"An interesting thought. The luck of the day to you, Sariana. I'll see you at the ball." "Luck to you, Etion, and thank you very much for your gracious proposal. I give you my word I will

think about it."

"Do that, Sariana."

Sariana turned away with a last smile and found herself doing exactly as Etion had asked. She thought about his businesslike, practical and eminently rational proposal for a marriage alliance. He was right, she knew. If she was fated to be stranded in this strange land for the rest of her life, Etion would make a most suitable marriage partner for her. They had a great deal in common - including their exile.

Strangely enough, she found herself more disturbed by Rakken's proposal than she ought to have been. Not because accepting it would mean giving up on her dreams to go home, but precisely because it had been such a businesslike, practical and reasonable offer of marriage.

It was ridiculous, but she found herself wishing there had been a little more emotion attached to Etion's offer. She would like to have felt he wanted her for more personal reasons man because they had business interests in common.

Sariana sighed. She had definitely been living in Serendipity too long if she was starting to think along such lines. Every young woman of a high ranking eastern clan in any social class knew that marriage was not a matter of emotion. It was first and foremost a business arrangement.

Even as Sariana administered the brisk little lecture to herself the bright morning sky suddenly clouded over. Lightning flared and thunder rolled. The warm summer shower caught her three blocks from the Avylyns' front door.

Sariana shook her head philosophically as the rain drenched her hair and clothing. The shower was typical of life in Serendipity. Unpredictable.

Gryph Chassyn closed the door of his new sleeping chamber and started down the long hall that led toward the central hub of the Avylyns' villa. His new quarters were definitely a cut above his old ones which were located in a far less affluent part of town. He decided the fringe benefits of this new job were going to be pleasant.

He wondered what Lady Sariana Dayne would say when she found out he had just been assigned a suite near her own apartments. Gryph had a hunch she would not be pleased. Lucky for him Lord and Lady Avylyn were far more intimidated by a Shield than they were of their business manager. That morning Gryph had asked for the rooms and he had gotten them, no questions asked.

He emerged from the long wing into the central hall of the villa just as a young blond-haired boy came racing into the hall from the workshop wing. Gryph didn't need to see the boy's dark eyes to know he was about to meet the Avylyns' youngest son.

Luri Avylyn was clutching a small cage of elaborately designed gold wire as he dashed across the wide, circular hall. His attention was focused on the small creature inside the cage and he almost collided with Gryph. Less than a meter away he came to an abrupt halt and automatically began a proper, if hasty, apology without looking up. He was too obviously fascinated by the contents of the cage.

"Your pardon, sir, I was on my way into the guest wing. I didn't see you." "No harm done," Gryph said easily. "What have you got in the cage?"

Luri raised his head excitedly. "It's a present for Lady Sariana. Do you know her?" Then his dark Avylyn eyes grew very wide as he realized who was standing in front of him. "You're the Shield, aren't you? Bryer said one had been hired to protect the jewelry that will be on display the night of the ball. I'm Luri."

Gryph nodded and crouched down in front of the boy to examine the cage. "The luck of the day to you, Luri. You say this is to be a present for Sariana? It's a scarlet-toe, isn't it?"

"That's right. Do you think she'll like it? It took me days and days to catch one. I finally found this one in the gardens down by the river."

Luri held out the gold filigree cage. The small, brilliant red lizard inside bunked its scarlet eyes at Gryph.

"That's a very handsome scarlet-toe," Gryph said as he admired the lizard. "Uh, do you happen to know whether or not Sariana likes lizards?"

Luri shook his head impatiently. "She's never had one. In fact, I don't think she's ever had any pets. The people of the eastern provinces are quite strange, you know."

"So I've heard." Gryph grinned at the boy.

Luri automatically responded with a wide smile and then curiosity got the better of him. "Are you really a Shield?"

"I'm a Shield in the same way that you are a Jeweler."

Luri's chin lifted slightly with pride. "My specialty is going to be gemology. When I'm grown up I will be in charge of buying the uncut stones our craftsmen use in their work."

"Sounds like a good profession," Gryph said seriously. "Bryer's an expert in fine metals."

Gryph nodded as he studied the scarlet lizard.

Luri shifted from one foot to the other, still clutching the cage carefully. His eyes darted-down to the weapon kit attached to Gryph's belt. Then he drew a deep breath and blurted out his next question.

"Is it true that no one can open a Shield's weapon kit except the Shield himself?" Gryph glanced up and saw the breathless fascination in the boy's eyes. "That's not quite true," he

explained quietly. "There is one other person who can open a Shield's kit."

Luri's dark eyes grew wider. "Who?"

"A Shield's lady can open the kit. She is the only other person on the face of the planet who can unseal the prisma lock."

"Do you have a lady?" Luri demanded.

Gryph shook his head. "Not yet." "Are you going to get one?"

"If my luck holds."

Luri chewed on his lower lip. "Are you sure you couldn't teach me how to open the kit?" Gryph laughed and rose to his feet. He ruffled the boy's bright blond hair with a friendly hand. "I'm

afraid not."

"But if you can't teach me or anyone else how to do it, how will you teach a wife?" "Every social class has its secrets, Luri. You know that. The way we teach our wives to open our

weapon kits is a Shield secret."

Luri nodded seriously, well aware of the inviolable laws that protected such secrets. He sought for a way around the problem. "Can you show me what's inside?"

"Maybe," Gryph said thoughtfully. "Maybe I will do that one of these days when the time is right."

"Why does the time have to be right?"

"It just does. That's all."

"Oh." Luri considered his words and then decided to try another angle. "If you won't show me what's inside the weapon kit will you at least tell me some good tales of bandit fighting?"