She had always been a bit wild, people said it was the fairy blood coming out in her. Back then people still believed in fairies and that the most prosperous and beautiful were descended from the strange race. Sena was not particularly beautiful – not yet at least. Many would call her pretty, but not beautiful. A late-bloomer Sena stayed small and round while most girls her age were growing tall and slim. To look at her then one would see red hair just a bit too orange and frizzy and green eyes just a shade too gray to make them outstanding. She was not chubby, but the baby-fat still clung to her cheeks, arms, and legs. There was in fact little that was outstanding about her physically, which was why it was hard to explain why once you had met her she was hard to forget.
She stood uncomfortably next to her tall, elegant father as he spoke to the equally tall, and elegant man across the room. Her father had fair skin like hers that seemed all the whiter next to the olive complexion of the dark haired man.
Sena did not fidget. Hours and hours with her manners mistress and trained her not too, no matter how her shoes might squeeze and her socks itch. At home, when not with her tutors she was accustomed to walking bare-footed wherever she went. A habit that those who knew her intimately found annoyingly endearing.
Outside the sun was shining brightly and Sena could see the gardens and beyond them the stretch of firs and pines that surrounded her home. She knew the gardens would be almost unbearably hot in the next hour or so and that the forest would remain damp and cool for most of the day. She had hoped to get to the gardens early this morning as she expected one of her new rose varieties to be blooming. But the arrival of this foreign gentleman had kept her indoors while her mother and the maids hurriedly bathed, dressed, and primped her to perfection. The gentleman!
Sena snapped her attention back to the man and desperately tried to pick up the thread of conversation. Her manners mistress would have a fit if she knew she'd been letting her attention wander. Luckily both men still seemed to be discussing the traveling conditions between Lynoth and Perdia. Once again Sena wondered at her presence here. Rarely, if ever, was Sena called into the presence of visiting dignitaries except for formal introductions and supper, and never without her mother and younger sister. But here she stood, alone, next to her father, and as if sensing her confusion they suddenly stopped their conversation and very deliberately her father brought her forward.
"May I present my daughter Sena?" Sena curtsied prettily, dipping her head and then bringing it up to gaze into the gentleman's eyes. It was bad manners for children to look into strangers eyes without being formally introduced so only then did Sena realize that the dark man had startling blue eyes. The contrast was quite surprising. Only the most blond and fair had blue eyes in her country.
The stranger gazed at her quite seriously before giving her a dignified bow and saying "We are well met, Sena Amalantha. My name is Varden Greystone and I've come all the way from Lynoth to meet you."
Sena did not gape, but she wanted to. Lynoth was their neighboring country with whom they had shared an uneasy alliance since the last Great War ended twenty years ago. The war was "officially" over, but really the fighting had never stopped, and the two kings had refused to acknowledge one another. But as they two young hot-headed kings had turned into older men it seemed their hearts had softened towards one another and the last 2 years had brought a season of tentative and periodic peace as the kings met to arrange a formal alliance. Sena's father, as the cousin and first-of-kin to the king had been a part of those meetings, making the long journeys to the capitol as well as to Lynoth. He'd only recently returned.
Sena's home was a long way from either and in her lifetime she had only made the journey to the capitol once where they had stayed for nearly a year. It had been a period of agony for Sena who had longed for the open spaces and freedom of her home. It had taken them 3 weeks of hard traveling to make it to the capitol and it was, Sena knew, another month of treacherous and grueling travel to make it to the border between Perdia and Lynoth. From there, Sena had no clue how long it may take to get to wherever Varden Greystone was from.
After a moment of silence Sena seemed to find her voice. "You are a long way from home." Varden Greystone smiled sadly at this, and she could not know then that the sadness in his smile was not for himself.
"Yes, I am a very, very long way from home. It feels an age since I was last there."
Sena, who had always been spoken to as a child by her father's visitors was very surprised by his attitude, and she felt herself grow bolder then she normally would allow in the presence of her elders.
"You must miss it much. Do you have family there waiting for you?" The man smiled sadly again at this.
"I do indeed. Two daughters, the youngest of the two may share your birthyear, and a son . . ." at which point he glanced quickly at Sena's father, "he is my oldest child."
"I can understand missing family. My older sister, Melba, was married a year ago and I miss her very much; even though she teased me." Sena made a face at that and Varden Greystone laughed softly.
"I suppose sisters are pretty much the same in Lynoth, because I cannot get my Earlene to stop pestering my little May. Those two can squawk louder than all the birds of Lynoth. I'm sure your younger sister understands about teasing, hmmm?"
"Oh no! I do not tease Wren. Do I Papa, I mean Father?"
Eldon Amalantha smiled gently down at Sena. "No, Sena sweet you do not. Sena is too tender-hearted to tease Wren, although she could always give Melba a run for her money. Sena, sweet, you may run off now, I'm sure your gardens are waiting for you." Sena just stopped herself from dashing away before her father changed his mind and gave a dutiful curtsy to Varden Greystone.
"I hope you are able to return home soon. I'm sure your family misses you." Varden bowed back.
"It was a pleasure to meet you, Sena." With that Sena walked quickly out of the room, and as soon as the door was closed behind her dashed to the nearest exit into the gardens, quickly forgetting her strange visit with the foreigner.
Sena already had her shoes and stockings off when she came to her newest rose bush. As she had hoped it had indeed bloomed, a bright yellow with golden tips and fringes. Not just gold in color, but real gold. It smelled sweeter than peaches, and was so fragrant Sena could nearly taste it. If the petals were crushed and mixed with a paste Sena was quite certain they would heal minor wounds completely. Sena was pleased with her work. She could not wait to show Wren.
Magic was as common to a child in Perdia as air. Children in Perdia grew up learning not to speak a word three times in succession – for strange things often happened. Birds occasionally spoke and delighted children with their tales, and sometimes the rain sang. The magic in Perdia was old and at one time had filled the entire continent, but it was now limited to Perdia alone. The country was protected along the east and the south by dark, jagged mountains, and by the untamed sea on the north and west. The land itself was wild and filled was unspeakable things; creatures, and dark things with no names to put to them, as well as with spectacular things; unicorns, and sprites, and fairies.
Although, even in Perdia the magic was beginning to fade. In the capitol people had almost forgotten the old ways, the magic too weak there to remind them, and the closer one got to Lynoth the weaker it became. Once in the mountains the magic became powerful once again, a ward, some called it, to protect itself. But once out of the mountains and into Lynoth it disappeared completely.
The farther one came from Lynoth and the capitol the stronger the magic was, and it was here, at the edge of the great forest where Sena and her family lived. Here the magic was strong and deep. At night Sena could feel its heartbeat, slow and steady. She tried to explain it to her family but the only one who seemed to understand her was Wren. Wren could not do magic though. Very few could those days, even this far into the wilds. Sena had met only one other person who, like her, was capable of magic, and that was at the capitol. A withered old man who had seemed like a breath of fresh air to Sena who was nearly dying for some magic among the paved narrow streets, and endless walls. He seemed to carry the magic with him and when Sena had asked him how he did it he had looked at her oddly before smiling at her pityingly and saying,
"It's hard isn't it? It feels as if there is no air, like you cannot quite catch your breath. It feels like you're missing the very core of your being."
His words brought tears to Sena's eyes, and she nodded before whispering, "Nights are the worst . . ."
"Oh?"
"I . . . I can't feel its heart." He said nothing for a moment, but regarded her seriously. When he did not speak Sena nearly pleaded, "Won't you please tell me how you carry it with you?"
"You're Sena Amalantha, aren't you?"
"Yes."
"Sena," he crouched down so his eyes were level with hers, "I cannot tell you how, for we all carry it in our own way." Sena looked confused at this. "Child, it's more like the magic chooses us. Someday you'll understand what I mean. But be content. You can hear it, even here, you just need to learn how to listen. No, I cannot tell you how. You must learn for yourself. It is important that you learn for yourself." With that he straightened and strode briskly away before Sena realized she didn't even know who he was.
In the garden three of the new roses had bloomed and many more would bloom in the days to come, so Sena felt no guilt as she clipped one that would bloom soon and ran it up to Wren's room.
Back in the hall Varden Greystone and Eldon Amalantha had watched Sena out in the garden. Eldon half hoped that his daughter's behavior would disgust the visitor, but Varden only watched with interest until Sena ran back into the house with a yellow rose, hair flying behind her, her shoes and stockings forgotten next to the bush.
"She's very young." Varden finally said.
"Yes, she is. Only barely into her fourteenth year, she turned thirteen last week."
"It will be hard for her to leave."
"You don't object to her youth?"
"She'll grow."
"I wonder if your son will feel the same."
"It's not his choice."
"No, it's not any of our choice." Silence stretched out between them for several long moments, before Eldon finally asked, "Do we prepare to leave now then?"
"No! No, no." Varden peered down into the garden below. "Give her this year here. There's no need to drag her from her home yet. It does not need to be done until the official treaty is signed next fall. Give her this year, I'll come fetch you both at the beginning of next summer."
Eldon merely nodded, Varden continued to stare at the gardens.
"It's strange, how such a young child can be so striking." he finally said. Eldon sighed,
"It's the magic. She can do magic." Varden finally looked up from his study of the gardens.
"There's no such thing as magic," he said coldly.