". . .and she's just not right, I tell you, not herself at all. She threatened me, Sir Darius with. . .well, being a proper lady I won't say, but they were horrid things, just horrid!"  So came the voice of Elsie after a few minutes, breaking Aurora's communion with her grandsire.  She put the bloodstone around her neck, hiding the jewel beneath her dress, against her heart, where Balthazar could feel his influence growing, the spread of corruption threatening to eclipse her innocence.<br/><br/>Darius, called behind his back and only half in jest the Young Wolf for a fighting prowess not seen since the days of Herrick's youth, was the youngest member of the Royal Guard, and had won his place despite being a landless hedge knight through great success in tourneys and a fearsome reputation on the battlefield.  Brown haired and hazel eyed, he was a man almost cursed with good looks, for they bordered, without quite becoming, feminine.  Smooth cheeks and clear skin, a bright smile and easy laugh; half the maids in Tarth were in love with him despite his lowborn status, and the other half, if rumor held, he had already bedded.<br/><br/>"You summoned me, Princess?"<br/><br/>"Yes, Sir Darius.  It is my wish that you, and perhaps six but no more than ten of the soldiers under your command, break with the caravan immediately and depart with all haste, back to the Imperial City."