~ The Witch's Daughter ~
by Rae D. Magdon

Author's Note: See Part 1

Chapter One:

Despite our frantic reconnection the night before, a heavy numbness settled over me by morning. My heart no longer ached with every breath, but Rapunzel and I had only taken the first steps towards repairing our broken bond. I woke before she did; trying to untangle myself from her arms and legs without disturbing her. Rapunzel just held on tighter, unwilling to let me go.

I settled back down beside her and buried my face in sweet-smelling golden hair. The scent of soap clung to it and I wondered when had she possibly gotten the chance to bathe. The texture of the blonde locks was smoother than velvet against my cheek, almost as soft as a liquid. I could not resist nuzzling closer to her.

"Good morning, my love," Rapunzel murmured sleepily, trailing her fingers along my back as she stretched her arms. She did not want to release me. Perhaps she was afraid that I would run away again. Rapunzel had broken my heart, but my nasty habit of bolting for the door whenever difficulties arose between us worsened the damage.

"Arim Dei," I said, unable to keep a yawn from my voice.

Rapunzel pressed a kiss to the point of my chin. "Ailynn... so it wasn't another dream. You really are here with me..." I was pleased that Rapunzel dreamed of waking beside me, but I was also wounded by her skepticism.

"Don't sound so surprised," I mumbled, hurt.

"I didn't mean it that way." Rapunzel sounded upset and I felt guilty for speaking sharply with her first thing in the morning.

"I'm sorry..." we said at the same time, interrupting each other. Both of us smiled a little. Soft lips moved against my neck and her breath tickled my shoulder. My friend Cate's advice floated up from the back of my mind. Nothing can guarantee happiness, Ailynn, even a soul mate. You must seek it within yourself.

"I know I have no right to place demands on you," I said, starting slowly, "but I want to know where we stand."

I gave her a few moments to consider her answer, too cautious to press her. "That is up to you, I think." Although she spoke the words clearly and stared directly into my eyes, I sensed her nervous energy. All traces of sleepiness were gone. "I am so tired of fear, Ailynn... I have been fighting it off ever since you left me." Her comment forced me to suppress a thick surge of guilt that threatened to squeeze my breath away.

"Ever since I can remember, you have been there for me. Then, all of a sudden, you were gone. I was locked in a tower with no way out. At first, Mother Gothel was my only visitor. I thought she would go mad and kill me. I was afraid something would happen to her and I would be left alone to rot in that tower. I feared what would happen when she found out that I was carrying a child. Most of all, I feared that you really were dead and that I had lost you forever. I did not know what fear was until then. I had been afraid before, but fright is temporary. Fear is permanent."

Unable to bear it any more, I clung to my lover's naked form, praying that I could banish some of her fears and her pain. "You need something stable in your life. Something that you can hold on to when everything else seems to be spiraling out of control..." I tucked my head over the soft swell of her shoulder, feeling her heartbeat against my chest. "I want to be what you need." That was true, but I did not know if I was up to the task. I could only try.

"Don't - don't make promises that you can't keep. I'm not strong enough to lose you again."

"I don't think so," I said. Rapunzel had already proven that she could be strong without my help. She had survived Mogra's imprisonment and even the news of my death without giving up on her dreams of freedom. Carefully, not wanting to startle her, I reached a hand between our bodies and let it rest on her stomach. It was probably my imagination, but it already felt larger to me. "Can you feel him moving yet?" I asked, wanting to let her know that I did not hate the child for driving a wedge between us.

"Not yet." Reassured, she clasped her hand over mine, letting our fingers weave together. "How do you know it will be a boy?"

I was still frightened - terrified, really - of dealing with the unexpected child, but determined not to show it. Rapunzel did not need to know about my doubts. She probably had enough of her own. Although many girls her age were already married and bearing their husbands children, she still seemed so young... I reminded myself that Rapunzel was a woman now, not the little girl that I looked after so many years ago. She had already proven that by making love to me.

"I don't know," I stammered nervously. "I just didn't want to call him an 'it'."

"Do you want a son?" Her use of the word 'son' made me uncomfortable, but I did not tell her so. I forced myself to resent the situation instead of Rapunzel or the unborn child. None of this was the baby's fault and I needed to put Rapunzel's choices behind me. "I am not sure," I said instead. "I have never thought about children much before. I... I just want to be with you and I want you to be happy..."

"As long as you are with me, I will be happy."

"I will be happy after you two are findin' some clothes to wear," came a voice from the other side of the room. Doran had exited his bedroom and was holding his hand over his eyes.

Rapunzel squeaked in surprise and pulled the blanket up to her chin, blushing redder than a spring rose. I forced my own blush down and swallowed to ease the dryness in my throat. "Um... our clothes are... torn. We don't have others to wear," I said, proud of myself for getting the words out despite the embarrassing situation.

"I will be fetchin' some for you, but you must take care of lunch," he offered as a compromise. Both of us quickly agreed, and Doran retreated back into his bedroom to find us something to wear.

"Lunch?" Rapunzel said, staring guiltily at her hands. "We slept that late?"

"I don't know what time it is," I confessed, unable to resist trailing my fingers over her flushed cheeks. They wandered over her lips and she nipped at them playfully, catching my index finger between her teeth. The feel of a soft, warm tongue immediately made me forget about Doran's interruption.

Before we could be caught again, Rapunzel let my finger go. "It could have been worse," she said. "The blanket covered us and we were only talking. I am glad to be out of that dress." She kicked the crumpled fabric away from the mattress with a bare foot, letting it slide several inches across the floor. "It was growing tight around my belly."

"Have you thought of a name?" I asked, stroking her stomach a second time. She let her eyes drift shut, purring in the back of her throat, and pushing in to the touch. My feelings of heartbreak and betrayal would not disappear overnight, but the knowledge that a child was growing inside of my lover was also a little exciting. I was conflicted, but unwavering in my decision to hide my doubts. I would deal with my insecurities on my own. There was no need to worry Rapunzel.

"No, not yet," she said without opening her eyes.

"Maybe I... I could..." Before I could finish offering to help her choose a name, something large and soft landed on my face. Swatting away the fabric that covered my eyes, I realized that Doran had thrown a tunic and leggings on top of my head. "Thank you," I called out, shoving my arms through the sleeves and pulling it over my head. Rapunzel had also been given clothing to wear, although I noticed that Doran had not dumped them on top of her head.

"Stop frowning," said Rapunzel. "I would rather see you smile." Even tangled in the large shirt, I could not deny my lover such a simple request.

When we were awake and dressed, the hours flew by. After cooking (I had to light the fire with magic), eating, and washing the dishes (Doran showed me how to draw water from the air around me, but I needed to use some of his soap), we started cleaning the house. I was not permitted to use a ladder to clear away the cobwebs. After several unsuccessful attempts at summoning a small gust of air, I only succeeded in showering our heads with dust. Learning control of the elements was much more difficult than it seemed, and they would clearly not be mastered in a day.

Later, Doran took me back outside and I spent a rather unpleasant hour dodging more flying objects. Rapunzel took unnatural delight in watching me try and protect myself from fire missiles, and I swore my hair was singed at the edges. When I pouted, she laughed at my doleful expression and told me to keep practicing. I did not have time to offer a rejoinder because Doran threw a pinecone at my head without magic, causing me to cry out, more startled than hurt. Both of them took the opportunity to laugh at me.

By the time the old wizard was finished with me, I was exhausted. Rapunzel, on the other hand, seemed cheerful and alert. After sitting in a tower for six years with few ways to occupy her time, she found the work and the change of scenery refreshing. I suspected that her secret had also weighed on her.

After dinner (which I was also responsible for preparing), when I finally had a moment to myself, I slipped outside. It was colder than I was used to and I wrapped my arms around my shoulders, trying to conserve heat. The sun was beginning to sink behind the gently sloping hills, leaving behind orange streaks in the purples and blues of the night sky. The stars were still hidden, but the moon, surrounded by a pale gray ring, had already risen.

Lowering my gaze from the sky, I enjoyed the noise of the restless little brook that ran past the cottage. Other nighttime sounds were already coming from the trees, and so I was not too disturbed when I heard something rustling in the undergrowth behind Doran's house. I turned my head towards the noise, but saw nothing unusual.

Just as I was about to head back inside, a flash of bright color caught the corner of my eye. I turned to look again. This time, two hovering, ghostly lights shone out at me from somewhere in the foliage. Surprised, I took a step back as the twin lights winked out. Keeping very still and quiet, I watched for them again.

Heartbeats later, the lights returned. This time, I realized what they were - a pair of large, shining yellow eyes. They were close enough for me to recognize the reflective coating. They were almost like an owl's eyes, or maybe a cat's, but far too large. The back of my neck prickled as the glowing eyes closed again, vanishing in the shadowy undergrowth. Swallowing nervously, I made a quick decision. With a firm tug on the door's handle, I hurried back inside.

Beside the warm, glowing fire in the kitchen, I felt slightly foolish for running away. The eyes probably belonged to some animal, perhaps a large dog... "Ailynn, are you all right? Your cheeks are flushed." I jumped, flinching at the touch of Rapunzel's hand on my shoulder. When she realized that she had startled me, I tried to reassure her with a smile.

"I am fine. I saw something outside..." Before I could describe the ghostly, burning lights, Rapunzel's mouth fell open in shock, her eyes widening as she pointed at something over my shoulder. Turning around, I almost fell off of my stool in surprise. Pressed against the windowpane was a leering, distorted face, peeling brown skin stretched tight over its skull. Behind curled black lips were two rows of pointed gray fangs. Set in the middle of its head were two shining, wicked yellow eyes.

Chapter Two:

"Stay still," came a low, reassuring voice from the direction of the bedroom. Doran was standing in the doorway, staring at the eerie face in the window. Then, just as quickly as it had appeared, the creature was gone, swallowed by the darkness outside.

"W-what was that?" Rapunzel asked, working moisture into her dry lips and glancing around the room with a frightened expression on her face. I did the same, half expecting to see monsters hiding in every corner.

"A Kerak," I said. Thankfully, I had never met one up close, but the sight of those skulking, twisted creatures, even from a distance was not easily forgotten. They had prowled in the darkness while the Queen's army ransacked and burned towns, picking off the villagers as they tried to escape into the night. They hated fire and usually went in ahead of the black-armored mercenaries, accompanied by the large, hulking Shadowkin. In addition to destroying the village buildings, carrying fire helped the army to control the unnatural beasts.

"Ailynn," Doran ordered, "bring candles, seven of them. Go now."

I hurried around the room, scooping one candle from the center of the table and heading back in to Doran's bedroom to search for more. I tried to remember what I knew about the Kerak. They were made from dust, clay, and the ashes of a dead person's heart. They did not like sunlight. They did not like fire. Perhaps that was why Doran wanted the candles.

I rummaged through a few drawers and the noise resulted in a gasp and low, murmuring voices from the main room. After what felt like an hour, but was probably only three minutes, I had found seven white, stumpy candles of various sizes. They were homemade, nothing fancy, but they would do. I carried them back into the room and gave the armful to Doran, who was waiting in front of the fireplace. Rapunzel stared nervously at the windows, watching to make sure that the ghastly face did not return.

After lighting the candles, Doran turned his back to the fireplace and arranged them in a semicircle, placing a barrier between the three of us and the rest of the room. The scent of magic was unmistakable and I wondered if he had done something to prepare the candles for spellwork beforehand. I did not have time to ask, because the dancing, teardrop-shaped flames flared a bright, blazing blue for a brief second, stretching up higher than natural in seven small pillars of flame. My eyes grew very large and I forgot my questions. The taste of mint bit the underside of my tongue.

Looking at me in awe, Rapunzel was the first to speak. "What was that?"

"A barrier," I said. I had come across passages in Mogra's library that discussed spells of protection, but I had never read about this particular enchantment before. Its simplicity surprised me and I suspected that it was very old. As a student of magic, I was fascinated beneath the layer of fear that seeped into our throats like a cold mist.

"Seven candles." Both of us turned to look at Doran. He stared directly into my eyes. "Seven is a powerful number, Ailynn." Like the number three, the number seven had some mystical properties, which was why it was incorporated into magical activities so often.

Before I could ask more about the spell, the simple wooden door shuddered on its hinges. Outside, something was pounding against it with a good deal of force. Rapunzel flinched and my breath caught. I was confident that a powerful wizard like Doran could handle a single Kerak without too much trouble, but what if there were more outside? What if Mogra had sent them? She might even be close behind, biding her time...

With a sharp crack, the door began to splinter, buckling against its frame. I winced, looking at Doran for advice. "They are afraid of fire," he reminded me. "Use that, like when you were cooking our meal." Theoretically, I knew that I could conjure fire and balls of light, but doing so in the face of an enemy was entirely different than practicing in relative safety.

Another low groan came from the wood, followed by a heavy thud. This time, splintering and scratching sounds accompanied it. I pictured the Kerak using its scythe-like claws to tear into the flesh of the door. I was sure that it could shatter the glass of the window with less difficulty, but Kerak were not intelligent, only cunning. Our scent was probably stronger near the doorway.

Finally, a crack appeared in the center of the door, followed by slivers of pulp as the dead creature tore through the wood with its caws. Once it had broken through, the rest did not take long. Weakened, the door fell apart in the middle, leaving a jagged-edged hole.

It was almost graceful, the way that the Kerak twisted its thin, bony shoulders through the hole. Like a cat, once its ugly gray head was through the opening, the rest of its body slithered through. I felt rather than saw Rapunzel shiver beside me as she caught a glimpse of the thing's long, sharp claws in the moving light of the fire.

As it finished forcing its way through the door, the Kerak noticed the blazing fireplace and the half-circle of white candles. Hissing its displeasure, it started to back away, black lips peeling over the roots of its gray teeth. Now that it was not prowling in the darkness, its eyes had lost their yellow, translucent night-glow. Instead, they were black and shone wickedly like a small beetle.

Clinging to the shadows, it loped back and forth in an agitated line, trying to decide whether the flesh of three humans was worth braving the candles and the fireplace. Finally, the thing made its decision. The lean muscles in its twisted legs rippled, launching it forward in a surprising leap that made me lift my hands to shield my face. Its thin, outstretched arms stopped, halted in the air above us by some kind of invisible barrier. Howling in frustration, the mud-creature pulled back its curved claws, rolling its shoulder and preparing for another swipe. It, too, was blocked by the row of candles.

I felt sparks crawling beneath the strips of flesh in my arms as the candles flared high again, glowing with a blinding, brilliant blue light. The Kerak stumbled back with a high, gurgling scream of pain.

Not wasting any more time, Doran waited until the creature was clearly disoriented and raised his hand, sending the blue columns of flame surging towards the Kerak. It howled in agony as the fire crawled over its body, consuming its limbs and scattering dust and flakes of white ash across the floor.

With a low flicker, the candles went out. I glanced at Doran, feeling like I should thank him but unsure what to say. Instead, a long pause hung between the three of us as we stared at the pile of dust and ash in the middle of the floor.

Doran broke the silence first. "Rapunzel, find clothes, food, water, and packs. Ailynn, you will collect the herbs. Take some for treating cuts and puncture wounds, and anything an expecting woman is needin'. If there are more of the Queen's creatures here, we should be leaving now, tonight."

Rapunzel was the first to cross the line of unlit candles. Making a wide circle around the mess on the floor, she walked briskly into the bedroom to rummage for whatever we needed. I did not like the idea of traveling again so soon, but I liked the thought of staying here and waiting for more Kerak, and perhaps Shadowkin, even less.

Since I was already in the kitchen, I began opening cupboards, unsure where Doran kept his herbs and plants. I certainly did not want to check outside and take any from the garden. After moving around several mugs and sorting through cooking spices, I found some of what I was looking for. Cramproot and Flaxseed oil would act as muscle relaxants or sedatives if any of us were injured or Rapunzel had problems with the growing child.

Once I found the herbs, it was not difficult to locate materials for cleaning and dressing wounds. Doran's cupboards were well organized, despite the almost haphazard appearance of the rest of the house. I had no idea where we were going or how long the journey would take, but I wanted to be prepared for anything. Finished gathering what I needed, I went into the bedroom to help Rapunzel.

"I have no idea why he has clothes that fit us," she said when she heard me come in behind her. Somehow, she knew that it was me without turning around. "Is he a seer like your friend?"

"Cate is a shaman," I corrected automatically. Rapunzel sighed, but she was used to my intellectual attitude about magical words. "And no, I very much doubt it. Doran is a wizard."

"Well, I'm grateful anyway. Here, put whatever you found in this pack." She handed it to me, and I found places for the bottles of oil and pouches of dried plants in protected places amidst the layers of cloth. Unlike me, Rapunzel seemed to have no fear of leaving Doran's cottage. Perhaps it was because she had not seen very much of the world. She had always wanted to travel. I decided not to ruin her good mood by reminding her of the possible danger. One of us might as well enjoy themselves a little.

It did not take us long to pack. Between the three of us, we assembled all of the necessities quickly - food, water, clothes, medicine, and a few other things. But before we left, Doran gave me three strange objects to carry in my bag. "Here, Ailynn," he said, calling me over while Rapunzel tried to find room in her pack for even more traveling biscuits. I could not explain why Doran had enough long-lasting types of food for three people so readily available. Perhaps Rapunzel was right. I could not help wondering if he had known that we were going somewhere in advance.

"Yes?"

He held out his hand, swollen and arthritic at the knuckles. Gripped in his fingers was a little black comb. I took it, surprised at the cool texture. It felt a little like ivory, but somehow I knew that it was made of something different. Even though I could not feel magic coming from it, I also suspected that the object was enchanted. Why else would the old wizard be giving me a comb?

"Dinna use it unless you need it," he said, confirming my suspicions. If you are in danger, throw it over your shoulder and you will be protected." I could not help the curious expression that came over my face, but he did not seem to blame me for my skepticism. Who ever heard of a comb being used for magical protection? Swords or other weapons, certainly. Rings and pendants were also common. But a comb? The idea seemed a little silly. Nevertheless, I knew that it was bad luck to refuse a gift, especially an enchanted one, and I put it in my pack.

"Thank you," I told him. Oh well, at least Rapunzel's hair would not become too unmanageable now that we had a comb.

"Take this, too." I looked up from the pack, which I had been about to close, and was surprised to see Doran holding out a second comb. This one was brown, and it was clearly made of smooth wood. It looked and felt just as unremarkable as the first. I studied it and put it in the pack with the first.

"Do I throw that one behind me, too?" I asked jokingly, but he only nodded. I thought that it seemed a waste to discard such a nice thing, but promised to obey Doran's instructions. At the very least, I could use it to tame Rapunzel's mane of long, wild blonde hair. Reminding myself that I needed to trim the untamed locks as soon as I got the chance, I started to close my pack, which was getting very full, but Doran stopped me.

"This is the last thing," he said, drawing a blue scarf from his pack and giving it to me. This time, I chewed on the corner of my mouth to prevent a laugh. A scarf? I had never heard of enchanted beauty accessories before, and this was bordering on the ridiculous. Still, a magical object was a magical object, and I would be a fool to refuse it. I knew enough fairy stories to take what was offered and keep my smart mouth closed.

It was a plain looking thing, as scarves went, but well made. For some reason, I suspected that it was very old. Since there was no longer very much room in my pack, I wrapped it around my neck instead. "Where did you get this, Doran?" I caressed the threads. "Are you an Enchanter as well as a Wizard?"

"No. This is an old gift. Now, you are needin' it more than me."

"Thank you," I said again. Even though it was a very strange gift, I meant it. Although my mother was now an insane and deadly shaper that probably wanted to kill me, she had raised me with enough manners to thank someone for a gift.

"Dinna use this one until the last possible moment, unless you are seeing no other way out," he told me. "It is a last resort."

"I promise," I said, hoping that the time to use the gifts would never come even though I was very curious. If I was lucky, I would never find out what hidden powers of protection they carried.

Chapter Three:

We left as soon as the first rays of sunlight peeked over the soft, blurred edges of the hilltops. Since the Queen's creatures liked to travel at night, we did not run in to any other Kerak, Shadowkin, enchanted Wyr, or mercenaries, but the lone scout that we had already encountered kept us glancing over our shoulders for most of the next day. My mood was sullen and fearful, but Rapunzel seemed content to travel on foot despite her condition. I tried to convince myself that the exercise was good for her, but my protective instincts rebelled at her forced exertion.

With Mogra and her beasts looking for us, I felt almost claustrophobic even though we were outdoors. The gradual shifting of the landscape that took place as the day wore on did not help. The hills became steeper, and dirt was slowly replaced by reddish-brown rock. The horizon was also changing and I could see the clear silhouette of mountains in the distance. They were not the familiar shape of the Rengast, but the jagged edges of Catyr Bane, a set of canyons and cliffsides that stood between western Amendyr and Liarre territory.

"Are we leaving the Kingdom?" I asked Doran several candlemarks after stopping for lunch. Between the three of us, the old wizard tired the fastest. To my surprise, Rapunzel seemed fit and almost cheerful. The exercise suited her, and I had already noticed a subtle darkening of her complexion, the result of several hours in the sun.

"Aye," he said, gesturing west in the general direction that we were heading. "We are going to the city of Ardu on the border. It is not their capital, but the Liarre Council is meeting there." Mogra's library was home to several books on history and geography, so I had some general knowledge of the city and its surroundings, but I certainly could not have found the way without Doran's help.

"The Liarre Council?" I asked, thinking back to something that Cate had told me during my brief stay in the rebel camp. It amazed me when I remembered that only a week had passed. So much had happened since then.

"Chairwoman Maresth is their leader. She has been calling all of the Council members to cast their vote and decide."

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. This information sounded strangely familiar. "Decide what?"

"Whether to help the rebellion." The rest of my conversation with Cate came back to me. She and Larna were hoping to act as emissaries on Jett Bahari's behalf. My dark mood lightened a little when I realized that there would be welcoming faces at the other end of our journey.

"Of course they will help the Rebellion," Rapunzel said, sounding more confident than I felt. "The Liarre are sensible creatures. If the Queen has all of Amendyr under her thumb, what will stop her from crossing their border and expanding?"

I shrugged my shoulders, not having an answer for her. The terrain was becoming more uneven, although it had not yet started to slope upwards. That would probably change in the next few days. Thinking about the next few days prompted another question. "How long will we be traveling?"

"Two weeks," said Doran, "if we are travelin' steadily."

I was so surprised that I stopped walking altogether. "Two weeks?" I repeated incredulously. No geography map buried in the dusty pages of a book had prepared me for the reality of traveling across such a large area. "We can't walk for two straight weeks!" I did not mention that Doran, powerful wizard though he was, remained a slave to his aging body, and with Rapunzel expecting a child. "Couldn't we fly? You controlled Mogra's great wind to bring us here."

Doran kept walking, forcing me to take several hopping steps in order to catch up. Rapunzel followed him, although she glanced at me curiously over one shoulder. "Mogra would be sensing the magic... as well as other things..." He chose not to elaborate. I did not mind. I had no desire to be reminded of what those other things might be. "Without magic is the safest way." He glanced at Rapunzel meaningfully when she was not looking, and then caught my eye. Suddenly, walking did not seem to be such a bad idea. I did not want to put any magical stress on Rapunzel's body, even if the chances of harm to her or the child were remote.

"At least the country will be less open once we reach Catyr Bane," I muttered, trying to find something good in the situation.

"Wyverns live there." Doran's reminder ruined any positive thoughts I tried to have. Wyverns were the smaller, less-intelligent cousins of the extinct dragons, and although they were only capable of the most rudimentary human speech, they were cunning and dangerous. They were also known to eat human flesh when they could find it. "Another reason not to use a great wind."

"I don't mind," Rapunzel said, trying to reassure me. Somehow, she knew exactly why I was worrying even though she was walking ahead of me and could not see my facial expressions. "Everything will be fine."

I sighed. It was going to be a very long and frustrating journey, especially since we could only carry a few light packs between us. We would need to ration carefully if we wanted our food, water, and supplies to last us two weeks.

The days smeared together into a fog of constant panic and weariness. Although the feelings of being pursued never eased, the landscape around us was shifting quickly. Most of my traveling had been done in the heart of the country, through the small villages and farms that dotted the flat plains beyond The Forest. The cliffs and ridges of Catyr Bane were completely foreign to me.

While these new surroundings made me feel uneasy, they delighted Rapunzel. She always took the time to point out interesting colors that swirled in the sheets of rock sprouting from the ground, memorizing landmarks and their proportions in order to draw them later. My mood was still tired and fearful, but I did enjoy seeing her happy.

While the landscape changed, Rapunzel's body also changed. I had seen and treated pregnant women before, but the swift, dramatic transformation of my lover's figure was astonishing, wondrous, and a little frightening. Her stomach had a noticeable swell now as the child grew and shifted forward inside of her, and I was amazed that I had not noticed the second I saw her. Of course, she had been entertaining unwelcome company at the time, and then my mother tried to kill both of us. I excused myself for my lack of observation.

Even so, Rapunzel's pregnancy seemed to be progressing much more rapidly than I expected, and I had difficulty determining how far along she was. Despite my doubts and questions, Rapunzel was thrilled. Perhaps some of her happiness was a result of the changes she was experiencing, but I knew that most of it had to do with me. My being with her. Having such a large influence over another person was a large responsibility. It frightened me almost as much as the unborn child and the thought of my mother pursuing us.

Doran remained quiet and introspective, and since he chose not to dampen Rapunzel's optimistic attitude, I followed his silent example. At first, I thought that my lover had no idea how much danger we might be in. She soon corrected my mistake.

"What are you doing?" I asked, sitting down beside her as she rolled out her thin sleeping pallet. I caught a glimpse of something at her hip, a flash of silver, and realized that she was staring down at a knife. "What on earth are you doing with that?" Automatically, I reached out to remove the sharp object, but Rapunzel caught my hand.

"You and Doran have magic to protect you," she reminded me. Although her voice remained steady and calm, I could tell that she was annoyed. "What do I have? A knife is not much, but it is better than nothing."

"You could cut yourself," I insisted, immediately feeling defensive.

"I am not a child anymore, Ailynn. You taught me how to hold a knife properly when I was barely able to walk. I am no great healer, but I know how to chop plants. " Patting the handle of the knife to reassure herself that it was still secured to her waist. "Using it to fight can't be too much different."

It was, but I did not tell her so. I was no knife-fighting expert by any means, but even though the thought made me uncomfortable, I wanted Rapunzel to be safe. I reached out to take the knife again, and something in my expression stopped the protest that was forming on her lips. She allowed me to draw it and I examined the blade. It was simple, as knives went, but I supposed that it did not matter what kind of knife you had as long as you drew the first blood.

"This is an average knife hold," I said, showing Rapunzel the grip even though she already knew it. "You can use it for quick forward jabs at the stomach or other vulnerable areas. And this," she waited patiently as I adjusted the knife until the tip was facing down, edge up, "this is a dagger hold. Use it for downward swipes at the face and chest." I handed the knife back to my lover, and she copied the grip perfectly.

"If you are in a knife fight with another armed human, especially a man, do not focus entirely on his weapon. A good fighter will try to punch or kick you while you are staring at his blade. Then, he will take your weapon when you drop it. Do not try that yourself. Neither of us has enough upper body strength to stun someone with a punch, but you could try substituting a quick knee to the groin."

Rapunzel nodded, listening intently, and I was struck by the sudden realization that she really was grown up. She understood the perilous situation that we were in, traveling into Wyvern territory with a Witch and various monsters pursuing us. She was not blind or naïve and I could not help admiring the unwavering optimism that she displayed in spite of the looming danger.

"A human will probably underestimate you. He might not expect a young woman to fight back. If you move first, you might be able to injure his eyes or another vulnerable place. If you are facing a Kerak or some other beast... do not turn your back on them. Find something to protect your flank." There was not much more to be said. Even armed with a knife, it was doubtful that Rapunzel would be able to defend herself against a Wyr or a Kerak. Privately, I swore to myself that no human or beast would get close enough to harm her in any way.

Putting the knife away, Rapunzel sat down on the sleeping pallet, using her bag to support the weight of her head. When she looked up at me and smiled, I knew that I was forgiven and lowered myself to the ground beside her.

"Ailynn, will you tell me a story?" she asked, and for a moment, I was reminded of a hundred other times when she had posed this same question. I knew that she was asking me because I needed the distraction, not her, and I was touched.

Resting a hand on her side and slowly curving it over her stomach, I said, "yes. I will tell both of you a story. Which one do you want to hear?"

"I want to hear the story of Reagan and Saweya."

For a moment, I wondered if I should be offended. My memories of that particular story were entwined with memories of Byron, and I wanted to think about him as little as possible. However, the protagonist of the story was a dragon that protected her princess against all-comers, defeating knights and princes in order to defend her love. I decided to take Rapunzel's request as subtle reassurance, even a compliment.

Taking a deep breath, I began speaking. "Reagan's tongue flicked next to the frightened youth's ruddy cheek, her gleaming teeth reflecting the bright noon sun. Her scales shifted, not even scratched by the boy's blade, enchanted though it was. His weapon long-since discarded, the youth lay, defenseless and trembling, at the mighty dragon's feet..."

Rapunzel closed her eyes, listening to the story, and I imagined that she was picturing it in her head.

"Never one to kill needlessly, Reagan lifted her proud head and roared once, sending great showers of rock tumbling down the sides of the nearest mountains with the power of it. 'Run,' she said to the boy, 'run or I will feast upon your pathetic carcass and leave your bones to bleach in the sun...'"

Chapter Four:

Afternoon crept into evening as the sun sank below the horizon line. The shadows lengthened from beneath the base of the cliffs, leaving black streaks over the ground. I began to feel tired after hours of trekking over the uneven terrain. It had been two weeks to the day since we left Doran's house, and being in a constant state of alertness was exhausting. I concentrated, making sure that my steps did not slow down. Journeying on foot drained more of our energy with each day, and Rapunzel and Doran were both beginning to show signs of weariness.

"We should find somewhere to stop for the night," I said, looking forward to a mouthful of food and a few hours of sleep.

Doran stopped, scanning the narrow passageway we had been following between the largest cliffs. "I am not seein' any cover," he said regretfully. "I dinna think we should stop here. It is too exposed..."

As if his words were a signal, a loud scraping sound came from somewhere above us. Our heads whipped up as we tried to spot the source of the noise. "What was that?" I whispered, keeping my voice soft.

"I dinna-"

A large black shadow appeared before us, expanding around our feet in a matter of seconds as it grew larger. "KEELUM! Kir-rak - Kir-rak!" A hot, tearing pain burst across my back as something tore through flesh, hooking in to my shirt. I screamed, and somewhere behind me, Doran's voice shouted a Word of Power that I had never heard before.

The biting scent of magic filled the air, and the thing on top of me fell to one side. I dragged myself to my feet, staring down at an enormous, scaly mass. It writhed and thrashed over the ground like a giant snake. Instantly, I knew what it was: a Wyvern. Despite being injured, my first instinct was to step in front of Rapunzel. I wanted to put as much distance as possible between her and the beast. She might have argued, but something in her, perhaps the knowledge that she was carrying a child, stopped her from protesting. She took several steps backwards until she was pressed against the vertical wall of the canyon, arms curling over her stomach as she watched the Wyvern with wide brown eyes.

"KEELUM!" it clicked again, its side fins puffing out from its neck in anger. It was over three times my size, and I stepped back rapidly, trying to remember what Doran had taught me about battle magic as warm, sticky blood seeped through the back of my shirt. To my surprise, the first memory that flashed into my mind was of the great wind that Mogra had used to lift Rapunzel and me into the sky.

Thinking only about getting the Wyvern as far away from Rapunzel as possible, I jerked the threads of magic that surrounded us and used them to push a wave of air towards the creature. The Wyvern weighed almost nothing, and I was surprised when the sharp gust pushed it back several feet. Its claws scrabbled against the dust in the road, trying to find purchase. Lifting its snout, it let out a series of sharp whistles and clicks.

Before I knew it, we were surrounded. Three more Wyverns crawled out from crevices on the cliff's face, their blotchy hide matching the brown colors of the mountain stone. Bracing myself and holding my ground, I waited for them to charge.

Surprisingly, they did not attack, only clicking and hissing their displeasure and puffing out their neck fins to seem large and threatening. "Keelum! Kriii! Kir-rak!" they croaked, clacking and whistling at each other. Their tails lashed like a hunting cat's as they tried to decide what to do.

The Wyvern that I had blown backwards had managed to find its balance and was hobbling about, waving its wings at us and clacking its beak. The other Wyverns decided to join it, launching off of the vertical cliff face and landing on the ground beside their wounded companion. All four of them stretched out their wings and fins, sucking air into their chests and trying to look as large as possible.

"Stay still," Doran whispered, slowly edging towards me without taking his eyes off of the Wyverns. I did not move until he reached me. The tear in my back stung horribly. "They will be trying to scare us away first. Protect your back and stay in front of Rapunzel." Together, we turned our backs to the stone wall making up the narrow passageway's other side. Instinct urged us to protect our flank.

The Wyverns look puzzled that we were still in their territory and not running or attacking them. They jabbered and clicked at each other with wild sounds that almost seemed like a language. For all I knew, they really could talk to each other.

I noticed that the light around me was fading and felt a small lift of hope. Wyverns were daytime hunters, and although their eyes were excellent during the day, they were very nearsighted and unable to function at night. If we waited them out, perhaps they would leave once darkness settled and they could no longer see us.

Finally deciding that threats and intimidation were not going to work, the Wyverns decided to charge. They were quick - there was only the briefest moment of silence and the tightening of muscle before they were on us. With quick gusts of air, and glowing balls of energy from Doran, we tried to push the beasts away from us. They were light and easy to hit, but they were quick, and their sharp claws were made for tearing through flesh. After a minute we had made no progress, and I sported another shallow cut on my arm. The four Wyverns darted back and forth, not interested in a quick killing blow. They wanted to tire us out. I began to worry that their strategy might work.

As the last of the sunlight disappeared, a loud shout echoed through the canyon pathway, startling the four Wyverns. Before they could take flight, arrows sprouted out of their hides and they squealed with pain. One managed to lift off the ground, but the other three collapsed in the canyon, dead.

Movement drew my eyes to our left. Standing in front of us was a creature out of legend. The sight nearly took my breath away. The half-man, half-horse was an Equiarre, tall, proud, and infinitely more wild and beautiful than any depiction I had seen in a book or on a tapestry. His chest was bare, and his lower horse's body was a dappled gray. His face was - but was not - human. The angles were wrong and his features stretched out, not ugly, but noticeably different. A beautiful bow was held loosely in his left hand and there was a quiver of arrows on his back.

"Well met, Doran," he said. "It looks like Rachari was right and we found you just in time."

"Well met, Hassa," said Doran, stepping forward and clasping hands with the large creature. They obviously knew each other, and I could not help but wonder how they had met before.

For the first time, I noticed the other creatures standing around the Equiarre. One of them looked vaguely reptilian, with fangs, scales, and a long, winding tail. Another had the black, bulbous body of a gigantic spider. The eye tattoos on her cheeks stood out even in the dim light. They were the Liarre, magical experiments gone awry that had flourished into their own race after the death of their creator, Lir the Shaper. They were human and animal and something entirely different, and although some of them were wary of humans, they were usually a peaceful race.

"Thank you," I said, my voice an octave lower and very tired. Now that the burst of energy brought on by fear was beginning to wear off, the pain in my shoulder was much worse. Seeing my legs shake, Rapunzel grabbed my arm and supported me as my knees buckled slightly.

Turning his attention from Doran to me, the large Equiarre gave me a thorough but unthreatening examination. "Hello, young witch," he said, offering his very large hand for me to clasp. I did so weakly, still trying to regain my balance. He noticed, and did not grip very hard, although I could sense the strength in his thick fingers. "I believe I have met some friends of yours."

"Cate and Larna?"

Hassa nodded. "They arrived safely at Ardu four days ago."

"Four days?" I asked, surprised by how quickly they had traveled. The past week and a half had been so full of change that I had scarcely been able to process it.

"Wyr travel faster than Humani." Fighting back another wave of nausea, I did not bother asking about the unfamiliar term. "I did not have an opportunity to meet with them for long. The one with the glowing red mane asked me to come here. Her instincts were right."

Rapunzel immediately noticed when my body began to shudder and moved her steadying hand from my arm to my back. When it came away sticky and red with blood, she gasped. "Ailynn, you're still bleeding..."

Since the edges of my vision were growing fuzzy, I allowed her to help me sit down near the edge of the canyon. "Dry dressing for the wound," I said, leaning my head back against the vertical sheet of rock. "If there's infection, then we can see about a poultice..."

For all of my experience with treating wounds, I was a very poor patient. Reluctantly, I allowed my lover to clean the wound, but it hurt, and I complained and fussed under her gentle hands. It was fresh and bled freely, and after she had bandaged it, we fully removed my ruined shirt. While I instructed Rapunzel, the other Liarre, who I could not help staring at, began to build a makeshift camp. There were sleeping pallets to be rolled out, small fire pits to be dug, and bags to be carried. They had been temporarily left behind while the warriors reached for their arrows.

"Ailynn, what is... she...?" Rapunzel asked softly as she helped me pull a new shirt over my head. Discreetly, so that no one would see, she pointed at the huge, spider-like woman with eye tattoos on her cheeks. Her large, hairy bulk was surprisingly quick and coordinated, and I wondered if she was able to scale the canyon walls.

"That is an Arachniarre. I have told you the story of Lir's creations before." Rapunzel knew almost as much of the history of Amendyr as I did. Like me, she enjoyed reading, although she preferred fairytales.

"I knew that," she mumbled, slightly embarrassed. "I suppose I didn't expect them to be so... large? When I think of Liarre, I picture Equiarre or Feliarre... not giant spiders," she whispered, not wanting any of the nearby creatures to overhear.

"I suppose Arachniarre are too frightening for Serian and Amendyrri children's stories," I mumbled, wincing as I shifted my shoulder. There was no heat in the skin surrounding the wound, and I was hopeful that it would not become infected. Once it began to close, I would see about dressing it with herbs, but even novice healers knew never to press a poultice over an open wound.

"Frightening is right," said the Arachniarre, who was a good distance away. She approached us on eight thick, hairy legs with a bend in the middle, and she built up a surprising amount of speed. Rapunzel's eyes grew large, but to her credit, she did not look fearful otherwise. "There are many stories about the Arachniarre, little mother," she said. "But your mate is right; we make most humans... uncomfortable." She grinned, revealing a black tongue and an impressive pair of needle-like fangs. They were probably poisonous, and I wondered if a spider bite that large would be fatal.

Rapunzel's surprise changed to embarrassment at being overheard. "I find you rather impressive, actually," she said, and although she was trying to placate the giant spider, I could tell that she was being truthful.

"Really?" The Arachniarre's large mouth curled around the words in a curious accent, one that I had never heard before. I supposed it was carried over from the Liarre's own language. "My name is Jinale. Hassa and I were sent here to find you. The shamaness and her Tuathe will be glad to hear that we were successful. We have been asked to bring you home to them."

"We were on our way," I protested, imagining Cate's accusatory tone.

Jinale's intimidating smile remained. "But now you will travel faster."

I swallowed nervously, not entirely sure what that would entail. Liarre were notorious for being offended when humans asked to ride on their backs, but if it was their suggestion...

Beside me, Rapunzel looked equally uncomfortable. I hoped that, for her sake, one of the other Liarre agreed to carry her. For some reason, I did not think that either of us would enjoy mounting a giant spider for the next few days.

"You would allow us to ride you?" I asked, surprised by the offer despite my hidden discomfort. "That is an honor and a privilege. We would be incredibly grateful." The majestic Liarre were not always fond of humans, especially those that possessed superior attitudes and treated them like lesser beasts.

"Humani are too slow," said the spider, but her facial expression - what I could read of the strange planes and angles, anyway - seemed friendly and not menacing. "We will carry you and the young mother-to-be. For now, we will set up camp. It is growing dark and the Wyvern will retreat to their nests on Catyr Bane." Chapter Five:

"What are you doing?" I asked Rapunzel, who was staring at Hassa with a curious expression. He was standing beyond the fire pit, discussing something with Doran in a low voice. The shadows moved over Rapunzel's face, bringing the points of her cheeks forward and casting the sides of her face into shadow. She turned to look at me, taking another bite of her travel biscuit.

"Studying his proportions," she said. "The Liarre are fascinating creatures. There is no paper here, but I want to remember what they look like so that I can draw them later."

I smiled, remembering some of the other drawings that Rapunzel shared with me in the tower. The ones of us in intimate positions were my favorites, but all of her artwork was beautiful. If I ever wrote a book about magical theory, I thought to myself, I would get Rapunzel to illustrate it. All of the best books included pictures. "Are you sad about losing your drawings?" I asked, stroking her cheek. Even in the wavering firelight, I could see the healthy, pink color of her skin.

"Yes," she admitted, "but I would trade them all for the real thing." She closed her eyes and leaned in to kiss me. I did not reject her. It was a chaste meeting of lips, since we were in the presence of strangers, but as her mouth lingered against mine for several moments, I felt another piece of my heart begin to mend.

"I feel like I know you and am still learning you at the same time," I confessed.

It was impossible for me to understand why I felt so close to Rapunzel sometimes, but oceans away from her at other times. Part of her was the same sweet, gentle child I had grown up with, but once in a while, I would look at her and see a stranger.

"I feel the same way." My lover's words surprised me. Was it possible that she understood my feelings? Maybe we could navigate the unfamiliar, treacherous landscape of knowing each other again together. "You changed while you were gone. Both of us did. I'm not sure if we became older and wiser, or you saw more of the world..."

"I saw more of the world than I wanted to."

"And I still want to see it." Hesitantly, she added, "with you."

I sighed. "I did not enjoy traveling. I was too focused on what I had left behind to notice the people and the places I saw. When I did notice, it was because something very bad was happening." Rapunzel did not speak, waiting for me to elaborate.

"I saw three villages burn," I told her. "Twice, I was almost... there were children screaming. Men and women were cut down. First the Shadowkin came in, crushing buildings and people. Then the Kerak. They butchered every living thing." Rapunzel seemed upset, but managed to distance herself from what I was describing. I supposed that after thinking me dead for several months, hearing about my near-escapes was not quite as traumatizing.

"I have a confession to make," she said, reaching out for my hand. I allowed her to take it, steeling myself for whatever she was going to tell me. I felt my throat close off and my heartbeat pause, but my thoughts were racing. What if she wanted to leave me? I had no idea what I would do... she had become a permanent fixture in my life again so quickly, easily reclaiming my heart. She could choose to break it just as easily.

I did not voice any of these fears. Instead, I waited for her to keep speaking. She did not let go of my hand. "I have not been totally honest with you. I need to tell you why I - why I associated with Byron." I flinched. Even now, the name stung like a slap.

"Do you love him?"

"No. I was using him."

"He was using you," I said angrily, although I was not sure whether I was angry with Byron or Rapunzel. "He took advantage of you."

Rapunzel interrupted me. "I never thought you were dead, Ailynn. I went months without hearing anything from you, but I couldn't bring myself to believe that Mogra was telling the truth. That is the reason I entered into an arrangement with him. I wanted to find a way to leave the tower so that I could look for you."

"Why?" I asked, trying to hide the shake in my voice. The color drained from my face. I had no idea whether this confession made things better or worse. Rapunzel had shared a bed with Byron even while believing I was alive. But she had not lost faith in me. She had wanted to find me. "Why didn't you tell me this?"

Rapunzel chewed on the corner of her mouth. "Because I knew you would feel responsible. You have always taken responsibility for everything that has ever happened to me. You blamed yourself when Mogra locked me away. I didn't want my attempts to escape and find you to weigh on you as well. It was my choice, not anything that you did."

Despite what she was saying, I recognized the bitter taste of guilt as it rose to burn the back of my throat like a foul smoke. "If I hadn't left..." I started to say.

"You did what you needed to do in order to save me. I know it must hurt that I shared myself with someone else even though I believed you were alive, but I had no way of knowing where you were or if you were safe... If you were in danger, I wanted to be there to help. I... I just had to find a way to leave the tower and find you. He was riding through the woods with his hunting hounds, and I thought..."

"If he killed Mogra, you would be free and you could look for me." I gave her a weak smile. "You read too many fairy stories."

"Well, the prince or nobleman's son always kills the evil witch."

My emotions hung somewhere between hurt, guilty, and warm with the knowledge that she had not just forgotten about me when I left. She had not taken Byron as a replacement because she thought I was never coming back. She had been trying to escape and come to me. As unlikely as it seemed, this conversation was starting to repair the damage between us. We shared a long, silent pause, and when I reached out to touch her hand, she knew that I was beginning to forgive her.

"I think that Doran is going to leave us now that we are with the Liarre," she said, changing the subject after receiving my silent permission in the form of a nod.

"How do you know?" I asked, but I had sensed the same thing. Even now, he was gesturing back and forth from us to the rest of the Liarre camp as he talked with Hassa. He was very powerful, but his body was old and he belonged at home, not traipsing about in the wilderness where Wyverns or Mogra's pets could find us.

Rapunzel shrugged. "I... wondered if you wanted to go back with him. Or wanted me to go back with him..."

My forehead tightened as I lowered my eyebrows. "What do you mean? I am the whole reason we are making this journey... why would I go back?"

"You have not finished your training with Doran. I am the one Mogra wants. If you are not with me..."

"She will probably seek me out anyway. I escaped with her greatest treasure. She cannot afford to let me remain alive. It would be a blight to her reputation; to her pride if nothing else. Do you... do you not want to stay with me?"

Fingers caressed the line of my arm through the fabric of my shirt. "Of course I do. But do you want to stay with me? I want you to be with me, but you need to choose what is best for you, not what is best for me, especially now that you know I have lied to you... I was trying to protect you, but it was wrong. I still don't know what you think of me for being with him while I still believed you were alive."

"What is best for you is best for me," I said, deeply hurt and unsure if Rapunzel was just trying to find another way to get rid of me. The guilt in her eyes convinced me otherwise. "You believed in me. That's all that matters."

"None of this is fair to you, Ailynn. You have spent your entire life watching over me. Even though you left me, it was to find a way to save me. You came back. Now, I cannot help but wonder if your life would be better without me in it. I want you to stay, but maybe it is time for you to start putting yourself first. It would be selfish of me to keep you here if you needed to go."

"I want to stay."

"For me or for you?"

"For both of us. If you are unhappy, I am unhappy. Your joy is my joy. I know it is the same for you."

"Please believe that I love you and want you to be happy," she said, almost pleading. "I want that more than anything else... even if it means you need to leave."

"I am not going anywhere." Perhaps the saying about letting someone go if you truly love them is overused, but it has the ring of truth, I thought. Rapunzel's offer was sincere. I felt another layer of the trust that we were slowly rebuilding slide and lock back into place. We were slowly rebuilding.

"Then please stay. I know I am being selfish, but I don't care."

I was suddenly taken by how beautiful my lover was in the fading light. Her skin was surprisingly clear, with a sensual glow that stole my breath. I had read that pregnant women could look and feel more attractive, but had never noticed the phenomenon before.

"You're beautiful," I breathed softly, stroking a line through the center of Rapunzel's palm. The touch made her shiver, but she was smiling at me.

"I am glad you see me that way, Ailynn. I know... this..." she gestured at her stomach, "has been hard for you. You are a Saint."

My voice became a low purr that I had no idea I was capable of producing. "Only Serians believe in the Saints, and my thoughts of you are far from chaste at the moment." I purposely ignored the fact that I was attracted to my lover while she carried someone else's child. It was too much for me to process emotionally. Her pregnancy was becoming more and more obvious with each passing day. In fact, she was already much larger than I had expected at this stage.

Slowly, my touch trailed to the soft skin of her inner wrist. A flush rose in her cheeks and she looked around at the Liarre just a few yards away. Although they were talking amongst themselves and eating some of the food they had brought, the reminder of their presence distracted me from my train of thought. "I wish we were alone," I whispered, pulling aside her hair to place a kiss behind her ear. The brush of my lips against her skin made her shiver. "But maybe... it's a good thing that we need to wait. The first times were... not planned. And..."

"You want to touch me just because you love me, not because you want to reassure yourself that I still belong to you. I understand."

"Am I crazy for wanting to touch you?"

Rapunzel's blush grew deeper. "Maybe, but I don't mind."

For a moment, I was too frightened to keep touching her, not because of the audience we might have, but because I was afraid of my own desires. Sometimes when I looked at her, so many feelings of love and want and possessiveness swirled inside of me that I was worried that I could not control them.

Although my mother had no sexual desire for Rapunzel as far as I knew, sometimes I wondered if our feelings were the same. I did not think Mogra loved Rapunzel as I did, but what if the emotions I thought to be love were only a disguise for the twisted evil that had corrupted my mother? If it had grown in her, could it grow in me as well? Perhaps she had loved Rapunzel too, once. The thought made me sick to my stomach.

"I need... a little time," I told Rapunzel. I desperately wanted to be alone, but I knew that it was not safe to leave camp and I also did not want to hurt her feelings. She sensed that something was wrong, but seemed grateful that I had accepted her confession.

"Do you want me to hold you?" she asked, hoping that physical touch would help heal the wounds between us.

And even though I had my doubts, that offer was too tempting to refuse.

Chapter Six:

It was still dark when a soft nudge to my shoulder jolted me out of a deep slumber. Doran's familiar, wrinkled face peered down at me, a colorless silhouette against the slowly lightening fuzzy gray skyline.

"You're leaving," I said, a statement instead of a question.

He nodded. "You are not needin' me anymore, young witch. I am to be goin' back home." My face must have shown concern, because he added, "I will be callin' the wind to carry me this time." Although I was relieved that he would not be traveling on foot by himself, I remembered the great wind that had brought Rapunzel and me to his cottage and could not help but be relieved that I did not have to repeat the experience.

"I will miss you," I said, sitting up and rubbing my eyes to see him more clearly in the early morning darkness.

"Cate and Larna will be takin' good care of you. Do you still have the combs and the scarf that I gave you?" I had forgotten about the scarf, which was still buried somewhere in my pack, but I had used both of the combs to keep Rapunzel's long hair in some semblance of order. Perhaps it was their magic that had stopped her hair from growing several feet each day.

"I still have them."

He smiled at me. "Good. Keep them close and keep them safe. And you are rememberin' the trigger word that I taught you to shield yourself?"

"Yes." But I hoped that I would not have to use it. My limited practice with Doran had been discouraging to say the least.

"Magic always comes when we call on it for protection," he said, reading my doubts. "You can do great things to save the ones you love."

"Will I see you again?"

Doran nodded. "I think so." And when he gave me his blessing, touching both of my cheeks and speaking a Mark of protection against his forehead, I felt the keen edge of loss. For some reason, this man spoke to me. He had only been my teacher for a short time, but he had already saved our lives more than once. Maybe it was because he had loved my mother once, long ago, and had been another witness to her tragic descent into madness and apathy.

"Farewell, Acha," he said, and I smiled because he had called me his student. Perhaps that had been his intention. And when he left, it was not with any great fanfare or a violent burst of magic. He simply walked east, the outline of his figure becoming smaller and smaller as it approached the horizon line, which was beginning to brim over with sunlight. It was all very surreal, and I wondered if I was caught somewhere between dreams until the warm body next to mine stirred.

"He is gone, isn't he?" Rapunzel murmured, rubbing a soft patch of skin above the waist of my leggings. I nodded, realized that her eyes were still closed, and voiced my thoughts instead.

"You were right," I said sadly.

"I am sure he will be fine." I nodded, but I was still concerned. Mogra's threat still loomed over all of us, and by protecting us from her, the old wizard had made himself a target.

"Would you like to know a secret?" I whispered.

My lover opened her eyes. They were beautiful, and for a moment, I was overwhelmed with the sudden desire to kiss her. "What is it?" she asked softly.

"I wished that he was my father. Doran told me that he loved my mother once, before..." Before greed twisted her heart.

"Did you ask him?"

I shook my head. "No. I don't think he is. I believe he would have told me." I hoped that he would have told me. He had treated me kindly and called me his student, but there was no reason to believe that we were related in any way, even if he had known my mother in their past.

From what I knew of Mogra, she might have decided to have a daughter for practical reasons, to continue her line of work and carry on her bloodline. In that case, I could imagine her finding a strong, healthy, intelligent man and purposely trying to conceive with him, hoping that some of his good physical characteristics would be passed down to me. I looked so much like Mogra that I had never really wondered who my father was before. I could not remember asking her, and since I did not see other children interact with their fathers often, isolated as I was in the Forest, I had never felt his absence in my life. Now, I felt that emptiness keenly and with regret.

"Do you ever wish to find out about your parents?" I asked cautiously, almost afraid of the answer.

"Sometimes I wonder about them." I remembered when Rapunzel had first asked about her parents, all those years ago. Mogra had lied to her then. It was entirely possible that, if I had asked the same question about my father, she would have lied to me as well. Perhaps I had known this deep inside, even as a growing child, and that was why I had never bothered. "But you were enough for me. You took care of me. Mother, father, sister, and lover."

I smiled weakly. "In some ways, I thought of you as a sister, but not in others. It is hard to explain, and as a child, I had no frame of reference for it. You were just Mine, and I had to watch over you." I took some comfort in the fact that even though I had considered Rapunzel mine, I had never discounted her feelings or overlooked her humanity. I just hoped that my feelings were different than Mogra's delusions of ownership.

"If Doran was your father, do you know what that means?"

I opened my eyes a little wider. "No, what?"

"It means your father caught you naked in bed with me and threw clothes on top of your head." I groaned softly, trying not to disturb the rest of our little campsite.

Fairytales never tell you the boring parts of going on an adventure. The heroes always seem to skip right to the exciting events in the story. They do not have to worry about rationing food and their feet are never sore from walking. They can travel from one place to another in the blink of an eye.

Of course, we were not in a fairy tale. Along with everything else came the mundane - traveling, packing and re-packing, sleeping on the ground in temperatures that were either too hot or too cold depending on the location and the time of day. It was not pleasant, but I had already been wandering the plains for a year before this, and I was used to sleeping in the open. Joining up with the party of Liarre warriors made our progress much faster because we were allowed to ride. This surprised me, because all of the literature I had read clearly stated that the Liarre hated being viewed as beasts of burden, and having a human mount them was seen as insulting and demeaning.

Knowing this, I made sure to thank Hassa profusely when he offered to carry me. Not only was he going against his people's customs, but he was also sparing my leg muscles the work of walking, and the least I could do was show my gratitude. The other Liarre accepted the decision to let us ride without too much protest, although I heard one or two of the Caniarre, dog-men with wicked looking teeth and bulging, chorded muscles under sleek fur, complaining under their breath.

Rapunzel was also polite and, fortunately for me, had no objections to riding on Jinale. Although the Arachniarre seemed very likable, she looked fearsome with her large, bulbous body, black tongue, and blue eye-tattoos. The sight of her made me understand why the Liarre were so revered in Amendyrri legends. She looked like something out of a tapestry scene or a painting.

My lover's fearlessness surprised me, particularly since her pregnancy was becoming more and more pronounced every day. I questioned her, but I was unable to pin down the exact date of conception any closer than fourteen or fifteen weeks. However, she seemed unusually far along for that amount of time. When she mentioned to me that she could feel the baby moving inside of her, I was even more surprised.

"Quickening already?" I asked, mostly speaking to myself. I silently asked for permission to touch her stomach, which she granted wordlessly. The curve of her belly was tight and beginning to stretch and harden. It was blatantly obvious to anyone looking at her that she was carrying a child now, even though the shirt she wore was loose around her hips.

"Is something wrong?" she said, sounding concerned.

"No, nothing serious..." I pressed my lips together. I thought I could feel the position of a head, and once or twice I imagined that I could feel the soft bumps and taps of the baby's limbs moving underneath her muscles. "Hmm. Are you sure you might not be farther along than you think? Fifteen weeks is early for me to feel quickening on the outside, especially since this is your first child."

Rapunzel shrugged. "Fifteen weeks ago is the closest I can place it," she said. "There were not that many... opportunities that might have resulted in this." Despite her awkward wording, I was a little relieved. It still hurt that Rapunzel had shared her body with someone else, even though I was starting to forgive her, and it helped to know that it had only happened a few times. Still, I wrinkled my nose and frowned with distaste.

The baby kicked again.

"Stop making that face. You are upsetting him."

"Him?" I asked. "How do you know it will be a him?"

"You call the baby a him all the time, Ailynn. I was just copying you."

"I like the idea of a boy," I admitted cautiously. I did not need to add that my own relationship with my mother had turned out very badly, and I did not have faith that I would be a good example for a girl to follow. I purposely did not use the word 'daughter' in my mind because I still had some doubts. It would take time.

As it turned out, Rapunzel's pregnancy turned out to be a point in our favor with the Liarre. I was surprised to learn that some of them did not have favorable opinions of human beings, which was understandable considering some of the things our race had tried to do to their people. However, it seemed that even the most belligerent Caniarre or fearsome Arachniarre smiled when they saw my lover and the new life growing inside of her.

"Humani babies are very tiny," Jinale commented as Rapunzel rode on her back. "Liarre children are much larger, even inside of their mothers."

"Do you have any children?" Rapunzel asked.

"No, but Hassa does."

"My mate and I have two daughters," he said proudly. I could feel his voice vibrate through the core of his body beneath where I was sitting.

I wondered if I would ever be able to speak about Rapunzel's children with such pride in my voice. I already felt more affection for the unborn lives than I had anticipated, but could I accept them as my own despite how they were conceived? I had no part in making them, but perhaps I could shape their young minds as they began to learn and grow. That thought was strangely appealing, but also very frightening, and made me think of my own experiences as a child.

"Do you worry that they take on your bad qualities as well as the good qualities you try to teach them?" I asked Hassa, curious to hear his opinion as a parent.

The Liarre considered his answer. "Yes," he said after a moment's thought. "Foals learn by example. They copy what they see."

"What if the example they were set is a poor one?"

He seemed to sense the serious nature of the question, because he continued to ponder it for several beats of silence. "Then they must be their own example," he said. "Some will never know anything else, but the stronger ones are not doomed to repeat the mistakes of their parents."

Glancing over my shoulder, I watched Rapunzel riding on Jinale's curved body, golden hair falling well past her waist and draping over the spider's side. Even without an example, Rapunzel had not become a selfish, power-hungry creature like Mogra. I gasped as sudden realization dawned. I had been her example. I was the one who taught her, played with her, cared for her. Perhaps that had saved her - saved both of us. There was no way to know for sure.

Secretly, I was not convinced that I had escaped Mogra's grip. I shared her blood. I was possessive of what I considered to be mine. Knowing that Byron had tried to steal her made my eyes mist over with a red fog of anger and jealousy. Had my mother passed her curse on to me? Would I always struggle with my greed and selfishness, allowing it to shape my destiny?

Suddenly, a few of the Liarre beside us froze, their bodies stiffening. A Feliarre nearby crouched down, hackles rising as his ears pricked up to listen. I stiffened too, but for a different reason. A dark shadow was hanging over our heads. As one, the party of ten looked up at the sky. Tiny black dots were circling above us, watching and waiting.

"Are those Wyvern?" I asked. Hassa did not respond, but he reached for the bow strapped across his back.

Jinale did the same, reaching to pull an arrow from the quiver that she carried with her. "Get off of my back," she told Rapunzel, "and climb up with Ailynn. He is faster than the rest of us." She left the rest of the message unspoken, but it was clear enough. If the Wyvern decided to attack us, she wanted Rapunzel and me to run. My lover obeyed instructions, climbing down from Jinale's back. I offered her my hand and helped her up in front of me. Hassa did not react to the extra weight, but continued watching the open landscape to our back right. His eyes were positioned closer to the sides of his head than mine or Rapunzel's and his field of vision was much wider.

"Look behind you," he said, and both of us turned. A giant black cloud was rolling towards us from between the walls of the canyons we had left over a day before, crawling over the flat northern plains that we were now crossing. A low, ominous rumbling came with it, echoing through the open air that stretched between us like thunder.

It was moving fast, impossibly fast, covering the ground that we had already traveled at an alarming speed. "Whatever is in that cloud is enchanted," I told them. There were creatures now, Kerak and enormous Shadowkin, close enough for us to see their dark forms hulking and crouched against the black, smoky body of the cloud. The Kerak moved swiftly like feral cats, coming at us in waves as the Shadowkin lumbered on giant, trunk-like legs.

The Liarre all drew their bows, even Hassa, and Rapunzel had to lean back into my chest to avoid his elbow as his muscular arm reached back, drawing an arrow to the point and releasing it into the rapidly darkening air. I saw the reflective coating that covered his eyes, relieved that he could see in the darkness better than me, because the cloud was stretching up to the sky now and blocking out the sunlight.

The strong, violent trembling of magic was growing stronger, and I recognized its bitter smell as it curled in my nose, burning like smoke. "The witch is coming," I told Hassa. "I can feel her."

To my surprise, the large Shadowkin were falling in great numbers even though they were still a great distance away. I saw one of them topple over as soon as one of Jinale's arrows grazed its flesh, and I was shocked until I noticed her sucking on the tip of her next arrow. My earlier suspicions were right and her fangs were obviously filled with poison. Although the arrows were wounding the Kerak, it did not stop them. They continued forward in starts and jerks even with the shafts of the arrows sticking out of their bodies. Thirty yards, twenty...

Fire, I thought, they need fire.

"Light your arrows," I shouted, feeling the familiar rush of power as I tugged on the threads of magic surrounding me, rubbing them together and snapping them in a release of energy until my hands were surrounded in balls of flame. Holding out both of my arms, I allowed Hassa to dip one of his arrows in the magical flames until it took hold. This time, when he let his arrow fly, it hit the closest Kerak in the center of its thin chest. The creature howled as it burst into flame, slowly disintegrating into a pile of white ash.

Although Jinale continued using her poisoned, barbed arrows to shoot the giant black and green dogs bearing down on us, the other Liarre had noticed what Hassa was doing and began using the fire as well. The first wave of Kerak fell, and for a moment, there was nothing but the cloud and the tiny black dots circling overhead. But then another wave came. And another.

"We are running out of arrows," Hassa said, lighting one of his last shafts in the emergency fire pit that one of the Caniarre had dug. The Liarre had filled it with anything they could spare, rags and anything wooden that they did not need to keep. Many of the things in my traveling pack had been emptied into it - I only carried the medicine I had brought with me, strips for binding wounds, and Doran's three gifts. Now the Liarre had plenty of fire, but soon they would only be left with short-ranged weapons.

"If the witch comes out of that cloud, you need to run with the Humani," said Jinale around the tip of an arrow. I noticed that it was her last one.

"I told Rachari I would protect your flank," the Equiarre protested. The giant spider's eyes narrowed.

"You told Cate you would bring her friends to Ardu safely. You are faster than any of us. We will try to buy you some time."

"But... " The rest of Hassa's argument was interrupted by a loud, high-pitched wail. A massive black Shadowkin, larger than any of the other dogs, exploded out of the cloud's dark, foul smoke, its heavy paw steps making the ground tremble. On its back was a woman, unnaturally tall, wrapped in black robes and crowned by a ring of green fire. She was like two figures pressed over top of each other. Somehow, I could make out the details of her face in the patches of light that flashed from the fire-arrows, but perhaps my imagination filled in what I could not see from a distance. Her face was old and young at the same time, constantly shifting and changing like a warped reflection in a pool.

"Run!" Jinale shouted, and Hassa had no time to reason with her. Instead, he turned around and began running, leaving the party of Liarre behind.

Chapter Seven:

We bent low over Hassa's straining back, not daring to look over our shoulders. We knew that Mogra was only yards behind. The gray shadows of the flying Wyverns hovered over us like monstrous birds, swallowing us up as we hurtled over the plains. The Equiarre's hooves drummed faster over the uneven ground, the heavy walls of his body heaving with deep, quick breaths. Rapunzel's arms looped around my waist and she pulled closer to me, her long golden hair whipping against our faces.

There was no time. Doran had warned me not to use his three gifts until the need was greatest, but if Mogra caught us, she would kill us. We had already escaped death once. She would not make the same mistake again.

Reaching blindly into my pocket, I grabbed the bristles of the first comb, not caring that it pricked the pads of my fingers and scratched my palm. Finally looking back, I stared in horror at the giant Shadowkin that chased us, glowing fire dripping from its jaws. Mogra was perched behind its neck, black robes flying behind her like the tattered wings of a raven. Once again, she was like two images pressed together into one, a strange mix of old and young, ugly and beautiful as she hurtled towards us on the back of the huge demon.

Not daring to wait a second longer, I let the first comb fall from my trembling hand. There was a loud crack, a low, deep rumble, and the ground began to shake beneath us. Mogra looked startled and the circling Wyverns screeched in terror, flying higher in the sky and momentarily abandoning the chase. Behind us, the ground split open as huge, thorny trees sprung from deep inside of the earth; reaching up, up, up into the sky. Like the sharp spikes of the little black comb, the thorny trees stretched out in an endless straight line, blocking Mogra's path and halting the giant dog in its tracks.

"Was... was that..." Rapunzel gasped beside my ear, her words almost lost in the wind. Hassa continued running, too focused on getting away to waste his breath, although his pounding heart and wide eyes told me that he was equally amazed.

"The comb," I said, almost shouting even though Rapunzel's face was right beside mine.

"Magic." Powerful magic. I could feel the burn of it crawling over my skin like sparks, the cool bite of it on my tongue. Wherever that magical object had come from, it was obviously very strong and had probably taken more than one enchanter to create.

Behind us, the rumbling and shaking had ceased, but Mogra's frustrated screams carried through the giant thorn-trees and over the empty stretch of the plains. Trying to calm my racing heart, I risked a second glance back over my shoulder. There was another wave of sharp, hot magic and a huge gust of air almost knocked the three of us to the ground. Miraculously, Hassa managed to keep his balance, throwing his arms out to either side and jerking forward. Rapunzel and I were almost thrown from his back, but somehow we managed to remain astride.

A fierce, howling wind was blowing apart the trees, creating a pathway through the thorns. With several swipes of its giant paws, the Shadowkin barreled through the enchanted barrier, howling its frustration as burning green ichor oozed from the gashes on its chest. Her hair flying behind her, Mogra urged the beast forward again. We had slowed her, but not stopped her.

The Equiarre were faster than the birds, built for running and speed, but I could tell that Hassa was beginning to tire. Carrying two fully-grown women on his back, one with child, sapped his strength. "If you have... any more ideas... or magic..." he panted as Mogra began to regain the ground she had lost, wasting precious breath, "use it now!"

Shoving my hand back into my pocket, I reached for the brown comb. It was thicker than the first one and made of sanded wood. It felt warm against my fingers as I turned around and hurled it directly in Mogra's path.

This time, the earth did not shudder and quake, but the ground beneath us began to change, growing slick and moist beneath Hassa's hooves. He adjusted his gait to stay on top of the thick, soggy mud that was quickly spreading over the ground, relieved when the soft earth became hard again. Directly behind us was a large, sticky brown pool of swamp water and mud. It blossomed out like a puddle of rain, growing larger every second until it was a river of thick sludge.

"Will she cross?" Rapunzel shouted, her words covered by Mogra's frustrated shrieking and the howling of the demon dog.

I hoped not, but my instincts told me that a swamp would not be enough to stop such a powerful sorceress. We were running out of options, and unless we came up with a way to stop Mogra permanently or allowed the rest of the Liarre party to find us, we were as good as dead. I wanted to tell Rapunzel that I loved her, but I shook the thought away. It was inappropriate. Right now, we needed to survive. But... "I love you," I told her anyway.

I looked into her eyes and for a single moment, the sounds around us faded away. Reality intruded when Hassa said, "she's through!"

My neck jerked sideways as I threw my head over my shoulder, horrified to see that Mogra's Shadowkin had picked its way through the swamp. He was drawing closer, his superior size and whatever enchantments Mogra was using on him lending their advantage. They were going to catch us.

"Last chance..." I mouthed the words with dry lips, sending up a prayer to any god or spirit that would listen. Reluctantly, I unwound the blue scarf from around my neck, letting it fly behind me as I waited for the perfect moment. The wind almost tore it from my hand, but my cold, stiff fingers held on tight, refusing to let go. I hoped that Doran's last enchanted gift would be enough...

When Mogra was so close that I could see the pits of her eyes, savoring her victory, I dropped the scarf.

One second. Two. Three.

With a huge, rumbling explosion, the earth began to shake again, pieces of rock jutting up from the ground and pushing us forward, down. We fell forwards, pushed by an enormous wave of rock and grass and earth. The ground rippled, shuddered, and then fell open into a wide, gaping pit.

The three of us clung to each other, but the mass of stone and roots and dirt pushed forward, almost collapsing on top of us. If Rapunzel was crushed...

"Secutem!" This time, when I shouted the Word of Power, a shield of magical energy curled around us in a tight ball, weaving together like a rope net hardened by seawater. Magic burned my skin like an open flame, blazing in my muscles and screaming along all of my nerve endings. The magical threads pulled tighter and tighter, stopping the raining shower of dirt from collapsing on top of us as we rolled forwards, carried by the momentum of the avalanche. Then, silence.

One star shone down on me, its cold, pale light washing over my face in ghostly, gray-white sheets. I shivered, wrapping my arms tightly around myself to keep warm. The dim velvet sky became a shimmering black lake and I could see my features reflected in the endless pool of darkness.

Suddenly, my eyes and the sweep of my cheek rippled, changing and reforming as another face. Before I could look away, I saw my mother staring back down at me, swallowing the faint light of the star in the black pits of her eyes.

I touched my cheek. So did she. My lips parted. So did hers.

"Ailynn, my daughter." I heard the hiss of her voice in the whispering wind.

"I want nothing to do with you," I told her, trying to sound braver than I felt. I had no idea whether I was navigating through a dream or some other reality, but I was afraid.

"You are disgusted with me, but the same darkness lives in you."

I turned my back on her face, unwilling to look. Seeing my face merged with hers was too much to bear. "I am not you," I protested, but my voice was weaker this time. Whether this was real or imagined did not matter. It had cut to the bone of my deepest, most secret fears.

Mogra did not listen. "Oh, but you are, blood of my blood, flesh of my flesh."

"I am of your flesh, but I will keep my soul."

The voice hissed seductively in my ear, snakes' tongues in the night wind. "You stole my treasured girl, my princess. She will corrupt you and poison your heart with jealousy."

"No," I shouted, whirling around, but our merged face was gone. There was only the wide, empty ocean of grass rippling around my ankles. She had disappeared, slipping away as silently as a specter.

Then her shadow seared itself to mine, creeping over me from behind and swallowing me whole like a storm cloud swallowed the moon. "But you have already felt the burn of jealousy. You have touched its twisting coils. We are the same, you and I."

I choked on my own breath. Was it true? Was I tightening my hold on Rapunzel out of jealousy? I watched the first layer of sky as I peeled back to reveal not just one, but a sea of stars. The pinpoints stretched out in the shape of a great dragon, wings open, guarding its golden horde.

But when I closed my eyes and pictured my Tuathe's face, I saw her smiling at me. There was love and trust in her eyes and it made the soft stone in my heart weep and melt. Icy fear was washed away in a warm current of love.

"I am not you. I will never be you."

"You cannot change what you are. You are a Witch's daughter."

I stood firm before the sky-dragon and my mother's voice, a proud and determined tilt to my chin. "My name is Ailynn Gothel, and I am whoever I choose to be. I walk my own path."

The stars scattered like refracting droplets of light on the water. There was a great rush and roar of noise as new space opened before me in the empty place the stars had left. Looking down, I saw Mogra's figure pinned beneath a slab of rock, looking smaller and frailer than I could ever remember seeing her. She stared up at me, her face young again, but tired looking. There were lines around her mouth and dark smudges beneath her eyes.

"Ailynn... help me."

For a moment, my hand twitched, arm extending. Part of me wanted to free her, even after everything she had done to hurt us, but what if it was a trick? Part of me realized that I was not completely in control of my own body, but I could not seem to resist. Still undecided, I reached toward her, but as our hands brushed, I felt the crackling of magic and jerked my arm back.

"Ailynn..." I felt her presence inside of me, probing at my mind, trying to twist my will. The current between us sparked, leaving me with a piercing headache. That was when I understood exactly what Mogra was trying to do. Her body was still trapped beneath a pile of rock, broken, but if she could possess me, she would have a new, young body to use instead.

I stumbled backwards, hands thrown up to protect my face, horrified. The more distance I could put between us, the safer I would be. I tried to reinforce the walls around my mind, refusing to let her in.

"Come back!" she shrieked, the image of the twisted old hag flashing before my eyes. "You are my daughter! You belong to me!"

I felt my eyes sting with tears because my mother was truly lost. It was not the first time I had realized this, but the full truth of it crashed down around my head. "I am a person, not a pet or a body for you to use. Neither is Rapunzel. My soul belongs to me."

"Selfish girl. You would not even help your own mother?" I was not sure whether I could only hear the words in my head or if they were spoken aloud, because her lips were not moving.

"You are not a mother to me anymore."

My head exploded with pain, red and white streaks of agony painting themselves across my consciousness. It was unbearable - a hissing, glowing poker behind my eyes. I screamed, falling to my knees and cradling my head in my hands. I heard a voice mumbling and realized it was mine - "No... no... Maker, please let it stop... no... - please,,,:..."

My stomach heaved, threatening to empty itself on the ground where I was holding myself up with one elbow. "Let. Me. In." The words pounded against my skull like a heavy fist on a door. I clapped my hands over my ears. "No! Secutem!" The shield-mark lit my throat on fire, almost making me choke, but I spat it out between clenched teeth. Immediately, the pain receded and Mogra howled with rage.

I staggered upright and ran, sending rocks and roots and earth flying beneath my feet. I did not look back even though her screams echoed in my ears. I ran until my legs gave out and I sank to the ground, crying so heavily that the tears blinded me. But at least I was alone. I had escaped. The foreign presence in my mind was gone. In fact, my thoughts were blissfully silent.

Chapter Eight:

I was the first to open my eyes. I groaned, wincing as I felt a familiar pain in my right shoulder. I wondered if the wound had reopened, but then I decided that it did not matter. Carefully, I opened my eyes, immediately remembering to look for Rapunzel. She was lying on her side, still and unmoving. I crawled over to her, ignoring the tears in my pants at the knee, my heart still pounding wildly from fear. "Rapunzel! Open your eyes, Tuathe... please..."

She cried out, but her eyes remained shut. Instantly, I put my hand to her belly, trying to feel the unborn child moving within her. "Please... Please be alive... Please..." I whispered that word over and over again... please, please, please... until I lost it somewhere inside of my mouth and forgot what it meant. I felt movement in Rapunzel's abdomen, but it was not the light, twitching bumps of quickening. It was a long, shuddering pull from somewhere deep inside of her.

"

Oh no... no, no, no... not even sixteen weeks yet... too soon, too soon..." I scrambled to my feet, running towards my abandoned traveling pack, which was lying several yards away. Tearing open the largest pocket, I began digging through the supplies, tossing out food and clothing in order to find the herbs I was looking for. Valerian root, Crampbark, Flaxseed Oil...

As I ran back to Rapunzel, I noticed the change in the landscape for the first time. I gasped, taking a step backwards and staring. Instead of a giant pit of mud and stone, a huge, glittering lake stretched out as far as I could see. It was the same shade of blue as the magical scarf. We were sitting at its edge among piles of displaced rock, covered in dust and dirt. Mogra was nowhere to be seen. Hopefully, the avalanche had crushed her and the Shadowkin or thrown them into the lake. I never wanted to see them again.

The feel of the oil jars and the herbs in my hand reminded me of Rapunzel, and I hurried back to her. Perhaps she sensed my shadow over her, because her eyes twitched behind close lids as I knelt by her side.

"Is she alive?" A deep, hoarse voice asked from somewhere to our left.

"For now, Hassa. I have to stop the child from coming early or dying..." I crushed the Valerian root, letting the oils seep out and mix with the flesh of the plant. "Get me water from the lake. Hurry..."

Once the sedative was mixed with water, I poured it between Rapunzel's lips, flinching when she began to cough and sputter. Finally, I coaxed some of it down her throat, grateful that Valerian did not need to be placed in boiling water. The Crampbark had already been dried and distilled into a liquid, and it was easy to paint the drops over her lips.

Soon, there was nothing left to do but try and relax Rapunzel while we watched her. She drifted in and out of consciousness and did not speak. "You saved us, young witch," Hassa said, placing a very large hand on my shoulder. "I think that you will save them, too."

"We cannot move her," I said, not able to respond to his feelings of confidence in me. "I know this is a bad place to stay, and Mogra might find a way..."

Hassa shook his head. "She will not come after us now. If she is still alive, she will wait. You surprised her today, and she will need more of her creatures to help her next time." I prayed that the Equiarre's judgment was sound.

We watched over her for several hours, although I urged Hassa to rest. If anything else decided to threaten us, he was the only one in any condition to protect us. Her condition was mostly unchanging, but it did not worsen either, which was a good sign.

Tenderly, I stroked Rapunzel's hair, careful not to put pressure on the ugly, puffy line of a cut on the back of her head. All of us were covered in bruises, scrapes, and gashes, and I had dressed and cleaned the worst of them, using up the last of my medical supplies for open wounds. I hoped that none of the injuries became infected, because I hardly had enough herbs left to make a poultice, and certainly not enough linen to dress them. We had resorted to washing and binding some of our wounds with scraps of our clothes.

Rapunzel remained still and did not regain complete consciousness, but Hassa's larger body and quicker healing rate had served him well during the avalanche. "It is still early in her pregnancy," I told him. "Not even sixteen weeks. There was only a little blood, and there are no more large contractions. I am hopeful." I stroked Rapunzel's hand, forcing myself to believe my own words.

Even though he had only known Rapunzel for a short time, the Equiarre was hovering over her like a concerned parent. "She is not at sixteen weeks yet? I thought that Humani females carried for nine months. How is she so large already?"

I had my suspicions, and since Rapunzel stable for the moment, I decided to give her another examination. "I think she is carrying twins," I said as I ran my hands over her stomach, which was far more pronounced now than it had been even a few days ago. "It is unusually early for me or her to feel quickening, especially with a first pregnancy. She is very large, and..." Using my fingers, I tried to confirm the position of one of the tiny bodies. "Yes, I think there are two."

Twins. Even more joy or even more pain. Moving sluggishly beneath my hands, Rapunzel shifted, trying to become more comfortable. She did not wake up. The sedatives and muscle relaxants were working. I put the soft part of my traveling pack beneath her head, trying to make her more comfortable. I had done everything I could for her, and only time would show how well she would recover. I checked every candlemark to make sure that the babies were alive, afraid that their little hearts would stop beating. I knew that Rapunzel would never forgive herself if we lost them.

"I love your mother very much, you know," I told them during the long night watch, stroking my hand over the swell of my lover's belly. Small twitches and bumps underneath my hand reassured me that, for now, the children were still moving. It almost felt like they were listening to me, responding to my voice, but perhaps that was wishful thinking. I convinced myself that if the babies were still alive and well, Rapunzel would be, too.

My chest was sore and tight with the tears that I had been too terrified to shed, and they broke in my voice. "You were not conceived in love, but I promise that you will be born into it. You will be my princes, and I will give you anything you want." For some reason, the familiar words sent gooseflesh crawling over my skin. I wanted to take them back. "I will give you my love, my protection, and my knowledge, but I will not be like my mother."

Surprisingly, I believed in what I said. I would never be my mother. Her shadow had hung over me for too long already. Until I let go of her, let go of my fears, Rapunzel would still be touched by her darkness. Treasuring Rapunzel and her children did not make me a monster. I loved her like nothing else on the earth, but I would not let greed blind me to her humanity. I would not repeat Mogra's mistakes.

As I caressed the soft curve of her cheek, gray from the loss of blood, my lover's eyes fluttered open. Immediately, her right hand reached for mine, holding it tight against her face as her other hand curled protectively over her stomach. The strained lines of her face smoothed over as she felt the babies move inside of her. "He is all right?" she asked, her voice cracking.

"They," I corrected her, lacing my fingers with hers. "They are alive. There are two heartbeats."

"Two?" Although her brown eyes were still clouded with pain and weariness, they widened with understanding. I released her hand and rubbed her forehead, checking to make sure that her skin did not feel warm. She had lost a lot of blood and there was still the risk that she would run a fever. "Two," I repeated. "We have two children. That is why you are growing so quickly." It was also why I could feel her quickening so early in her pregnancy. There was less empty space to absorb the small taps and kicks.

For a moment, Rapunzel looked frightened, as though she was wondering how she could possibly handle giving birth to and raising two children at once, but her eyes locked with mine and I felt her draw her reassurance from me. It felt wonderful to be there for my Tuathe, especially since I had not been able to offer her strength or comfort before. The scars of guilt inside of me began to fade.

"I love you," I told her, letting my fingertips drift over her lips so that she could kiss them. Her eyes closed and the corners of her mouth turned up in a small smile despite the pain that I knew she was feeling. "Sleep."

My lover obeyed and began to drift back into a healing sleep, although I was pleased that she had shown some alertness. I sighed and sat back on my heels, observing her as best I could in the dark. Our children had settled back down and I felt no more movement under my hand, but I suspected that they were following their mother's example and resting for a while.

Our children.

My body instantly locked, muscles seizing and cutting off my breath as that thought echoed in my head. It was the first time that I had referred to the babies as 'ours'. Even though it was only in my mind, it was a monumental step. The idea of being responsible for two infants still terrified me, and I felt a flash of sympathy. Rapunzel must have been so frightened when she first suspected that she might be pregnant. I had not been there to support her, the children's father was absent, and she was still imprisoned in Mogra's tower.

Only now, when I was threatened with losing the most important people in my life, did I understand just how much they meant to me. "My sons," I said, mouthing the words in quiet disbelief.

"And how do you know they will be sons? Do you have the Sight?" came a voice from behind my shoulder. I concealed my startled reaction to Hassa's appearance, willing my heart to beat more slowly. The Liarre could approach as silently as ghosts, even the large Equiarre. His body did not seem built for stealth at all, and I was impressed.

"No," I said, "I am only guessing. But I am a Witch's Daughter." I could say that now without humiliation or shame. My mother was a part of me, and her knowledge made me the Ariada that I was, but she did not dictate my actions. Mogra could not control me anymore.

Chapter Nine:

It took us three more days to reach Liarre territory. It was slow going because we did not want to do anything to upset Rapunzel's recovery, but she was conscious and aware of her surroundings when we crossed the border. Instead of a thin line, the border was actually a stretch of high brush, not something I had expected in the dry, warmer western climate with its bare canyon faces and rocky outcroppings. The brush was high enough to touch my upper arms at the elbow, but Hassa stood well above it.

I realized that we were not alone after only a few minutes. Soft rustling sounds, almost like sighs, came from the field around us. At first, I thought that some small animal must be scurrying for cover, but the sounds continued and became much larger. Not being able to see our silent, spectral watchers was unsettling and I looked at Hassa for reassurance.

"We are seen only when we want to be seen, and heard only when we want to be heard," he said, not waiting for me to ask my questions aloud. "The border guards are letting you know that they are here."

I glanced over my shoulder, squinting as I tried to discern any difference in color or texture that might give one of the hiding sentinels away, but I could not see anything. It was difficult to imagine a creature as large as Hassa hiding himself in the brush, but perhaps some of the other races like the Feliarre were more adept at camouflage.

As the brush started to fade into knee-high weeds and grass, we began to climb over a low, rolling hill. "Over the crown of the hill is the valley of Ardu," he said, gesturing with his hand, but even with the warning, the sight that stretched out before us when I reached the top of the hill took my breath away. Rapunzel let out an equally impressed gasp of surprise.

Like a network of threads, several dirt paths led down the side of the hill and into a sharp dip in the landscape. Nestled in the valley, perhaps valley was not the right word to describe it, because the climb down looked very steep, was some of the most stunning architecture I had ever seen. Instead of stairways, the outer walls of the taller buildings were surrounded by spiraling ramps that led up to the roofs. To our right was a large, angular structure that reminded me of an hourglass. A large, ancient-looking stone wall that rose and fell with the landscape surrounded the entire city.

Beside me, Rapunzel was taking everything in, just as awed as I seemed to be. Her hand reached out to grab mine, and I knew that she was itching to draw what she had just seen. Instead, she stared with wide eyes, trying to soak in as many details as possible.

A gentle touch on my shoulder drew me from my breathless study of the city. "You will have more chances to see Ardu from a distance," said Hassa. "The young mother needs rest and food, and your friends are waiting. I am sure that they are anxious to greet you." Overlooking Rapunzel's needs made me feel slightly guilty, but I did not worry too much when I saw the pleased expression on her face. She already looked much better than she had a few days ago, and her color was healthier.

"Come on," I said, squeezing the hand that was still twined with mine. The warmth was comforting, reminding me that she was alive and safe. "I want to see it up close."

The walk down the steep hillside was easier than I expected, but I was surprised when we did not follow any of the larger, wider roads. Instead, we traveled down a narrow, winding footpath that took us out of our way several times. Sensing my curiosity, Hassa answered my unspoken question. "These are dangerous times. Many of the main roads have been blocked off or defended with traps."

The closer we got to the city itself, the wider and more well-used the road appeared to become. "This place is amazing," Rapunzel whispered as a large pair of wood and iron gates rose high above us. The wall was also growing taller as we drew closer, and I was impressed by how well defended the Liarre were. I was not sure whether this was because Ardu was directly on the border, or if the cities in the heart of their country were also well defended.

There was movement on top of the gate, and soon the pair of doors began to swing open, their weight shifting with a loud, reluctant groan. The three of us walked into the city together, past several groups of curious onlookers that watched and whispered in a language I did not understand, although most of them were too polite to point.

"Some of them have never seen a human before," Hassa explained. "The Liarre have as many myths and legends about your race as you do about ours."

"What about Cate and Larna? I thought you said they were here?"

"They are Wyr. They might look like you sometimes, but it is not the same. They will want to see you. I can show you the place where they are staying..."

I caught sight of two small, familiar figures that were clearly not Liarre and smiled. "No need, they are already here."

As soon as red hair and pale, freckled skin came in to view, Rapunzel looked at me with a silent question. When I nodded and smiled in answer, my lover grabbed my hand and started towards the two women. Calling out a greeting, they hurried towards us at a surprisingly fast pace. Their movements gave them away instantly, marking them as something more than human. They walked with the rolled, loping gait of wolves even though they were on two legs, and I understood what Hassa meant when he said that they were not the same.

As soon as they reached us, Cate wrapped me in a tight embrace. "Arim Dei. Thank the Maker you arrived safely. I was worried that something had happened to you."

"Several somethings happened," I admitted.

Cate's expression could only be described as chastising. "You seem to enjoy rushing headlong in to dangerous situations." For a moment, I felt like a child being scolded for wandering too far. Even though Cate and I were roughly the same age, she had adopted a motherly attitude towards me.

"I do not," I protested. "Mogra followed us." I noticed the slight flinch at my mother's name, but did not think further of it. "The rest of our party..."

"Is probably fine," Hassa interrupted, sounding more confident than I felt. "Jinale will bring them back safely. Without Mogra behind them, I am sure that they were able to escape the Kerak and the Shadowkin."

"Good." Cate released me and moved to hug Rapunzel, who was closer to her height. "I hope I haven't made you uncomfortable, but I feel as though I already know you. My name is Cate."

My lover allowed the physical closeness and returned the hug. "Arim dei. I wanted to thank you for saving Ailynn's life..." I blushed, embarrassed but pleased that she had referred to me as hers.

"We were lucky," Cate said modestly.

Larna stepped forward and clasped Rapunzel's hands warmly. She was not as comfortable with touch as her mate, but she was still very friendly. "We are glad to have you here. Cate spent a long time looking for the spell to free you."

My face paled and the bottom dropped from my stomach. "The book," I said, suddenly remembering. "I left it with... your horse!" My worries instantly doubled. "I left your horse in the forest, and the book... Mogra summoned a great wind and we..."

"The book does not matter, at least not to me. I do not think my friend Ellie's wife will be pleased to hear that it was lost, but it is only an object."

"The horse..."

"Knows the way home. He will find his way to an offshoot of the rebel camp, although there is no way he will be able to follow us here."

I felt guilty for forgetting both of the gifts Cate had given me, particularly the horse, since it was a living creature. "At least there is food and water for him in the forest," I sighed, knowing that there was nothing I could do to fix things now. It seemed a little silly to worry about a horse when there were still nine Liarre missing that had risked their lives for us, but all of my emotions were jumbled from the excitement of the past several weeks.

Cate smiled. "Worse things could have happened. You arrived safely and I am sure that the others will, too." A little cautiously, she added, "do you know what happened to Mogra?"

"Doran gave us three gifts when he left us with the Liarre," I told her. "There were two combs and a scarf. When Mogra chased us, I threw them over my shoulder. The combs turned in to a giant row of spiked trees and a swamp, and the scarf became a large lake..."

To anyone else, this would have sounded like ridiculous babbling, but perhaps Cate had Seen some of what had happened or maybe Doran had shown her the gifts, because she only asked one question. "Mogra did not try to cross?"

"She was riding a Shadowkin," Rapunzel interjected. "The split in the earth caused a landslide..."

"Which could have broken your neck," I reminded her sourly, casting a meaningful look at her bulging stomach. Larna followed my gaze and smiled softly.

"I am after thinking there is more than one pup in there," she said.

Instinctively realizing that the Alpha wanted to touch her stomach but was far too polite to ask, Rapunzel took Larna's hand and placed it over her belly. "Ailynn says we are having twins."

The use of the word 'we' did not disturb me this time. Instead, I felt a surge of warmth. Cate gave me a small, approving nod. I was not sure how much she knew about the circumstances of Rapunzel's pregnancy, but surely she did not need her Sight to realize that they were not mine. No, not of my blood, but they are still mine, I corrected myself.

"That is unusual for humans," Larna said, smiling down at Rapunzel's stomach. "Have you felt quickening yet?"

"Yes."

Cate sighed. "You act like you have never seen human pregnancies before. You were a human for many more years than you were a Wyr."

Larna removed her hands from Rapunzel's belly. "My father made me leave the house when my siblings were born..." A shadow crossed her face as she mentioned her family, and I secretly wondered what had happened to them. The brief expression of sadness was poignant enough to make me wrap a protective arm around Rapunzel's shoulder. "I have seen more Wyr give birth than humans."

Her redheaded mate shuddered. "I like to pretend that Wyr only carry one at a time. The thought of three or four at once is a little overwhelming."

Rapunzel laughed. "I wasn't even prepared for one, let alone two, and poor Ailynn was just dragged along without anyone asking her opinion..."

"You did not need to," I protested, "it was my choice. Please don't think I am doing anything I don't want to." Even though I had certainly had my share of doubts, that did not mean I was incapable of making my own decisions. I was much more comfortable with the idea now. Really, the most frightening part of the situation had been its suddenness - my helplessness. But now, I did not feel helpless. I was with Rapunzel because I loved her, not because she had trapped or manipulated me.

When I noticed that the crowd of interested Liarre had begun to break apart, I nudged Cate's shoulder. "Do you think there is somewhere that we could clean up and rest? Rapunzel looks pale." Although this was true and I really did want my lover to rest now that we were safe behind the gates of Ardu, I wanted to wash and rest for my own sake as well. It was just easier to use her as an excuse.

Cate saw through that immediately. "You look pale," she said. "Come with us. The building that Larna and I are staying in has a few properly shaped beds that you and Rapunzel can use." Grateful for the offer, we followed her.

Chapter Ten:

A short time later, we were freshly washed and dressed in clean, loose shirts and leggings that fit us surprisingly well, considering that they belonged to our hosts. Sensing our need for some privacy, Cate and Larna showed us to our room and left us after a quick but polite goodbye, promising to come by later with food after we had rested.

Unsure of ourselves, we sat on opposite sides of the bed, which was human-sized and fitted with covers. The headboard was made of several vertical strips of slatted wood, each decorated with carvings of plant life. I trailed my fingers over a cluster of grapes, admiring the craftsmanship.

"I feel unsettled," I said instead of commenting on the room, bending down to take off my shoes. "We have spent the last few weeks traveling, and now we are in a clean room with a warm bed... alone. Are we sure this is real?"

"We have spent the last few weeks in a constant state of panic," Rapunzel said, gripping my shoulder lightly. I flinched, then relaxed at the gentle touch. "Enjoy the fact that we can stop running for a while."

I smiled and leaned back against a pillow, letting my eyes shut. "Maybe we should sleep." Even though we had caught a few hours here and there, it had been a long time since I got a full night's rest in a real bed.

Rapunzel shifted beside me. I could feel her studying my face even with my eyes closed. I could guess what she was thinking.

"Come here," I urged her without opening my eyes, spreading my arms so that she could rest her head on my shoulder. She settled beside me, shifting until she found a comfortable position against the line of my side.

But for some reason, sleep would not take us. "I was afraid that you would not come up again from the darkness," I confessed. I opened my eyes, but stared up at the ceiling because it was too difficult to look at her. "I thought I had lost you forever and - I realized I would never forgive myself if I failed to protect you again."

Rapunzel let out a small, frustrated sigh and pulled tighter against me. "Why is everything always your responsibility or your fault? Shouldn't I take some responsibility for my own choices?"

I tried again. "I never would have forgiven myself if you were taken from me before we worked through our problems."

"Ailynn, if this past year has proved anything, it is that love does not make us perfect. You have forgiven me for my betrayal, but you haven't even begun to forgive yourself. Don't you think you deserve it?"

"But-"

"You did protect me. Look at me." She stroked the fingertips of her right hand down my cheek, leaving a red flush behind as she turned my head towards her with a gentle push. "Feel me." She leaned forwards until her lips were only a breath away from mine. "I'm here. Right here. And we're safe."

And then she kissed me. Our weariness evaporated.

We undressed each other with great care and tenderness, peeling away clothing to reveal strips of silken skin. Gooseflesh rose on my arms as she touched me. My body knew and reacted to the ghosting, whisper-light caress of her warm palms. Before, we walked the razor thin wire of need and desperation, the unspoken line of pleasure in possessiveness, the need to take and claim driving out all of the softer emotions. This time, it was all gentleness in slow, trusting kisses, each whisper and touch a sweet promise.

"Is this all right?" I asked as I kissed above the collar of her shirt, familiarizing myself with the salty taste of her skin. "If you don't feel well enough yet..."

"More than all right," she assured me, tugging suggestively at the hem of my own shirt. We both needed this connection, this affirmation, a solidification of our new bond. Placing her hand directly over my rapidly beating heart, the line of her lips split in an affectionate smile. "Does my touch do that to you? Make your heart race?"

I returned the smile. "You know it does," I told her.

Insistent, but not over-eager, my lover helped me off with my shirt as my hand crept into the stiff confines of her leggings, finding her wet and swollen for me already. I caught my bottom lip between my teeth, stifling a groan.

Almost straddling my hips now, she gazed down at me with half-lidded, lustful eyes. I only needed to straighten my curled fingers the slightest bit to feel more of her. She moaned at the sudden, welcome fullness, which coaxed another answering pulse from between my own legs.

"Oh," she sighed, tipping her head back. "I want - to feel..."

"More skin?"

She whimpered in protest when I removed my hand, but allowed me to ease her leggings the rest of the way down her thighs. Tossing them aside, she pushed down her growing need to help me undress as well. Clinging to each other in a lover's embrace, I felt as though I was holding a goddess in my arms. Wanting to feel her lips, I took her mouth in a searching kiss. Rapunzel guided me, coaxing the fingers of my right hand to wind around the slats of the headboard while my left combed through her hair. It was longer now, always continuing to grow, but somehow beautiful in its wildness.

Her hands mapped the dips and plains of my torso, pausing to tease visibly excited breasts and nipples, testing their weight and shape as her mouth trailed down from swollen lips to suckle at my chin.

I was awash in both old memories and new sensations. It all seemed like too much for my over-stimulated body to bear. Somehow, I had expected this encounter to mirror the handful of times we had already shared, but it was different. This time, she was meeting me on equal footing instead of letting me purge my anger in her. It was better.

Shaking fingertips traced the familiar shape of my face, drawing random patterns over my cheeks and chin. They touched the sensitive edges of my lips, following the curve and dipping just between until I was kissing them. My eyes drifted shut and my breath hitched.

My body ached for her to move inside, to fill me, to claim me and offer reassurance and love. I wondered if I would shake apart into a thousand pieces. Somehow, I knew that if I did shatter, Rapunzel would help piece me back together. My lungs could not seem to take in enough air and my heart tried to pound its way out of my chest. Every inch of my skin seared with a fierce, burning heat.

Gentle, hesitant fingers curled against soft velvet walls, coaxing another pulse of wetness from me and gliding easily inside. She pushed deeper, filling me until it burned, straining the small, twitching muscles in her wrist. Our foreheads met and I felt her warm breath against my cheek. Gooseflesh rose along my arms and thighs, but she only smiled, her eyes full of wonder at touching me, feeling me, loving me.

A calm, soothing hand stroked up and down my side in a steady line as her fingers began to twist inside of me, stretching me, easing out and then sinking deeper. I shivered, but did not make a sound, trying desperately to absorb everything, remember everything. The rush of blood and heat between my legs had me blossoming open against her hand, and I felt vulnerable and exposed.

My peak was a deep, shuddering thing, sharp and aching of pleasure. I felt myself spilling over, pouring in to her, wanting us to be as close as possible. I clutched Rapunzel's shoulders, letting her kiss swallow my cries. As the release crashed over me in waves of heat and color and sound, her hand tangled in my hair, curving around the back of my neck, guiding our lips together. She kept kissing me as the hand between my legs stilled, unwilling to let me pull away. I had no desire to.

"We are finally together, aren't we?" she whispered, and I knew what she meant. We had touched each other in anger, in pain and desperation, but never softly, never slowly, simply because we were two people in love. It was the same, and yet it was wholly different.

"I love you," I panted, surprised that I was able to speak at all.

"And I you."

I sighed happily, resting my arm over the swell of Rapunzel's stomach. She tried to remove her hand, but I gripped her wrist softly, silently urging her to stay. I did not want to sever the intimate connection just yet. "They stir when you touch me," she breathed, closing her eyes and kissing my cheek once, twice.

"When I touch your stomach or when I make love to you?" I asked sleepily.

"When you touch me. The last time you made love to me, they were not big enough for me to feel."

My eyes, which had been drifting shut, instantly snapped back open. She was right. I was tired, but surely I could summon the energy for so sweet a prize. "Well," I said, letting my hand drift lower and kissing the point of her chin, "we should do something about that."

"Ailynn, I need..." Rapunzel said in a strangled whisper, unable to complete her thought.

"You need...?" I prompted. Hearing that I was loved and wanted was a balm for all of my old hurts. Whenever I was insecure, I would remember this moment, this woman, needing me. I must have some goodness in me if I managed to capture the heart of someone so wonderful.

"I need you. Just you. I always have," she admitted shakily. My heart swelled with love. Kissing Rapunzel deeply, I tried to help her out of her remaining clothes, tossing them to the side of the bed without tearing my mouth away from hers. This time, there were no barriers in my way as I grazed excited, wet flesh with my fingertips, drawing out every sensation that traveled up my arm and savoring it.

I spent precious moments exploring, learning, taking my time. There was no rush or anger, only the two of us. Her hands reached for my shoulders, clutching desperately as I curled inside of her with one finger, then two, soft warmth gripping them with a tight burn. The low gasps and cries of encouragement made my head spin and I felt my own need rising again, but I ignored it. After all we had been through, she deserved this careful, loving attention. We deserved this. Needed this.

"I love you," she said, breathing heavily as her pelvis began to rock, urging me to quicken my pace. I indulged her and stopped teasing. Even though she was partially on her side, she draped one slender, warm leg over mine, one of her free hands sliding down the curve of my side to cup my hip, drawing me closer.

But it was not enough. Untangling myself from her arms and legs, I explored her throat and shoulders, pausing to tease the excited tips of her breasts to hardness with my mouth, kissing my way across her chest from one to the other. She gasped and shuddered, so responsive under my tongue, and I ached to feel more of her.

I tried my best to pace myself, taking the time to appreciate the curve of her stomach, learn the flair of her hips, stroke the twitching muscles in her thighs with my palms, but she was impatient. When she touched my cheek, brushing the curtain of loose hair away from my face so that she could see me and begged with her eyes, it was impossible to hold back.

Stealing one final glance at Rapunzel's flushed face, her kiss-swollen lips, I draped one of her legs over my shoulder and lowered my head. I did not hesitate, pushing forward with an insistent tongue, wrapping my lips around her and sucking hard. The taste, the heat, the soft sounds that spilled from her lips almost like prayers as her head tipped back, it was soul shaking. I had the brief, impossible thought that this was all I would ever need.

I tried to delay it, to build her up with slow, rhythmic sweeps of my tongue, wanting her to enjoy this for as long as possible, but Rapunzel could only hold back for so long. I felt a surge of love and pride as her muscles locked, trying to arch off of the bed as I anchored her hips to the mattress. One hand fisted the sheets while the other wove into my hair, holding me closer, tighter, as her entire body trembled.

Unwilling to stop, I rode the crest of the wave with her, curling my fingers and pushing up, seeking the place inside of her that would send her shattering to pieces. That coaxed even more wetness from her and a sob broke in her throat, as much of my name as she could form. When the deep, crushing spasms faded to small twitches, she finally let go of my hair and collapsed backwards, the strain in her face softening.

Wanting to stay close to her, I moved up to leave another kiss on her stomach, but found myself pulled up to her waiting lips instead. Catching my lower lip between her teeth, she tugged on it lightly before nuzzling just under my chin. "I love you, Ailynn."

My face split in a smile. "I love you too, Tuathe."

"Will you tell me a story?"

I looked down into her soft brown eyes, disbelieving, but she seemed completely serious. "What? That wasn't enough to entertain you, dear heart?"

She smiled back at me. "It was... very stimulating. But we would like a story to fall asleep to." It reminded me of simpler times when I had lulled her to sleep with my voice. The memories were happy instead of bittersweet and I welcomed them.

"We would?" I asked, reaching down to rub circles on her abdomen. I felt the flutter of a child's foot or fist tap against my open hand.

"Yes, we would."

"Which story?"

"They haven't heard the story of Princess Kirste and the mermaid."

I dropped a lingering kiss on her forehead. "But you have."

"I want to hear it again."

"All right. The sight of the beautiful creature before her sucked Kirste's breath right out of her chest. Her light-colored hair was long and swept to one side, and a filmy white sheet was draped over her shoulders..."

The End

Rae D. Magdon's Scrolls
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