The Mirrors Of Bershan: Bound Part 6

Tavis left the words hanging in the air as they continued down the street. She wanted to reach over and put her hand on his shoulder but she was afraid he might misinterpret the gesture. She hadn't forgotten the end of their conversation the previous night. She liked him, but wasn't sure how much and until she was more certain of her feelings, she didn't want to risk giving him the impression that she was inviting his. She considered this for a while, trying to figure out the nature of her feelings about Tavis, and the implications they might present for her, but then she put it all aside. Now wasn't the time for herself, she thought.

"I have an idea, if you want to hear it," she said, trying for a teasing tone. He turned his head to look at her as they walked down the wide boulevard and raised an eyebrow. "I thought I could show you the Academy. It's just down the street. And my favorite place in the whole city is nearby, so I could show you that afterward, before we go back for your boots."

He came to a halt and she stopped with him. He stared at her, his expression serious for so long that she began to worry. Then he smiled and it was like the sun coming out. "I'd like that, Fay."

He held his arm out to her, surprising her. She hesitated for a moment, then took it. Several minutes later, they were at the outer gate of the school. Tavis' expression was pure wonder as he looked up at the castle. "I've never- I didn't know they made buildings this big!"

Fay smiled. "There are a few buildings in this city bigger, but the one in Voleno, which is almost exactly the same size, is one of the two biggest structures in that city. The people who built the Academies were trying to impress on everyone else how important Magicia are."

His laugh was a little choked. "They succeeded in that, I bet. How many people live there?"

"At this time of year, almost none. The school year is over and most students go home to their families for a few months, until the next year starts. But during the school year, about four hundred, unless it's changed since I attended."

Tavis turned to her, his mouth hanging open. "In one building? How many live in this city, then?"

"I'm not sure. Lydia might be able to tell you. I don't think I ever asked anyone."

He stepped forward and rested his hands on the gates, staring at the academy through the bars. This time she did put her hand on his shoulder, and said, "They'll let you in, Tavis. They have to. I know some of the teachers still, and Eliar will certainly call in any favor he has to, though I don't think it will take that much. It will happen."

He turned and gave her a wistful smile. "Come on, show me this other place. Your favorite place in the whole city, you said."

She nodded, accepting the hint that he didn't want to talk about his prospects with the academy. Leading him away from the gate and down the street they needed to take, she half-consciously took his arm again. As they walked, she stole a glance at him from under the lock of her hair that loved to fall forward. With nicer clothes, he seemed to fit his own manners better. She supposed that he was right, that it must have been the result his mother's teaching when he'd been a child, but he had never seemed like a farmer to her, even when he looked it. He had always felt like more to her. She wondered if that was what had caused her to accept his invitation to travel together in the first place.

"Fay, I want to apologize for last night," Tavis said suddenly. After a moment, he went on, "I had no right to impose on you like that, and I should have known better. You could have told me to leave, you should have. But I promise you, it won't happen again. I don't want- I don't want you to feel uncomfortable around me because of my behavior."

She looked up at him directly now, a little surprised. "It was all right. I know I could've told you to leave if I'd been that uncomfortable. We're friends, aren't we? You should be able to come talk to me if you need to."

"Hmm, friends, yes. Of course."

They both returned to silence until they reached large, ornate gates wrought of silver piping fas.h.i.+oned into intricate shapes. One of the gates stood open and Fay led him inside. They stopped in the courtyard on the other side. She stared for a moment down each of the four paths that led deeper into the gardensia, and let out a sigh of contentment at the happy memories each one evoked for her.

Tavis stared around at all the strange shapes and gla.s.s houses and asked, "What is this place?"

"The Gardensia Exotica. There are a few large public gardens like this around Rianza. This one houses plants and flowers from all over the Empire. Some of them have to be kept in greenhouses, so that special conditions can be maintained for them, but it's an amazing place. Come on, I'll show you around, at least some of it. You could spend a whole day exploring this Gardensia and still not see everything." She took him down one of the paths and showed him a few of her favorite spots. The Diarah Roses were blooming, the small flowers sparkling as the bushes they grew from waved back and forth with no breeze to drive them. He was amazed by the Govorian tree, towering over him with a trunk so wide that the two of them together could only get their arms halfway around. She explained that the garden had taken shape around the tree, which came from the lands near Voleno, though there were none left there as large as this one. Then she took him through the Weeping Path, where the trees drooped around the slate walkway and the flowers steadily dripped a glowing blue fluid.

"That fluid is good for spreading on wounds to heal them faster, if you don't know how to do it with magic, but they only grow in the wild to the far south," she said as they pa.s.sed the flowers.

They found a circle of benches surrounded by tall hedges on the other side and stopped to sit down together. Tavis was watching her again, and after a while he spoke up. "You said this was your favorite place when you were at the academy here. Why?"

She smiled. "I used to come here all of the time. I even got myself in trouble on a few occasions when I got caught trying to sneak out to see the gardens at night. Some of the flowers here only bloom after sunset, and others look different in the dark. It was fun to come here. I could imagine I was somewhere else, that I was off having adventures."

This answer seemed to surprise him. "You were at the academy but wished you were somewhere else?"

Suddenly self-conscious, Fay stared at her hands as she answered. "It wasn't because of the academy. I liked it there, but my father... He kept coming to visit me there, or he'd take me out for a day to some court event or something else that he wanted me to attend. I remember once he made me go to an Imperial Ball to celebrate the founding of the Empire."

"And you didn't want to go?"

"Not really. I was always the youngest person there. Everyone else there was too old for me to even know them. The Emperor's younger son is more than ten years older than I am, and at the ball, he was the next oldest person in attendance." She paused, thinking about how much she wanted to tell him. Before she was aware of making a decision, she heard herself going on, revealing the worst part, the thing she had never shared with anyone before. "It wasn't that he wanted me there with him, either. My father was showing me off, that's all. He always seemed to think I was the key to a better position in the n.o.bility for our family. He was obsessed with it. He always seemed to be trying to arrange things, but I never understood what he was working to accomplish. Magicia almost never marry anyone except their partner, so it never made sense when he was parading me around in front of others, especially non-Magicia. I hated having to go to those things and smile, pretending to enjoy myself and trying to hide how confused I was by it all."

She didn't realize how hard she was clenching her hands until Tavis put his own over them and then stroked the back of one with his thumb. She forced herself to relax, feeling her hands throb as blood was allowed to flow freely again. He said softly, "Neither of us had ideal parents, did we?"

She smiled and shook her head. "My mother was, from what I remember, but she died when I was four. I don't remember what happened, but I do remember trying to understand where she had gone. They explained to me about the Veil of Airs, but it didn't make a lot of sense at the time. I miss her quite often."

He nodded solemnly, then turned as a voice called from behind them. "There you two are. We have to go back to the house. There's news, but Eliar won't explain it until we're all there."

Fay turned and saw Lydia standing at the gap in the hedges. Tavis asked her, "How did you find us, Mother? We hadn't even planned on coming here."

"Blood. Because your blood and mine are connected, it allows me to find you more easily than others. Blood allows for amazing and deep connections when coupled with magic. Other feats as well sometimes," she said. Fay noticed that Lydia was staring at her as she said it, which confused her.

"We still have to get your boots, Tavis," Fay reminded him.

He looked up to the sky and then back at her. "I think that it's been at least the two hours he asked for, don't you?"

Fay nodded, and Lydia suggested that they pick them up on the way back to the manor. Fay and Tavis agreed at once and they all left the Gardensia, Lydia still glancing at her as they went.

Chapter 10.

Lydia's presence made their return to the Quarter of Airs easier than antic.i.p.ated. Fay thought it helped that, with the addition of his new boots, Tavis actually looked like he belonged now. Lydia had brought a carriage for them and the return to the manor took no time at all. They went to the sitting room again, finding Eliar and Ki there in a conversation they abruptly ended when Lydia, Tavis and Fay entered the room. The two men looked at Tavis' new clothes and both nodded.

"Excellent work, Fay. Much more appropriate. That was faster than I was expecting. They really suit him," Eliar said.

Fay smiled. "We were lucky that Soval had some items ready that were almost the right fit. With some quick needlework, it turned out well. He's going to deliver the rest here when it's done."

"Good. Now, everyone sit down. There is much to discuss."

Ki rose and summoned a servant with a bell pull by the door, ordering tea and a light lunch for them all. He returned to his seat, and said, "It's time for us to talk plainly about Calder Derrion."

Fay cringed at her father's name as everyone looked at her. Fighting to keep her face smooth, she looked back at them. After a moment, Lydia began to speak. "Your father has never had the position at court that he felt was his due, as you well know. He was vocal and bitter about it from the moment he took over your family's affairs, years before you were born. But for a long time it was never more than a lofty opinion of himself and petty scheming. Most ignored it. Then your mother died. I didn't know him that well, Faylanna, but it was clear to many that Pella's death altered Calder, in ways I have difficulty making sense of. It was subtle at first, just a knowing smile that never seemed to leave his face, even when those of higher standing put him in his rightful place. It was as if he were waiting for something to fall into place, or so I've been told. I only saw him once myself during that time, and it was a truly odd, if brief experience. The more I've thought of it since, the more I've become convinced that something greater than we know is going on with him. It was in Fioselto, of all places, around the time you began at the academy here in Rianza. I don't think he knew anyone was watching him, and I may have seen something he was keeping from everyone. He looked so lost and miserable, walking down the road alone. He was shaking his head as he went, and his expression was haunted and exhausted from the glimpse I had of his face before he turned down another street. I neither heard of nor saw him for a number of years, until one day, we crossed paths again outside the Baron's palace in Bershan. This was perhaps six years ago or so. He didn't see me then either and I almost didn't recognize him. After making some discreet inquiries, I found out he had managed to secure for himself an incredible position within Baron Gelvard's inner circle, functioning as the liaison between the Baron's bureaucrats and those of the Empire. I say incredible because, so far as I know, that position is always held by a member of their own House. It did, however, allow him to spend almost as much time in Rianza as in Bershan."

Fay nodded sourly. "Yes, I remember. That was when he started shoving me in front of every Magicia among the Imperial Court he could find, and some who weren't Magicia as well."

"I've heard about him doing that, yes," Lydia looked troubled for a moment before continuing. "I realized something had changed about him after observing for a while. Calder had never been a strong Magicia, even after pairing with your mother, and never good with people. But when I saw him in Bershan, he was a different man entirely. He was able to sway people, to make them listen to his words and agree. Worse, he was able to do things that should have been impossible with the magical talents he had always possessed. I think that's what caught him too much attention, really, and from parties beyond myself. It was obvious that something was going on."

"And there isn't much I'd put past him," Eliar added in a grumble.

Lydia glared at her grandfather for the interruption before turning back to Fay and continuing. "When we looked into it, we found out that he had made an arrangement of some kind, though we haven't been able to find out who with. We are quite sure it involves you somehow. He was given abilities he had never possessed before, allowing him work more successfully toward his own goals, and in return, we feared what he had pledged you to. That was why you were transferred to Voleno, as Ganson told you, in hopes that you could be protected from whatever he has set in motion."

"Hold on," Tavis said, frowning. "Mother, you told me you had come to Rianza only two years ago, and I know that it's been four years since Fay was transferred to Voleno."

Lydia looked uncomfortable. "That part of it I was told by others, but Calder is why I came to Rianza, to warn... someone about him."

"The situation has grown worse in the last two years," Ki said softly, and Fay wondered why it felt like he was trying to divert the conversation from Tavis' question. "Calder no longer seems content to split his time between Bershan and Rianza. He's been making inquiries into positions within the Imperial Court, and has managed, after many months of effort, to secure a meeting with the Emperor himself on the subject. I fear for what might happen during that meeting, given his new-found powers of persuasion. We still have no idea what he's after, and so any action of Calder's is cause for concern."

Fay stared at him, stunned by the dire p.r.o.nouncement. "But why? What's he planning?"

It was Eliar who answered her. "We can't be entirely sure as nothing he's done so far seems to move him toward anything specifically, but the hints I am getting are indeed ominous. And recent events make me more concerned still, though I can find no satisfactory way to tie them to Calder. I've been to the archives kept by the Council Magicia this morning, looking into that dark cloud you said took Ganson and Brinds. I wasn't able to find much, because there are very few reports of such a phenomenon, and I'm not sure what to make of the ones I found. How much do you know about the creation of the Veils, Faylanna?"

She stared at him for several moments. She was almost tempted to laugh, if not for the tension in the room. "You must be joking. What could such stories possibly have to do with my father?"

Eliar frowned at her as he stood up and began pacing back and forth across the room. His agitation frightened her for some reason. "Because I am no longer certain, as I was on first hearing your story, that Calder is behind the darkness that appeared in Ganson's study. It may be that he's only connected to it. Everything I could find about it, all of it points to something far older, and much more dangerous than I could ever have believed your father to be. The reports of this... phenomenon stretch back beyond the founding of the Empire, and they are of one voice in speaking of the danger posed by it. The one text I found that dealt with its origins linked it to the creation of the Flame Veil. All of my life, I had considered the tale of the Lords of Life and their creation of the Veils to be a myth, things our ancestors used to make sense of the world before they understood its workings, and now I find myself questioning that a.s.sertion. I do not doubt your description, and after seeing a vygazza in the flesh, I have to wonder what is going on."

Eliar sat back down on the couch heavily, as if the admission had drained him somehow. "But on the other hand, I am not one to believe in coincidence. This thing showed up as Brinds claimed he discovered something about Calder's plotting. Nor do I think it incidental that it took Ganson, who has protected you and kept Calder from you in more ways than you know, Faylanna." Eliar's voice was heavy as he spoke and in it, she heard his belief that her mentor and his partner dead, but refused to let her own hope die. "If Calder has made some kind of alliance with the source of this thing, then the situation may be more than we know. And then there's the matter of your dreams. I don't know where that fits in, or why you were dreaming of an event that you had never even heard of before. I need to find out more before we can make any decisions on our path forward. There's something we're missing, I can feel it, and that it's important."

Fay heard the frustration in his voice and saw it reflected in Lydia's face. Ki's eyes were unfocused, lost in thought. It was Tavis' worried expression that held her though. She didn't understand what he was worrying about, but then an idea occurred to her that pushed everything else out of her mind. She considered it thoroughly before speaking, not liking it but seeing no alternative.

"I could talk to him." She heard the reluctance in her own voice, the shake that betrayed her fear and forced herself to sound calm. "My father. He might tell me what's going on. At my graduation, he wanted something of me, I know that much, and it was more than just going home with him. I'm sure of it. He said that I had no idea what I was risking. If I can get him to meet with me, to talk to me, I might be able to find out. I don't think I can talk him out of anything, as he never listens to me, but I could get you the information you need at least." She said all of this in a rush, before anyone could interrupt her.

As soon as she stopped, everyone in the room except Ki erupted into speech. Tavis was the loudest of them all. "Not a chance. By your own admission he's already tried to kidnap you once. If you get anywhere near him, he'll surely try again. It's not safe!"

Lydia had started to speak but Fay saw her stop and stare at Tavis after his outburst. Eliar wasn't listening to either of them, though his words seemed built on Tavis'. "And if taking you is the last thing he needs to complete what he has been working toward? Have you considered that? Of course not, you can't have."

Ki held up a hand from where he sat, his eyes finally focusing and turning on Fay. Everyone else stopped speaking as Ki watched her and she saw in his eyes that he wanted to know if she was certain. She nodded, though she wasn't. When he finally spoke, his tone was reluctant. "I think we should consider the idea carefully, rather than reject it out of hand. She's right, Calder might tell her something, perhaps everything."

Eliar paused and stared at Ki, his expression changing. He looked like he was weighing the option, though unwillingly.

"You can't be serious," Tavis said furiously, rising to his feet. "Think of the danger she'd be in. Her father sounds like the kind of person who would stop at nothing to get what he wants, and I doubt he'd care about sacrificing her. Eliar, why did we bother sneaking her in if you're just going to allow this?"

The old man looked up at his great-grandson. "Tavis, we don't know what he's up to. I'm afraid to say that even the things we think we know, they're mostly based on a.s.sumption or supposition at this point. Ki's right, this is an opportunity to find out something more certain. Besides, do you really think we'd let her go alone? Really, boy."

Fay's eyes widened in alarm at this. "You have to. If he thinks that anyone else is there, he might not tell me anything. And if he's found out that you're acting against him, who knows how he'd react to seeing you there with me. It might force him to try to take me after all."

Still watching Tavis as he shook his head in disbelief, Lydia said, "Faylanna's right. Grandfather, Calder knows that you're involved in trying to keep him away from her. Don't you think he'd be suspicious if she turned up to the meeting with you? The same goes for myself and Ki. No, if she goes, I think we would have to let her go alone. That worries me."

The discussion went around several times over the next few hours. Tavis left angrily when it became clear that none of them were going to expressly forbid her from going. They continued the argument over dinner, though Tavis was absent still. Fay was mostly listening by that time rather than arguing, having made her points. When they started to repeat themselves after a while, she decided she'd had enough and excused herself for bed. She was aware of Lydia watching her as she left.

When she closed the door of her room behind her, she brushed her hair again, not getting ready for bed at all but unwilling to admit to herself what she was really doing. She expected Tavis to come to her, that he would try to talk her out of meeting with her father. She wasn't planning on letting him dissuade her, any more than she would let the others stop her, but it surprised her how much she wanted him to try, just so she could see him again. In an effort to distract herself from the image of Tavis in his new clothes, she considered what Eliar had said about the dark cloud. The idea that it was linked to the Flame Veil, beyond which the worst souls were supposed to be trapped in torment after their death, chilled her.

She fingered the pendant through her tunic for a moment before pulling it out and holding it in her palm. It still didn't look dangerous to her, but Ganson had taught her that perilous magical objects often looked innocent to unwary eyes. She ran a finger along first the white enamel ribbon, then the iron ring, and finally the obsidian ribbon. She felt nothing unusual about it and s.h.i.+fted her vision to look deeper. There were no spells about it that she could see. A faint glow lingered on it, but she suspected that was from her own hand running over it, being the same color as the trace she left. The thought crossed her mind that she should tell them the pendant was in her possession, but she dismissed it at once. There was no proof that it was anything more than pretty jewelry and besides, it was hers. Now that she wore it, she understood that this was why it had always called to her, because it belonged with her. A small voice reminded her that it had been sealed in a bell jar for years, but she pushed that aside. Perhaps whatever had made it dangerous had dissipated over the years since the professor had put it in there, she thought.

She closed her hand over the pendant and sighed. Tavis wasn't coming, she decided. Either he had given up on trying to argue with her or he was trying to convince one of the others to help him stop her. She turned away from the dresser, where the rose from that morning still lay, and let her vision s.h.i.+ft back to normal, intending to really get ready for bed this time when something caught her eye.

In the middle of the room, a s.h.i.+mmer was forming. It reminded her of the air over a hot fire. As she watched, it darkened and became opaque, then almost solid, the shape of a man. Her eyes widened as the details formed themselves out of the shadow. A bare minute after she had noticed the s.h.i.+mmer, the man from her dreams stood in front of her: Marcius. Everything was the same, the light blond curls, the ice blue eyes, the smile. Even the clothes, simple, lightly embroidered and in an older style long out of fas.h.i.+on, was the same as in her dreams.

She had wanted to scream when she saw the haze forming, but that desire was gone. She stared, amazed and fascinated. After a moment, she realized that he wasn't completely solid, that she could see the bed faintly through him. The small voice of reason was screaming for her to get out, that she was in danger. Most of all, it wailed that Marcius should not be able to reach outside of the Mirror they had trapped him in because magic was impossible there. But she found herself unable listen. All she could remember was Eliar's doubts that Marcius had killed his partner, all she could see was the inviting look in his eyes.

After a length of time Fay could not have measured, the image seemed to flicker once, then twice. The look on Marcius' face became agitated and he raised his hand, offering it to her, palm up and fingers slightly splayed. She looked at it for a moment, then back up to his eyes, which were pleading as the image began to flicker more frequently. She took a hesitant step forward, afraid of what the increasing unsteadiness of the image might mean. She reached out, unsure what to do and he smiled for a moment before the image disappeared entirely.

She stared at the spot where he had been standing. She s.h.i.+fted all of her senses this time, but could detect nothing, not even a residue of spellwork, and there was no trace in the room other than her own and Tavis', fading now. Marcius had never really been there. For a moment, she thought she must be going crazy, but then she realized that an image cast from somewhere else would not result in anything at its destination, for the spellwork took place elsewhere. She stood where he had been and the room felt empty to her in a way that reminded her of when Tavis had left the night before.

Fay realized after a moment that the pendant was still in her hand and looked down at it. A strange thought occurred to her. Would she dream of him tonight? Had he simply been trying to invite her to their nighttime a.s.signation? Hopeful and suddenly so excited that her fingers became clumsy, she got changed for sleep and crawled into the bed. She held the pendant clutched in her hand and fell instantly asleep.

When she opened her eyes into the dream, she returned Marcius' smile eagerly, but then hers faltered slightly. She could feel someone behind her. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the same faded image of Tavis, only now he was dressed as he had been in the Gardensia. She thought again of how handsome he looked.

"Faylanna," Marcius called softly and she turned back to him. He had taken a few steps closer, but was still out of arm's reach. She closed the distance and, as he welcomed her into his arms, slid her own around him. "Ah, my sweet. I knew you'd see the right path."

The uncertainty in his voice betrayed his words, but she didn't contradict him. Instead, she spoke teasingly, "I know your name."

He froze. "How could you, when I've never said it?"

"El- Someone told me. He recognized my description of you when I told him about the dreams." She didn't know what had made her change her mind at the last moment about saying Eliar's name, but Marcius' reaction to her words made her glad of the discretion.

He pulled back and grabbed her shoulders roughly. His voice was furious as he spoke rapidly. "You told someone of these dreams? Never, you must never ever do that again. No one can know, it wouldn't be safe. Faylanna, why did you do that, betray me like that when I've trusted you? Who did you tell? It was him, wasn't it? You told him!"

Her eyes were wide and she was cringing from his outrage as he shook her. She didn't understand why he was so angry. Abruptly he stopped and released her shoulders so quickly that she fell to the ground. Trying not to cry, she looked down at her knees as she drew them to her chest, seeking to protect herself from another attack. His behavior made her afraid in a way that Eliar's words hadn't. Marcius' rage made even the darkness that surrounded their pool of light begin to turn red. She closed her eyes tightly and told herself that she just needed to wake up.

A hand dropped onto her head and tried to stroke her hair, but she flinched back, her feet peddling on the ground. His voice came from above her. "Faylanna, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lost control like that. I know you don't really understand what's going on here, how dangerous it is to speak of this, but it is. There are those who would try to come between us, and I wouldn't survive that. I need you, I've told you how much I need you, my sweet."

She looked at him, hunkered down in front of her, responding to the regret in his voice, but still a little frightened. He held a hand out to her, but she didn't take it and his face fell. "I suppose they told you how horrible I am, that I'm a murderer and worse."

"I- They said, well, they weren't convinced about the murder."

He tilted his head. "Truly? I thought everyone believed the lies. Faylanna, I was innocent of it all. But I guess I'll never be able to make you believe that now. Do you see why I wouldn't speak my name? I knew it would only poison you against me."

Marcius turned and began to walk away, his head down. She scrambled to her feet, turning as she did so. A distant part of her noted that Tavis was gone, but she was already up and calling out, "Marcius, no. Don't go. I didn't mean- I don't believe them. If you were innocent of one, why not all of it? I believe you."

He turned back to her so fast that she nearly stopped in surprise. He pulled her close and nearly crushed her to his chest, whispering into her hair, his voice rough with an odd combination of relief and need. "My Faylanna. Always be mine. I must have you. Surely you can feel the same yearning for me that I have for you. We were made for each other. He can never give you that, never offer you even part of what I can. He can never be worthy of you."

One of his hands slid down to grip her waist, holding her against him as he leaned back to look at her. His eyes were suddenly full of a hunger she didn't understand and in her surprise at the change, she tried to pull back. He held her fast and placed his lips on hers in a deep, pa.s.sionate kiss that she could not help responding to as everything outside of the two of them retreated from her senses. As she kissed him back it only seemed to increase his frenzy. Suddenly his hands were everywhere, caressing her hair, her neck, down her side. There was a moment of confused disorientation when she realized that his hands were on her bare back, fingers running down along the ridge of her spine. At the same time, she realized that she was pressing herself against his naked torso and she wondered where their clothes had gone. The only thing remaining on her was the pendant. She began to wonder why that had remained, but then his lips on hers parted, hers going with them, and his tongue was in her mouth, thoroughly distracting her from thinking. A hand cupped her breast while the other continued to slide down her back, caressing the swell of her b.u.t.tocks, then her hip. His mouth released hers finally, and, as she tried to recover her breath, she felt his tongue glide over her stiffened nipple. She gasped as the sensation s.h.i.+vered through her. His hand caressed down the outside of her thigh then began up the inside, his fingers trailing lightly along her skin.

A sudden shaft of sunlight brought Fay instantly to full, slightly disoriented consciousness. Her breathing was ragged and fast and she could feel sweat covering her whole body, except where the pendant lay against her chest. That was still cool to the touch. Her eyes finally adjusted to the light and she saw a maid bustling around the room.

"What's going on?" Fay asked, still collecting herself after that dream.

"Mistress Lydia sent me up to wake you while there was still breakfast, Visconta. She said that you wouldn't want to miss it," the maid replied as she dropped a curtsey.

This did not help as much as Fay had thought it would. She rubbed sleep from her eyes, starting to sit up. "What time is it?"

"Nearly mid-morning." The maid curtsied again and left the room.

Fay sat on the edge of the bed, fingering the pendant, trying to understand how she could have slept so long. She shook her head and threw back the covers, crossing the room to get dressed. She saw a package on the dresser beside her bags, a note tied to the string that held the package closed. She took the note and read it.

Faylanna, welcome back to Rianza. - Soval.

With delight, she untied the package and lifted out a deep green dress made of fine linen with gray silk accents along the sleeves. More gray silk was cross-tied around the bodice. She put it on immediately, and was amazed to find it was exactly her measure, though Soval hadn't made anything for her in years. She would have to visit to thank him.

As she admired the dress in the mirror, the pendant again caught her eye. She knew she wouldn't be able to leave it behind, but also that she shouldn't wear it where anyone might see, and the way the square neckline of the dress was cut, it wouldn't be possible to hide the pendant. She didn't understand her reluctance to be seen with it, when it so clearly belonged with her, but then a memory of her dream with Marcius distracted her, causing a flush to rise in her cheeks and her breath to quicken again. After a few moments to collect herself, she took it off and put it in a discreet pocket at the side, just below the waist of the dress. She hummed as she went downstairs.