"Nor do I, but most people fear them."

She nodded. "I hate them. 'Tis their fault I'm here with nothing but dreary lessons."

Andalor saw no reason for her isolation. She should reside in the palace and have companions of her own age. Why was she hidden here? For her safety? Hardly. There'd been no Guards or walls with fortified gateposts. Though some of the male servants were burly men, they bore no weapons.

She curled in a ma.s.sive chair reminiscent of a throne. He sat on a stool at her feet. Warmth from the fire in the ma.s.sive fireplace heated his back, and her beauty heated his thoughts.

He told her of his childhood as the third son of a woodworker. He spoke of his gentle mother, of the father who'd made his lute, of the brother who'd followed his father into the shop. About the brother who'd shown a talent for weather prediction and who had been taken away by the mages, he kept silent. As he spoke, he strummed the lute.

"I envy ye," she said.

He heard yearning in her voice. "And when ye were a child?"

She sighed. "I stayed in the nursery with my nurse or played alone in the garden."

How sad, he thought. To change the mood, he sang a rollicking song about a lyrcat and a flutter who fell

in love.

She laughed and her eyes lost some of their sadness. "Now tell me about the land and the people's lives. Tell me the things ye couldn't say when Macker was here to listen. When I hold the Jewel, I must know who and where to help."

He could spin a pretty tale where all was sweet and bright, but the truth beat in his chest like a blacksmith's hammer.

Until a servant came to bank the fire, he told her what he'd seen and heard. The tales were broken by songs, old and new. "Now ye know how the people suffer."

She met his gaze. "I fear ye speak the truth. My mother is dying, and before her illness, she grieved for my father. One day, he vanished from the palace and never returned. My mother leans heavily on the advice of the Brotherhood of mages. When I am Queen, they will be dismissed." Her voice broke. "'Tis not that I wish her dead. I just want her to hear me."

He took her hand in his. "Death comes to all and chooses its time with no thought for those left behind. Have the Healers no hope for the Queen?"

"No one tells me a thing. I haven't seen her since the day I was brought here."

She closed her eyes, but not before he caught a glimpse of fear in her eyes. "How sad."

She leaned toward him. "Can ye stay awhile?"

Once again, he wondered why she'd been banished from the palace. He would not ask-yet.

"A minstrel wanders when and where he will. There is no one waiting for me to arrive. Yes, I will stay and go to Pala with ye."

Dimples appeared in her cheeks. "That would be most pleasant. I hope many tendays pa.s.s before I am summoned."

He drew her into his arms and hugged her. A brotherly embrace, though he felt nothing like a brother.

She touched his face with her fingers. "I've never had a friend." She stepped away. "Good night."

"Until tomorrow." He watched her run lightly down the hall. Satisfaction filled him until a disturbing thought arose. If he didn't take care, Reena would steal his heart and he would lose the freedom to wander as he pleased.

CHAPTER 4.

From The Queen's Diary Just because she was the firstborn didn't mean she deserved to hold the Black. Ten minutes separated us. She has the Jewel and the man I would have Chosen. He was mine first. Now he stares as though I am no one. Soon, she'll remove the Jewel to give birth and I will be ready to act. The Black will be mine and so will he.

Reena reined her horse and looked over her shoulder at Andalor. "Your riding skills have improved. For a man who has never been ahorse, ye do well."

He stopped beside her. "Just tell my body that. I've aches that ache. Ready for our luncheon?"

"I've never eaten outdoors before." There'd been so many things she'd experienced for the first time since the storm a tenday before had brought the minstrel to her door. She'd only imagined how happiness would feel before he'd shown her how to laugh and play.

He grasped the saddle horn and dismounted, then came to lift her from the saddle. His arms were strong and his touch brought heat rising to her cheeks. He lowered her to the ground, and for a moment she thought he meant to kiss her. Instead, he brushed hair from her face. Sadness sliced through her thoughts. One day soon, he would leave. She wanted him to stay forever. Then she remembered she would be a Holder and once a Holder named a man as her Chosen, they were united for life.

She almost spoke the words. Then a violent display of lightning colored the sky. She chewed her lip. The end was near and so was a new beginning. She would wait to make her declaration until the Jewel was hers. She sat on the gra.s.s and watched Andalor unpack the basket the servants had left for them.

I wish this time would last forever.

That night, sleep was as elusive as wisps of smoke. Reena stared at the ceiling. Her thoughts drifted to the minstrel. She yearned to touch his copper-colored hair and to see laughter in his copper-tinted eyes.

Lightning flared in the sky. The display had been constant all day. She knew her time at the manor house drew to an end. Soon, they would call on her to accept the Black Jewel and the throne. When I am Queen, the land will blossom, she vowed.

Noises in the hall startled her. The door crashed against the wall. She clutched the covers and willed her pounding heart to slow.

"Milady Reena, the carriage from the palace has arrived," Macker said. "Dress. Your mother awaits your arrival."

Once he left, she pulled a dress from the wardrobe. A maid arrived to fasten the back and to brush her hair.

Macker waited at the foot of the stairs. "I will bid ye farewell. May fortune shine on ye."

"And on ye. In the morning, send the minstrel to the palace. Give him a horse and anything else he needs."

"Are ye sure this is what should be? He is but a wanderer. The Jewel will change ye and he may no longer suit."

She shook her head. In this, she would never change. "Do as I bid."

"So be it," Macker said.

In the carriage, she sought to still her racing emotions. Five years had pa.s.sed since her last encounter with her mother. During that meeting the Queen had accused Reena of plotting to steal the Jewel. Her mother had also blamed Reena for her Chosen's disappearance.

The man who'd been her father had been a shadow figure. His blue eyes had always held grief. When she'd been a child, he had often crept into the nursery and watched her. One time, he'd called her Liara and his tears had soaked her hair. She still wondered for whom he'd wept.

The rocking of the carriage lulled her body but her thoughts circled from her life in the manor house to the years in the palace; dark memories of lonely days and nights. When Andalor had appeared at the door, her fantasies had become her reality.

Too long and too soon, the carriage entered the city gates and wound through narrow streets to the palace. No lightning flashed overhead. Was her mother dead?

A pair of mages stood beside the carriage steps. She glanced at them. Relief that neither face was Gregor's arose. A hand of Guards waited at the door. Fear coiled around her thoughts. With the Guards leading the way, they bypa.s.sed the throne room and strode torch-lit corridors until they reached the Queen's suite.

With her heart hammering and her steps unsteady, Reena entered her mother's bedchamber. The last time she'd been in this room, her mother had turned the Jewel against her. Reena had never forgotten the excruciating pain, the lesions and burns that had taken lunars to heal.

She stopped at the foot of the bed. Her mother's coloring seemed unnaturally bright. The sunken cheeks gave her face a skeletal appearance. Eyes once a pure blue had darkened to near black.

Reena tore her gaze from her mother. A shudder rippled along her spine. The mage, Gregor, sat beside the bed. His shaven head gleamed and his features appeared to have been chipped from stone. How can Mother bear to have him near? He's not her Chosen, and yet there are ties between them. He smiled and his lips stretched into a narrow band.

Reena swallowed the acid that rose in her throat. When I'm Queen, he and his ilk will be driven from Pala.

"Begone, old man," the Queen said. "There is much I must do to prepare my daughter for the Jewel."

"As ye wish, my Queen, but soon, I'll have charge of her teaching."

A protest lodged in Reena's throat. She bit her lip lest she blurt her plans.

The tall, sinister man paused at the door. "Farewell, my Queen. 'Tis but a step into eternal darkness." His black robe swirled and he was gone.

Reena's tension ebbed. "Why do you tolerate his presence?"

"He has his uses, as ye will discover. I pray Macker has drilled ye in the ways of a Queen. Few women are strong enough to hold a Jewel. I pray ye are one." She leaned forward. "Ye will learn 'tis control or be controlled. Ye must beware..."

Reena grasped the bedpost and felt the carved swirls bite into her hands. "Why should the Queen fear anyone or anything?"

The Queen smiled. "There are many who will envy your position and your power. The other Holders will scheme to go their own ways. The Yellow has not been seen in Pala since before your birth... Then there is your cousin who is also your half-sister." She laughed. "They sought to keep her survival from me, but I knew. She is your test. Like my own sister, who usurped my place and lost it, this sister-cousin will seek your Jewel. Unless ye destroy her, she'll be your death."

A sister who is also a cousin. Was she the one who brought sadness to my father's eyes?

"What was your sister like?" Reena asked. "In appearance but for her ebon hair, the picture of myself. But weak. I drove her from the palace. Her Chosen became mine. She's long dead. 'Tis her daughter ye must fear." A paroxysm of coughing racked the Queen's body. Her face turned scarlet. Reena moved from the foot of the bed. "Mother, let me help ye." The Queen's eyes darkened. Thunder rumbled. She clutched the Jewel. "Bind the Holders tight. Make them swear to ye. Do not trust the Brotherhood." She raised the Jewel. Lightning flashed and brightened the room.

Reena stared at the Black. Mine, she thought. "Hold out your hand to receive the symbol of power over the land and the people." The Queen's voicewas harsh. "Hold the gem to your heart and then to your forehead. Ye will be sealed to it and it to ye. Donot remove the Black until ye give birth to the one who is to follow ye."

Reena reached for the Jewel. Her mother released the chain and then with clawed hands tried to s.n.a.t.c.h

it back. Her strength seemed demon controlled.

Reena jerked the chain and brought the Jewel to her heart. Cold spread from her hand and traveled along her arms. With difficulty, she raised the gem to her brow. Chill blackness filled her. All her fears and anxieties flowed into her thoughts.

Agony pulsed through her nerves. She was lost in darkness. Tendrils of ice flowed through her veins.

Colors swirled in whirlpool circles from bright to black.

When she roused, she slipped the chain over her head. She struggled to her feet and touched her mother's hand.

"Dead. The Queen is dead." She staggered to the door and flung it open. "The Queen lives."

Gregor stood with a cl.u.s.ter of mages. They bowed. "Be welcome, our Queen."

"Bury my mother."

"And the parting ceremony?"

"Let the people of Pala provide the parting."

"As ye will."

"When Andalor, the minstrel, arrives, have him brought to the throne room."

Gregor's eyes narrowed. "What business have ye with him?"

"I said I would see him." She raised the Jewel and pointed it at the mage. "Do ye question my

commands? The power is mine."

He scurried away. She laughed. Soon, she would be rid of him.

Guards lined the corridors leading to the throne room. One opened the door. Reena paused on the threshold. The gem throbbed against her chest, but she ignored the desire to attune herself again.

Black hangings, each embroidered with the symbols of the Jewels of Earda, covered the walls. Red light from the setting sun streamed through the high windows. She crossed to the dais and strode up the steps to the ebonwood throne. A low stool also stood on the platform. She sat and folded her hands.

A short time later, Andalor was announced. He crossed the room and paused before the dais. "My Queen, I'm sorry to hear about your mother and hope ye do not grieve too hard."

Am I grieving, she wondered. She had thought she would but her feelings were blocked. "Join me."

He made a sweeping bow. "Ye are Queen and I am but a minstrel."

She scowled. "I would have thee as my Chosen."

"And thee will be mine for as long as breath moves in my body." He knelt on the steps before her. "Thee do me the greatest honor." She placed her hands on his head and felt sensations akin to those she'd experienced from the Black.

But these were warm and filled the empty places in her heart.