The palace became busier during the week as the servants and guests prepared for Festive, the fall masked pageantry. Noble’s would wear robes decorated to look like fish  and even painted their skin and dyed their hair to match the tropical fish they represented.

  This year Vael had chosen a koi fish and had shown me a painting of the multicolored animal. For his colors he had chosen orange and white, for mine orange, white and black; there were even wigs to go with the robes.

  Even though everyone seemed happy and excited for the event, I was dreading it’s approaching date because that was going to be my wedding day if I survived the trial in two days. The Illustria had assured me that her personal physician was trustworthy and there was no need for me to worry. I knew I was a virgin and so did Vael, but convincing the nobles after the doubt that Ai has placed would be a challenge. How did I know if they would believe the ruling of the doctor if they didn’t believe me?

  It was Vael’s turn to escort me to breakfast and he kissed me deeply at the door. My heart raced and my cheeks heated in embarrassment as I felt the eyes of the maids on me. I loved that he was becoming more affectionate in public. Neoma told me of the gossip she heard from the other guards about Vael. They liked this kinder version of him that was less prone to rage. I think my words had reached him after our first dinner together.

  “How was your work in the kitchen last night?” he asked me.

  “There was more food than usual to pack so Palesa had two other girls helping. She said that during Festive it would be much busier and she would have the ash boys running the food down to the orphanage.”

  “Do you plan on helping them those nights?” he drew me closer and my breath caught in my throat. I shook my head. “Good because if you were I would have to carry you off.”

  “Mmm… well… I was thinking we could set up something similar in North Hold since we have so many orphans,” I said quickly. Vael laughed and kissed the top of my head.

  “Whatever you wish.” His kissed the top of my head a second time.

  When we entered the dining hall Aur broke away from his mother and rushed over to greet us. He bowed as he had been taught and kissed my right hand. “Father! Lady Sol! Good morning!”

  “Good morning Aur,” Vael said and patted his son on the head. “Are you sitting with your mother again today?”

  “Mmm… No, with you! I asked!” Vael smiled at his son. I looked at Lady Ai and saw her glaring again. When she looked at me she quickly turned away and started talking to lady next to her. I sighed; it was going to be another bad day for us.

  The servants seated us next to Lady Sto this time and she proceeded to talk our ears off about her youngest daughter who had moved to the capital to marry a noble there. The way the woman talked it was as if her daughter had married the Prince.

  Aur was sitting between myself and Vael when the boy asked for a drink. I picked up the pitcher and poured a glass of water for him. As I handed the glass to him the condensation made my grip weak and it slipped out of my hand and fell in his lap. Aur jumped up as if burned and immediately fell over as his legs became a tail. I gasped and bent down to help him back into his seat with Vael’s help.

  Pain bloomed on the back of my head as my neck jerked back sharply. “Get away from my son!” Lady Ai growled. There were gasps around the table as Ai released me and picked up Aur.

  “Ai,” Vael hissed.

  “Ai!” Lord Gidean shouted.

  She ignored them and stormed from the room carrying her now screaming son. Vael placed his hand on my own and I looked at it. “Sit,” he said. I hadn’t realized that I had stood up.

  “No, I need to talk to her.”

  “Let me do it, she’s the mother of my son.”

  “No! If I’m marrying into your family I need to have a talk with her. Don’t follow me.” I tore my hand away and stormed from the room. Lady Ai needed to know that I wasn’t going to take her abuse.

  I trailed behind Ai as she stomped down the hallway. “Ai! We need to talk!” She looked over her shoulder at me and physically paled.

  “I don’t want to talk you, you filthy mud puddle!” She hissed. “Silence Aur! You are going to spend the rest of the day in your room studying.”

  “No! I want to see Papa! Please!” He reached out to me. “Sol! Sol help me!”

  Ai’s eyes darkened and she slapped Aur. I flew across the distance between us and lifted him from her arms and pushed her away. Ai stood there surprised and frightened, then furious.

  “Give me back my son!”

  “Not if you’re going to hurt him again! Don’t you see him crying?” There was fire in the woman’s eyes, but suddenly they banked and I saw an expression on her face that I had never seen before; sadness.

  “Oh gods,” she whispered and then fled. A guard approached me and I handed Aur to him.

  “Take him to Lord Cadfael quickly!”

  I sprinted after Ai as she ran down the hall and then up the staircase. She was quicker than I expected but I followed her every step of the way. I grabbed her arm and then pulled her the nearest empty room and shut the door. I realized it was a library and thought to myself to explore it’s tomes later.

  “Ai, you can’t be treating your son like that! Whatever issue you have with me, you need to settle it with me!”

  “You stupid bitch,” Ai said and tried to slap me. I caught her hand and pushed it away. “You shouldn’t even be here polluting the waters around Vael!”

  “I, his betrothed, shouldn’t be here? What about you, his ex-wife? You broke his heart and continue to grind it under your heel.”

  Ai began to pull books off the shelves while breathing heavily. “It was his fault! He wanted children, but everyone one of them died inside me. He would hug and comfort me, but I knew… I knew he blamed me for every one that died and I hated him for it.” She fell to her knees and pulled her hair out of its braids. “I wanted to please him. I wanted to be a mother,” she said gulping. “I couldn’t take the shame of losing them so I started sleeping with the lords who would visit us… I wanted a baby so bad.

  “Then Gidean came to visit us. When I found out he still admired me I fell in love with him. I tried to sleep with him, but he said he wouldn’t until I divorced Vael. I felt so bad about breaking his heart so I slept with him one last time. The gods must have thought it would be funny to allow me to finally give birth to Vael’s son when I was married to another man.” Ai began shaking and continued to pull at her hair.

  “I was afraid to tell him about the baby, I thought that if I did, Aur would disappear. Gidean was furious with me, but I didn’t care. Then we tried, we tried every single year that we’ve been married to have another baby, but I kept losing them. I felt cursed. I felt like Vael had cursed me for keeping his son so I brought Aur to him.”

  I knelt beside Ai. “That must have been very hard,” I said. She sneered at me.

  “Yes, it has been hard to see him with another woman, especially one who says that she doesn’t want children!”

  I sat back on my heels. It must have seemed like a slap  in the face for me to not want children after she had tried so hard with Vael. She must have thought that I would push Aur away from his father. I wondered if Syr knew of Aur and if she had prevented Ai, at some point, from bringing father and son together.

  “Ai, I’m an only child. I’ve never wanted a large family. I thought that by not having children of my own, Aur would be more loved. I wasn’t trying to hurt you!”

  “Sure,” Ai scoffed. “I have tried so hard to get you and Vael to break off your engagement, but you keep staying like dung stuck to a behind. Who knew the Gentle God was actually protecting you.”

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  My eyes widened in realization. “It was you, you told Lord Green to kidnap me!” Ai flinched and I stood up. “You convinced him to have me raped!” Ai stared at me with wide eyes and began to tremble. Large tears fell from her eyes and her make-up began to run.

  “He was never supposed to rape you! He was only to kidnap you and convince Vael that you had run away. I didn’t think he would be such a sick minded person!”

  “But how could you do this to me? Do you know how many nightmares that I’ve had since I was kidnapped?” Ai grabbed my hands and sobbed into the front of my robe.

  “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I never wanted that to happen.” I looked down at the broken woman and began to cry as well out of frustration. What was I going to do? I believed her when she said that Lord Green had went beyond what she’d asked, but it didn’t change the fact that she had wanted to hurt me.

  Forgive her, a small voice said in my mind. Could I forgive her? Lord Green’s men had beaten me and may have killed me. I had every right to hate this woman, but when I looked at her all I saw was a broken woman, scared and exposed. Would hating her make my life better? Would my life be any easier?

  I tried to breathe around the angry knot in my chest and sank to my knees.  I wrapped my arms around Ai and held her tightly. The woman seemed so frail in my arms as she clung to me sobbing. “Shhh…” I murmured. “It’s okay Ai. I forgive you,” I said and I meant it. Holding on to my anger after what she had done to me would not help us. I had to be the one to rise above.

  The room filled with blinding light and Ai froze mid sob in fear. I continued to hug her and began to rock her in my arms. The door burst open behind us as the light faded and Vael and Lord Gidean entered the room. I could see a servant standing nervously behind them in the hallway. The pair stared at us surprised. Ai lifted her head from my shoulder and looked at her husband. “Gidean,” she said weakly. She smiled at him and then vomited down my back.

  Later I sat in my room after taking a long bath. There was a knock on my door and Neoma opened it. Vael stood stiffly at the door with another guard. She bowed and let them in. He approached me at the bed and stared at me in silence. I met his gaze and tried to read his emotions. His jaw was set and his eyes looked tired. “Ai’s with the physician right now. Gidean got her story, but now I need yours.”

  “My story?”

  His right hand tightened around his fan. “From our point of view it looks like you assaulted Ai after she pulled your hair and took Aur.”

  “I would never do such a thing!”

  “I know that, but the Illustrious wants to make sure that something like this doesn’t happen again under his roof. We could lose our invitation and possibly be banned after this incident.”

  I covered my face with my hands and laughed. This whole morning was a mess and I hadn’t even had my trial yet. I wondered if Ai would lie about what had happened. To everyone else it looked like I was the aggressor even though Ai had attacked me first. The fact that I had killed Cia did not help me.

  “Vael, I didn’t hurt her. Yes I chased her, and I pushed her away after she slapped Aur, but that’s it.”

  “What about the light? I thought you had turned her to stone,” Vael asked. I shook my head. How was I supposed to know why the Gentle God had manifested? I realized with shock that it probably looked like I had beaten Ai and then healed her with the god’s power to hide the evidence.

  “I can’t tell you the mind of a god. All I know that every time that the light appears they grant a blessing. They’ve healed me, cleansed waters, turned Ryaa into Waterfolk! All I can say is that the Gentle God has a plan.”

  Vael knelt in front of me and pulled my hands away from my face. “Look at me,” he whispered. I opened my eyes and stared into his. “I will always protect you. I’m furious that Ai hurt you and my son.” He looked up at the Illustrious’s guard. “Do you have what you need for the Illustrious?”

  “Yes, Lord Cadfael. I don’t see any reason that either party should be confined to their quarters. I will let my lord know and he will pass his ruling,” the guard said. He bowed to us and left the room.

  We waited for what seemed like years in my room. Neoma brought out a set of dominos and the three of us began to play in silence. After a while I began to pace my room while they both tracked me with their eyes. “Can you sit down?” Vael asked me. I shook my head. I needed to release my pent up energy. Sitting wouldn’t help me.

  There was a knock on the door and Neoma answered it for me. The Illustrious’s guard had returned. “Sir, Madam, the Illustrious sees no reason that you should be fined as long as both parties promise to behave in a stately manner for the rest of your visit. Lord Gidean and Lady Ai are not requesting any reparations.”

  My lungs began to burn and I let out my breath in a sigh of relief. “Am I allowed to see Lady Ai?” I asked.

  “At the moment she wishes to remain in her quarters. She seems quite ill.”

  I looked back at Vael and he nodded. “If you could let her know that we wish to speak with her later, that would be most appreciated,” he said. The guard bowed and left.

   “No punishment!” I said incredulously. Vael smirked and Neoma shook her head.

  “Things could have been much worse my lady,” Neoma said.

  “But it wasn’t and we should be happy for that.”

  “I’d be happier if you came over her and gave me a kiss,” Vael said. I felt heat rise in my cheeks and approached him quietly. “Don’t act like it’s a chore.”

  “Well maybe it is,” I said sticking my tongue out at him. He grabbed my hand and pulled me down into his lap and I squealed.

  “Then tell me what to do to make it more exciting,” he growled.

  “My lord, my lady, I must ask that you refrain from excessive intimacy when we’re this close to the trial.” Vael froze. I looked at Neoma’s bowed head.

  “Yes…thank you for your advice,” I said. I stood up and smoothed out my robe. My face felt on fire and I walked stiffly to my window and opened it. The salty sea air cooled my face as I breathed it in deeply. I looked down at the shifting waves and saw a white sail in the distance. The Landwalker ship skirted the border of the Meridian waters more than likely escorted by Waterfolk. I’d heard tensions were lower further away from the Forbidden Line.  I wondered if it were true.

  Vael joined me at the window. “Would you like me to paint that for you?”

  “Paint?”

  “The ship; there is a popular trade route that goes past Meridia. It’s not uncommon for three ships a day to pass by.”

  “How would you take the painting back to Geyser?”

  Vael kissed the top of my head. “Leave that detail to me.”

  "Well... there is something that I want you to do..." 

  "Hmm?"

  "The library we were in, can we go back there? I want to see if I can find out any information about the great flooding."

  Vael cocked his head to the side. "Why do you need such information?"

  "I know very little of what happened during that time, and the library you have has few books on the subject..." I cupped my elbows. "i want to know if I can find more information on Lemuete."

  Vael clenched his jaw and stared at me. "Why do you need to know more about this demon?"

  "Because he's been killing Waterfolk! He's been hiding among the Landwalkers and using them to round us up."

  "And what can we do about it if the gods have done nothing? You don't even know if the Gentle God chose you to slay it!" Vael gripped the sill of the window and stared out across the water. "You're not some savior," he said pounding his right fist against the wood. "I know you want revenge against Lemuete... so do I... but we don't know the cost to defeat him."

  I touched his shoulder and felt it tremble under my hand. My voice caught in my throat as I struggled to think of what to say to him. 

  He had not seen the demon or heard the voices in the night. He did not understand how powerless I felt at Lemuete's mercy with only a pool of water to protect me from his power.

  I wanted to be the one to destroy him.

  "Lady Sol," Neoma said softly. I jumped, having forgotten she was with us. "Lord Cadfael does have a valid reason. The Gentle God has blessed our people. How do we know if we will keep that blessing if you challenge Lemuete? The world will not go back to how it was before; will we be left to drown?"

  I bit my lip. "I don't know," I said.

  "We serve the Gentle God, one who chose life over destruction."

  "They let Ryaa die..."

  "But they let you live!"

  My eyes burned with unshed tears. It felt unfair to be alive when Ryaa was dead. It felt unfair to live when Waterfolk before me had perished at Lemuete's hands.

  "Don't misunderstand; it would be wonderful to take down that demon ourselves, but I'm not sure if that's your purpose."

  "Sol, I will help you find information on this demon if its to protect our people, but not so you can destroy it," Vael said in a gruff voice. He pushed himself away from the window. "We'll send what we've learned to Bran by bird."

  "Thank you, Vael," I said softly. He offered his arm without looking at me and I took it gently.

  My heart felt like a lump of stone as he led me down the hall with Neoma following quietly behind.

  In the library there was only one other person. They sat in a corner by the open bay windows reading a book. He did not glance once in our direction as we entered the spacious room.

  I looked at the floor and could still see the sheen of water where someone had mopped up after Ai. The books that had been strewn across the floor had been returned to their shelves leaving little hint of the violence they endured.

  "We should probably find a book on demons first..." Vael said. He left me at the door as he walked among the shelves. After a few moments he returned with three books in his hands and pointed with them to a table near one of the windows. After pulling out a chair for me, he passed a book to me before sitting down on the plush yellow cushion of his own chair.

  I silently opened my book and began sounding out the chapter names in my head. The appeared to be the names of demons, but none of them looked familiar. I began flipping through the pages and looking at the illustrations in hope of finding Lemuete, but each illustration lacked his features and none of them had his void-like body.

  I sighed as I reached the last page of the book without finding anything.

  "Vael, do you remember any mention of a demon helping the Gentle God?"

  "No... not in anything I've ever learned."

  I sighed again. "Is it possible that Lemuete was not always a demon?"

  "Do you mean he's cursed? That may explain why we've never heard of him..." He stood abruptly and went back toward the shelves. He came back with a scroll and unrolled it in front of me. I was at once intrigued by the old and cracked illustrations painted on the sheepskin material.

  One illustration showed the Gentle God surrounded by the night sky with one palm pressed against an orb. Just opposite was the faded outline of another figure whose pose mirrored the god's. I did not recognize the characters written below the illustrations, but the see-through figure seemed familiar.

  "What does it say?" I said excitedly tapping on the scroll.

  "I don't know. This alphabet hasn't been used by our people in centuries. Even the illustration is quite old. I always thought that the Bone God was forming alongside her sister during the creation of the world, but I could be wrong." Vael unraveled more of the scroll to reveal more illustrations of gods and white giants.

  "I think this is him, before the curse," I said pointing back to the earlier illustration. "Who would know?"

  "A priest, maybe a scholar... Lucky for us we're in Meridia and not North Hold. I'm sure we can find someone who can help us."

  "Alright, then let's do that."