Orn, his family, Duke Thayn, Gereld and Sir Uhter, arrived at the villa a short distance from the forum at the centre of Raugus.

“Welcome to My humble abode.” Praetor Darius Decimus greeted them in Halder as they dismounted and handed the reins of their respective horses to the stable hands that had moved towards them. “Come in, come in, welcome.”

In Darius’ whitewashed stone villa, he introduced his wife, Appolina, his daughter Daria, and her husband Fronus to his guests. They moved into the centre of the villa, to a large table and chairs surrounded by a garden. Tall torches surrounded the dining area, casting light for the guests as day turned into night. They all took their seats, with Thayn closest to Darius. Venna sat closest to Appolina, with Erik and Orn next to her.

As they sat, servants brought out platters of meats, slices of bread, fruits and vegetables, placing empty plates and chalices before each guest. As this was happening, Thayn was conversing with Darius, Daria and Fronus. While she was talking with Appolina, Venna’s expression wore a polite but strained smile, her thoughts never straying far from her missing husband. Appolina took Venna’s hand, as she tried to speak haltingly in Halder. “My Darius, tell me, er, what happen you home. It er, is so hard, yes hard. He helps you. He will help er, what he can do. Please, our home, er, your home, yes.”

Venna’s eyes glistened, and she tried a phrase in Nevan she had recently picked up. “Noste mudia graticum.”

Appolina’s eyes suddenly lit up. “Iste paro tai Neva?”

Venna looked at Appolina with a helpless expression. “Sorry, no. That’s really all I know.”

“It no worry. I hear this word, and er, make happy, you know? Hear our word like this. Happy. Thank you. Graticum. Your sons er, so…” Appolina spread her arms wide as she said in Nevan, “…higando, eh how is word, er…”

“Big?”

“Dai, dai, er, yes ‘big’. Higando, ‘big’ graticum. How they so big?”

Appolina’s kindness, with her open, expressive face, elicited a feeling of deep gratitude in Venna. Because of this, she opened herself to the conversation. She didn’t realise how much she needed the small amount of normalcy that simply talking with a woman her own age could give her. Venna resolved to enjoy it while she could.

Orn, after looking around, turned to his brother. “It’s so different here. I have never seen so many buildings made of stone like this.”

“We live on an island, so we probably can’t get as much as they can.”

Orn mulled that over before responding. “Actually, that makes sense. You’re smarter than you look.”

Erik looked at him and considered flicking his olive at him. Then he saw his mother’s glare out of the corner of his eye. He chose instead to eat the olive and just gave Orn some side eyes, as he shook his head with a smirk.

Orn knew that look. That was Erik saying without words, ‘You’ll keep, Orn. You’ll keep.’ Orn simply smiled and winked back at him.

Orn was glad for that moment. That small banter with his brother gave him at least a moment of normality. Normal was becoming a distant memory for his family, and he missed it terribly.

As Orn was looking around at the people, he felt something soft brush his shoulder, while a slender hand rested on his other. His nostrils filled with a subtle yet enticing floral scent that set his heart to flutter.

He turned his head slightly to see that one of the raven-haired servant girls had pressed up against him as she filled his chalice. She met his gaze and smiled at him. He looked into her green eyes, and a sense of recognition came over him. The servant girl from the meeting in the basilica.

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She held his eyes with hers, and then she gently touched his cheek and sat down on his lap. It surprised him as his body instinctively responded to the young woman’s close contact. Although she seemed barely to weigh anything, he couldn’t move. So shocked was he by what was happening, he could not even think. Her face moved closer and their lips met. It was but for a moment. However, it felt to Orn like time had stopped. When she pulled away, he looked around, thinking, ‘Did that just happen? In front of EVERYONE?’

Beyond that, something else seemed off. It was silent. The guests at the table appeared to have frozen, and the insects that were drawn to the flame of the torches seemed to be suspended in mid-flight. Even the flames themselves no longer flickered. It appeared that, indeed, time had stopped.

She stood up from his lap and took his hand. She inclined her head, and said in a pleasant, almost hypnotic voice, “Come, young master. We do not have much time. I cannot hold this for too long,” and she gestured with her arm.

In a dream-like trance, he got up and followed. Walking slightly in front of him, she let go of his hand. Then she ran her fingers through the full length of her hair, changing her raven black hair to strawberry blonde.

Brigeetha turned around, smiling as she took his hand again and led him through the arched doorway that led inside Praetor Darius’ house. Orn was stunned. How was this possible? His body seemed to move woodenly as he tried to make sense of the girl leading him along. To make sense of the arched doorway that did not, in fact, lead into the praetor’s family home as it was supposed to. Instead, he was seeing a gorgeous sunset over a pebbly beach that he recognised all too well.

As he walked out onto the beach, the villa disappeared behind him and he was on the shore of his homeland, with a beautiful girl holding his hand. She turned and faced him. He finally found his voice and asked, “How are you doing this? Who are you really, Brigeetha?”

“Now we can talk freely, my love. I couldn’t reveal myself before. But I now have no choice. Our true meeting was not supposed to happen yet, but someone has been interfering. Events have happened out of sequence. Events that were not foreseen. So now I must speak to you directly.”

“Wait, what? What do you mean, ‘my love’? I barely know you, so how can I love you?” Orn asked incredulously.

The girl brought a hand to her face to convey indignant shock, but the mirth in her eyes showed she was teasing him. She giggled girlishly, a delighted and yet mischievous smile playing about her lips. “No, I suppose you’re right. But in time you will, as Mother promised. That is why my family and I touched your soul when you were born, because you were always meant to be my intended.” She rolled her eyes before adding, “Well, all except Father. He is elsewhere doing…something.”

“You are a crazy person! A crazy person with crazy power, but still a crazy person!” Orn exclaimed as he franticly looked around for a way back to the villa. He started running away from her, but suddenly she was in front of him again.

He stopped and said, “Oh, no. No-no-no, maybe it’s me. I’m going crazy…” He turned and tried to run the other way.

Then, in a voice that seemed to come from everywhere around and within his very soul, she said firmly, “Orn, stop!”. He did, from the shock of a sensation so powerful it shook him to the very fibre of his being. His eyes were wide, his breath coming in quick gasps as he stood awestruck at this overwhelming presence.

She then spoke in a normal voice, pleading as she walked around to face him again, “Please, I apologise for my deception, but you need to understand. You are not crazy. I needed to see into your heart, to see what kind of person you are. That is why I have been watching you. I have watched you with your family. I watched you when you were alone, and the more I saw of you, the more I felt it. That is why I approached you as someone lowly. A true measure of a man is how he treats someone lower in station than he, and how he behaves when consequence-free temptation is proffered. That is why I know you are all that I was promised and more.”

Then a glow emanated from deep within her as her true being came to the surface. It shone through the disguise she wore to move among mortals, and covered her skin in a warm, radiant light. Vivid blue and yellow flowers blossomed out of her hair. Her clothing shimmered into a silvery silk gown that seemed to cling to her body and yet undulate as though it were the rippling surface of a pond.

Orn found himself rooted to the spot, and he began trembling as his mind tried to grasp the magnitude of what was unfolding before his eyes. This was not possible! He knew they existed. He learnt all about them as a child. He had prayed to them, as just about everyone he had ever known prayed to them. He fell to his knees, unable to move his eyes away from the being before him. His mind had finally come to the full realisation and acceptance that he was in this moment, in the presence of the divine.

The green in her eyes seemed to shimmer and deepen, matching the green-grey colour of the ocean. Tears began welling up until they spilled from her eyes, leaving rivulets tracing down her flushed cheeks, blending with her fluidic gown. She smiled warmly at him as she said in a voice that was everywhere around them and from deep within, “You are mine, as I am yours. My dear Orn, I am Briga.”