The eve of the festival came and Morgaine, Kaelyn and her sisters made the short trip to Feinnes with other girls from the village. Intuition had lead Morgaine to pack a dress and now she was glad that she had. The mid-summer festival was a big deal in these mountains, more so than other places because it meant that the growing season was almost over and that fall and winter were not far away for the mountains. Some even thought that the festival would ensure a better winter. Because of it’s importance everyone went to the festival and it was an occasion to dress up.

Morgaine’s dress was plain but elegant. It was a simple pale blue dress with a surcoat over. The surcoat was a light, pearl colored, fabric. These types of dresses had just come into fashion in Sario and since Celestria insisted on dragging her to almost every court function fashion was something that she had to learn. She liked this fashion because it was easily ironed and she was horrible at remembering to hang things up. She had also learned to work with her short hair. She pinned most of it up leaving just a few tresses to fall around her face. It looked good and made her hair seem longer than it was.

They reached Feinnes and it was alive with celebration. There were performers, food, dancing, gatherings of friends, laughing, and all kinds of merriment. Morgaine kept with Kaelyn and talked with people she knew, like Lana. That is until she heard someone behind her say, “Do my eyes deceive me or am I back in Sario? Or could it be that the lovely falconer has flown north for the summer?”

She turned to see a well dressed young man she knew from court. She smiled and said crisply, “Sir Gregor, I didn’t expect to see you here. I thought all the young noblemen were at the palace weeping for the loss of any chance they would have had to marry the princess.”

“Ouch,” he said putting his hands to his heart. “From you Morgaine that really hurts, but,” he grinned, “we’re all counting on you to convince the princess that she is making a horrible mistake by consenting to marry that foreigner.”

“I would,” she said over dramatically. “But I’m afraid that I wont be able to because I just finished convincing her that it was the right thing to do.”

“You are an evil woman,” he said laughing.

“Now what would Sir Byron thing if he heard you talking to me in such a manner?” she teased. “I’m sure he wouldn’t like it.”

“I’m not sure what you have on him but it must be something good. All I know is that any ill spoken words about you are quickly taken back when he’s around.”

Kaelyn had stood in awe at this exchange not saying a word. Her look asked how Morgaine could possibly speak to a noble, especially in the way that she was speaking to him. Sir Gregor’s eyes lit on her and he said to Morgaine, “I do believe that your friend here is stunned by the manner in which you talk to a noble.” He looked to Kaelyn. “Have no fear, Morgaine and I are old friends and that is the only reason I allow her speak to me so.

“Now if you’ll please excuse me but I would like to steal her away for a moment. There is someone I would like you to meet.” Morgaine placed her hand on his arm and followed him; when they were well away he said, “That is something I do miss in Sario, innocent country girls who are awed by nobility.”

“Gregor! Sometimes I cannot believe you.”

“It’s true. Now if only you hadn’t lost your country innocence,” he said. She just shook her head and retorted, “Even if I hadn’t there is no way that you could get me between your sheets.” Morgaine had been involved with men at court including Byron. She had even once considered becoming involved with Declan, but was glad she hadn’t because he had recently gotten married and a past affair would have made things awkward between them now. She would never even consider becoming involved with Gregor, or someone like him, simply because he enjoyed being noble too much.

Gregor might have had a follow up remark for her, but it was lost because apparently they had reached who they were looking for. It was two men. One was Lord Taliesin, Gregor’s father. The other was a lot younger and looked to be about thirty. His psyche reminded her of a fighter’s. He was tall and thin, but she could tell that despite his thin look he was very well muscled. He had a broad chest and shoulders, but for some reason the rest of his torso hid that fact. He had short, curly, black hair and blue-grey eyes. He wasn’t as finely dressed as a noble, but still nice. A pin on his shirt caught her eye, it was a gold rune and because of Shan Chi she knew it meant that he was a mage. Gregor introduced them.

“Morgaine, my father you know and may I introduce the mage, Master Drian Gosset. Father, Drian, if I may this lovely woman is the once apprentice to the King’s falconer, now Journeyman Falconer Morgaine Tait.”

“Ah Morgaine,” Lord Taliesin said looking her over. “It’s been a long time. I’ve heard good things about you, not only from Declan and Gregor here, but from Master Thaon as well. He has raved of your talent with the birds ever since your last visit.”

“Thank you M’lord.”

Gregor butted in at that moment and said to his father, “Isn’t that Aunt Elnore over there? We should go talk to her before she accuses us of ignoring her. Excuse us please.”

They were left alone in an uncomfortable silence. Morgaine didn’t quite know what to say to him. She knew only one mage, Shan Chi, and they rarely talked of magic. Drian didn’t seem quite as uncomfortable in the silence and had locked eyes with her. She held her eyes with his as long as she could, but finally had to break. When she did he said, “Your eyes, they change colors subtly over time. I was wondering if the slight changes have anything to do with your thoughts.”

Morgaine had thought that she had control of her eyes but apparently her control was not as great as she had thought it to be. Found out she let her emotions show in her eyes and as they changed she said, “They change not so subtly as well. The change isn’t directly due to my thoughts, unless I want it to that is. It has more to do with my emotions really.”

“Interesting,” he said as if it were no more unusual than the fact that her eyes opened and closed.

“An annoyance most of the time.” He waited for her to explain. “It makes me different and that scares many people who don’t know me.”

“I take it then that it doesn’t bother you that your eyes make you quite stunning,” he said and she wasn’t sure if he meant it as a compliment. “I’m sure they attract a lot of attention in a crowd of men, setting you apart from other women. However without them I’m sure that you would be quite normal looking; even plain. I’m sure that you could make up for it though it charm and wit; at least that’s what I gather from your being able to stand Sir Gregor.”

“Gregor I deal with one encounter at a time, thankfully he has a roving eye. As for my eyes, no they bother me at all. I can’t undo what has been done so I live with it.” He gave her a questioning look and she briefly explained that her eyes hadn’t always been the way they were. He didn’t push for details; instead he asked, “Is there any magic linked to your eyes?”

“A little, I can do simple healing on birds and I can talk to them.”

“That is more than a little, communication between people and animals is very difficult. For someone like me it would take years of study even to begin to learn how.”

“Perhaps if you stopped studying how to talk to animals and just listen to them they will tell you the secret of their speech,” she suggested.

She had to smile as he said of her, “It’s rare that I can find anyone who knows the ways of court and will be completely honest with me. I rather like it. Court is full of lies and broken promises, two things that I cannot stand.”

She was was starting to have a good time with Drian, but before she really had time to talk to him Gregor returned and made sure that she was at his side the rest of the evening. She didn’t see Drian at all the rest of the night. When she finally slipped away she ran into Ewan who offered to take her home.

He showed her a short cut back to Yruas through the woods and they talked as they went. It was refreshing to be with Ewan after an evening with Gregor. With nobility she had to flirt, be charming and witty, and always have just the right thing to say. With Ewan she could be more of herself. He wasn’t, however, as refreshing to be with as Drian was. He could compliment her more sincerely than anyone she had ever met. She also felt that she could tell him anything, she had been on the verge of telling him all about Myst and the dragons when Gregor returned.

Her thoughts were on Drian when Ewan suddenly said, “I think I should be honest with you Morgaine.” She stopped so she could look him in the face. “You’re my friend and I think that you should know that people are talking about you.”

“People have always talked about me.”

“I know, but I don’t like what they’re saying. People are afraid of you. Some because of your eyes. Some because now you demand from them as much respect as they would give any man. They also think you have magic. It doesn’t help how Kaelyn went around all night sayin’ how you were talking to Sir Gregor, people think you had him under some sort of spell.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that I don’t think most people can handle you being around here anymore. You’ll never be able to come back and live her like you did before.”

“Thank you Ewan, for being a friend and telling me the truth,” she said and leaned over and kissed his cheek.

“I guess this means you’re leaving.”

“First thing in the morning.”

She left the next morning just after breakfast saying that she was going into the high mountains to find a wizard she had heard of who was supposed to be skilled with birds. They all wished her the best of luck. She wasn’t far from Yruas when a bird called to her. She recognized it as the bird who had taken a message to Celestria. Now he had a letter for her. She took it from him and thanked him for his trouble. Then she opened the letter. It read:

Dear Morgaine,

A lot has happened since you left. King Llyr has started sending me marriage gifts and they arrive almost daily. Apparently he has someone here who has asked around about me because all his gifts seem to suit me so well. They are sweet little trinkets and it makes me feel better about agreeing to this marriage. He has also sent a painter here to paint my portrait so most of my time in the last few days has been spent sitting for the painter.

I have been talking with the ambassador from Salsify and have been learning about their history, most of which is very interesting. You might be interested, but not necessarily pleased, to know that Salsify has a long and proud history of dragon slayers. There, if a knight can kill a dragon he is considered a hero. Many family coat of arms depict dragons and/or slayers. If this changes your mind about going to Salsify with me I will understand.

Things just haven’t been the same here without you and I cannot wait until you return. When you do I want you to tell me of everything that you have done on your journey. My freedom is greatly reduced and I haven’t been allowed to leave the palace since you left. I guess after I am married the only way I will be able to see the world is through your stories. I miss you very much.

Celestria