"She has not awakened." The man who had appeared at Panna's door was now pacing back and forth at a furious rate on a lush red carpet. Already the work of his feet on the carpet could be seen as a small circle of depressed fibers.

"Calm down, Kema. Don't be so agitated," a man ordered from behind a large desk, "And stop that pacing. It's distracting."

Kema stopped in front of the other man, eyes burning.

"What's gotten into you? You have never been so disturbed by anyone or anything, much less a girl-child who has - as you so clearly stated just now - not awaken." His voice was stern and serious, reflected in his deep, dark eyes. His eyes were like bottomless pits, reflecting very little, seeming to absorb in everything that he saw without anything being revealed from within.

"My lord, I apologize," Kema said stiffly.

"That's better. Now tell me, what happened. It is rare that even you should be so ruffled. Something must have occured out of the ordinary."