Prelude: The room was lined with paintings and photographs, mounted in expensive frames. Under every picture was a small plaque, covered with gold and inscribed with an alphabet that was old when the Egyptians were building the pyramids. The room was strangely shaped, with no windows, but full of nooks, crannies, niches, and odd bulges, as if it had mutated from too much exposure to radiation. It was huge, perhaps a thousand foot square, with a ten foot ceiling. The walls were white, and the room was filled with tables covered with old maps, sculptures, and objects, from swords to quill pens to old blankets. A lone woman stood in the room, gazing at an old portrait of a handsome blond man in sixteenth century garb. She herself looked young, perhaps in her mid-twenties, with long reddish gold hair, flowing freely down her back. Her skin was soft and light in complexion, without blemish or flaw. Bright blue eyes gazed upon the man in the painting, and she shed a single tear. Dressed in fine blue velvet and satin, a golden crown wrought into the shape of interlaced leaves studded with sapphires upon her brow, she stared at the picture, unable to look away. She looked like a statue of a Renaissance queen herself, though her outfit lacked the huge starched ruffles that were a trademark of late sixteenth century garb, nor was it usually quite so form fitting as her dress. Also, she had pointed ears, being a Sidhe. She was startled out of her reverie as the door opened. "Who is it?" she asked sharply. Few were allowed to disturb her when she came here. A faint sigh answered her, then a proper reply. "It is Will, your highness." Will stepped inside. He was a tall human with short, dark hair and a moustache which he loved dearly despite it making him look more ridiculous than the rare occassions on which he was clean shaven. He wore simple clothing in silver and blue colors, the garb to which he had been accustomed in his days long ago on the mortal plane. She smiled. "Here to lecture me about moping, I suppose." Walking over to her, he said, "I still can't see why you spend one afternoon a week in this gloomy place." "I have to remember them. No one else will. Not long enough. They deserved better." She looked around the room. "I did what I had to, but I didn't enjoy it. This is my penance." "Leicester has been dead for four hundred years! That's enough penance for any sin!" "And only a handful of us remember him. He was my lover and I had to have him executed. There's so much blood on my hands. I feel like that Queen you wrote about..." He laughed wryly, "I never intended those words to apply to you." "I have done what I must. I will do it again. I'll kill without hesitating, send people to their deaths, use them like pawns in a game of chess. Entire towns have danced to my will and against theirs. But I won't let them be forgotten. What I have done is on my soul, and I will pay the price as best I can." "If you continue to accumulate penances forever, sooner or later, you will break under the load, my queen." "So be it." "Beth, you know that..." he began. "She's dead. She died centuries ago. I am Glorianna, queen of the Sidhe now and forever. That is my glory and my burden." He sighed. When she got in one of these moods, there was no talking to her. "I have bad news." "My daughter." It was not a question. "Maundy is dead. Your daughter is missing and presumably in the hands of the Unseelie or lost in the mortal world." "I will do what must be done," she said, sweeping out of the room without further commentary. Will followed her out. ************************************************************************* The Summer People: Episode 3: "Small Town Saturday Night" by John Biles **************************************************************************** Angel Said: "Howl at the moon, shoot out the lights, it's a small town saturday night, it's a small town saturday night..." wailed some singer on the radio. I don't like country music, but Harry does. At least until the next commercials come on, he likes it. Then the channel gets changed like it always does. Harry was sitting on the bed next to me, doing his math homework, while I was working on homework for Cultural Anthropology, also known as the class where Dr. Warwick talks about her children every day. The class is so boring, I could just drop dead and explode, but then I'd make a mess in Harry's room. Okay, I'm being silly. "So are we still going out this weekend, Harry?" I asked. He slapped his forehead. "Aargh. I forgot. My sister is getting married this weekend. Want to come to the wedding with me?" "Sure. I've never been to your hometown." I just got my car this September. Harry had to drive up to visit me the times we got to see each other. Tanya drove up once on her own too, and twice with Harry. They grew up in the same town, and they both go home every summer to save money. Well, Tanya goes to her mom's place. Her dad abandoned them when she was six. "Why didn't you tell me about this before?" Harry sighed. "I was thinking it was next month. I think they rescheduled it or something." Harry's not very organized. At least he remembered in advance this time. It wouldn't surprise me if Harry forgets his own birthday, sometimes. He remembered mine, though, this summer. "We'll leave Friday around Noon. You don't have any classes in the afternoon, right?" I nodded. "Right. Will there be room at your house for me to stay with you? Won't you have relatives galore?" Harry's family is huge. He only has three siblings, but he has about thirty cousins plus aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc, etc. They'll probably all be there. "Hmm. I bet you could stay at Tanya's. Her mom has plenty of room. She keeps telling Tanya she wants to meet you, anyway." "Sounds good to me." I didn't realize at the time I was in for a much more...interesting weekend than we had planned. *************************************************************************** Harry said: I ate lunch with Thomas the next day. Tanya and Angel both had to do something to get ready for the trip. Mysterious girl stuff to which we menfolk were not invited. Probably we wouldn't have wanted to come along, anyway. "So, are you coming to the wedding with us?" He sighed, took another bite of his sandwich, then answered, "Tanya's mom hates my guts, so I think I'll pass." "Good point. I'd forgotten about that." No wonder he didn't come to visit her this summer more than twice. I had kinda stayed away from them when he did come. Watching them snuggle when your girlfriend is a long ways off isn't much fun. Now that I thought about it, I remembered I had in fact gone to see Angel the second time he had been down. "Well, I'm sure Tanya will be disappointed." "Well, I've got homework I can do," he said. "You can work on our next big Champions adventure. Space Potato Boy has to go find the cure for Golden Potatoite." "That's Xenobotany Lad! Not Space Potato Boy!" Thomas said. I took another chug of Dr. Pepper and laughed. Thomas comes up with really weird names for some of the characters in his Champions game, so it's my duty to make fun of the names. We spent a long time talking about plans for future sessions before finally our girlfriends came and dragged us away. It gets easier everyday to think about Angel as my girlfriend. We dated for months last spring before we finally really realized it was getting serious. Thomas and Tanya pushed us into it at first. Then, when we finally got kinda serious, we got seperated for the summer. I went home to Tyler, and she went home to Plano. She didn't have a car, so I had to drive up to visit her. Tanya came with me twice, and I went four times on my own. We had a lot of fun, but we didn't...I dunno. Even after we made a commitment to each other, we were still afraid to...to do anything too girlfriendy/boyfriendy. I'm not sure why. Okay, for ME, I know why. Giving up on Tanya wasn't easy. Or entirely successful. It was like...like I was afraid if I got too serious, I'd really have to forget about Tanya. I think I'm getting better about that now, though. The fear is gone, most of the time, anyway. Angel and I are starting to really get comfortable with each other now. We held hands as we walked back to the dorm. We do that more often than we used to. I like it. For once, I got past that tree root without tripping. She looked over at me and smiled. I smiled back, looking at her in the warm sun. Late September is still very warm in central Texas. We were both wearing t-shirts and jeans. Mine was a size too big. I like loose clothing. Angel's clothing fit her perfectly, on the other hand. She can't understand why I like wearing loose clothing. I'm not sure why myself, so I haven't had much luck explaining it to her. She stopped suddenly, so of course I nearly fell down. "Why are we stopping?" She pointed up into a tree. "Look." It was a cardinal. You don't see many of them around here. We watched it together for a few seconds until it flew away. I looked at her and saw her smile. She loves birds and other things that fly. When she was little, she nearly broke her legs trying to fly off her roof after she saw Peter Pan. "Wasn't it beautiful, Harry?" "Almost as beautiful as you," I said, almost absent-mindedly. It was more something Thomas would say. I'm not good at being romantic, especially when I try. She smiled even more, if that was possible. She stepped closer to me. "You're not bad yourself, you know." We drew closer and kissed until a pine cone fell on my head. Stupid trees. I think they're out to get me. *************************************************************************** Angel Said: The trip was about the same as going anywhere in a car with Harry, just longer. He seems to know the location of every radio station on Earth, and can't be content with any of them for more than a few songs. After the fiftieth or so time that he changed stations, Tanya told me to sit on his hands, which I gladly did so. He was about ready to explode by the time we got to Tanya's house. I had never been there before. It's an old two story brick house from the fifties with a big yard full of trees. Much nicer than the clone housing my family lives in, in Plano. Harry came in with us, helping to carry Tanya's and my luggage. We later figured out we'd accidentally left my sword in the car, which I had brought so I could practice my fencing. Tanya's mom was tall with long red hair like Tanya's and the same eyes. She was wearing a nice green blouse and a long skirt, and looked rather like an older gypsy, except for the hair. She had a multicolored pastel blue, green, and white scarf in her hair and a pair of silver rose earrings. She hardly looked old enough to be Tanya's mom at all. She rushed forward and hugged Tanya, "It's so good to have you home, Tanya." Tanya blushed a little. "I'm glad to see you too." "Hi, Mom," Harry said. I blinked. MOM? Tanya's Mom grabbed Harry and practically crushed him in a hug. To my surprise, I felt a burst of jealousy. "Hello, Harry. Have you been a good boy while you've been gone?" Harry laughed. "I even finally brought my girlfriend to meet you, Mom." I felt confused. Tanya's Mom turned to me. "You must be Angel! I've been wanting to meet you. Tanya and Harry have told me so much about you." She rushed over and hugged me. I was so surprised I dropped my suitcase on my foot and hardly even noticed. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Cromwell." "Please, call me Mom. All of Tanya's friends do." She smiled at me, clearly pleased by my presence. I relaxed. I wasn't used to anyone this affectionate, but I thought I could grow to like it. We soon got my stuff stashed away in the spare room, and Tanya's stuff in her room. Harry said, "I have to go check in at home. I'll give you a call once I'm free, and maybe we can go down to Eighteenth Street and go dancing for a little while. Or catch a movie or something." Tanya got ready to drive Harry home, since we had come in her car. I was going to go with them, but Tanya's mom grabbed me. "I'd like to talk with you, if you don't mind, and get to know you better." "Um, okay." Harry and Tanya took off, while we went to the kitchen. Mrs. Cromwell got me a coke, somehow having determined both that I was thirsty and wanted a coke without even having to ask me. We sat down at the kitchen table. "So you and Harry have been dating since last April?" she asked. I nodded and sipped my coke. "Yeah. We'd known each other since October of our freshman year or so, but we'd been just friends to that point. We'd started going out on dates earlier in the semester, after Tanya and Thomas had been prodding us for months, and finally, in April, we...we kissed for the first time and made a committment to each other." "You're from Plano, right?" I nodded. "Yeah. It's a boring suburb full of clone houses, but it's not a bad place to live. You feel like a zombie sometimes in those houses, though." She nodded. "That's why we live in Tyler. It's not too big, and it's not made of houses that are all alike." She paused and drank some of her Dr. Pepper. "So are you and Harry planning to get married eventually?" I blushed. "I don't...We haven't talked about that yet, Mrs. Cromwell." "Please, call me Mom. I always wanted to have more children." She laughed. "So all of Tanya's close friends call me Mom." I smiled. "Okay, Mom. I guess you must have a LOT of children, then." She laughed, then sighed a little. "I wish. Tanya's never had very many close friends." I blinked. "Really? She seems to have a ton of friends, as far as I can tell." Not to mention would-be lovers, drooling groupies, etc. "Tanya never got really close to most of her friends. It was like...I don't know, like she was trying to keep from getting too close to anyone. She had a lot of boyfriends in high school, but it never worked out very well. Harry and Alicia were her only really close friends, although Richard came over a lot once he and Alicia started dating. They'd stay up until 3 AM playing their games and I'd pretend I didn't know." "Well, she and Harry and Thomas and I STILL do that." We drifted off into trading various humorous stories. She might have even understood some of mine. I quickly decided I liked Tanya's mom. *************************************************************************** Harry said: Tanya drove me home. This time she couldn't stop me from properly adjusting the radio as necessary. I just can't stand listening to commercials or songs I don't like. Tanya seemed unusually silent, so I tried to see what was up. "You okay there? You seem pretty quiet. She looked over at me for a second. I could recognize the look on her face. It usually preceded some weird question I wouldn't be able to answer in the desired fashion, even if I wanted to. "So do you plan to marry Angie eventually?" Tanya asked me. I blinked. Marry Angel? I'd sort of thought about it in vague terms, but I hadn't really given it much thought. "Uh, I guess. We hadn't really discussed it. Maybe when we're closer to graduating, we'll probably talk about it." I paused. "You and Thomas discussed it?" "He weasels out of discussing it every time I try to bring it up." She turned the corner a little too fast as usual. "Not that I'm really thinking about it too much yet, myself." I laughed. "We're both too young for marriage yet." I paused. "Do I get to be your best man?" "I think Thomas will probably pick..." she began. "No, no, YOUR best man. I'd offer to be head bridesmaid, but I don't think I'd look good in a dress." Tanya laughed so hard we almost ran into a mailbox. "I don't think Angie would like that. I bet Mom would laugh." "I bet she'd offer to MAKE the dress." We both had a good laugh, and things lightened up. *************************************************************************** Angel said: Eighteenth Street is this small bar and dance hall on, you guessed it, Eighteenth Street in Harry's hometown. It tries to cater to both the kikkers and the more normal people. Okay, I shouldn't say that...oh, you're probably wondering what a kikker is. It's a local slang for a country music fan. Comes from the name of a Houston radio station, KIKK. They range from people who probably starred as extras in Deliverance to my boyfriend, Harry. He and Tanya just love this place, probably because it's the only place anyone under 18 in this town could go dancing. Of course, they're not under 18 now, but I digress. They both love to dance. I like to dance, but I'm not very good at it. Not enough practice. I spent my weekend nights in high school playing RPGs instead of dancing. They did that too, but they also did a lot more dancing than me. Anyway, a few of Harry and Tanya's old friends were in town for various reasons, so we all met at Eighteenth Street to dance. I was kinda nervous, having never met most of them. Meeting new people always puts me on edge a little. There were three of them. Bill Waters, Alicia Fox and Richard Sims. Bill is huge. We're talking the earth shakes when he walks. Not fat, mind you, just big and strong. He's almost a foot taller than Harry and could probably lift both of us over his head and break us like twigs. He and Harry have been friends since middle school. He's a big practical joker. Richard and Alicia have both been friends of Harry and Tanya since they were all about five years old. Richard is short and dark haired, and so is Alicia. They've been dating for years now. I'd met Bill before, but this was my first time to meet either of them. I was kinda nervous. Richard smiled. "Nice to finally meet you, Angela. What do you want us to call you?" "Angela is fine or Angie. And you?" "Everyone calls me Rick." Alicia smiled. "I'm afraid I'm not special enough to have a nickname. Just call me Alicia." "Call her Al," Tanya said, giggling. "Do NOT call me AL!" Alicia shouted. Everyone stared at her and Tanya, Harry, Richard and Bill started laughing. Pretty soon, we got inside and started dancing. I danced with Harry, Alicia with Richard, and Bill with Tanya. I don't know much about country dancing, but Harry's a pretty patient teacher. At least I don't step on people's feet like Thomas does. Not that I cared the few times I've danced with him...anyway, I digress. We spent a few hours dancing, chatting, making fun of various people and drinking too much soda pop, so I had to run to the ladies' room. *************************************************************************** Harry said: After a couple of hours, we were all starting to get a little bit tired. Bill is very strong, but he gets wiped out after a few hours of dancing. Same for Alicia and Richard. I, on the other hand, could dance all night. Same for Tanya. She looked over at me and no words had to be spoken. Once Angel heads into a bathroom, it takes her forever to come out, otherwise I would have waited for her. I took Tanya's hand and headed out to the dance floor. I hear Bill mutter something about Energizer rabbits and I laughed. Tanya had a strange light in her eyes, a light I haven't seen very often. It's hard to describe, exactly, but usually something either very fun or very stupid is about to happen when she gets like this. She smiled at me. "Let's show them how it's done, eh?" I laughed then started striking silly John Travolta 'Saturday Night Fever' poses. "Oh, oh, oh staying alive..." She laughed and took my hands. By whatever whim of fate, the music launched into a perfect song for jitterbugging. Tanya and I both took a ballroom dance class in high school. It was probably the most fun class I've ever had and probably one of the few that's done me any good. Tanya and I are both pretty good dancers. We began to whir about the dance floor. It took a little while to properly get in sync and a little while longer to make sure we didn't collide with anyone. Then we danced. Time blurred for me. I couldn't say how long we were out there. We moved in unison, a two bodied entity moving with the rythym of the music. Finally, I decided to try one of the harder moves. "Wanna try a real challenge?" I asked. She laughed. "Sock it to me." We moved through an elaborate move known as 'doughnuts' then I spun her out, pulled her in, swung her under my legs, then up into the air for a second or two, then back down to the ground, right as the music ended. I could hear people applauding and my arms bitching me out. I love that move, but usually I either fall down or can't get her off the ground successfully. I was feeling really happy. *************************************************************************** Angel said: I quickly found my way back to our table, just in time to see Harry and Tanya dancing together out on the floor. They pulled off this elaborate manuever I could hardly believe. I was in awe for a few seconds. I couldn't do that if my life depended on it. Everyone started applauding. So did I. They headed back to our table, and I soon joined them. Richard said, "Wow. You two been practicing together again?" "Well, we all go dancing sometimes," Harry said. "I've never seen you do that, though!" I said. Harry started. "Oh, you're back, Angel?" "No, you're imagining me." Sometimes Harry says really weird things. Tanya laughed. "I think all the applause has gone to his head." "Well, you two were really great. I wish I could dance like that." Alicia sighed. "We never have time to go dancing." "Too much homework," Richard said. "So why didn't you bring your boyfriend, Tanya? Or did you and Frank break up?" Tanya lightly bopped Richard in the head. "His name is Thomas. Don't talk about Frank." Tanya had gone out with this Frank guy the first month or so of our Freshman year. Something happened, but I'm still not sure what exactly. Bill laughed. "We need a scorecard to keep track of your boyfriends." "Hey, I've been dating Thomas for close to a year now!" "And how many times have you two broken up and gotten back together?" Richard asked. "It doesn't matter! We're not going through that again." Alicia laughed. "You said you'd never date Jamie Hogan again either, and we all know what happened." The conversation sailed off further into the land of reminiscence, leaving me stranded for a large chunk of the evening, trying to pretend I had ANY idea what they were talking about. *************************************************************************** Harry said: Eventually, we headed back to Tanya's car to go home. Bill caught a ride with Rick, while Tanya was going to take me home on her way home. Right as she was unlocking the car, my unfavorite people in the universe showed up--the Sumpter brothers. Tanya and I had been feuding with these four morons since we were about five years old and they beat me up and stole my lunch money. Tanya snuck into their house and flushed their pet gerbils down the toilet and things kinda stayed on that level for years. Still, they had mostly stayed away from us after the plumbing in their house 'mysteriously' backed up, rendering their house unliveable for a week. I think Tanya did that, but I have no idea how. I think they drew that conclusion too. Unfortunately, they looked to be drunk as skunks as usual and now they were closing in. "Huh. Look, Joe, it's Harry the Hyena," Bob, the oldest and stupidest, said to his younger brother, Joe. Bob was 22, Joe was 21, Andy was 20, and Sammy was only 18. Sammy was also the only one of them with much sense. Tanya sighed. "Go make love to your gerbil, Bob." Angel gasped. I guess she'd never seen Tanya deal with someone she really doesn't like before. Bob laughed. "Ooooh, you're sooooo funny." Sammy said, "His gerbil is all worn out from having his way with you, Tanya." I could feel myself getting mad as old memories of past troubles with these morons flooded back into my mind. I knew better than to start anything. The Sumpters act intimidating, but they like to provoke people into attacking them. They virtually never try anything themselves ever since their dad got busted on those assault charges about five years ago. They don't want to end up in jail like he did. I kept quiet. If you ignore them, they go away. Tanya laughed. "I suppose even a gerbil wouldn't stoop to sleeping with any of you. So how long have you been forcing yourselves on the poor thing?" She started to get into the car. Bob apparently didn't quite understand what she meant. Joe did. He stepped forward, looking pretty angry. "Look, you slut! I..." He didn't get to finish. I almost slugged him despite knowing it would start a fight I couldn't win. Tanya is NOT a slut. I could hear Angel muttering to herself angrily. I managed to keep control of myself. Tanya, however, did not. She spun around and slugged Joe, sending him crashing back into Bob. Bob yelled something incoherent and we were about five seconds away from a general brawl. As Bob rushed forward, suddenly, there was a sword pointed at his eyeball. I blinked. Angel had left her sword in Tanya's car earlier, in the little space behind the back seat and under the sloping rear window. She'd brought it so she could practice during the weekend. I hadn't expected to see her use it. Her voice was cold and angry and frightened me. "One step closer and they'll be calling you One-Eyed Jack." "My name is Bob." "Shut up. You're going to go away now or your name will be dog food." Angel was glaring hard at the guy. "And my name will be carved across your chest." The Sumpters started backing up. Angel watched them, shoving me into the car. Tanya got in too. Angel backed into the car, put away the sword and shouted, "DRIVE!" Tanya drove, nearly running over Sammy on the way out of the lot. Angel gave a great sigh of relief and sagged. Tanya laughed. "That was soooooo cool. Now I'm gonna have to start carrying a sword with me everywhere." I leaned over and hugged Angel. "Thanks." "I can't believe I did that. That was completely insane. Someone could have gotten hurt." "Well, we would have all gotten hurt pretty bad fighting with them. You really shouldn't have punched him, Tanya." I said. "Yeah, I should have kicked him in the balls. Then he wouldn't have been able to get up." "Who were those people?" Angel asked. We told her. *************************************************************************** Angel said: We dropped Harry off and got back to Tanya's house. Her mother was in bed or at least pretending to be, so we headed upstairs to go to bed ourselves. Tanya said to me, "You really surprised me, Angie." "Really? How?" "Pulling your sword on those guys. They're pretty dangerous, even if they're stupid. Harry was right. I shouldn't have punched them." "Why didn't you tell Harry he was right, then?" "I was still too worked up to think straight. I really, really hate those guys." I nodded. "I can't blame you." I yawned. "Bedtime for Bonzo." Tanya laughed. "Me too. See you tomorrow." We spent most of Saturday goofing off, then went to the wedding that evening. *************************************************************************** Harry said: The wedding went off without a hitch, despite bursts of paranoia on the part of my mother and sister. During the reception, I got stuck on general flunk duty--trying to make sure no one drank too much, taking care of the coat closet, making sure everyone milled about correctly and a dozen other minor tasks. I was busy trying to make sure my five year old cousin didn't pull the cake off the table when Bill came over to me. "You HAVE to see this." "See what?" I asked. Looking around, I could see Tanya had run off somewhere. I frowned. She was getting drunk, and when she gets drunk, she gets crazy. She asked my dad to marry her one time when she was drunk. "Tanya's doing something nutso in the closet." I sighed. "Come on, we have to save her from herself." We headed out of the reception area to the closet where Tanya had secreted herself. I could hear noises from inside. "Tanya?" She giggled. "Come and get me, Harry!" I went in after her. "Come on, Tanya. Come out and play with everyone else." I found her, then the door closed. I ignored it for the moment. "Come on, Tanya." To my surprise, she grabbed me in a tight hug. "But I wanna pway with you!" I almost fainted, but decided not to be dramatic. "We can play outside." She ran one of her hands up and down my spine. I shivered. Oh great, Angel is going to just loooove this. I started trying to grapple Tanya over to the door. "Tanya, I don't think Thomas will like this." Her voice was wild and clearly drunken, "I don thing he's ever gonna know unless yew tell him." She started trying to unbutton my shirt, but her fingers were too clumsy to do the job. "TANYA!" I reached for the...there was no handle. Uh oh. *************************************************************************** Angel said: Richard came over to me. I had been dancing with some guy who had startled me by asking me out of the blue to dance with him. Harry was busy running a million errands for his mother around the reception, so I had gone ahead and danced. When I finished, Richard approached me. "Having a good time?" "More or less. Wedding receptions aren't my idea of a fun time, but it's not bad either. It's the first one Harry's dragged me to." "So how long have you and Harry been going out?" "Yes, we've been dating since last April. About five months. How long have you and Alicia been dating?" Richard thought for a moment. "About three and a half years. Tanya fixed us up with each other." He paused. "Wait, since APRIL?" I nodded. "Didn't he tell you about me this summer?" Richard paused, as if thinking about something. "Oh wait, you live in Dallas?" "Yes, in Plano. Harry came up to see me a few times over the summer and Tanya came twice. I'm her roommate." Richard gave me an assessing look which made me faintly uncomfortable. "Oh yeah, I remember that. Still, I wonder why he..." He cut off sharply. "Why he what?" I got myself a snack from the food table. It was tasty. "Well, he and Tanya spent the whole summer carrying on the way they used to do when they were dating in High School. I..." Richard stopped, apparently realizing he shouldn't have said that. I froze. They hadn't dated in High School. "They what?" "You didn't know?" "They both told me they'd never even gone on a date, let alone DATED." Richard had an uncomfortable look. "Forget I said anything." I stomped over to him. "Don't patronize me. WHAT are you talking about?" "Well, their moms really don't like each other at all, so we all figured they were covering it up so their parents wouldn't make too much trouble, but EVERYONE knew that...well, they were an item, even with the way they fought all the time." I relaxed a little. Tanya and Harry fight? That was about as likely as the Pope moving to Mecca. "Them FIGHT? Uh huh." He relaxed slightly. "Right. Just forget it then." It must have been some feeble effort at a joke. Why was he so nervous, then? At this point, Bill ran up. "Hey, I need help. There's some people making out in the coat closet." I laughed. Richard rolled his eyes, "We'd better get Harry to help. Where is he, anyway?" Bill had the look of someone trying not to laugh. "I dunno. COME ON. Can you help us, Angela?" "Sure." I went over to the closet. I could hear banging and something about 'out' through the door. I frowned. "That doesn't sound too good." Richard opened the closet door. Harry and Tanya were inside. I blinked. She was all over him like he was her private play toy. One of her hands was inside his shirt and the other one was trying to unzip his pants, but he was grappling with that hand. Her blouse was open in front and you could see her bra. I looked at his face. He didn't look very unhappy about all this. He had a really weird look on his face. Then he saw me. We stared at each other for a moment. Tanya looked up at me. "Hi, Angie. You can have Harry back when I'm done with him. This'll just take a minute." She turned her attention to Harry. "Come on, Harry, finish taking my clothes off..." I paled. Harry said, "Tanya, stop acting crazy! You unbuttoned your shirt yourself!" She grabbed Harry and kissed him. I could tell he was enjoying it. I felt like someone had plunged an icy cold dagger into my chest. I turned and ran, crying like a five year old. It was the worst moment of my entire life up to that point, I think. I could hear Harry shouting something, but I ignored him. I bolted out the doors of the church social hall and into the night. The air was cold, but I didn't care. My coat was in the closet, and I didn't want to come anywhere NEAR them. Oh God, he wanted her, he liked her more than me, he wanted to kiss her, they HAD been making out in the closet, what had they been doing all summer, what were they doing when I wasn't around, no wonder Harry's friend had been so embarrassed. The thoughts were spiraling around like a top, getting darker by the moment. I ran off down the street, not really knowing where I was going. Finally, I found myself in front of an unfamiliar convenience store. I paused to catch my breath. I didn't want to believe it, but I was terrified that Harry was cheating on me. I knew he still liked Tanya, but I didn't think that he...that he...oh God, I could tell Tanya kissing him was like a dream come true for him. Just like if Thomas had ever kissed me. I sighed. Was I any better than he was? Of course I was, I answered myself. I had been faithful to him! I had never kissed Thomas! I ignored the part of my mind that was trying to remind me I had never had the chance either. I was only shocked out of my reverie when I heard three all too familiar voices. "Hey, there's Harry's 'ho." It was the Sumpter brothers again. They had been buying beer, it looked like, or possibly they all normally carried a twelve pack everywhere on a Saturday night. I swore softly and turned to go. "Looks like she didn't bring her damn sword this time. Let's get her." I didn't wait to hear the rest. I took off running. They threw their beer in the back of their pickup truck and drove after me. They had speed, I had manueverability and desperation. Unfortunately, I didn't know where I was going. I ran down the street for a while, then cut through some people's yard. I could hear them squealing around the corner, so I ran out of sight, then tried to double back. Unfortunately, they had circled the block and spotted me. I ran and ran and ran. I could hear the whine of their truck engine. Some tiny part of my brain noted it needed maintenance. They probably had forgotten their 30,000 mile tuneup. I suddenly realized my car would be due for that in about 15,000 more miles. With effort, I dragged my brain to reality right as they nearly ran me over. I managed to clamber up onto a chainlink fence and dropped down on the other side, just in time to spot the Doberman. It woke up and I barely got out in time. Finally, I couldn't run anymore. I could hear a motor coming. A car pulled up beside me, forcing the truck driving idiots to swerve and circle down the street. The door opened. It was Tanya's Mom. "Angel, what is going on?" I leaped in. "Get me OUT OF HERE!" She did. We roared off. Tanya's mom has a nice little black sportscar, and she drives even more insanely than Tanya. We soon reached her house. She helped me out of the car and into her house. I sat down on the couch and cried. She hugged me and made soothing noises. Finally, I calmed down enough to talk sort of rationally. "What's wrong, dear?" she asked. I began to cry again. "Harry and....They were...She...kissing...oh God, my boyfriend is cheating on me!" She stroked my hair and said, "Was Tanya drunk again?" "I, yes, but..." Her mother sighed. "Damnit, I keep telling her to NOT drink. She gets drunk, she starts coming onto guys, and she always ends up regretting it. That's how she..." Tanya's mom sighed. "She is a very amorous drunk, like me, which is why I never drink anymore." My tears started to stop. I leaned against Tanya's mom. I needed a comforting presence. "But he...but he liked it. I could tell!" She sighed. "He didn't mean to be unfaithful, but I know Harry has loved Tanya for a very long time." She paused. "It was a temptation. I KNOW Harry would not deliberately cheat on you. I've known him since he was very small, and I know he wouldn't run around on you." The tears finally stopped flowing, and I looked up at her. I wanted to believe her, to trust that Harry had just been caught off guard, but how could I be sure? "But he...I mean, they...He never looked that happy when he was kissing me and..." "Have you ever seen him when he was kissing you?" Good question. Given I usually had my eyes closed and was shaking like a twig in the wind at the time, I really had no idea how happy he looked when he was kissing me, now that I thought about it. "Did Harry...Did Harry date much in High School?" "No one that Tanya didn't practically shove down his throat. She must have spent half her life trying to fix him up with someone, but it never worked out. They usually figured out pretty quick that Harry liked Tanya more than them." She laughed. "Harry can be very persistent. I don't think Tanya ever did quite figure out what to do about him." I sighed. I'm yet another girl fobbed off on Harry. I had sort of known I wasn't the first girl Tanya had tried to fix Harry up with, but... "So I'm just another in a long line of.." "Don't say that." Tanya's mom's voice was a little sharper than before. "Whatever junk someone has been telling you, you're the first real girlfriend Harry has ever had." She laughed faintly. "He's spent so much time in this house, I almost think of him as my son. Harry's loved Tanya for a very long time, but I believe that when he made his commmitment to you, he intended to keep it, and he will. You're the first girl he's ever called his girlfriend in front of Tanya. I had a long talk with him about you when he came home for the summer." I blinked. "You did?" Harry hadn't told me about this. I started wondering what else I hadn't been told about. "Do you know why I was out driving around when I found you?" I suddenly realized I had no idea. "No." "Harry called and begged me to go looking for you. He was crying and said he was going to look for you if it took all night...aaah, I was supposed to call the church if I found you!" She bolted up. "I'll be right back." She ran off to make a phone call. I sat quietly and thought about everything I'd seen tonight. *************************************************************************** Harry said: I ran through the streets, hardly knowing what I was doing. I should have calmed down and tried to search methodically, but I was frantic. There's a lot of drunken idiots running around Tyler on a Saturday night, and I hoped Angel wouldn't meet any of them. I should have brought someone with me, but I'd just run off frantically once I called Mrs. Cromwell. Mom and Dad were out looking for Angel too, and anyone else I could send out. We'd called the cops, too, though they probably wouldn't do much. I'm not sure how long I spent wandering the streets like a complete idiot. Finally, Mom and Dad found me. "She's over at Mrs. Cromwell's." They had our car, and Tanya was passed out in the back seat. "We're taking Tanya home," Mom said, with a tone of distaste. Mom hates it when people our age get drunk. How my sister talked her into having alcohol at the reception, I'll never know. I climbed in next to Tanya. "Okay. I'll walk home. I need to talk to Angel." Mother frowned. "What did you do to her anyway?" I sighed. "Tanya kissed me." Dad sighed. "You really shouldn't let her drink that much, Harry." "What am I supposed to do about it? I'm hardly her keeper!" I really hate it when she does this. Tanya didn't wake up until we got to her house. Dad helped me get her out of the car, and I helped her stumble into the house. "I'll walk home, Mom." Mom said, "Is that safe at this hour?" I thought about it. "I'll crash on the couch here, then. I really need to talk to Angel." Mom frowned, but Dad touched her shoulder and whispered something. She sighed. "We'll come get you in the morning for church, then. Be ready at ten." I nodded. "I will be." I dragged Tanya inside. She wasn't saying much, just looking groggy. "We're home, Mom!" I shouted. Momma Cromwell came out to meet us. "Angel's in the living room, Harry. I'll put Tanya to bed." Tanya giggled. "Will you tuck Harry into bed with me?" Momma Cromwell frowned. "And in the morning, I'm going to flay you alive with my tongue, girl." She hefted Tanya, to my surprise, and carried her off upstairs. I sighed. How am I going to explain all this to Angel and get her to believe me? I walked into the living room like a condemned man. Her face was puffy with tears, though her eyes were dry now, and she looked miserable. She looked up at me, and her expression was hard to read, a mix of fear and anger. "Oh, Angel, I'm so glad you're okay." She frowned at me. "No thanks to you." I clenched my fists at that. I wasn't the idiot who ran off into the middle of the night before I could explain what was going on. "She was drunk, Angel! I just...Bill locked me in the closet with her! I couldn't get out." Angel just stared at me, her expression hurt. I kept babbling under her angry gaze. "I'm sorry, Angel. I didn't go in there planning to get kissed by her." Still nothing. "Damnit, Angel, what do you want from me? Ironclad proof she came on to ME? How could I prove that? She was drunk, she didn't know what she was doing, and she came onto me. I got distracted and she managed to kiss me. That's ALL!" I was starting to get mad, now. Angel actually shrank back a bit. "You didn't look too unhappy about it!" "Hey, I'm not perfect, you know! I bet if Thomas kissed you, you wouldn't look too UNHAPPY!" Now I was getting really angry. "The whole thing wouldn't have happened if BILL hadn't locked me in the closet with Tanya when she was DRUNK! She's not even interested in me when she's sober! Don't you think I KNOW that?" Angel started to yell back at me, then stopped herself. "I just...I...I'm not just another girl you're going to abandon for Tanya, am I?" "Of COURSE not!" I'd thought about it for a few moments, but I...no, I couldn't do that to Angel, and Tanya doesn't like me like that anyway. That part of my life is over. It has to be. I tried to pull myself together. "I love you, Angel. I won't cheat on you." No matter how tempted I get, sometimes. "Can't you trust me like I trust you?" Angel started to cry. "I'm sorry, Harry. The stuff they told me, and seeing you kissing Tanya, and everything...I just..I'm sorry." I sat down by her and embraced her. "Don't cry, Angel." I sat there and babbled, trying to be comforting as she simply cried on my shoulder. Finally, the sobs died away. "I'd better go to bed," she said, then paused. "How are you going to get home?" "I'm just gonna crash on the couch." Exhaustion rushed over me. I was really tired. "Okay." She hesitated, as if she was about to say something, then started to get up. I pulled her back down and kissed her goodnight. "Goodnight, Angel." "Goodnight, Harry," she said faintly and ran off to bed. I simply leaned over and passed out. I'm good at that. I could probably sleep while on fire. I woke up in the middle of a dream where Angel and Tanya pulled me apart like a wishbone at Thanksgiving dinner. Something was tickling me, so of course, I laughed maniacally, while mumbling incoherently. I'm fairly ticklish. It took me a few seconds to figure out what was going on or who was doing it. It was Tanya, of course. Angel HATES getting tickled, and she never tickles anyone. "And how are you this morning, Harry?" Tanya beamed at me. "Better get up before breakfast gets cold." I sighed. "You don't remember last night at all, do you?" She paused. "Hmm. Last thing I remember was Bill telling me he didn't think I could handle another shot of...whatever we had." I sighed again. "I take it you haven't talked to Angel yet, either." She paused and her expression got a little darker. "I...did I do something to her?" "You kissed me and tried to rip off my clothing while taking yours off too. With her watching." I guess I must have sounded pretty mad, because Tanya paled. "I...WHAT?" "You said to Angel, and I quote, 'Hi, Angie. You can have Harry back when I'm done with him. This'll just take a minute.' You then turned to me and said, ' Come on, Harry, finish taking my clothes off...'. She came about this close," I held my fingers about an inch apart, and continued, "to dumping me. We had our first real fight over it last night. And you don't REMEMBER any of this?" Damnit, Tanya, why do you do stupid things like this? She sighed. "I'm sorry, Harry. I get like that when I'm drunk." "Angel's going to eat your head." She hung her head. "I know. I...I don't want to come between you guys." She was almost crying. I guess I must have been too hard on her, I thought, but at least she's taking this seriously. "Well, we made up. You'd better go get Angel up." She nodded. "Yep." She headed back upstairs, and I headed for the kitchen. *************************************************************************** Angel Said: I got woken up by a gentle knock on the door. I'm a pretty light sleeper. People getting up in adjacent buildings wake me up sometimes. I was sleeping in the guest room, which was pretty plain, but the bed was soft and nice. I said, "Come in." Tanya stepped in hesitantly. She approached the bed as if she was heading to the gas chamber. "I'm...Harry told me what I did last night. I don't remember anything. I shouldn't have gotten in that drinking contest with Bill..." I frowned. "You shouldn't have been drinking at all! We're both underage and you ALWAYS get drunk!" "Hey, I can drink if I want to!" Tanya hates it when I lecture her on this, but I didn't care. "Damnit, you started hitting on MY boyfriend! If you want to get drunk and go barf, that's your business, but I don't want YOU hitting on MY HARRY!" I was getting mad now. "And don't give me that, I was drunk crap! You chose to get drunk and alcohol can't MAKE you do things! It just means you act more stupid than normal!" I barely resisted the urge to add, 'which would be difficult for you.' I was starting to lose it. This doesn't happen to me often, and I don't handle it very well. To my surprise, Tanya actually flinched before my verbal assault. Her reply was very quiet. "I'm sorry, Angela. I really made a mess and what I did was very stupid. Please forgive me; I won't do it again." I sighed as my anger drained out of me. "Apology accepted." I yawned. "Is it breakfast time yet?" Tanya nodded quietly. "Come on. Mom's waiting for everyone." I climbed out of bed and followed Tanya, then blinked. "You know, I think this is the only time I've ever seen you get out of bed before me." "That's because Mom got me up to help her fix breakfast." Tanya headed downstairs. I followed her slowly, yawning. I was wearing my green pajamas. Tanya gave them to me on my birthday back in May. They're exactly the same style as the ones Harry wears, but his are burgundy. Tanya gave them to him on his birthday, which is May 18, the day after mine. I think it was her idea of a joke. I kinda like them, though they're a little too big. Harry smiled nervously at me. "Good morning, Angel." Tanya's mom smiled. "Hello, dear. Did you sleep well?" I yawned. "This house makes me so sleepy. Yeah." She glanced over at Harry, then at me. I smiled faintly and nodded. She smiled wider. Harry looked at both of us like we were insane. Tanya simply wandered over and served herself and me some scrambled eggs and toast. After that, she sat down by her mom. They look so much like each other, it's scary. You'd almost think her mom had cloned herself. Just as I started to eat, the doorbell rang. Harry paled. "I forgot, Mom was going to come pick us up for church!" As you can imagine, it was time for mass panic. In a very literal sense. *************************************************************************** Epilogue: Mist boiled around Splinter as she galloped down the road on her horse. Most people would have more sense than to gallop full tilt down a winding road through a forest in deep fog. Splinter was, however, not most people. On the other hand, most people also couldn't guarantee not crashing into a tree. The woods was already beginning to thin out, devoured by the fog. It was getting closer. She could sense it. The world of the Faeries defies maps. It is the world as we knew it in youth, and perhaps one day shall know it again when we no longer see the world but through a mirror, darkly. You can ride through the land of the fae in a straight line all your life and never reach the edge, yet there is an edge. A wall of fog surrounds the land of the fae, and beyond that fog is nothing but swirling mists. It is the stuff of which dreams are made, and more important to the fae, the fabric from which Faerieland, Arcadia, Tir na Og, the Elysian Fields, or whatever else you wish to call it, was forged. It sits and waits for the dreamers who give it shape, who can cause it to give birth to new lands. Arcadia is a world of will-forged reality that will endure as long as there are those who believe in it and give it shape. Faeries are often not good at forging new lands themselves, for many find it hard to concentrate on a single vision, to fix it in their minds, to give it birth and persevere in that sight. This is one reason that faeries kidnap mortal children, for it is the gift and the curse of mortals to be more fixed, more stable, less fluctuating than the fae. But again, Splinter was not like most people. Fixity of purpose came easily to her. Indeed, it came too easily. Once Splinter got an idea into her head, it could be almost impossible to get it out. Opal had spent three hours trying to talk her out of doing what she was about to try and had not succeeded. He thought he had, but it simply meant she waited until he went to bed to leave and ride to the mists, instead of before he went to bed. She saw it now. The fog thickened to a wall of pure white ahead of her, swallowing all things in its maw. She could see it creeping forward. It was devouring this realm of forest in which she stood. Its master must have left it alone for too long, and now it was dissolving away into the mist from which it had once been born. She paused. What she was about to do was dangerous. Her mother had done it a few times, and two of her uncles had tried it and survived. But three of her cousins had died in the attempt. The reality of what she was about to try struggled to dawn in her mind, but she dismissed it. She had to know, and given that she didn't have visions like Opal, this was the only way she knew to get a glimpse of the future. Normally, when one rides into the mist, the goal is to create a new realm to one's tastes. You fix a vision of what should be in your mind and force the mist to bend to it. What Splinter proposed to do was more risky. You could try to gain a vision of the future by riding into the mists and commanding it to show you what might be. This was however dangerous. Sometimes it might show you your own death and kill you in the process. Sometimes the reality created might be misleading in some manner. Sometimes, nothing happened at all and you simply never came back. It was worth the risk, she thought. With my life on the line, I have to take the chance. I won't let that little mortal minx kill me! I won't die at her hands, Splinter thought. She hurled into the mist, fixing her question in her mind, how can I prevent that...that girl from killing me? The mists swirled around her, cold clammy fingers of moisture soaking into her clothing and curling round her neck. Vertigo took her suddenly and she found herself falling off her horse. She never struck the ground. Suddenly, she was kneeling on the ground with her eyes closed. Something cold and solid was touching the back of her neck. She opened her eyes and stared at the two boots worn by whoever was standing over her, holding something to her neck. She tried to speak, but she could not, for some reason. A voice spoke that was not her own. The voice was quiet, but harsh and angry. "Swear, Splinter. Swear the Great Oath to serve me, or I shall kill you for what you have done. This I do swear by my royal blood." There was a gasp from some nearby person. Splinter could not tell who, for she did not dare look up. Her voice spoke without her voilition, against it, in fact. "I do swear, by my royal blood, by my eternal soul, and by the God who created us that I shall be your vassal for all of my days, to serve and obey you in all things, until the stars fall from the skies and all things come to their appointed end. This I, Splinter, of the line of Teleute, Queen of the Unseelie Fae, do swear." The voice spoke again, soft without harshness this time. Splinter almost recognized it, but the knowlege of whom she had just submitted herself to was just beyond her reach. "I accept your homage, Splinter of House Teleute, and I do swear to be your good liege, to support and honor you as best I am able, until the Lord of Heaven blots out the Sun and brings all things to the end for which they were made. Arise, and take ye the new name which I shall give you. You shall be Diamond, for you are a fragment no longer. May the Jeweler who set the shining gems of the stars in the firmament bear witness to this oath and your new self. This, I, Lady Titania, of the line of Glorianna, Queen of the Seelie Fae, do swear." Splinter felt a strange rush of energy run through her. Her body shook almost with ecstasy. Whatever was being held to her neck was released. She stood slowly and looked upon the one who had taken her oath of allegiance. The body moved without her command, and Splinter finally realized what was going on. She was only a passenger in her body. And who was this Titania person? Queen Glorianna had no descendants named Titania. That had been her mother's name, and the royal line had ceased to use it since her mother's disappearance so long ago. Titania was exactly the same height as Splinter. She had the trademark hair of the royal seelie line, reddish gold in color and long down her back. A diadem sat upon her brow, silver and gold woven into an ivy pattern with emeralds set into the leaves. Her eyes were blue-green, and her expression was stern but slowly relaxing. She was garbed for war in blue and silver colors on her surcoat over chainmail. Her sword shone with a white light. To Splinter's horror, she saw a second sword at the woman's waist, a sword forged of cold-wrought iron, capable of dealing the death from which there was no returning, a sword which Titania was in the process of sheathing. The sword that had been held to her neck. Her face was young, but as is the way with faeries, it was hard to judge her age. She looked familiar, but Splinter was not sure why at first. "Who are you?" She heard herself ask. "Has this all been yet another game? Am I nothing more than a pawn?" Her body looked around. She saw a baffled looking mortal standing nearby. It was the lover of that infernal mortal. Something strange ran through her form, almost as if she had been electrocuted, a shadow of the earlier feeling that taking the oath had caused, like an aftershock or a tremor. For a moment, the world spun, or perhaps just the boy she was looking at. She tried to remember his name, but could not. Moving her head in an effort to shake off the feeling, she looked again at Titania and understood why she looked familiar. Titania looked like Glorianna in many ways. They had the same eyes and nose. But she also looked like...like...Splinter struggled to find the resemblance. The odd sensations flowed through her again, more gently this time, but bringing an odd drowsiness or lassitude with them. Final recognition of who else Titania reminded her of struck her just before unconsciousness suddenly overwhelmed her. She looks like me, she thought as blackness swallowed her up.