Prologue:

        The King and Queen were dead, and anarchy stalked the land.  
The mists were sweeping over dozens of realms, returning them to 
the chaos from which they were created.  Others simply shrank, 
inch by inch, fighting back against the mists, as someone tried to 
take the place of their now missing lord.

        It would be decades before those left behind understood what 
had happened.  In an instant, the greater nobility had been wiped 
out and the sidhe entirely destroyed as a race, sent to be reborn on 
Earth and forget who they were for a time.  One day, it would be 
called the Great Disaster, but for now, it was simply called the 
Day of Death.
 
          All of Arcadia was forged from the Mists of Chaos by the 
will of humans and fae.  When those wills faltered, so did their 
realms, for in Arcadia, the Lord or Lady and the Land are one.  Many 
realms ceased to exist as Lord, Lady, and all known heirs vanished 
in a wave of darkness and light.  

         But a few realms survived, hidden away, almost impossible 
to find, saved by some artifact or unfathomable quirk of nature.  
Yet, they became lost, legends even to the fae.  They became 
forgotten, secret, arcane.  But secrets are meant to be discovered...

***************

The Summer People:
Chapter 10:  Changing of the Seasons

***************

Angel said:

        It wasn't too hard to stay up all night and keep watch while 
Alex slept, but it got pretty boring.  I can't read the weird Sidhe 
script, and they didn't have any books in English.  Just before 
sunrise, I woke Alex up because I heard horns in the distance.  

        What I saw was pretty surreal.  Out the window, I could see 
the Wild Hunt charging towards the building.  Alex is a heavy 
sleeper like me, and I was starting to get desperate because she 
wouldn't wake up.  Then the sun came up across the water and 
struck them.  Most of the wolves and ravens spontaneously 
combusted, evaporating in the sunlight.  However, dozens of them 
turned into faeries of various kinds who collapsed.  Herne himself 
became some sidhe on a horse.  I'd never seen a horse faint before.

        The servants rushed out of the house and grabbed 'Herne', and 
once I got Alex to FINALLY get out of bed, we went downstairs and 
joined them.  'Herne' was a Sidhe, with pale skin, grey eyes and 
silver hair, dressed in very nice court clothing in white and black.  
He looked familiar, but I couldn't quite place him.  

         The butler went off to try to communicate with the royal 
palace and see how things were there, while Alex and I trussed up 
'Herne' with some rope and prepared to play 'Good Cop'/'Bad Cop' 
with him.  The servants went to work trying to sort out all the 
unfortunates who had been caught up in the pack.  

        He woke up eventually.  I was sitting on one side of him, Alex 
on the other, at the long dining table.  "Good morning, Herne.  Would 
you like to tell us how you found us and who you are?"

        He looked at me and laughed.  "I must say this is the first 
time that the leader of the Wild Hunt has actually been captured, 
as far as I know.  I must have gotten carried away and not noticed 
the sun was coming up."  Trying to stretch didn't work well since 
we had bound his arms.  "My name is Opal.  And you are Titania, the 
sidhe formerly known as Angela."  He grinned.

        "You know me?"  I thought a moment.  "Wait, you're Splinter's 
lover?"

        He nodded.  "Did you capture her too?"

        I shook my head.  "Was she around to be captured?"

        Cocking his head, he thought for a moment.  "I seem to 
remember seeing her at some point.  My memories of being Herne 
are rather fuzzy.  Before you ask, yes, the hunt was sent to capture 
you and Harry.  The Queen thinks you're both fake faeries.  She has 
the real Titania and Strongheart salted away somewhere."

        Alex frowned.  "Why are you being so cooperative?"

        He shrugged.  "If I don't cooperate, it'll just be beaten out of 
me, or one of Glorianna's mind magicians will page through my 
brain.  I haven't said anything really secret yet, anyway."

        "So what was she going to do with us when she got us?"

        "Do I look like the Queen's confidant?  I would have much 
rather have gone with Splinter to help her get her siblings back.  
Some fruitcake has kidnapped them.  Ever heard of a guy named 
Martius?"

        I blinked.  "He broke into my room while I was asleep 
yesterday and said a lot of weird things.  Ever heard of Ariadne or 
Medea?  Or Bialla or the Rite of Enlightenment?"

        He tensed.  "What exactly did he say?  Tell me everything!"  
Now, he looked worried.  

        "You're in no place to make demands, MISTER OPAL!"  Alex 
shouted and smacked the table with her fist.  It broke.

        Opal's eyes got big.  He muttered something about ogres, then 
said, "Bialla was Teleute's mother.  She and Martius ruled the 
Unseelie Court before the Great Disaster.  The Rite of 
Enlightenment is a thing of legend, but it is supposed to greatly 
augment the magical abilities of any faerie who completes it.  No 
one knows for sure if it really exists or not.  If Glorianna knows 
how to do it..."

         "She must know how,"  I said.  "He said if she performs it 
AGAIN..."

          "If she had performed the rite of Enlightenment, she would 
have come and blown Queen Teleute's castle to rubble.  She would 
have buried us by now.  But still...I can't see why he would think she 
had done it before..."  he frowned.

         "You're hiding something,"  Alex said, glaring at Opal.

        "So are you, Wildbriar,"  he said, staring at her.  "Something 
rather important.  Hiding how you feel about someone only leads to 
trouble."  His voice was compassionate.  "You'll never know if you 
never say anything."

          I grabbed Alex's arm, as she was about to knock Opal into 
next week.  "You bastard!  Stay out of my HEAD!"  

         "Calm down, Alex.  We can't just kill him for...umm...whatever 
he just did."

        "I let my big mouth run away with me," he said, looking 
scared.  "I have two magical knacks.  I'm good with time magic and 
I can sense people's secrets sometimes.  Usually, I have the sense 
to keep my mouth shut about them."  He sighed.  "I usually end up 
wishing I didn't know."

       I let go of Alex once she started to calm down.  "You ought to 
know better than to taunt an ogre."

       "I know.  So what are you going to do with me?"

       "See what else you know,"  I said.  "Then give you to Mother to 
deal with, I guess.  Then we're gonna go find Harry."

        We didn't get much else useful out of him, mostly because we 
didn't know the right questions to ask.  I did finally think of one 
important question.  "So where you actually in that castle in the 
Mists of Creation that Splinter imprisoned me in or was that just 
Splinter bluffing?"

         He blinked.  "What the hell are you talking about?  Splinter 
won't go near the mists ever since she...They scare her."  

         Alex laughed.  "Nice try, but we were both there.  She carried 
off Angel and Harry and I had to rescue her."

         He cocked his head.  "She hasn't tried to do anything to you 
two since she broke up that revel."  He frowned for no apparent 
reason.  "And she won't go near the mists.  Not again. She nearly got 
killed."

        "You're LYING!"  Alex bellowed.

        "I don't know what the hell happened to you people, but 
Splinter had NOTHING to do with it.  Maybe it was some Fetch 
playing a prank or something."

        "KIDNAPPING IS NOT A PRANK!"  Alex stepped forward and I 
had to pull her back again.

        Now he looked more scared.  "C'mon, I wouldn't bother to claim 
it if it wasn't true.  You think I WANT her to rip my arms off?"

        "Why would anyone in their right mind want to impersonate 
Splinter?"  I asked.

        "Hey, she's not THAT bad," he said, frowning.  

        "She's tried to kill me several times!"

        He sighed.  "She doesn't take losing well."

         Now I was getting agitated and Alex had to hold me back.  
"Trying to KILL me is a bit extreme!"

         "She just wanted to humiliate you the way she felt you'd 
humiliated her."  He sighed.  "She's spent most of her life being 
humiliated in one way or another and..."

        "I don't care!  That's no excuse!"

          The interrogation went downhill from there.

***************

Harry said:

       "Well, let's explore while we're waiting to see if we're gonna 
die."

        Bluefang, the Ice Drake, turned back into a blue bird and sat on 
Jennifer's shoulder.  She began singing a cheery tune.  Jennifer 
said, "Stay ready to transform if they show up.  I guess we can 
wait for Samhain to end here as well as we can wait anywhere 
else."  She started walking towards the ruins and I followed her.  
"This is kinda creepy, though.  Arcadia doesn't normally have 
ruins...oh, wait, we might be in some of the Legendary Realms.  
Some of them do have ruins."  She frowned.

        "Why no ruins?"

        "Because in Arcadia, realms that are abandoned dwindle 
away and cease to exist fairly quickly.  Faerie lands need people to 
live.  A few lords do create ruins for atmosphere, though, and some 
of the legendary realms have ruins that are part of the legends."  

        The architecture of the realm looked Greek, with lots of 
Corinthian columns and bas-relief carvings all over everything, 
especially around entrances.  I could make out a pattern as I 
studied it.  There was a huge building in the center, and smaller 
buildings around it at eight points, forming a huge octagon.  "Maybe 
this is from a Greek legend."

        She cocked her head and thought for a long moment.  "Yeah, I 
think you're right, Harry.  Makes me wish I had a time affinity."

        We passed a ruined building with its roof and right wall gone.  
There were stalls inside and the remains of a loft.  A stable, I 
guessed.  Inside the circle of buildings, there was the remains of a 
garden encircling the palace in the middle.  Some of the flower 
beds were recognizable, but in most places, the plants had run wild 
into a tangled mess.  I could hear them talking to each other, a low 
undercurrent.  They sounded surprised to have visitors.

        I should have thought of this a long time ago, I thought.  I 
knelt down and said to them, "Where are we?"

       "The realm of Mimr the Oracle," a pansy replied.  "Have you 
come to give him the girl?"

        I shook my head, while Jennifer watched.  "No, I haven't come 
to give him the girl."  She started.  "Where is the oracle?"

        "By the great well inside the palace. Did one of the Queens 
send you?"

        "No, we're just running from the Wild Hunt."

        "Oh.  Okay."

        Jennifer looked impatient.  "So where are we?"

        "Ever heard of Mimr the Oracle?"  I asked her, standing back 
up.

       "I think Mim was an evil dwarf in something."  She looked 
around.  "An oracle, eh?  Maybe we should go see him."

       "He's in the palace."  I took the lead this time.  "This should be 
interesting.  Prophecies are usually fun."

************

Angel said:

       We took Opal back to the Palace with us and sat down with 
Mother to decide what to do next.  "Scrying doesn't find Harry?"  I 
asked.

        She nodded, frowning.  "We know he's alive, but not where.  
Still, if he rode off on an icedrake, the Unseelie almost certainly 
have him.  Icedrakes are virtually all Unseelie.  For obvious 
reasons."  She turned to Alex.  "The royal declaration of your title 
will be promulgated this afternoon.  I thank you again for your 
protecting my daughter."

        Alex blushed.  "It was nothing.  She'd do the same thing for 
me."  

        "It is good to have friends that loyal."  Mother smiled.  "You 
will need good and loyal friends in the days to come, Titania.  I 
hope to rule for many years yet, but it is never too soon to start 
building your power base.  A queen has to know who her true 
friends are."

        Me a queen.  I took a few minutes off to boggle at the thought.  
"It'll be a long time before I'm ready to be queen."

        "There is much you must learn, but we'll have plenty of time.  
Now, you just enjoy yourself, while we search for Strongheart.  
We'll find him soon.  Don't worry."

        Being told to not worry isn't very useful advice.

**************

Harry said:

        Once upon a time, the palace was a beautiful thing of marble 
and pearl, but now it was just a crumbling wreck with collapsed 
ceilings and vine-coated pillars everywhere.  One of the previous 
residents had apparently liked plants, because there were dozens, 
maybe hundreds of kinds of plants growing wild everywhere, and 
dozens of little statues of various kinds of plants as well.  There 
was also a strong sky motif, with mosaics of the sky and little 
'cloud' symbols embossed into many of the surviving pillars and 
archways.  I could tell this had been beautiful once, and that it had 
been abandoned for a very long time.  Trees grew inside rooms 
clearly not designed to have trees in them, and some of them had to 
be hundreds of years old.  

          After plowing through all this wreckage, I was shocked to 
find that the central courtyard was in perfect shape.  The large 
garden surrounding a huge circular well at least twenty feet in 
diameter was neat and perfectly kept, with grass that looked 
recently mowed.  The marble and pearl walkways were in perfect 
shape, without even a single blade of grass piercing between tiles.  

         Jennifer said, "I guess the Oracle likes to keep this place up.  
I'm surprised everything else is so trashed."  She looked around.  "I 
wonder where he's hiding."

        I nearly jumped out of my skin when a sphere rose up from the 
other side of the well into the air.  It was about four feet in 
diameter, and hairy.  When it rotated to face us, I realized it 
wasn't a sphere...it was a HUGE human head.  It's eyes were two 
different colors, one blue and the other hazel.  For that matter, the 
hazel eye looked to be too small for the socket, only half as big as 
the other one, which was rather disturbing.  "What the..."

        Jennifer whipped out her sword and stared at it warily.  
"Looks like a giant's head to me, but...they don't normally fly around 
by themselves."

        "Maybe the rest of his body is invisible and he was lying 
down."  I theorized.

        He laughed.  "Of all the reactions I have gotten over the years, 
no one has ever accused me of having an invisible body," the head 
boomed.  "I am Mimr the oracle.  Long have I awaited..."  he paused 
and stared at Jennifer, frowning.  "What are YOU doing here?"

        "We got chased here by the Wild Hunt."  She frowned.  "What 
are YOU doing here?"
   
       "When eight became four, I was appointed to guard this place 
until its lord and lady returned.  To preserve it, that it might not 
dwindle away into the mists.  And to dispense wisdom to those 
worthy to gain it.  To those willing to pay the price or take the 
risk."  He stared at Jennifer.  "Who are you that walks masked 
before me?"

         Jennifer assumed her mortal form, casting off the Maid 
Marian illusion.  "I am Jennifer Cochrane."  She looked uneasy.  

        Mimr looked mildly confused.  "How strange.  Perhaps I'm 
getting senile.  Or the fates choose to weave their web in another 
manner than once they did."  If he hadn't been a floating head, he 
probably would have shrugged.  "I assume you know the rules?"

        Jennifer frowned.  "We told you we ended up here because we 
were running for our lives.  What rules?"

        "Those who would drink from the well of wisdom, or seek the 
answers to three questions, must defeat me in a riddle contest or 
make a great sacrifice of some kind."  

        "Any three questions?  Anything at all?"  Jennifer asked.

        "What happens if we lost the riddle contest?"  I asked.

        "Any three questions.  The future, the past, the present, all 
are open to me.  If you lose, you die.  Of course, being fae, you'll 
just awaken in the land of the dead tomorrow morning, but you'll 
never be able to find your way back for a second chance, and you'll 
lose everything you're carrying."  He smiled.  "Or you could choose 
to sacrifice something of great value to you.  The bigger the 
sacrifice, the more you'll see when you drink from the well.  Most 
people go for the questions, since you have no way to control what 
the well reveals to you, which is usually a lot more than you can 
get from three questions, but not always what you wanted."

        I thought about it.  The idea of risking death didn't appeal to 
me, even if I was supposed to survive it.  Especially not when I'd 
lose all my credit cards, my bank card, my driver's license, and my 
student id.  

        Jennifer said, "All right.  I'll riddle with you.  I have some 
questions I need answered."

        "You sure about that?"  If she died, I was gonna be stranded, 
but I couldn't quite bring myself to blurt that out.  It would sound 
kinda selfish.

        Mimr smiled.  "We each take turns asking the other a riddle.  
Whoever cannot answer three riddles first loses.  As the guest, you 
get to ask the first riddle, so it does give you a slight advantage.  
However, I've heard thousands of riddles, so I hope you know some 
new ones."

        Jennifer grinned.  "I like riddles.  You should just be glad my 
lover isn't here.  He'd eat you alive."

         "Well, he is answering questions right now..."  Mimr trailed 
off, then smiled.  "Let's get to it."

         "I assume that asking, 'What have I got in my pocket?' is not a 
valid riddle?" I asked, sitting down.

         He laughed.  "Quite."

         The riddles flew fast and furious at first, then more slowly.  
They both worked their way through a lot of the more common 
riddles, then into harder ones.  Finally, the first stumper happened.

         Jennifer pursed her lips and thought for a moment.  "I light 
the skies at night at times; distant explorers tap my power to 
guide them; children use me as a toy; one day I may be used to fly; 
yet no man can see me directly with his eyes.   What am I?"

         There was a long silence.  Mimr finally said, "I believe you 
have finally gotten me."

        "Magnetism."

        The thought struck me.  If he can answer any question, then 
how could anyone EVER stump him with riddles.  I asked him.

        "There is a difference between what I know and what I can 
answer with my oracular abilities.  Quite a difference.  I would not 
bother with riddle contests otherwise."

         Fair enough.  Otherwise, I supposed he'd know what riddles to 
ask to stump Jennifer right off the bat as well. 

         "I am born, live, and die an unlucky number of times each 
year.  What am I?"  Mimr asked.

         Jennifer frowned.  "Unlucky by what cultural standard?"

         "Yours."

         She hemmed and hawed and paced back and forth.  "Some kind 
of bug?"

        "The moon."

         "The moon only goes through a complete cycle once a month!"

         I shook my head.  "Once a lunar month, which is 28 days.  
Thirteen lunar months in a year, plus one extra day."  

         Jennifer shouted in frustration, and I felt a little smarter.

***************

Angel said:

        Sunday went by with agonizing slowness.  I ended up going to 
probably the only Anglican service in the world in which half the 
congregation had pointed ears and the other half had blue, green, or 
orange hair and/or skin.  I'm Methodist, but as far as I can tell, we 
haven't been too successful at spreading the Gospel in Arcadia, 
although there aren't any Mormons either.  Glorianna still attended 
Anglican services, so the Palace's chapel was Anglican.  One of the 
Archbishops of Canterbury, in fact, presided, having apparently 
been a faerie himself.  This had given Anglicanism a certain edge in 
the Seelie lands, as you might guess.  

         I spent most of Sunday fending off suitors and touring the 
palace which is huge.  Eight stories above ground and five under 
ground, with five huge wings and a larger center.  Several thousand 
people live inside the building, and there's room for hundreds of 
guests.  The major nobles had semi-permanent guest quarters.  

        We spent a fair amount of time hauling furniture up to my new 
quarters.  The servants were busy with repairs, so we didn't get 
much help.  None of us had affinities that were much help with 
repairs, or likely we would have been put to work as well.

        The main thing I learned that day was how you became a noble 
in Seelie society.  There were two kinds of nobles, service and 
landed nobles.  Service nobles were created by the Queen as a 
reward for granted services.  Landed nobles were those who had 
either entered the Mists of Creation and forged a new realm by the 
strength of their will, or had successfully mastered and reshaped 
an inherited realm.  Inheritance was pretty rare, because normally 
you only inherited if the lord of a realm was forcibly reborn or died 
permanently, and this wasn't common.  The rank of a landed noble 
was basically proportional to the size of his realm, and that 
reflected strength of will.  Any faerie could potentially become a 
noble by entering the mists, but few had the strength of will, or 
the desire to become one with a land.  

        That was the downside of the landed nobility.  The survival of 
their lands depended on them, and the state of the land reflected 
their state of mind.  The Queen or Duke or whatever and the land 
are one.  If the ruler sinks into despair, his or her realm decays 
around her.  Depending on if there is an heir and whether or not that 
heir can show up fast enough, a realm eventually crumbles back 
into mist after its lord or lady dies.  

         Alex was a Countess now, which irritated some of the nobles, 
but I didn't care.  Alex deserved it, in my opinion, as much as some 
of the whackos hanging around the court wearing powdered wigs.  
Still, whatever their opinion of her, they kissed up to her when 
they thought I was watching.  It was intoxicating and a little 
disgusting at the same time.  I'm not used to this much attention, 
especially not from men.

       At least fifteen men an hour tried to proposition me in some 
way, or shower me with flowers, or presented expensive gifts.  
Another ten or so were usually hitting on Tanya, and at least eight 
on Alex per hour.  I couldn't keep track of the number of women 
Thomas had after him.  Some of them looked like they were just 
trying to smooze up to the Queen's daughter's friends, but I think 
some of them were sincere.  

        After a while, I could feel myself starting to eagerly 
anticipate the next flirtation.  I was rather disgusted with myself, 
but my excitement was stronger than the disgust.  More men had 
hit on me in one day than had hit on me in my entire life.  What 
really shocked me was that I started flirting back.  Winking, 
smiling, admiring gazes, ever so slightly lingering touches.  It was 
a growing madness I didn't really want to fight.

         By our third hour of labor, I had a small pack of nobles 
carrying all the furniture for us and helping me pick out more 
furniture.  Indeed, I ended up with more than I really needed, even 
after we refurnished rooms for Alex next to my suite.  I was 
sweating, even though I had just been walking and flirting, because 
the Wild Hunt's attack had trashed the spells that had provided the 
magical equivalent of 'air conditioning' for the palace.  Despite it 
being early November, it felt like summer.  

          I didn't notice that Alex was sinking into a foul mood until 
we finished moving everything, and Lords Sword, Pitch, and Fishrun 
were lounging about, chatting with us.  I was mostly listening as 
they gossiped with Tanya and Thomas about various people I didn't 
know much about.  Alex grabbed my arm with a tight grip and said, 
"Milady Titania and I are quite sweaty from our labors.  I believe I 
shall help her bathe.  Perhaps we will see you later?"  Her voice 
was tight and I could tell she was trying hard not to explode.

        Lord Sword stood and bowed.  "I look forward to seeing you, oh 
beautiful lady ogre, and your lady."  He was a tall black haired 
sidhe with a thin mustache.  He grinned.  "Should you need a strong 
back..." he began.

        "And a weak mind,"  Lord Fishrun said, interrupting Sword.  He 
was short, with long blonde hair and a very, very nice figure.  Most 
Sidhe weren't too muscular, but he clearly worked out.  It took an 
effort not to stare at him all the time.  

        Lord Pitch laughed.  "I think that's our cue to leave before you 
two fight another duel."  He began to drag them off.  He was tall, 
with curly black hair, dressed in black and grey.  

         Tanya glanced over at Alex and said, "We shall accompany 
you, I believe.  I do not think I wish my love to bathe with Lady 
Titania."  She winked.  "At least not while I'm watching."

           Thomas blushed a bit and left with them.  I waved to them.  
"Nice to meet you all.  I hope to see you again tonight!  I will need 
dancing partners a-plenty."  I watched them leave, grinning like an 
idiot.  

         The door closed, and Alex dragged me off into the suite's 
bathroom.  It was tiled with blue tile and was quite nice, with a 
huge shower, big enough for four or five people, and a huge bath tub 
as well.  One advantage of faerie magic is hot running water that 
never runs out.  Even in one of MY showers.  Alex claims she once 
read War and Peace while waiting for me to finish one.  I started 
undressing and Alex went berserk (while undressing herself).  
"What the HELL do you think you're doing?"  She was only a few 
decibels short of a shout.

       "I...uh...was just being friendly."  I couldn't understand why she 
was so hacked off.  It wasn't like she hadn't had men swarming all 
over her too.  Unless maybe whoever she liked was one of the guys 
hitting on me.  Maybe that was it.  "It was just flirting."

        "It starts with just flirting," she said angrily, turning on the 
water, and playing with it to get it to the right heat.  We both like 
pretty hot showers.  "And if you weren't a faerie, it might stop 
there, but you're going to have to learn to control yourself, or 
you're going to start bedding half the nobles in the land."  She 
shuddered slightly.  "Like I did in high school.  Except they weren't 
nobles."  She sighed, then her voice sharpened again as she got into 
the shower.  "You have a boyfriend you know.  You think HE would 
have enjoyed watching you do that?"

         Maybe I had overdone it a bit.  I still couldn't see why Alex 
was so mad, but...Tanya had warned me about how it was hard for 
Faeries to be faithful and so had Thomas.  Maybe Alex was right.  
"I'm sorry."  I stepped into the hot water, and instantly, I began to 
relax.  I got some soap and started scrubbing myself.  "I 
just...nobody ever wanted to flirt with me before."

        "That always baffled me.  You were beautiful even as a 
mortal, and really nice, while I was pretty plain and usually 
depressed, but I had a ton of boyfriends.  They all sucked, though, 
which probably explains it."  She sighed, and balanced on one foot 
so she could scrub her right leg.  "Soon as I got some taste, the 
well dried up."

       I was hopping about like a rabbit.  I don't balance well on one 
foot, but I'm too lazy, or maybe too stupid to bend over to wash it. 
Bending over in a shower isn't too fun anyway.  "Alex.  I shouldn't 
pry, but...is there really someone you like right now?  Like Opal 
said?  Or was he just trying to confuse us?"  I finished one leg and 
started on the other.  "I shouldn't pry, but..."  Then I remembered our 
earlier conversation, about the guy she had woken up with two 
nights ago.  

       She sighed.  "There's nobody that I want that I can have.  All 
the good ones are taken."  She sighed louder and scrubbed her arms.  
"Can you do my back?"  Her voice was rather hesitant.

        "Sure."  I lathered my hands and went to work.  I could feel her 
trembling as I worked my way down her back.  She's got the most 
humongous shoulderblades, I realized.  Needs them for all those 
muscles, I guess.  Alex was in her faerie form, and it's huge.  She's 
so tense, I thought, and tried to massage her muscles a little, 
although I really had no clue what I was doing.  "I think you need a 
good massage.  You're so tense I can't see how you can stand it."

         Her voice trembled.  "I'm fine."  I could tell she was lying.  I 
turned her around so the water would wash all the soap off, then 
put a hand on her shoulder.  "I'm sorry I brought up the issue.  I 
didn't mean to make you unhappy."

         "It's not your fault," she said quietly.  "Let me do your back 
now."

          I relaxed as Alex cleaned my back off.  Unlike me, Alex does 
know a little about massage, and it was very nice.  I was ready to 
melt by the time she finished.  Once we got dried off and got 
dressed, I gave her a hug.  "Thanks, Alex.  Why don't we just have a 
little private evening?  We can play cards with Tanya and Thomas."

        "I hope they find Harry soon.  We've got to get back to school 
tomorrow."

        "Ack."

***************

Harry said:

        The contest took forever, or at least it felt like forever.  I 
was pretty glad that I hadn't decided to take the riddle challenge, 
because I was pretty sure my butt would have gotten kicked.  
However, the sun was going down and I was seriously starving.  "I 
don't suppose you've got anything I can eat, Mr. Mimr?"  I asked.

        He shook his head.  "I no longer eat."  I sighed, and he suddenly 
cocked himself for a few seconds, then said, "Oh wait, there's some 
melons growing on the far side of the garden.  I believe they're 
reasonably ripe."

          I nodded and went and got some.  While they continued 
riddling, I borrowed Jennifer's sword and chopped them up into 
chunks, then started eating while they riddled onward.  Jennifer 
took a food break, then finally got too tired to go on.  Mimr nodded, 
and they agreed to continue in the morning.  By that point, they 
each had failed to answer two riddles.  The next stumper would 
settle matters.

         We found a nice open patch of ground to set up a fire, 
although sleeping on grass is not my idea of a fun time.  It kept 
trying to whisper into my ear all night long.  Bluefang simply 
perched in a nearby tree.  Before we fell asleep, I told Jennifer, 
"You're SERIOUSLY good at riddles.  I'd be in the land of the dead by 
now if I'd tried that.  What's the land of the dead, anyway?"

        "Any faerie who dies in their faerie form by means other than 
cold iron awakens in the land of the dead when next the sun rises.  
The presence of mortals forces those who are slain to be reborn as 
infants."  She thought for a moment.  "A faerie slain by cold iron 
dies forever and goes to face judgment.  If your mortal seeming is 
killed, your mortal body stays dead, but your faerie form awakens 
in the land of the dead the next morning, and all memories of your 
past lives before your last rebirth return to you.  While your mortal 
seeming can die of old age, it only ages during time spent in the 
mortal plane."  She rolled over on her side and started drawing in 
the dirt.  "Now, the lands of the dead are found in the Utter East, 
where the Sun is reborn, like the faeries.  However, they are also 
located in the Utter West, where the Sun goes to die, like the 
ancient heroes who dwell there.  Yet, both Lands of the Dead are 
the same land."

        My head spun.  "So Arcadia is a globe like Earth?"

        She shook her head.  "Arcadia has no coherent shape.  If A is 
next to B and B is next to C, A and C may be hundreds or thousands of 
miles away from each other by any other route except through B.  
For those with an affinity for Travel, they can move from any 
forest realm in Arcadia to any other forest, from one mountain 
realm to another, etc."  She thought for a moment.  "Most travelers 
have to either stick to the Fae Roads or else have a very intricate 
knowledge of each realm's geography and the routes created by 
their owners to aid travel.  Further complicating matters are 
things like Celestial Arcadia, which is a huge sky without any 
ground under it, which connects to the sky of every realm.  As well 
as Aquatic Arcadia, Subterranean Arcadia, the Lands of Legends, 
the Realm of Fire, etc., etc.  And around all that are the Mists of 
Creation.  The only thing that all the realms have in common is that 
every one of them was forged out of the mists by the strength of 
mortal belief or the creative will of a human or faerie."  

         She rolled over on her back and laughed.  "The Lands of 
Legends are a lot of fun.  You have to be careful, though.  Some of 
them, you can get trapped inside the 'story', unable to leave until 
the realm reaches the end of its tale and starts over.  I guess you 
haven't gotten to do much exploring."

         I nodded.  "I just recently learned that faeries even exist...let 
alone that I am one."

         "I've known since I was itty bitty.  The faeries took good care 
of my family, and they took good care of me."  She rolled over to 
face me.  "So your girlfriend is the Queen's daughter?"  She sounded 
pretty skeptical.  I couldn't blame her.  I could hardly believe all 
this and I'd lived through it.

        "It's hard for me to believe too."  For some reason, I was 
nervous about looking at Jennifer's face while we were talking.  
Shadows flickered about it in the firelight.  "Mostly, I've been too 
busy running for my life, being kidnapped, etc., to really think 
about it.  I don't know how I'm going to tell my folks.   Or if I 
should."

        She nodded, her face quite serious.  It was quite pretty too.  I 
was so used to seeing her being cranky that I hadn't realized how 
good-looking she was.  My brain stirred with several entirely 
ridiculous thoughts that I suppressed.  "I suggest waiting until 
things get more stable.  No point in giving them worries they can't 
deal with."  She paused.  "So who kidnapped you?"

         "Another faerie friend of mine's dad.  My friend's dad went 
whacko a long time ago when he found out his child was a 
changeling.  We think someone put him back together and sent him after 
us, but we don't know who for sure.  One of them told Tanya's mom 
that he was working with Splinter's lover, but that's not 
necessarily proof.  But given that Splinter kidnapped Angie one 
time before that, I wouldn't be surprised if she and her lover were 
behind that one too."  I sighed.

        Jennifer frowned.  "This Splinter person kidnapped Angela?  
Your girlfriend?  And her lover kidnapped you?"  She looked 
confused and displeased.  

          "Yeah.  Angie escaped, and I got rescued.  I wish I understood 
why Splinter hates us so much.  It just doesn't make any sense.  Far 
as I can tell, every time we stop her from doing something to us, it 
just makes her madder so she tries harder."  I sighed louder and 
rolled over on my back, staring at the stars, which formed strange 
patterns I didn't recognize.  "Have you ever had much trouble with 
the Unseelie?"

        She laughed faintly.  "I've been caught up in some of their 
plots at times."  Her face sobered.  "Don't worry.  You're safe from 
them while you're with me.  No one will kidnap you tonight.  You 
have trusted me, and I will not betray your trust."  Her voice had 
grown quite serious.  "My word is my bond."

         I blinked, then smiled at her.  "Thanks, Jennifer."  I glanced 
over at her sword lying on the ground nearby.  It looked somewhat 
familiar, though I wasn't sure why.  "I'd swear to protect you, but I 
think you're the tougher fighter of the two of us.  But I'll do my 
best to make sure no one carries you off either."  I asked the grass 
to do the wave for me, and it did.  She blinked and I laughed.  "I 
guess with all these plants around, that will help."

        "And my dragon friend."

         I laughed.  "There is that."  We both laughed for a while, and 
our conversation lightened, as we told jokes and were generally 
silly.  

         "Have you ever met Mark?" she asked, yawning and changing 
the subject.

         "Nope.  At least not any Mark I think you'd know.  Your 
boyfriend?"

        "Reading my mind?" she teased.  "Yeah.  He's my boyfriend."  
She sighed.  "I wish I knew where he was.  He got swept up in the 
Wild Hunt."

        "He's probably lying on grass somewhere with Angel.  Wishing 
he knew how to make grass get softer."  The grass started crying, 
feeling insulted.  "Or at least be quiet."

*************

Angel said:

       Alex is a dear friend, but a horrible card player.  Thomas, on 
the other hand, is disgustingly good at it.  We were playing for 
copper pieces, and Thomas had almost all of them after a few 
hours.  The coins were very pretty, with a phoenix on one side, and 
an embossed picture of the palace on the other.  Tanya is okay at 
poker, except that she can't bluff to save her life.  I don't have the 
guts to bluff and I'm easily outbluffed, so we were all getting 
skunked by Thomas who has the perfect poker face.  

         Then Irene showed up.  That turned things around, because she 
was an even better poker player than Thomas.  I was in shock.  I 
also went 'broke' pretty fast.  Not as fast as Tanya, though.  "Aargh!  
Wiped out AGAIN!"  she said, turning to Irene.  "Are you sure you're 
not cheating?"

        Irene stuck out her tongue at Tanya.  "You're the one who used 
to use scrying magic to look at MY cards!"  She thought a moment.  
"You could wager clothing."

        I blushed a bit at the thought of Strip Poker.  Tanya said, "I'd 
go for it, but it wouldn't be fun without more guys to embarrass."

        Thomas grinned.  "I bet Lords Sword, Pitch, and Fishrun would 
be happy to join such a game."

        Alex banged the table.  "NO!" she shouted, then blushed when 
everyone stared at her.  "Umm...Not with people I didn't know well.  
Harry wouldn't be so bad, but..."  She blushed more.  "Never mind me, 
I think my brain is going to sleep."

         Irene looked Alex up and down.  "With a body like that, you 
have no cause to be ashamed.  While some dislike Ogres, I find them 
quite attractive."  She smiled in a manner that reminded me of a 
group of would be 'mack daddies' sizing up a prospect.  It made me 
a little nervous.  Was she hitting on Alex?

        Alex must have been thinking the same thing because she 
blushed even more than I would have thought possible.  "Ummm..."

         Tanya said teasingly, "So you wouldn't mind seeing Harry 
naked?  Because the way he plays Poker, I know he'd end up 
stripped faster than me, Alex."  She stretched a bit and sat back in 
her chair.  "Sounds like a plan for the next time you visit."

         I blushed.  Alex was starting to turn a very deep green.  
She turned and said, "Angel, I'm not trying to get your boyfriend 
naked.  I just...All I meant was...I...uh..."

         I laughed.  "So you're trying to get Tanya naked instead?"

         "Naah, she's probably trying to get YOU naked,"  Irene teased.  
"And have her way with you, of course."

         Alex tried to say something, but she had passed 
embarrassment and entered the incoherency zone.  Thomas said, 
"No, no, that's my job, to get people naked.  Then Tanya takes their 
wallet, and Angel bops them in the head so they won't come after 
us.  Then we go to Vegas and have an orgy."

        Everyone laughed except me and Alex.  Okay, I did laugh a 
little, but mostly I was worrying about Alex, who looked ready to 
die.  "That's enough teasing Alex."

        Irene said, "I'm sorry if I have offended.  I was just teasing."  

        Alex nodded mutely.  We played a little while longer, then 
everyone took off but Alex.  I could tell she wanted to talk to me, 
or she would have taken off too, so I started getting ready for bed 
and said, "What's up?"

        "Angel...I...I swear I'm not...I wouldn't..."  She was sitting in her 
chair, carefully staring at the floor.

        "I know you're not trying to steal my boyfriend, Alex,"  I said, 
putting on some pajamas from the wardrobe.  "I know you wouldn't 
do something like that."  

         This didn't comfort her as much as I hoped it would.  
Something was eating at her, and I wished I knew what.  She was 
holding something back.  "I wish I'd been able to go to Thornton 
with you," she said quietly.  

          "Me too.  I really missed having you around, Alex."  I sat down 
on the bed facing her.  "We would have had a lot of fun."

          "Yeah.  We were inseparable in High School."  She paused.  
"Well, except when I had a date.  What a bunch of total losers I 
dated."  Sighing, she stared at the ground.

         "At least you HAD a date.  I couldn't get a date to save my 
life.  Not that there were many guys worth dating."  

         "Too bad Harry didn't go to our high school, eh?"

         I smiled.  "If I could alter history and bring Harry and Thomas 
and Tanya to our high school, life would be perfect, no doubt."

         "Harry for you, Thomas for me, and Tanya gets to date 
Robbie?"  Alex said, grinning.

         I laughed so hard I fell down.  Robbie Jones was this 
complete fruitcake who thought that aliens were communicating 
with his parents and that JFK was shot by Eisenhower.  However, 
he was also a complete stud, and Alex had dated him for a while.  
He was in some ways a cut above the average guy she dated, but 
then he 'realized' that Alex's mother was being mind-controlled by 
the CIA and was planting mind-altering fluoride in the city's water 
supply and things went downhill from there.  Insulting Alex's mom 
is a good way to get her to feed you your own intestines.  "He 
probably figured out we were faeries before we did."

        "Now that would have been cool too.  We could have enchanted 
everyone at the Prom to do the Hokey Pokey."  Alex got up and 
started doing the Hokey Pokey, and I laughed, beating a rhythm for 
her with my hands.  

        Finally, she sat down, laughing and looking much happier.  "You 
remember Coach Shultz making us learn that in the fourth grade?"

        I nodded.  "And square dancing.  And badminton.  And ping-pong.  
Did we do anything really athletic at all that year?"

      "Lots of dodge ball."  We trailed off into a string of 
reminiscence.  Finally, we were both exhausted, and Alex got up to 
go.  "Thanks for cheering me up, Angel."  

       "You're my best friend.  It's my job."

        "And you'll always be my best friend," she said quietly.  "Now, 
if I can just remember where my room is..."  

        She headed off, and I got a good night's sleep.

****************

Harry said:

        We had more melons for breakfast, and then the riddle contest 
continued.  I was seriously impressed.  Riddles are not my strong 
point, and I was very glad I hadn't tried the contest.  

         "When is a pole not a pole?"  Mimr asked.

          "When it's the North pole,"  Jennifer replied.  "Fifty-two 
bicycles rain from the sky.  Why didn't they break?"

          "They were Bicycle cards," Mimr replied.  "What is the sound 
of one hand clapping?"

         "Hey, that's not SUPPOSED to have an answer!"  I said.

         Jennifer snapped her fingers.  "There you go.  Fair enough?"

         Mimr nodded.

         "What is the one place that all humans are exiled from?"  
Jennifer asked.

         "The womb."  Mimr was silent for a while.  "Name an arrow 
that cannot be fired from a bow."

          "The arrow of time."  Jennifer thought a moment.  "What fruit 
started a war?"

        "The apple of discord.  What flows like a river, but cannot be 
dammed by any beaver?"

        "Time.  What dance leads to sweetness?"

         Mimr floated quietly for a long time.  He stared at me, at 
Jennifer, at the walls of the ruins.  Finally he said, "The dance of 
two lovers?"

         "The dance of a honeybee, leading other bees to gather pollen 
to make honey."

         Mimr was quiet for a moment then said, "I admit defeat.  Will 
you have three questions or a drink from the well?"

        She said, "Three questions."

         "As you like.  Ask away."

         Jennifer had been sitting, but now she stood up.  She had 
serious grass stains on her pants.  "How can I avoid the fate I saw 
in the mists?"

         Mimr's face went blank, and his voice boomed hollowly.  
"Repent your pride and befriend the enemies you have made.  Even 
then, it will not be easy."

         Jennifer frowned, then nodded quietly.  "How can I best 
rescue my siblings?"

         "You must find the scythe of the Queen of the Fall and the 
Mirror of the King of the Fall.  The mirror will find them and the 
scythe can loose their bonds.  You must seek Ariel.  She can lead 
you to what you need."

          Jennifer quickly asked, "Who is this maniac anyway?  Who 
kidnapped my siblings."

        "He was once your mother's first husband, the king of the 
Unseelie Fae before the Great Disaster.  His name is Martius.  He 
seeks vengeance upon her for that and for what came after."

         "But...mother wasn't even born until just before the Great 
Disaster, and then she died like everyone else and was reborn as a 
princess on Earth!  And how would she have been married to the 
King?  He was married to Bialla.  In fact, he would have been 
Mother's FATHER!"  

       While I can be the thickest person in the world at times, even I 
realized something funny was up here.  If I was following her 
argument, her mother was the daughter of a king of the Unseelie 
elves.  But what would an Unseelie elf have been doing in the 
middle of the Seelie Queen's palace?  And why had she helped me?  
Why was Martius kidnapping his own...um..grand-children?  Nieces 
and nephews?  Well, he was related to them somehow.

        Mimr would have shrugged, except that it's hard for a 
disembodied head to shrug very well.  "There's your three answers."  
He turned to me.  "Are you sure you don't want to try?"

        "Maybe some other time when I've got questions I'm willing to 
risk death for."  I tried to avoid looking obviously panicked.  If 
Jennifer was Unseelie and related to the faerie kings, then she was 
related to...wait, what if she IS Splinter?  I boggled.  No, she can't 
be Splinter herself.  She'd be trying to kick my butt.  She's not 
enough of a maniac to be Splinter.  Maybe I'm lucky and Splinter is 
one of the people Martius kidnapped.  "I can only think of one.  And 
I'm not good at riddles anyway."

        Mimr nodded.  "Well, it gets boring here contemplating 
eternity, so feel free to return whenever you wish.  Samhain is 
over, so I'm sure it's safe for you to depart."

        Jennifer frowned.  "So how do I find this Ariel anyway?"

       "I haven't got a clue.  She'll probably find you.  Have a nice 
trip!"

        I glanced at Jennifer, who was lost in thought.  I bet she 
hasn't even realized she gave away that she's Unseelie.  "Can you 
take me back to the palace before you go hunting for Martius?  I 
need to get back to school."

        She sighed.  "Me too.  But I need to search for Ariel also."  We 
started heading off toward where her dragon friend was chasing a 
squirrel (She was still in bird form, NOT dragon form).  

        Can I trust her?  Well, she promised to protect me...a faery's 
word is their bond, right?  I dimly remembered something about 
that.  I can save a confrontation for another time.  I'll never make 
it anywhere in a million years if I don't trust her.  It scared me, 
but I tried to stay calm.  If she wanted me dead, she could have 
done it a million ways by now.  "Angel met Ariel.  I'll ask her about 
her."

        Jennifer smiled faintly.  "Thank you."  She had a pretty smile.  

***********

Angel said:

        Harry returned around noon, and we got back to campus 
without any further trouble, except for missing our Monday 
classes.  Since it's a long drive to San Angelo, Alex decided to stay 
overnight with us and leave early the next morning.  I was glad to 
have her there a little longer, even though we all pretty much 
devoted the rest of the day to doing homework.  Around ten o'clock, 
our whole mob had about reached the point where our brains were 
about to explode.  Tanya and Thomas retired upstairs to his room, 
while Alex and Harry and I decided to take a walk to unwind before 
bed.  

         "Donny asked to be invited to the next orgy,"  Harry said.  
"He's convinced that's what we were doing all weekend."  We were 
walking across the Quad, which is basically a big open space in the 
middle of campus.  Most of the buildings ring it in, you guessed it, 
a square.

         Alex laughed.  "Tell him that he'll need to fill out our 20 page 
application form and provide a 30 page essay on why he deserves 
mad passionate sex."

          Harry chortled and I giggled a bit.  "He's got a wild 
imagination."

         Alex said, "He is kinda cute, though."

         "So should we invite him as your partner to the next orgy 
then, Alex?"  Harry grinned.

         "Naah.  He can be your partner.  I'm gonna take Angel for 
myself."  She winked, and he laughed.  

        "Well, you'll break Mr. Bear's heart,"  I began, and Alex cackled.  
Harry just looked confused.  

         Before I could continue, I heard Harry mutter, "There's three 
guys from Tau Ceti following us."

         "Harry, there are no aliens on this campus."  I said in a 
moment of stupidity.

         "The fraternity, not the star system.  They're probably hoping 
for revenge after Alex stomped them on Friday.  There's probably a 
whole pack of them lurking around here,"  Harry said.

         I glanced back and saw them.  "Oh great.  Now what do we 
do?"

         Alex grinned and pounded her fist into her left palm.  "We 
kick their ass."

         "I don't want to fight them if we don't have to."  I said.  

         Harry looked around, then smiled.  "Lots of pine needles lying 
around," he said.  "It'd be a shame if a wind stirred and blew them 
all in their face.  You know how annoying that gets."

         Alex grinned, and I smiled.  Probably a petty use of faerie 
magic, but...sometimes being petty is fun.  There was already a 
breeze, so stirring up a storm of pine needles was easy.  We walked 
off, leaving them swatting at the needles and bumping into trees.  

         Being one of the fae folk has its advantages, I thought.  I 
smiled and snagged Harry's arm.  He smiled back at me, and the 
three of us wandered a while longer and then headed home.  

 
*************

Harry said:

        I was going to leave when Angel went to take a shower, but 
Alex snagged me on the way out.  "You know she's gonna be in there 
for a million years."  She paused.  "And I need to talk to you."

        About waking up in the same bed two nights ago, I thought.  
"Okay."  I sat down on Angel's bed.  She sat down on Tanya's.

        "I...I hope I didn't seem too...um...comfortable with what was 
going on.  I...I thought I was dreaming.  I wouldn't...I mean...I'm not 
that kind of girl..."  She was starting to babble.  I could tell from 
all the long pauses.

        "Don't sweat it.  I know Angel's the one you want, not me."  I 
winked.  If Alex was a guy, I couldn't be this casual, but since Alex 
isn't a guy, I didn't really see her as any kind of romantic threat.  

         Alex blushed.  "I think Irene may have been flirting with me.  
What do you think?"

         I blinked.  I hadn't thought about it that way, but..."Better ask 
Tanya.  I barely know her.  When was this?"

         Alex slapped her forehead.  "You weren't even there!  I feel 
like a twit."  She paused.  "Harry, do you ever...Umm..."  She hemmed 
and hawed a bit.  "I want to tell you something, but I don't know 
how to say it without sounding like I'm accusing you."

        "Just accuse me then."  I was confused as to what she could be 
thinking about.

         "One thing that faeries have to deal with is a certain amount 
of...well, fickleness.  It's not so much that you suddenly stop loving 
someone as that it's hard to be faithful.  Your impulses get harder 
to control.  I don't know if anyone's warned you of that, but..."  Her 
voice was quite serious.  "It's worse in faerie form.  Just...be 
careful, Harry.  I want Angel to be happy with you if I...if I can't be 
with her like that.  And it would be really easy for either of you 
to...make a mistake."  She was staring intently at me, then suddenly 
blushed and stared at the floor.  "Please don't take this as an 
accusation.  I just wanted to make sure you knew."

         I nodded slowly.  "I'd been told."  I paused.  "I'd noticed."  Like 
how I'd had romantic thoughts about Jennifer of all people.  And 
Alex too.  I hadn't mentioned THAT aspect of my adventure with 
Jennifer to the others.  "Well, I'd better get to bed."

         She nodded, grinning slightly.  "Unless you'd rather stay and 
have a mini-orgy with us."

         I laughed.  "Ahh, so that warning was really a come-on?"

         "Maybe."

         I wasn't entirely certain if she was joking or not.  Still, I 
would have had a good night's sleep if Donny hadn't pestered me for 
orgy details for two hours when I tried to go to bed.  Donny's an 
okay roommate, EXCEPT when I want to kill him, which is often.

****************

Epilogue:

       Splinter sat with Queen Teleute in one of the small reception 
rooms of the palace.  The comfortable blue-black padded chair she 
was sitting in relieved a tiny bit of her nervousness as she 
finished explaining everything she had found out.  "So that's what 
he said.  But I don't understand any of it."  Part of why she was 
nervous was that she had edited Harry out of her tale.  The other 
part was that she was still utterly confused by Mimr's final 
answer.

        "It will not be easy to find Ariel.  She is one of those faeries 
who delights in being mysterious and showing up unexpectedly.  
Still, she will likely help if you can find her.  She is kind to all, 
Seelie and Unseelie alike.  IF you can find her."  Teleute sighed.  "I 
will see what can be done.  There is something more important...for 
you, I think."

        Splinter blinked.  "More important than finding my siblings?"

        "The Wild Hunt failed miserably.  The Seelie have Opal."

         Splinter's eyes widened.  "They ...have Opal?"

         "Rescuing him will be incredibly difficult.  He is in the heart 
of the Palace of Stars, and he will be well guarded.  If we had 
someone we could trade for him, perhaps that could be arranged, 
but..."

         Splinter felt her heart sink.  I had someone, but I let him get 
away.  No!  It wouldn't have been honorable to keep him, 
but...Opal...If I'd only known, I could have asked Mimr what to do.  
Dammit!  "What about..."  No, I can't ask that.  I know Mother has the 
real Titania and Strongheart salted away somewhere, but I can't 
ask her to use them as bargaining chips.  Her fear for her lover 
overwhelmed that conviction rather quickly.  "What about...the two 
Seelie that you...the Duke's child, maybe..."  She gulped.

          To Splinter's shock, Teleute laughed, though not very hard or 
long.  "Sometimes life is full of ironies, dear child."

         "I don't understand."

         Teleute shook her head gently.  "They're not available for this.  
And more importantly, Glorianna wouldn't take the offer.  Having 
proclaimed this impostor her daughter, she can't back down.  For 
that matter, Glorianna's own child doesn't know her heritage.  I 
have not locked them in a tower and left them to rot.  They have 
been raised as Unseelie sidhe."  She smiled faintly.  "You've even 
met them."

         Splinter boggled.  "WHAT?"

          "It's not like our court affiliation is burned into our blood, 
Splinter.  Few change courts, but it happens every year, for love, 
for hate, and occasionally for money.  It is more than just a 
political affiliation, but it is not something we are born with."  
Teleute smiled a little more broadly.  "However, I think I know 
another way we can get enough leverage to get Opal back.  We just 
need to find out where they live."

        As the plan was explained, Splinter wasn't too sure she liked 
it, but she would have cut off her left arm to get her lover back if 
she had to, so she didn't complain.