The night was clear, crisp, and cold. The stars were bright. But her mind was on the openness of the sky, its many freedoms, none of which she had. She wondered if she could remember a day where she didn't have to work. A day that was totally her own. A day to do as she pleased. She then laughed at her thoughts; they were foolish.

She had held such thoughts when she arrived here two years ago. She remembered that girl. She had been tired and worn. The blue robes she had worn were so covered in dirt that they had turned a dingy gray. That had been fortunate, because had they been clean, anyone would have known what they meant.

It had been four weeks since she had escaped the Royal City and several days since she had eaten. Since she had made her bid for freedom, she had been ensuring the safe passage of the several hundred people in her care. The task had been less than easy.

Until four weeks ago, she had not been outside the Royal City since she was four and remembered little of the world beyond its walls. She had navigated the country based solely on the maps she had studied in the Royal Library. It was fortunate that they were accurate; else she would have been lost long before.

The castle she approached was a remarkable sight. It belonged to an ancient family, one that had grown in wealth and prestige over the centuries and had expanded the castle as their fortune grew. It was not quite the forest she had longed to live in, but she was certain the prince would know to search all the forests. A fine toothed comb might be employed.

Walking up the steps, she hoped the lord would be kind enough to take her. She doubted that news of what she had done had reached here yet. As a mage, she had ways of traveling that others could not match. Besides, this seemed like a place that might not hear of the death of the King until many months after it had happened. It would be perfect to hide in.

“Hold, you!” The guard at the gate seemed rather agitated when she ignored him and continued into the castle. She hated to create a fuss, but in order to be sure that she would get to the lord of the castle, that was exactly what she had to do. “Miss, I said to hold.” The guard had raced in front of her and was bearing down on her with his superior strength and size.

“I just want to see the lord.” She moved the guard a couple of feet out of her way, barely touching her magic to do so. “I mean no harm.”

The damage was done. The guard raced off to sound the alarm that a potentially hostile mage was nearing the castle. The girl smiled. Her twelve years of training had taught her that she could more than handle any force that this castle threw at her. She continued on.

Not seven steps later, guards started trying to contain her. She created a bubble around herself to keep them out and continued on. The bubble gently parted the soldiers in front of her and pushed them to the sides. She did not want to hurt anyone.

When she reached the castle steps the lord hurried out of the main entrance. His dark form was dressed in lordly robes. While they were not as fine as the royal clothes she was used to seeing, they still made her heart contract. It was more out of habit than any conscious decision that she fell to her knees.

“My lord, I come seeking asylum.”

Lord Ryan glanced about. His men were still trying to get inside the bubble that the mage had shaped around herself. The courtyard was in chaos, everyone rushing about in an attempt to see what was happening. In the center of it, was a woman – little more than a girl – kneeling at his feet. Her skin was covered in dirt and her robes were so disgusting that their original color was impossible to discern. She looked up at him, eyes pleading, as though there was no other person for miles.

“Come inside, Lady Mage, where we can discuss this more comfortably.”

His men were less than happy with this decision. “My lord, she is dangerous, a mage.”

The lord watched the man who called out, Jameson. He looked frustrated that he could get no closer to the mage. Even going so far as to beat against the shield she had erected. To Ryan’s surprise, the shield did not remain hard as he beat against it but instead gave just enough so that the soldier would not hurt himself. She was still watching his every move.

“This woman has hurt no person since she came onto our grounds. It is my wish to see her in my workroom. None shall hinder her passage.”

The mage rose only when the lord’s form had retreated inside the oaken doors. Without glancing about her, she rose and followed him into his castle. Even as she walked through the hallways, she barely glanced at them, instead keeping her eyes steadily on the back of the retreating noble. She did not want to lose him in this rat’s nest.

They entered large room, filled with tables and files and papers. The room was light and airy because the family had spared no expense in furnishing it with no less than twenty huge windows. Even after living in the palace, it gave her pause. Lord Ryan took a seat behind his desk, which was the only place that was not piled high with paper. “May I ask your name, Lady Mage?”

“Diane.” The mage looked like she was itching to add something, but she just shrugged. “I can help your fief if you will give me asylum.”

“How?” The lord looked more than a little intrigued. Mages did not usually offer their help so freely. Besides, mages of more than middling strength were sent to the Royal City to work as mages for the crown.

“There is blight on your grain crops, of which I could rid you, to start. I can sure up your bridges and the banks of the major rivers to protect against the spring floods. The outer wall to your city has several structural deficiencies that I could fix.” Diane closed her eyes for a moment, deciding what to tell him, she needed his protection very badly, but she couldn’t let him know the strength of her powers.

“I can also protect your city and country in cases of an attack,” She looked down at her hands, “And deal with the oncoming invaders.” The final words were almost inaudible.

“You would offer your services to me in exchange for a safe haven? I would be a fool to refuse such an offer. I do wonder what you might have done to need the kind of protection you are seeking.” In truth, the lord was surprised. He did not know that a mage of middling capabilities could perform such useful services. He knew that she could not have more than that; none had ever escaped service to the crown. He had never heard of any that wanted to escape their positions of royal favor. They were lavished with all the comforts of wealthy nobles and denied very little.

He had no idea what he had done to deserve such luck. A mage offering her services, and great though they be she desired nothing except a safe haven. What terrible deed was she running from at such a young age? There was very little way that this mage was leaving the room without swearing to end the blight on the grain crops, at the very least, but he did want to know who he was dealing with.

“I have neither killed, nor physically harmed any person, my lord. I left my pervious position due to a difference in ideology. I seek a place to stay.” She spread her hands before her, unmistakably asking if that was not enough.

“Very well, then, I think we can work something out.” Lord Ryan had never been so happy with a grimy sixteen year old. He would make sure she forgot whatever had driven her here and stayed. He was not such a fool as to wish to give up his bit of luck.

She turned away from the window to find a girl standing quietly behind her. "Milady, you’re wanted downstairs. The lord wants to see you." Now, she saw that the girl was trembling, as if the lady might blame the bringer of bad news. Well thank goodness for one thing, she thought, I am not that far gone to yell at a messenger for the message she brings.

''Show me where to go, then," she told the girl, who scuttled away, convinced that the yelling would still come. The lady had convinced most of the palace servants that she would not bite their heads off simply for saying that she must stop what she was doing. This must be something more than an interrupted evening. Those who said that servants were not aware of what goes on in a place not only were stupid, they missed out on a valuable tool. Servants could always tell when something was wrong in a place. They had to; otherwise they didn't last very long.

Diane looked around as they walked through the palace. Such places were often referred to as rat warrens. This one fit the name. Although she had been here for a long time, she only knew most of the passages, not all. The ones that she was taking now were the servants’ passages, judging by the narrowness of the halls and the number of people in them, even at this time of night. It must be important, at least for the girl that Diane reached the lord of the castle quickly.

"What is your name?" The lady asked the girl. It would be a long walk in silence, even through the servant’s passages.

"Mara, M'lady." The girl even managed a curtsey, something of a feat, as she never stopped moving. Mara hesitated before going on, not sure how to consider the lady, as a noble or a servant. It was never wise to tell a noble more than absolutely necessary. A servant, however . . . Mara eventually decided that the mage was enough of a servant to be trusted. "It may be bad in there. The lord got a message a short time gone and did not like its contents. He seems to be ready to blame anyone, even you." If she knew more, the lady would not find out, as they had arrived at their destination. Mara curtseyed, and turned to go.

"Thank you," the lady said. Mara brightened a little and then hurried off. Diane turned to enter the room. A footman opened the door. The room beyond was fairly large, though not imposingly so. Tapestries, along with the fine furniture, made it a comfortable room to be in.

Only one other person was in the room. He was in work clothes, plain compared to the room, but well made. He was a tall man with dark hair and a beard. He rose as the lady entered and smiled, "good evening Diane." He was the picture of composure and therefore at his most dangerous. The lady was much better at getting the upper hand when he was off balance. The fact that the lord didn't seem mad did not throw Diane off. A lord must know how to hide his feelings, especially when he was mad.

"It is a lovely evening," he continued, "a night for dreamers. You do like such nights. I am sorry to have interrupted yours. Unfortunately there appears to be an army about a day's march from here."

Diane knelt, "I am sorry, my lord. I did not think to look for an army in the recent past or I would have given more warning. I will start preparations immediately. Unless, it is an army of a friend?" The lady had done all of this smoothly, outwardly at least. Inside she trembled. She was unsure of how to come back from such an error. And for some reason all Diane could feel was even the dream of freedom slipping away. There was no hint of starlight in this room. All the lamps were lit against the night. It was foolish to do so, in Diane's opinion. It only made the night seem dark and it hid from you the things that the night might teach you.

Lord Ryan, motioned for Diane to get up. As she obeyed he went over to a table littered with maps. "It makes little difference, we have enough warning to take care of the most important things. Besides, you are spread fairly thin as it is." He sat down and motioned for Diane to follow. Then he went on. "Those who passed on word didn't know if they were friend or foe. Though, if any army passed through my land it wouldn't look too friendly for those whose crops are growing. They have maybe twenty thousand men."

That was what he said. However, Diane read in between the words, as was expected. She knew that the farmers had been frightened by the army and thought it an enemy. That was why Ryan had put in about any army looking unfriendly to someone with crops to grow. He did not trust the farmer's information. But, he wanted Diane to protect their land so that crops wouldn't be lost.

Diane sat down and looked at the maps. They were accurate enough for her purposes. She looked up at the lord, "Is there anything else you want me to do right now?" she asked. The lady worked not to show her weariness or her sadness. If the army was not friendly, more than a few men were going to lose their lives, mostly because of her. She should have known to look.

Even more than that, there would be no army at all if Diane were not here. She suspected that the King had finally discovered her hiding place. She could think of no other reason why an army would attack Lord Ryan, he was on good terms with the neighboring nobles. She wondered that it had taken him so long, but despaired at the thought none the less. But, she could not help any of that now. Now she could protect the lands of these farmers. And whatever else needed to be done. She looked at Ryan. He had been looking over the maps, considering.

"Not right now," he said. "In the morning. After this, get some rest while I get some more information. If necessary, you will have to help in the fighting." He knew that she hated that. She hated killing fighters because their leaders had wanted something. He did not know that she could wipe out almost the entire army if the need was great. This would spare at least Ryan's men. But she would not tell the lord that. Not unless it had to be so. She didn't know if she could stand all of that blood on her hands.

Diane shook her head as if to clear it and went to work protecting the lands that might come into harm's way.

Ryan closed the door behind him as he left the mage working. The magic made him a little nervous. The more so because he knew that it might be the only reason his people survived this next battle. He hated using any crutch. The fact that the mage was little more than a girl did not help. Though sometimes he doubted Diane's age. How can an eighteen year old see the many intricacies of what must be done as clearly as a veteran of many years?

He sighed. He wished he knew more of this girl who had come to him seeking asylum. Diane had not been very forthcoming about her past. She was, however, forthcoming in the things she could do to help his holdings. He could not turn away that help.

He had not regretted his decision. Since she had arrived, the lands had flourished. The crops grew better than ever before, the castle had run much smoother and no armies had been willing to invade a land with a mage protecting it. He hoped that his people would not pay too high a price for it.

“Where are the maps of the bridges of by the River Ceron? I need them to plan my trip for next week.” Diane had an unassuming manner, but she did not stand for laziness. After three months of working at Ryan’s castle she was planning a trip to sure up the bridges of the nearest river, it was almost flood season and she did not want to lose any person or thing to this year’s flood.

“I don’t know, Diane, but I am sure that someone is getting them for you.” At the sound of Lord Ryan’s voice, Diane looked up from her work. She rose and performed a deep curtsey, showing no less respect than one might to a prince or king.

“My lord, I am so sorry. I did not realize that you were there. Is there anything I can help you with?”

“I was just coming by to see how you were doing.” Ryan took a seat across from Diane and motioned for her to resume her own seat. “I know you aren’t accustomed to plan for trips away from a city. I can be sure that the soldiers that are with you are well stocked so that you don’t have to worry about food and tents –“

“If you will excuse me, my lord, I will be traveling alone.” Diane had no desire to be followed by armed soldiers. They scared peasants who would otherwise talk to a sixteen year old girl.

“But, Diane, you are far too young to be traveling on your own.” Ryan was ten years older than Diane and worried about her young age. She seemed so fragile; for all that she was a mage. He never wanted to upset her, but her safety was more important.

“I know you sometimes think of me as your little sister, but I can assure you that I can take care of myself. I learned long ago how to behave if there was ever any threat of danger. While – while I don’t like such situations, I can make death for my enemy far less painful than any soldier ever could.” Diane looked back down at her maps, itching to get back to work.

“But even just to be sure that you have all the necessities with you, soldiers could help with that.” Ryan looked truly worried, so Diane put aside her desire to work and tried to assuage his anxious feelings.

“Your soldiers would be bored, I would be annoyed by them and you would be wasting resources better used elsewhere. If you are worried about me taking what is needed I can travel with a packhorse in addition to the steed you are lending me.”

“Giving you, the horse is yours as long as you stay here.” Ryan nearly smiled at Diane’s reluctance to accept anything but the necessities required to do her work. He had tried to lavish her with delicacies, emulating the way the crown enticed its royal mages to stay, but she would have none of it. It made him wonder at her past. Had someone tried to hurt her with pretty baubles that she hated them so? Who would risk the ire of such a powerful mage?

“My lord, if I could, I would live in the wild all of my days, let me at least have a week of riding by myself through civilized land. If I get strapped for food or any other basic need, I will compensate a family in exchange for their kindness.” Perhaps Ryan worried that Diane would not give fair compensation if she did run into trouble. He was a good lord, and would not want her to be a burden on his people if there was another way around the situation.

“There is no need to worry, my lord. I do not cheat people, no matter what the instance is. If I require the aid of a family I will make sure that every family in their town wishes that it had been their aid that I required.” Diane hoped that she expressed herself with enough clarity.

“I trust that. I just worry about you. It is unlikely any other mage will show up and –“

“My lord, there is a fire in the grain silo near the stables, the whole building is going to burn down.” The messenger looked like he had just run the length of the castle, which he probably had.

“Excuse me, my lord.” Diane was out of the room before she could even think. She raced down the halls of the castle. Servants ducked out of her way as her feet pounded the stone pavement. After running down several hallways, the mage realized that she was not sure where to go next. Fortunately, she saw a maid scurrying around a corner.

“The stable,” Diane gasped. “How do I get to the stable?”

“You are going to the silo that is on fire?” The maid asked.

“Yes,” the lady could barely breathe.

“Follow me,” the maid took off down the hall at a breakneck pace. Diane scrambled to keep up. The maid led Diane through servants passages down three flights of stairs and out to the stable. As she ran the maid called out, “Clear the hall. Clear the hall. The lady mage is – move.” She pushed one particularly slow moving servant so that she could pass with the mage behind her.

Diane stood beside the stable and tried to catch her breath. Surveying the fire, she saw that flames covered at least a third of the building. She hoped that the grain was not all unusable as she muttered the incantation that would put out the fire.

The power of the spell flooded through her and out into the moat that surrounded the castle. She funneled the murky water up and over the silo and had it fall in heavy amounts, stronger than a downpour. When the water hit the ground she had it flow back into the moat, albeit a bit warmer than it started. It was not hard magic, but it was a lot of water and that took a good deal of strength. By the time the fire was out Diane sank to her knees in sheer exhaustion.

“Diane, Lady Diane, wake up.” Soft shaking raised Diane out of a haze. “Come on, Lady Diane, the fire is out, you can come inside now.”

“My lord,” Diane murmured, her eyes fluttering open. “I need to fix the silo first. Otherwise it will fall.”

“You are too tired.”

“I just need food then I can get to it,” Diane struggled up and looked over at the silo. If it was not fixed very soon it would fall and ruin any of the grain left worth saving.

“You are too tired, you’ll hurt yourself.” Ryan was still hesitant but some nearby servants had already left to get food.

“You will lose the grain in that silo –“ She broke off, deciding that it was not worth the argument. She started focusing on the spell to reconstruct the silo. This spell required more strength because she had to reconstruct the burned wood. Over the years, her instructors had taught her how to build up reserves of magic. Most of these reserves had been depleted during her escape from the Royal City, but over the last three months, she had rebuilt them to nearly their usual levels.

Several pieces of wood were more than half burned and Diane had to form the boards to replace them using the sheer force of her magic. Her body was tired, but she kept pushing on, restoring the silo piece by piece until it was whole again. When it was done, she fell. This time it was not to the ground, but into someone’s arms.

“Come,” Lord Ryan whispered to her, “I will take you in to get food and rest.” He carried her somewhere. It was hard for her to keep track of where, because she kept falling in and out of consciousness. Finally, he set her down.

“Eat this,” Diane closed her mouth on the spoon that was offered to her. He kept feeding her until she fell asleep, completely exhausted from the day’s efforts.

Diane woke up to what promised to be a very bad day, to say the least. After dressing in breeches and a tunic she went to find the lord. Ryan was in the same room that he had left her in the previous night. She hoped he had gotten some sleep. He would need it.

"Well, the army is not friendly," he said as Diane drew near. "One of my scouts arrived back a short while ago. They have Royal armor and some have the king's sigil on their shields. The troops talk of taking you with them as an afterthought, but it is talked of."

Diane grew paler as he continued; the palace was the last place she wanted to end up. "What did they talk about as their main goal?"

Ryan gave the lady a hard look. One that reduced Diane to the scared teenager she tried so hard not to be. Then he gave a small nod to himself, satisfied. "There were many different stories around the camp. Most of them had to do with me. However, the scout got close enough to an officer's tent to hear what was being said. It was apparently somewhat disjointed but the idea is that whatever the troops think is a rumor put about and false. Whatever the true purpose of this army is, it is entirely unknown."

"Then how do you know that this army is a foe," Diane asked. But her face was drawn and close to white in color.

"Even the officers made that clear." The lord paused, and then, "What do you know that you aren't telling me? Why do you fear the royal army more than any other? What is it about a hidden mission that is more distressing than an open one?" He stopped there but it was clearly on his mind to ask why he was always searching for knowledge with her.

Diane sighed. She did not want to share this information, but the only way not to do so was to lie. She wanted to do that even less. "My lord," she started, suddenly formal, "when I came here I told you little of my past. Since then you have not asked me to share it. But since it seems clear that you want satisfaction now, I will give it to you.”

Ryan felt a little guilty at forcing Diane to reveal her secrets, after she had done so much for the land. But he convinced himself that the lives of his people depended on this knowledge and stood his ground, “I am ready to hear it.”

“Before I came here I was being trained to be a royal mage. But due to how the King and Queen treated people I found that I could not work for them. I ran away and let some people out of the dungeons of the palace. The Royal army has come to take me back for my crimes.”

Ryan felt that something had to be missing. The King and Queen had many very powerful mages. To send twenty thousand troops out to fetch back just one mage of only middling power seemed unreasonable.

Seeing that Ryan was waiting for the rest of her story Diane went on cursing herself as she did. “It is not easy for a mage to run away from the castle it is even harder for a mage to also release some two hundred fifty political prisoners while she escapes. It is especially hard to also secure the safe passage of all of those prisoners out of the country. The fact that I could do those things proved that I am worth whatever time and money it takes to obtain me.”

The lord was a little awestruck, two and a half hundred political prisoners! They were the best guarded, he had heard. He had had the most powerful mage in the world on his hands for two years and had not even known it. He was glad now that he had only just found out. He didn’t know what he would have done with the information if he had gotten it just after meeting her. He still did not know what to do with her now.

It hurt her immeasurably to have told him this, but it was also a relief in some ways. Now she had someone who would understand what she was about to do. She started straightening papers on the desk. “I am going to give myself up to them.”

“Why?” Ryan was puzzled it seemed like she had gone through an awful lot of trouble just to go back to these monarchs.

“It is the only way. If I go back to them then they will leave your lands. We could make it a stipulation of the agreement that in order to obtain me then they will have to leave here.”

“But my scouts indicate that you are not the only reason for this mission. How do you know that they don’t want something in the castle?”

Diane sighed. “I suspect that even that is a cover. Our monarchs have decided that I am too powerful to live freely. Since I have made it clear that I will not work for them, they have decided it is better that I not live at all.”

Ryan was finally regaining his balance and composure. He had other plans for Diane, and none of them involved her death. “But you could decimate this army.”

“It is true I could, but I will not do it. It is not the fault of these men that their leader has taken issue with me. I will not live with their blood on my hands.

Ryan felt that people could live with a lot of things. He was about to order Diane to stay here and secure their victory by any means necessary when Diane cut him off. “Do not order me my lord. I will not do it. I would have if there were no other way. But there is another way. Can you honestly say that my life is worth more than the lives of twenty thousand?”

Ryan suspected that if he gave her a direct order, she would follow it, but he was not sure. He could not issue an order that wouldn’t be followed, it would make him seem weak to his people. “You may not leave until we are sure you are what the army truly wants and the castle is protected.”

Diane nodded to her lord, wearied by the effort. She knew that she was right about the army and she had determined to ready her things for her departure. As she passed through the halls she knew someone had gotten word to the servants of what had passed in Ryan’s audience room. Never before had they looked at her with such fear.

“Are you sure you can go?” Ryan was still in shock over what the mage had been able to do for the grain silo. He had not even known that a mage of middling power could do that for a building. He had not known a mage of any power could do that. She had literally rebuilt it, using nothing. And then, after a meal and a night’s sleep, she had gone back to her daily planning for her trip. Like the whole thing was nothing.

“Yes, my lord.” Diane was anxious to get this meeting over with, she wanted to go out and start working. But, by the looks of it Lord Ryan wanted to keep her here. She almost regretted fixing the silo. She knew it would be too much to hope he would not connect her with the run away Royal Mage. Very few of her peers would have been able to save that grain, let alone the mage of middling strength she pretended to be. She sighed; this was no way to repay the one man who was offering her asylum.

“Very well,” He knew that she could take care of herself. It was just that she was so young. “But I am sending one soldier with you; just to be sure everything on your trip goes well. If nothing else, he can keep track of your supplies.”

“I leave in an hour,” She could not very well prevent him from sending a soldier, but she did not have to let him change her plans.

“He’ll be ready,” Ryan sighed as she bowed and rushed out of the room. There was little he could do to stop her, although he knew she deferred to him. She was so valuable to him and his people, that he did not want to loose her. He rang for a servant.

“My lord?”

“I need Lyon in the stables in a half hour, ready to escort lady mage Diane on her week long trip around the province.”

“Very well, my lord.”

She looked at the countryside as she passed it, for the last time, on her ride to the Royal City. She was surprised that they let her ride in the open but she supposed that they knew she could run if she wanted to.

She did sometimes have to remind herself of the reasons why she didn't run. One was that the general had made it clear that he would destroy all of Ryan's holdings, stone by stone, if she ran. Another, sillier, reason was that she wanted to see her prince one more time.

The first time she met the prince was soon after she had been taken in as one of the apprentice Royal mages. They were both about four. Diane had been in some corner trying to make friends with one of the palace cats when the prince came over. "What are you doing?" He asked her.

Diane had not even bothered to look at this intruder, "I am taming a wild tigress."

"Can I help you?"

Diane finally took her eyes off the cat to examine this potential playmate, "Of course you can." Then as an afterthought she asked, "What's your name?"

"Joseph, what's yours?"

"Diane."

The two of them spent a half hour coxing the cat out of the corner. When they finally succeeded, one of the Joseph's nurses came over. "It's time for your nap, your highness. Even crown princes must get their beauty sleep."

It was not until this nurse addressed Diane's new friend that she even realized he was royal, let alone the crown prince. Even at four, she knew she had to do as a member of the royal family said.

Prince Joseph looked very seriously at his nurse, "Diane has to nap too."

The nurse wavered, unsure whether it was wise to let a mage, even one too young for lessons, be with the sleeping prince. "Diane will nap later, I'm sure."

The young noble started screaming and crying, as small children are wont to do. His face scrunched up and his brown eyes filled with tears that seemed too large for his tiny little body. He clutched at Diane, wrapping her in a tight hug, saying, "I won't nap without my Diane. I need my Diane to nap with me.”

Not knowing what else she could do, the nurse gave in, "but only for today." A cot was set up in the Prince’s room, but Joseph insisted that Diane share the oversized bed he slept in.

“I need my Diane to nap with me. She sleeps here.”

The nurse gave her assent to this too, but added the caution, “But this is only for today, your highness.”

The next day the palace staff ensured that Diane was far away from the crown prince for the entire day. But when Joseph was retrieved for his nap he asked for her. When the nurse kindly reminded him that, “Yesterday was a special treat. Diane needs to be with the other mage students,” he started yelling and crying again.

“My Diane, My Diane! Give me back my Diane.” The nurse supposed that Joseph’s objectification of the mage showed that he knew her to be beneath him. Again, she gave in to his demands and sent someone to find Diane. Again, she assured herself that it would only be a one day situation.

This went on for some time; sometimes the nurse would refuse to get Diane all together, so the Prince would refuse to have his nap. The nurse indulged him, hoping he would get over his relationship with the mage. In actuality, he only got worse. Sometimes he would tell his nurse to get Diane for lunch, or he would refuse to eat. Then Diane would play with him until nap time.

Little by little the nurses, and even Joseph's parents, accepted that when the prince napped Diane had to be there. Soon after that, and before Diane had had a single lesson about being a mage, Diane was named one of Joseph's playmates and given the sapphire drop symbolizing royal favor.

Three days on the road and Diane was ready to kill Lyon. She had wanted a quiet journey around the countryside, reinforcing riverbanks and bridges. She wanted to, maybe, to talk the residents of Lord Ryan’s land. She looked forward to pitching her own tent and rolling out her own mat at night.

What Diane hadn’t wanted was an oversized shadow. The man followed her everywhere and he never let her do anything for herself. By the time she picked a campground he had pitched the tent for her and started working on her dinner. While she was working magic, he had a constant supply of food for her and a mat laid out for her to rest on. He woke before she did every morning and kept pace with her when she gave her horse rein to run.

“Can’t you at least talk,” She demanded one as they ate dinner the third night. She was exasperated with Lyon’s brooding presence.

“I was told that you would want your peace on this journey,” the soldier responded with surprise. “I am sorry if I have offended you, my Lady.”

Diane thought about this. It was true that she desired her peace, but she was not alone on this trip and she was not very good at pretending. “Since you’re here, it doesn’t make sense to act like you aren’t.”

“Very well, my lady, what would you like to talk about?” The setting sun made his skin look a golden honey color.

“Where are you from?” They both worked as they spoke, getting the dinner ready, the soldier trying to complete all the tasks before Diane could do them.

“The Royal City, I grew up there, my father guarded – I’ll do that, my Lady.” He nearly tripped over himself trying to stop Diane from setting the logs for the fire.

Diane rolled her eyes, “Where did your father work?”

“In the Palace, you might have known him when you were there; he guarded some of the mages. His name was Sir Frant.” Lyon did not seem to understand that it would be quicker if he let Diane handle everything. I didn’t worry her that Lyon knew she spent time in the Royal City, any mage with more than minor powers had to travel there at least once to learn the laws governing their mage status.

“Your father was Ant?” Diane had particularly liked the man. He had never revealed her hiding places to her teachers. “He was a good man. His loss was a sore one.”

“I hear tell he was near as much your father as he was mine,” Lyon said, setting a pot of water to heat over the now lit fire.

“I am sure he would not have thought so, but he was the closest thing I had –” A terrible thought occurred to her, “You know who I am.”

The soldier turned and studied her with no small degree of surprise, “Of course, you are the lady mage Diane, the Prince’s Mage. The youngest mage to be offered her credentials since – in all remembrance.”

Diane sat in the dirt. “You know who I am. Does Lord Ryan know?”

Lyon shrugged. “I have not told him.” He turned back to the fire, his black hair starting to fade into the onset of night, just outside the firelight. “If I had to guess I would suppose not.”

Diane furrowed her brow. “What makes you say that?”

The soldier turned back to face her, shadowing his face from the light, making his dark features seem even darker. “I would not be riding out here with you if he knew, my Lady.” Diane shook her head and stood, moving back into the firelight so she could see his face. It had some deep lines, but in truth, it was a face not much older than her own. The only thing that even marked him as older was his short dark beard, which did not quite hide a scar just below his left cheekbone.

“Why wouldn’t you be riding with me?” Diane did not understand the suddenly talkative shadow she had acquired.

“You do not want me here,” he replied simply. “Either, he would be too afraid to anger you and would have let you go on your own, or he would be too afraid someone would try to steal you from him and would not have let you out of the castle. Pick either here or there, my Lady, and it would add up to me not riding with you.”

Diane thought on this and winced, he was right. “You won’t tell him, will you?”

“And incur your wrath? No thank you. I was up at the Palace the night you left, leaving for my assignment as one of Lord Ryan’s guards. It was as though two hundred and fifty people vanished.” He shrugged, adding onions and tomatoes to the now boiling water. “Besides, it is not as if you are in danger of capture,” he muttered.

Diane sputtered, “What?”

“The Prince has made it clear that anyone who seeks your capture will not live very long after the death of his father.” The soldier’s skin had gone the color of the tomatoes bubbling in the soup, red, pale and sickly. “So, I am not betraying my lord by not telling him you are more than a Mage of middling power, because it is not an issue of him losing the useful mage and I like guarding you.”

Diane decided that she had had enough of this talking business. She should have known his highness would try to protect her. She didn’t trust that this protection would last forever. The King was king now, and Joseph could only be so threatening. Someone ambitious would eventually catch wind of where she was and they would fetch her back for the crown’s judgment. She wandered off a little ways to look up at the stars.

They had bunked down for the night. Diane spent a good amount of time laying on her back and naming the constellations. Partly because she was not sure she would ever get the chance again and partly because she was trying to ignore the soldiers who had formed a wide ring around her. Not so close, that she would feel suffocated, but not far enough away that they wouldn't keep her here.

Her hand rested comfortingly on the sapphire drop around her neck. It was only mildly comforting, because she knew they would take it back from her before sending her to her death, nobody still in royal favor could be killed. She wondered why she had been allowed to keep the drop now, until she remembered that only the royal family had the power to rescind the symbol of their favor. There would be no happy ending to her life, only a young death for being against murder.

"I don't think that I can be a Royal mage," Diane had once told Joseph. The two had been seven at the time. They were stealing an hour together when neither of them had lessons. It was hard to do because Diane had much to learn about being a mage and Joseph had to learn about running a kingdom. In addition to all of that, there was time that the two of them had to spend with Joseph's other playmates, who were not really Joseph's friends but only there for political reasons.

Joseph was, of course, confused by her sentiments. He thought being a mage was the greatest thing in the world. Diane herself always felt that being the heir to a kingdom was by far the better lot. Joseph, however, did not see it that way, "You can so be a Royal mage. I've seen you do some things that some of the grown mages can't even do. You'll be an excellent Royal mage." Unspoken was the fact that she would be his mage. He tried not to show his possessive feelings towards her because at six, she had told him that the other children might get jealous. In truth, the complexity of her sentiments towards her prince confused her. She was not sure if she liked belonging to someone else, even him.

"I don't mean that I wouldn't be able to be a Royal mage. It’s that morally I don't think I can do it."

"What?"

Diane sighed, she often felt older than her prince, even though they were the same age. She hoped that he would understand what she meant. "Most of the royal mages are battle mages. I do not think that I could kill another person. It’s just wrong."

Joseph considered for a minute, then, "If you don't want to be a battle mage, then you won't be one. You don't have to do anything that you don't want to do." He had always been like that, so ready to do what she wanted. She loved him for it, but it also terrified her, she couldn't escape that he was so ready to give her what she wanted because she was his.

The next morning the army met up with a smaller group of soldiers, about two hundred men. Diane was given to understand that these men were to take her to the palace, quickly, in the ways that mages traveled.

She knew that there would be mages in this group to prevent her from leaving as well as to take them to just outside of the city by magic. In addition, they packed her away into a small box on wheels. It could not properly be called a carriage because there were no windows and just one rather cramped seat.

Diane protested this with everything she had. First, she argued that she would not run away, or she would have done so already. Then she threatened dire things to anyone who laid a hand on her. Finally, she resorted to kicks and blows to stop them from putting her in that box. She did not use magic to prevent her entering into the box because she knew that that was what they expected.

Perhaps because of her refusal to draw on her expansive powers, her captors prevailed and she was finally shoved into the box. The door closed and locked on the out side. All was black inside that tiny space.

Diane had always disliked small spaces. She had not been happy when she and her prince had been locked inside a closet. She had come in to see some new clothes that Joseph had just gotten as a present. The clothes were something, black pants and a white shirt trimmed with silver thread. The two of them were thirteen and clothes and girls had become very important to her prince recently.

Diane was never jealous of the girls her prince danced with because there was nothing to be jealous about. It pained her a little, but she buried that feeling deep inside her, to forget it. As he had always said, she did belong to him, and always would, but he did not belong to her. He was his own free spirit and allowed to dance with whomever he pleased. More than that, because he was a prince he had to dance with the children of families that would make the crown stronger. She only knew that she would never dance, but with him, and he knew it too. He would not have stood for someone else dancing with her.

So, it was nice to see the new clothes that Joseph would wear to the ball that evening, early in the morning before her lessons stared. But, the door to the closet shut while they were looking at the clothes and with that they lost the light from the hall. “The door is locked,” Joseph informed her, not really concerned by the matter.

“Damn, there goes my being on time to class.” Diane was a little panicked, she was always getting in trouble for things like this and one more time when she was late wouldn’t help her any.

“What are you learning in class anyway? Is it interesting?”

Diane nearly screamed, “How can you think of that at a time like this? We have to get out of here.” She paused, thinking, “We should call for help.”

“Who’s going to hear us?”

“Oh, I don’t know, it’s worth a try.” She did try for a few minutes, but there was no answer. “When is the next time someone will use this closet?”

“Probably when they set out my clothes tonight. But if you calmed down you could get us out of here, couldn’t you?” His voice was laughing in the dark.

Diane realized that it would be easy for her to open the door using magic. “I suppose I could. Just give me a minute.”

“You are not to do magic in my presence.” It had been an old order that the King and Queen had imposed on Diane since they were both very young. They had not wanted their son to be jealous of what his playmate could do and he could not do.

Diane thought it was silly to remind her of this rule now, “I am sure that your parents would understand extenuating circumstances.”

“Well, we can’t know that. So, just sit down, and make yourself comfortable and tell me about what you are learning about, in your lessons. If your teachers yell at you tomorrow then you can always say that you would not go against royal decree.”

Diane started to think that her prince had orchestrated this whole thing so that they might have some time alone together. Well, it’s a good plan, she thought. She sat down and adjusted herself until she was comfortable, her prince found a place to sit just next to her. “Lately, we have been studying about war. Not only how battles are fought but also how to protect crops from armies passing through and to see an army come long before it is there. One of my teachers is constantly reminding us that ‘time is the key in battle. If you have enough time then you can win any battle, so look ahead and give yourself enough time to win.’ I find it boring.” She rested her head on her prince’s shoulder. “You won’t make me do any of those things when you are King, will you?”

Joseph hugged her in the darkness, “What will you do when I am King, my Diane?”

She considered a moment, “I will live in the woods and take care of myself. I will help the crops grow or settle boarder disputes between Lords. I will work and live in peace.”

“I will never see you then.”

“Oh no, I will come in for monthly visits just to see you. I will visit your wife and children. I will tell them stories of how their father was a bad young prince and skipped out on lessons to sit in a dark closet with a mage.” She laughed at that.

"I think I would like that." He became serious for a moment, "So it shall be."

"You sound so old," she teased.

"I feel old," He was entirely serious. Then he lifted up her head off his shoulder and kissed her. She was glad that she was sitting because otherwise she would have fallen from shock.

Suddenly she broke away from him. "You can not do this."

Joseph was puzzled, "It seems that I am."

Diane felt that he was being rather arrogant. She was also hurt; she was being taken advantage of. Though she knew that girls of her age were certainly doing this and more, she felt that he was taking advantage of her. He wasn’t hers, she knew that, he shouldn’t pretend to care for her that way when he didn’t. "You can't just drag a girl into a closet and seduce her, your highness."

Now it was Joseph's turn to be insulted. Diane never addressed him formally like that. "I didn't drag you into the closet and I hardly seduced you,” he yelled back.

But, just as suddenly as it had come, Joseph's anger left him. He felt awkward and foolish. "Now sit down and I will tell you what I am learning about in school." He should have known better than to surprise his Diane like that.

Diane hadn't realized that she had stood up. She sat down, but produced a lighted candle. She was unconcerned about royal decrees right now. It was more important that she remember whom she was talking to and remind him of what she was. She was his mage, not his equal. "Tell me about your lessons, your highness." She never again failed to address him properly.

Judging by the amount of time Diane had been in the box, the men were stopping for a meal. After the meal the mages would likely transport them to the city. Diane wondered whether they would give her anything or if the condemned just weren't worth the effort. Her logic sided with the latter while the pain in her stomach was a firm proponent of the former.

Her questions were answered when a hatch at the top of the box opened and some food was dropped down, along with an unlit candle. The hatch closed.

Diane lit the candle and carefully ate her meal. She guessed that they would arrive at the palace by mid afternoon. Just outside of the box, two men were arguing.

One man started, "We can't keep her in there, the King's orders were very specific –“

The second man cut him off, "If we take her out of there then she is sure to run away. I will not risk her safe delivery. She will not escape on my watch."

"If she was going to run away do you think any of us could keep her here? Don't you know what she's done?"

The second man, who seemed to be the commanding officer disagreed, "I know what she has done. But I am not a fool. People do strange things when they are confronted with their past. She stays in there."

"But the King's orders –“

"I believe the King would rather have her brought to the palace with his orders not followed then not get his mage back at all." This seemed to be the final word on the matter and the two men moved away.

She was actually glad to stay inside this dreadful box. She would not be paraded around as the King's prize for the whole country to see. It was just like the King to put out an order like that. But there was a time when she would have said her piece to the officers, even through the walls of the box. She would have told them what she thought of the King, just as she once had told her prince.

"You sent for me, your highness?" She looked up at her prince. She was kneeling before his dais, the very picture of a vassal serving her overlord.

Joseph stifled his sigh, the audience room was empty and there was no need for this formality, not from her. But, over the last three years Diane had become more and more formal with him. She was constantly reminding him that he was a prince and she a mage, when she was the last person he wanted to remind him of such things. "Please get up, Diane."

She obliged, "May I ask your highness why you have summoned me here?"

He winced inwardly at the question. She never would have asked such a thing a few years ago. She would have just wanted to spend the time with him. "We never see each other anymore, isn't that enough?" There was no response. Joseph sighed again, "I request your attendance at the ball tonight."

"Your highness knows that I will not attend this ball. I do, however, wish your highness the happiest of birthdays and hope that your highness' sixteenth year is a good one." Her face was expressionless. She could have been talking to a stranger.

Had he become a stranger? They rarely saw each other any more, but that did not make them strangers. Joseph traced it back to the first time she had addressed him formally, just after he had kissed her. If there was anything he would take back in this world, it was that kiss.

Joseph got up from his chair and sat on one of the steps of the Dias. Diane did so as well, though hesitantly. She was unsure why the prince had asked to speak with her in his audience chamber, unless he had some formal request to her as a mage in training. Her whole body was alert and ready to fend off any suggestion that she go to the ball. She had her reasons all planed out.

"Why won't you come tonight?" Joseph knew the reasons that she would give already, but he had to ask, so that he could refute them.

"If you will excuse me for saying so, your highness, then I don't think that his majesty, the King, is right in all of his policies. He has two hundred fifty political prisoners, people who would not fight for him, in the dungeons of this palace. I could be one of those people soon and I don't feel it right to attend one of the King's parties while these people suffer." She was truly upset by this policy, especially considering that she would not fight herself.

"You know that you could never be one of those people, my Diane." He was so happy that she had stopped addressing him formally in every sentence he could have danced.

"How do you know? And what does that really matter anyway? The terrible thing is that it happens," and then she remembered that she was talking to the prince and added, "Your highness," rather sheepishly.

Joseph did not really want to argue about moral issues with Diane, he wanted to get her to come to his party. "I don't see how not coming tonight is going to help those prisoners, unless you are helping the prisoners escape. Don't you see?"

"Yes."

"Then I will see you tonight." He swept out of the room, making plans for the evening. Diane would be ordained as a royal mage at the ball, it was to be a surprise for her, and he had much to do to get ready.

But that evening Diane wasn't at the ball. He sent servants out all over the palace to look for her. When he finally gave up even the pretense of merrymaking and returned to his room, he found a note from her.

"I have decided to do something to help the prisoners. Yours Always, D."

Although he supposed he should burn the note, which could be used as incriminating evidence he couldn't bring himself to so it. He also did not raise the alarm that the political prisoners were missing.

The next morning the news came back to him. All of the prisoners held for refusing to do battle were gone, as well as the apprentice mage Diane. Nobody knew how they got out, but what was even more amazing was that not a single guard was dead and none of them remembered seeing anything.

A gate opened somewhere outside of her box and Diane awoke from the nap she had been taking. She had fallen asleep while the mages prepared their transportation to the Royal City. She supposed that they had reached the palace or at least the city surrounding it. Judging from the sounds of things they were in the city. She heard the voices of many onlookers wondering what was in this odd carriage.

What surprised her was that the soldiers around her did not attempt to proclaim who she was and that the glory of the King had been satisfied by her capture. In fact, the only reaction from the soldiers was that they closed in around her, at least from what she could tell. She supposed that the soldiers did not want any sympathizers in the crowd to attempt her rescue. She could not help but think it would make them look awfully foolish for them to get her all the way here and then lose her within the city walls. If she wanted to, she could make them look as foolish as she wished, the guard was right; no box was keeping her here.

She, however, was done running. She was actually glad when a second gate closed behind them. Maybe they would let her out of the box now.

Her hopes proved false when someone or, more likely, a group of people, picked up her box, and started to carry her inside. Diane sighed. She would have liked one last look at the sky before she died.

Fifteen or so minutes later, they entered an echoing room. The grand audience room, Diane supposed. But, where were the muttering courtiers, surely the King would want them there to see his victory over this renegade mage?

Suddenly the footsteps stopped and the box came to a halt. It was put on the ground gently, so as not to scratch the tiles, she was sure. The commanding officer’s voice she had heard before spoke, "Your majesty, my men and I humbly bring you the runaway royal mage, as you have ordered us to do."

She could hear the King stand up and she wondered why the Queen was not with him in the audience chamber. Would not he at least want his wife there to witness his victory?

The King spoke, “You have not brought her as I asked. She was to be brought properly, in an open carriage. What is this box that you bring her in?” Hah, Diane thought, at least you didn't get that measure of satisfaction out of this.

"We – I – thought it best to keep her out of sight. T-to prevent, well to h-help p-prevent, her escape." The commanding officer stammered, and Diane could almost feel the sweat that was pouring out of him.

"It matters not," the King offered nonchalantly, and she could see him flicking his royal hand. "Leave us." Ah, so that’s what he's after, private time to gloat to me, in a way that would be unseemly for a King to do in front of others. Perhaps he would even attempt to find out how she had done it before giving her a public execution.

The commander, however, wavered. "Are you sure your majesty? You know what she has done, and that she is very dangerous."

The King roared, "You think that she would hurt me?" You arrogant asshole you bet I would, she thought threateningly. "If nothing else will satisfy you consider this, she could have escaped at any moment, even up to now. You think a box would keep her from escaping? She is the most powerful mage in memory! There are reasons she remains here." He cut off a final protest from the commander, "One reason being that she would not have the city that she lived in for the past two years be destroyed." He knocked on the box, "Would you?"

"No," she hated to give the King any edge, but she would not lie, not even to this King.

"Now go," that was to the soldiers. She heard one set of footsteps start walking away followed by four others behind it. At last, the door shut and Diane could hear the footsteps no more. She steeled herself to face her past and was ready for this encounter with the King that had hunted her for two years and had controlled her for her entire life.

"Do you want to come out now?" The King asked.

"I am not a cat that you can coax out of a corner, your majesty," she responded bitterly.

To her surprise the King laughed, "No you are not, but you are certainly as hard to find as a cat. But, why don't we stop playing hide and seek. Come out of that box now?"

Diane had caught something in that voice that gave her a surge of hope. But she had to test her theory before she got her hopes up too much and she would not come out until she was certain. "Your majesty, the box is locked."

"And we both know how easily you could unlock it."

"By royal decree I am not allowed to use magic in front of any member of the royal family."

The King laughed a little, "I'm sure that allowances can be made for extenuating circumstances." The King, who had been standing near the box, walked back up the steps to the dais and sat down.

Now she was sure, but unsure of what to do with the information. Would her friend prosecute her for her crimes against the state? He must be if he had sent an army after her to drag her back. Hadn’t he been protecting her from his father’s wrath? Was it only so that he could vent his own on her when he was king? Well, she had been ready to face death at the hands of his father; she had to be ready to face the same at the hands of her friend.

In a moment, the box came apart around her. Diane was out and on her knees, not even looking at the King to confirm his identity. "You summoned me, your majesty?"

The King got up and knelt down beside Diane, he lifted her head to look into her eyes, "Please, my Diane, won't you get up?" He lifted his mage up to her feet, and then, as he had ached to do every day, he kissed her.

So many questions swirled in Diane's head, but she pushed them aside until, the kiss was over. When it was, she sat down on the steps of the Dais, and Joseph sat beside her. "You know," she began, "you can't send twenty thousand troops out just to seduce a girl."

He smiled, "It seems that I just have. In fact, I think the army thought me quite odd, when I sent them out before my father had been dead a day. They must have thought me terribly angry with you." He lifted the gold chain out from under her clothes, fingering the sapphire drop as he did. "I would ask for this back now."

Diane was aghast; she had completely forgotten her impending death sentence with the rush of Joseph's kisses. Suddenly she was much less prepared to face death than she had been only a moment ago. She hesitated and then lifted the chain over her head and practically flung it at the young King. Turning away from him she said, "It is yours, your majesty."

Joseph was confused, why was she upset now? But he came before her and kneeled in front of the Dias, Producing the necklace with a sapphire heart, he asked her the question that so many generations of lovers have asked, “Will you marry me, my Diane?"

The tears that Diane had been fighting so hard to hold back suddenly came pouring down Diane's face. They came from stress and worry and from not believing what she heard. She took the pendant with trembling fingers and looked at it. “But – I am your mage.”

“I love you, Diane. Won’t you be mine?” Why did she not put the necklace on? She looked so lost, just when he had found her.

“Always,” she whispered, before she could even think. That much she had always known. “But I am still a mage.”

“My mage,” he was watching the necklace in Diane’s hands. “Don’t make me wait like this.” Suddenly, a thought that constricted his air flow occurred to him, “If you have fallen for the Lord who gave you asylum these last two years, tell me.” Lord Ryan was ten years older than her, but stranger things had happened and the lord had offered her a safe haven when he had been unable to protect her. Had his brief lapse stolen her from him? Did she no longer love him?

“No – No.” Diane realized the sapphire heart was still in her hot palm. She smiled down at it and unclasped the small clasp. The twinkling chain felt cool against her skin. New. She almost took it off, she did not think it should be near the grime that coated her body. But one look at Joseph’s eyes and she closed the metal clasp.

The weight of the necklace felt safe against her neck. “My Diane,” the King breathed. For the first time in five years he felt whole. He drew her into a hug.

“You’ll ruin your fine clothes,” Diane pushed him away. “The servants will talk.”

Joseph smiled and held her tighter, “They’ll have more to talk about than dirty clothes. How many Queens do you think it took a thousand score men to retrieve from their hideaways in some country lord’s court?”

Diane frowned, “Just the outlaw ones.”

A/N: This is the whole story. Thank you for reading. Please review. I know that it is awkward in places, and overly romantic in others. Tell me where, and if you have any ideas of how to fix it tell me that too.