ocking it with her foot, Methea half hoped the box would fall to pieces, a mirage in the mist, a joke on her sleepy morning eyes. When it didn't, she bent down and dug the box out of the kelp and weed.

Bright blue paint showed between the encrusted sea life. Occasional flecks of gold traced the locking runes along the sides. Turning the box round and round she wondered why it had come to her? Methea raised it to her brow. As a Color Master, she could focus on any object to read its past.

A dark night, a young woman, a trainee not yet able to read the runes or see inside. She snatches the box. Runs, hiding her prize in her clothes, ties it to her belly like a baby in the womb. A ship tossed by storm, rigging torn. The box small but heavy enough to carry its thief to her death. Someone Methea knew, Bettal, from their home keep.

"Damn the Power!" Methea weighed the box in her hand measuring the distance she could toss it back into the stormy water. But in the end, she couldn't leave Bettal's spirit trapped in the box on the ocean floor.

"What? What did you find?" The excited voice of her student brought Methea back to present time. She watched her trainee, Elle, scamper across the beach strewn with rotting kelp. "What is it?" Elle reached her, breathless. Her eyes widened as if to see the box from all sides at once. Methea felt her heart lighten as the flare and flicker of bright colors passed across the girl's aura.

"A curse box." Methea said. She held it out enough for Elle to see but not in a way for her to take it.

"It's cursed?" Elle breathed.

"See the runes? What do they say?"

"They're mostly worn off. It's hard..." Pointing to one she named it, "This is power." Methea moved the box to show another side. "Here's crystal. It's a power crystal?" Methea let her take the box to feel the weight. "Feels like it might be, it's heavy!" Elle looked around as if seeking more treasure in the debris. "How could a power crystal be lost here?"

"Look closer," Methea said. She pointed at the curse under the runes.

"Oh!" Elle held the box this way and that. "You know, when it was new you wouldn't have seen these. They've become a different color blue now that the sea water has been on them. What is it for?"

"It's a trap for those who steal power," Methea answered.

Elle handed back the box. "What do we do?"

"There's something about this, something more. Why should it wash up here?" Methea could never deny a cry for help. The presence of the box was a plea that echoed to her very core. However, the thought of a long quest to battle a master over Bettal's foolishness did not kindle her excitement as it would have before she found Rabrnryee. "I'll need a boat. If I can find the wreck and some remains maybe I can learn where she got the box..."

"My brother," Elle offered, interrupting her thoughts.

"What?"

"My brother has a boat."

"Good! Ask him if he might take me out tomorrow morning."

Looking back along the shore, Methea scanned the ragged cliff. The cozy fishing village hugged the ridge and the terraced hills behind. Above the cove topping the steepest section stood the Master's keep, its dark stone towers built from the black volcanic stone below.

Methea had only recently begun teaching at the Rabrnryee Keep. Finished with the many years of training in the master's skills, she'd needed to journey no longer in search of power. She'd sought a home. And Rabrnryee had welcomed her.

Coming upon Rabrnryee, Methea had found the keep in need of a Color Master, a skill for which she held renown. They gave her the upper back tower, where the sea rumbled and bird cries carried through her rooms. In the early mornings she gathered seaweeds and herbs. During the day she taught the power of crystals, how to shape the infinite variety of stones and enhance their power. In the evenings she and Vardar, the Green Master, healed the villagers and tended the women.

Rabrnryee was far different than the keep Methea had been raised in. Taken as a child when her talent became known, she had served the Masters who used their young students by channeling their powers and teaching the skills grudgingly. Her abilities gave her the strength to protect herself and learn by example as readily as by lesson. She escaped and followed the Master's quest from keep to keep learning and mastering the Color powers. While the power channels in Rabrnryee were weaker than most, the Masters who gathered here came to heal, teach, and learn. They taught their students to protect themselves first, and did not allow channeling.

"Methea! Methea!" A figure waved from the cliff top.

"Who's that?" Elle asked. A native of the village, she knew all the villagers and Keep folk.

The real reason the box is here, thought Methea. She felt her energy quake as she watched a man make his way down the trail to the beach. Tall wide shouldered, the man's elegance radiated out to them even at the distance. Closer he lowered the hood of his travel cloak and revealed pale hair and a fine shaped jawline that mirrored the masculine side of Methea's family.

"The smell here. It's worse then the sewer!" the man exclaimed as he kicked through the drifts of seaweed. Methea struggled to hold her energy calm, to not let the roils of colors surface on her aura.

"Tehmal. What brings you to Rabrnryee?" she asked.

"Dear Methea, it's been too long. I was on my way to Cenrbarry Keep to train under their Color Master when I heard my sister is Color now, and at Rabrnryee." Tehmal spoke to Elle as much as to Methea. The young girl stood mouth open. She gaped at the shifting and flickering aura of the Blue Master. Unlike the calm of Methea's Color mastery, he threw out a dangerous energy.

Methea turned to her trainee, "We're done here Elle. Take the bags up to the keep." She handed hers to the girl. Reluctantly, Elle moved away.

"You know Tehmal we've tried this before, I can't train you," Methea said, turning back to her brother.

"Methea, Methea, you won't share with your brother?" Tehmal used his most guilt inducing intonation.

"You and I can see you're not ready for Color."

"Well, at least let us have a visit before I move on."

"A short visit Tehmal. You'll see Rabrnryee has few channels to exploit and less patience with exploiters."

"Methea, you're so talented. How can you be so selfish with your own brother?"

"Do you remember Bettal?" Methea asked, eyeing him for the expected colors. She had learned long ago to watch his aura, not his carefully controlled face.

"Yes Bettal. She was from our home keep. Wasn't she?"

"You and she were close in those days."

"So long ago."

"Tell me how Bettal might have gotten her spirit trapped in this box?" Methea pulled the box from her pocket.

"Oh, I knew you'd find it." Tehmal reached for it, but Methea slid the box back into her pocket out of sight.

"Who trapped her here?"

"Methea, give me the box. We worked so hard to get it and poor Bettal paid such a great price."

"Who made the trap Tehmal? It's made to destroy, not add to your power."

"Methea, we suffered so under that mad man. He put his prize crystal in this box, just to taunt us. We succeeded though. We got the crystal out of the keep and now the power's ours, or mine, now Bettal's dead. But I'll share it with you, Methea. Give me the box."

Methea focused her power to search her brother for the name, but his protection was strong and he wouldn't let her penetrate.

"We can't take it back!" Tehmal shouted in frustration.

"You would leave Bettal trapped and maybe become trapped yourself?"

"I'll take good care of her spirit. We were so close," Tehmal pleaded.

"Tehmal, that master tricked you into believing he put a power crystal in the box. It contains only the trap."

"I saw him. I know."

"I'm not going to give you the box. I'm going to find out who created it and take it back to have Bettal released."

"You'll let me help you? Won't you?"

"How are you helping me when you won't tell me who?"

"Well, I'll wait then. You have no use for the box. You're too powerful. It doesn't mean anything to you. When you get tired of it, you can give it to me."

#

By that evening Tehmal had made introductions to the keep, and been given quarters. The masters were soon making uneasy remarks about his influence on the students.

Methea set the box on her object shelf. Using her scrying tools she studied it. Still, the box kept its secret.

The Color Master was somewhat surprised when Elle tapped at her door and reported that her brother would come around in the morning to take her out on his boat. So Methea set her tools aside to rest and woke only in time. She plaited her long pale hair into a tight braid then She dug out the fisherman's clothes she kept for such work and covered all with her Master's cloak against the cool morning air. She slipped out the door anxious to get the quest done.

When Methea came out of the tower Elle and her brother were already waiting at the bottom landing. Methea recognized the family in the sturdy dark haired man who stood with her student. She had expected a younger brother instead of this bearded one with sun creased eyes looking nearly as old as she.

The colors that surrounded him were strong, though a flicker of concern sparked here and there. Her attention was drawn to dark green eyes with flecks of golden fire. Gazing at his eyes made her aware he was studying her aura as well. He took her in quickly; his colors remained steady in spite of any alarming discoveries he may have made. His name was Daniel, she heard Elle say. Though Daniel had not yet spoken, Methea knew she liked him, taking in the strong build, and work worn hands.

"Methea!" Tehmal's musical voice carried across the yard. "You can't possibly be serious," he trumpeted as he reached them. His manners and charm radiated at an alarming high so early in the day.

"Tehmal, Methea's brother," Elle whispered to Daniel.

"Have you remembered then?" asked Methea. Tehmal sighed deeply and held out his hands in exasperation. Methea turned and came down the steps. "When I find the wreck, I can read what happened."

"Then I'll come with you," Tehmal called as he started after her. Methea stopped. She could imagine the hours spent with Tehmal weaseling and whining for the box. She looked at Daniel and noticed he had strengthened his protection.

Taking it as his cue Daniel shook his head, "I can take only one of you." Methea nodded and walked on down the yard to the gate. She was relieved to find only Daniel followed her out of the keep.

The road they walked skirted the cliff edge. Gradually the road turned inland enough that a small broken down hut stood forgotten between it and the cliff. A low wall traced out the small land holding. Beyond, mist clung down in the cove. Daniel had caught up and matched Methea's stride.

"Elle says that Tehmal is your brother?" Daniel asked, "She's quite taken with him."

"He has a gift for that."

"He doesn't have intentions toward her does he?" Daniel growled out the question as if to make his sister safe by asking.

Methea stopped. She looked closely at Daniel. "Tehmal will use up anything or anyone who comes close to him. Oh, he would not intentionally hurt Elle, he just takes all that he can until there's nothing left. Unless she remembers her training and protects herself that is."

Methea shifted uneasily, feeling as if she had given too much out. Hoping to change the subject Methea noticed the abandoned hut. The low wall had sheltered a garden. The surviving plants hinted that it had once been filled with vegetables, flowers, and herbs.

"I've always wondered about this house," Methea said as she walked to the low yard wall. "Why is it abandoned?"

"The Widow Klam's house? When she died no one claimed it. They say it's too small for a family these days," Daniel explained.

"Too small? It's perfect. I'd love to have a house like this. And the garden, see she had all the herbs. Here," Methea leaned in and pulled off a leaf, "smell this." The aroma floated on the morning air. "You did well back there. Your protection was strong. You've had training?"

"When I was young, I studied at the keep."

While scrutinizing him, Methea said, "You have a lot of ability, maybe more than Elle. You didn't want to continue?"

"I wanted to fish," Daniel answered.

"What does your wife think of your fishing, when you could be a Master?" She saw the sparks fly across his colors.

"No wife."

"No? I would think your mother would have found you a good wife long ago."

"My boat's too small. The wives want a large house. Can't do that fishing alone, need a crew. I like to fish alone. Why do you need to find the wreck?"

"Tehmal and Bettal stole a box they believed held a power crystal. Bettal died while taking it and her spirit is trapped in the box. If I can find who created the trap, I can get her free."

"Tehmal knows who?" Daniel asked.

"He won't tell and I can't read it out of him."

"Sounds like the girl got what she deserved..."

"She wouldn't have taken it if Tehmal hadn't made her do it," Methea answered, startling herself with her rush of emotion.

"Oh," Daniel nodded, "so you're picking up after your brother." Daniel's eyes widened at Methea's effort to control her colors. He struggled with an amused smile at her reaction. Methea wasn't used to fishermen reading her. Her anger control smoothed out her colors so well Daniel stepped back. "You're not going to turn me into a toad or something?" he asked.

"It's not just Tehmal!" Methea snapped. Turning, she strode to the low wall at the cliff edge. Daniel followed. "That master created a trap for them, a vicious, deadly trap. He can't even channel their power if he doesn't have the box. It's just evil, evil and cruel."

"And you'll get her free and make him pay?" Daniel asked.

"I'm the only one strong enough."

"What if the master won't let her out? You'll kill him?"

"If I kill him she'll never get out." Visions of a desperate quest welled up before Methea.

"Is that what you want?"

Methea sank down on the wall, her back to the cliff edge, the towers of the keep barely visible in the distance. Fog roiled up from the cove. Daniel stared out into the mist. Stroking his beard he said softly, "Do you think there's a reason Tehmal won't tell who?" Frowning, Methea shook her head at the new idea. "Maybe the box isn't a trap, maybe it's revenge. If the Master is already dead, you can't take it back."

Methea brushed the pocket where she had stored the box the day before.

Empty!

Her mind raced. She stared blankly, eyes wide, mouth open mid gasp. Then she pictured the box sitting on her object shelf, forgotten in her morning rush.

"The box," she choked out. She turned to the keep and focused on her room in the tower. Even now she could see Elle and Tehmal finding the box.

"Elle!" Methea jumped to her feet. The air around her suddenly began to glitter. Daniel stepped back as she shimmered and winked out.

Tehmal turned at Methea's shimmery emergence in the center of the tower room. He held the box protectively.

"Methea," he smiled. "It's mine Methea."

As she became complete Methea checked Elle. Totally in thrall to Tehmal's channeling, the girl stood motionless facing them. Her expression of adoration filled her every atom.

"Tehmal, read the inscription. See for yourself it's not a power crystal. It's a trap," Methea pleaded.

"No! I saw him put the crystal in here." Tehmal shook his head.

"Tehmal, can we take it back?" Methea asked.

"He was a mad man. I tell you, worse, worse than any from our home keep. He would have enslaved us completely and never shown us a thing. At least this makes up for it." Tehmal lifted the box.

Methea raised her hand, "Wait." Tehmal looked frightened, well aware she could take it if she wanted.

"Tehmal, let Elle go."

Tehmal blinked as if he'd forgotten the girl.

"You don't need her. You have the box. I won't take it from you. Let her go."

"She has a lot of ability." Tehmal considered, never having let his channelings free before he'd used them up. Then deciding, "Of course, for the box." He dropped the cords holding Elle. The girl shrugged as if coming awake. She looked around confused, not sure how she had come to this place. Methea stepped closer to Elle, building a protection that covered herself and the girl.

"You see I know the unlocking words. You didn't need the old fool for that," Tehmal chatted away.

"Please Tehmal. Don't open it. It's a trap you may suck us all into."

"Oh don't worry, the box can only hold one spirit at a time. See? I did see the Master make it," Tehmal assured her. Below them, Methea could hear Daniel rushing up the tower stairs.

Tehmal moved to the center of the room. Methea stood before Elle near the door. Smiling, Tehmal held the box for them to see. Daniel pulled the door wide; his body filled the opening. Methea raised her protection to the limits of her strength. Daniel raised his to aid her and Elle found hers at last.

Tehmal stood absorbed in his moment. Holding the box to his lips, he spoke the words. His hands trembled as he tried the lid.

It lifted easily.

A sharp searing light poured from the box, bursting out. enveloping Tehmal's face and head instantly. His expression of ecstatic joy faded, replaced with the awareness of betrayal. A low moan escaped his throat at first, then rose to a howl of pain and fear. A portion of the light streaked down across the floor toward Methea. The force struck her protection and blasted into fiery bolts that ricocheted, scorching every time they touched down in the room. Thunder shook the tower.

Tehmal began convulsing, hopping and running around the room as if to escape a deadly swarm of bees. Shrieking and flapping his arms he came at last to the open window. In a final effort to escape, he leaped head first to the volcanic rocks below.

The deadly energy followed him to the ground but then started back up the tower.

Slowly Methea forced it down. Pulling all her resources and feeling Daniel and Elle following her movements she pushed the power back to the box. When most had been forced in, a cloud remained as if too much to fit.

"Methea," a voice called. The cloud shaped into a dark haired girl.

"Bettal," Methea whispered. They felt the cloud girl help force the box closed. Once the box was shut tight, Bettal was gone.

The room became quiet. Methea approached the box slowly. Lifting it carefully, she whispered the locking words. She stood cradling the box, rocking back and forth.

Elle peered down from the window at the crumpled body in the rocks.

With tears running freely, Methea looked at Daniel, "Is this what I wanted?" She asked.

Daniel stood before her, his hands on her shoulders. He waited till she looked into his eyes. "You wanted Tehmal safe and the rest of us safe from Tehmal, you wanted Bettal's spirit free, and you wanted to stay in Rabrnryee."

Methea gave a soggy laugh. "Now if we can clear the widow's garden and plant it, I'll have everything."

"We can do that." Daniel assured her.

Copyright 2000 Suzanne Driggs
Illustration: Susannah Bandish