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It all took hours.
Finally, finally, she clapped her hands and the other fox-woman came and took the tea things away.
They all sat in complete silence while the other female carefully placed each object on her tray,
bowed, and took it all away.
But when the serving-fox was gone, and Chinthliss started to rise, Lady Ako tilted her head to one
side and gave Chinthliss a warning look that made him sit right back down again.
"You are seeking Tannim," she stated. "I suspect that you are also seeking my daughter."
Chinthliss wore no discernible expression at all. "There was some indication that she has
challenged him or intended to challenge him in the near future," Chinthliss replied levelly. "I
don't see any demonstrable connection between that and his disappearance. I am not making any
accusations, nor can I imagine why Shar would want to "
"Please," Ako interrupted. "Don't take me for a fool. You know why Charcoal asserted his rights
over her. You know what he intended to do with her. Must I put it in simple terms for you? He
wanted to make her the enemy of your human, this Tannim. He sees all that you are, and ever moves
to make himself the image in the darkened mirror. Charcoal would steal from you whatever he can. I
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do not know why." She glared at him, and the mighty Chinthliss, much to Joe's surprise, seemed to
shrink into himself a little. "I never knew why. I never understood this rivalry of yours."
She drew herself up in profound dignity, and Joe suspected that she had said a great deal more
with those words than he had perceived. Chinthliss closed his eyes for a moment, as if in
acknowledgment of that.
"Well," Ako said after a moment. "He did not succeed in his endeavor; I had far more influence
over her than he ever guessed, and she broke off all connections with him four years ago. She
refuses to see him, speak with him, or communicate with him in any way whatsoever."
"She did?" Chinthliss showed his surprise, briefly. "But in that case, why challenge Tannim?
What's the point?"
Ako sighed, and carefully arranged the fold of a sleeve before continuing. "She maintained some
alliances with some of Charcoal's Unseleighe connections; I do not know why. She told me that
these alliances amused her. I think there was more to it than that, and I can hazard a guess or
two. I believe that these alliances were too powerful to flaunt, and she was too stubborn to seek
shelter with the kitsune from their anger. One of those connections, an Unseleighe elven lord
named Madoc Skean, wanted your pupil, Tannim. I warned her that pursuing this human would have
grave consequences; she disregarded that warning, and due to her meddling, this young man was
trapped by Madoc."
"What?" Chinthliss roared, starting to leap up off his cushion.
"Calm yourself!" Lady Ako snapped, before he could get to his feet. "Do you think that I would
have brought you here and led you through Tea if I thought he was in any danger? We of the tails
have obligations to this world and the other and to the Balance between them!"
Chinthliss sat down again, slowly, but Joe sensed that he was smouldering with anger and
impatience.
Ako's nose twitched with distaste. "I advised Shar that she would have to remedy the balance
herself. She agreed, and took herself back to Madoc's stronghold. Madoc had Tannim but briefly,
and he has the young human no longer. Further, his allies have scattered, and his own domain is in
confusion. I don't know where your young human pupil is right now and I also do not know where
Shar is. I believe that we can assume that they are together, and that she at least took my advice
and freed him from the captivity that she sent him into." Lady Ako directed a chilling look at
Chinthliss; the dragon gave her back a heated one. "I told her that by leading this human into
captivity, she had seriously unbalanced the scales not only between them, but between our world
and his; that she and she alone would have to bring them back into balance. Her actions attracted
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