The sound of Wind Dancer's hooves echoed back from the trees as he galloped at full force down the narrow path, both of us finally away from the castle and the guards for the moment. I ducked my head, laying my neck against his, holding him tight and urging him to run faster…faster. I had to reach the garden, had to tell Seren that I'd finally gotten a chance to meet Sabian, away from everyone.

Seren was my best friend. Smart and pretty, she was my exact opposite. Petite and blonde, with brilliant blue eyes and an infectious laugh, the boys would always swarm around her as if her hair truly were honey, and not just honey-blonde. Her pale blue dress, complimenting her eyes, was always cut perfectly to show off her pale and creamy skin, and her skirts were always just short enough to show off her ankles, without being improper. Her mother, Lady Rella, never approved of the way that Seren conducted herself, her actions, her words. But she and I were like sisters, growing up together, and I could never disapprove of much that she did.

I reached the garden and jumped from the Wind Dancer's back, landing gracefully, my white gown swirling around my legs again. Had my mother, Queen Myna, seen me using my father's saddle instead of my prim side-saddle mount, she would have flung me into the dungeon without a second thought. She believed that ladies were to act like ladies, and there were no exceptions to that. Not even finally getting to meet with the man you'd been infatuated with for over a year, and having to ride to catch your best friend before she left the landhold for her grandmother's!

"Seren!?" I called, hoping that she hadn't left yet. She told me she was coming to the Rose Garden today, and I hoped that she hadn't changed her plans. She knew how much I'd wanted to get Sabian alone, and how often we'd caught him smiling at me, watching me from a distance, always afraid to approach me. She was the only one who was rooting for love and not prestige when it came to my future. Originally, she'd had a crush on Sabian, as well - but when I expressed my interest in him, hers seemed to wane. I wondered occasionally if she still liked him, but decided that if she did, she'd tell me. We were best friends - that's what being best friends was about, wasn't it?

I gathered my skirts in my hands and ran through the paths, past roses so thick with fragrance it seemed to weigh them down. Their huge heads swayed as I ran past, calling over and over for Seren. I saw her then, sitting on a bench at the end of the path, talking with someone, their heads close together as if they were exchanging secrets. I called out again to her, and her head snapped up, her eyes flashing fire in the setting sun, making her look almost as if she were possessed. I drew up short, then realized it was merely a reflection, and started toward her.

"Seren! You're never going to believe what happened! I finally got a chance….." The thought drifted away as I saw the woman sitting with Seren. Esmerelda, the Enchantress - the Spellweaver of the Landhold. She looked at me, with a look of determination on her face, standing up as I approached.

"Princess Roxanne. How convenient for you to appear in this very location just as we were beginning to discuss you," she said, walking slowly toward me. Usually, Esmerelda was quite friendly to me, and I was never intimidated by her power or her size - three inches taller than me, and an attitude that made it seem like three feet. Her deep green hair and orange eyes made her look frightening to some, but she had been my companion and confidante since birth. This day, however, as she approached me, I halted immediately, and began to back away slowly. A look in her eyes told me that I'd stumbled into something that I shouldn't have, and that there was something very wrong. I could feel my heart beginning to speed up, this time from fear instead of exertion. I glanced past her as best I was able, to look at Seren, silently questioning her to try and put the pieces together, find the picture hidden in the chaos I'd stumbled into.

"Seren?" I asked, imploring her to explain, without asking outright. Esmerelda stopped her advance as my calves bumped into another bench, and I pinwheeled my arms to keep from falling down. I did sit, though, feeling slightly faint at the sudden turn of events. "What's going on?" I wondered, looking back and forth from one to another. Esmerelda clasped her hands in front of her waist like a child about to recite for Mother on Queen's Holiday. "Yes, Seren. Do come and tell your dear, sweet friend Princess Roxanne all about what's going on. She's so curious. I'm sure that kiss with Sabian is gone from her mind by now…" Sarcasm dripped from her voice like dew from the rose petals around me. I narrowed my eyes at her, then looked at Seren, once again imploring her silently to explain.

Seren stood and started toward me, her eyes a mixture of hurt, anger, fear, and sadness. I didn't know what to make of her expression, so I merely looked again, back and forth between Esmerelda and Seren, waiting to hear an explanation. Finally, Seren spoke.

"Did you like kissing him?" she asked me, venom in her voice. I looked at her, not knowing where this was coming from, wondering if Esmerelda had put a spell on her or not. My head began to bob up and down as I whispered, "Yes…but how did you know I'd kissed him? How did you know I'd even gotten to…." And then I realized that Esmerelda had done it, used her crystals and her powders, her chants and her powers to find out what I'd been doing, knowing that I was infatuated with Sabian. I was still puzzled, though - why was Seren so angry with me?

I stood again, now, beginning to get angry with them both. I'd ridden up here, so thrilled to have finally lived the dream of a moment alone with the most handsome and eligible young man in the entire Landhold, and now my best friend was looking at me as though she'd like to choke me to death right on the spot, ruining my mood and my joy. "I don't understand why you're upset with me, Seren. You told me you weren't interested in him any longer. You told me that you were much more interested in Arik. So what - I finally get him alone and get a kiss and suddenly you're interested in him again?"

"No," she said, standing straight and tall. "I'm not interested in him in the least. But he certainly is interested in me. At least, I guess that's what you'd call it," she said, with a wry laugh completely devoid of humor. "He ambushed me a little over a moonturn ago, late at night as I was riding home after visiting with you at the castle. He raped me that night, Roxanne, but I didn't want to tell you because you were so much in love - or whatever - with him. And it wouldn't have been any concern to anyone else, but now I've missed my woman's time for this moonturn, and I've begun having the sickness. I'm child-full, dear Princess, and it's all thanks to your darling Sabian."

I stared at her. My Sabian? A man who would corner a woman, rape her, then act as though nothing had happened? It couldn't be! Was it true? Or was she trying to make me lose interest in Sabian - so that she could have him herself? I looked at Esmerelda, trying to read her expression, but was met with a look of gloating amusement.

"I told you that you should stay away from the peasants," she said. I balled my fists at my side, my heart breaking inside me, rending itself to bits. If I chose to believe Seren, I would lose Sabian, after a year's work to finally capture his heart as well as his eye. If I lost faith in Seren, though, and chose to be with Sabian, I would lose the closest thing to a sister I would ever know. And Esmerelda - where did she figure in all of this? What was her role? Was she trying to get me away from Sabian on my mother's orders? Was she trying to help Seren by giving her an herbal abortion so that her child-fullness would never be known? Was she merely amused at this turn of events like something in a fairy tale she'd told me at bedtime when I was a mere babe? My mind whirled, and soon, my body did, as well - whirling to run from the garden, crying.