"So there we were, covered in mud, manure, and snow, and the Tyran ambassadors were waiting to meet us. They couldn't start the meal without us, because of course that would have been incredibly rude, but they had already been waiting for over an hour! Aremin and Orrin, of course, thought the situation was most entertaining, considering it was their fault in the first place, but I'll tell you, I thought Master Oakbridge was going to have a heart attack. There was no way we had time to change, so he wiped our faces and sent us into the dining hall reeking of the stable and looking like wild barbarians. You should have seen the faces of the ambassadors when we came in; I thought they were going to pass out from the stench. And then you have our parents, who were both trying to look disapproving, but they just kept laughing. One of them would look at us, back at the other, and then they'd both start cracking up. I'm surprised the Tyrans didn't end trade negotiations right then and there."
Caelin's shoulders shook with laughter as Lianne finished her anecdote and wondered when the last time was she had laughed so hard. Tears were streaming down Lianne's face as she recounted the story, and she couldn't stop laughing either. Finally Caelin managed to gain control over the giggles and flipped onto her back on Lianne's bed, staring up at the ceiling. The week of Midwinter Celebration began the next day, which meant that for once, she had no assignments to complete for her classes. However, despite Lianne's attempts to keep her spirits up, Caelin could feel worry gnawing at the pit of her stomach. The next day, on his eighteenth birthday, Liam was scheduled to begin the vigil for his Ordeal of Knighthood.
It didn't make any sense, she kept telling herself sternly, that she should be so worried about someone she had known for so little time. If anything, Lianne should have been the one pacing and biting her fingernails, yet the princess was unnaturally calm. If she felt any terror for the upcoming day, she was hiding it behind an impenetrable mask of levity. Caelin, however, was not hiding her anxiety well, and no matter how many entertaining stories Lianne told, Caelin's mind would loop back to the next day, when Liam would face the ominous chamber.
"You know, if you aren't careful, your face is going to freeze like that," Lianne said after the silence stretched for too long in the small room. "I keep telling you, he's going to be fine. He's been training his entire life to be a knight, and there's never been any indication that he won't pass the Ordeal easily. Even my mother isn't worried, and she was half crazy when Roald had his Ordeal. You have to understand; Roald's capable, of course, but he was always a better mage and ruler than he was a fighter. Liam's just the opposite. He was practically born with a sword in his hand. He'll be fine." She paused, and then grinned. "You know he would make fun of you terribly if he knew how worried you are."
"I know," Caelin groaned, rubbing her eyes with her hands, "I know. I just can't stop worrying! I don't understand it. I mean, Aremin and Orrin are taking theirs right after him, and I'm not particularly worried about them. Of course I am worried, but nothing more than general anxiety. I'm practically ready to keel over from stressing about Liam. Why am I doing this?" She complained, not really expecting an answer. Of course, with Lianne, she should have known better.
"Why do you think you're worried so much? You like him."
"Yes, and so do you, and Orrin, and Aremin," Caelin replied sarcastically, pretending not to understand Lianne's point.
"Don't be thick, Caelin," Lianne warned, tucking a ringlet of black hair behind her ear as she moved from a comfy chair in the corner of the room over to the bed. "It's rather obvious that you like Liam. And not just as a friend, so don't give me that excuse. Ever since that first night at the ball, you two have been practically inseparable."
Caelin frowned and cursed Lianne for being so perceptive. She wondered if the rest of the palace knew. She could just imagine how people were laughing at her behind her back, the commoner who followed the prince around like a lovesick puppy. Caelin's face burned a bright red.
"Oh dear, now I've done it. I didn't mean to make you upset, you know," Lianne reassured Caelin, putting her hand on top of one of Caelin's. "You don't have to admit to anything if you don't want to." She paused, and grinned brightly. "Actually, there's something I've been meaning to tell you for a while, I just haven't had the nerve to yet. It's pretty important, and I need your advice."
"Really?" Caelin asked, some of her consternation forgotten as she looked into Lianne's bright eyes. "What is it?"
"I think…" Lianne was about to respond when suddenly the door popped open and three large male shapes came piling into the room. First came Aremin, tall, lithe, blond, and exuberant as he made a grand entrance by flopping onto the carpet in the middle of the floor. Next Orrin, slightly shorter and stockier, but no less attractive, his brown hair sticking up everywhere from a recent wash, entered the room, kicked Aremin as he walked over, and sat down gingerly on the bed next to Lianne, giving her a small smile.
Finally, Liam bypassed Aremin's sprawled form and settled himself gracefully into the chair Lianne had recently unoccupied. Caelin's eyes were immediately drawn to his eyes, which were dark gray with worry, and his face, which was pale and drawn, despite the smile that was plastered on. From the looks of it, Liam was determined to have a fun night with his friends, despite the fact that his Ordeal started the next day.
"Oh, would you all like to come in?" Lianne asked sarcastically, but there was an affectionate smile on her lips, which transformed her already lovely profile into something so beautiful it almost hurt to look at. "How was your last day of official squire classes?"
"Boring," Aremin stated with a groan, banging his head on the floor in emphasis. "A lot of lectures on a knight's duty to his king, his family, his people, and on, and on, and on…as if they haven't spent enough years drilling this stuff into our heads."
"Just an excuse to keep us from doing anything fun before Midwinter Festival starts," Orrin added with a yawn as he succumbed to his weariness and rested his head on the bed next to Lianne's leg. A strange look flashed across the princess's face, so swiftly that Caelin almost thought she had imagined it.
She brushed it off as a stomach twinge or chill as Orrin continued in a less jovial tone, "I can't believe this is our last night as official squires. No more lessons, no more armor to clean, no more getting knocked off our horses jousting…it all changes."
"You'll still be cleaning armor, and don't worry, I'll keep knocking you off your horse, Orrin," Liam assured his friend, but his voice was strained and a silence fell over the room. In that moment, the true meaning of the following day sank in. There would be no more gatherings in Lianne's room while they worked on assignments, no more gossiping about their teachers and fellow students, no more making fun of Master Oakbridge, no more time spent laughing at absolutely nothing and finding it the most amusing subject in the world.
"Well, this is a cheerful gathering, isn't it," Lianne finally said with a slight tremble in her voice. "Just look at us. It's not like we won't see each other anymore. You'll have a few weeks until you get sent out on patrol, and you'll be back every few months to visit. Tomorrow is Liam's birthday. We should be celebrating."
"Yes, by re-telling all of the embarrassing stories we can think of. For Caelin's benefit, of course."
Caelin laughed along with the others as Liam blushed red and threatened Aremin loudly, but his statement only served to remind her of just how little she knew about her friends. She had only known them for a matter of months, whereas they had all been friends since they were small children, and now they were leaving. Even though Lianne would still be there, with Aremin and Orrin's departure, she was losing her protectors, her friends, and her brothers. And Liam. Thinking about him leaving left a deep pit in her stomach and a lump in her throat.
Somehow, with the innate sense he always had that let him know whenever Caelin was feeling upset, Liam stood up abruptly and said, "I'm still feeling parched from practice. Caelin, feel like taking a walk to the kitchens?"
Caelin held in a sigh of relief and stood up as well, doing her best to ignore the knowing looks her other friends were shooting at her. "Of course." As she walked over to the door, she aimed a kick at Aremin's ribs, sending him into increasing fits of hysteria.
Liam's mouth quirked into a half smile as Caelin shut the door behind her and they started walking down the quiet hall. "I will miss them, even if I do want to kill them half the time. More than half the time with Aremin," he continued as an afterthought. "You've been very quiet about all this, but I can tell you're not happy."
"And how do you know that?" She demanded as they turned a corner and headed randomly down the hall, not in any direction that would lead to the kitchens.
"Dragon eyes," Liam replied with a wink. "Even though you aren't a chatterbox normally, you've been quiet even for you these past few days. You hardly laugh at Aremin's jokes, and he can always make you smile. Even Baron's worried."
"Baron?" Caelin repeated in surprise, completely shocked. "How would you know what Baron thinks?"
"He talked to me a few days ago," Liam answered, his now green eyes appearing slightly guilty.
"When were you around him a few days ago to even see him? He's done nothing but sleep in my room the past few days. Lazy bird." She paused, and then said indignantly, "And since when does Baron talk to you? That's a new development." Irrationally, Caelin felt slightly put out that her special friend would talk to anyone but her, even if Liam was, assuredly, a special case.
"Well, he had to talk to a lot of us when we went to rescue you from the mercenaries. There was no other way to find you." Liam's face darkened with remembered anger over her abduction. "And…" here he paused, and seemed to be slightly embarrassed. "Do you remember a few days ago you gave Lianne the key to your room so she could grab your books? Well, I was with her at the time, so I was in your room while she found the books. You're a very messy person, you know," Liam teased.
"I forgot to clean up that day," Caelin muttered in utter mortification as she realized that Liam had been in her room the one day it looked like a family of griffons had nested in it. Not to mention the unpleasant prospect that Baron had told Liam and Lianne far more about Caelin's feelings for Liam than simply her worry about his Ordeal. That was the problem with having an opinionated immortal mind bonded to her. He had a very clear idea on the way her life should be run, especially her personal relationships.
"Anyway, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about that earlier. There just didn't seem to be a good time to bring it up. So why are you worried? You don't trust in my skills?"
"It's not that," Caelin responded, wondering how to put her fears into logical words. "It's just…going into a room that's magically designed to bring out your worst nightmares? It sounds completely crazy to me. I know you can fight men. I saw you in the tournament. But how can anyone fight his worst fears? It's impossible."
"Not impossible," Liam contradicted firmly as he nodded to a servant in bright livery passing by. "Extremely difficult, dangerous, and rather terrifying, but not impossible. Thousands of knights before me have gone into that room, faced their fears, and come out better men than they were before. Or women," he added with a grin.
"What about the countless hundreds that have failed? The ones who are ruined for life, or worse, dead?" Most people tried not to think about the squires who never came out of the chamber alive. It was almost considered blasphemy to talk of such matters with the squires preparing to take the ordeal, but Caelin didn't care.
"You don't understand. I need to believe that its possible to walk into that chamber and face my fears, otherwise I don't have a chance. I think the chamber mostly preys on people who fear it more than they fear their own fears. Does that make any sense? If I walk in there ready to face whatever if throws at me, then that's the worst fear I could have, already taken care of."
"I suppose that makes some amount of sense," Caelin agreed, but her heart still felt heavy. Heart? When did my heart get involved in any of this? "But what about me? How do I stop worrying so much? I mean, even if you aren't scared, that doesn't help me any. I just…" she gulped and gazed stubbornly at the floor as the next words tumbled out of her mouth. "I'm afraid to lose you."
"Hey," Liam said gently, stopping Caelin with a slight touch on her arm that sent tingles racing up and down it. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm right here. Tomorrow I'm going to walk into that chamber, deal with anything it throws at me, come out, and we're all going to celebrate my birthday. You do have a present for me, don't you?"
Caelin laughed at the expression of childlike hope on his face, and although her worry wasn't completely gone, she felt as if a large weight had been pulled off her chest. "Of course I got you a present. What do you take me for?"
"Is it big?"
"Hmmm…nope, not too big."
"Is it heavy?"
"No, pretty light, actually."
"Hard or soft?"
"I'm not telling you anything! You'll just have to wait for two days," she admonished in exasperation as they arrived back at Lianne's room.
"If I must." Before Caelin could open the door to the room, Liam caught her wrist once more, his eyes suddenly serious. "Wait, there's one more thing I needed to ask you. Would you be willing to hold vigil for me tomorrow, while I'm in the chamber? Not the entire night, of course, just the following morning while I'm actually in the chamber. Lianne, Aremin, Orrin, and my family will all be there. It would mean a lot if you were there too."
"But…usually only family and the closest friends wait outside the chamber."
"Yes, silly. What do you think I consider you? It would make me feel better knowing you were waiting out there for when I finish."
Caelin's stomach fluttered as much from Liam's heartfelt words as from her hand, which was now firmly ensconced in his. "Of course I'll wait," she whispered, having nothing else to say.
Liam smiled in answer and opened the door to the room, causing the conversation going on inside to end immediately. Three pairs of eyes noticed the fact that her hand was still entwined with Liam's, but for once, no one said a word.
"After properly centering your breathing, you should be able to look inside yourself, with your inner eye, and see to the source of your power. Once there, slowly weave a wall around the source of your Gift. With each layer, inbed the idea of the persona you are trying to create. If you want to seem more powerful than you are, weave the idea into the shield. If you are trying to go unnoticed, that can also be woven into the shield. The most important aspect of the magical glamour is making sure whenever you tamper with the fake aura, you do it in a slightly different spot. If all the tampering is done in one part of the shield, a powerful mage will see through and realize they are being played false. Yes, yes, yes. This is what I wanted to find!" Caelin crowed in triumph as she realized her nightlong search was finally at an end. To try and keep her mind off of Liam's ordeal, she had spent the night looking through some of Numair's books in search of a spell he'd mentioned once in passing, a spell to confuse even the most powerful of mages.
If I'd had this at Harowyn, they never would have come after me. Of course, she hadn't had the focus or the skill to perform such a complicated glamour, but if she ever found herself in a situation where she needed to be unremarkable, the shield spell would be welcome.
A knock at Caelin's door interrupted her thoughts, and an icy hand punched through her stomach. "Caelin? It's time," Lianne's muffled voice came through the door. Caelin suddenly wished she had slept some during the night, as her eyes were raw, like they had been rubbed with sandpaper. She swung her legs off the bed, walked over to the door and opened it, revealing Lianne, looking pale and drawn.
"You didn't sleep either," Caelin accused the princess as she closed the door to her room.
"For about an hour," she confessed. "Orrin stayed with me for a while, after you left to go read that infernal book of yours, but I couldn't sleep once he left. Kept having nightmares and the like. Although I did have one singularly strange dream in which one of your spells went awry and turned you blue. You kept running around the palace with no clothes shrieking at the top of your lungs." She paused, and said evilly, "And I do believe my brother was watching you."
"Lianne!" Caelin admonished, blushing faintly. "Your mind works in very strange ways." Then, suddenly, a though struck. "So Orrin stayed with you last night? All alone? What about his idiot twin?" There was no need to say whom she really meant. Aremin was never far from his cousin and best friend.
"Aremin left. Orrin left. Orrin just decided to come back for some quality time." Lianne seemed distinctly uncomfortable, and suddenly Caelin was reminded of their close proximity the other night, and a few other incidents that had seemed strange before, but suddenly made much more sense.
As the two girls headed outside and to the chapel, where Liam would be finishing his vigil and preparing to enter the Chamber, Caelin confronted Lianne. "I knew something was going on between you two! Are you two…you know? How long has this been going on?"
"No! Not yet, at least. Maybe not ever. I am a princess, as much as I try to forget sometimes. We have to be more careful about things like this. If I ever have to make a marriage of state, if I'm not a virgin, it would be a terrible insult to my prospective husband."
"That's not fair. I know Liam and Jassom, when he grows up a little, aren't expected to stay away from women until they get married." And Caelin refused to let her mind consider those possibilities…
"I won't say its fair, but its true."
"But you don't deny that something is happening, do you?" Caelin pressed, feeling terrible for the situation her friend was in.
"No. It's strange. I was in love with Aremin for three years, from when I was thirteen all the way until I turned sixteen. I was so certain I was going to marry him and live happily ever after. Liam teased me, but he never told Aremin, so I think he's still happily oblivious. Then, last year, I started spending more time with Orrin, especially if Liam and Aremin were busy with their squire duties. Orrin was never quite as busy as they were, it seemed. Now I wonder if they weren't just playing at matchmaking. He told me he likes me as more than just his friend and his princess, and…that's where things stand."
Caelin was surprised by Lianne's admission, but after considering the idea, she realized that Orrin and Lianne did have a lot in common. A similar sarcastic sense of humor, a tendency to hate court functions, and dislike for everything having to do with rank and position made them perfect for each other. Not to mention they had years of shared memories and experiences.
Caelin would have said more, but her throat dried when they came upon the Chapel of the Ordeal. The sun was just beginning to rise over the hills around Corus visible through the tall windows of the Chapel. The light of the rising sun stained the Chapel a crimson red. An unlucky color, she thought unhappily as Lianne took her hand and led her into the Chapel. Already the king, the queen, Prince Roald, Liam's other relatives, and friends were waiting. Liam himself was kneeling in front of the door to the Chamber, dressed in simple white garments, his head bowed in-what? Was he contemplating the Ordeal he was about to undertake, or was his mind wandering to some long forgotten event in his life?
Just as she and Lianne arrived to stand next to the king and queen, two priests of Mithros walked over to Liam and touched him gently on the shoulder. Liam jerked and stood up slowly, his legs stiff from the long night on the stone ground of the Chapel. His face was wan, his eyes almost black; Caelin had the insane urge to run over and drag him out of the Chapel and into the sunlight, but Lianne's death grip on her hand prevented her from giving into the urge. If she did, she would destroy any chance of Liam becoming a knight, and probably be arrested for treason against the crown.
One of the priests held open the door to the Chamber, while the other ushered Liam into the yawning black maw of the room. Caelin closed her eyes and whispered a prayer to both the Goddess and Mithros, the god of warriors, to keep an eye on her prince. The crowd gathered in the chapel was deathly silent, all eyes trained on the door to the Chamber. There was no telling how long an Ordeal would take. Some lasted for minutes, others for hours, and sometimes an entire day. The only thing that was agreed upon by all who stepped into the chamber was that every would-be knight was tested to the limit of his or her skills and endurance, and often far beyond.
There was nothing to do now but wait. The expectant silence effectively kept Caelin glued to her position next to Lianne, but she desperately wished she could shift her weight and walk around, but she dared not tarnish the solemnity of the moment. Instead, she started counting the rectangular stones of the walls of the chapel. There were a lot of stones. By the time she reached 1,000, her back had tightened beyond redemption and her feet were aching. Almost two hours had passed with not a sound from the Chamber. That was good news, of course, because if Liam uttered one word he immediately failed his Ordeal, but the quiet in the room was driving Caelin to distraction. She had an insane urge to scream as loud as she could, just to break the intolerable quiet.
Just as Caelin was about to well and truly lose her mind, the Chamber door swung open slowly to reveal Liam, his hair standing wildly on end, his face scratched, and his arm hanging limply by his side. There was a tortured appearance to his face that had never been there before, and his eyes were black and dead in his head. Whatever the Chamber had thrown at Liam, it had been awful.
The first people to meet Liam were the king and queen, relief evident on their faces as they helped support their son. Then Roald and Lianne approached, murmuring words of congratulations. Liam smiled weakly at this family, but Caelin could tell that he just wanted to sleep, probably for a week. The Mithros priests scolded the remainder of the crowd, obviously wanting to regain control of their Chapel, and people slowly began to exit. Caelin was one of the last to leave, trying to fight down her jealousy of Lianne, who was allowed to stay with Liam while she was pushed aside.
Hours later, in the late hours of the night, Caelin viciously threw lightning bolts at the wall in her room, not sure where all her anger was coming from, but knowing she needed to get it out of her system. If only Numair could see me now, she thought ironically. Baron had long since given up trying to calm her down and exited the room, muttering about crazy human females as he went. She was so involved in her magic that she almost completely missed the gentle knock at her door. Cursing her stupidity, Caelin rushed over and opened the door to reveal Liam leaning heavily against the wall. "What are you doing here?" she asked in shock, not believing her eyes. "You're supposed to be sleeping. Everyone said you would sleep for days."
"Apparently everyone was wrong," Liam joked wearily. "Can I come in, or would you rather continue your argument with the wall on your own?"
Caelin was too happy to see Liam to be embarrassed about his remark and opened the door wider so that he could come in. Almost immediately the tall prince slipped to the ground and leaned up against the wall that had taken so much abuse. "Still warm. You must have been going at this for hours. Anger management problems?"
"I think I would have preferred you passed out," Caelin shot back. "Why are you awake, anyway? You're exhausted."
"Well, I slept for about five hours, woke up absolutely starving, ate something, and realized I didn't see you at all when I finished my Ordeal, so here I am. Where were you? I wanted you to be there." There was a tone of resentment and hurt in Liam's words as he waited expectantly for her answer.
"I was there! The priests kicked everyone out of the Chapel right away, except for your family. I couldn't get near you in all the commotion. I thought you forgot about me!"
"Does that explain the nearly charred wall?" Liam asked with a grin, realizing that both their misconceptions were wrong.
"Maybe," Caelin responded shiftily, "but I wouldn't want to give you an inflated ego by saying yes."
"And I wouldn't want to raise your ire by pressing the point," Liam concluded with a smile.
Caelin laughed, and then sobered quickly when she noticed the bandage wrapped around Liam's arm. "What's wrong with your arm?"
"Burned," Liam responded succinctly, because he wasn't allowed to speak to anyone about his Ordeal. "Lianne worked on it while I was asleep, but it'll still be a few days before its back to normal. Could be worse."
For several minutes, a comfortable silence stretched between them. Then Caelin asked, "What do you know about the Copper Isles? Everyone's been so worked up about them coming, but I keep forgetting to ask about them. It seems like the ambassadors coming to Tortall is important."
"What, you haven't read everything about the Isles from your books?" Liam teased. "The Copper Isles are located west of Tortall. They're actually a chain of islands all connected. The largest island, Ahrama, is the capital of the Isles, just like Corus is the capital of Tortall. Let's see, what else? A king rules the Isles, I think his name is Sekma the Fourth or something, but they handle succession differently. Instead of the firstborn son taking the throne, whichever son survives a battle to the death upon the death of the previous king is crowned. Of course, any sons that don't have a chance of winning in armed combat employ other methods to secure power; diplomacy, bribing, assassinations…its very dangerous to be a member of the royal family in the Copper Isles. Not to mention they tend to marry their cousins, and I've even heard of a few kings who married their own sisters. Rather inbred."
Caelin assimilated the information with wide eyes. "Can you imagine if that's the way succession was in Tortall? You would be trying to kill Roald right now!"
"I know," Liam answered uncomfortably. "Even in Tortall, there will always be some nobles who would be willing to back me if I wanted to try and depose Roald after my father's death, in the hopes that they would rise to unprecedented rank by supporting me. I try not to think about it though. I have no delusions of greatness, to think that I could be a king. I'm better at wacking things with a sword than diplomacy or ruling. That's Roald's talent, and he's welcome to the job."
Privately, Caelin thought that if Liam tried, he could accomplish anything, but she kept that opinion to herself. Liam had the idea that he was only capable of being a knight, and no matter what anyone else said, he wouldn't listen. "That still doesn't explain why everyone is so fired up about them coming, though."
"Well, a few years before the Isles fought against Tortall in the Immortals War, the Lioness murdered a Copper Isles princess who was conspiring against my father right before his coronation. I'm sure you've heard the stories about the coronation, so I won't get into that, but needless to say, King Sekma was not pleased with the death of his favorite daughter at the hands of the King's Champion. I think that's what pushed him to side with Carthak in the first place. That, and the promise of more land. Even though the Isles have lots of farmland, they can't support the population, and they don't have many natural resources; just lots and lots of farms. Because they don't have the resources to field a huge army, the kingdom has never been much of a threat, but if they ever did raise an army…they would probably look to conquer Tortall, not just for the resources, but because it would mean living space for their own people, who they consider infinitely superior," Liam finished.
Caelin listened to his lecture solemnly, chilled by the idea that there was a hostile kingdom just waiting for the chance to take over her home. "But if they don't have much of an army, why are we so worried about getting on their good side?"
"Because if they were to ally themselves with Scanra, Tusaine, or even the Carthaki rebels, they would have an army. We don't want them to even make overtures, so we're trying to repair the damage with this state visit."
That made sense. As the saying went, you keep your friends close, but you keep your enemies closer. "Of course. Will there be many people coming into the palace?" The prospect of so many new strangers was daunting, but exciting.
"Oh yes. Besides the ambassadors, there's a strong possibility that some members of the royal family will be coming. Communication has been unclear, but I think the last message said one of the princes and at least two of the princesses would be coming. Not to mention various knights, mages, scholars, lords and ladies, and all of their servants. The palace is going to burst trying to hold all of them. This is the first major state visit since Tusaine came, back when my father first earned his shield, so everyone is on edge about it. There, does that answer all your questions?"
"Just one more," Caelin replied. "How long until you leave?" She couldn't stand to look Liam in the eyes as she spoke, so she concentrated on fiddling with her hands.
"Well, I talked to my father the other day after we left Lianne's room, and we agreed that I should stay at least until this state visit business is over and done with. Roald will have enough on his hands with all the meetings with the ambassadors, so they'll need me to play the dutiful prince and squire the members of the royal family around. After that, I'll probably head to the border and chase bandits around for a few months. After that, who knows? I know my father wants me close to Corus, if only because I'm second in line for the throne, but I want to travel. I want to learn everything there is to know about my kingdom, and the lands around her. I want to be a knight the minstrels will craft songs about, songs that will last centuries after my death."
Caelin was both relieved that Liam was staying as long as he was and terrified that he would leave court as soon as he could and never come back. To hide her mixed feelings, Caelin joked, "Well, sir knight, I hope you'll still have time for me when you become a legend. Besides, if you forget about me, you can forget about the birthday present I have for you."
"Birthday present? I completely forgot that yesterday was my birthday. I had a few other thoughts on my mind. Can I open it now?" Liam asked excitedly.
"Of course, it's already a day late, anyway. Here." She reached under her bed and drew out a small, brightly wrapped package, feeling slightly anxious as she walked across the room and handed it to Liam. She hadn't had any money of her own to spend, since she took nothing with her from Harowyn, and even though Numair or Lianne would have lent her some, she didn't want to take charity from anyone. Liam's present was completely unique, and best of all, it hadn't cost anything.
Liam's deft fingers made short work of the wrapping around the parcel, and he drew out a wide bracelet of woven phoenix feathers and beads. The feathers were of the brightest gold and bronze, and the beads were a startling variety of blue, red, purple, and green. The entire bracelet was held together by several binding spells, and the very fabric was interlaced with the strongest protective spells Caelin could find in her many spell books.
For several minutes Liam didn't say a word, and simply turned the bracelet around in his hands. Caelin couldn't judge his expression, and began to worry that he was disappointed. "I know bracelets are for girls, but it's more of a wrist band than anything else. Phoenix feathers are supposed to give the wearer speed and agility, which will be useful when you're in battle. I know it's not an amazing present, like the gloves Lianne bought you or the sword belt Aremin and Orrin gave you, but…I thought you might like it. If you don't, I can…"
"Caelin, shut up for a minute, will you?" Liam interrupted with a smile. "I love it. It's beautiful, and thoughtful, and perfect. You don't understand, you could have gotten me an empty box and I would have been happy, but this is amazing. I'll wear it always."
"That's good to know if I ever can't come up with something to get you," Caelin responded with a laugh, but she was secretly relieved that Liam liked her present. It had taken many frustrating hours to manipulate the phoenix feathers correctly. In the distance, the bells chimed the eleventh hour. Caelin frowned and looked at Liam sternly as he fixed the bracelet onto his left wrist. "And now its time for you to leave and get some sleep. We'll never be able to explain to Lord Padraig if you ended up sleeping against my wall all night. Up you go," she said as she offered her hand to Liam.
Liam was too tired to protest her help, and almost dragged Caelin down with him as he struggled to stand upright. Once the lanky prince was on his feet, Caelin opened the door, expecting him to head right to his new rooms in the section of the palace reserved for knights. Instead, a strange look passed over his face, and he hesitated. For a brief moment green eyes met blue, and then he leaned down swiftly and planted a gentle kiss on Caelin's lips. Before she could react, Liam smiled, squeezed her hand, and slipped out of her room, closing the door behind him with a soft click.