The HeartStone Path

The HeartStone Path cont.

CHAPTER 16

Rhiannon and I let Aine pull and tug and primp and paint us until we looked like proper ladies long with her, ready to face a new court.  I looked down at my dress and frowned at Aine.  The neckline was far too low for my liking and left little of my back to the imagination and the sleeves were smooth like a second skin that went halfway over my hands.  The bodice was a magnificent design but had no room for a knife or even a pin, the skirts were flowing and long and completely covered my feet that had been tucked in to heeled shoes.  Again.  The jewelry Aine had chosen was strategically placed and that was to be my only consolation besides the garter that held one of the stilettos that Prince Aerron had given me.

“You can’t go around looking like a mercenary all of the time, Mor,” Aine chided me.  “You either, Rhiannon.  This is the Oryn’lea style for balls and state dinners.  Don’t you think it’s marvelous?  So many ways to manipulate it.”

Rhiannon let out a heavy sigh.  “This is going to be the death of me.”

I nodded my agreement.  This was not my idea of fun, either.  At least our sister was entirely in her element and I was thankful we had her with us to keep us sane.  And, honestly, to design all of these dresses because, left to our own devices, we would be walking around in pants…like dirty mercenaries.

“Let her older ladies do their jobs,” I reminded them.  “They are comfortable with watching over the Princess herself, so we can focus on the other people who will be there.  From what I read about this court, there aren’t too many who are looking to advance themselves besides the Mineralage family.”

Rhiannon frowned thoughtfully.  “I didn’t see any evidence of attacks as we came through the kingdom, either.  There were no rumors of a demon presence.”

“It doesn’t mean it isn’t here, though,” I countered.  “We haven’t seen the majority of the kingdom.  If the Princess takes her wedding tour, we will be able to see more then.”

“Of course,” Aine said, “but she postponed it.  With her father’s failing health, she will tell the council tomorrow morning that they will hold off on the wedding tour until her father is feeling better.”

“He won’t be feeling better,” Rhiannon whispered.

“We know that,” I whispered back.  “The court is waiting to see the king recover.  They don’t want the Princess to rule yet.  They can’t control her.”

“All the better to set that crown on her head now, when there is no chance of outside influence,” Rhiannon said.

Aine hushed her.  “Agreed, but we can’t control this.  We can do what we were asked to do and keep an eye on the Princess and this kingdom.  If Mor is right, it’s not just the court that is the threat.  But we won’t know much else until she can write to Boudicca.”

“What do you expect tonight?” Rhiannon asked me.

I stood in front of the full length mirror and smoothed my skirts after I checked the placement of the stiletto one last time.  The fabric was breathable and soft.  In the shadows, the fabric looked like the blackest of night.  But in the light, there were undertones of emerald and lilac.  The fabric had to have been spelled by whomever had woven it.  Rhiannon’s dress was woven the same, but with undertones of scarlet.

“A quiet dinner.  The people of the court want to get a feel for Prince Curren.  They don’t really care about us or his peers.  They will want to see if he can be manipulated and encouraged to help control the Princess.  Even Prince Aerron is just another visiting royal.  A bystander.  He will be treated civilly, but largely ignored.  Their focus is Princess Arianna and how to continue to live as they have been.  She has the makings of a true Queen, someone who will right the wrongs of the kingdom.  I don’t think people like that here,” I said more to myself than my sisters.

“This court really doesn’t know their Princess at all, do they,” Aine mused.

“I suspect not,” I sighed.

“They will learn,” Rhiannon said.  “She is going to be a strong leader.  I can see it.”

If the events of the past week were any indication, this Princess would be a Queen to be reckoned with and I would enjoy the look on the courtier’s faces when they realized that she was so fiercely independent.

Rhiannon frowned at the dress Aine had forced her in to.  “I still don’t like this,” she grumbled.

“Oh, hush, Rhiannon.  Both of you.  We are not warriors right now.  We are assassins.  Beautiful and deadly,” Aine said happily, like it was the most normal thing ever.

Rhiannon scowled at her, but I forced a smile.  She had a point.  Where Rhiannon would rather break down a door and lay waste to those who needed it, Aine preferred to be in and gone before people even realized she had been there.  Two sides of the coin.  And I was capable of both.  The Master had been adamant about the fact that all Rangers had once been capable of both.  But, as far as my sisters were concerned, I was just like Rhiannon. 

I followed my sisters out of my rooms and carefully locked the doors.  I wouldn’t be forgetting the blood runes again.  No one could pass those wards without me knowing, but I was still nervous.  Another power had rolled against mine when we arrived.  Stronger and vaguely familiar.  I hoped it was the Master, but I wasn’t taking any chances.

The Princess was waiting for us at the end of the hall with her other ladies.  We were a little closer to her age than the ladies she had grown up with, so it didn’t look at all suspicious that noble ladies closer to her age had traveled to be in Oryn’lea with her. 

I made sure to memorize the part of the castle around us from our rooms to the main staircase that would lead us down to the open hall below.  It was a fairly direct path from the royal wing to nearly anywhere in the castle.  I found myself rather disappointed in the simplicity of it.  It felt like a wasted opportunity, I thought, to make certain rooms more difficult to find.

Prince Curren was waiting at the base of the stairs with his guard, our Tuillaryns and Prince Aerron.  Rhiannon visibly braced herself for the moment when Cam would see her in that dress.  I didn’t know why, though.  She was breathtaking, like Aine.  Her raven hair was piled carefully on top of her head, held with sparkling ruby pins.  The color of her dress, a deep inky midnight like my own with scarlet undertones, made her dark blue eyes even more striking.  Her skin was flawless, pale and pure.  She would turn every head in the room, but she was completely unaware of it.

Aine, on the other hand, knew exactly what she was doing.  Her golden hair was curled and intricately set on top of her head with little tendrils slipping down and opal pins and combs adorned the masterpiece.  Her pale pink dress accentuated the sun kissed hue of her skin, and her light blue eyes danced with happiness.  My sister was well aware that her Tuillaryn would fall over himself at the sight of her and I wasn’t altogether sure if that wasn’t exactly what she was trying to do.

My Tuillaryn, however, was oblivious.  He stood next to Prince Curren, but he didn’t even glance up at us as we came down the stairs.  His eyes, instead, were on the crowd that was slowly making their way in to the dining room and on those who had stopped to stare at the women coming down the stairs.  I wanted to throw something at him, or at least give him a mental nudge to make him notice.  It was ridiculous.  Why was I even trying?

Fashion was easier for men in every Realm, it seemed.  Their suit jackets and tunics were all well-made, like our dresses, but not overly embellished.  Some had their house crests sewn over their left breasts or they wore their crest as a pin worn on their left lapel.  White linen shirts were worn under the jackets and were unadorned.  Close fitting, but comfortable, trousers were tucked in to knee high leather boots that were polished to a high gleam rounded out the uniform of the nobility.  Some men wore their swords still, or a dagger on their hip, but not many.  I envied their comfort.

Tristan stood out among them, though, with his short hair, silvery blue eyes, tattoos, rough beginnings of a beard and his height.  The other men in the room wore their hair to their shoulders or longer, long enough to pull back in a leather strip and they were clean shaven.  There were men with blue eyes, brown, green, amber and the golden eyes like Prince Aerron’s.  But not the silvery blue of the mountain Yova Tribes.  More than a few women had noticed my Tuillaryn.  Jealousy was not something I was accustomed to and I didn’t like it.  They had their own men to stare at.

Prince Aerron was watching my every move, though.  From the moment I started down the stairs until he stepped in front of me to offer his arm, every bit the Prince who was courting a lady of the royal court.  Prince Curren was, of course, escorting his new bride and others from the Prince’s retinue had stepped forward to escort her ladies.  I sent up another prayer to the Goddess for Boudicca’s foresight with Rafe and Aine. 

“You look ravishing,” the Fae Prince whispered to me as we fell in behind the Princess and other ladies.

“Oh, please.  Save the compliments.   I would rather burn this thing than ever wear it again,” I snapped back at him.

“And here I was wishing that you would wear it or something like it every day,” he whispered calmly.

The feel of his breath against my ear and neck sent shameful shivers down my spine.  I mentally shook myself to get rid of the feeling.  I had no business feeling like that and I almost shook him off.  No matter how much I wanted to, I knew better than to shake him off as an escort, but I kept my distance all the same.

For this dinner, I was seated next to Prince Aerron and another noble lady whose name I couldn’t remember.  The Princess was seated next to her husband at the head table, but the rest of us were scattered around the tables near her.  I’m sure it was Sybal’s doing so that we could learn more about the court.  It was a smart move because we were spaced out just right to be able to hear every conversation happening at the higher tables.

The conversation around the table where I was sitting was polite during the first two courses.  People spoke about the weather, harvest, how much was set aside for winter and on and on.  It was mind numbing and I had to fight to pay attention.  When the third course arrived, the main course, the conversation shifted to politics and other council matters.  Unbearably dull, but Rhiannon was riveted.  Aine was keeping up with the noble ladies around her, talking animatedly about the latest fashions and the shopping available in the city.

“And what do you think of our fashions, my lady?” asked the timid lady next to me.

“The fashions are beautiful, my lady,” I answered politely.

“I don’t care for them, either,” she confessed quietly.  “My mother insists I pay attention and dress appropriately.”

I turned to look at her better, shocked at her admission.  “And your father?” I asked.

“Tells me to listen to my mother for my own good,” she sighed.

“Pity.  What do you like?” I asked her.  I found myself honestly wanting to know.

She looked at me with wide eyes.  “Truly?”

I took in her shocked expression and realized that no one had either ever asked or cared to listen to this woman.  She was young and fair, with light brown hair and round fawn like brown eyes.  At a glance, her features had seemed ordinary and it was easy to see how she had been looked over.  But as I looked closer, I saw a beauty.  Her nose was straight and strong, and it matched the determined set of her jaw.  High cheek bones accented her eyes that were shaped similar to Aine’s, slightly turned up at the edges, like a cat.  I nodded at her, eager to hear what she had to say.

“I have begged my father to learn how to be a warrior, like the Old Ways.  I used to beg to attend the University in Keirhold or to have a tutor so I could be taught the Old Ways, but my mother refused.  She says ladies don’t do that anymore.  Oh, but I do so love alchemy and astronomy and so many other subjects.  And I am quite good at spells and languages.  My father and some of his men sneak books back for me when they travel,” she whispered excitedly under her breath.

“I love all of those things, too,” I whispered back.

A broad smile lit up her face.  “You do?”

“Doesn’t anyone else?” I asked.

“Not that any lady here will admit,” she whispered sadly.  “Everything changed with the Princess Arianna’s great grandmother.  Oh, the Princess was still trained in the Old Ways, but the noble ladies were expected to be more soft, like silly little decorations for a man to collect.”

“Why hasn’t anyone changed it?” I mused, more to myself than to the woman next to me.

“I don’t know.  I pray to the Goddess every night that the Princess will change things when she takes the crown,” the girl said wistfully.

“I’m Morrigan,” I said, extending my right hand to her.

“Lady Cleodonna Montebell,” she said, taking my hand.  “But my father calls me Cleo.”

“Cleo it is, then,” I said, squeezing her hand softly.

This won me a conspirator’s smile and a twinkle of mischief in the young woman’s eyes.

“How old are you?” I asked her.

“17, my lady,” Cleo answered.

“Just call me Mor,” I told her.

She squeezed my hand back and returned her hands to her lap.  I looked at her thoughtfully.  One of her parents was Immortal Kindred.  The other definitely was not.  I felt the tingle of power when her hand touched mine.

“Do you live in the castle?  Or does your family live in the city?” I whispered to her.

“In the city, though my mother has been pushing to get me appointed as one of the Princess’s ladies.  She was rather upset when the Princess arrived home with three new ladies,” she told me.

“I’ll see what I can do,” I promised her.

Such a fascinating mind shouldn’t be locked away in a town house waiting for a man to call on her and deign to marry her to acquire what was no doubt an impressive dowry.  If I could get her appointed to the Princess’s household, I could at least learn what she knew of the city and get her away from that oppressive woman she called a mother.

“Taking in strays, are we,” Prince Aerron whispered in my left ear.

I jumped and bit down a squeak.  I had completely forgotten he was there for a moment.  Across the table, Tristan gave me a concerned look then turned back to the conversation he was having with one of the Lords.  I scowled at the trollop sitting next to him.  She was staring at him like the sun had just risen out of his ass.  I rolled my eyes and turned to face the Fae next to me.

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” I said sweetly.

“The Lady Cleo,” he said knowingly.

“What about her,” I asked flatly.

“A superb choice to shape to your wants,” he shrugged.

“I don’t want to shape her in to anything.  Her mother has tried to turn her in to a delicate damsel and she is anything but,” I said harshly.  Probably too harshly.

“Are you so sure about that?” he asked me.

“I am.  Why do you care?” It was an effort not to look at him and to focus on my plate.

“Her family is rather important.  Almost as wealthy as the lord your dear Tuillaryn is talking with right now,” he said, indicating where Tristan sat across from us with a small movement of his fork.

I looked up to face the lord sitting across from me, talking with Tristan, but I kept my head slightly bent towards the Prince, as if we were intent on our own conversation.  More than a few women around the table shot envious looks in my direction.  I bit down the absurd notion to laugh at them.  They had no idea what being with a Fae meant.  And if they did, they wouldn’t be envious of who I was sitting next to.

“Who is that man?” I whispered to him.

“That lord owns the majority of the gem mines in this kingdom,” Prince Aerron answered.  He was watching the table as much as I was.

I swallowed hard.  That was the lord we had read about in the reports of the kingdom on our way down to this city and when I was studying the kingdom.  It was rumored that he had compiled more wealth than the royal family.

Which meant the trollop was the Lady Gemadine.  Her golden brown hair was twisted up on top of her head and studded with sapphires that matched the midnight blue of her sparkling gown that was designed like our own gowns.  Her statuesque neck was decorated with golden chains that held even more sapphires.  Even her blue eyes matched the stones she wore.  Her painted lips were drawn up in a confident smile as she stared at Tristan and her father as they talked.

“And Cleo’s family?” I managed to ask.

“Wealthy merchants and land owners,” he answered me, grounding me back in the dining hall.

“Is it true what she said about the Princess’s great grandmother?” I had to distract myself somehow.

Prince Aerron looked across the table then back to me, as if deciding whether or not it was worth it to give away not only that bit of information, but a clue to his true age.

“Yes.  That Queen drastically changed the roles in this kingdom.  She was from another realm and found the Old Ways of warrior women abhorrent,” he answered.

“I find her abhorrent,” I mumbled.

“Don’t let anyone hear you say that,” Prince Aerron warned.

“Why?  Worried about your investment?” I snapped.  Tristan was bothering me more than I wanted to admit.  I had no business snapping at a Prince like that.

“Contrary to popular belief, Mor, I don’t want anything to happen to you,” he said, leaning a little closer to me.

I still hadn’t gotten used to his use of my nickname.  Somehow, when he said the simple name, it came out more as a purr and sent gooseflesh rippling across my body.

“You mean beaten?  Or trapped in a kingdom against my will?” I asked, unable to stop myself from saying it.

“Low blow.  I wouldn’t choose either of those for you,” he said honestly.

“You expect me to believe that?  What about your father?”

“Yes, I do.  I am not my father,” he said angrily.

I turned away from him and back to Cleo on my right, firmly ignoring Tristan across the table.  I didn’t want to deal with either of them.

“You don’t approve of your escort?” Cleo’s mother asked, leaning around her daughter.  “Oh, but he is divine.  A mother could only hope that her daughter would find such a man to take care of her.”

I felt the urge to throttle Cleo’s mother instantly.  My apparent escort put a hand on my left thigh under the table, anchoring me soundly.  The feeling of lightening and fire rolled along my bones in answer to the contact.  My power that I had thought I had kept contained was straining at its bonds, trying to get out.  I panicked when I felt it and saw the glass in the room start to strain, but Rhiannon’s power snaked out before anyone could notice and settled the glass.  I took a deep breath and settled my power.  A few more moments of contact, and my power was comfortable with being so close to him.

I tensed my muscles, trying to shake him off, but he kept his hand where it was.  Delicious warmth pooled under his hand and radiated outward.  My power unfurled inside of me further and acknowledged the closeness and accepted it fully.  Why did he have to do that?

Deep inside, somewhere near the Tuillaryn bond, I felt something c***k and begin to break.  Like a tapestry beginning to unfurl or a great wall beginning to c***k.

I smiled sweetly at the older woman and said, “Ah, but my lady, my mother has taught me to take care of myself.  A man to escort me around is only a decoration.”

The older woman huffed at me and I felt Prince Aerron’s body shake with silent laughter.  “I don’t think we have met, miss…” Cleo’s mother said, blatantly not extending her hand.

I ignored the insult.   “Of course, my lady.  I am the Lady Morrigan.  My escort is His Grace, Prince Aerron.  Crown Prince of the High Forest Fae.  My betrothed.  I was just talking to your daughter about joining the Princess’s court.  She would no doubt enjoy access to the libraries and tutors that her majesty employs,” I said with as much politeness as I could muster.

The older woman’s face flushed an alarmingly crimson color.  “I am the Lady Gertrude Montebell.  My husband and I have petitioned the Princess already for admission of our daughter in to the household.  Surely she has said as much to you.”

“I’m quite sure the Princess would trust my judgement fully on the matter, my lady.  Such a brilliant mind and strong character could hardly be overlooked.  What a shame she has been hidden away in her rooms,” I said sweetly.

“Our family would, of course, be honored, my lady,” the older woman said through clenched teeth.

As a member of the royal household, I outranked her, and she couldn’t argue with me without causing problems for her husband on the council and with the other nobles.  Boudicca would have chided me for picking an unnecessary fight with the woman, but I couldn’t help myself.  I was irrationally argumentative and short tempered with everyone.  I had been ever since Corbyn’s death.

“How wonderful,” I said, ignoring Prince Aerron squeezing my thigh, silently begging me to let it go.

“Oh, thank you, mother!” Cleo said, throwing her arms around her mother’s neck.

The older woman flushed an even deeper shade of red and pushed her daughter’s arms back down in her lap.  “A lady does not show such outward signs of affection in public,” she hissed at Cleo.

I ground my teeth as I watched Cleo’s smile fade.  What an awful woman.  I purposely grabbed Cleo’s hands in my own and said, “I will make sure you have rooms near mine.  We have so much to learn from each other.”  I pulled the younger woman in to a tight hug and smiled brilliantly at her mother who looked like she was about to explode.

“You are treading on dangerous ground,” Prince Aerron whispered when I turned back to my plate.

“No, I’m not.  I will not allow that woman anywhere near Cleo ever again,” I whispered back.

“She is her daughter.  You can’t make a claim like that,” he said against my ear.

I smiled and turned my head as if I was enjoying the conversation.  The move cost me dearly, as I felt gooseflesh raise on my skin when he breathed against my neck.  I put my hand up to hide my whisper, and my potential blush.  Two could play this game.

“I can, and I will,” I said against his ear, fighting back the best I could.

The Prince stiffened imperceptibly under my hand as I rested it on his sinewy thigh under the table.  I was sure it had nothing to do with our proximity, though.  I had argued with him instead of accepting his advice.  It was something he had never taken well in all of the years I had known him.  There were days that I had purposely defied him because I was in a bad mood and spoiling for a fight because I knew his pride wouldn’t allow him to step down.

He took a deep breath, growled so only I could hear, and leaned back away from me ever so slightly.  “Fine.  But the consequences are your own.”

“Fine,” I said, withdrawing my hand from his thigh.  The move away from him was more difficult than I had thought it would be.  I had to clamp down roughly on my power to keep it from lashing out as the heat from his proximity was withdrawn.  I still wasn’t sure if I liked the affect he had on me.

He did not remove his hand from my thigh, though, and that’s probably what saved me from an outburst.  In fact, it stayed there through the rest of the evening as the courses were cleared away and conversation continued around the table.  I kept up conversation with Cleo, careful not to upset her mother any further.  Prince Aerron was probably right, I was treading on dangerous ground with a noble lady that I knew very little about.

Once all of the dishes were cleared, we were ushered in to a grand ballroom.  Three thrones were set on a raised platform at the end of the hall for the king, his daughter and her husband.  One the old king took his seat.  The Prince and Princess waited for the music to start with other young couples on the dance floor.  I tried to escape to stand next to older ladies by the throne.

“Not a chance,” Prince Aerron said next to me. 

“I don’t want to dance, your grace,” I said tightly.

“Your lady and your peers are dancing.  It would be rude,” he said as politely as possible.

He had me there.  It would be noticed by everyone if I didn’t stay on the floor at least as long as the Princess did.  I found where Aine was waiting, holding on to Rafe’s arm tightly.  Rhiannon was standing next to some fierce looking lord who seemed determined to match her in anything. I chuckled a little despite myself.  It looked like my sister had met her match in pure stubbornness.  Cam was escorting a young lady that looked like she would faint the moment he said anything to her.  And Tristan was standing with that painted trollop he had been seated next to at dinner.

“That is the Lady Gemadine,” Prince Aerron whispered to me.

“I don’t care,” I said.

“Of course, you don’t,” he said dryly.

“I don’t,” I said again.  “He can do whatever and whomever he chooses.”

“And does he feel the same about you?” he asked innocently.

“You are a beast,” I grumbled.

“Aye, I am,” he said in a serious voice, “but I am a loyal beast.”  He took my waist firmly as the music started, commanding my attention.

I finally looked up at him as we took our places.  His golden amber eyes were locked on to my own.  I clamped down hard on any feelings that might try to take root in my heart as he pulled me closer to his body.  The Princess had requested a Gods damned Ventoretta.  A song that required a lot of lifts and extreme proximity to your partner.  The music itself was even intimate.  I really needed to confiscate those contraband books that I knew the Princesses read.

“Why,” I asked when he pulled my body flush with his.

“Why what?”

“Me,” I breathed.

“Why not you?” he asked, confused.

“Answer me for once,” I sighed.  I was losing my desire for arguing.

“Ah, my heart, but you are my answer for everything,” he teased.

I glared up at him, but he wasn’t looking at me.  He was looking over my head at his sworn who were watching us intently.  Ridiculous pet names were the least of my worries.  Prince Aerron’s sworn were watching our every move.

Tristan was wrapped up with the Lady Gemadine, whose midnight gown was split nearly all of the way up her left thigh.  I stuffed down thoughts of brutally dismembering her and hanging her with that dress.

I rolled my eyes.  “That’s not an answer.”

“It is for me,” he said, looking down at me again.

“Not for me,” I argued wearily.

“Then I shall endeavor to give you a better answer, my heart,” he promised.

“Don’t call me that,” I growled.

“I will call you whatever I wish,” he growled back against my ear.  “My sworn are watching and will report everything back to my father.”

I looked up at him again and caught the shadows behind his eyes this time.  “What are you not telling me?”

“How safe is your room, my pet,” he breathed against my neck, sending heat racing through my veins.

“Safer than anywhere in this castle,” I answered.

“I will tell you everything when it is safe, then,” he whispered in my ear, causing my traitor body to react to his.

My body relaxed in his arms as he gathered me up to prepare to lift me.  Maybe my sisters were right, there were worse matches and he actually did believe us about Hel possibly through this realm.  And we did need his father and the Fae legions.  I could tolerate Prince Aerron long enough to get through whatever we needed to do in this realm.  Then we would be back at the High Keep and everything would be back to normal with my Tuillaryn.  The Fourth Realm, the Mineralage family, Hel and everything else would be just a bad dream.

“Don’t do that,” I said, nicer this time.

“But I love the response I get,” he purred against my neck.

“You’re incorrigible,” I sighed.

“An absolute beast,” he agreed.

A laugh escaped my throat and I let him pull me closer as the music picked up in tempo.  We were lost in the crush of bodies on the floor, every couple intent on the complicated steps.  I caught a glimpse of the Princess and my sisters every time there was a lift.  Aine and Arianna were flushed with exertion and laughed brightly.  Rhiannon looked like she was still locked in a battle of wills with her partner.

The next song was slower, but just as complicated.  This thinned the crowd out on the dance floor a little but as only the experienced dancers could keep step.  I silently cursed the Princess for her song choices again.  This dance required our legs to move around and between each other’s and several spins and dips.  I understood the Princess flirting with her new husband, but I had to get away from this.

There was no escape in sight, though.  Prince Aerron held on to me for the entirety of the song and, indeed, the four songs after it.  I already had intimate knowledge of how he danced and fought.  The final test in Bridgette’s ballroom flooded my memory.  This wasn’t entirely different.  He moved with the grace and confidence of a large predator and forced my body to move the same.

“What do you think you are doing,” I said between the lifts of another song.

“Giving my sworn something to write about and distracting you,” he answered, not in the least bit winded as he dipped me scandalously low.  Miraculously, his eyes remained on my own and never once dipped lower.

“From what?” I said against his chest when he pulled me back up from the dip.

“That,” he said, nodding to my right as he spun me away from him, holding on to my fingers.

I turned and saw Lady Gemadine holding tight to Tristan, flushed and laughing, as if they had been dancing through every song like we had.  I fought down the anger and jealousy as I spun back in to Prince Aerron’s arms.

“So, what,” I said, pretending to be bored of it.

“You are a terrible liar,” he laughed.

“So, I’ve been told.  I meant what I said earlier.  I don’t care,” I said.

“I won’t mention it again, then,” he said.

“Thank you.”  I meant it.  I was heartily sick of talking about them.

He nodded and pulled me away from the dancing couples.  I smiled at Aine as she twirled past me.  She flashed me her biggest smile and turned back to Rafe.  Those two were nauseating sometimes.  Rhiannon had escaped her fierce lord, but he wasn’t standing far from her.  He looked as if he was prepared to engage in round two of whatever battle they were fighting.

“Who is that man who was dancing with Rhi?” I asked Prince Aerron, leaning up so I could reach his ear.

He turned to look at where I indicated and smiled.  “That, my dear heart, is Lord Roman.  Youngest commanding general ever appointed in this realm.  His father is a legend.  As is the rest of his bloodline.  The Canatol family has protected the royal family for generations.”

So, that was Lord Roman.  The Yova Tribe leader I was supposed to find.  I wasn’t sure how I was going to get up to the towers or up to the walls, yet.  The castle buildings were sprawling on top of the massive hill they were set upon.  I didn’t think it was safe to approach him in public, though.  And I couldn’t rely on Boudicca for an introduction like I did before.  I didn’t trust Prince Aerron to do it, either.  I would have to find another way.

I nodded and took a drink of the glass of wine a servant had handed to me.  “Then perhaps she has met her match.”

Lord Roman was tall and lean.  Inky black hair and amber eyes made him look similar to Cam, but he lacked Cam’s boyish charm.  His firm jaw and stubborn set of his mouth indicated a man that was only ever all business.  He didn’t have the tattoos, that I could see, that the Mountain Tribes wore on their face and neck.  Perhaps the Plains Tribes were different.  That he was a general instead of a captain meant that his father must have stepped down very recently.

“I don’t know about that,” Prince Aerron was saying.  “Cam might have something to say about that.”

“No, he won’t,” I answered, indicating where Cam stood across the room engaged in deep conversation with a woman who could be twice his age.  “They have no feelings for each other beyond that of siblings.”

“Interesting,” Prince Aerron mused.

I shrugged.  “It’s their dynamic.  I don’t question it.”

“Did he take a lover in Vahl’strael?”

“Not that I know of,” I answered.  “Rhiannon didn’t, either.  It’s not her style.  She won’t judge Cam, though.”

“But he is loyal to her otherwise?”

“Fiercely,” I said, taking another drink.

He nodded and went back to watching the crowd of people in the enormous room.  Couples twirled past and I took careful note of who was dancing with whom and who was talking with whom along the walls.  The council members had congregated near the king and were observing the crowd, specifically the Prince and Princess who were making their way to the thrones.  The older men bowed respectfully but eyed the clasped hands of the newlyweds.

“Would you like to go outside?” my escort whispered, nodding towards the open balcony.

“I would need to ask,” I said, trying to deter him.

Instead, he pulled me towards the throne where the Princess had just sat down and accepted a glass of wine.  Not only did the Princess agree, but she wanted a walk as well and her ladies were all obligated to go with her.

The garden was lovely in the moonlight.  We all got the hint when the Princess headed down a darker, quieter garden path with her Prince.  The older ladies stayed by the fountain, Rhiannon with them, though the general had followed us outside and was standing by the doors.  Aine and Rafe took advantage of the opportunity and found their own path.  Unfortunately, Prince Aerron steered us towards a different path.

“I do have something to tell you,” he said.

“What? What did you do?” I asked.

“I had thought the Princess would tell you before you came down to the dinner.”

I didn’t ask again.  I waited patiently for him to tell me as we walked deeper in to the garden and towards the labyrinth.

“I asked the Princess for her official permission to court you.  As her lady, she had to give specific permission as you are a member of the royal household,” he said hesitantly.

This again.  “I know my position, your grace,” I said.  “What I don’t understand is why you would do that.  At least her, I mean.  Your father forced it in Vahl’strael, but he’s not here.  He doesn’t have to know that Princess Arianna hasn’t expressly given her consent.  I already told you that I will not marry you.  I will not chain myself to a kingdom.”

“Don’t call me that when we are alone.  Please.  And I know you said that.  I did it because it’s what my father expects, and it will keep him appeased for the time being.”

“What is going on with that?”

“Not here.”

I gave up asking and let the silence settle over us again.  I let him guide our walk through the garden and listened to the night birds and other sounds.  The path he had chosen was lined with lilac bushes and rowan trees, interspersed with vines of honey suckle and moon flowers and other flowering vines. 

We passed through a tunnel made of branches and vines that had been coaxed in to forming the living tunnel.  Glittering tendrils of moonlight drifted gently through the overarching bows of rowan and oak branches.  I could hear horned owls among the shadows of the higher branches.  I smiled when I saw the telltale violet shimmer of wisps flitting among the bushes, coaxing the pearl moon flowers to bloom.

The steady hum of the city was an undertone of everything, though the walls of the castle kept it from being overbearing.  I was surprised to find that the city never really went quiet.  Though it was well in to the night, taverns were still open as well as the play houses.  Factories at the opposite end of the city were still working, adding to the din.  I guessed it was much like Tarvael, and never truly went still. 

Prince Aerron didn’t push the conversation any further about approaching the Princess and I didn’t want to talk about anything with him.  I was turning over the possibilities in my own head, putting the pieces together.  Between him, Tristan and what had happened before we had left Vahl’strael, I had too much to sort through.

Tristan had sought out Lord Mineralage when we had all taken our seats.  He had said just enough to Lady Gemadine to keep her enthralled but had mostly spoken to her father until the dancing began.  Rhiannon had been paired, I was sure purposely, with Lord Roman Canatol.  I would ask about that later when I was finally able to speak to the young general.  Cam would be useful in ways I didn’t want to think about.  The abrupt change in Tristan’s behavior would be something I would have to sort out.  This was beyond what we had discussed, what we had planned, before leaving the north.

I couldn’t help but feel that we were all being moved around like chess pieces in a game we didn’t completely understand.  As I walked next to Prince Aerron, I realized that we had had only the illusion of choice up until this point on our lives.  It wasn’t about to change, either.  Sure, I could make small, insignificant decisions, like if I wanted to wear a dagger or not under a dress.  But I was in a court, masquerading as a lady and courting a Fae Prince…all without my consent.  Simply following orders of those above me.

We were all at the whims of those greater than us, those who had been around longer than us.  Even the great kings and Queens of the realms were subject to the councils and the Order of Ebon Lys and its High Seat.  Well, the Known Realms, anyway.  And we helped maintain that control. 

I suddenly saw a glimpse of the bigger picture and felt disgusted with myself.  No matter how fond I was of Princess Arianna and Prince Curren, if the High Seat demanded their removal to maintain their control and balance, I would remove them or someone else would if I refused.  And whose perceived balance and control?  The Order and the High Seat.  Theirs alone.  Val’s anger made perfect sense.

I looked up at the Fae male walking next to me and wondered if he had ever thought about the same things.  He looked as troubled as I felt.  His hands were clasped behind his back as we walked, giving the illusion of a couple out for a moonlight stroll, but I could feel the conflict inside of him.

A full circuit brought us around to the main fountain again and the Princess and Prince arrived moments after we did.  Laughing, she led us back in to the ballroom and settled down on to the throne again.  It was easy to forget, just for a moment, why we were here in this kingdom.  The people were happy.  Dancing and drinking and reminiscing with friends.  The Church and Hel seemed so far away.

The king retired early.  Princess Arianna waited another hour before she politely excused herself from the ball.  The court took her cue and began to make their way towards either their rooms in the castle or their houses out in the city.  I was more than ready to get to my room and take this dress off.  Rhi looked more uncomfortable than I did when Lord Roman bowed and politely placed a gentle kiss on the knuckles of her right hand before offering his arm to escort her to the stairs.

The Prince said good night to his men at the bottom of the stairs but held firmly to his wife.  I reminded myself to make sure that I couldn’t hear anything in my rooms.  I was happy for the Princess, though.  The young couple seemed truly in love.  It would be a boon for the kingdom in the days to come to have such strength.

CHAPTER 17

I said good night to my sisters in the hall and slipped into my room and locked the door.  Kai was nowhere in sight, so I guessed she was out hunting and would return when she felt like it.  I was thankful she had control over her own size so she could hunt at will.  It meant that she could protect me if someone did make it into my rooms and I didn’t have to worry about what disaster my power would wrought if it felt like causing problems when I was shifting her.

I had remembered what Tristan had said months ago in Vahl’ strael about maids and had amended the wards around my rooms to allow my assigned maids in to my front room when I was not in my rooms.  Which was what I had asked of them; to not go in to the rest of my rooms if I was not there.  Maids locked out of rooms completely, well, that news would spread like wildfire through a castle and mark anyone as suspicious.

Small rules, though, were normal.  Maids and butlers expected them, apparently.  Stay out of offices or away from specific armoires or specific trunks.  Don’t touch the correspondence on the desk and so forth.  So, I had keyed the wards on my rooms to adhere to the rules I had given my maids, because, as I had learned in the north…servants talk.

The fire was built up high in the fireplace and there was a small bottle of wine and some bread on the table.  I only cared about getting the dress off and crawling in to my bed.  It was going to take some getting used to, sleeping in different rooms, but I did prefer the deep green, royal blue and silver to the red and gold of the rooms I had before.

When I crossed the threshold of my bedroom, I felt the familiar prick of that power against my own again.  I tried to push it away, but it was insistent.  I sighed heavily and put on pants, shirt and boots instead of my night shirt when I escaped the bindings of my dress.  One of the silly things I wished I could use magic for, but I didn’t feel like potentially blowing apart something in my rooms.

I followed the nudge around the room but couldn’t figure out where it was coming from.  It got stronger by the balcony doors but it wasn’t coming from there.  So, I made my way along that wall again and stopped at the bookshelf just down from the balcony.  The nudge was stronger there, so I tried looking at the books first.  When that didn’t yield anything, and I was about to give up and go to bed, I felt a phantom hand brush against my cheek.

There was a small flash of light that came from behind the shelves.  I rolled my eyes and groaned.  A hidden passage.

Seriously?

I checked the side of the shelves again and found the gap I had missed before.  I pushed the shelves forward just enough for me to slip behind them and in to the dark corridor behind it.  There were two sets of stairs.  One led up and one, obviously, led down in to the darkness. 

The nudge was coming again from far below. I lit a small Fae light in my palm and started making my way down the stairs.  There were no lights to speak of, so I hoped that light would be enough.  There were twists and turns and a few false paths that led away from the stairs at various landings.  I’m not sure how far down I had gone, but I was positive that I was well below the castle when the stairs finally leveled out and there was a massive oak and steel door in front of me.

I scowled at the door.  This was ridiculous.  I felt like I had stumbled in to one of those sappy fantasy novels that the Princesses and Aine read all of the time.  First, there was Prince Aerron, a Prince in love with a woman he couldn’t have, and now a secret passage attached to my room.  Again.  I rolled my eyes and debated on going back up to my room.

“Stupid door,” I said and turned on my heel to trudge back up the stairs.

“I thought you were never going to come down those stairs,” a familiar voice said behind me.

I jumped and spun around, holding out a dagger in front of me.

“Is that how you greet your Master?” he said with a grin.

“Master!  How did you get here?  Why are you down here?  What is in there?” I asked, tripping over my words while I put away the dagger on my hip.

“So many questions, as always.  I will answer them.  I promise.  Come inside, child.  The walls have ears,” he said, reaching for my hand.

I settled my smaller hand in his and let him pull me in to the chamber beyond.  I flinched when the oak door closed heavily behind me.  The Master mumbled something and the chamber filled with light.  I covered my mouth to smother the gasp that escaped me.

The chamber was humongous.  It easily dwarfed the entire castle above us.  There were shelves full of ancient books that were wrapped in spells to preserve them.  Glass cases were set in organized rows filled with artifacts and more ancient tomes.  A few locked chests were scattered about and an old Elf bent over a reading desk scribbling away as he copied something from the book in front of him.

“Helian, come meet our guest,” the Master called out to the Elf.

I watched as the Elf stood and brushed his robes self consciously.  He was tall, like most Elves, and lithely built.  Made for libraries instead of the battlefield.  But that was everyone’s first mistake when meeting Elves.  Especially the ancient ones.  His hair was long, straight and silver, held back by a leather strap tied at the nape of his neck.  He tucked his long fingered hands in to his sleeves as he strode towards us.

“Morrigan,” Helian said, reaching for my hand, “it is a pleasure to finally meet you.  My friend has spoken of you so much, I feel as if I already know you.”

“He has?” was all I could say.

I noticed that this Elf made absolutely no attempt to hide the runes on his skin while he was with the Master and me in the chamber.  While they weren’t glowing, like mine did when they were being used, they were still clearly visible.  Almost like tattoos.  It made me wonder if that is what mine would look like if I left them on my skin all of the time.

“Indeed.  But where is your Tuillaryn?  He said you two are more powerful together?” the Elf asked, looking behind me like I was hiding Tristan in the shadows.

“We are…he’s his own person,” I said with as much confidence as I could pull forward.  “He will be there if I need him.  And I don’t need him.”

The Master frowned.  “I am not certain it is him, my friend.  But he is a calming force for her, at the very least.  He brought a measure of control to the Rites.”

“It is the most we could hope for, I suppose,” the Elf sighed.  “He is at least in the castle.”

“I don’t understand,” I frowned.  “What is wrong with Tristan?”

“Nothing is wrong with him, child,” the Master said.

“You said you are not certain it is him,” I pushed.  “Do you mean the prophecies?”

The Master cringed.  “Raghnall mentioned that he talked to you about those.  He was confused, as well, about your Tuillaryn.”

“Then what is the problem,” I asked again.

Helian sighed heavily.  “Raghnall told you that the prophecies were hurried.  It is possible that the choice of your Tuillaryn was hurried, too.  But the Rites have been said.  The prophecy clearly says you will face Hel with your balance.  The balance in life for a woman is a man.”

“The Tuillaryn Pair,” I said.  “Then how is he not the one?”

“We cannot understand how you still struggle with your power, your gifts, after the Rites.  You could have settled,” the Master explained.  “You have a little.  You have a measure of control now, we can feel it.  It will have to be enough.”

“And if it isn’t?” I asked.

“It must be,” Helian said.

“Anyway, as promised,” the Master said, changing the subject, “this chamber is older than any building in this realm.  The castle above was built to guard it and hide it from the outside world and less than benevolent powers.  It holds the knowledge that everyone above thinks is lost.”

“Boudicca mentioned that,” I interrupted him.  “She said you were removing things from realms.  Is this where you are bringing them?”

He shook his head.  “No, this chamber will be emptied soon.  It is no longer safe.  After we have aided you here, after you have imprisoned Hel again, we will remove everything from this chamber.”

“And take it where?” I asked.

“I cannot tell you yet, child.  But I will.  I promise.  When you are ready, I will tell you everything.  Right now, we must focus on Hel.  Tell me, what have you learned,” he asked.

I turned over events in my mind.  “The attack at the wedding.  There were men in the demon legion that hadn’t fully turned yet.  The first man I killed, he begged…he begged me to end his life for him.  He still held a piece…a piece of his soul.”  I shook myself, trying to rid my minds eye of the image of the man’s face and the sound of his scream of anguish.  “The best my sisters and I can figure is that someone is helping Hel.  Or that not all of her legions were imprisoned with her before.

“Because, I mean, we thought about it.  How could Hel, even with her legions and heatstones, destroy the Mother Goddess and an entire pantheon of Gods?  It doesn’t make sense.  There has to be more to it.  And, I was thinking, the darkness in the lost kingdom.  How does it get there in the first place and how does it know to choose that kingdom?  And now, there is nothing to stop Hel from marching straight through it if she finds the third heart stone.

“And, the demon legion attacks.  We are so busy fighting off these legions that are somehow growing in number, despite Hel herself still being imprisoned, that we are distracted from searching for the third heart stone.  Which leaves her forces nearly free to search for the third stone at their leisure.  Aine brought that up.  It’s brilliant, really.  So, if she has help, and there are people walking around who are serving Hel who haven’t fully turned, then how do we know who they are?  I wrote to Boudicca about it.  I haven’t seen her response, yet.  I was going to tell you as soon as I saw you and hope you were able to tell the other Ancients.  I can’t figure out how to talk to Lord Roman or Cathan.  I just wish we had time or knew where that Relic was.”

“And it holds the Relic,” the Master finished.  He watched me freeze mid step in my pacing.

My eyes went wide.  “The Relic,” I whispered.

“Yes, child.  That is why I led you here.  This is the final key Hellas needs to gain power over the other Gods. 

“You have to get it out of here!” I yelled at him.  “Wait.  You called her ‘Hellas’.”

He shook his head sadly.  “That I cannot do.  This chamber was built around it and designed specifically to protect it.  That is why we need you.  Your power is the key to keep it safe and to trap Hel again.  And yes, I know her as Hellas.  She has many names.  The Realms know her as Hel.  The ancients know her as Hellas.  The celestials know her by another name.  The names are unimportant.”

“Me?” I squeaked out.

I started backing away from the pedestal where the Relic rested.  It was a simple, unassuming chunk of rock at the moment.  It looked like something that had been plucked from the side of a mountain.  But the power coming from the dull rock was unbelievable.  It made me want to run away and protect it at the same time.

“Yes, child,” the Elf said quietly.  “We do wish this task hadn’t fallen to you, but it has.  We will aide you in every way we can, but it has to be you.”

“How do you know?” I asked.  “How do you know it has to be me?  I am nobody.  An orphan Boudicca found in the woods.  I’m just a Ranger.  I don’t have a scrap of the power you think I have.  There has to be someone else.  There must be someone else.”

“There is no one else,” the Master said patiently.  “You are more than just an orphan.  Raghnall told me he spoke to you in Vahl’strael.  He gave you what he could.  Please, Morrigan.  We are telling you what we can.”

“Who am I then?” I pleaded.

“It is not for me to tell you,” the Master answered, shaking his head.

“Of course, its not.  Why would anyone actually want to tell me anything meaningful about where I came from.  I’m not doing this.  This has to be some trick,” I cried.

“We are deadly serious,” the Elf said.  “This is no trick.  And I can’t tell you what to do about the Fae Prince, but my advice is not to trust him.”

“I don’t mind Prince Aerron,” I said, caught off guard by the change of subject.  “It’s his father I don’t trust.”

“Two sides of the same coin,” the Elf countered.

“Enough,” the Master said.  “We aren’t here for the Fae cub.  The Relic, Morrigan.  This is your destiny.  Part of it, anyway.  You are here to protect it and return Hel to her prison.”

“I don’t know how to do that,” I tried again, ashamed of myself.  “I don’t have that kind of power.”

Why were they so convinced that this was something only I could do?  There had to be a mistake.  He had to have read the prophecy wrong or misunderstood it.  Something.

“Yes, you do,” the Elf said, losing his patience with me.  “These books will help you.  We will help you.”

“Every night,” the Master said. “We will work with you and help you learn more about the power that sleeps inside of you.”

“I can’t be down here every night,” I argued.  “I have to attend the Princess and fulfill those duties.  If I am falling asleep or absent from my room if she needs me, it will be noticed.  And, as far as my sisters know, we are here to find how who murdered the Queen and the demon legions.”

“That is what everyone else is here for,” the Master said.  “They can handle that.  The Princess will be Queen in a very short time and she is strong enough to stand up to that council of hers.”

“It’s really unnerving how confident you are about things that haven’t happened yet,” I said, crossing my arms.

“Don’t be insolent,” the Master admonished.

“A few hours when I can spare them from my duties,” I tried.

I must have gone mad, thinking I could bargain with the Master and win, but it was too much to take in.  He had always had more faith in me than I had in myself.  Honestly, it was a recurring theme with him and Boudicca, come to think of it.  And the Elf was tossing in his lot with the Master.  I briefly wondered if there was a spell in one of these ancient tomes that would render me completely Human.

“A few hours every night,” the Elf said.  “And don’t even think about rendering yourself Human.”

“A few hours when I can get away and I push the Princess to reopen the University in the city to the public,” I offered.  “And how did you know that?”

“Do you think she would agree to that?” the Elf asked quietly.

“Yes.  Do we have a deal?” I asked.

“He’s an ancient, Morrigan.  You still haven’t fully mastered guarding your thoughts when you aren’t in control of your emotions.  If I don’t think you are learning fast enough, I will fetch you myself any time I wish,” the Master said.

“Then everyone will know you are here.  Especially the Fae court,” I said.

A muscle in his jaw flickered.  No one could know he was down in that chamber.  As far as everyone was concerned, he had disappeared from the High Keep and no one could find him.  The Councils had no idea where he was.  If he showed up in Paerdua’dyn just as we were facing The Church and Hel, it would not bode well for him against those who had accused him of meddling with the prophecies.

“Fine, child.  You win.  But I am serious about this.  You must learn the necessary spells,” he said, shaking a finger at me.

“I know how to conceal things.  I can carry a book around with me and no one will know what I am truly holding,” I said, waving away his comment.

The Elf gasped.  “Take books out of this chamber?  Have you gone mad?”

“She is fully capable of concealing and protecting any book, Helian.  I have seen her do it,” the Master said, placing a calming hand on his friend’s shoulder.

“Tomorrow night, then,” I said.

The Master opened his mouth to say something, but the Elf stopped him.

“Tomorrow night, child.  And I will hold you to your promise about the university,” Helian said.

“I will talk to the Princess in the morning before the council meeting,” I promised.

He nodded and stepped back, tucking his hands in to his sleeves again.  The Master stepped forward and extended his left hand to me, offering me a small rune stone.

“A key to that door.  Do not misplace it,” he said.

“I won’t,” I said, tucking it in to my pocket.  “Anything else?”

“There is a garden above your room,” the Elf offered.  “It’s where the other set of stairs leads to.  Everyone else has forgotten about it, but it still grows.  It wouldn’t strain you to keep a ward over it while you are here.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, shocked by the unexpected gift.  “I will care for it while I am here.”

The Elf nodded and turned back to his books.

The Master pointed towards the door.  “Get some sleep, child.  I fear the Princess is going to keep you all very busy.  You need time to read,” he said as he pushed the first book in to my hands.  “And, Morrigan, it is never easy…releasing a soul such as his.  Those who have been tricked or have sold their souls for whatever reason to the darkness, they have made their own choices.  It is not one you made for them.  Seeing their faces, it gets easier.”

I nodded and said good night.  The climb back up the stairs was tiring.  A night of dancing, then an outrageous number of stairs made me wish I could fly.  I decided to wait on exploring the garden above my room.  I would have plenty of nights to make it up there to see what the Elf was talking about.

Only caring to slip off my boots after I locked the book the Master had given to me in my little office, I fell in to my bed completely clothed and was completely asleep before my head even touched the pillow.

CHAPTER 18

I was awake at dawn and tried desperately to convince myself that the night before was just a dream or a trick cooked up by my sister, but it was impossible.  I was going to have to find a way to tell the Master that it wasn’t me he needed.  He had to have seen someone else in his dreams of the prophecies.  Someone older, bigger, more powerful.  Just not me.

It was a foolish, childish desire, though.  I had been through all of that with Raghnall already.  I had known the Master would be waiting for me.  I just hadn’t been prepared for him to have another ancient with him who also believed in the prophecies…in me.  Even if it shouldn’t have surprised me, it further drove home the feeling of my life not being my own.  Of any of our lives not being our own.

Breakfast was a quiet affair.  The Princess was too tired to really talk to anyone.  She managed a weak smile when a soothing cup of tea was pressed in to her hands.  Aine opened her mouth to say something, but Rhiannon shook her head.  Whatever it was, it could wait until the Princess was more awake. 

We were all dressed casually in the Princess’s chambers, slowly waking up and getting prepared for the day.  It was to be a day of council meetings, planning the wedding tour and other such dull meetings that would no doubt render me dumb.

“Morrigan, you mentioned the University?” the Princess said. 

“Yes, my lady.  I was hoping we could find a way to reopen it to the rest of the kingdom,” I said.  “I would also like to talk to you about Lady Cleo Montebell.  I was sat next to her last night at the dinner.  She would make a useful addition to your ladies.”

“I like that idea.  I don’t know why it was closed to the public in the first place.  It happened before I was born.  It will definitely be reopened.  Do you think the Elves will return to teach?” she asked.

“I do, my lady,” I said.  “And the Lady Cleo?”

“I remember her mother’s petition to add her to my household.  I don’t remember why I didn’t accept her, though,” she frowned.

“I spoke with her at length last night.  She has a quick wit and strong character.  She is utterly wasted waiting on a man to meet her mother’s expectations,” I explained.  I couldn’t help but frown at the memory of her mother.

“Yes, her mother I do know.  She can be…off-putting,” the Princess frowned.  “It’s settled, then.  I will send Gordan out today to get things started,” the Princess decided.

“My lady, what of the council?” Sybal asked.

“What about it?  I don’t need their permission for what I do in my own city with my own buildings and funds,” the Princess huffed.  “My ladies are also my decision alone.  The council has no say in that, try as they may.”

Rhiannon hid a small smile behind her hand.  She was right.  Her people didn’t know their Princess at all.

Princess Arianna called in her page and gave him the instructions she had written down for the university and for the Lady Cleo to be given to Lord Gordan so he could get started on those tasks.  She wasn’t wasting any time.

Sybal started to lecture her young charge about the importance of her councilors but was interrupted by a heavy pounding on the door.  Without waiting to be announced, Prince Curren rushed in to the room and to his wife’s side.

“My love, it’s your father.  His physician found me on my way to the yards,” he said quickly.

The Princess leapt to her feet and ran to her husband.  Everything in her rooms forgotten as we ran through the halls to reach her father’s chambers.  Prince Aerron and the others saw us and followed in our wake to the king’s chambers.  By the time we reached the rooms where the physician had him in, there was a large, worried crowd behind us.  The physician, a kindly Elf, was waiting for us when we reached his door.

The older Elf reached for the Princess’s hands.  “Sweet child, you must prepare yourself.  He is only waiting to say good bye.  The council has been called to witness.  Hurry in before they arrive.”

Prince Curren caught his wife in his arms as she fell against him, trying to hold back a sob.  He nodded to the doctor and led his wife inside, waiting for us to follow.  Anything the king said, had to be said in front of as many witnesses as possible.  I only hoped the council would make it in time.

Princess Arianna fell to her knees at her father’s bedside and clasped his frail hand to her cheek.  The Prince stood behind her, a hand on her shoulder.  The Master’s words echoed in my head as I stood with the other people in the room.

“Father, please,” she whispered, “I am not ready.”

“Oh, my dearest daughter, yes you are.  You will be twice the ruler I ever was,” he rasped, stroking her hair with his other hand weakly.

“I can’t, father.  The people…what if I fail them?”  she asked through her tears.

“That is exactly why I know you are ready, child,” the king whispered.  “You are strong, like your mother.  You have a good man beside you who knows how to lead.  Keep the young general close.  He is loyal to our house.  Listen to your ladies and remember the treaties we signed.”

“I will, father.  I promise,” she whispered to him.

The door behind us opened again and the council stepped through, one by one.  I could feel the king slipping away as the council members filled the room.  An Elf scribe with a kind face stepped forward with a quill, ink and paper and settled at the desk next to the king’s bed.  He nodded once to the king.  Everyone was present and ready.

“I hereby name my heir, my daughter, the Princess Arianna, as Queen of the kingdom of Oryn’lea.  Her husband, Prince Curren, titles, will reign as the King of Oryn’lea beside her…as equals.  The Queen will build her own council and rule her own kingdom as she sees fit.  All of Oryn’lea’s subjects are beholden to her word and that of her husband, King Curren.  I also name any children born of this union as heirs to my bloodline, the royal family and this house.  All titles, accounts and responsibilities do now belong to the Queen Arianna and King Curren,” the King said, his voice getting weaker by the moment.

The council nodded their agreement and waited patiently while the scribe made several copies of the King’s final words.  He held the parchment for the king to sign, along with his will and other documents that would seal his daughter’s reign as Queen.  When he was finished, the council members took their turns signing the parchments containing the final words after now Queen Arianna and King Curren had signed them. 

After everyone had signed, the council members bowed to their king a final time and left the room in silence.  The scribe gathered up all of the papers and put them in a folio that he tucked under his arm.  The physician stood off to the side and waited patiently.

The King whispered something to his daughter and then he was gone.  I felt a chill crawl over my skin as he took his last breath.  Queen Arianna collapsed against her husband and sobbed.  The new King turned to Sybal and nodded once.  She needed to announce the death to the ranking council member so the mourning period could begin.

Sybal brushed her tears away and stepped in to the hall.  Through the slightly open door, I heard her speaking to the lords and their hushed condolences.  A servant rushed away to tell the guards to ring the bells three times to let the city know of the death of their king.  The council left to tell their own families. 

I found myself leaning against Prince Aerron when the bells tolled the death of the king.  The silence that followed was deafening.  There was no sound coming from the castle or the city below.  It was as if everything had stopped to mourn his passing.

The Princess was allowed three days of private mourning.  The fourth day would be the funeral and then official business would resume.  The public, along with the nobility, would mourn as long as they chose.  It was the three days of private mourning that was supposed to allow the Princess…Queen…enough time to grieve.

The King pulled his wife away when the physician returned with help to remove the old king’s body to prepare it for burial.  I wondered if anyone had known just how quickly after the treaties were signed that the rule in Oryn’lea would change or if they had been prepared. 

Tears slipped down my cheeks when they lifted the frail body from the bed and wrapped it in ceremonial white cloth.  I felt the Prince’s hand on my lower back and leaned in to it, the warmth reassuring.  Tristan stood near the new king and didn’t spare me a look.

I dismissed him then, hurt that he didn’t even spare me a look.  I leaned closer to Prince Aerron, accepting his closeness.  Aine was pressed in to my other side and Rhiannon beside her.  Rhiannon stood quietly while Aine cried openly on her shoulder.  This changed so much.

Sybal stepped through the doors and walked over to us.  “We all have three days to mourn in private.  If the Queen needs you, she will ask for you.  She may choose to be alone,” she said quietly.

We nodded and followed the new king and Queen through the doors and out in to the hallway.  Rhiannon and I still held Aine between us as we walked back to our rooms.  The Queen wanted to be alone with her husband in her rooms, so we all went to our own rooms.

I said goodbye to Prince Aerron at my door.  He tried to join me, but I refused him.  I looked down the hall to see Tristan watching from the end of the hallway as I dismissed the Fae Prince.  He looked away first when I returned his stare and I felt my heart drop to my feet.

Once safely alone in my rooms, I changed out of the dress I had been wearing.  I paced around my bedroom for a few moments, before I decided to take the stairs up to the garden Helian had told me about.  It would be better than pacing my rooms and waiting to see if the new Queen would call on me or not.

The stairs led up to wide, dark landing and a room that was covered in a fine layer of dust.  I didn’t stop to explore the room, though.  I made my way to the oak and iron door that I could see through the darkness.  It had to be the door that led out in to the garden. 

I wanted to explore the room.  It had a wide, flat roof that suggested that another structure sat above it.  There was only one window that looked out over a wide expanse of forest, but I wasn’t sure what direction it faced.  Not yet.  It looked like a much older version of my room below.  The furniture was easily thousands of years old and had, at one time, been well maintained.  The door, though, opened easily.

The garden was more than I could have hoped for.  It was over grown, yes, but it was a magnificent jungle.  Ah, a magnificent and deadly jungle.  Whomever had planted this garden had known what they were doing. 

Great leafy vines and bushes covered the rooftop along with, and I couldn’t figure out how, trees.  Not tall towering trees, mind you.  There were flowering trees, similar to an apple tree, that were scattered around the garden.  Several vines and trees had been encouraged to grow over an area where there was a comfortable padded bench.  The stones under the vines and branches had been designed carefully by hand.  I had never seen the design before, but it stirred something in my memory that I couldn’t place.

I followed the overgrown paths around until I found a preserved green house and found a treasure trove of plants that would have made Roslyn envious.  Every plant I could have possibly needed for healing or poison was in that green house.  Plants that weren’t even native to the Known Realms were there.  I wanted nothing more to write everything down and make sure it was safe.

“I was wondering when you would wander up here,” Helian said from behind me.

“How is this possible,” I asked him.

“Ethlenon.  The court physician,” he answered.  “Another ancient.  He has been the physician of this court for a long time.  Not long enough to be noticed, of course.  If you are here, I am guessing the old king is with his ancestors.”

I nodded sadly.  “He is.  I didn’t want to stay in my rooms.  He has been guarding this castle?”

Helian shook his head.  “He has been watching for you.  Don’t look so surprised.  We all have been.  He knew what was in the chamber.   Being here served a dual purpose.  You were…are…the priority.”

“How is this garden possible?” I asked.  I didn’t want to talk about ancients or the destiny they believed was mine.

“No one remembers.  Those who are here simply maintain it,” he explained.  “You can see why.  It holds many secrets.”

I walked out of the green house and back in to the sunlight.  I wanted to see more of the garden and I knew Helian would follow me.

When I made my way back around to the vines over the padded benches, I saw my arrow larks perched on a low branch of a violet flowering tree in a shaded part of the garden.  I finally looked above the door I had come out of and saw that the flat area above that room was, in fact, a gryphon tower.  It was empty, at the moment, though.

I sighed and settled my own ward over the garden, keyed to specific people.  “Why are you up here?”

“I wanted to be here when you saw it,” the old Elf told me.  “It’s beauty has always been soothing for me.  I had hoped it would be the same for you.”

“The Master is down in the chamber, then?” I asked.

“No,” he said simply.  He found a bench under a tree to settle himself on.  “He left this morning to check on a few things.  He had to leave rather abruptly to come here when Raghnall summoned him.  He was in the middle of something important, I believe.  He picked me up on the way.  Now that you are relatively safe, for the time being, he left for a few days to return to that task to see it through.”

“He will return?” I asked.  A little bit of panic began to twist itself around my heart.

“In a few days,” Helian assured me.  “I give you my word, child.  He will return.  He would not have left if was not sure of his ability to return swiftly.”

“It must have been important for him,” I said.  I found my own bench next to the one Helian had claimed.  I trusted the Master.  I had to believe he would come back.  He still had lessons to drive me crazy with.

“Everything he does is important to him,” Helian assured me.  “I am here to aide you as much as he is, child.”

I tossed that idea around in my head.  I couldn’t talk to my sisters anymore or even my Tuillaryn, but I did have the Master and Helian, and the other ancients and guardians they had talked about.  It didn’t completely wipe away the feeling of being alone, though.

“I feel so alone,” I whispered to him. 

“You feel the burden of not being able to talk to your sisters or your Tuillaryn anymore,” he said knowingly.  “It is something that we wish we could take from you.”

“I used to tell them everything,” I sighed.  “Especially Rhiannon.  I should be able to tell Tristan.  Isn’t that how this is supposed to work?  I have a problem, or something is happening…and I’m supposed to turn to my sisters and my Tuillaryn.  We solve the problem together.  Not…this.  Not hiding everything from them.”

“What is it you feel you are hiding?” he asked me.

I opened my mouth and shut it again.  “I…I can’t tell them about you or the Master being here.  I can’t tell them about the Ancients or the Guardians.  I can’t tell them about the Relic being here.  I can’t tell them that Raghnall says he recognizes my soul.  I can’t tell them what I am able to do,” I cried.  I was close to tears.  It wasn’t fair.

“Why do you feel that you can’t tell them any of this?” Helian asked me calmly.

“I can’t.  I was told that I can’t,” I told him. 

“Who told you that?  Who gave you that order?”  he asked me, the calm of his voice not wavering.

I opened my mouth to yell at him but stopped.  I couldn’t remember.  Because no one had told me that I couldn’t, no one had given me a direct order.  They had merely given me polite advice.  I had made my own decisions.

“No one,” I whispered.

“Then why do you feel that they cannot know?” he asked again.

“Rhiannon does not see the world the same way that I do.  She would not understand.  She trusts the High Seat and the Laws of the Order.  My sisters wouldn’t understand the prophecies, or the power I am cursed with.  Tristan understands that part.  Or I thought he did,” I mumbled.

Helian handed me a blank book and a quill.  “Maybe cataloging the plants will help?”

I took the book and quill and started with the plants nearest to us.  “It’s just…how do you tell your sisters, who already think you are a bit odd, that a mountain gryphon not only spoke to you, but told you that he recognized your soul?”

“It would be troubling to explain, yes,” he agreed.

“And it’s not that he actually talked to me.  It was mind to mind.  An ability that was supposed to have been lost after the Wars.  Or rare, at least.  But the Yova have some kind of connection with their gryphons.  So do the Dyr’scal with their dragons.  The Ancients have maintained the ability.  Why does the Order and the High Seat insist it was lost?

“It’s bad enough that Aine is envious of the bond I share with Tristan.  Our older sisters said that thousands of years ago, every Tuillaryn Pair was able to speak through their bond.  Now it’s so rare that no one expects it happen in their lifetime.  But it happened.  Fat lot of good it did me, though.  He shut me out,” I complained.

“He shut you out?” Helian asked as we walked through the garden.

I nodded as I wrote down the next plant.  “We knew we had to stay hidden from the Fae in Vahl’strael.  King Einal has had his eyes on me since the Rites.  Before that, probably.  It’s why he sent Prince Aerron’s sworn in to my room to try to get the books that the Master gave me.  They couldn’t get them, though.  I have them locked in my trunk.  Not even the Master can get in to that trunk.

“Anyway, Tristan and I were close.  We made a plan to stay hidden, like Boudicca planned, and try to find anything that we could while we were here.  Only, it didn’t work out like that.  The last few days in Vahl’strael were…odd.  I had thought that we would at least still have our bond, but he shut me out.  It feels…hollow.  Empty. 

“Rhiannon has felt a little off, too.  I can’t explain it,” I said.  I moved to another part of the path and focused on the plants there.

“You didn’t tell Tristan about Raghnall?” Helian asked from my side.

“No.  Everything that Raghnall, Boudicca and Val told me…it all felt like it was information they would give their lives to keep hidden.  It didn’t seem right to run back to my room and tell him.  I felt like I was betraying him, though.  He told me he trusted me.  He never asked me who I was talking to or where I had been,” I confessed. 

“Do you think they would betray you?” he asked carefully.

“No,” I said quickly.  “They would never betray me.”

“Then what is still bothering you?” he asked.

“My life is not my own,” I sighed.  “It never has been.  They knew I was odd since we were little and I shattered every window in a room trying to light a candle.  I’m not going to drag them down this path with me where I am expected to face and imprison a seriously ancient dark goddess with a rage problem.”

“Is it not everyone’s fight?  They are here with you.  Armies will be called from all over this realm and others to fight her and her legions,” he countered in a calm voice.

“Everyone will fight, yes.  But…,” I hesitated. 

“What is it, child?”

“Raghnall, you, Ethlenon, the other Ancients, the Guardians, even Val…they haven’t stayed hidden so long because they have shared their secrets.  The Yova and Dyr’scal serve the High Keep, but I’m sure now that they keep their secrets.  The High Seat and the Councils, the Order itself, know about the Master because he allows it.  I have thought about that one a lot.

“I am young, but Boudicca doesn’t hold much back from me.  I used to wonder why she was so vague when we talked of certain things in the High Keep.  She changed when we came to the Fourth Realm.  She relaxed a little.  When they told me their secrets, I knew they weren’t mine to tell,” I explained.

He nodded his head in agreement.  “You are right.  They are not your secrets to tell.  What else bothering you, child?”

I followed him down to another plant that he knew I needed to catalog.  “Why do Rhiannon and Tristan feel off?  It’s Tristan mostly.  I barely feel it in Rhiannon.  It’s like a sliver of shadow.”

“A sliver of shadow,” he repeated under his breath.  “Have you felt this before?”

I shook my head as I wrote down the next plant.  “Never.  It’s not even comparable to the people who hadn’t fully turned yet in the legion we faced at the wedding.  That felt…like dirty oil against my soul.  Pure malice and hate.”

“A sliver of shadow,” he said again thoughtfully.  “I will ask the others and check the tomes below.  You feel this in Tristan and Rhiannon?  Are there any others?”

“No,” I frowned.  “I have been trying to find it, too.  I don’t always feel it in Rhiannon, though.   I tried to ignore it in Tristan, at first.  I didn’t want it to be real.  But, I feel it now when he is near.  And today, when we were in the King’s chambers to say good bye, I felt a thread snap…in here.”  I put my hand on my chest and pressed, as if I could ease the pain I was feeling.

“I have never come across anything like that,” Helian said sadly.  “I will find an answer for you, though.  Someone will know what is happening.  There are others much older than I am.  Many who were alive long before the Wars.”

“It helps, you know, having you to talk to,” I told him.  “And Prince Aerron has been there when I did not expect him to be.”

“We received a letter about him, from Boudicca.  She seems convinced that he is inclined to protect you.  Even from his father,” Helian said.

“A few months ago, I would have told you that she was crazy.  But, he kept his father from pulling out of the treaties, convinced him to go along with the traditions of the clans here and has been there for me when Tristan hasn’t,” I said.  It wasn’t easy to admit, but it was the truth.  “Why do you hate him so much?”

“It’s not that we hate him,” another voice said from above us.

I turned to see Lord Roman on the tower with a larger than normal plains gryphon that had to be Cathan.  I wondered how long they had been there.

“Then what is it?” I asked.

“We don’t trust his father,” Helian answered.  “Not many remember a time before King Einal was the king of the High Forest Fae of this realm.  He had always been more blood thirsty than the rest of his people.  He killed his brothers so he could take the throne.  He wasn’t the direct heir, you see.  The first few decades of his rule were relatively quiet.  No one heard much from the Forest Fae.  That was our first mistake.”

Lord Roman nodded.  “I know the stories well.”

“Aye, well, I live them, lad,” Helian said.  “Emissaries disappeared in to the forests and didn’t return.  So, scouting parties were sent.  A few of them managed to return.  The borders of the Forest Fae kingdom had been closed with a powerful magic that bordered on dark magics.  It wasn’t enough to upset the balance, so the Order of Ebon Lys could not interfere. 

“The kingdom to the south, the one you call the Lost Kingdom, it used to be an Elven Kingdom.  My kingdom, my home.  In the dead of night, King Einal’s armies poured in to our cities and slaughtered everyone they could find.  Including our entire royal family.  My sister and I were not even in the realm at the time of the attack.  A friend found us and told us what had happened.  But it was all over before we could make it back to try to at least defend our family home. 

“When the Order and the High Seat investigated the attack, King Einal had charges against our kingdom for use of dark magics, service to Hel, and other charges.  All signed confessions.  All signed under torture, but we couldn’t prove it.  No one could.

“A few months later, another Elven kingdom fell.  Then another.  And another.  The only thing the Order and the High Seat would do was not allow the Forest Fae to settle the razed kingdoms.  As they claimed they were ridding the realm of blasphemers, then why did they feel they needed they land?  They were not conquerors, were they?

“So, three of them became Human kingdoms.  Another was given to an Immortal Kindred clan.  But, King Einal learned a lesson.  He could not conquer the realm through blood, as he had planned.  We still aren’t sure why he started with Elves.  I believe it was because we were peaceful.  We didn’t keep standing armies. 

“Anyway, my people are all gone.  My sister is all that I have left.  We moved to a different realm completely.  I travel where I must, helping the Master mostly.”

“Was Prince Aerron,” I breathed.

Helian shook his head.  “He wasn’t alive then.  None of King Einal’s children were.  He had not even taken his first wife yet.”

“The armies in this Realm?” I asked.

“Exist because of those attacks,” Lord Roman answered.  “Before that, each kingdom had its own army made up of its own clan and people of the kingdom.  The subjects.  Tribes in different realms and this realm heard of the attacks.  It was the Master that asked us to pledge ourselves to the royal families of this realm so that such a thing couldn’t happen again.”

“But…those treaties, those allegiances, were made thousands of years ago,” I whispered.

Helian smirked at me.  “I think I look pretty good for my age.”

I turned to Lord Roman.  “You…”

“Hey, don’t look at me like that.  I’m not much older than you,” he said defensively.

“You know all about me, too, then,” I sighed.  I turned back to the plants I had been writing about.

“I know what they know,” he said, pointing at Helian and Cathan.  “And what my father knows.  And I know it’s too much for you to deal with alone.”

“Were you sat with Rhiannon on purpose?” I asked him bluntly.

He blinked at me a moment, unsure what to say.  “Yes, I was.  Raghnall’s choice.  She loves you dearly, but her devotion is to the Order and the High Seat.”

I felt my shoulders fall.  “I know.”

“Oddly enough,” Lord Roman mused, “the Fae Prince is utterly devoted only to you.”

I refused to look at him, but I felt both him and Helian watching me.  “What,” I finally said.

“You don’t think that that is important,” Helian asked me.

I groaned loudly.  “Not really, no.  What I want to do is finish cataloging the plants up here.  I want to enjoy this garden for one day before it becomes ruined with secrets.”

Helian frowned at me.  “Child, this garden has been a keeper of secrets long before you ever walked beneath its branches.  If you listen long enough, you can hear the whispers.”

I slipped to the ground and dropped my head in to my hands.  “What is the room under the tower?”

“It once belonged to a keeper of the garden,” Lord Roman answered.  “An ancient like Lord Helian.”

“What happened to him?” I asked.

“She,” Helian corrected gently.  “Died just after the Wars.  She saw the Relic safe and this castle built over it.  Some of her secrets were told here.”

“To whom,” I whispered.

“To an ancient soul who had found himself in another body.  Among others,” Helian said as he settled next to me.

“What will happen to it now?” I asked.

“I thought I might use it,” Lord Roman said.  “It’s below my favorite tower and it sits above the royal wing.  Oh, don’t give me that look.  I won’t be able to hear anything from your rooms.  And you won’t be able to hear anything coming from mine.”

I glared at him.  “If you are talking about my sister…”

“Let’s just leave the room alone for now,” Helian said over Lord Roman’s laugh.

I swear I heard the gryphon huff from his place up on the tower.

“I meant what I said about the Prince, though,” Lord Roman said.  “From what we can see and from what the Tribe in Vahl’strael have told us, he is devoted to you.  He has openly defied his father more than once.  Not something done lightly given the fate of his oldest brother.”

“So, it’s true,” Helian mumbled.

Lord Roman nodded sadly.  “It is.  Our spies confirmed it.  He was killed for openly defying his father’s orders to attack a kingdom.  The Prince argued that it would be a bloodbath, that it would make them no better than butchers, murderers.  The King’s rage was so brutal, our spies and others had to flee and stay hidden for a time.”

“What kind of monster do they have on the Council,” I wondered out loud.

“Oh, make no mistake,” Helian said, “he’s there by intimidation only.  The other kings and Queens fear him and with good reason.  Did you ever get that feeling around him?”

“What feeling?” Lord Roman asked.

“Like a sliver of shadow within someone,” I told him.  “It’s the only way I know how to explain how Tristan feels…different.  Off.”

“I have felt that when I am near Rhiannon,” Lord Roman whispered.

“I have, too,” I told him.  “Only sometimes, though.  But I haven’t been near enough to King Einal to feel it.  I have avoided him at all costs.”

“I can tell our spies,” Lord Roman offered.  “It felt like a shadow on her soul.  If we can tell certain people we trust how it feels, what to watch for, maybe they will be able to find an answer for it.  Do we know where it comes from?”

Helian shook his head.  “We do not.  I do not remember ever hearing about it.  Or reading about it.  I plan on asking those who have lived longer than me and looking in the tomes from before the Wars.”

“Did you feel that with the legions?” Lord Roman asked me.

I shook my head, thoroughly frustrated.  “No.  The ones who hadn’t turned yet, I didn’t feel the shadow.  It felt like dirty oil against my soul.  Like ichor had gotten inside of me.”

“That is what others have described when they have encountered Hel and her legions,” Helian said.  “That does not help us with the shadow.”

I scrubbed my face with my hands.  “Why Tristan, though?”

Helian stared at me.  “Oh, child.  I think you know the answer to that one.  You are the one who came to us and said you thought Hel is being aided by another being or others who weren’t imprisoned with her.”

I got up and started writing down plants again.  It steadied my mind.  When I was finished writing down all of the plants, I took the seed bags out of Helian’s waiting hand and started collecting the seeds and labeling the bags.  To my surprise, both men helped me move through the garden as I methodically gathered seeds and labeled bags.

“If she does have help, then they know about the prophecies and they know that Tristan is my Tuillaryn.  And the first part says that I must face her with my balance.  Everyone has interpreted that to mean my Tuillaryn.  If the prophecies are even about me,” I chided the old Elf.

“They are about you,” he assured me.

“So, if I were this being, I would remove the part of the prophecy that helps me win and gives Hel what she needs to gain the Relic so she can then face the Goddess and her pantheon of Gods,” I finished.  “Only…that doesn’t explain the shadows.”

Lord Roman leaned over to Helian who was standing quietly behind me, holding the filled seed bags.  “Why is she cataloging the garden and saving the seeds?”

Helian smiled at the young general.  “Work steadies the mind.”

“I understand that,” Lord Roman sighed.  “But why does she need the seeds?”

I sighed and turned around to face them.  “She needs the seeds because some of these plants don’t exist anywhere else in this realm.  They didn’t even exist in the High Keep outside of the Master’s Garden.  These seeds are more precious than almost any treasure you could possibly imagine.  I could would you, heal you, kill you and bring you back to life with just the plants in that corner of the garden.” I pointed to the northern corner that was starting to darken with lengthening shadows. 

The general smiled at me.  “I always wondered why my father kept this garden hidden.  Not even the royal family knows of it’s existence.”

“It needs to stay that way,” I said.  “That makes me wonder, though.”

I walked around to a part of the garden I had already cataloged and looked for the plant with blue, pink and black leaves and bright blue thorns.  It could be the plant that would have had to have been used to make the poison that killed the previous Queen.  It was the only plant that existed that could render anyone, no matter their race, mortal for a certain length of time.  Depending on the dose, of course.

But, the plant was undisturbed.  Completely undisturbed and had been for years.  There was no sign of damage to the plant itself or the roots or the area around the plant.  I searched the garden for another plant like it, but it was the only one.

Helian smiled at me when he saw what I was looking at.  “Vestigus Mortalus.  I didn’t even think about it.  Has it been used?”

I shook my head.  “No.  There is no new growth.  Any poison made from this plant had to have already been in the castle from hundreds of years ago.  There isn’t even a tampering spell or an attempt to cover signs of use or damage.”

“Someone care to explain,” Lord Roman said as he sat down my little seed box.

“The Queen was poisoned, right,” I said.  I continued after he nodded.  “The assassin used a poison made from this plant, or another Vestigus Mortalus plant, to render her mortal just long enough to be able to kill her.  The assassin had to have been waiting around a good half an hour for the poison to take effect, but then would have had only an hour to assassinate her, depending on the dose and how old it was.”

“Well, don’t touch it!” he yelled at me.

“It’s harmless to touch.  The majority of the plants here are.  Only the plants in the green house should be handled carefully,” I laughed.  “The doses are difficult to make, but as long as they are done right, its not the poison itself that kills you.  Just the person waiting to take advantage of your sudden mortality.  What I don’t understand, though, is where they got the lily to finish the poison.”

“Lily?” Lord Roman asked.

I nodded.  “The book mentioned it as the integral ingredient for the poison.  The book also mentioned that all of the lilies were destroyed in all of the Realms.  I’m guessing during or immediately after the Wars.  So, how did they make the poison?”

“Would you recognize a lily if you saw it?” he asked me.

Helian shook his head.  “I don’t think too many people alive would be able to besides the Ancients, and even then, it would only be a vague memory.”

“Well, that’s maddeningly unhelpful,” he grumbled.

“Tell me about it,” I agreed.

“Why have such a plant here in the first place?” the general asked.

I shrugged.  “Other than its beauty?  I’m joking.  It has other benefits.  Obviously, it should never fall in to the wrong hands.  I’m guessing that’s why she has it planted in a rather hidden corner.”

“It’s nearly dark, child,” Helian chided me.  “You need to rest and I need to try to find an answer about the shadows.  I will clean out the room under the tower.  This book and seeds should be locked away safely.”

“I have a place for them in my little office,” I said over a yawn. 

The sun was indeed sinking over the western horizon and painting the sky with its wonderous pallet of pastel colors.  A last burst of color before the inky blackness of night filled the sky.

“Someone will be on that tower at all times,” Lord Roman said.  “They won’t bother you in the garden.”

I thanked them both for their help and gathered up my book and the box of seeds.  Helian must have summoned a small box at some point to put all of the bags in from the same place he summoned the bags from.  I had intended to spend the day alone, but I was thankful that I had had the Elf and the general to talk to.