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also?"
    "Yes, my lady. I have been assuming Vena's form on a daily basis for months now, and several teams of researchers have found no leak on any level in their probing. Only after the proper sequence of signals may I resurrect my personality."
    Patrice nodded. "I want you to go through one more series of tests this afternoon. Go and set up the sequence now, and if all goes well we will begin tonight."
    Ulinda bowed her head and backed away.
    For a few minutes Patrice sat there, thinking hard. Then she left her private chamber and strode down the cool, marble-columned corridor, lit tastefully by high windows covered in exquisite designs of stained glass. Images of woodland glades, forests, and cliff-lined beaches shone on the highly polished alabaster floor, filling the hallway with a riot of color.
    She turned down a side passage and stepped out onto a high balcony. It was so peaceful here, she thought, inhaling deeply of the salty ocean air.
    Beneath her, the port was a bustle of activity, and great sailing cogs, slender clipper ships, and a fleet of warships, bronze rams polished, rode at anchor.
    Here was the source of her wealth. Her capital city served as the main port for this whole region of coastline.
    She had an army, to be sure, and a navy to protect against pirates. But her main strength had always been in her hundreds of sorcerers, now including the fifteen deserters from Sarnak's ranks.
    That had been a treasure haul: Almost no fighting to speak of and she had been able to snatch up a third of that fool's realm in less than a fortnight. Of course, under pressure from Allic and Jartan she'd had to retreat back to her original borders or face a war that would have interfered with her long-range plans. Still, she had gained an enormous amount of wealth and booty just from the initial assault. If only Sarnak and Allic had played themselves out against each other as she had hoped, then it all would have been hers as was her right.
    She had waited three thousand years to expand her realm. Now she was tired of waiting. Soon they would know the payment to be exacted for their slights and neglect.
    Turning away from her city, she stepped back into the corridor and walked farther down the halt, until she came to a broad side passage.
    Two sorcerers stood before her in its darkness. Wordlessly they stepped forward, and one of them held a crystal up to her eyes and peered closely through it. A long moment passed as the sorcerer looked at her both outwardly and within.
    "It is you, my lady. You may pass."
    Without a word of acknowledgment, Patrice continued down the corridor. She had once challenged her way past a guard, shouting her down before she could do the inward scan. The girl had acquiesced and backed away. It had been a good object lesson for the others: The guarding of this passage must be thorough. She had not killed the young sorcerer--that would have been a waste of talent--but blinded, the girl could still be of some service in the healing arts until her eyes grew back.
    The passageway was wide enough for a dozen to pass. The walls were seamless except for one faint outline just before the main entrance. That hidden side alcove was a convenient escape route if ever she should need it. She liked those little touches of plans within plans, but it was a precaution that would not be needed now.
    Stopping by the door she reached out, her delicate nails tapping out a quick interplay on half a dozen raised disks of polished brass. Drawing a crystal pendant from between her breasts, she took the warm stone and pressed it into a socket that fit the crystal exactly.
    The doors slipped open.
    The room, over a hundred feet in diameter, was lit by the fires that came from a vast pentagram of gold and rubies set in the middle of the chamber. Within the pentagram itself was a deep fiery pit whose flames were eternally fed.
    At the edge of the pentagram, she knelt on silver-embroidered cushions and removed the large sparkling