"Hold on! I've almost got it!"

Terra looked over at her playmate, who was staring intently at his own two hands and trying to shape the small sphere of glowing energy in his grasp. She shifted her seat on the fallen tree to get a better look, the pale blue glow illuminating her wide brown eyes. She tucked a strand of her long golden-brown hair behind her ear and looked into the face of her only friend. He was the same age as her, just ten years old, but he was already learning to control his powers and bend them to his will. Terra wondered if she would ever be as good as him. She watched as he pressed his round face closer to his hands, his wild blonde hair falling over his mismatched eyes.

"Aha!" he shouted in triumph, snapping upright and startling Terra.

She peered at his hand. Though faded and not entirely solid, the light had taken some sort of shape. Terra identified the long stem, large head, and numerous overlapping petals as those of a daisy. She looked back up at the face of her friend, somewhat confused.

"Another flower, Jareth? I thought you said all the other ones died? Wouldn't it make more sense to try something else?" she asked.

Jareth frowned, muttering in frustration, "Flowers is all I can do."

He switched his gaze back to his hands, concentrating again. Terra watched silently as the flower became more solid and lost its blue tinge, assuming the normal appearance of a daisy. Jareth handed it to his friend. She didn't take it right away.

"What am I supposed to do with it?" she asked.

"My mother said she didn't like me having all those dead flowers in my room."

"And you think my mother will like it?" Terra asked incredulously.

Jareth simply smiled irresistibly, "Please?"

Terra didn't fail to catch the glint of mischief in her friend's pale blue and brown eyes. But she couldn't say no. She took the flower, holding it ever so carefully in her cupped hands. Jareth beamed at her, leaping to his feet.

"Come on!" he said energetically, "It's not too late! We can run down to the lake and go for a swim!"

He took off without waiting for an answer, and Terra wordlessly followed, still holding onto the daisy as if afraid it would shatter if she was too rough with it. She broke into a sprint to catch up with Jareth, wondering how her mother would react when she returned home that evening with her spotless white clothes soaking wet and stained from her trip through the forest.

Shaking off the fearful thought, she plunged through the long grass, breaking out of the covering of the forest and into the open. The grass began to thin around her and soon her flying feet were striking the muddy shore of the lake. Jareth was up ahead, waving her down. Terra slowed as she got closer, pausing to catch her breath as she reached him. Jareth was already tearing off his shoes and Terra followed suit, being careful to tuck the daisy safely inside her boot. She rolled up her pants past her knees, allowing Jareth to reach the water ahead of her. She waded in after him, receiving a face full of water once she got in his range. His bobbing head smiled smugly before disappearing under the surface.

"Oh no you don't," Terra muttered to herself, drawing a deep breath before diving under.

The hours seemed to fly by, until the children totally lost all track of time.

Jareth was stretched out luxuriously on the wet sand, his eyes closed, a contented smile on his face. Terra sat next to him, casting him frequent glances.

"Hey, Terra," Jareth said, his eyes flying open suddenly, "What are you going to do when you grow up?"

Terra thoughtfully chewed the inside of her cheek. Jareth watched her intently, as though he could see the wheels of her mind turning as she considered his question.

"A protector," she said.

Jareth raised a quizzical eyebrow but Terra failed to notice. She was staring off into the distant horizon, her eyes glazed.

She couldn't help but admire the gallant figures that had adorned the stories of ancient history. Protectors. Jareth had been the one to tell her about them, relating his history lessons with his tutor in such a colourful fashion that Terra couldn't help but listen in total rapture. Of course, her parents never told her stories. They never really gave her much of an education either, the most they'd ever taught her being to sit still and shut up. After all, they were much too busy with their elegant courtier lives to bother much about Terra. Terra hated being part of the Fae court, and the only good thing that had ever come of it was being able to meet the wonderfully charismatic youngest son to the King. That was Jareth. Jareth, being a rebel at heart, had seemed to share Terra's dislike of having high expectations of oneself. So whatever free time they had, they spent it together, dashing through the forest, climbing trees, swimming in the lake, playing with the odd creatures that stumbled into their paths, experimenting with magic, playing tricks on the other courtiers, or just talking like they were doing now. Terra was naturally shy and quiet but she felt comfortable around Jareth. She never really told him about her troubled home life, and she felt better with him not knowing. She knew Jareth was popular and had other friends apart from her, but he was really all she had. She took fall after fall for him when their tricks went awry, and though she'd never complained, Jareth had never apologized.

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The reason Terra was so keen on becoming a protector was because of the roles they played. Protectors were widely known and respected throughout the Fae kingdom and they often had the opportunities to travel afar and battle the most unthinkable creatures. Terra knew it was dangerous, but she couldn't help but think how thrilling it would be!

Protectors were bound to one person their entire lives through the power of a sacred oath. A special pool resided by the border of their kingdom, where the protector would have to speak the sacred words that bound him to his master. From that point on, the protector would have the ability to sense whether his master was in danger or not. However, there was one very upsetting repercussion. Being connected through a sort of 'string of fate', if the master died, the protector would inevitably die as well. Or, if the master's wellbeing was threatened and the protector did nothing or was separated from his master by vast distance, he would inevitably die. The only way to be free from the responsibility would be if the master travelled to the sacred pool and broke the vow himself. It was an immense burden, yes, but Terra saw it as such a noble thing to swear your life to someone and expect nothing in return.

"Sounds boring to me," Jareth said.

"Fine, what would you do?" Terra demanded.

Jareth fidgeted distractedly, "I don't know..."

"Well, I would hate to have to live here my whole life," Terra said, "Dressing like a lady and drinking tea and minding my manners. Booooooooring."

The sound of a distant bell suddenly caught the children's attention and they both turned white as a sheet.

"Quick!" Jareth urged, snatching up his shoes and dashing away.

Terra started after him only to realize that she was missing her own footwear. She raced back, pulling the daisy out of her boots before putting them on. Jareth was already well ahead of her by then. She pelted along in his wake, the castle gardens just within view. That was their shortcut. They raced through, ignoring the angry shouts of the gardeners as they accidently trampled a few petunias. They made it to the crowded courtyard, weaving in and out of the surprised courtiers. At the gates to the inner castle court, they stopped and bade farewell to each before heading their separate ways. Terra hurried down the cobbled street past the beautiful palace houses until she came to her own. She was about to burst in through the front door when she hesitated. Maybe it was a bad idea to go in that way. She sneaked around the back of the house, cursing the fact that they had such high windows since it allowed her no view inside. She came in through the servant's entrance, tip-toeing lightly through the first room, up the long staircase, through the servant's quarters, down the hall, cutting through the sitting room, passing the ball room, until at last she reached the corridor where the bedrooms were. That's when she heard it: her parents' raised voices. She paused at their door, leaning against it to hear what they were saying.

Her mother's voice rose shrilly, "I don't care! She's a little scamp! We should have thrown her to the wolves when she was a baby! You said we were being charitable, doing the right thing! But you haven't contributed at all in her upbringing! For ten years I've had to put up with that awful child! She refuses to act respectably and I can't even have her around the house when I have guests over!"

"You have guests over every day!" Terra's father interrupted.

If it was even possible, her mother's voice rose higher, "You go gallivanting every day with your friends! Why shouldn't I?"

"That's different—"

"No, it isn't!"

"Marina, you're just going to have to deal with her, alright? We made our choice."

"I've been dealing with her for ten years, damn you! Weren't you listening, you oaf?"

"Now really, Marina—"

"No! I've had enough! She's no child of ours, so why should I give a damn about her upbringing?"

Terra bit her lip, feeling tears staining her cheeks. She raced into her room and collapsed on the floor, choking back sobs as she angrily dug her nails into the carpeted floor. She looked down at the flower still tightly clutched in her left hand. One of her tears splashed onto it. Hugging the delicate flower to her chest, Terra sat there and cried.

Now she understood. She understood why her parents hated her, why they ignored her, why they yelled at her, why they tried to hole her up in her room. She wasn't theirs. She never had been. She never would be.

She bit her lip harder in an attempt to stifle her pitiful whimpering. The harsh taste of blood filled her mouth and she nearly choked on it. Crawling to the bed, she buried her face in the pillow and just sat there while her body shook with sobs.

Eventually, her tears stopped. Her stomach growled with hunger but she was in no mood to eat. She looked down at the daisy still clutched in her hand. Slowly, with glassy eyes, she found a vase to put it in and filled it with water. She set it on the little round table in the center of the room. For a moment, she just stood there, staring at the pretty little flower. Suddenly, she bent down and cupped the flower in her hands again, pressing her face close to it.

"I want you to live," she murmured, "I want you to last till the morning. And the morning after. And the morning after that. I want to admire your beauty a lifetime from now!"

She continued to stare at the flower a while longer before turning and retiring to her bed. As she crawled under the covers and pulled them up around her chin to keep out the cold, she failed to notice the faint shimmering light emanating from the flower.