Two women sat opposite each other, seated on soft divans, sipping tea. Both were relaxed as they drank the delicately-flavoured liquid.

Each set her cup down, and smiled at the other. A casual observer might well have been startled at this point, for each woman's face was a mirror for the other. Each had auburn hair and warm brown eyes, set in classic features. There, however, the similarities ceased. One was dressed in an elaborate blue tea-gown, reminiscent of the height of the English Empire, while the other wore an elegant black business suit, the red pinstripe on her blouse the only hint of colour in her clothing.

One more point of similarity revealed itself, as the black-clad woman leaned forward to set her cup down on the table. A small necklet fell forward from below her collar, a channel of fire-opals set in gold and suspended between two gold chains. An identical piece, set with milk opals, graced the neck of the woman in blue.

"I must say, I am surprised to see you here, Pyralis," the blue woman murmured gently. "Normally, we meet outside the Palace."

"But when we meet ouside the Palace, we meet as sisters," Pyralis returned, with a smile. "And, much as I love you, I am not here as your sister."

"That reminds me. How are our family?"

"The same as they ever were. Our brother is still a drunken wastrel who pays attention to nothing save what he can squeeze from the estates. Our mother still spends her life on her knees, praying for his salvation, oblivious to us. Which, considering the fact that if she ever learnt what you do for a living she'd have a heart attack, is probably a good thing. And our father is still the sadistic bastard he always was."

The Chatelaine's lip curled slightly. "He applied for membership here."

"Which unlucky Key did he buy?"

The Chatelaine smiled. "Unfortunately, no Keys were available when he applied."

Pyralis' own lips twitched. "How - unfortunate."

A man, carrying a tea set, unobtrusively entered the room. The two women fell silent as he quietly refilled their cups.

"Thank you, Lucas," the Chatelaine murmured. The man, dressed in blue, inclined his head. His posture suggested that he would have bowed, if he had not been carrying a tray full of delicate china. Pyralis smiled as she watched the quietly possessive look on her sister's face as her sister watched Lucas leave the room.

"So, you've finally taken a Key of your own," she commented, after the door closed behind him.

The Chatelaine lifted an eyebrow. "In a manner of speaking."

"Oh?"

"Lucas was unclaimed when he reached the age when we retire our Keys. He was able to perform certain tasks I found I needed done; and when I placed him in my retinue I found I appreciated his Key skills as well. He enjoyed the activities asked of a Key, so he appreciates the chance to continue to use those skills."

Pyralis lifted an eyebrow, but let her sister's unemotional tone pass. After all, she thought, I am the same. I, too, never display my own feelings - or admit to them.

"This leads me to my business here," she mentioned, after she took a sip of her tea. "I, too, would like to purchase a Key."

The Chatelaine frowned as she set her cup down. "That is a problem."

Pyralis sipped her tea again. "How so?"

"As you know, we train batches of Keys - a small group that we release as an event. We're currently between groups." The Chatelaine sipped at her tea pensively. "There are the abandoned Keys - but I do not think..." She shook her head. "No. I will record your interest, and add your name to the list of potential owners we keep, for the next batch."

Pyralis frowned. Abandoned Keys...? This sounded interesting. She was a successful businesswoman because she always pursued her curiosity, and now was no exception. "These abandoned Keys. Why do you refuse to offer them?"

The Chatelaine sighed. "Because the abandoned Keys have usually been abandoned for reasons. Either their personalities are unstable, their purchase involved conditions which no Owner could meet, or they have been so badly damaged by previous Owners that they can't handle the intimate contact being Owned demands."

Pyralis sipped her tea again. "Yet, with care, a damaged Key could be healed."

"Healed to accept the touch of one particular Owner," her sister refuted.

"I want a permanent Key, and I don't intend to share him," Pyralis stated. "As you don't intend to share your Lucas."

"Lucas is not a Key any more, and he is not available."

"No more will my Key be."

Still the Chatelaine hesitated. "They are not optimum Keys. As the Chatelaine, much less your sister, I can't recommend them."

"Tell me about them, and let me be the judge."

"There is the Thornwood Key. He is very quiet and obedient, but he keeps himself emotionally distant from his Owners, he's very skilled with his katana and has very low self esteem. His previous Owners have been frightened of his swords or frightened he's about to suicide."

Pyralis' lips twitched. "Nice, but somehow, I don't think he'd suit me."

The Chatelaine glanced at her sister's kodachi, sheathed in crimson silk, unhitched from about her hip and peacebonded with red ribbons. They lay on the sofa cushion beside their owner, looking as inoffensive as a pair of extremely sharp short swords with very worn hilts may. "Indeed," was her only comment. "The next is the Rowan Key. He was actually sold to us by his uncle, who wishes to retain control of exactly who may purchase his nephew."

"What a loving guardian!"

"He sees the boy as an asset to buy alliances and favours with." The Chatelaine's voice was very dry. "In the meantime, he is technically our property." Her lips thinned. "I did not approve his purchase."

Pyralis sipped from her cup. "So why was he purchased?" she enquired mildly.

Her sister's face very carefully blanked. "Because I do not yet own the Palace." The yet was very carefully un-emphasised.

"And I would not meet the uncle's requirements?"

"More that you would not offer him anything that he might buy with the boy," the Chatelaine replied.

"Very well. Who else?"

"The Crystal Key, the Sapphire Key and the Fire Opal Key."

Pyralis sat up straight. "The Fire Opal Key?"

"He's a tenshi*, and he was very badly damaged by his first Owner. We healed him to the best of our ability, but he was very emotionally fragile and he wasn't able to fly anymore. His second Owner took one look at him, left the room, and then asked for a refund on the Key. We tried to keep that fact from him, but it became the subject of rumour and he found out. It affected him badly. I've managed to persuade the rest of the management of the Palace to keep him, but only because he simply cannot handle the outside world."

Pyralis smiled. "That's my Key."

The Chatelaine lifted an eyebrow. "Are you sure? He's going to be almost impossible to handle without permanent injury. On his part. I don't care that you're my sister, I will lock his Owner into a permanent contract. You'll never be able to leave him."

"I'll accept that. If he's mine, I will not let him go."

The Chatelaine shook her head. "If you're sure..."

"I am."

She sighed. Well, if she's so certain and she's got the money, I can't refuse her... "Then let's go get the papers so you can go to your Key."

Chyan squinted at the printed page and then at the oven timer. "'Bake for ten minutes exactly, then serve immediately'," he muttered. The oven timer went off, and in one smooth, practised motion he swooped up his baking tongs, pulled open the oven door, snagged the souffle cups and gently deposited them on the granite bench that sat beside the oven. "Ta-dah! Chyan's magnificent Grand Marnier souffle* is ready!" he announced to the empty room.

"Oh good, I'm starving," a warm contralto voice said behind him.

Chyan stiffened. His torn wing began to jiggle with shock. Slowly he turned to face the beautiful woman who stood in the doorway of his kitchen.

She was slightly shorter than he, and Chyan felt his heart crack as he looked at her, because she was perfect. Her form was perfectly proportioned, her clothing elegant and tasteful, and her face both charming and lovely. She was fine and he was anything but. And, poking out of her top breast pocket, was an ornately crafted key, set with fire-opals. He felt his stomach twist as he recognised it.

"Come, sit down and let me taste your cooking. I'm sure I'll like it, you were concentrating too hard to hear me in the other room!" she smiled. Chyan frowned as he looked down. To not hear his new Owner as she entered!

Silently Chyan brought the two desserts over to the bench where his new Owner sat, handing her a warmed spoon.

"I'm Pyralis," she said, then took a mouthful of the souffle. "And this is good!"

"Thank you, Milady Pyralis," Chyan murmured. And, for the first time in longer than he knew, smiled.

TBC

1. "Tenshi" - Japanese, literally "heavenly spirit" ("ten", meaning "heaven", "shi" meaning "spirit" with the connotations "non-human" and "powerful"), popularly interpreted as "angel" (but without the connotation of "good" the English noun bears). In this fic, the word will be used to designate humans who have been genetically engineered or modified to have wings and angelic attributes.

2. Chyan's Magnificent Grand Marnier Souffle:

Ingredients
3 eggs
90g sugar
1tb Grand Marnier liquor
Icing sugar
sugar
melted butter

Materials
1 set measuring spoons
1 pastry brush
3 mixing bowls
1 electric beater with balloon whisk attachment
1 mixing implement (wooden spoon, etc)
1 oven
2 souffle cups

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius
2. Paint inside of souffle cups with melted butter, and then coat buttered surface with sugar.

Procedure
1. Separate the egg yolks from the whites, and place each into a separate mixing bowl.
2. Start beating the egg whites with the electric beater on ‘medium'.
3. When the egg whites are frothy, add the 90g of sugar and start beating with the beater on ‘fast'.
4. While that's going on, add the tablespoonful of Grand Marnier to the egg yolks and mix in.
5. When the whites-and-sugar mix is thick and forming soft peaks (NOT stiff), stop beating it and then add it to the yolks-and-Grand-Marnier mix. Mix thoroughly.
6. Pour the mixture into the prepared souffle cups, right to the brim.
7. Bake in the preheated oven for ten minutes.
8. Dust top of souffle with icing sugar and serve immediately. Best served with a vanilla sauce.