I know I'm REALLY OOC with all of the characters, but this is supposed to be when they are very young, so thats why I made them so frivolous. Sorry if you still don't like it!

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Talathains wine-colored hair swung around his face as he walked leisurely back to where we three lay in the grass, Roiben, Ethine and I. Fools and dreamers we were, remarking on the shapes of the clouds, how uneasy Dulcamara seemed around the Queen recently, how the flowers always wilted earlier and earlier in the year.

"Myrocia!" Talathain called. At his voice Ethine gave a little yelp and buried her face in her brothers loose shirt. He laughed his rich laugh. When he was not near the queen Roiben was a comfortable presence, humorous without being too foolish, the polar opposite of the man who stared dreamily at the Queen for hours on end. If that was love, sacrificing your dignity and life for a meeting of lips, I had no wish for it.

"Yes?" I called back, not wanting to get up.

"The Queen has a duty for us."

"Us?" I echoed stupidly. "Surely not I included." I sat up and looked at him. Ethine peeked up from her brothers arm as well.

"You are, strangely enough. We are to escort a lady of the Queens—don't ask me who, Myrocia I don't know," he said as I opened my mouth to ask. "Along with the Lady Dulcamara and another knight."

"Would it be me?" Roiben sat up stiffly, accidentally dumping his sister on the ground where her head hit the dirt. "That could not be my quest, could it? Escort the lady and then I am the Queens consort?"

"I am sorry, Roiben, but she said not the name," Talathain said apologetically. Roiben stood up.

"I wonder if she is holding up the journey for my declaration. I must do it now. I have no more reason to delay," his cheeks were pink with excitement. Ethine sat up and clung to the cuff of his trousers.

"Give this thought, Roiben," she begged. "You will never sit among us and count the clouds again. You will only see us briefly and formally. You are giving all of this up for her."

"I thought you were supportive of our union." Roibens voice was worried, it was widely known he adored his sister, and did not wish to make her unhappy.

"I am. I just wanted a chance to say goodbye before you left us," Ethine's eyes swam with tears. Roiben embraced her warmly.

"If I am to be the Queens consort, I shall make time for you as well. I am sure she will understand my plea."

Ethine sniveled in agreement. I new her well as a handmaiden, we were often together in service to the queen and we had a great liking for each other, and as she also loved my brother in return now it seems, our bond was stronger. I knew little of Roiben, and I doubted he knew my name more than in passing.

Roiben released his sister, kissed her warmly on her forehead, and ran off to the Queens tree, where she sat in the shade. Ethine still looked mournful, she buried her face in her hands.

"Empty promises." Her voice was muffled by her elegant fingers. "Once he belongs to her I know I have lost him to her."

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Roibens face was chalk white as he dragged his feet from the Queens tree near a half hour later, Ethine left in her sorrow and Talathain gone to comfort her. He saw me and stopped, sat down in the grass numbly.

"Roiben?" my voice was small as I said his name. I knew she had given him an impossible quest. After all of it, she truly didn't love him.

"She laughed, Myrocia." His voice was soft, I knelt-walked closer to hear his words. "She laughed at my declaration. She told me not to trust my heart so fully to a queen."

"And the quest?" I asked, in my eagerness forgetting his feelings. His eyes slid shut almost reflexively, he heaved a sigh.

"To make peace with the UnSeelie Court." I pulled a face of disgust.

"Peace with those bloodthirsty savages? But Roiben, however awful that may be, it is by no means impos—!" He lay a long finger on my lips.

"I am to make peace," he said heavily, "by traveling to the Uneseelie court and being the Night Queens knight. I am, essentially, to be enslaved to the awful court. You are right, Myrocia, it is not impossible, but it is worse. She never loved me and has no account for my feelings."

"Oh, Roiben," I said softly. He laughed hollowly.

"She never loved me."

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The Unseelie knight came scarcely the next day. Accompanied by a hob with far too many teeth and riding on a fearsome Kelpie, its nostrils flaring and its eyes an inky black. As he dismounted, Facing Roiben with a mix of amusement and pity, he gave a shallow bow.

"I am Nephamael, sent from the Night court to be knighted into yours." His voice was barely a shade off of disgusted as he said it, looking around at the lovely faces of my court. He looked Roiben up and down, and smiled.

"You are a handsome one. Be careful not to fall in love with the Unseelie Queen as well, for that is an even farther way to fall." Roiben did not react to this knowledge of the terms of his servitude.

"Never would I give my love to such a heartless individual," Roiben said, mounting Nephamaels horse in his place. Whether he spoke of Silarial or Nicnevin I did not know. I was looking at the Queens face throughout this exchange, and only an amused smile played on her face. I had lost my faith in her boundless mercy and kindness. I gave Roiben a curtsy and tried to convey my best wishes through our eyes. Ethine was weeping so hard she could not bid him goodbye, and Roibens eyes darkened. She was still loyal to the Seelie Queen, who stroked her hair and murmured comforting words, her hard eyes on Roiben the entire time.

As Nephamael strode towards the Queen, the stench of iron burning the air with him, all of the handmaidens curtsied and murmured a welcome.

"Greetings, my lady," Naephamael said, bow just a bit too shallow.

"Welcome to my court, Nephamael. You shall not be my guard, as I believe was the terms of your service at the Night court, as I already have Dulcamara and Talathain for that purpose." Nephamaels eyes lingered on Dulcamara, who smiled charmingly. "You are, in simple words, the man of all work."

"I understand, my lady." Nephamael smiled. Silarial smiled back, but it did not reach her eyes.

"Meet my handmaidens. Ethine," Ethine was still weeping too hard to notice her name. "The sister of your replacement. Myrocia," I curtsied. I hated the feeling of his eyes sweeping my body, and the wolfish smile he gave me. She named her other maidens who said charming words of greeting, and his eyes moved from them to rest back on me. I shivered, decidedly hating the new night of the Bright Court.