Cir stared at his old friend, dumbfounded. Not that he hadn’t visited Lanven before , and quite often, but he never before… stumbled upon Lanven’s suite like this. And… He turned his head and looked at Alec. He never, ever, brought anyone with him.

Lanven, of course, picked up his confusion. “Cir? Who is this with you?”

“Erm…” Lanven, regrettably, would know if he lied. “That’s my Master…”

For a moment Lanven stared at him, and the water in the Well rippled. A small eddy appeared on its surface. Next moment Lanven was on his knees before Alec, his head bowed submissively. “I beg your forgiveness, sir,” he intoned softly, “I was not ready to receive a visitor…”

“Get up,” Alec said, obviously upset and annoyed by this display — Cir somehow still felt Alec’s emotions as if they were his own. “You could not possibly be ready for this, so you have nothing to be forgiven for.”

The eddy in the Well became bigger. Lanven got up and returned to his chair, but did not sit, staring at Cir and Alec instead. “Look, I’m sorry,” Cir said uneasily. “I did not know we were going to end here. And Alec’s not like that — he won’t hurt you…”

“But he’s unloading,” Lanven said softly and shivered. “I can feel that he’s — sorry, sir, I meant you are — unloading. Look at the Well if you don’t believe me!”

Cir looked, even though he had already registered its movement. Out of the corner of his mind he noticed that Alec had looked too, and kept looking in … bewilderment? No, Cir realized. Bewilderment would have been understandable. Instead Alec’s whole mind seemed alight with curiosity of much the same kind as when Cir explained his own nature.

It figures, Cir thought; and then he remembered that back there on the wall Lanven’s Key seemed to be absent too…

Meanwhile Alec approached the Well and knelt before it — his body was immaterial here, of course, but Cir had figured out that if you believed you were, say, sitting on a chair, firmly enough, you’d sit. It took him months to work this out, and he was slightly envious of Alec because the other man seemed to grasp this at once.

Alec lifted his head and saw Lanven still standing over him. “Oh, sit down already,” he snapped with an air of distraction, and went back to staring at the pool. Lanven, of course, sat down immediately with a vaguely guilty air.

Cir drifted to his friend, unsure how to talk to him in Alec’s presence. Lanven was thoughtful, inquisitive and gentle, but all his personal qualities almost disappeared in a Master’s presence. It was a necessary survival trait in one such as Lanven, and Cir’s words that Alec was “not like that” wouldn’t have changed anything.

Perhaps Alec would unravel Lanven’s problems, just like he had already started to unravel Cir’s. Alec would want to help Lanven… Cir realized, horrified, that the idea was making him feel depressed. He did not want Alec to become as interested in Lanven as he was in Cir himself. He’d lose Alec for sure then — and Lanven was a real person, someone Alec could touch…

Lanven meanwhile seemed to watch Alec. Not that Alec was doing anything; he was still kneeling and staring at the Well. The surface of the water alternately rippled and almost boiled under his intent gaze or became completely still. Cir did not know what was in the Well — Lanven never wanted to talk about it; but at these rare times Cir had seen it act, the Well had changed slowly and constantly, not like this crazy water-dance at all.

Finally Alec lifted his head and looked at Lanven. “Very interesting,” he said. “How old are you, Lanven?”

Now Cir remembered; Lanven’s data cell was, indeed, not on the wall, and his age was unknown. Unless the other Key knew something he didn’t tell the Palace, that is. By his face, though, it did not seem to be so.

“I… I’m sorry, Master… I don’t know.“ Lanven hated disappointing people, especially Masters and Palace staff. The water in the well started to burble again.

“Ah, I thought so,” Alec nodded to himself with a small pleased smile, and the Well calmed down again. “What is this thing?” He gestured at the Well. “I mean, what do you call it?”

“The Well of Tears,” Lanven said quietly.

“That’s what he’s called,” Cir explained, “the Key of the Well of Tears.”

“Like you are Scrying Key, right?” Alec wasn’t really asking, more like confirming the fact. Cir nodded, and Alec smiled, even more pleased. “Very interesting. Very, very interesting…”

“Mind telling us what do you mean?” Cir asked, consumed by curiosity which made him slightly impatient. Lanven threw him a horrified look, but Cir didn’t feel much in the wrong — each Master had his own preferences, and Alec’s did not seem to include reverence towards him.

And, indeed, Alec did not seem to be angry with him. “In a moment,” he said. “I’m still working it out.” Then he looked at Lanven thoughtfully, seemingly struck with another idea. “You aren’t expecting a Master right now, are you?”

Lanven shrugged helplessly. “Not that I’d know of, sir…” he said.

“I’ll check,” Cir offered, and checked. After all these new discoveries it felt good to do a simple and clear task like this. “No,” he said in a moment, pleased with himself too. “Lanven’s Key is back in the ownership of the Palace right now.”

“There must not be a suitable owner right now,” Lanven said thoughtfully, almost to himself. “I usually have a… special kind of Masters…”

“That much I’ve figured out already,” Alec said. “Your Well reacts to emotions, doesn’t it?”

Lanven nodded wordlessly. Cir watched them both with interest. That much he figured out himself…

“And it’s keyed to your emotions specifically. I wonder how exactly that works in interactions with Masters… I’m not exactly given to strong emotions myself,” Alec said, sounding as if he apologized for that.

Except curiosity, Cir thought. Alec was given to strong curiosity, but it wasn’t the kind of emotion the Well usually reacted to. He looked at Lanven, expecting his friend to answer a Master’s question, but saw a much more alarming sight instead. Lanven was huddled in his armchair, staring into space and shivering violently.

“Lanven!” he exclaimed and slid closer, trying to hug the other Key as much as it was possible while being a projection. Lanven was murmuring something under his breath, but so quietly that Cir could not hear what it was.

“Not allowed to talk about it, not allowed to think about it,” Alec said suddenly.

“What?” Cir turned to him, startled.

“That’s what he’s saying,” Alec explained. His eyes sparkled with something that looked like anger, but the Well was quiet, so it couldn’t be…

“I’m blocking,” Alec said, sounding like he was answering a question. “Do *you* know anything about these ‘special kind of Masters’?”

“Not much,” Cir acknowledged. “Lanven… he doesn’t like to talk about this.”

“I noticed,” Alec answered dryly. His next words sounded in Cir’s mind, startling him momentarily. ::Then you’d better explain what you know like this, so that we wouldn’t get him even more upset. That damn conditioning…::

::Well, his Masters are usually people who feel very bad for whatever reason — upset, grieving, full of anger, things like this… And Lanven takes these emotions from them, I think… These emotions all go into the Well, but they have to go through Lanven — you can’t just go to the Well and give it your bad emotions.::

::I think *I* can, :: Alec answered grimly, ::But I know what you mean… God, did no one teach him how to shield?::

::What are you talking about?:: Cir asked, feeling slightly confused. Perhaps it was all very obvious to Alec, but certainly not to him.

For a moment Alec stayed silent, looking thoughtful. “Later,” he finally said aloud. “There’s something I have to do first.”

He turned towards Lanven, looking intently at the Key. “Lanven,” he said, “look at me, Lanven…”

Very slowly Lanven lifted his head and sat straighter, staring at Alec in fascination.

“That’s right,” Alec said, “that’s good, you’re doing well…” He continued murmuring reassuring words. Before Cir’s eyes Lanven relaxed in the armchair, his eyes half-closed. A small smile appeared on his face.

Cir watched them in amazement and envy. He saw that smile before, but only in very rare moments, and only when Lanven was looking through his flower book or listening to the stories Cir told him. So why now? Alec was going through his mind, wasn’t he? Cir remembered what *he* felt when Alec’s mind touched his, and it was more like nervous excitement, not this blissful relaxed pleasure…

“Good,” Alec said with finality and straightened. The water in the Well was absolutely still. “Now, that should do for now, though I hope I’ll have a moment to teach you shielding, Lanven…”

“And maybe,” Cir added, “you’ll find a moment to explain to me what’s going on…” He thought he sounded perfectly reasonable but Alec looked at him with a slight smirk. That made Cir feel somehow… exposed. Uncomfortable.

“I’ll have to train you too,” Alec said seriously, “but I think we’ll have more time for that. Now…”

“Cir?” Lanven interrupted suddenly. “Are you angry? You feel angry…”

Cir automatically looked at the Well, but the water there was still calm. “How…”

“Oh,” Lanven said dreamily, “it’s not coming towards me… It just is. Only it stopped now…”

“It’s not coming towards you,” Alec said briskly, “because I’ve shielded you from here to high heaven. You’re one of the strongest empaths I’ve ever met, Lanven, even though you somehow survived without knowing any basics of self-protection.”

That made sense, Cir decided. Empathy was the ability to read emotions, wasn’t it? Lanven definitely read the emotions of his Masters; and not just read them, he… “What about the Well, then?” he asked.

Alec nodded at him approvingly. “Ah, the Well’s just what makes the situation unique. I’m pretty sure it’s alive.”

“Alive?” Cir repeated surprisedly. “You mean something lives there? But I’ve never found any records about animals connected with this suite…” Then he fell silent. Lately it seemed there was a lot of things he’d never found records about…

Lanven, meanwhile, was nodding, apparently unsurprised. “I often thought so,” he said quietly. “It doesn’t exactly talk, but it has feelings. It is usually hungry…”

“And it feeds on emotions, doesn’t it?” Alec asked him seriously.

Lanven nodded. “The… bad ones,” he said. “Anger, hurt… that kind of things… Only it needs me to feed it…”

Cir watched him curiously. Lanven’s manner was slowly changing. Once Alec did whatever he did to take away the prohibition to speak about the Well, Lanven began to sit straighter, and his face was not as pale as before. In fact, he was gradually forgetting to treat Alec as a Master.

“So,” he said, reminding the other two of his own presence, “the *whole Well* is alive? What kind of being could that be?”

Alec shrugged. “To tell you the truth, I did not dare to examine it too closely. It feels too alien, and I just do not know enough about it. Unless you can tell us something about it, Lanven?”

Lanven shook his head. “Sorry,” he said, but without the distressed look he had earlier when he couldn’t answer a question, “I do not know. All the contact I have with it is when it… floods me with its hunger.”

“So,” Alec said thoughtfully, “if you don’t know how old you are, do you at least remember your arrival here? Had this suite always had this Well?”

“As far as I can remember, I’ve always been there – and the Well too,” Lanven answered.

“The same as I,” Cir said. “And your Key wasn’t on the wall either, I’m sure!”

“It wasn’t?” Alec turned to him with keen interest in his eyes. “It is all slowly adding up, Cir…”

“What wall?” Lanven inquired. Cir proceeded to explain how they got to Lanven’s suite, with Alec adding occasional detail.

“I’ve never thought anyone else could do the things Cir does,” Lanven said thoughtfully. “How did you learn to do that, Master?”

Alec made a face. “Could you manage to call me Alec? And I was born with the ability. It is usually inherited, so I imagine both Cir and you were born with your abilities too…”

“My abilities?” Lanven said, slightly surprised. “I don’t really have any, Master… Oh, sorry, A…Alec.”

“Do you really think everybody is as open to other people’s emotions as you are?” Alec asked patiently. “Besides that, your contact with the Well indicates projective as well as receptive empathy.” He sighed, noticing the Keys’ confusion. “I mean that you can not only feel the emotions of other people but also send them your own emotions… That’s even rarer than receptive empathy. And the only way you are still safe — well, more or less safe,” he qualified, eyeing the Well and the whole suite with slight distaste, “is the Palace. It *must* be a safe haven. Now to find out who set it up, and when, and how… Though I have an idea about how.”

“The Well?” Cir guessed.

“The Well,” Alec agreed. “Two such anomalies in one place can’t be a mere coincidence…”

“You are curious,” Lanven noted suddenly.

“Me?” Alec asked, startled, and Lanven nodded shyly. “So I am,” Alec acknowledged. “But you must admit that this Palace of yours is a pretty curious place…”

“But do you have any goal with all that?” Cir asked. “I mean, I’m interested because suddenly there’s a possibility to know the truth about myself, and Lanven can feel better with shielding, but you…” Was it all just a puzzle for Alec? Perhaps Cir himself was an insufficient plaything, and so his Master needed the whole Palace to play with…

::Idiot,:: the familiar mindvoice said. Cir would’ve berated himself for forgetting momentarily that Alec could read thoughts, but at the moment a warm cloud of reassurance spread through his whole mind, soothing and making him feel a small tingle of pleasure. ::I’m not as good an empathy as your friend, but I think this will do…:: Alec added.

Cir felt excited and… flushed, somehow – at least, he was sure that’s what it would feel like. He noticed Lanven watching both of them with a small smile and that somehow filled him with embarrassment. “So,” he said to cover it and give himself time to calm down, “what else did you find out?”

Alec smiled at him, apparently cool and unruffled. “Well”, he said slowly, “I’m pretty sure that the two of you — and the other Keys whose data cells we couldn’t find — were the original Keys. The ones for whom the Palace was built.”