"Mawreth," said Rogeth in terror.

"Yes dear brother. I'm back."

Mawreth had left after her visit a year and a half ago with a shattered family. Joleth's health had begun to fail and Rogeth's marriage with Aneth had almost collapsed.

"What are you doing back?" Rogeth's eyes were wide then suddenly they closed tight and he sighed, it was customary for the royal family to swear fealty to their new head of house and Rogeth assumed that his sister had returned for that purpose.

"Customs bring me back," replied Mawreth frivolously.

"I didn't think that you paid much attention to custom." Rogeth was glad that he had told the servant that he had some business to attend to, it meant that Aneth would not come looking for Rogeth and find Mawreth.

"Well you know me always one to surprise," Mawreth paused and studied Rogeth looking him over, trying to decide what he really thought.

Suddenly Rogeth reached out and grabbed his sister's arms forcefully she struggled to free herself but his grip was tight. "Hear me Mawreth and hear me good, leave my wife alone."

"Too late for that," began Mawreth.

Rogeth's mind raced what had his sister done to Aneth, would she be all right or would his wife be hurt. Perhaps Mawreth was playing one of her cruel tricks again.

"In fact," continued Mawreth, "we've been chatting all morning. Your wife is very forgiving and has decided to lay all blame of what happened on the vegetables."

"I don't believe you," said Rogeth suddenly and sharply his face an motionless mask of anger.

"Fine," said Mawreth as she melted back into the shadows.

The night of the dinner played on Rogeth's mind once again...

Aneth had retired and Joleth looked at his son with kind eyes. His commanding face relaxing into contentment. "You have a good wife there. Treat her well."

Rogeth watched his father and realised that in that moment there was no hint of the king which ruled the country but only a father. A father who was willing to watch over and care for his children. A father, who now more than ever, realised what his family meant to him. Sadness washed over Joleth and his eyes looked away from his son.

"Father?" queried Rogeth.

"I was just thinking of your mother. I see you and Aneth and I'm reminded of her. It brings back so many memories."

"Happy memories I hope," said Mawreth. Rogeth looked at Mawreth surprised for what she had said felt genuine and straight from the heart. Perhaps Mawreth really did care for her father...

Rogeth collected his thoughts, Aneth would be wondering where he had got to. As he stepped forward Rogeth thought about his recent conversation with Mawreth. Had she really spoken to Aneth and had Aneth forgiven her as he was told she did. Maybe Mawreth did have a good side to her after all, hidden away and lurking underneath that harsh exterior.

Rogeth reached out and opened the door which would take him to the bridge connecting the war tower to the garden tower. The wind was picking up as Rogeth stepped out onto the stone bridge. Trails of moss hung from the under side of the long flat bridge. The wind was picking up but Rogeth could still feel the heat from the last of the summer sun. Taking care to walk down the centre of the bridge the king walked one step at a time, looking at the land all around. The city of Klonkar, one of the largest and busiest in his kingdom, was spread out hundreds of metres below him. The people running around looked like ants. To the north was the scar mountains, so called because a different colour rock ran right down the length of the centre mountain and from a distance it looked like a scar. Rogeth could not bring himself to look south. He could almost hear Grawden's voice still running around in his head and he knew that if he looked south towards the lands of the Nibe Grawden's words would come back full force. Aneth will be wondering where I am, thought Rogeth and he began to walk once more towards the garden tower.

Aneth was sitting on a wooden bench in the sky garden when Rogeth arrived, she smiled at him warm and lovingly. Rogeth smiled back, engrossed in her features watching her auburn hair and her deep brown eyes with unspoken love. Then his smile faded and his face took on a more serious look. Rogeth walked across the garden to the bench and sat down beside his wife. Taking her hands in his Rogeth looked straight at his wife and asked the question that had been preying on his mind, "did you see her?"

Rogeth recognised from Aneth's expression that she knew who he referred to. "I saw Mawreth. She came in here and sat down just where you were. She spoke to me as though nothing had happened and tried to convince me that she was not to blame. Oh Rogeth," Aneth was becoming upset, "she used her confidence and trickery to get me to forgive her. She talked about the vegetables as though they had her possessed."

Rogeth placed his arms around Aneth and drew her close, "it's all right."

A memory flashed into Rogeth's mind. Mawreth speaking, "happy memories, I hope."

"Maybe she's changed," said Rogeth trying to provide comfort for Aneth. Changing the mood completely Rogeth pulled his wife away and looked straight into her eyes. "You said yesterday that you would have a surprise for me."

Aneth began to pick up instantly and reached to her side. Lifting a basket she said, "I know that you have all the trouble with taking over the throne but I thought that it would be good if you could at least find some time to relax. I've made us a picnic, we can eat it here if you want."

"Here would be lovely."

Rogeth was distracted as Aneth began setting up a cloth to sit upon. He was too busy thinking about taking over the throne. It had only been a week ago but he still felt as though the burden of leading The Kingdom, his kingdom had been upon him for many years. It was six months ago that Joleth had died - his failing health a direct result of Mawreth's last visit. Koflan, Joleth's leading adviser and now Rogeth's had become the reagent for six months while Rogeth looked on observing how to run the country, he was not really privy to any of the decisions that were made as during the six months Koflan acted as the ruler of The Kingdom. It was a strange custom which left everything in total disarray while the appointed reagent ran the country until the new king was able to take over. Rogeth had been able to take over the moment that his father had died but custom dictated that he wait. Where had custom got them, a war was brewing with the Nibe and if Rogeth did not sort it out he could be forced to abdicate by the people and Mawreth would instantly become Queen.

"Are you all right?" Aneth's voice broke through Rogeth's chain of thought.

"What?" asked Rogeth confused.

"You seemed a little distracted there. I was wondering if everything is all right." Aneth was genuinely concerned for her husband's welfare.

"It's nothing, just going over some business in my head." Rogeth had lied and he could see by Aneth's reaction that she knew it too.

"Well forget about business just now and enjoy the picnic."

The memory again, "happy memories, I hope."

At that time Rogeth had begun to suspect that maybe his sister had reformed, a year and six months later and he knew that she had not, but that thought kept preying on his mind. Maybe Mawreth was not totally evil. Rogeth was willing to hear his sister out even though she had caused so much pain the last time she had been in Klonkar...

Mawreth stood and yawned, "I'm tired, perhaps I should get some rest. I'm going to have a busy day finding out about how things have changed around here tomorrow. Aunt Iren has been trying to keep me informed but It's not so easy learning from someone telling you."

"I agree, experience enforces learning," Joleth had just spouted another piece of wisdom. Rogeth never tired of hearing them and one day hoped that he could tell his children such words of wisdom.

"Exactly," said Mawreth.

Rogeth watched his sister leave the room and once she had gone he turned to his father and watched him. Joleth's face was darkening, "watch her son. She maybe be better but deep inside she's all evil."

Rogeth looked at his father shocked that he could ever have said anything so terrible about one of his children. "But father, she seems better," Rogeth leaped to his sister's defence.

Joleth was totally serious. This was a face that Rogeth had never seen. It was weary and tired, in fact his father looked at that point older than ever before. It was scaring Rogeth that his father could be so harsh yet at the same time so resigned. "She may be reformed on the surface, she may even believe that she has reformed, but deep within her is an evil that is just waiting to get out. Mawreth may not even know that it lurks within her but I do for I see it in her eyes. She enjoys being evil, it is her goal in life. She is sadistic and nasty and will do anything to get what she wants."

The harsh words of his father brought Rogeth back to the present and back to the picnic. Aneth was watching him intently. Then she went into the basket and began to lift out the food.

Rogeth knew that Aneth was watching him for a reason and at that he was worried. "Aneth, what's wrong?"

Aneth shook her head and continued to unpack the food, "nothing."

"No," said Rogeth more forcefully. "There's something wrong and we've been married long enough for me to recognise that."

"You seem so caught up in the past. I brought you this picnic so we could unwind, but you seem so insistent on reliving past events which are none of your concern here, today. Rogeth, is it Mawreth."

"It's nothing," Rogeth reached out to take his wife's hand but Aneth pulled away and stood up. Rogeth looked up at her but all his wife could do was turn her back. Rogeth stood and could see Aneth's shoulders shaking - she was crying.

"Why wont you tell me the truth?" Aneth was sobbing.

"I am," Rogeth was lying.

Aneth turned and faced her husband, tears ran freely down her face. "Your lying. I can see it in your eyes. What is so bad that you can't tell me?"

What could Rogeth say. That his father thought that Mawreth was evil. That Rogeth thought that Mawreth was reforming. That The Kingdom could go to war at any minute. How about what Rogeth was really scarred for - that Mawreth was here to murder Aneth.

"Mark my words, she's plotted to kill you once. My fear is that she's going to try and kill Aneth next," Joleth's words echoed around Rogeth's head as they had ever since the night of the dinner. How could he tell Aneth this. How could he betray Mawreth like this. If his sister had reformed as she said then he would be doing a great injustice to her by telling Aneth about his father's fears.

Aneth just stared into Rogeth's eyes. Her anger, her pain and her sadness all very evident. Rogeth just stared back the silence between the couple deafening. Almost as if on cue Aneth turned away and headed for the stairs. Rogeth just stood there astounded. Mawreth had worked her ways and she had not even been there.

"You can get a servant to tidy up," Aneth shouted to Rogeth as she walked down the stairs. Rogeth looked down at the brightly coloured red and blue checked cloth, to him now it looked sour and grey. He walked away and decided to go to the work tower, the fifth tower, to try to find his friend Arron. He would get a servant to clear the picnic up.

Mawreth sat in her quarters alone. The shutters were closed and the room was dark. Mawreth sat cross legged on the bare stone floor starring at her hands. She knew what was going to happen and she knew how she was going to make sure it happened. Mawreth knew that she had to do it. Not only would it satiate her deep dark desires but it was the right thing, in her mind, to do.

Rogeth knocked on the heavy wooden door. This room was located in the work tower, the last tower in the outer circle. The Work tower was where most of the meetings and work took place. Most of the offices for the bureaucrats and other people who worked important jobs at the palace had offices here. Even Koflan worked here. Rogeth was not however visiting any of these people he was visiting Arron, one of his advisers and one of his closest friends. Rogeth had first met Arron when he was away at Klonkar University studying, the pair had made friends instantly and had stayed together throughout the rest of their time at university. When Rogeth had returned to the palace he had asked his father if he could employ Arron as his personal adviser during his time as a prince. Joleth had agreed and had been quite pleased that his son had made good friends. When Rogeth had become king Arron had become one of the royal advisers under the guidance of Koflan. Koflan knew that Rogeth went to Arron for advice over his head but he also knew that any official advise from Arron went through Koflan and the rest of the advising team first. Rogeth knocked on the door again. Maybe Arron was not there, then Rogeth thought about it and dismissed the thought, Arron never left his duties unless it was the end of the day and he was allowed to leave.

Rogeth thought about his argument with Aneth, he could speak to Arron about it for he was the only other person who knew what Joleth had said. Arron knew everything about Rogeth - everything. It was odd but Rogeth had told Arron everything about him in the first few weeks that they had known each other, the same had been true of Arron, the pair had just hit it off.

Suddenly a voice called out, "I'm busy, go away."

"To busy for a chat with your friend?"

"Yes," came the reply.

"To busy for a chat with King Rogeth the ruler of this kingdom and the man who pays your wages."

At that Rogeth heard shuffling and then the sound of something collapsing, mild cursing erupted from the room. Rogeth smiled, he knew exactly what state Arron's office would be in. The door was flung open and Arron stood there. Rogeth surveyed his friend, Arron was a full two years younger than at 27, his slim stature capped with a friendly face. Brown to fair hair and very dark brown eyes completed the picture.

"Come in," said Arron, "not that you'll be able to find a seat. If you just give me a minute though..." Arron's voice tailed off as he busied himself in tidying the room. There were piles of paper everywhere, books were falling out of every crevice in the room and a violin lay in one corner looking distinctly out of place. Rogeth suspected that Arron kept the instrument there for show and did not really know how to play it but he had been surprised by his friend many times before, very surprised indeed.

In a few minutes Arron had cleared the seat which sat in front of his desk. Rogeth picked his way carefully across the room and sat down. Arron walked behind the desk with expert precision. Rogeth noted that his friend did not even look down to stop himself from standing on anything for Arron knew from experience just where to put his feet.

After he was settled down in his chair Arron put his elbows on the desk and laid his chin on his hands. The two friends starred at each other across the desk. "Well?" asked Arron eventually. Rogeth and Arron stared at each other for another few moments then Arron spoke again, "you must have needed to talk to me bad if you pulled that, 'I'm the king' stunt on me."

Rogeth suddenly realising why he was here other than to spend time with his friend decided to come out with his problem. "Aneth and I had a fight."

Arron rolled his eyes then spoke, "get over it. All couples have a fight sooner or later. It's called sabotaging your success. It happens. Move on. NEXT." Arron called out the last word as though he was wanting to get onto something more interesting. Probably he had some juicy court gossip that he wanted to share with Rogeth and probably Arron was involved in the thick of it. As usual.

Rogeth could not let his friend steer the topic of conversation onto other things he had to let him know what was happening, "Mawreth's here."

That shocked Arron, his face turned to genuine concern then as usual he smiled to Rogeth and came out with a joke, "why am I always the last person to find out about these things?"

"This is serious."

"I know, I know." Arron's face was a picture of sincerity. Rogeth knew that the jokes were over and at last he could get down to telling Arron what he needed to tell him. "What does she want?"

"She says it's because of custom."

Arron forced a laugh out and shook his head in disbelief, "since when was your sister ever interested in custom. I mean it's not exactly customary to do what she did last time she was here. And now she goes and turns up out of the blue like this. She's got to have some other reason for this. Why else could she be here?"

"She seems genuine," Rogeth realised that he was defending his sister once again.

"As genuine as last time." Rogeth winced. The comment had struck home and he took the point. There was a moments silence between the pair then Arron spoke again, this time in a quieter, more subdued tone of voice, "what did she say?" Arron looked straight at Rogeth, straight into his eyes and at that Rogeth knew that Arron was not just asking a question but demanding an answer.

"Not much. she told me that she was here because of custom. Then she went and told me that she had spoken to Aneth..."

Arron interrupted Rogeth, he knew how serious this was, "oh no. That's bad."

Rogeth continued relating the events of his conversation with Mawreth, "she told me that Aneth had forgiven her. That she'd laid the blame on the vegetables."

"And then you went to speak to Aneth I presume," said Arron, hurrying the story along to its fateful conclusion.

"Aneth was upset. She told me that Mawreth had tricked her into forgiving her. All I could do was think about what my father had said last time Mawreth was here. Aneth had asked me what was wrong. But you know I can't tell her," Rogeth leaned forward as if pleading for his friend to understand.

Arron sighed and then leaned back in his chair. He sat there for a moment starring at Rogeth carefully considering his next words. "Who do you believe?"

"What?" asked Rogeth surprised.

Arron asked the question again but added more detail to it. "Who do you believe? Aneth or Mawreth. They've both told you that Aneth forgave Mawreth, but that's where their stories diverge."

"I believe Aneth," said Rogeth hastily.

Arron leaned forward, "you're eyes don't say that."

Rogeth sighed, Arron knew him better than anyone, better than Aneth. Rogeth knew that his friend could tell if he was feeling conflicted. "I don't know," Rogeth paused for a moment. "Mawreth never needed anyone's forgiveness before now. If she was truly wanting Aneth to forgive her then that means that she has reformed and she wouldn't want to trick Aneth into saying that she forgave her. But I can't deny what Aneth told me and she is my wife..."

Arron interrupted his friend again, "she may be your wife and queen of The Kingdom but she has human failings also. She hates Mawreth."

"I know but this is Aneth that we're speaking about. She's never lied to me before like this."

"But what have you been doing to her since the last time Mawreth was here?" It was said as a question but Rogeth knew that Arron was accusing his friend of lying to Aneth.

Rogeth shifted in his seat, he was beginning to feel uncomfortable as though he was being interrogated. Arron was his friend but he knew that his friend would also confront him if he felt Rogeth was being blind to any matter. "I can't tell her what my father said," whined Rogeth.

Arron's come back was a little to forceful but it made it's point, "you can and you have to."

Arron had shut down the matter with that one statement. Rogeth knew that it was futile discussing it any further, anyway he needed cheering up and Arron could do that well. The king sat back and looked at his adviser, "so what's the news going round the court?"

Arron immediately sat up and his face brightened, this was what Arron lived for - gossip. It is what made him such an expert adviser. "Well there's loads going on even with me, but I'll leave that till last." Arron clapped his hands together with excitement, "first, that new guard Tellar that I was speaking to you about last time," Rogeth nodded his head. "He has gone and got himself thrown in prison."

Rogeth sat up suddenly interested that one of his guards had been incarcerated, "what was the charge?"

"Starting a brawl or something," Arron seemed vague. "There's a couple of rumours I'm not too sure which one to believe. Then I heard," Rogeth watched his friend continuing on barely stopping for a breath, "that one of the cooks has been having an affair."

"Which one?"

"I don't know," Arron was genuinely disappointed at that. "But head cook's absolutely furious. His exact words were, "if the king finds out what your doing he'll throw you in prison just like Henta."

Rogeth was amused. The real story of why Henta had been locked away had never been made public. What was made public was only what Xena had told people - that her husband had been having an affair. Xena was kind enough not to reveal who the woman was. From that moment on married couples living in the palace had become afraid to do anything to endanger their marriages.

The king decided to move his friend onto the topic that Arron really wanted to talk about. "So what was the news involving you?"

"Well, you remember one of the other new guards that pointed out to you the other day," Arron paused as he thought about something. Rogeth looked at his friend for more information then he noticed a sudden realisation crossing his friends face. "You know I don't even know what his name was."

Rogeth looked at his friend shocked, he knew where this conversation was headed. It was at Klonkar University that Arron had first surprised his friend. Rogeth had thought it quite shocking when he found out that Arron was interested in anybody. Arron had been surprised at his friend and insisted to him that he enjoyed savouring all that life had to offer. Rogeth just accepted Arron's strange desires but that was not to say he was not still shocked by them. Shocked but oddly intrigued.

"Anyway, I managed to sneak him past Koflan and bundled the poor boy into my office. I always thought that your guards could handle anything. This boy however seemed positively surprised at his situation. I managed to bring him round though."

Rogeth watched his friend. He had ceased being shocked whenever Arron related a tale of his adventures. It brought his friend happiness and he could not deny him that Rogeth could see the sparkle in Arron's eyes as the memories of the previous day's exploits returned. He would have to have words with his friend about hiding people in the office right under Koflan's nose.

Outside the sun began to fade below the horizon and the wind began to pick up. Rogeth knew that he should really make a move soon but he was enjoying Arron's company too much to leave. He knew that Aneth would be getting ready for the evening meal, but he also knew that with Mawreth there there could be no peace as they ate.