She awoke and sat up in bed with one startled, fluid motion. After a moment she realized that she was awake and flopped back on her pillow with a sigh. She had been dreaming of him again.

There were times she almost hated the dreams, for however much she loved seeing him, he ruined her for anyone else. How could a failable man of flesh and blood ever hope to compare to the impossible perfection of a dream? Not that her phantasm didn't have faults, but they were the sort of faults that only served to make him more perfect.

She looked over at the clock and decided that it was high time she got up anyway. She rolled out of bed with a sigh. Of all the people in the world, why did she have to have dreams about a man who could not exist? If there were the possibility that he could be real, and out there looking for her... Naw, dreams simply did not come true. The strange, pale, dark man of her dreams was nothing more than something born of her own subconscious, a creation of her own sleeping imagination.

Somehow she made it to class, the morning rituals lost themselves in familiarity, and unfortunately, for all that she tried otherwise, her mind would not stop turning the dream over again and again, trying to remember the shape of his face, the way he moved, the way he touched her to help her climb higher on the rocks to escape the ones they ran from... Oh, this was not helping matters any.

"Chrysta!" a voice shouted behind her. She turned and saw Daniel catching up with her. Daniel Michaels was the game master of the role-playing group she sometimes spent weekends with, if schoolwork didn't get too much in the way, as it seemed to be doing more and more. "We missed you Friday night. What happened?"

"Same old, same old. I had a paper I had to work on, it's due today, and I really didn't want to spend all Sunday night typing it out when I also had a test coming up." Chrysta appreciated his concern, though Daniel tended to be concerned when things got in the way of anyone making it to a game. He was a nice guy, a trifle eccentric, but nice all the same. She might have felt something more than simple friendship, if her dreams didn't keep getting in the way. Not that she'd ever told Daniel about the dreams, she's never told anyone about her dreams about him.

For a moment Daniel seemed to change. There almost seemed to be sparkles around him, and he almost seemed... well, taller, and... blue. Chrysta felt dizzy and stumbled a moment as she tried to take a step. Daniel was right there helping her get her balance, and he seemed back to normal, but all around her things seemed to be going crazy, colors got brighter, and then dimmed again, creatures appeared out of nowhere, and then were gone again. She got the strongest feeling that she just did not want to go to class today, that it just wasn't worth all the worry, that she just wanted to go to a park somewhere and sit, and talk, and do nothing. Oh her parents would be horrified at the thought of skipping school, but everything just seemed to be too much. Daniel must have seen something because suddenly he was helping her out of the hallways, dodging teachers and other students to get to the door, and into the open air. All the while he was talking, calmly talking, but she couldn't hear what he was saying. The rhythm of his voice soothed her, though. She was so confused. He held her shoulders and kept her from falling when she stumbled a moment as they exited the building.

Chrysta looked at the trees with some relief, the high school had never seemed so... forboding before, and looked over at Daniel. He was definately blue now, and much taller, and he had horns. "Daniel... you..." she couldn't finish what she had been trying to say, because she suddenly realized that she felt different. She looked down at herself and realized that she was wearing, of all things, armor, and a sword... She knew, sort of, what to do with a sword, but she'd never really used one, sure she'd hung out with those SCAers that one summer... What was happening!

Daniel looked at her with a mixture of suprise and pity on his face, and then she saw the resolve harden. "Come on. I'll take you to some friends of mine."

"What is happening to me?" She was so absolutely confused. What was going on here?

Somehow they made it to his car, and somehow he fit into it, given that he's grown about two feet taller since she had started going haywire. He started explaining things to her, about the Kithain, and something called a Chrysalis, and, of all things, fairies. She toyed with the idea that he was completely off his rocker, but that didn't seem to really be the case, he'd always been rather stable, and if he was crazy, then so was she, because she was the one seeing things. She let him talk all he wanted.

Then they were downtown, at an old coffeeshop/diner/bookstore that she and the others in the gaming group liked to hang out at, but is was different, it glowed, and pulsed with a life that she wondered how she had ever missed before. Daniel pulled her in, still supporting her shoulders, and the man behind the coffeshop counter saw them and was over in a moment, helping him take her into a back room, that wasn't anything she had seen before. It was like a throneroom, or maybe a ballroom, she got the impression that it could be used either way. There were a bunch of other people there, and they were all very strange. Men in silken scarves, women with animal tails and others in gowns the likes of which she only dreamed. There were some who were tall and beautiful, and one in particular, a man only a few years older than herself, dressed in blue and silver, came over to them.

"What is it, Sir Knight?" he asked Daniel, with a small smile at the title. She wondered where Daniel had gotten a title, was this some sort of strange SCA meeting?

"My Lord Baron, this is Chrysta, she's one of my friends. Her Chrysalis just started about fifteen minutes ago. I hope she's coming out of it." Daniel seemed rather worried.

"Baron?" she asked in confusion, "where am I?"

The beautiful man smiled at her. "You are in a Freehold, a special place where dreams are real, and you, my Lady, are a dream given form, I know that this must all be terribly confusing, and I'll try to explain things as best I can..."

Chrysta didn't hear a word he said after that, for in the corner she spied someone standing, leaning against the wall, watching her intently, and she felt her heart squeeze. "Where dreams are real" he had said, and she knew, at that moment, that there was no other explanation, for the man watching her could not be real any other way.

He was tall, and well-muscled, and pale as milk next to the black clothing he wore, with his midnight black hair and his coal black eyes. He was standing there, looking at her with something in his eyes, she could see pain, and wondered why her face should bring him pain, but there was something else. She felt herself start to move towards him, but Daniel's hands still held her, and she looked at him a moment, and then when she looked back, the man was gone.

Mistral Wind paced back and forth in his room below the freehold, in part because he did not know what else to do. Watching him from a stool in the corner was his one real friend, a boggan maid named Kerrie Andaras, or so she claimed. He'd never bothered to question the name she used, goodness knew he had enough secrets of his own that hers shouldn't be a problem. At the moment he knew that she was absolutely bursting at the seams to know what had him so worked up, but she would die before saying word one to ease her curiosity. Well, such loyalty had to be rewarded, gods only knew she was the only one he could trust.

"It was her."

Kerrie was caught by suprise by his unexpected whisper. "Who?"

"Her. The one I've been dreaming about since I was old enough to know what a woman looked like. She stood there, not even fully out of her Chrysalis and she looked at me and she knew me. I'm sure she knew me."

Kerrie's mind worked furiously. "The Lady that Sir Daniel brought in this morning? That one?"

"Who else would I be talking about?"

Kerrie was suprised to say the least, but she did him the honor of trying not to show it and not saying the obvious. "Well, why didn't you go talk to her? Why are you hiding away in here? If she knows you, don't you think that she'd be looking for you the same way you've been looking for her?"

Mistral stopped pacing. "Are you crazy, Boggan? She is nobility, she always has been and always will be, and I... I am nothing compared to her. My very touch would cause her pain..."

Kerrie was about fed up with his continual self-bashing, but she knew enough to know that her words weren't going to have any effect. Something had happened to throw him into this attitude, and only something of similar emotional impact was going to throw him out, if the opportunity ever came up. He never did fully explain why he blames himself so much. It took her months just to get him to say anything to her at all, and she wasn't going to blow his trust at this point.

"Well, Sluagh, Something has been giving you dreams of her for so long, and that same something has probably been giving her the same dreams, did you ever consider that? Perhaps this is D'an."

"Then D'an has a sadistic sense of humor." he muttered in his strange whisper. "I would never seek one such as her..." He started pacing again, and Kerrie could see that he was trying to decide whether or not to say more. "I dreamed of her again last night. We were climbing rock walls within strangely lit tunnels. I helped her rise another level, and then I woke up."

This suprised Kerrie. He almost never described the dreams to her, only sometimes mentioning them at all. This had shook him up bigtime. It looked like it was going to be a long day for her if he was this talkative already...

"Let me see if I have this right. We're really the fairies of story and legend hiding out in human form and this is because five hundred years ago, give or take a century or two depending on the House and the individual, the Age of Reason knocked the Sidhe, us specifically, back into a paradisical fairieland called Arcadia, while the 'commoner' Kiths, led by the Trolls, were forced to find a way to survive without the nobility." Chrysta was standing in Leonine's study/library within the Freehold, another room she's never knew existed before her Chrysalis, pacing out of habit as she tried to get the history of the Kithain straight in her head. This was one of her lessons, as Leonine called it, and she wanted to make sure she understood all the crazy stuff he was telling her.

"So far, so good, I suppose." A smile was quirking the corners of Leonine's mouth and Chrysta supposed he found her humerous for some reason, though she couldn't see why.

"Now, while we were romping away in Arcadia, the Trolls, the Boggans, the Sluaghs, the Pookas, the Satyrs, the Nockers, the Redcaps, and the Eshu were forging a society that adapted with the changing times. The fighting between the Seelie and the Unseelie ended for all intents and puposes and the more democratic ideals of human society sort of filtered into the commoner makeup.

"Now it's 1969 and man lands on the moon and all the people seeing the impossible made possible blasts open the Moon Trods to Arcadia and the Five Houses, us, get kicked back to Earth on our collective butts."

Leonine nods slowly, that smile quirking the corners of his mouth even more. What in the world did he find so funny about this?

"Okay, the commoners are 20th Century, but we're still living in the Dark Ages because none of us remember anything of Arcadia after we abandoned the commoners to their fate. So as soon as we're back on our feet we start a War for supremacy and manage to win no less, and that was the Accordance War and it made David Ardry High King over the US, Canada, and Mexico, what he calls Concordia.

"So now we're back where we were, in the Dark Ages, except we have a world rushing headlong into the total destruction of imagination, Trolls who have proven leadership in the crucible of the Interregnum, and widespread discontent among the democratic commoners against the totalitarian, feudal, 'Divine Right to Rule' Sidhe nobility to whom we have the awesome honor and responsibility of belonging."

The smile Leonine had been trying to resist had finally burst out into a full-grown grin. "Well, it's not exactly how the history books will record it..."

"History is written by the winners."

He nodded. "...but I suppose it's accurate enough."

This time she grinned, "Finally. Well, at least I understand something now. What do I get to learn next?"

"That will have to wait, Fledgeling. Why don't you go have some fun or something? Daniel tells me that you've been very studious for too many years to not want some fun." There was that grin again. What in the world did he find so humorous about her? She looked up into his eyes and her heart squeezed. No, she did not need that right now. Not with her dreams the way they were, and that mysterious man simply watching her, and never talking. She gave Leonine a farewell hug and took off to find the underground caverns the childlings said were under the Freehold. Chrysta had a feeling that she might find something down there.

As she walked her mind wandered, as it was prone to do now, and she allowed herself some time to fret about her parents. She'd started skipping classes every so often, not often enough to do some damage to her grades, but enough that her parents were worried. Add that to her strange new friends, they were never really comfortable with Daniel, and the parties she spent her weekends at, and they were verging on the desperate. Chrysta was certain they thought she was into drugs or something similarly stupid. As if she would ever be so idiotic to do permanent damage to her body. Though if they got any more protective and stifling she just might crack and do something extremely stupid just to spite them and she didn't want to see that happen. Gods, she'd been the Dutiful Daughter for seventeen years, her parents could deal with the Hellion for a little while. She deserved a little rebellion in her life. She wasn't a three-year-old at Death's door anymore.

Chrysta was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't see the hole in the ground before her, a hole that went about twenty feet down and opened into a small cavern, with a corridor leading out. With a groan she tried to stand and then fell back with a muttered oath as her ankle sent sharp stabs of pain up her leg. She'd managed to hurt herself with her daydreaming and she had no wish for the childlings to see her like this. They'd never stop laughing.

From the shadows of the corridor Chrysta saw him approach. What a time for him to show up! She could feel her heart start racing and she silently berated herself for looking so out-of-place. He was looking at her, with that same strange pain in his eyes, and she wanted to stand against him and turn the pain into something else, and then she started silently berating her body for dictating reactions to her mind like that. The last thing she needed was to start remembering some of those dreams.

"Hello." she said, a bit hesitantly. She couldn't think of anything else to say.

He just stood there, a strange tension in his face.

"Umm, I've seen you around some. My name's Chrysta Richmond, you are...?" It sounded so hokey she almost gagged, but she had to say something, since he was so silent. Finally she sighed. "Okay, I understand, you're the strong silent type. I can deal with that, it's just... I seem to have hurt myself and I'm going to need some help getting back up to my rooms above. Do you think...?" She left it hanging.

She could have sworn that she saw him smile. He walked forward and knelt to pick her up in his arms. Chrysta almost fainted as her body reacted for one electric moment to his touch. Oh, this was not going to be easy...

He silently carried her up to her room and placed her on the divan, and then got up to leave, and paused, then turned around, took her hand, and kissed it, and then he was gone and Chrysta leaned back, trembling. How did he do this to her? Why was she acting so juvenile about a man? she'd never been like this before, but then she'd never seen a dream walking among reality like this before. She tried to keep her mind calm, but all she wanted was for him to return, to hold her, to kiss her... Oh, she was in trouble, and she knew that very well indeed.

Mistral managed to get back to his chamber before his legs would carry him no farther. It had been all he could do to keep from giving her more than that one kiss, though he still didn't know why he did that to begin with. His body wanted... well, he knew about physical reactions, and that wasn't what threatened his self control, it was the way she had looked so helpless, and yet still so regal. He had never been able to resist helping someone in need, perhaps that was why he had grown so attached to Kerrie, for she had the same problem, and she had asked so hesitantly, not wanting to offend, when most Sidhe would simply have ordered him, and he could resist orders. No, it was that simple pleading... He was having problems, and that was the absolute truth.

Within shadows some distance away from the city of Mountainview, a Sidhe stood gazing into his scrying pool. The mirror of the water's surface showed him the scene within Chrysta's chambers and then followed Mistral to his caverns down below. A slow smile spread across his face. "So... Mistral Wind loves again. How... entertaining. I believe it is time I paid a visit to Baron Leonine's court. Yes,... it has been a long time since I last saw young Mistral Wind."

Chrysta was able to get her ankle looked at relatively quickly, after all, a lady couldn't have a turned ankle when she had dancing lessons and swordfighting lessons and a ball in only a week. Oh, she could not spend her time holed up nursing a sprain...

She wondered for a while if she hadn't gotten herself into a life as stiflingly structured as the one she was trying to escape in her parent's house, but then she got to thinking about all the fun,... and she really did enjoy the dancing lessons, and she did love the fact that she felt as if she was at an SCA event every moment she was in the Freehold. Maybe things wouldn't be as difficult after she got over this "Fledge" business.

That got her thinking about the various things she had to do for that, however far in the future Leonine said it would be, and she just wished she didn't have to wait so long. A feeling of terrible impatience washed over her, there were things she needed to be doing... though what they were escaped her at the moment.

The week passed quickly, and Chrysta continued to see him watching her from corners, from shadows, as if he didn't want her to see him. She wished she at least had a name to call him, it's not as if he volunteered one for her to use. She wanted to just talk with him, though to do that would be to admit that she has been having those dreams, and what if he wasn't the one she'd been dreaming of, what if the one she'd been dreaming of didn't really exist, and he was only someone who looked very much like him . . . Chrysta quickly banished the thought, she couldn't afford to doubt at this point, besides, she was convinced anew every time their eyes met, and she wanted more than ever to know why he avoided her.

The ball was alot of fun, so far at least. Chrysta danced and enjoyed herself immensely and was very glad to have a moment to talk to Leonine while resting between songs. She was explaining something when the door opened and another Sidhe walked in. He evidentally knew Leonine because he promptly walked over to her guardian.

He was tall, as all Sidhe tend to be, and fair of hair and eyes as the strange man of her dreams was dark, though his skin was not quite as pale, being an appealing shade of tan. He practically radiated self assurance and Chrysta found her breath quickening as she looked at him. "Baron..." he said, and his voice was deep and inviting.

"My Lord..."

"Would you care to introduce me...?" he indicated Chrysta, and Leonine smiled a moment.

"This is my ward, Chrysta." Leonine turned to Chrysta. "Chrysta, this is Lord Rhydian of House Gwydion..." Rhydian took her hand and kissed it in greeting.

"It is my pleasure to make the acquaintance of so lovely a lady."

Chrysta found herself blushing a moment. "Why, thank you, milord, I must say, I am unused to such compliments, I am very new to all this..."

As they talked, Mistral Wind stood in the shadows watching them, fear squeezing his heart like it had not in so very long. Oh, Gods he thought, It's him.

Rhydian sat thinking about the evening from his favorite chair in his library. All in all things had gone well. The girl was charmingly naive and innocent, just what Mistral would fall in love with, and she was breathtakingly beautiful as well. This would be enjoyable, very enjoyable, and it looked as if Mistral was tormenting himself enough with his "impossible" love that Rhydian could affort to take his time, yes, he would take his time and maybe this time the girl wouldn't end up dead, that had been so disappointing.

Time passed and the school year came to a close, finally, and Chrysta was free, for three months at least, to spend her time as she pleased, within reason of course. She eventually had it out with her parents when she was getting dangerously close to the point when she couldn't take it anymore, and they were giving her a little more slack, it was her mother who suggested that she go away for the summer, and so she went to spend the summer at the Freehold, though her parents thought she was staying at a special camp for band students or some other such nonsense.

Rhydian became a frequent visitor to the Freehold over the months, and he would occasionally take part in her lessons and it was quite a shock to her the day she realized that he was flirting with her, and that she had been flirting back. Well, why shouldn't she? That mysterious man of her dreams certainly wasn't making amy moves and she figured it was about time she had a suitor.

Chrysta enjoyed Rhydian's attentions, but as time went on she became more and more confused. Her dreams were of the other man, but he never spoke to her. Rhydian spoke ot her, laughed with her, danced with her, but she never dreamed of him. She couldn't even talk to anyone about the mystery man, and she was strangely reluctant to say anything about him to Rhydian.

She was fighting, sword in hand, and it was a losing battle. They were being overrun and there was nothing she could do about it. Her beloved pulled her aside from the fighting, just as an axe clove the empty air where she had been standing. They fled, hand in hand, down the tunnels below the castle to a place of safety he had been preparing for them.

Their enemies could not follow them once the protections were in place and that gave the lovers some moments of peace, and the chance to simply hold each other. "I will love you forever, my Lady, but you must leave me for now. I will not risk losing you."

"I would rather die at your side than live without you, Beloved."

"You won't be forced to live without me, dearest. I consulted the Seers, and our paths will cross again. We will love again. But now you must go, I will hold this place safe for you." He took her in his arms and kissed her tenderly and then, with tears in his eyes, he pushed her through the Trod to Arcadia. As she fell through she saw a dagger in the shadows, falling towards his unprotected back. She tried to scream, to warn him, but her voice would not work, and he fell forward, just short of the Trod opening, and someone else stood beside him, gloating over his traitorous actions. The person entered the Trod with her and she backed away from him, more in self- protection than in fear, though her heart was shredded in her breast with her love's death.

"You will forget..."

Chrysta woke up screaming from that one, and knew right then that she had to go talk to the mysterious man, though she didn't know how to find him. Wordlessly she reached for her dressing gown and took off silently down the hallway towards the underground passages, hoping that D'an would lead her feet, because she didn't know where she was going.

Chrysta silently made her way down dark corridors, trying not to be seen by the various Fae who still wandered the halls, since nighttime was a favorite time for various entertainments and studies of their own. Several times she was certain someone was about to see her, but they moved away at the last moment. She didn't know why she wanted to remain unseen, she just did. It wasn't as if she was doing anything wrong, was she?

She quickly made it down to the hole she had fallen into and carefully lowered herself over the edge, and then let go, trusting to a Wayfare cantrip she had recently mastered to keep her from hurting herself this time. She felt the Glamour cradle her descent and then she was standing on the bottom, looking at the corridor that the man had come from, and started down it, a ghostly figure in her white nightgown and slippers.

She followed twisting corridors to more corridors and quickly lost track of where she was going, not as if it mattered to her. Chrysta's only thought was of finding the man, somehow, and talking to him. Suddenly the corridor she was following opened up into a chamber, a chamber decorated with a great many things from a great many places. There were tables and chairs everywhere, and paintings on the wall, and nicknacks strewn about on delicate lace doilies, and there was even a teaset in one corner. She could also see weapons, some of them glowing with Glamour, on the rocky walls.

"What are you doing here?" a voice whispered behind her.

Chrysta whirled around to see the man standing above her, strange emotions in his eyes. "I... I had to find you. I couldn't take not knowing anymore. Forgive me if I angered you, but I..." She paused, not knowing what to say, and the words forced themselves out of her mouth, "I dreamed of you. I've been dreaming of you, and I couldn't take not knowing who you were anymore. Please, at least give me a name, something to call you..." Her voice failed her then for he drew in a startled breath and the expression in his eyes became almost too much to bear.

"You dreamt of me?" he whispered. He sounded as one who could not believe what he had heard and Chrysta felt an almost overpowering need to reach out and touch his face, but she held herself back, barely.

"Yes, for many years now. I was afraid that there was no way you could be real, and I wanted very much for you to be real, and not something my mind made up to torment me. Please, who are you?"

"I am Mistral Wind." he whispered.

"I thank you, Mistral Wind. Please, why do you look at me like that?" She was almost afraid that she had asked too much with the question, but he didn't become angry.

"I dreamt of you, Chrysta, and I..." he paused, "Please, do not trust Lord Rhydian. I beg you, stay away from him." There was such agony in his voice, such pain, Chrysta couldn't stand it anymore.

"As you wish." and she reached up to touch his cheek, a featherlight touch, a brush of her fingertips, and the strange pain returned to his eyes. "Such pain in your eyes. Why do I cause you pain? How have I hurt you?"

"You have not hurt me," he whispered, "but I can only bring you pain, and am unworthy of one of your birth."

"You mean my Kith? Does it matter? It doesn't to me." She never knew how she got the courage, but she reached up and put her arms around his neck, and kissed him, long and full, as she had so desired to do for so very long. She felt her body explode for one moment and his reaction was just as strong. His arms tightened about her. When their lips separated there were tears shining in his eyes.

"You are still very young as to your life as Fae, Chrysta. Kith and rank can be very important indeed. Some things are not meant to be."

She sighed and leaned her head against his chest, not letting go of him for a moment. "But is this one of them? I would think not. We are dreams given life, are we not? Let this one dream come true, please?" She looked up at him, eyes pleading.

He was helpless before those eyes and knew it well. With a silent sigh of acceptance he wrapped his arms around her body and held her close as he kissed her. Then he lifted her into his arms and carried her into the bedchamber.

Lord Rhydian growled with disgust. Something had happened to uspset the plans he had been working on so patiently. The girl suddenly would have nothing to do with him, though he could tell the the attraction he had so carefully been fostering was still there. Apparently Mistral had managed to warn her away from him, or perhaps done more, it didn't matter which. It was just as well, there was a time for patience and a time for action and the time for patience had ended for the moment.

Chrysta woke up with a start. The room was dark and it felt like it was late, or rather, very early. She heard soft breathing next to her and was comforted to know that if Mistral was still with her, then it wasn't too late in the very early morning. After a moment she realized that he was awake as well.

"Hello, Mistral." she murmured with a smile.

He smiled back, a small smile. "What woke you?"

"I'm not sure." She thought a moment and started shivering, something was wrong, or was going to go wrong. Mistral felt the shiver and pulled her close to him.

"What's wrong?"

"That's the problem. I don't know. Just hold me for a while, I'll calm down." He did and she fell back asleep, comfortably safe in his arms. When she woke up again, he was gone.

They had to do things like this. It wouldn't do for either of them if certain members of the court found out that she was carrying on with Mistral, and he wasn't secure enough to face them yet. She didn't care what they thought, but he did, and so they met in secret and the court gossipped that Rhydian must have done something to fall out of her favor and that he would somehow prove his worthiness to her and the two of them would marry as was only proper. She liked him, but not that much, and not when the very mention of his name caused that terrible fear in Mistral's eyes.

In Court that day, Lord Rhydian bid farewell, for the time being. He was needed elsewhere, and he hoped, he declared loudly, that Chrysta would look on him with greater favor when he returned with glory to lay at her glorious feet... and he went on like that for a while, and then he left and Chrysta had to face the various comments that people would drop, trying to get her to soften her heart to Rhydian, for he truly was a handsome man and a great warrior and a wonderous match, and they made such a beautiful couple. Several times she thought she was going to lose her lunch if not for the funny faces that Kerrie kept throwing her.

Kerrie was in on the situation between Chrysta and Mistral. She almost had to be, with how well she read Mistral, and how easily she heard things. She made sure there weren't any rumors about Chrysta's real romance.

Mistral Wind was woken up the next morning by a very loud and very insistant Kerrie. "Get up! Now! Before it's too late!"

"What is it, Kerrie." he muttered.

"Chrysta's gone and you have to get up to the Courtroom for the Baron's announcement and challenge."

That got Mistral up. "What? Where did she go?"

"No one knows. She was in her room last night, and then she was gone this morning and all the Baron found was a rather insulting unsigned note that stated that whoever-it-was had his Ward and that if he was lucky he would never see her again. Leonine is rather ticked about it and he blames Morgan of House Eiluned, you remember her, the Baroness across town? Well, things aren't pretty up there and the Baron is expected to declare a Quest of sorts, and offer a Boon to whoever finds, rescues, and returns Chrysta to him. That's why you have to get up there now."

Mistral's heart sank in his breast. The Baroness didn't have Chrysta, Rhydian did, he'd bet his life on it, and no one would know because Rhydian had made himself so obviously not a suspect...

The Baron finished reading the proclamation of the Quest to find his Ward Chrysta with a heavy heart. He was going to search for her himself, once he finished here.

From the back a whispered voice rose up. "If I find the lady Chrysta, and bring her back, may I demand a Boon?"

It was a tall, dark haired Sluagh, and the Baron was so desperate that he didn't care. "Yes. Anything."

"If I request her hand in marriage? for one lunar year?" Mistral worried for a moment that he was pressing his luck but the Baron quickly replied yes and Mistral gave his thanks and turned and left the Hall.

Chrysta woke slowly, gradually becoming aware that she was lying on a mass of silken pillows, and that the room was slightly warm, and that she was wearing only her bra and panties. That realization woke her up without another thought and she sat up, starting to blush, and saw that she was the only one in the room.

The bed of pillows was a circular-shaped depression in one corner of the room and all around her were cushions and tables with dainty trinkets and curtains hanging from the ceiling, filmy curtains that lent the whole room an aura of... well, almost magic she supposed. The favored color seemed to be an inviting shade of peach, with white as an accent.

She started exploring the room and found several wardrobes of gowns in all colors of the rainbow. She just stood there for a while, looking at all the dresses in sheer delight, and then moved on, resolving to try on every single one of them if she were here for any length of time. She found a bookcase of novels and a supply of paper, almost begging her to fill their pages with tales of adventure and romance. As she continued her explorations she found a side room with a huge bath, and a ready supply of towels and soaps and perfumes enough to make her head spin.

One thing she didn't find, though, was a door leading out of the suite and that worried her. If there were no way out, how did she get in? Then she was distracted by the discovery of a jewelry chest that made her heart squeeze.

She quite happily entertained herself for several hours when a hole opened in one of the walls and Lord Rhydian entered, the hole closing behind him. She gasped in suprise and Rhydian bowed before her, dropping to one knee.

"Forgive me, my Lady, for not coming to you sooner, but I had many preparations to make for your safety. Your guardian, the Baron Leonine, was made aware of a plot to cause you harm, and he placed you in my care to see that your safety was assured. I have tried to make these rooms as comfortable for you as I could, though if there is any lack, please, advise me of it, that I may help you more easily." Chrysta thought there was something kinda funny about his story, but she abandoned the thought before it could develop very far. Leonine would never do anything to hurt her.

"I thank you for the consideration, though I must wonder as to why you brought me here unconcious and barely clothed." She spoke somewhat hesitantly and was suprised to see something near a blush creep up his cheeks.

"We did not wish you to fear during the journey here, and we were afraid that if you had forewarning, some malevolent force could steal the information from your mind, so we brought you here asleep and unknowing, for your own safety, of course. As for the state of your undress..." the blush deepened. "I am afraid that was my doing. Your nightgown was damaged in the journey here, and I would not have anything that is damaged near you. I can return it if you insist, but I hope that I have provided gowns that more properly match your beauty, though I fear that such was a hopeless quest, for your beauty may very well be truly matchless."

Chrysta blushed at his apologies and compliments. "My thanks. Indeed, you have provided truly wonderous gowns, and in truth, I have not had the time to see them all."

"Perhaps I could help you in that endeavor?" She heard a hopeful note in his voice and smiled.

"I would be very grateful for your assistance." Something inside her mind screamed something at her, but she ignored it. She was enjoying herself, which she had every right to do.

Rhydian could barely contain his exultation. Oh, the girl was so very malleable, this would be truly wonderous. And to think she so very nearly became Mistral's lady. Oh, the boy did not deserve this one, any more than he had deserved the last, though Rhydian truly did wish that she hadn't died. Chrysta tempted him, teased him, she was so wonderfully perfect that she would have been wasted in Leonine's court. Under his tutelage she would become his perfect match, as she was always meant to be. Oh, how he would enjoy teaching her...

Chrysta didn't know how long she'd been in the rooms provided for her by Rhydian, it felt as though she had always been there, and yet she also didn't think she'd been there very long at all. Rhydian was very nice to her, he brought her things and he talked with her for hours and he taught her more about her Fae magick than she'd had time to study with Leonine. She enjoyed those lessons more than she let on, it wouldn't do to seem too eager to a suitor, but somehow she figured that he knew anyway.

She was actually taking a nap at the moment, and was just waking up oh so slowly. She enjoyed napping more since her Chysalis, it gave her more of a chance to dream, though she wasn't remembering her dreams the way she thought that she had been. She had trouble remembering things, though Rhydian said that it was nothing to be concerned about, her memory would get better, or it would not, it didn't matter.

She felt the pillows shift next to her and she smiled a moment as she caught Rhydian's distinctive fragance. Strange how even men had a unique smell to them, it was something she had grown to appreciate. Even without looking she could feel him lying on his side next to her. A brief memory flashed through her mind of lying next to another man, with dark hair, but it vanished after only a moment and she was left to wonder how she had ever known anyone other than Rhydian.

She felt his hand rest upon her thigh, such a strong, capable hand, and he caressed her skin for a moment before leaning over to kiss her softly. She raised an arm to hold his shoulders and pull him closer to her as she responded to his kiss. "Greetings, Milord." she murmured.

"I thought you were awake, my Lady." he replied with a note of teasing in his voice. "Any idea what you would like to do today?"

She smiled. "You were doing rather well already."

"Well, I suppose if you enjoy it so much, I should probably continue what I started."

"Why don't you do that?"

His hand crept up farther to caress her belly and then she felt it slide behind her to pull her body up against his as he kissed her again, this time with slowly rising passion. He followed directions so well.

Kerrie walked carefully through the empty hallways of the Freehold. Chrysta had been gone now for over two weeks and things were getting... interesting to say the least. After his initial fury over Chrysta's abduction had faded, and no sign of Chrysta appeared, even with a thorough search of all the surrounding holdings, Leonine had fallen into a depressed decline, and rarely left his rooms now. Rumor ran rampant through the freeholds of Mountainview and Countess Estella had taken the search for Chrysta into her personal care, and parties ranged far and wide looking for the Fledgeling Sidhe. Estella had even gone so far as to contact one Sir Etienne deSourvale, who was rumored to be True Fae from before the Shattering, and ask him to search out Lord Rhydian in the Deep Dreaming to tell him of his love's predicament. By this time everyone knew that he had gone off on a Quest to impress her and place himself in her good graces again. Everyone was also talking about Mistral, and his incredible demand on the morning of Chrysta's disappearance. There were many who thought that he had kidnapped her just so he could demand her hand in marriage and embarrass the nobility, though the supporters of this rumor dwindled as time passed and she did not reappear. Surely if he had planned this he would have brought her back by now. No few also believed that Leonine's decline was caused by his incredible love for his Ward, and no few thought that he had kept his love unknown out of a desire to see her happy with her suitor, the Lord Rhydian, since the two men had been friends for many years. It was a triangle that caught the imaginations of several bards, for all that it was inaccurate, Kerrie thought. Gah, and they think Boggans are the world's worst gossips. We don't have anything on the rumor mills the Sidhe create. We just use them.

After a moment Kerrie reached Mistral's underground caverns and started cleaning up the accumulated dust and setting things to rights. The least she could do was keep his place clean while he was away looking for the woman he loved, for all that he still wouldn't admit how much she meant to him. There was D'an in that love, Kerrie could see that without even trying, D'an alone could bind him that quickly and with that much strength.

Leonine sat in the large chair in his sitting room and stared into the fireplace, unmoving and seemingly uncaring of the Boggan who bustled around dusting and setting things straight. He spent most of his days like this, sitting and staring. It seemed as though all love for life had disappeared when Chrysta did and he seemed to fade a bit more each day she was gone.

Kerrie tried not to look at him, it hurt her to see him in such pain, and be unable to help him any, since she couldn't go off and help Mistral bring the Fledge back, if she didn't take care of the little things here, they would have been left undone and that would have been intolerable. So she bustled around, trying to be busy, because if she was busy then the air of depression that surrounded the Baron could not infect her.

"Where is she?" Leonine asked, startling Kerrie so that she stopped still for a moment. "Where is my precious Chrysta?" There was such pain in his voice.

"I don't know, my Lord Baron." Kerrie replied. "A great many people are looking for her right now. She'll be brought back, don't you worry."

But he did worry, he worried a great deal, and every day he faded a bit more, and every day he seemed less like himself, and every day Kerrie prayed to whatever powers might be listening that Mistral find his Lady love and bring her back again soon.

Mistral peered out of the cave into the gloom of the snowstorm. He had had no luck in nearing three weeks of searching and he knew very well that he was running out of time. He was far into the Dreaming and he thought he was getting closer, but then this damn snowstorm blew up out of nowhere and locked him in the cave for three days now. With a muttered expletive he moved father back into the cave, away from the weather, and back to the small fire he had built in a natural fireplace. If he weren't in such a rush, the cave would have been rather cozy, and a welcome place to rest or spend several weeks just enjoying oneself, but right now it felt constraining, and every moment he spent there was one more more moment that Chrysta didn't have.

He heard feet approaching the cave, though the storm, and he went back to the opening to see a cloaked and hooded form stagger into the relative safety of the outer cave. The figure shook off some of the accumulated snow and Mistral could see it was a Sidhe, and he bore a huge sword on his back. Then the Sidhe noticed him.

"Greetings, Sluagh, for so I see that you are, I trust that you do not mind my seeking refuge in this cave from the mighty blizzard outside?"

Mistral nodded and motioned him into the inner cave network, farther out of the weather.

"My thanks, good Sluagh. I am Sir Etienne deSourvale, and you might be..." He left the inquiry hanging.

"Mistral Wind." He whispered, moving back to allow the Sidhe room to put down his packs. It was then that Mistral saw the majestic creature who came with Etienne, a pegasus of black, a truly beautiful animal. Etienne saw him admiring the Chimera and smiled.

"This is Nightshade, she travels with me."

"She is beautiful. You are honored." He moved father back to allow Nightshade room to sit down if she wished, which she did.

"Since you seem to be of a retiring nature, I trust you do not mind if I choose to speak?" Mistral nodded. "I am presently on a Quest to find a Fae, a Sidhe, out of a Quest deep in the Dreaming, I believe it is related to the Quest you follow, if you are indeed the Mistral Wind who asked Baron Leonine for his Ward's hand in marriage if you succeeded in rescuing her and bringing her back to his court..." Mistral's head snapped up at Etienne's words. "Oh, don't be angry at me, you are the talk of the town there for that display of... gall, I suppose. I wish you the best of luck in the endeavor. I, however, am trying to find the Lord Rhydian, who was a suitor of the Lady Chrysta's before she was abducted, and inform him that she is missing so that he can take up the challenge if he wishes."

Mistral debated with himself for a moment, before finally deciding that perhaps he had reached the point where he had no other alternatives. "Lord Rhydian is the one who holds Chrysta prisoner. He seeks to change her into something she is not. I am trying to find his stronghold, for she will be forever lost if I do not find her soon."

Etienne looked at him for a moment, hiding his suprise. "Lord Rhydian holds her? How do you know this?"

"Because he did it once before to a woman I loved, and she died as a result of his actions."

Etienne's eyes narrowed. "Indeed? I will admit I have heard some contradictory tales about Rhydian of House Gwydion..."

"Did you hear this, that it was only his mother who was Gwydion? His father was Eiluned, and he has tormented me for far longer than I care to recall. We were friends once."

"Ah, that does clear up some of the confusion. I think I would like to offer you my services in helping to find the Lady. I am very experienced in the Deep Dreaming, and I would like to see the Lady free..."

Mistral felt some of his worry flow out of his body with a single sigh of relief. "I... would appreciate your help. We have only a week left though, I fear. If we do not find her soon,... then Chrysta will have no choice in who wins her and I would give my life to keep that from happening..."

That night the storm abated enough for the three travellers to start out again. And Mistral was plagued by memories that had haunted him for years, yet he had not wanted to face.

Erica had been beautiful, so beautiful that she had not lacked for suitors, and Mistral, a much younger man then, was well and smitten at first sight. She seemed to enjoy his attentions, though it was hard to tell what a Pooka meant, especially if she were the one being wooed. They had not spoken of oaths when Rhydian walked in and swept her off her feet. He took her away and hid her for a month before Mistral was able to find her again.

Rhydian had used Chicanery to fog her memory and mould her spirit, and she was falling for him, but all her memories had come crashing back when she saw Mistral, and she fainted. Rhydian appeared then, and they fought, but Mistral was not there when she awoke, and unable to cope with what she felt was her betrayal, she threw herself off the top of the towers. Mistral had seen her body falling and felt as though he died that day.

Rhydian had killed his beloved Erica, even if his had not been the hand to murder her, and to Mistral, the death of a Kithain must not go unpunished. Mistral never forgave himself for not getting to her sooner, for not being able to do something to keep her from such bleak despair, and now it looked as though it might happen again, and he didn't know if he could take it.

Etienne and Mistral found themselves rather forcefully accompanied into the recieving chamber. Their guards had found them on the edge of their lord's lands and strongly requested that they come along. Upon a large throne-like chair on the dais at the other end of the room sat Lord Rhydian and he looked at the two travellers with a half smile on his face. A murmured command to one of his guards had Mistral pulled off to the dungeons and then Rhydian came off of the dais to stand with Etienne, as the rest of the guards vanished into corners.

"My apologies for the... roughness with which you were brought here. I must guard this place from many dangers. If you do not mind my asking, why were you travelling with the Sluagh?"

"To be honest, I was looking for you. I was told that you were on a Quest in the Deep Dreaming and I was sent to find you with some terrible news. The Lady Chrysta, whom you were wooing, if I am not mistaken, has disappeared from her Guardian's care and it is thought that you might want to take up the search."

Rhydian's face looks troubled. "Indeed, I will look for her. My thanks for the delivery of your message. And the Sluagh...?"

"He also was looking for the Lady Chrysta. He led me to believe that you held her."

Rhydian managed to look shocked, and then saddened. "It is as I feared. I well know that the Sluagh harbor some secret anger against the nobility, but I thought that I could call this one friend, until one day he attacked me for reasons I still do not understand. Since that day he has sought to destroy me, and I know not why."

"Strange things come between friends."

"Aye, that they do. Anyway, I must deal with my former friend, I would ask that you accept my hospitality for a couple days at least."

"I shall, with thanks."

"Farewell then, for the moment." And Rhydian moved off to follow the corridor Mistral was taken down only moments before.

Mistral was thrown into the small cell with nary a care for how he landed, and he watched as Rhydian calmly stepped into the doorway. "So, you are now a guest of my... lower chambers." He smiles. "You don't honestly think you can still win from me what is mine by right, do you?"

"Chrysta belongs to no one but herself." he whispers. "You killed Erica, you won't take Chrysta."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Still mourning for that Pooka girl? She killed herself, not I. I had nothing to do with her falling from that parapet. I was... otherwise occupied at the time, if you remember." His voice was very smooth, cultured, calculated to drive Mistral crazy.

"You destroyed her mind. Her death lies on your hands."

"And where were you when she jumped? What were you doing? It's no use, Mistral, what is mine is mine, and what is yours... is nothing. The month is over this night, young Sluagh. Chrysta is mine, forever." With that he left the room and the door was shut behind him and locked, leaving Mistral with only his pain.

Chrysta awoke with a start. She had been dreaming of a man, a strange man with dark hair and pale skin, and she couldn't remember where she knew him, but she knew that she had known him, once and she wanted to know where he was, who he was, and why he was in her dreams. She looked over at Rhydian lying beside her, his blond hair fanned out on the pillow with hers. Something was wrong here, but she didn't know what.

She carefully sat up and looked around her. Their clothes lay beside the bed and she saw the crystal that Rhydian used to open the door to her rooms when he had to leave her. She really wanted to do some exploring. Very carefully she got up from the bed and put on a robe, and then she took the crystal, opened the door and started down the hallway, unaware that she had left the door open behind her.

With a muttered grunt Mistral finally squirmed free of the cell where Rhydian had imprisoned him. Damn Sidhe hadn't come up with a cell he couldn't wriggle out of somehow. He quickly checked both ends of the corridor and started off, looking for wherever that highborn was hiding Chrysta, he only had a few hours to find her, or she would belong to Rhydian forever.

Chrysta wandered down corridors after corridors, without any real plan or reason. She knew she wanted to find the man she dreamed of, if he even existed, but she didn't know where to look, so she simply kept moving, and eventually found her way into a darkened throne room, lit only by torches on he walls and braziers on either side of the dais.

She walked up to touch the throne, curious. It was a strange metal, gold she thought, but she couldn't be sure, everything was so funny here. An image flashed in her mind of the dark-haired man's face, eyes filled with pain, pleading with her to do something, or not do something, she couldn't remember what. Maybe she should talk to Rhydian... A sound interrupted her and she turned to see a man with long, dark hair curling about his face, the darkest eyes she had ever seen and the palest skin. He stood looking at her with some emotion in his eyes, she thought she saw joy there, and a little fear, and then she felt something shatter within her mind.

The walls Rhydian had so carefully built up crumbled under the force of Mistral's eyes and Chrysta remembered, she remembered the nights they had shared, the pain in his face when he asked her not to trust Rhydian, the impression she had had of wrongness the morning Rhydian kidnapped her, and she also knew that she had betrayed him, all unknowing, and that she had fallen to Rhydian. "Oh, Mistral..." she murmured. "I'm so sorry... I forgot... I didn't know..." Pain flared up in his eyes and worry, and suddenly everything was too much and the world swirled around her eyes and then it all went dark and she fell in a faint.

Mistral felt his heart squeeze as he watched the memories come crashing back in her eyes. It was happening again, and he couldn't stop it. He moved forward quickly to catch her crumpling body and lower it very carefully to the ground. He softly kissed her forehead. At least he had finally found her.

Laughter drifted out of the shadows and Mistral looked up to see Rhydian standing there, laughing at the scene before him. "Oh, this is rich. This is so very rich. I couldn't have planned this any better myself. She is mine, Sluagh, give up now."

Mistral's only reaction was to pull out his sword, it always came to his call when he needed it. Rhydian unsheathed his own blade. "Very well, Sluagh, let us fight. Maybe I'll kill you before she wakes up this time."

Mistral said nothing as the fight began.

Watching them very quietly in a corner, Etienne's eyes narrowed as he watched Rhydian taunt Mistral. Now he knew the truth.

Swords flashing Mistral and Rhydian fight, the battle going first one way and then the other as the combatants are fairly evenly matched, for with all his experience and training, Rhydian is facing a man desperate, and in love, a man who feels that he no longer has anything left to lose, a man who wants only to take his enemy down with him.

As they fight they slowly creep into the other room, away from Chrysta and the watching Etienne, and it is then that the girl starts to stir, coming out of her faint. Etienne walks over to her and helps the confused Fledgeling to her feet as he explains quickly that there is a duel going on, or Mistral would be with her. She looks up at him with a bleakness in her eyes that stabs his heart. She thanks him and asks that he tell Mistral that she loves him, and not Rhydian, and then the clock strikes midnight. Etienne reluctantly takes his leave of her and she watches him walk to the other room, where the sound of swords clashing comes. Then she slowly starts walking up the stairs to the roof.

"Hear that!" Rhydian taunts. "'Tis midnight and she is mine! You have lost Sluagh, face it, the best man won."

Mistral's face turns bleak and he slowly stands from where Rhydian had knocked him down. Rhydian stands before an open window.

"I think not." comes a new voice from the side. Etienne stands looking at them. "The lady Chrysta just awoke and made her choice, in my hearing, she chose Mistral, not you, and she wishes me to inform you of the choice. It was only after she confided the decision that the clock struck."

With Rhydian distracted Mistral makes his move, desperately launching himself at the Sidhe and knocking him out the window with all the force he could muster. Rhydian sails out the window and down to the ground below, shouting something not even Mistral could make out. Then Mistral turned to Etienne.

"Where is Chrysta?"

"I fear she may not realize the import of her choice. There was a look in her eyes..." He got no farther because Mistral was running as fast as he could to the roof. Maybe he could still get there in time, maybe he can still cheat Fate.

He arrived on the roof to see Chrysta standing at the edge, looking down at the ground below, so far down. She looked up at him and there was death in her eyes.

Mistral looked at Chrysta and felt his heart squeeze in absolute and utter fear. It was happening all over again, and he couldn't take losing Chrysta, not after he lost Erica. "Please, Chrysta, come away from the edge." he whispered, holding a hand out to her.

"I betrayed you, Mistral. I forgot and I betrayed you. I don't deserve to live, I don't deserve someone as wonderful as you are, I would rather die than live another day with Rhydian, but I don't deserve to stay with you." She started to cry and started to take another step towards the edge.

"Please, Chrysta!" he whispered, cursing a voice that would go no louder, "don't! He killed Erica, I can't let him kill you too. He can't take from me every woman I love!"

Chrysta looked at him, startled, and he realized that in his fear of losing her, he had never before admitted that he loved her. "You ... love me?" There was such childlike hope and disbelief in her voice.

Mistral felt his heart break in his chest as words he never thought he would say rushed out. "Yes. I love you. I love you more than I ever thought this battered heart could love. I'm not much, but whatever I am, I give to you, freely. I would die if I were to lose you." He didn't know what else to say, and so simply reached his hand out as far as he could, and took a step towards her.

Chrysta looked at Mistral, her heart flip-flopping in her chest. He loved her. He really loved her. There was such pain in his eyes though, such terrible pain and fear, and she could never resist the impulse to end his pain. She reached a hand out to his.

She started to step away from the edge when an errant gust of wind knocked her off balance and she stumbled, wavering perilously close to the edge. Mistral felt his heart leap into his throat and the moved more quickly than he ever had and grabbed her wrist as she tried to regain her balance and pulled her into his arms, away from certain death. He felt her sobbing as he held her close to his heart, and realized that he was crying as well.

"Oh, Mistral. I'm so sorry I didn't remember what you told me. I'm so sorry I trusted Rhydian and forgot you. I'm so sorry I let him touch me. I'm so sorry I didn't get away from him earlier." She was sobbing almost uncontrollably and he simply held her close and stroked her hair, simply reveling in the fact that they simply were together again, that he could hold her.

Off to the side, Etienne cleared his throat, trying to get their attention. It worked. "If I may suggest, we should probably be getting away from this place as quickly as we can if we wish to get the Lady back to her Guardian, who is just as worried about her."

The lovers flushed a moment and then quickly made their preparations to leave, and it wasn't long before the three of them, and Nightshade, were on their way back to Leonine's court.

Unfortunately a snowstorm developed on the journey back, and the little company was trapped for several days, once again, in the cave where Etienne and Mistral met.

Chrysta gloried in the knowledge that Mistral had searched for her for so long. She had a moment of pique, though, when she found out what Leonine had promised him in exchange for bringing her back, not because she had a problem with marrying Mistral, but because Leonine had the gall to presume to offer her hand as prize. Mistral thought her displeasure with Leonine to be rather humerous, which she didn't understand.

"If I had been asking you," he whispered, "I would have asked for more than simply one lunar year, but as I was asking the Baron, I asked for what I thought I could get."

Chrysta heard his words in suprise and then grew very flushed and shy. "Oh." she murmured. "I don't know what to say."

She saw Mistral flush as well. "I would ask you, at this time." His whispered voice faded away and he grew redder. From his corner, Etienne watched silently.

Chrysta reached out to place her hand on his. "I would give you whate'er you asked of me. I would like very much to be with you, for as long as you would have me. I love you, Mistral Wind, and that's all that matters to me."

Etienne felt a tear trickle out of the corner of his eye and he stood, startling the lovers, who were so wrapped up in each other that they did not notice him. "I think I'll leave you two for right now. I'll see you in the morning." He nodded at both of them and then walked into one of the other caves, where Nightshade was staying. They deserved some privacy, and he wanted to be alone with his thoughts. Love was such a precious thing.

Mistral was amazed at Chrysta's answer to a question he hadn't intended to ask. "I would, have you, my Lady, for as long as I could keep you, and I would want very much for that time to never end." His whispers grew thick with emotion.

Chrysta reached over to touch his cheek softly. "I give myself to thee, a gift, forever." She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pressed her lips to his, pulling his body close to hers. "I have loved you and dreamed of you for as long as I can remember, and I have loved none other as I love you. Accept this gift, please."

Mistral felt his eyes fill with tears. "I was dreaming of you years before I met Erica and I continued to dream of you after she died. I thought that I would never love again after her death, but I was wrong. I accept your gift and give an equal one. I am yours, forever." He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her, as she leaned back, inviting him to touch her, to love her, and he did, slowly, and with careful attention to details.

Chrysta awoke to a humming sound ringing in her ears. She lay in Mistral's arms and he was still asleep, which meant that whatever woke her up he couldn't hear. She tried to go back to sleep, but the ringing in her ears got louder until she couldn't take it anymore and reluctantly slid out of Mistral's embrace. That woke him up.

"What is it?" he asked in his soft voice.

"Nothing, I just wanted to look around some. I'll be back soon, beloved." She kissed him and then wrapped a blanket around her and wandered off.

She followed a tunnel back farther into the cave system and eventually came to a small room where she saw a large bow of the whitest wood she had ever seen, and beside it a quiver of arrows, and beside that, a shield. The bow seemed to be calling to her, and she reached out to tentatively touch the wood with a fingertip, and found herself riding a wave of Fae memories reaching back almost to the Sundering.

Leonine entered the Hall to see the whole Freehold assembled. It was hard leaving the safety of his sitting room, but Kerrie had finally convinced him that he had to get his life back in order, and he feared that he had been losing too much of his control. Every Changeling learned to fear falling too much into the Dream and not keeping a strong enough tie to the mundane world. Bedlam was not a pretty sight, about as ugly, in fact, as the other path, Banality and the loss of the Dream. It never failed to suprise him how much his people cared, for all that he was of the Oathbroken House.

He walked slowly up to his ceremonial chair, pausing to thank the Fae he passed. This was hard, he still missed Chrysta as much as ever and his grief lived near his heart at all times, but he had to carry on, he had no other choice. Whoever stole her would want to see him fall, either to Bedlam or Banality, the result would probably be the same.

There was a commotion at the back of the hall, and the doors were thrown open and three Fae walked in. Etienne deSourvale, Kerrie had told him that he had been sent to find Lord Rhydian in the Deep Dreaming, Mistral Wind, the Sluagh who had demanded Chrysta's hand if he found her and brought her back, and, carrying a covered shield, Chrysta.

With a startled cry, Leonine was standing. He wanted nothing more than to run and embrace her, but there was something in the way she stood, something had changed in his little fledgeling.

She kneeled before him. "My Lord Baron. I am pleased to be able to return to your care, after having been most cruelly stolen from my place by one who had thought to earn your trust and mine. I was held prisoner in the Deep Dreaming, confused and controlled by Chicanery, by none other than the Lord Rhydian who had claimed to seek my love. Indeed, he sought nothing more than possession, and when I was brought to my senses by the Sluagh Mistral Wind, I rejected him. Mistral rescued me and Mistral brought me here, but on the way I discovered my Fae heritage more fully. I know who I am and who I was, and I take a new name this day." She stands and tears the cloth from the front of the shield she bore, revealing a silver lion on a red field. "I am Gwendaline of House Fiona this day, and a fledgeling no longer. Will any dispute this?"

There was no sound from the assemblage. Leonine found his voice, and discovered tears in his eyes that were rolling down his cheeks. "I am, and will be, forever grateful to Mistral Wind for returning you here. You are more precious to me than my life. I must admit that in my first grief I agreed to a demand he made that if he returned you that he would earn your hand in marriage for one lunar year, and I must uphold that promise. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?"

Chrysta stood, flushing a bit. "In truth, my Lord Baron, I think it was D'an that lead your tongue that day. For years I dreamed of a strange man, a man I thought was nothing more than a dream, a man of pale skin and dark hair, and I knew not whether or not such a man could be real. I found him here the day of my Chrysalis and he is Mistral Wind. Indeed, he has dreamed of me for these many years, and he thought that one of my birth was too great for one of his, but we have come to love each other, and I find that I do not think this marriage so ill a thing, except that it is for so short a time. He and I will come to our own agreements for the time after the year of your promise is up. I will not resist the will of Fate."

There was a rush of murmuring voices, suprised at this turn of events and then a cheer, for everyone loved a good romance, and Leonine was finally able to embrace his Heir as he had wanted to do from the moment she stepped through the doors.

While the Fae in Castles-in-the-Air celebrated the return of their lord's Heir, and the approaching wedding, deep in the Dreaming, a bruised and broken body finally crawled to the surface of the rubble of his castle. It had taken two Hopscotches and three Oakenshields cast in mortal terror as he fell, but Lord Rhydian yet lived, and he vowed that Mistral Wind would feel his vengeance, and Chrysta would yet be his.

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