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said to Speren, who nodded in acknowledgment of the praise.
    "Speren, I believe you know my instructor, Galen Moonsinger."
    The elven warriors bowed slightly to each other.
    "Mr. Moonsinger's reputation precedes him." Speren said.
    "I could say the same for you, Silverblade." Galen returned, with an ironic smile.
    "Thank you, Galen." the Prince said. "You may go, I need to speak with Speren." The instructor bowed to Silverblade, then more deeply to his Prince, and left the room.
    Jenna Ni'Ferra, a Prince of Tir Tairngire and member of the Council of Princes, went over to the barre and picked up a towel to mop at her brow before draping the cloth over her shoulders. Speren stood and waited for the Prince to speak, as courtesy demanded.
    "You have studied carromeleg, have you not, Speren?"
    Speren knew that the Prince surely knew the answer to that question already. Speren Silverblade was a paladin of Tir Tairngire. More importantly, he was a member of the most exalted company of that exalted order, the legendary Ghosts. Paladins were all trained in the elven martial arts, and Ghosts were required to be masters of several.
    "I recall my training well." he said. "I took my share of bumps and bruises."
    "I think it is a good lesson to learn." she said. "Many people learn carromeleg for its spiritual qualities, for health and centering. While there certainly is value to that, I sometimes think it is more important to learn that anything worthwhile in life comes with its share of bruises and falls, don't you agree?"
    "Absolutely, Highness."
    Jenna took the ends of the towel in her hands, suddenly all business. Her green eyes, the color of summer leaves, fixed on Speren's.
    "I have a mission for you." she said.
    Speren bowed with a courtly wave of his hand. "I am yours to command."
    "This is a matter of some . . . delicacy." she went on. That meant that this mission did not come from the Council of Princes as such, but from Jenna directly. That was not unusual; the Princes each had their own liege-men to command, but it warned Speren that there might be additional complications. He did not allow any curiosity or concern to show on his face.
    "As you know," Jenna said, "it is one of the goals of the Council to help restore our ancient culture. Already we have revived our people's language and many of our arts." She gestured to take in the palace and her own carromeleg uniform. "Still, there remain an untold number of things from the distant past that lie hidden, waiting to be found, and we are not the only ones searching.
    "An archeological dig in the Ukraine recently unearthed such an artifact, a piece of our cultural heritage. The dig was sponsored by monies from Saeder-Krupp."
    "Lofwyr." Speren said.
    Jenna nodded. "Lofwyr."
    The great dragon was himself a member of Tir Tairngire's Council of Princes, a Prince in his own right. Inclusion of the dragon on the Council had been the idea of High Prince Lugh Surehand, an idea bitterly opposed by many of the other Princes. Surehand had forced it through, gaining support from Lofwyr in the bargain. Still, there were many in Tir Tairngire who neither liked nor trusted the great dragon, and Jenna Ni'Ferra was one of them. Although she preferred the title of "Prince" to the weaker one of "Princess." Jenna was a staunch supporter of traditional elven values and beliefs. One of those was a deep-seated mistrust of the motives of dragons.
    "Fortunately," she said, "something happened at the dig site. The professor in charge apparently suffered some sort of breakdown, killed one of his own students, and stole the artifact. We believe he plans to sell it, or that he may be working for someone else with an interest."
    "The Danaan Families, perhaps?" Speren offered. "Or another of the dragons?"
    "Perhaps." Jenna said. "We cannot be sure."
    "Then I am to retrieve this artifact?" he said.
    Jenna offered him one of her radiant smiles. "Quite so. Our intelligence reports that the professor has likely