Lisa felt the lives of everyone she had ever known, her whole world swirl through her body. This was it, what she had been bred and born for. Her Duty.

And she wanted more.

This child would be alone, as she had been. Marcus had been nearly fully grown by the time she was born. None of the King's other children had chosen to live in the City. Or had died in the hundreds of battles fought with Shayton and each other.

She wanted more for her child. More than to just be a tool for the planet to use. She felt new life start to quicken in her. Her child. Then she felt the chance of another spark. There could be two children! But it was forbidden! The godChild must hold all power!

No. It was not fair. No child must have the whole Fate of a people in her hands. Lisa let the other spark catch. It would be a child, too, powerful, but unfettered by the rules of Fate.

And it would die. Lisa knew what would happen if she rebelled like this, the child would never Survive past its Naming.

Unless...

She could not bear another child, but Melinski could. She could give the child to her, now, while the power of all her people was in her. The woman had raised almost every royal on this planet. She was the Carer. She would hold Lisa's son within her and keep him safe, train him well, and when the time was right, he could help his sister.

The thoughts flew to Melinski and the deed was done. The spark now caught within Melinski, not Lisa. Lisa felt a sadness flow through her. She would never be able to raise either one of these children. But she would watch them.

She let the power sweep her thoughts away.

Head sat in the chamber, almost as carved as the wooden walls around her. And as old. Older, she could remember these walls being built. The Council chambers, the Shaytonians' first experiment with government that went beyond 'Might Makes Right'. Not too far beyond she had to admit, but it was a start.

Last night, the step towards the godChild was taken. This next step would be something very different. She lifted her gaze to see a woman enter the Hall. She held out her hands, "Melinski."

The woman stepped forward to take her hands and kiss them lightly. "Head, you summoned me?"

"Yes, I have a use for your son."

Melinski started. "But my son is barely conceived. Surely you could have no plans yet."

Head gave a slow smile. "Well, we will call him your son, you will carry him, birth him, raise him. That is close enough." Melinski and Lisa had been fools to think that she would not realize what they had done.

"What do you want him to do?" Melinski asked, obviously knowing the futility of denying anything.

"I wish him to Survive. I will give his birth tacit approval, but he must not appear in the public consciousness beyond that."

Melinski nodded. "Why would he?"

Head tilted her head to look at her friend. Melinski was younger than herself, well so was everyone, but she was the closest thing she had to a friend. That friendship had caused the delay while Head wrestled with her conscience. She had to be sure her plans were for the good of Shayton, not just her friend. "Your son will one day be the Demonchild, his destiny set, just as the godChild has her own destiny."

Melinski's hands flew to her stomach. "Demon, but..."

"Both sides of the coin need to be there. His birth allows for uncertainty, but not, I think, danger for Shayton. He does not have the controls placed upon him that the godChild will. This is not necessarily a bad thing."

Melinski looked shocked. Head realized Melinski had never thought of her being capable of saying the words 'I think' in her life. As Head, she had always been careful to portray the image that she 'knew'.

"You take a risk." Melinski spoke with warning in her voice.

Head nodded. "I know, as did you and Lisa. But the time is right. We crave control, we who live on a world of constant change. But control is not always the right way. I feel the need to ensure that if the godChild fails, we have another."

"Another?"

"Your son is to have a son. He will give us a fail safe."

Melinski nodded. That made sense. Any plan must have fail-safes. "But why should my son be noticeable?" The thought obviously worried her. Being noticed here meant being killed unless you were strong enough.

"Lisa shared the power of the crystal with both of her children. Your son will have the old abilities. He will not change and flow as we do to adjust to Shayton's moods. He will be a magic user, not a shapechanger."

Only Head's calm tone kept Melinski from reacting. A magic user! One of the Old. She shared her people's instinctive horror of the old ways. Magic had destroyed their old world, forcing this shard, and the few that survived, into this dimension. Here their bodies had learned to change, to feed off the blood of others, to shift shape to survive a world where desert could become ocean in minutes. But to use magic. It was forbidden...and wrong.

Head allowed Melinski a few moments, then continued. "He will still need the blood of others to feed from, but not as often. He will also be able to draw power from the earth itself. He is new, a hybrid of the old and the new."

"New often gets you killed."

Head nodded. "But old does not survive forever." She gave a wry grin of self-depreciation. "Teach him to hide his gifts. He must seem like any other male, unpowered and impotent. When it is time, you may lead him to where he can prove he is not. "