Wings Marzina had never known she possessed until she entered her grandmother’s kingdom unfolded from her shoulder blades. They were lacy in texture, and gilt in color. Her uncle’s were identical. Together the two quickly made their way through the summer green trees to reach the castle of the queen and her consort. Ilona hugged her granddaughter to her breast, relieved the girl was all right. But when she learned of what Marzina had done she was at first astounded, and then furious.

“You dared to meddle with another’s spell?” Ilona demanded in a hard voice such as Marzina had never heard her use. It was the queen’s voice.

“I just wanted to see how it was made, and if I could do it, too,” Marzina muttered.

“What in the name of all the faerie worlds made you think you could replicate a spell fashioned by a Shadow Prince? You are a child, Marzina! A mere child, and you have shown me a great lack of courtesy by sneaking off to that Fiacre village and tampering with Prince Kaliq’s spell. But worse, you say your sister is now gone? If she has been taken into the darkness you will have endangered her very life!”

Marzina began to weep again.

“My dear,” Thanos said, but Ilona cut him off.

“Nay, my lord, there is no softening this misadventure. We must call Lara and the prince to us immediately!” And she did.

Prince Kaliq appeared first, followed by Lara.

Seeing the look on her mother’s face, and noting that her youngest child was verging on hysteria, Lara demanded to know, “What has happened, Mother?”

“Your overly precocious daughter may have put Anoush’s life in danger,” Ilona said. And she glared angrily at Marzina.

“She did not mean to, my dear,” Thanos said quickly, “but the damage is done, I fear, and now you two must correct it.”

“What has happened?” Prince Kaliq asked.

“The brat undid your protection spell,” Ilona said. “And, of course, she could not reweave it back. When she went back to try to correct the damage she had done Anoush was gone. So what did this child do? She hid from us in the forest. I had to call Cirillo from Belmair to find her. Only then did she confess her misdeeds.”

“Marzina!” Lara gasped, shocked.

The Shadow Prince’s eyebrow had cocked with surprise when he learned what the young girl had done. “You undid my spell?” he said to the tearful Marzina.

She nodded. “I thought it easy until I tried to put it back together again, my lord,” the girl confessed, shamefaced.

Kaliq laughed aloud. “Aye, it is complex in its fashioning, Marzina.”

“I cannot have her with me any longer,” Ilona said. “You must take her back to Terah, Lara. I am unable to control her. The wickedness is in her blood, I fear.”

“Nonsense,” the Shadow Prince quickly said. “She is no more naughty than Lara was at that age.”

“At that age,” Ilona began, and then she closed her mouth at a look from Lara.

“Of course I will take Marzina home, Mother. As much as she desires to study faerie magic she is obviously not mature enough yet to do so,” Lara said quietly. “We will find Anoush and bring her home safely. I suspect whoever has her will not harm her. But, of course, it is imperative that we find her quickly.”

“We will go to Shunnar,” Kaliq said. “She should not go back to Terah quite yet, my love. Under the circumstances she is safer with us there.”

“Thank you, Mother, for all you have done. And, you as well, my lord Thanos,” Lara said quietly. “Cirillo, come and see me soon.” Then, taking her daughter’s hand, she stepped beneath the Shadow Prince’s cloak, and when he threw it back with a flourish they were in his desert palace.

The prince quickly called for refreshments to be brought to his garden escorting Lara and her daughter there. Sweet apricot Frine was brought, along with cheese and rounds of crisp flatbread. Kaliq poured a small goblet of Frine for Marzina, handing it to her along with a circle of flatbread and cheese. Lara helped herself, struggling to keep calm. If she frightened Marzina any further she might forget something important.

“Now, child,” the prince said quietly, “tell me everything that happened when you returned to the chamber where Anoush had been sleeping.”

“She was gone,” Marzina said. “The bed upon which she lay, too, my lord.”

“Did you notice anything else about the chamber?” he asked her.

Marzina’s brow wrinkled as she tried to remember. “It was cold, my lord. Colder than it should have been.” She paused. “And there was a smell.”

“What kind of a smell?” he pressed her gently.

“Flowers,” Marzina told him. “The scent was heavy and sweet like-” she thought “-like lilies. Night-blooming lilies!”

“The Darkling!” Lara exclaimed. “That is the fragrance that always surrounds her, Kaliq. How did she know that the spell was broken? She must have been trying to undo it herself, and kept coming to Anoush’s bedside. I can but imagine her surprise when she discovered my daughter was hers for the taking. But where will she have secreted Anoush?”

“I want to help!” Marzina cried.

Lara turned a fierce eye on her youngest child. “Nay,” she said. “You have not the skills and your interference in something you did not understand has put your sister in danger. You lack self-discipline, Marzina. You are so eager you will not take the time to learn, nor do you have the patience you need to learn properly. You have been given a gift, and when this is over you will be taught how to use it properly. But until then I forbid you from attempting magic of any kind.”

Marzina’s violet eyes grew stormy with rebellion. “You are just jealous,” she said. “My powers will one day be greater than yours.”

“Possibly they will,” Lara answered. “But not unless you learn how to channel them properly.”

“You will remain here at Shunnar for the interim,” Prince Kaliq said in a quiet voice, “for you are in danger, too, my child. When this is over I will teach you myself as I did your brother Dillon. You have the ability to be a great sorceress, Marzina. But if you would learn from my brothers and from me you must swear to me you will obey your mother’s dictates and eschew magic for the time being.” The Shadow Prince looked into the young girl’s face. “Can you promise me that, Marzina?”

“Oh, yes, my lord!” Marzina cried. “To learn from you would be an honor!”

“Then when this battle is done you will return to Terah for one year,” the prince told the girl. “You will live in the Temple of the Daughters of the Great Creator learning self-discipline from the High Priestess Kemina. If at the end of that time she can assure me that you have learned your lessons well then I will take you as a student, Marzina. But your return to Shunnar will depend upon your learning patience and composure. If there is no peace in your heart and soul then I cannot teach you, for you will be unable to learn from me as your mother once did.”

“A whole year?” Marzina said. “Could it not be half a year, my lord?”

“It will be a full year unless you are unable to absorb the lessons of the High Priestess. Then it will be longer,” Prince Kaliq said firmly in a stern voice.

“I will learn, my lord,” Marzina said.

“Excellent! Now, do I have your word that you will practice no magic until you are once more allowed to do so?” he asked her. “And it is I, not your mother, who will make that decision, my child.”

Marzina sighed a deep sigh. “You have my word, my lord,” she promised him.

He smiled warmly at her. “Good.” Then he clapped his hands, and a serving woman came into the garden. “Take the princess to her bedchamber, Cressida. You will care for her while she is here in Shunnar.”

“Yes, my lord.” The servant bowed. Then she turned to Marzina. “If you will come with me, my princess.”

“Good night, Marzina,” Prince Kaliq said.

“Good night, my lord. Good night, Mother,” the girl said, and followed Cressida from the prince’s private garden.

“It was good of you to offer to teach her,” Lara said.

“Her skills are far beyond her grandmother’s abilities, and those of the Forest Faeries,” he answered. “That she managed to unravel my protection spell is quite amazing. Her blood is yours, and Kol’s. She must learn how to control her great skills lest she become destructive. My brothers and I will teach Marzina, but a year with Kemina will help her, I think you will agree. I will keep her here until this new war is won. Now, however, we need to find out where Ciarda had taken Anoush.”

“I will go to Cam. If the Darkling means to use my daughter to control him I will learn it. He may even know where Anoush is,” Lara said.

“As we are certain it is Ciarda who has Anoush, I believe we can also be certain that she will keep your daughter safe. She would not have stolen her without reason, and her reason is to control her puppet, the Hierarch,” the Shadow Prince said. “We will begin again on the morrow, my love.”

“Nay, I must go now,” Lara insisted.

“You need your rest,” he scolded her.

“I need to ascertain my child is safe,” Lara said.

“You need sleep first,” Kaliq told her firmly, and, raising his hand, he put a sleep spell upon her even as, seeing it coming, she protested. He caught her up in his arms as she collapsed, and, carrying her through his garden, he brought her to her own chamber, laying her upon the bed. Kissing her brow, he whispered, “Sleep well, my love.” Then he left her.

When Lara awoke it was just before dawn. Rising, she went to her bath, bathed and put on fresh clothing. A servant brought her yogurt, fresh fruit and hot tea made from the baby leaves of the Umbra trees, those same trees whose fruit produced red dye. The liquid she drank was a pale red-gold, and had its own faint sweetness to it. Lara sat quietly in the private garden off her bedchamber that separated her quarters from the prince’s. The air around her was yet cool as the peach and gold clouds in the blue skies above her began to fade away with the rising sun. Kaliq, she had to admit, had been right. She had very much needed the sleep he had given her. Refreshed now, she was ready to face not just the day, but whatever else she needed to face.