Dinner ended, the evening's speakers did their thing, and a number of awards were given out to outstanding Mages, Theurgists, Guardians, and so on. I hadn't the slightest idea what the awards of excellence were for, but I applauded with the rest of the audience. Nora scooted over to sit next to me, softly giving me a brief resume on each winner, and by the end of the banquet I felt a little more as if I was getting a handle on the whole Other-world thing.

That feeling withered into a dusty little ball and blew away with the arrival of the Otherworld police force—in the form of Monish and my friend the happy Diviner.

"Aisling, it is with much regret that I must act in my official capacity as Uau-dela officer of the watch and speak with you regarding the deaths of two Guardians," Monish said as everyone in the ballroom gathered up their things to leave. "If you have a short amount of time now, we can conduct the necessary interview."

Marvabelle snickered. Monish's chocolate-brown eyes flickered to her before returning to me.

"Oh," I said, feeling less than brilliant. "You're the watch? That's like police?"

Monish nodded and gestured toward a silent (but smug-looking) Paolo. "There are seven of us. Paolo and I were asked to take this detail since we had met you earlier. The L'au-dela committee felt it was to your benefit to be questioned by someone you knew."

"That was nice of them," I said, suddenly nervous. I hadn't done anything wrong, and heaven knew I'd been grilled by the real police for hours concerning my relationship with both Guardians, but the worst the police could do was detain me. I had a feeling the immortal version of the police had a lot worse things they could do. Sure, we can talk now, although I'd appreciate it if you can keep it as short as possible. I have an important function to go to in a little less than an hour,"

Under Nora's watchful—and Marvabelle's anticipatoriry gleeful—eyes, the two men escorted me to a small Meeting room off the main conference hall. I was half expecting Paolo to trot forth some comment about my threat to take care of him earlier, but he said nothing about that. In fact, he said nothing to me at all, merely nodding whenever Monish explained something or made a pertinent point. It was a bit of a letdown, to be honest. I figured he would hit me with at least one "You will find yourself in deep, deep trouble" prediction.

Not that I believed I wasn't already in that state.

"You must first allow me to give you a warning, what is called a statement of obligation," Monish said as soon as he seated me at one end of one side of the long table. Paolo and he sat across from me, both men opening black leather portfolios. I tried hard not to peek at what they had there. "Simply stated, it says that you recognize the authority of the L'au-dela watch and you place yourself under our jurisdiction. Whatever punishment is deemed appropriate by the watch will be duly carried out with your full acceptance."

"Punishment?" I said, clearing my throat when my voice came out husky and strained. "What sort of punishment? And why am I going to be punished? I haven't done anything wrong. I didn't have anything to do with the two Guardians' deaths—"

Monish held up a hand to stop me. "I did not say you will be punished. I said merely that if that action is deemed necessary by the watch and the committee, you will agree to abide by such a decision."

I took a deep breath. "And what if I don't agree to recognize the authority of you or the committee?"

Monish's hands rested flat on the table. Paolo looked bored. "Then you will be ejected from the L'au-dela. You will not be allowed to participate with any members of the society, nor will be you recognized as a Guardian."

"Ah." I gnawed on my lower lip, thinking it over. Surely there must be some non-official Guardians? People had recognized me as one from the time I first set foot in the Otherworld sphere, and I hadn't know anything about the society. Perhaps if I went my own way, I would be left in peace..

"Removal from the L'au-dela is a serious matter, Aisling. It means that all the society will be closed to you. You will receive no training, no help, have no recourse to information if you choose to not recognize its authority. I urge you to think carefully before you decide to take such an irreversible and devastating course of action." Monish's face was carefully impassive, but I paid heed to the warning in his soft, lilting voice.

It looked like I had no choice in the matter at all. Either I could recognize the Otherworld leadership and play by their rules, or I wouldn't be allowed to play at all. I could always say no and just go off to be Drake's mate, but I wouldn't be happy doing that. I wanted to be a Guardian, I wanted to be valued for myself, because I had value and skills and importance of my own, not just because my chromosomes meshed well with Drake's.

I swallowed back my worry and no little amount of fear and nodded. "All right. I recognize your authority."

Monish relaxed into the soft leather chair, a tiny smile flickering across his lips before he became serious again. "Good. Regarding the two Guardians, you will please explain what your meetings with them consisted of and how you came about selecting them as potential mentors."

The next twenty minutes were spent going over the same ground I'd covered with the Budapest police—how I came to be at the conference (although the BP police had no idea about the true scope of the conference, viewing us more or less as harmless crackpots), why I was searching for a mentor, and what had led me to talk to Moa and Theodora, By the time Paolo had fetched coffee for all three of us, my throat was dry, but I was fairly relaxed and confident. This was nothing worse than the grilling I'd undergone with the police.

That thought evaporated quickly.

"Very well. Your information matches what you told the police," Monish said as I took a sip of the coffee Paolo set before me. I thanked him, but he didn't say anything, just resumed his seat next to Monish, his pen in hand as he made occasional notes. "Now we come to the point of this meeting."

"The point?" I asked, surprised. "I assumed the point was finding out how I had met the Guardians. You can't imagine I have anything to do with their deaths! The police inspector said the preliminary examinations showed that the women died in their sleep."

Monish inclined his head. "That is so, but we in the L'au-dela are better qualified than the mortal police to judge the origins of questionable deaths. The two Guardians did, indeed, die in their sleep, but we believe they were murdered."