Hey peeps! Hope you like this little story. This is a Tamora
Pierce fanfiction, as I will be using the names of the gods
and a character or two. I'm not sure who yet, though. Give
me some suggestions in reviews. Tamora owns any characters
you recignize. If she doesn't, then it's a coincidense. TTFN!
Goddess Bless...
~*~Henna-chan~*~



Child of Gold, Daughter of night
Their holy union will bring only light
Sister of Pentacle, Rider of Sky

So goes the prophecy, so it shall be.

Chapter One: Nyx, servant of Goddess Grove

"Nyx!" came the shrill voice from the dinning room.
"Coming m'lady!" A tall, willowy girl took a taste of the soup she
was cooking and smiled,
satisfied. She poured the soup out of the pot and into her
mistress's favorite bowl. She
quickly brought it from the kitchen to the dinning room without
spilling a drop and placed
it in front of her lady.
"Took you long enough," said Lady Nicola. From a lesser lady, it
would be considered a
snort. "Mother wouldn't be pleased if I told her that you were
procrastinating."
Nyx bowed, her deep black hair hiding her face. "It won't happen
again, m'lady."
"Good. Go get me some bread to dunk in my soup."
"Yes m'lady."
Nyx walked out of the room, still bowing. She didn't rise until she
was out of view of the
noble. As she arose, her silver eyes flashing in annoyance, she
mumbled under her breath
about snotty, good for nothing noble girls. She quickly brought
out fresh bread and
another bowl of soup for the fief's lady.
Lady Nain was just sitting down when Nyx entered the room. She
looked beautiful with
her violet eyes surrounded by blue eye powder and her golden
blonde hair up in an
intricate up-do. She donned a blue overdress and lavender
petticoats.
Nicola certainly didn't get her looks from her mother. Her
chestnut eyes were nothing out
of the ordinary and her light brown hair left much to be desired.
Compared to her mother's exotic looks, Nicola looked simply
faded. Today Nicola wore a
light pink overdress and
starched white petticoats. Both wore slippers the colors of their
overdresses.
"Ah, Nyx. Just on time, as usual," came the soft, melodic voice of
Nain. Nicola made a face behind her mother's back.
"The soup today is wild mushroom. I hope it is to your
satisfaction," Nyx said with a bow.
She then turned toward Nicola and placed a fresh loaf of bread on
the table next to her.
"Here is your bread, m'lady. Is their anything else you would like,
nobilities?"
"That will be all, Nyx," Nain said with a dismissing wave of the
hand. Nyx retreated to the kitchen, checking the venison that was
slowly cooking for dinner. It was cooking
slightly faster than she thought. She mentally turned down the
fire's heat a smidgen. She
then walked briskly to the sewing room. She still had to finish the
gowns for tomorrow's ball.
She picked up Nain's first. It was a striking violet, the color of
Nain's eyes, with silver trimming. Nyx picked up her embroidery
supplies and got to work. It took her over an hour to complete the
intricate designs on the dress. She looked at her work proudly: she
was the best seamstress in Goddess Grove, the fief she lived in
Nain's dress would rival that of the queen herself's.
Hesitantly she picked Nicola's up. She fingered the soft fabric.
The texture and color reminded her of that of a fawn's. Nicola's
was not nearly as complex as she was not the lady of the fief, but
the lady's daughter. It was still beautiful, but not astounding as
Nain's was. Nyx looked down at her own tattered clothing and
sighed. She knew that she would probably never wear something
as fine as this. Tomorrow night she would wear decent clothing,
as the ball was being hosted at Goddess Grove and she was to
serve, but it wasn't anything special. Nicola's just needed to be
hemmed. That was easily done, if she could get the girls to keep
still.
Just then, a knock on the door signaled the arrival of the two
nobles in mind. Nain's son, Alexander, was scheduled to arrive
later that night. Nyx ran to open the door. After deciding who
would be fitted first, Nicola stepped out of her clothing and
waited to be fitted. Nyx pulled out the garment and put it on the
girl. She noted the adjustments that needed to be made: A
tightening of the bodice, letting out the waist, a little longer. Nyx
quickly pulled off the dress lest Nicola ripped it, and summoned
the silent Nain.
Nain, in contrast to Nicola, was still and courteous. Nyx proudly
noted that her measurements were perfect and that the dress
looked beautiful. Nain herself said so.
Nyx thanked the two women and got to work on Nicola's dress.
She laughed to herself when she noticed that the girl had gained
several pounds, judging by the expansion in the hips and waist.
Nyx knew that it was wrong to hate her charge, but she couldn't
help it. The girl was impeccably rude, selfish, and self-centered.
Nyx and her were both seventeen, and the fact that her servant
caused more men to turn and look on the street than her made
Nicola bristle with anger.
Alexander entered the room without knocking. Nyx expected no
less of him: he was notorious of belittling commoners and
servants.
"Can we get this over with?" Alexander asked in a bored tone. "And I better look good."
Alexander was the one to gather his mother's good points. His
face was soft and well formed, with wide violet-blue eyes and
dark blonde hair. Nyx could tell that her wanted to look good for
this, because the monarchs would be there, and this was the first
ball being held at Goddess Grove in a long time. She pulled out
his suit and turned around while he put it on. She used a few pins
to adjust it slightly. After a quick looking up and down of
the front and back, she noted a bunching of cloth in the lower back of the overcoat. She bent down to straiten it out, feeling
Alexander stiffen under her touch.
"Sir, If you don't relax, the suit will come out awkward. Do you
wish for the king to see that?" Alexander slowly relaxed. It was a
few minutes later that Nyx finally finished.
"There you are, good as new. I can finish the rest of the
adjustments after you take it off, sire."
"Thank you, Nyx," Alexander said, his voice shaking slightly.
"You may change now. I must go check on tonights dinner." Nyx
turned to leave, but Alexander grabbed her arm before she could.
"Did you need something else?" Her voice held not a hint of the
nervousness she felt.
He looked at her for a moment, and let go. "No," he whispered.
Nyx noticed a trace of pink in his cheeks.

*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*

It was the night of the ball. The family of Goddess Grove nobles
looked spectacular, thanks to Nyx. Nyx herself wore a simple
black dress, one typically worn by commoners. She wasn't
mourning or anything. She simply liked the color black. It suited
her. Her mid-back length hair was put up in a bun so it wouldn't
fall into the food and drinks she would be serving. No one would
want that, with the king, queen, and heir here!
Nyx was assigned to the tables of her lord and ladies of Goddess
Grove, and a few other tables surrounding them. Taking a closer
look at the chart, she noticed in astonishment that the King's table
was one of them! 'Goddess, don't let me mess this up.'
It wasn't long before she was handed her first tray of food for the
king. He was to be served first, along with his family. She held
the tray carefully; Any drop spilled would mean a beating from
Nicola's guard later on. She walked briskly, and placed the tray
down carefully beside the king. She curtsied deeply, stating her
name and that she was to serve them this evening. With a small
smile she passed out the hot dishes of soup and curtsied again
before going to get the food for the others she was to serve. Next
she brought her charges their food.
"Here you are, m'lady. I hope this meal is to your satisfaction."
Nain nodded. "Thank you, Nyx."
Nicola scowled as Nyx served her. Alexander looked away.
The rest of the courses went similar. Nyx only spoke briefly to
those she served, and not at all to some. The prince kept giving
her weird looks after witnessing Alexander's reaction
to her speaking to him. It annoyed her profusely. She felt like just
screaming, "What? Stop it! Just say what you have to say and stop
staring at me!" But of course she didn't. That could get her executed.
After the meal, all of the knights, nobles, and monarchs filed into
the grand ballroom. Now was the actual ball. Nyx was assigned to
serving chilled white wine. It was Nain and Alexander's favorite.
So around she went, smiling at the people and passing around the
libations. She was sitting down for a minute, all the serving taking
it out of her, when she felt a hand tap her shoulder. She looked up
into the amethyst eyes of Alexander.
She stood up quickly, nearly dropping the tray of wineglasses.
She curtsied. "I'm so sorry,

m'lord. It won't happen again." She looked up again to see
amusement in the same eyes.
"You're not in trouble, Nyx," he said, laughing. He leaned in close
and whispered in her ear. "I won't tell Nicola. I know how much
she would give for a chance to see you out on the streets."
Nyx visibly relaxed. "Thank you, sire. Now, may I get you
anything?"
"A glass of wine for me and my friend here," Alexander gestured
to his left, where the prince stood, an amused look on his face.
Nyx blinked, embarrassed that such an important person had
witnessed that account. She curtsied again, this time deeper.
"I'm sorry, highness. I did not see you there," The prince's royal
blue eyes held laughter that told her he wasn't offended. The
prince was handsome indeed, with midnight black hair and a
strong chin. He had a muscular build, as did Alexander, yet his
skin was tan in contrast to Alexander's pale.
"It's quite all right. You may call me Raymond," said the prince.
She handed them each a glass of wine with a smile. She didn't
know why she was smiling so much tonight... usually someone
was lucky if they got her to smile once a day. She excused
herself, saying that she needed to refill her tray. She was just
about out the door when she heard someone calling her. She
turned around to see Nain waving her over. Inwardly, she sighed,
yet she managed to smile as Nain was in company of the queen.
When she reached the two women, she curtsied twice: deeply to
the queen, and formally to Nain. "Do you need something,
m'lady?"
"No, Nyx. I just wanted to introduce you to the queen. Queen
Anna, this is Nyx, my personal servant," Nain said with a
surprising amount of pride.
"Nyx. Nain has told me much about you. Is it true that you made
that astounding dress that Nain is wearing?" the queen spoke in a
soft, yet beautiful voice.
Nyx blushed. "If it pleases nobility, then yes, I did." Anna eyed
the girl thoughtfully.
"This truly shows wonderful skill. You should think of going into
a business of your own," Anna stated.
Nyx wasn't sure what to say. No one had ever told her that she
was good at something. "Thank you, highness. I am glad you find
my work good. If you will excuse me, I must go refill my tray.
The queen and Nain dismissed her with waves of the hand.

*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*()*

A man from the corner watched Nyx thoughtfully. 'Yes, she'll do.
I can use her as bait to find Pentanine. All I have to do is seduce
her with riches, power, and if all else fails, me.



Please R/R!!!