There was blood coming from his nose and ears. She knew that was a
dangerous sign. The people of his Temple gathered around them in a loose
circle murmuring in tense voices. She heard someone tell her that the
Healer's where coming, another asked if he was dead. She ignored them
all as she cast the basic healing spell that all of the Guardians where
taught. He moved his head slightly and gave a great frown, then squinted
up at her.

	"I'm so sorry, 'Thea. I tried," he closed his eyes again and muttered,
"my head hurts."

	The Healers' arrived as he said those words. Mara took her by her
shoulders and pulled her out of the way to give them space to work. She
hovered by the door to his room throughout the rest of the day, picked
at the lunch Mara brought and took comfort from her friends that came
and went asking for news that she did not know. Finally the Healer's
came out. One stopped and gave her a tired smile.

	"He'll live, Princess," he caught her arm as she started to go past
him, into the room. "He's sleeping, Lady. Lorna is with him, to watch
over him. Let him rest."

	She bit her lip, wanting to see for herself, but nodded agreement. He
smiled at her reassuringly as he left. Mara came up behind her, took her
hand.

	"Will you stay the night, Althea?"

	She wanted to, but knew that she had to make the arranged meeting. She
shook her head.

	"I have to get back to Caer Dythal. But will you send word if anything
changes?"

	"Of course, Princess. I'll go and have Butterfly brought up for you."

	Althea waited until Mara had moved out of sight, then slowly opened the
door to her uncle's room and peeked inside. The healer glanced up at her
from her chair at Innish's side. She smiled with understanding and
gestured for Althea to come in, but held a finger to her lips, demanding
silence. Althea tip-toed across the room to stop beside the healer. Her
uncle was pale, but he breathed even and steadily and his face was calm
and relaxed. Lorna raised her eyebrows at her, her sparkling eyes
seeming to ask, "satisfied?"

	Althea nodded yes, then tip-toed back out.  

	
				***************


	That evening they all gathered in Endymion's room. Althea and Malikai
were seated across from each other with a small table separating them.
Nathan towered behind Althea's chair, his knuckles white as he gripped
it's high back glaring at Malikai, Zuriel behind Malikai's, glaring at
Althea. Endymion was standing at the mid-line of the table, arms crossed
and ready to separate his friends, if need be. Julian sat opposite him
on the bed, his fingers coaxing sweet notes from the mandolin propped
against his thigh.

	"You knew!" Nathan roared at Malikai again.

	"I did not. What would I want with your woman anyway?" Malikai snapped
back, his gray eyes narrowed with annoyance.

	"Nathan, enough," she sighed as she finally spoke up and reached up and
across her chest so she could cover his hand with her own.

	This was getting them no where and was tearing her brother apart.
"Malikai knows that your heart is with me, as you know his is with
Zuriel's. He would not betray your trust or friendship, as you would not
betray his."

	Nathan subsided into a simmering silence behind her as Malikai cocked
one eye-brow at her.

	"If we refuse the Union, our father's go to war over wounded pride and
honor. If I flee with Nathan to his country, his Father does not have
the force of arms necessary to back him and would have to hand me back,"
she reiterated the discussion that had been flying fast and furious
until it had dissolved into the shouting match.

	"I would win," Nathan promised.

	She tipped her head back so she could look up at his face and gave him
a gentle smile. "It wouldn't matter. I won't go. All the Kingdom's must
stay united to stand against the Darkness that is coming."

	"That is only a rumor started by that crazy Uncle of yours," Zuriel
snapped at her.

	She bit back her sharp reply, unwilling to be dragged off the subject
again. She took a deep calming breath.

	"I have no objections to the Union or your continued association with
Zuriel as long as you hold none to mine and Nathan's," there was no
other answer.

	"I would have none," Malikai responded quickly. He understood that
there was no other option open to them, either.

	"Then the marriage will take place?" Endymion asked, his own
uncertainty with that idea reflected in his voice.

	Althea and Malikai exchanged troubled glances then both nodded yes.
Zuriel gasped and turned so his back was toward them, his shoulder's
shaking.

	"Althea. No. Come away with me now," Nathan whispered.

	"It will be tolerable," Malikai tried to reassure Zuriel as he
half-turned in his chair and took Zuriel's hand and pulled him gently to
his side.

	She looked back up into her lover's face, her eyes pleading with him to
understand.

	"There is no other option for us. Do you think I want to see you go to
war against my brother and your friends? You would come to hate me if
you where forced to hurt them in defense of me. And if you hurt my
brother, I would never be able to forgive you, no matter if I loved you
or not."

	Nathan closed his eyes against her, his face reflecting the war in his
heart. Finally he put both hands on her shoulder's possessively and
nodded his assent. She sank back against the support of the chair and
released the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Julian hit a
fast progression of sour notes.

	"What?" Her brother sighed at him.

	"There is the small problem of succession," he said quietly.

	*Trust it would be Julian who would cut to the real heart of our
problem,* Althea sighed to herself.

	This would be the hardest part, the part that might drive Nathan from
her forever. She just hoped that his love would be strong enough to
survive her decision.

	"I don't think that Mathwyny will accept an heir with our Nathan's
rather spectacular coloring. Do you?" Julian finished as he kept his
focus on turning one of the tuning pegs.

	"No. He would not," Malikai answered as he kept his eyes on his and
Zuriel's entwined fingers resting on the arm of the chair.

	"I will agree to perform the duties of a wife until I conceive and bear
our first son. After that, I belong to Nathan alone," she said it in a
rush and tried not to wince as Nathan's hands tightened against her
shoulders in his shock.

	Malikai closed his eyes and she could see him tighten his fingers
around Zuriel's. "I will agree to perform the duties of a husband, until
that time."

	"What?" Zuriel hissed at Malikai.

	Nathan's hands where gone from her shoulders as he turned without a
word and walked out of the room. Althea watched him go, knowing that he
needed some time to think before he would face her again. That knowledge
didn't make his anger and anguish any easier for her to bare. Endymion
started around the table to go after him but Julian shook his head at
him as he rose and put the mandolin gently on the bed.

	"I'll go. He's more likely to listen to me than you at the moment.
Don't worry, Lady Althea, he's too much in love with you to be angry
with you for long."

	*I wish I shared your confidence, Julian,* she pushed herself up from
her chair, feeling drained in both body and spirit.

	"I'm going to my room. Endymion, would you walk with me?" She asked,
wanting her brother's support and company and thinking that it would
give Malikai some time to calm Zuriel down in private.


	Endymion was sitting on her bed, struggling to keep the conversation
light as she brushed her hair, getting ready for bed.

	"Oh, here," he pulled a slender chain over the back of his head as he
slid off and headed for her, having to stop for a moment to fish
whatever was on the end of it out from under his collar.

	He handed a locket in the shape of a star to her. "I wanted you to see
this. I had it made for Serenity."

	She pressed the catch with her thumbnail and it sprang open and began
to play a sweet tune, the little half-moon circling the jewel set in the
middle.

	"Do you think she'll like it?" He asked anxiously as he knelt beside
her.

	"It's lovely, 'Mion. She'll adore it. And you," she grinned back and
reached out to ruffle his hair.

	He batted playfully at her hand but let her put the chain back over his
head.

	"Don't let Father see it," she warned softly.

	He tucked it back into the safety of his jacket and had just gotten
back to his feet when a knock came at her door.

	"Enter," he called, then shrugged in apology at his sisters frown.

	The page who opened the door was winded, but managed to get his message
out around his gasps for air.

	"Lord Julian says to tell the Princess Althea that the Lord Nathan has
decided to go for a little ride and that he will accompany him." With
that, he bobbed his head and closed the door.

	"He's left then," Althea whispered and her eyes filled with tears.

	Endymion gathered his sister into a hug and let her cry against his
chest.

	"He'll be back, 'Thea," he soothed. "You know his temper."

	Althea nodded, but the tears still came.

	"He'll probably all but run his horse into the ground, then run on foot
another ten minutes, then he'll start to think clearly and then have to
walk back because he's winded his horse. Unless Julian takes pity on him
and gives him a ride," he said it for his sister's benefit.

	He knew that was exactly what Nathan was doing, but the image of it did
make her give him a little smile through her tears. She rubbed the tears
from her eyes with the heels of her hands and nodded.

	"I know. I just ... hated having to do that to him. But there was no
other choice," she told him in a shaky voice.

	"I know. It was a very brave thing to do. He'll understand that, in an
hour or so," Endymion told her as he drew he up to her feet by one hand
and led her toward her bed.

	"Now, go to sleep, sister. He'll be back in the morning," he gave her a
kiss on her forehead after she scooted herself onto the high mattress.

	Once he was sure she was settled he headed back to his own room
wondering if Malikai and Zuriel had left yet.


					***


	But Nathan and Julian didn't return the next morning, or the one after
that. She had all but given up hope and gone to walk in one of the more
wild gardens to avoid having to look at the wedding dress and jewels
that Mathwyny had sent to her room as her bride gift. She settled in the
shadows on one of the cracked stone benches against a moss covered wall
and listened to the breeze. She didn't know exactly when she dozed off
but woke to someone calling her name gently. She kept her eyes shut, not
willing to face the world just yet.

	"Althea?"

	She recognized the voice. Her eyes snapped open in surprise as she sat
up. Nathan stood before her in his best dress uniform, his long red hair
braided up behind his head. She was dreaming. This was how he looked the
first time she had seen him as a gangly girl of thirteen, and had fallen
in love with him. She smiled up at him. He held out his hand and she
reached out to take it, sure her fingers would close on empty air and
signal the end of her dream. It was a shock when his fingers closed warm
and firm against her own.

	"Nathan? Oh, Nathan!" She threw herself off the bench and into his
arms.

	He hugged her tight against him, then put his hands on her shoulders
and guided her back down onto the bench. He went down on one knee before
her, like a subject paying homage to his Lord. She flushed with
uncertainty and embarrassment.

	"Nathan, what are you doing?"

	"Do you love me?" He asked in a quiet voice.

	"Yes!" His question startled the answer out of her.

	He pulled a simple gold ring off of his little finger and slipped onto
her forefinger. "Then I pledge my troth to you. Even though you will
marry Malikai before all, I ask you to pledge to me, here an now."

	She stared at the ring, then at him, her throat to tight to make words.
Then she swallowed hard and pulled her favorite ring off of the other
forefinger. It had been her mother's but she thought she would approve
of her gifting.

	It barely fit over Nathan's little finger as she told him, "I pledge my
troth to you, and you alone. Even though I will have to say the words to
another, you alone will hold my heart."

	He gathered her up into his arms and whispered into her hair, "I will
share you with Malikai until you bear his son, but after that, you
belong to no one but me!"

	He took them into the deeper tangles and trees of the garden and they
could hear Julian's mandolin and soft voice as he stood watch at the
garden entrance, working on the words to a song to catch the heart of
the Lady he loved.

	
	That had been the last time she had made love to Nathan. She had been
surprised that Malikai had been a gentle and considerate partner, coming
to her every night during the week she was the most fertile, but after,
he would go to Zuriel to sleep the night. Nathan stayed away from her
bed, the temptation for both of them too great and neither wanted to
risk a child of his getting. All four would wait impatiently for the end
of her cycle and hoped that her courses would not come. But until a
month ago, they had.

	She had told them that it had. It had been hard to lie to Nathan, but
at the time, with all the stress and upheaval around them, she might
just be late, or if she had conceived, the child might not take. When
Father sent them to Queen Serenity's court three weeks ago, Malikai had
been forced to stay with her. Zuriel, Nathan and Julian being assigned
to share a suite with Endymion, rooms being scarce as Queen Serenity's
Kingdom prepared for war. That had put a strain on all of them.

	She sighed and pressed both hands over her flat belly in a protecting
gesture. The healer had confirmed this afternoon what she had already
known, that she did carry a child in her womb. But it was too soon to
tell if it was male. She would tell Nathan first and tonight, then
Malikai and Zuriel in the morning. Maybe it would improve Zuriel's
temper. She snorted.

	*Zuriel will never forgive me. He might have to tolerate me, but he
will never, ever, like me.* 

	Her brother's rich laugh and Princess Serenity's light giggle brought
her attention to the garden which stretched out beneath the balcony. She
smiled as they came running into sight, hand in hand and paused,
Endymion's arm going around Serenity's waist as they too, watched the
blue and white planet lift itself over the Moon's smaller curve.

	*At least Endymion is with his Princess,* she thought with a rueful
smile.

	Father approved the match, seeing in it a chance to extend his power
and standing among the Earth Kingdoms, but Queen Serenity had forbidden
it. Yet she had been unable to keep the two from secret meetings. Some
of which she had been instrumental in arranging once she had discovered
that the bond between the two was true, inviting Princess Serenity and
her household to visit with her regularly and taking Endymion with her
when the Princess returned the honor. But here and now they did not need
to hide, as Endymion and his household where here in an official
capacity to help with the defense of the Moon Kingdom.

	Her father had not argued her brother's decision, seeing in it a chance
for his son to prove his worth to Queen Serenity and it also gave him an
honorable way to get his heir away from the Dark Army that was
marshaling on the Earth Kingdom's own borders. Nathan came up behind her
and put his arms around her shoulders. She leaned back into him.

	"Keeping an eye on your errant Prince?" She asked with a little laugh.

	"It is our duty to protect him, body and spirit," Nathan answered in an
amused tone. "Seeing as Malikai and Zuriel are otherwise occupied and
Julian is off singing to that Amazon Princess he's set his sights on,
the duty falls to me."

	"I think that for a while he will be safe without your watchful eye,"
she told him as she tugged gently on a long lock of his auburn hair and
pulled his head down to her.

	Her kiss was full of her pent-up passion. He responded, then pulled
away from her.

	"Althea, don't," there was a deep, longing throb under his voice.

	"But I want too. And at the moment, I can," she smiled coyly at him.

	He frowned at her for a moment, then he figured it out. "You're
pregnant?"

	She nodded, for a moment uncertain of his reaction. He hugged her
against him.

	"Thank all the Powers. I don't think I could have stood this much
longer. Is it male?"

	"I don't know yet. It's too soon for the healer's to tell."

	"We'll hope," he turned her towards him and leaned down and returned
her kiss, his own full of promise.

	She wiggled off the rail and took his hand. "You know, you have never
shown me your rooms here. I would like to see them."

	He led her farther down the balcony, tucked under his arm. "Is it all
right? It won't harm the babe?"

	She laughed. "No, it won't harm the babe. But we'd best make the most
of the time we have now, before I'm too far gone with child."

	"That won't be a problem," their laughs mingled and danced away on the
soft lunar breeze.


	Zuriel leaned back against Malikai's chest, reached over and laced his
fingers into Malikai's as they rested against the headboard.

	"Do you care for her?" He asked quietly.

	Malikai sighed behind him. "Yes, I care for her. How can I not? She is
my wife and will carry my child. But I don't love her, Zuriel. I love
you. How many times do I have to tell you that before you believe me?"

	This time it was Zuriel's turn to sigh. He reached over with his free
hand and took the cup he had poured earlier. He offered it to Malikai
over his shoulder.

	*For now,* he thought as Malikai drained the cup, then gave it back.
*But she's taking you from me. I see it starting already.*

	He looked down into the bottom of the cup, closed his eyes as it threw
back his distorted reflection. *It was the only way.*

	Malikai shuddered slightly and put both hands to his head. Zuriel
turned and looked at him with a strange expression.

	"The room's spinning," Malikai squinted at his love as he fought the
lassitude that was taking possession of his body. *He drugged me? But
why?*

	"Why?" he managed to get out before he slipped into unconsciousness.

	Zuriel dressed quickly then wrapped Malikai's limp form in a warm
blanket and gathered him up into his arms. He kissed his forehead.

	"Because I love you," he whispered, then he said louder, "I am ready."

	They disappeared in a black shimmer of light.

	Queen Serenity paused in mid-sentence as she spoke with her generals. A
slight frown creased her forehead as she thought she felt something of
the Darkness nearby, but it was gone before she was certain she had
really even detected it.

	"Queen Serenity?" Artemis questioned gently.

	She shook her head a little, she must just be tired.

				***************