumbird.

"Sorry, Essa."

She bustled over to wrap me in her arms and press me against her ample bosom, kissing the top of my head in that way she had of making me always feel like a boy regardless of how near I might be to becoming a man.

"I didn't see you at breakfast," she admonished. "If I hadn't come looking, you probably wouldn't have lunch either." She stood looking down at me, hands on hips. "I swear if it weren't for me you boys would waste away to nothing."

Her words scolded, but her rosy cheeks dimpled as her head swiveled back and forth.

"Where is Sakarren? I thought he'd be with you."

As an adopted mother to both of us, Essa refused to call us by our preferred names. To her, I would always be Bana, and Saka would be Sakarren. It wasn't worth arguing, as we'd both learned. Essa was as sweet as a sugarbean and as soft as chick down, but she could be more stubborn than the two of us combined when she wanted.

I couldn't help but smile at her. She was infectious.

"I'm sure he'll wander in once he smells the food."

Essa gleamed, happy that I'd complimented her cooking. She wiped her hands on her apron in spite of the fact that they weren't dirty.

"Lyle! Evan!" Her shout brought two round faces to the room's doorway. "Bring in the tray, please boys."

They quickly pushed in a rolling tray, situating it against the long table at the other end of the room where Essa immediately began unloading steaming platters of ground cava root, honey beans and golden ear, their vapor adding depth and roundness to the aroma of rich plum bird already filling the air. I sat down, mouth watering, and pulled one of the fresh loaves of bread in two setting half on my plate.

If I made it out before the shielding went up, there was no telling when I'd have another meal like this one, or at all for that matter.

The sound of an explosion filled the room.

"Oh my," Essa turned to look at the imager, one hand on her chest.

For a moment, flames filled the image screen.

I wondered if that image gave Essa the same flashback it gave me.

"The pulse blast left little to recover of the renegade craft, a fact that has some speculating on why constables were not given the opportunity to interrogate them before they were eradicated."

The imager flicked, and a girl's face filled the screen. Her hair was the color of raven's wings; a shade of black so dark it looked almost blue. It surrounded a pixie face and lips so delicate she looked like a fairy. Only the iron in her gray eyes hinted at the true force of nature housed in her spritely form.

Janis.

When had she started subjecting herself to interviews?

"Prime Councilor, what can you tell us about the recent events? Was the craft that was shot down truly a renegade vessel?"

Janis stood so rigid that she appeared much taller than her diminutive size.

"We intercepted the craft as it attempted to escape through a restricted zone."

She was a master at speaking without truly saying anything.

"After repeated attempts to communicate, the ship was warned that it would be tractored in for questioning." Her unyielding eyes flashed. "The unlawful vessel raised shields and powered up its weapons."

My breath hitched in my chest.

"It was at that time that the order was given to open fire. Unfortunately the timing of the pulse impact was such that their weapons engine was fully engaged, which caused the ship to explode."

There was a beat of silence.

"There you have it," the interviewer said, her voice subdued. "A deadly event caused by blatant rebellion, untold lives senselessly lost. We can only hope that the renegades were the only ones on board."

They swallowed Janis' explanation like a tonic.

I wished I could do the same, but I couldn't. I'd seen it happen. I didn't know that much about air vessels, but I did know about pulse weapons. When the charge was great enough to turn the air itself green, shield or no shield, there was little to do except pray. That ship had not been destroyed by chance.

"God help us," Essa breathed, echoing what Councilor D'hana had said earlier. "Are they protecting us or herding us?"

She turned her worried eyes to me, her gaze drifting downward to my plate and taking in the enormous wedge of bread and double-helping I had taken of everything else.

"Boys." Her voice was like a whip. "Out."

Essa never took her eyes off me as her helpers scurried from the room.

"You're going, aren't you?"

It was useless to try to hide the truth from her. She knew me too well. Besides, she already knew about the mission. She was the only one aside from Saka who did. It was Essa who had made me promise to reach level ten on the training program before leaving. Still, I couldn't answer her question. Not aloud. This might be my family home, but politics had been a corrupt institution long before I was born.

Essa didn't need my assent. My lack of response told her everything she needed to know.

"How soon?"

I couldn't tell her that either.

She nodded. "I see."

Her eyes glistened, but not from happiness.

"You must promise me, Bana. Promise me that no matter what you find, you will come back to us."

Of course I would. In spite of everything, this was my home.

"My heart is here," I said to her by way of an answer.

She gave a tremulous smile, then she came to my chair and wrapped me in another enormous embrace, swathing me with the smell and feel of the arms that had held me on the night my parents had never come home from their gala; the arms that had rocked me after Camille, the only family that remained to me, had disappeared. I felt her shoulders tremble, but when she pulled back to look into my face the steel in her eyes would have rivaled even Janis.

"I'll prepare some things."

I leaned in to kiss her cheek.

She was the softest rock I had ever known.