Mauritane rose as Purane walked on stage, tacitly accepting his part in the melodrama.
"We welcome you, Mauritane," Purane announced, placing the cloak around Mauritane's shoulders. "I trust you will find the Guard as able as you left it."
"I am honored," Mauritane responded. He locked eyes with the man, wondering what kind of father he had been to his sons that they would turn out as they had. Purane-Es's blood was still sticky between Mauritane's fingers. That Lord Purane knew it and was still able to pretend courtesy was a kind of hypocrisy that Mauritane could only pity and never understand.
"Get ready to greet your public," the Chamberlain said. He turned to the crowd and shouted, "I give you Mauritane, the hero of Sylvan and Captain of Her Majesty's Royal Guard!"
Mauritane stepped forward and cheers burst forth in the square. Shopkeepers and message boys threw their caps in the air. The ladies-in-waiting on the grandstands blew bubbles and whistled down at him.
The Chamberlain had Silverdun brought forward next. Silverdun managed to smile and wave. He even made eyes at a few of the ladies in the stands, despite his new face. None of the ladies seemed to mind.
Satterly and Raieve came next. They both received cheers as well, but nothing compared to what Mauritane got when the Chamberlain said his name one last time.
"Maur-i-tane!" the crowd cried in unison. "Maur-i-tane!"
For a moment, Mauritane looked over the crowd and was suddenly aware of who they were and what they represented. They were the blood of the Seelie Heart, and they mattered more than what Purane-Es had done, or what the Lady Anne had done, or even what Mauritane himself had done. This was a moment of pure joy for the Seelie people and he would share it with them.
He raised his eyes to the sky and the blue of it stung his heart. Over the Seelie Grove, a single puffy cloud made its slow way across the sky, golden and shining. The smell of salt from the Emerald Bay was in the afternoon air; it was a different smell entirely from the dank Channel Sea waters that pervaded the air at Crete Sulace. The Emerald Bay smelled like childhood and friendship, simplicity and love.
The Pontiac was still parked in front of the stage; some event-planning functionary had thought it good theater to have them drive out of the square in it, not realizing that the crowd would mob the car, touching its sides and injuring themselves in the process. A line of Guardsmen was dispatched, and they were able to leave without further incident.
Outside the square, the Chamberlain approached with a trio of huge guards. "Come," he said briskly, his effusive public demeanor gone. "Your Queen wishes to greet you."
Mauritane froze. "Me?" he said.
"All of you."
"But my wife…" Mauritane began.
The Chamberlain looked at him. "There will be time for that."
They were led through the Inner Court, where the nightingales on their perches trilled and the troubadours and skalds sang and danced. Already, someone had composed a ballad of Sylvan, and it was performed throughout the palace grounds
The ancient palace rose before them in the Inner Court, its stones worn to their essential shapes, its towers dark and shrouded in the past. The blue and gold flag of Titania flew outside the gates, fluttering in a gentle breeze.
They were admitted to the palace via a seldom-used side entrance, although it was one Mauritane knew well, since it was convenient to his old office. Walking through the corridors there, he experienced a feast of emotions, not all of them painful.
The throne room was plain, compared to the rest of the palace. The walls were mostly bare, and the thrones themselves were simple, high-backed stone chairs that were built of the same material as the palace. To Mauritane, who had never been allowed here before, the sight was an awesome one regardless. The trio of guards led them into the room and left, closing the door behind them.
Only one of the thrones was currently occupied. King Auberon sat slumped in his chair, his eyes open but vacant, his fingers drumming a slow rhythm against the arm of his throne. He neither moved nor looked at them as they entered.
Momentarily, a small door behind the Queen's throne opened and Regina Titania swept into the room, leading Elice, daughter of Geracy, by the hand. The Queen's appearance belied her many thousands of years; if Mauritane had to guess he would say she was too young even to be a grandmother, and yet the children to whom she had given birth had lived so long ago that they had spoken a different language. She was tall, very tall, her movements precise and sinuous. Her face was open but fierce, all proud angles and lines of concern. Her violet eyes, about which many poems had been written, were at once gay and serious. She wore a simple white gown that flowed to her bare feet, and the Seelie Crown rested lightly over her close-cropped hair.
Mauritane had not seen Elice since that morning. After Purane-Es's death, Raieve had dragged her, kicking and screaming, into the automobile. She'd calmed down a bit once in the Pontiac but had not spoken a word. She remained silent and agitated even when they arrived in the city amidst a hail of trumpet calls and confetti, and she was whisked away by the Chamberlain and his men. Now she was calm, and her hair had been cropped short to match the Queen's.
The Queen let go of Elice's hand and ascended her throne, sparing a quick glance at her husband. Elice sat at the Queen's side, looking down at them, an odd smile on her face.
"Welcome home, Captain," said the Queen. "We are honored to have your in Our service."
Mauritane bowed low. "The honor, Majesty, is mine. I am… it is my greatest joy in life to have served thee."
Regina Titania smiled briefly, showing a line of perfect white teeth. Her smile was that of a gently scolding mother. "It pleases Us to hear it, although We are aware that the road has been difficult."
She leaned forward, resting her chin in her hands. "You do not know it, Mauritane," she said, "but you are a hero in more ways than one. In more ways than you can possibly imagine, in fact. And for that you shall be both rewarded and reviled in your time. But today, you are a hero to Us and to Our people."
Mauritane bowed again. "It is my pleasure to serve thee, Majesty."
"Bring your companions forward, let me look at them," she said.
Satterly came first. She stood and took his face in her hands, peering into his eyes. "You are human. Do you wish to return to the world of your birth?"
"May I stay instead?" said Satterly. "I have a friend in Sylvan that I'd like to see again."
"As you wish," said the Queen. "I am feeling generous of spirit today. And those who engage in the changeling trade are no friends of the kingdom."
She waved Raieve forward. "You are Raieve, of the Heavy Sky Clan of Avalon."
Raieve nodded.
"You do not care much for the Seelie Fae."
"I am from a different place," said Raieve, unafraid.
The Queen smiled again. "Indeed. What boon may I grant you?"
"I wish only to return to my homeland. I came to this world for assistance in bringing peace to Avalon. I was arrested and imprisoned for my trouble."
"You will be provided with what is necessary," said the Queen. "Though your experience may show otherwise, We sympathize with the plight of our neighbor world and wish her peace and prosperity. You may speak with my Guard Captain about the matter after I am through with him."
The Queen looked over her shoulder at Silverdun, who stood still at attention. "Are you Lord Silverdun?" she asked. "You are altered."
Silverdun bowed. "I am, Highness."
"Come forward."
The Queen rose and examined Silverdun's ruined face with great care. "There is no glamour here," she said, sadly.
"No, it will not come off."
"Do you know what this is?" she said.
Silverdun shook his head.
"This is the work of the thirteenth Gift. The Gift of Change Magic. It has not been seen since the Great Reshaping."
Silverdun touched his face. "Change Magic? But it was only a girl that did this to me."
> "We were once only a girl, Lord Silverdun, and look what We have accomplished." She looked away, sadly. "All of these things are coming to pass as We have always known they would." She leaned in toward him and spoke quietly. "You have been marked, Lord Silverdun, by the one who will eventually unseat Us, though that day is far from today."
"Unseat Your Highness?" said Silverdun. "Impossible."
"Hear me, Lord Silverdun," the Queen whispered in his ear. "In your lifetime, the magic will go out of the world, and the one who did this to you will be the cause of it. When that time comes, We will no longer be fit to rule. You must be prepared for that day, for I will call on you by name. This is for your ears alone."
The Queen gently stroked Silverdun's face with her fingertips. As she touched him, the lines of his face stretched and rearranged themselves. When she moved her hands away, he was nearer to the old Silverdun, recognizable at least, and no longer misshapen. But he was not the same.
"I've restored your face as much as I'm able," said the Queen. "Some of the changes wreaked upon you are more than skin deep, and not all of them were caused by the one who cast that spell upon you. Wear this, your third and final face, with pride. It suits you."
"Your majesty," said Silverdun, bowing.
"What boon will you take, Lord?"
"Only that I be allowed leave to help restore the Temple Aba-e in Sylvan."
"You go with my blessing," said the Queen. "The followers of Aba are no enemies of Ours, any more than the north wind is at war with the south wind. Sometimes they meet and cause a storm, but neither despises the other for what it is."
"You are most gracious, Majesty."
"Enough," said the Queen. She nodded to the Chamberlain. "Take these away and find them suitable quarters in the guest wing. Have a meal prepared for the high court and the lambs slain. Leave Mauritane here with Us."
Silverdun, Satterly, and Raieve filed out of the throne room following the Chamberlain.
The Queen returned to her throne and knelt before it, taking the hand of Geracy's daughter. Together they rose and approached the center of the throne room.
"As my honored servant," the Queen said to Mauritane, "We offer you the only gift We have that is worth what you have given Us. Our secret."
Mauritane did not understand.
"You risked everything to bring this young woman to Us, and you never asked the reason."
"It is not necessary for me to know the reason," said Mauritane.
Again, the Queen smiled. "Your loyalty borders on faith, Mauritane. Listen, and We will tell you a story."
The Queen led Elice down to the floor of the throne room and they sat opposite each other, the Queen on the left, Elice on the right. They locked eyes, and the Queen reached up and took the crown from her head, placing it gently on Elice's unlined brow.
"When I was a girl," she said, switching to the first person, "I was innocent and brave. I was one of the most powerful of those who dwelt here during the time of the Great Reshaping. I could bend the entire world to my will if I so desired. I wanted only what was best for the Faerie Kingdom, and in my innocence I believed that I could provide it. I tricked the son of Aba into becoming my husband. There he sits." She cast a tender glance at Auberon, still staring blankly into the distance. "If he remains in that body, I do not know. I removed the power of speech from him so long ago."
She returned her eyes to Elice. The air around the two of them seemed to shift and move, as though they sat in a desert mirage. "All of the magic that went into the Great Reshaping was locked into the forms it created. I realized too late that this magic was irretrievable and that there was no more to replace it when it was gone. There were some who would have used up all of the magic in this world and made it a place without miracles and wonder. I believed that was wrong. I wanted the Faerie lands as I knew them, so I gathered my strength and I struck the magic of change from my people. I wrestled the power to destroy my kingdom from their grasp. I was devoted, you understand, to securing the future of my land."
The air continued to shimmer. Mauritane thought he could see the shapes of the two women begin to shift around them.
"After a hundred years had passed, the Seelie lands were mine. Mab was the only one powerful enough to stand against me, and either I or Aba removed her from my sight. She went north to make a place in her own image, and I remained in mine. But all was not well here. In my singleness of purpose, owning the land as I did, the warmth began to flow from it. The birds stopped singing, and the hot winds ceased to blow from the west. The land of summer's twilight began to grow cold, and snow began to fall, blowing down from the northern wastes. The River Ebe froze in its course."
Mauritane blinked, trying to follow what was going on before him. The light in the room had gone funny, and his eyes were playing tricks on him.
"That was the first winter. I consulted my wizards and my philosophers, and none of them knew why it had happened. They suggested sacrifices and spells and dances to the long-dead gods of the sun and the winds. Deep in my heart, though, I knew the answer. I had failed my land and my people. In my devotion, I had lost my vision of what it was I had sworn to uphold. I had become corrupt, just as anyone with power is corrupted. I realized I was no different or better than anyone else; I was just more powerful."
Mauritane tried to focus his eyes on the two women before him and found himself unable. They seemed to be at a distance from him that his eyes could not register. Suddenly his perspective shifted and he could see that the Queen's lips were no longer moving. Her voice was coming from the girl, Elice.
"Desperate, I begged Aba for the answer. I called him down from his palace in the sky and I asked him what to do. And what he told me is something I have never forgotten. `All that is flesh is corruptible,' he told me. `All that is in order will one day decay.'
"It was not the answer I wanted. My people loved me, needed me. Or so I thought. And in my desperation I came upon a solution, one that only I could provide. I searched the kingdom for an innocent soul that hearkened back to my own. I found her, finally, in the far east. She was the daughter of a baron whose name I once swore never to forget but have long since forgotten. The epitome of innocence and ambition, just as I had been. I brought her to me."
The shimmering of the air began to recede. Mauritane looked again, and it appeared now as though the Queen were sitting to the right of Elice, though he had not seen them change position.
"I brought to bear the magic of change upon her and upon me. I gave her my memories and my desires, and I took hers into me. I gave her my face, my form, my voice, and in return I took my leave from the cage I'd built around myself. Regina Titania walked from the throne room on that day, and Laura Crete Sulace ruled in her place. Her fresh spirit allowed the rivers to melt and the warm breezes to blow again. Summer returned to the land, and all was well.
"At least, it was for a time."
The two women rose. The motion of the air was gone, and now it was indeed Elice who stood on the left and Queen Titania who stood on the right.
"Her reign lasted one hundred years. And when her heart faded, winter returned. She cast her net for a replacement and found one, just as Regina Titania had done.
"As the centuries continued, a new heart was brought to bear on the kingdom every hundred years. And that secret became the most treasured and most dangerous of all. For if anyone were to discover that Titania no longer ruled in the City Emerald, the Seelie Kingdom would fall away like sand. Mab could press her ancient claim to the throne, and an age of darkness would come to the Seelie Fae. And I am not yet prepared to let that happen. Soon, but not yet.
"So," said the new Queen, "you understand that the secrecy and the deceit that accompanied your errand were of unfortunate necessity.
She smiled. "That is my story, and the moral of it I leave for you to discern. I trust you will take your lesson where you can find it."
The Queen returned to her throne, and Elice stepped slowly down to w
here Mauritane stood. The girl took his hand and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Thank you," she whispered.
"What boon do you ask, Mauritane?" the Queen said. "Anything in my power to provide I will give you."
Mauritane struggled for words. "All I want I have," he said. "Only now I would like to go see my wife."
The Queen's face was somber. "You have served Us well, Mauritane. We will hold your boon in abeyance."
Mauritane nodded.
"Is there something else?"
He paused. "Something yet troubles me."
"Speak."
"Twice during this mission I have been called `He Who Clears the Path,' once by the Thule Man and again by an Arcadian."
"Ah, the Thule Man. We knew him once, when we were both much younger. And you wish to know what this means."
"I do."
Titania leaned forward in her throne and rested her chin in her hands. It was a girlish posture for a Queen.
"It is a prophecy, nothing more; prophecies surround Us like gnats. But We see that it troubles you."
"I do not wish to be the slave of fate," said Mauritane.
The Queen giggled. "We are all slaves," she said. "Not to fate, though, but to our own hearts. Not even your Queen is exempt from that."
"But if a prophet sets a path for me, then my own honor means nothing. I am a puppet."
"No, you misunderstand. The Prophet sees, yes. But to see is not to cause. The title of `He Who Clears the Path,' like any other such, is simply a pedestal upon which your own choices have placed you. Had you opted to be a coward or a fool, someone else would eventually have stood there."
She gestured him closer and almost whispered. "It is one thing you and I have in common. Greatness casts a long shadow; cast forward by the sun and backward by the moon."
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