They nearly ran into each other in the morning. Roarke was on his way to meet a guest, Lilith on her way back to the hotel, after breakfast, he assumed. Did she eat the smoke or the scent?

She was dressed in a swirl of gypsy silks, looking like a vagrant butterfly her dark hair was tied at the top of her head with a gold ribbon, then fell behind her left ear and over her shoulder. Her skirts kept moving forward after she halted abruptly, several inches away from him. She took a step back and curtsied. "Your pardon." And she was gone before he could say a word.

Roarke was annoyed that she seemed to be avoiding him, rather than pursuing this testing, but on the other hand, he really didn't have the time to deal with her. Several fantasies were reaching the "crisis" point, where the participants realized that maybe they'd made a mistake.

After refusing to terminate one guest's fantasy, Roarke pulled Ariel aside. "Can you find the time to talk to Lilith today?"

"Me?!? About what?"

"About her delaying of this ... test. She doesn't need to know I sent you."

Ariel's expression was one of a woman greatly put upon, but she said simply, "As you wish."

"That's my girl," Roarke said absently, his mind already turned to the next guest.

Ariel rolled her eyes and sighed. If patience was indeed a virtue, she was getting virtuous quickly.

Lilith was sitting at the white cast-iron table outside the hotel where Ariel and Roarke frequently breakfasted. As if expecting her, Ariel thought, for she knew Lilith did not eat in the conventional way. Oddly enough, Lilith looked up and said mildly, "You're late."

"Late? You were expecting me? But Roarke said-" the shapeshifter broke off, aware that she'd just said what she wasn't supposed to.

"Roarke, eh?", Lilith grinned.

"He wants to know why you're not ... actively pursuing him."

"Disappointed, is he?" Lilith grinned.

Annoyance flashed in Ariel's eyes. "It doesn't take a genuis to see the mutual attraction."

The daemon sat back and folded her hands thoughtfully. "Neither does it take one to see you have a vested interest in our Mr. Roarke. So why are you here, talking to me?"

"Passion is transitory Love is eternal" Ariel leaned forward as if to impart a great secret, "You want his body, I want his heart."

Lilith also leaned forward. "Trophy hunting, are you, dear?"

Shocked and infuriated, Ariel grabbed the dark woman by her necklace, dragging her halfway across the table as she stood up. "You dare!" she hissed. But her fury drained quickly. The necklace was cold, colder than cold, and Lilith's face was eerily expressionless. Meeting those eyes was like staring into a starless night. Ariel dropped her gaze and tried to release the icy necklace, but her fingers were too cold to move.

Lilith cradled the pale hand with both of her own, gently loosening it. Ariel still couldn't feel it. Slowly the dark lady raised Ariel's hand to her mouth, kissing the fingers lightly and blowing, as if to kindle a spark to a flame.

Ariel snatched her hand back Lilith laughed softly and walked away. The shapeshifter wanted to just let her go, but she'd still learned nothing about her. "Wait!" she called.

Lilith turned, one eyebrow raised questioningly.

"What are you really?"

"I am not human, I am not 'good', I am not 'evil'. That makes me a daemon."

"You define yourself by what you are not?"

The daemon's hand rose to stroke the necklace. Obviously she didn't feel the coldness of it. "There is nothing else left."

The sun was a glowing ball of fire, slowly being extinguished by the ocean, even as the ocean burned orange. Ariel saw the daemon sitting sitting on the rocks by the sea, staring into the glowing deeps. There was still an hour until the staff meeting, should she try again to learn something? She walked soundlessly down to the sea. Lilith remained unmoving.

"What are you waiting for?" Ariel asked, soft as the wind.

"A sign"

The sun sank beneath the waves and Lilith undid her hair with an automatic motion, brushing it out into a long curtain. Her gaze moved from ocean to sky. The stars winked into visibility as she brought a sparkling net from the folds of her gypsy skirts and draped it over her hair.

In the darkness, Ariel could still see/sense a feeling of sadness and loss. Then it was gone and Lilith stood up. "Please excuse me."

An owl flew ahead of her towards the gardens.

"So what do we know about Lilith today that we didn't know yesterday?"

"She wasn't always a daemon," Ariel said, drawing a startled look from Harry.

"What was she?" he asked.

"She won't say. And that necklace of hers is cold, unnaturally cold."

"How did you find that out?"Roake wanted to know.

Ariel had already worked out the answer to this one: "I have my ways, " she said, smiling mysteriously. Then she described Lilith's actions on the beach.

Harry looked incredulous. "Precisely as the sun set, as the stars come out?"

"I guess so, yes. Why?"

Harry glanced down at his sheaf of papers. "There isn't much available on the subject of Lilith," he began, "although it seems there used to be. Much of the material seems to have been destroyed or secreted away. What remains is myth, legend, tales passed on orally and much embroidered,"

"Yes, yes, Harry. We understand" Roarke said impatiently.

He cleared his throat and looked at the papers again. "Well, according to what I could discover, she used to be a goddess. Four thousand years ago, so the stories go, she was Lilith, winged goddess of the Night, patron of Mothers, of independent women. Goddess of wisdom, of secrets, of magic and healing. Her symbols were the Owl of Wisdom and the Lion of Strength.

"The story we are most familiar with is Lilith as the first woman, who infuriated Adam and God by refusing to lie beneath Adam. She held firm in her defiance. God's response to this declaration of sexual independence - portending fathers with teenage daughters down the centuries - was 'Out, Get out of the Garden of Eden'. So Lilith was banished. She flew away and lived in the caves by the Red Sea, where she coupled with daemons, presumably in any position she wished."

Ariel snickered, and Roarke cleared his throat warningly.

"It wasn't until medieval times that she was reputed as a succubus and soul eater," Harry looked at Ariel. "There is a folk tale that night fall is caused by Lilith letting down her hair, the stars are the jewels she decorates it with."

"You're not suggesting....?"

"Of course not," he scowled, "but it is an interesting coincidence." He turned to Roarke. "I also found out that in ancient Babylon, scented candles and incense were burned, and fragrant spices and herbs were offered in the temples in the belief that the gods consumed the scent."

"Well, that's what she eats does that mean she's a goddess?" Cal finally spoke, only to have three heads turn to him.

"You know for certain she eats scent?" Roarke asked quietly.

"Well, yeah. She told me, you know, after she checked in. She wanted a tour of the kitchens and the herb gardens and stuff said that daemons didn't eat like humans....um, maybe she said mortals."

"Did she say anything else?"

Cal frowned, trying to remember. "When we went thru the gardens I said it must be a feast to her, and she said it was like tasting something then spitting it out, instead of swallowing. She said it had to be offered to her, before she could, you know, get anything out of it."

Roarke steepled his fingers thoughtfully. "Thank you all. Good work, people."

Ariel was sitting in the rose arbour, about to return to the hotel when she heard Lilith's voice: "Morganstern! What are you doing here? You'll skew the test!"

"I think you're already skewing it. What are you playing at, Lilith?" It was a man's voice, deep and musical.

"I don't play." Lilith's voice was taut with anger.

"Then hurry up, and be done with it. You've been slipping badly since you got here, and I think it's on purpose"

"Oh yes, I just love your little taps." Sarcasm tinged with fear?

"Careful, Lilith. I know you prefer it to my lovemaking," his voice become a caress, "I can make you loathe yourself, for enjoying what I can do to you."

Lilith gasped, then hissed, "Morganstern. I swear, when I am myself once more, I will hunt you down and rend you, limb from radiant limb." Her voice broke off in a strangled cry and Ariel heard her run off.

Through her mind she kept hearing, 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend'. She went around the rose hedge. "Mr. Morganstern?" she stopped. Before her stood the most beautiful man she'd ever seen. He was tall and golden, his hair curling softly around a face that might have been sculpted marble. His eyes were the blue sky. He was dressed in a loose white shirt, open at the throat, and black, close-fitting pants. He looked at her enquiringly, his gaze raking her from head to toe. She blushed and swallowed. "I'm, that is, my name is Ariel."

"Yes?" he said softly, smiling slightly.

Ariel stared a moment, before collecting herself. "Lilith. You want her off this island. So do I. I'll do whatever you want," she colored at her own words, "if you get her out of here."

Morganstern stroked his perfect chin thoughtfully. "Is Roarke attracted to that ... being?"

She nodded stiffly.

The answering smile almost blinded her. "Here's what has to be done, then."

He whispered in her ear, reasonable words, underscored by the warmth of his breath.

"Deal?" Morganstern offered a perfect hand.

"Deal."

The sun set on another day. Ariel, unusually quiet, vanished after supper. Harry went to stand at the entrance to the kitchens, facing the back of the gardens. Cal was there already. "She's a goddess," said Cal simply.

"She's not, not anymore."

Cal looked at Harry. "Yes, she is. And you know it, too," he said, then walked away, leaving the night to his friend. Harry was about to leave as well, when he had the sudden feeling he was not alone.

"Hello. Aren't you going to thank me?" A deep, smooth voice came out of the night.

"Thank you?" he asked, feeling disoriented.

"You're welcome," the voice was lightly mocking. "I saved you from the awful clutches of the daemon Lilith."

"Ah. You've come to kill me, then?" a part of Harry marvelled at his own composure, but this whole thing had an air of unreality.

"Is that what she told you? I'm hurt. I'm Lilith's ... supervisor. What she was about to do with you." the voice paused sadly. " A grave infraction of the rules. If you so much as think a lustful thought towards her, I'll -"

"Kill me?"

"She is not for you!" the unknown man hissed.

Then the unseen presence was gone, Harry was once more alone among the shadows. Reality came crashing back and he sagged against the door jamb. What the hell was that all about?

Roarke sat in the silence of the night and reviewed what had happened on his island that day - not the things to do with the guests, those had been foremost, those had been dealt with. No, he looked at the other things, which his conscious mind had set into memory for later. Harry and Lilith - the things Harry *hadn't* said in his report. Lilith and this mysterious Morganstern, who showed up out of nowhere, a very bad sign. Ariel and Morganstern. Worse, because he could not see into either of their minds. And nobody was talking to Roarke.

And becuse his attention was on Harry, Lilith, Morganstern, et al, his attention was drawn from memory to here and now: Cal and Harry discussing Lilith at the back door Morganstern and Harry.

The beautiful starry night was now completely gone. Thunder rumbled threateningly. Roarke was irate. Lilith was down at the end of the gardens. With a snap of his fingers, so was he.

Lilith was sitting on the ground, her chin resting on the bench, drunk on the heady scents of roses, vanilla, beeswax and sage.

"Lilith"

"Roarke," her voice was slurred and lazy. "Go away."

"No." Roarke walked into the circle and moved the candle over by the incense bowl. He sat beside her head, looking down at her closed eyes, expressionless face. "Harry and Cal both think you're some kind of goddess Cal is in awe of you, Harry is taken by your vulnerability. Ariel - I have no idea what you've done to her. And who is Morganstern?"

"Don't speak that name, don't even think it. "

"Dammit, Lilith! I want answers, not more verbal fencing."

Lilith half opened her eyes, her expression hard. "I can't give you answers, Roarke. Don't ask the s-s-", she winced, and forced out: "servant."

"Then which side are you working for, so I know where to get answers."

"There's only one -" she choked and sat back, bending her head down to hide her face. She pointed up.

Her response caught him off-guard. "You're kidding."

She looked up, her face still shadowed with pain. "I spoke not a word."

Roarke's anger was fading fast, becoming confusion, then slowly dawning realization. Things were starting to add up, random phrases came together in his head - "not always a daemon" "necklace is cold" "a goddess" the way her hand moved to the necklace every time someone asked a hard question the way she rubbed at it now, as if it were the source of her pain. "You're a -"

Lilith placed a finger over his lips. "Don't say it."

He reached down to touch the necklace, and withdrew his fingers quickly. It was cold. "That's it, isn't it?" He shuddered involuntarily - he'd thought his lot was bad. "We need to talk. Is there a time or place we can do that?"

"Not that I know of. I can never predict when I'll be ... alone."

Lilith was wading, knee deep, along the shoreline. Once she'd been able to be the ocean. For over two thousand years, she'd been reduced to a dabbler. She missed it. The waves came in stronger as she rounded a point and she pulled her skirt higher, looping the length over her arm. She considered going for a swim. Sometimes, if she let her mind go perfectly empty, she could almost sense the life in it. It irked her to no end that many humans had more psychic sense than she did, or at least, could use.

It was the body form, of course. It was designed for one thing. She'd used it to try to convince ... she stopped and her free hand pressed against her heart, feeling agony from within, for a change. He had done this to her. He, once her solace, now her keeper.

Ariel, being Water, element of emotions, and attached to Lilith's ankle, could feel what the daemon was feeling, but couldn't understand why. Sorrow, heartbreak, anger. All affected the way she moved. At least she'd be able to tell when Roarke arrived without having to let go, and possibly lose herself. Why was she doing this?

Lilith hated it here, so much wild magic, it called up too many memories long squelched. And this job! Although walking around making people drop at her feet with "the Look" was no longer the method of choice for her masters, this was even more ambiguous than most. 'Interact' she'd been instructed. Except physically. Which was probably why Morganstern was so very nasty when she'd tried to grant Harry's boon. This assignment didn't seem to be so much a test as a taking of measure. More like what would have been done in her time - without a slave.

Movement from the corner of her eye made her stop and turn, at least from the waist. Roarke? What was he doing here? He looked equally puzzled. "Have you seen Ariel?" he called.

Lilith took one step to the side, and the next wave swamped her, depositing her on her posterior, chin-deep in water. She sputtered, and heard Roarke laugh. At least until she stood up and staggered out of the water. It took her a minute to realize why he was looking at her so intently. But her loose white dress was no longer loose, and somewhat less than white. Lilith, being Lilith, couldn't help but grin.

Ariel moved from Water to Air and darted back to her room, where she collapsed, exhausted and feeling tainted. While she had no problem with Roarke amusing himself with whatever warm body he chose - in fact, she felt the more of these meaningless assignations, the faster he would come to realize that something more might be more satisfying. And here she'd be - and she certainly enjoyed warm bodies herself. But this, arranging it, seemed so ... tawdry. Perhaps a shower would help. At least she'd done what Morganstern wanted with both he and Lilith gone, things would get back to normal. Unthinkingly she rubbed her hand where Morganstern had kissed her.

About to turn thought into action, Ariel was surprised by the knock on her door, and dismayed to hear Roarke asking, "Ariel? Are you there?" If he was here, he wasn't with Lilith. And she still owed Morganstern. She couldn't do this again, Lilith would go when the test was done, and that would be good enough. She had to tell Morganstern the deal was off. She rubbed her hand again.

"Ariel? Can I see you in my office?"

"Be right down."

"Are you feeling alright?" He asked as she entered his office.

"Yes. Just a little distracted lately. Things. You know."

He looked at her speculatively. "What did Lilith do to you?"

"Lilith? Nothing, why?"

Roarke paused again. "That necklace? It's a slave collar."

"S-s-slave?" Ariel was completely taken aback, "Nobody's a slave anymore!"

"These are not human beings we're dealing with here, Ariel. Things are happening here beyond my control and I don't like it. I want answers and to get them I need to talk to Lilith without her ... supervisor, Morganstern, hanging around, visible or otherwise."

"Morganstern!"

"You know him?" he asked mildly, staring at her fixedly.

She looked down, "We met. I didn't know she was his slave." She closed her eyes. Lilith was a slave. Not acting of her free will. Under compulsion. Compulsion. Oh damn.

"She isn't. He's her keeper, her supervisor," he peered at Ariel, who was rubbing at her hand and shivering. "Is something wrong, Ariel?"

Yes! she wanted to say, but felt compelled to say, "N-no."

"Can you distract him? For about half an hour?"

The shapeshifter tried very hard not to gape. "Distract him? Morganstern? How?"

Roarke paused. "This is important, Ariel, but don't do anything you don't want to."

...As a shapeshifter, she took it as a compliment to her skills when a man called her by another woman's name...

"Ariel"

The sweet honey whisper of his voice returned her to her senses, and she opened her eyes, surprised to see they were still in the gardens, standing embraced. She would have moved back but he tightened his hold. The sun had moved about two hours across the sky.

"Be yourself."

She shifted, and he lowered his radiant face to hers. "Morganstern," she stopped him, "about our deal."

He raised his head and loosened his grip. "Yes?"

"I, well, I've changed my mind."

He released her completely then, and looked sorrowful, "You have no idea how many times I hear that. But you, you should know that you should be careful what you ask for."

Ariel looked abashed, very aware that she should have been.

"What would Roarke say, if a ... guest told him that he'd changed his mind, wanted out?"

She sighed deeply. "What if I just won't?"

Morganstern's smile then was just as brilliant, and yet somehow chilling. "You will." And he disappeared in a blinding flash of light.

Ariel rubbed at her hand in consternation.

Lilith couldn't remember the last time she hadn't felt Morganstern about in some degree or another. As her keeper, it seemed he was always somewhere on the edge of her awareness. But then, Roarke was a man who made people's fantasies come true. She fingered her collar idly and wondered if he could make that disappear. The rock outcropping on the beach was shady and the breeze from the sea cool. Day, particularly tropical days, were not her element.

"Are you ... alone?"

"Yes. May I ask how-?"

Roarke waved the matter aside. "I don't know how much time we have, so best to speak quickly. How did you become a slave, and whose? Why are you here? "

She sighed and sat down, under the shade of a rock. "Well, you are familiar with mythology? Once the old gods held sway over the Earth. We were 'born' when the Earth was born, we will die when it passes. In many ways, we are the Earth. But all things change, it is the nature of the Universe. Our time of dominance was ending. We prepared places, deep within the Earth, to live, to nurture, to simply be until our time should come again.

"We did not know who or what was to come after us, our best oracles could see only Light. And when they came, some of us couldn't believe it. They were not of the Earth, you see. But all things belong to the Universe.

"Now, many of the Old Ones are twinned or mated, in Balance. But to preserve/insure Change, there were anomalies, those of us who were ... singular. I was one of those."

"You belong," Roarke's mouth curled in disgust at the word, " to this ... new order? How?"

Lilith sighed again and stared out at the sea. "I told you that I ... work on the side of the Shining Ones."

"You also said there was only one side, what does that mean? And where does Morganstern fit in? He doesn't seem exactly ... representative of, what you call the Shining Ones."

"Morganstern, " she said softly. "He isn't one of Them, you know, he is, or at least was, one of us. He was an anomaly, too. Being singular like that, it's a very lonely thing." She stopped abruptly.

"You took solace in each other."

Solace. She closed her eyes, swaying a little, then drew a deep, shaky breath. "He was our gentle Star, reassuring, protective. He saw their Light and he wanted - oh, I don't know what he wanted. To keep going, to be of service, to not hide away in the Earth. To be like them, for all I know. He went to them. And we thought he was foolish and waited for him to come back to us. When he didn't, I was sent to bring him back. I chose this form, " she gestured down her body, "because it was one of our games, to cram ourselves into tiny mortal forms and pretend to be human.

"They delight in tests, you know."

Roarke raised an eyebrow at the change of subject.

"I think I was Morning Star's test. He led me to the Light, oh yes. And this lovely trinket he placed on me with his own hands. His stewardship of me, I could never discover if it was his reward or punishment. Considering what they did to him, I think he failed."

"What did they do?" Roarke asked, but he was thinking, Morning Star?

"They demonized me, yes? They did worse to him. He has a reputation far blacker than mine and as little deserved, though his hands are hardly pristine," she smiled bitterly. "He tests people, too, you see."

"And what am I being tested for?"

Lilith shrugged, "I am the instrument, not the song. But haven't you realized yet it's not just you?"

He frowned, "You said -"

"I said, 'you are being tested', I never said 'you alone'. And as for the other ... matter, this is a 'hands-off' test, which is why Morganstern was so ticked about Harry's little offering."

Roarke rubbed his forehead tiredly. This was all very interesting, no doubt, but didn't clarify a whole hell of a lot. He was already being punished, what could further testing prove or disprove? But slavery! The idea appalled him. "How can you be freed?"

She looked at him. "If I said that was my fantasy, could you make it go away? Forever?"

He concentrated. He snapped his fingers. Nothing happened. "I can't touch it."

Lilith wilted a little, "Figures. I don't know then. I think only They can do it. Maybe Morganstern."

There was a long silence. "If there's only one side, why are we told there's two?"

She smiled thinly, "If They are the Shining Ones, then who are we? The Old Ones, the Earth-bound, under-ground?" It was only a partial truth and Roarke seemed to know to it.

"If there's a way, we'll find it."

Lilith waved it off. "Just do what you do. It isn't so very bad, really," she lied.

Roarke left her in the shade, not looking like a believer.

When the heat began to go out of the day and the sun was not so brilliant, Lilith made her way to the gardens. She had a room in the hotel, yes, and she bathed and dressed in it. But the room was vacant more often than not. She seldom went by the front of the hotel, but today she did. The building was delicate, deserted, carrying the air, if not the appearance, of a ghost town. It seemed forlorn and sad. Lilith shook her head gently. So much raw magic here, it created all kinds of fancies.

She rounded the front corner, and walked down the side of the building. One could find the gardens blindfolded, she thought and closed her eyes once that had seemed funny to her, and she'd taken human form just to be able to not see.

"Lady? er...majesty?"

Lilith opened her eyes, startled. "Cal?"

He looked down at the ground, shuffling his feet. "um, afternoon, your grace."

"What are you -?" Her eyes narrowed, and she used one finger to lift his chin - but he kept his eyes downcast.

"Sorry, I don't know what to call a, a, a goddess."

"'Goddess' is a rather heavily freighted word. My name suffices, then and now. Look at me."

He did.

"I know what you're doing and why, Cal. I warn you - don't build the pedestal too high or I'll be forced to remind you just how earthy I am." She smiled suggestively, trailing her finger along his jawline before stepping away with a low laugh.

"La- , um, Lilith?" he called after her.

She turned, one eyebrow raised in question.

"There were no...prayers?"

A mocking look crossed her face. "'Oh gracious Lady of the Night, hidden now by Morning's Light..." she stopped with a grimace and rubbed at her collar, "Doesn't matter anymore." Her voice was bitter. She took one more step and turned again. "What would you say, Cal? If someone asked you why you put flowers on my altar?"

"You're a -"

"Not good enough. I mean, so what? One of my ... sisters is a great believer that one should know oneself, must know oneself, if one is to be true to oneself. She takes, took, great delight in pointing out the truths people hide from themselves. I always tried to be more subtle, at least in that regard," she laughed.

"So?"

"So, think about it."

Cal met her eyes of his own accord, somewhat suspiciously. "Is this gonna affect how long I stay here?"

Ariel stumbled leaving the library, blaming the lateness of the hour. She felt ill, the particular illness that comes when one doesn’t like oneself very much. In her mind she could hear Morganstern, and she didn’t know if it was really him or her guilty conscience.

It was only a whisper of the deep, melodious voice she knew, and for that she was grateful. Alone, it had none of the impact his physical presence had. Remembering how she’d ‘distracted’ him, she shivered, appalled to realize that she’d do it again in a second, if the chance arose.

Ariel felt a desperate need to make atonement, a need for absolution. But how could she get it? Who would grant her anything, so long as Morganstern directed her thoughts/actions?

Morganstern brooded, silent and invisible, watching them. Lilith had never broken this rule before, but then, this place was like no other and no man such as Roarke had ever come to her of his own will, either.

Roarke. Seemingly cold and arrogant, and yet no matter how attracted he was to Lilith, he wouldn’t have approached her without an excuse. Which I provided, he thought darkly. Roarke’s problem was that he held his emotions too closely. Hiding his compassion, even from himself, so fortified he failed to see the love the shapeshifter bore him. Walls within walls.

Morganstern closed his eyes, ignoring the gasps and sighs of flesh touching flesh. An act of desire, an act of compassion. And for Lilith, an act of freedom, as much as she’d known for over two thousand years. It occurred to him that perhaps this was Roarke’s test after all. The Shining Ones worked in mysterious ways.

Lilith made an unmistakable sound, half whimper, half roar, and Morganstern smiled against his will. He didn’t need to open his eyes to see her body arched against Roarke’s, her head thrown back, exposing her throat in surrender. But he did open his eyes. Roarke hesitated, it was the slave collar that gave him pause, no doubt. Lilith never surrendered long, and when Roarke didn’t take her offering, she thrust - Morganstern was finally able to see how she did that - reversing their positions, and she began to move.

He so fair, she so dark - he was moonlight given form and she the shadow embracing him.

Morganstern shook his head, ruefully. Once Lilith had worn that form for him, created it for him. It suddenly seemed so long ago, as if he too had lived as a material being. As if he’d lived it like Lilith had been forced to.

When they began to walk, roughly the same time, but differing paths, Roarke jerked fully awake, startled, disoriented. For a moment it was as if the last four days had just been a dream. Truth came on the heels of the realization that Cal, Harry, and Ariel were all walking into the gardens, even though the sky had only just begun to pale.

Roarke rubbed his eyes wearily and moved stiffly from the chair to follow.

Grey and rose streaked the sky and the last glimmer of Venus hung in the sky. The morning star, herald of dawn, bringer of light.

Morganstern could think of no better time to throw himself on Lilith’s mercy. The timing might even invoke her sense of irony.

His own light a soft gleam, he looked down where she lay, troubled even in rest. His fault. He turned to her altar and lit the candle with a wave of his hand, another wave to light the incense. He went down on both knees, and, twining his fingers together, he prayed to his goddess. “Sweet Lady of the Night, wisdom bringer, serpent healer - have mercy on this your servant. Forgive me, Dark Mother, moon maiden, Lady of vengeance....”

Scent awoke Lilith, an offering. She rose, uncaring of her state of undress, and stared at Morganstern, abject before her altar. His words penetrated finally and, unthinking, she touched his golden head in benediction. He looked up, his face a sketch of pain. She could see a silver dagger between his arms.

Ariel stopped dead when she saw Morganstern at the altar. She had fulfilled her part of the bargain, but still....

Harry, who had met Cal on the path, froze in his tracks when he saw the golden shimmer kneeling so humbly in the clearing. He stopped Cal, who would have gone on. “Wait,” he hissed.

Roarke saw Ariel standing, frozen as a deer in headlights, and moved softly to stand beside her. “Ariel,” he whispered, so as not to startle her. Without turning her face, she put out a hand to his arm, to restrain him from advancing or for reassurance, he couldn’t tell. He looked to see what had her transfixed and saw Morganstern for the first time with his own eyes. Morning Star. That’s what ‘morganstern’ meant, of course. He was beautiful, glowing softly with the first light of dawn. First light of dawn. Roarke had the sneaking suspicion that when he figured this out, he would feel very obtuse. He watched Lilith move to the penitential being, looking like a glorious, animated sculpture of smoke.

Morganstern’s next words were audible to all watchers: “Oh, Lilith! My sweet Lilitu, please forgive me! If I could take back that cursed collar, I would!” His voice was piercing agony and none doubted his sincerity.

Dawn came in a blinding blaze of light - Roarke, Ariel, Harry, and Cal shielded their eyes, realizing slowly that this was more than mere sun.

A sound like music, like singing, rang in their ears, and words, barely audible: *full circle. atonement. recompense. our time passes. fulfill not the vow of revenge?*

Lilith, within the harsh light, looked down at Morganstern. His abjection and sincerity hardly canceled out what she’d suffered, in loss of freedom, in degradation, in sheer pain. And yet, she could not forget that once she would have counseled the same the same. Fulfill not thy vow of revenge. “I will not become that which I despise.”

Morganstern looked at her, picked up the silver dagger. “I will offer you my heart...”

In spite of all, Lilith’s mouth twitched with laughter. “That won’t be necessary....yet.”

*earth spirit, we release you.*

The collar fell and shattered into dust. Lilith’s hands moved to her throat unbelieving. Then she yelled and vanished. The island trembled, every leaf whispered in a non-existent wind, and flights of birds darkened the skies. From their mass emerged Lilith’s face in the sky, dusky but joyous. From the sounds of a million tiny throats came the words, “Freeeee...I am alwaaaaays heeeeere... freeeee.” The vision shattered as the birds whirled and dived, returning to the cover of the trees.

*son of the morning, we release you.*

A bright arrow of light beamed skyward and vanished.

The four watchers then heard the voice or voices sound one last sonorous time.
Roarke heard: *tear down the walls*
Ariel heard: *the key to wisdom is love*
Harry heard: *to thine own self be true*
Cal heard: *great or small, the acts of one affect all*

The light increased in intensity, and the sound became ear-splitting. All four crouched, faces hidden, hands over their ears, louder, brighter, obliterating the world....

Mr. Roarke stood in front of the mirror, knotting his tie absently. The plane would be landing shortly.

“Ariel. You look lovely today. Shall we?” He offered her his arm. “Fisher’s sent us a bumper crop this time...where are Cal and Harry?”

Ariel’s pretty face frowned.

“Something wrong, my dear?”

“I - I thought I remembered something...” her face smoothed back to her normal calm visage. “Nothing, Roarke, a dream, perhaps.”

But she couldn’t help looking back towards the gardens as they walked down to the dock.

Don't get chocolate fingerprints on the forms...