FicWad

Yes, yes, more vocabulary thingies:

sampaguita - pronounced "sahm-pah-GEE-ta," the story describes them. This also happens to be our country's national flower

Dama de noche - Spanish, obviously, also described in the story. There's a lovely legend about the dama de noche, by the way...but never mind that...


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Sparkling lights greeted me when I opened my eyes. I was lying on a soft, fragrant bed that rustled at my every move. The lights came from large crystals that thrust out of the walls and floor and glowed as if lit from within. I gazed at the crystals in fascination. All the colors of the spectrum were represented. Rubies, topazes, rose quartz, diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, turquoise, amethysts--the whole place was lit up like the inside of a rainbow. I sat up and looked around. The room seemed to have been hollowed out of rock by a large tree. Huge, broad-leafed branches crept into through the windows and snaked across the walls, putting forth fragrant pink flowers. More branches continued in through the door and through the floor itself, forming the furniture. A long, broad branch for a table, with a smaller branch just below it for a bench, several leafy boughs as shelves for hundreds of little bottles and containers; even the bed I was lying on turned out to be a cradle of soft leaves covered with a blanket set in the crook of two oversized limbs. The clean, sweet scent of sap and flowers filled the air.

I was overcome once again by a sense of familiarity. I'd been here before, I was sure of it. In fact, any moment now, someone was going to come in and check on me--

Sure enough, the curtain of flowers and beads hanging over the doorway parted, and a woman with honey-gold hair, striking blue eyes and pointy ears appeared. "So you're finally awake, little mortal," she said cheerfully. "How are you feeling?"

My jaw dropped as I took in the beauty before me. She looked to be a few years older than me, and was dressed in a loose pink blouse that left her shoulders bare and a wraparound skirt with pink and white swirls. Gold bangles adorned both arms while chunky gold earrings swung at her ears. Her long hair was swept up in a high ponytail and held in place by a comb studded with tiny pink shells. Just being near her made me feel sallow and terribly gauche. Although she wasn't nearly as gorgeous as the /Diwata/, she certainly put my sister to shame. She looked at me questioningly when I continued to gawk at her. "What? Oh yes, I'm fine, thank you," I babbled, embarrassed at my lack of manners.

The elf-maiden leaned over me and stared intently at my eyes, before straightening up with a satisfied nod. "Yes, you do seem fine. I apologize for the rude treatment. Believe it or not, we engkanto don't usually resort to physically harming mortals. I can't imagine what Magno had been thinking," she added exasperatedly.

The mention of the obnoxious, green-eyed engkanto who tried to bewitch me kicked my sluggish brain into action. "By the Lady, how long was I out?" I cried, nearly leaping right off the bed. "We're running out of time--"

"Whoa, easy, little mortal." The elf-maiden laid both hands on my shoulders and gently but firmly pushed me back down. "You haven't been unconscious for long, so no use injuring yourself rushing about like that."

I opened my mouth to insist that I really needed to leave when a name drifted up from the depths of memory. "You're...Mara, aren't you?"

Her blue eyes widened, and Mara the elf-healer clapped her hands delightedly. "You remember? How wonderful! I wasn't sure if you did, considering how young you were when Skyblade brought you here. Well, I remember /you/, little Amihan. I suppose that's why Magno brought you to me. I'm the only healer in Mahariya who's ever treated a human. Well, that would be you, but let's not tell Magno that, shall we?" she said, laughing.

At the mention of Skyblade, my heart began to beat faster. "Have you seen Skyblade? Does he come here often?" Then belatedly remembering that Mara had also been interested in Skyblade, I flushed and tried to backtrack. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean--"

"Oh pooh!" Mara waved a hand, dismissing my apology. "The trouble with you humans is that you're always sorry. Really, why waste your short lives on that when you can waste it having fun?" She winked at me, and I giggled despite myself. Somehow, the snippets of recollection I had of the elf-healer failed to include her bubbly personality and infectious smile. A hopeless voice inside me wondered how Skyblade could have possibly resisted being charmed by her--she was like a ray of sunlight come to life--but Mara's next words wiped away all question of where Skyblade's loyalties truly lay. "In answer to your question though, no, I haven't seen our favorite dragon lord in a while," she said. "He used to visit us whenever he had time. Dragons of his kind and rank naturally have more responsibilities to see to. But he hasn't been here lately, not in many years, in fact. His duties as Lord of the Mountain take all of his time, I suppose."

"Oh." I lowered my gaze to my clasped hands. 'Lord of the Mountain', huh? So that's what Mara's people call him, I thought bleakly, trying to contain the ache in my heart. Sometimes it seemed as if the whole world was constantly reminding me how far beyond my reach Skyblade was. Well, what exactly did you expect? a voice inside me scoffed. That he would stop being the Guardian and dragon Lord of the Mountain and all that just to suit the whims of one silly little mortal?

The bedding rustled as Mara sat down beside me. Judging from her knowing expression, I must have done a terrible job of keeping my feelings from showing. "Were you worried about offending me?" she said not unkindly. "Don't be, little Amihan. I've already accepted that Skyblade would never betray the Lady, not for anything or anyone. Theirs is a bond sanctified by the gods themselves, and even without that, his sense of honor would never allow it."

My face burst into flames then just as quickly the wave of heat receded, leaving me cold. The unspoken warning rang loud and clear. I looked away before Mara could see how close to tears I was. "I-it's really no concern of mine what Skyblade does with his time," I said with feigned nonchalance. "Even we humans know about the Diwata and the Guardian. I-it's just that it was such an honor for me, a mere mortal, to have earned the Guardian's notice at all--"

A touch on my arm interrupted my desperate babbling. Mara smiled with such understanding that it made me want to weep again. "No need for that," she said. "I know how it is, remember? Despite what Magno might have to say about it, falling in love with a dragon, especially one as beautiful and as powerful as Skyblade, is just about the easiest thing to do." Her blue eyes grew misty, as if she were caught up in her own memories, and the thought suddenly came to me that at least one reason for Magno's resentment of Skyblade might have something to do with the soft, pensive glow on the lovely elf-healer's face. She snapped out of her reverie and grinned at me. "In any case, you can always say you're only human," she added with a self-deprecating smile. "I don't have that excuse, more's the pity."

The corners of my own mouth twitched upwards again, and for a moment I wondered what it would be like to be friends with Mara. Life would be a lot brighter, certainly. Gloomy thoughts seemed to roll off her like water on a duck's back. "Please don't tell me you can read minds, too," I moaned, only half-joking. "Magno was bad enough, but an entire kingdom of engkanto busybodies?"

Mara let out a peal of laughter. "Relax, little Amihan. Not all of us are as nosy and opinionated as Magno. In fact, only a few of us have telepathic abilities, and Magno is one of the strongest, I'm afraid. Don't let that bother you, though. He once said he could only pick up the most coherent thoughts, and human minds usually give him trouble." She gave me a speculative look. "You seem to have made quite an impression on him, you know. What exactly did you do to him anyway, which I'm sure he richly deserved?"

I blushed when I recalled how he kissed me and my subsequent threat to wreak havoc upon the sanctuary. Noticing my expression, Mara's eyes sparkled with glee, but before she could speak the curtain parted and another golden-haired, pointy-eared woman stuck her head through the doorway. "Mara? Sorry about this, but Leana's been asking for you. Actually, she's been asking for that cream you promised. You'd better hurry. She's in one of her moods again," the woman added, waggling her eyebrows meaningfully.

Mara made a face as she stood up. "The Lady save us from royal brides-to-be. All right, tell her I'm coming. Damn!" she swore when the woman had gone. I watched with perplexed amusement as she darted about plucking bottles and jars off the shelves in a seemingly random pattern, all the while muttering underneath her breath. "I've run out of pearl dust. What blasted luck. Leana's going to scream fit to bring down the roof." She grabbed a basket and tossed a couple of jars into it before whirling around to face me. "Listen, I'm going out for a while, and I need you to wait for me here, all right?"

"Wait!" I cried in dismay, jumping off the bed. "Please don't leave yet. I need your help finding my companions--"

"Stay here," she cut me off. The cheery, kindhearted elf-healer had vanished, and a stern engkanto warrior-woman now stood before me. The transformation left me feeling disoriented and not a little disappointed. "You're in our kingdom now, little mortal. If you don't obey the rules, I can't guarantee your safety. Understood?"

I glared back. What was it about these engkanto and their insufferably superior airs? "No, and I don't care. I already said I can't stay here--"

But Mara had already disappeared through the curtain in a blur of pink and gold. I turned and kicked at the nearest branch in frustration. By the Lady, I've had just about enough of these aggravating engkanto/! I yelped when my foot connected with the tough bark, then jumped back when something dropped from the shivering boughs overhead and clattered at my feet. It turned out to be my cloth sack and the bamboo cask. With a little cry of triumph, I snatched up the items and checked to see if their contents were still intact. My stomach growled at the same time; I'd forgotten about the problem of our food shortage when all these annoying engkanto started popping out of the woodwork, but the sight of my nearly empty sack jogged my memory. A quick search of the room revealed a basket of mangoes, while a dish on one end of the table turned out to be filled with little squares of milk candy wrapped in bits of colored paper. My mouth watered, and only the warnings of the lore about the dangers of eating and drinking anything from the elf-kingdom kept me from shamelessly stuffing myself. With a sigh of deep regret, I resigned myself to eating nothing until we could get out of the /engkanto's realm, which meant that if I didn't want to end up either starving in a place full of food or completely sunk in the engkanto's enchantment, then I'd better find my companions and get out of here quick.

"Huh," I snorted as I slung my sack and cask over my shoulder and marched to the doorway. "Even Mara turned out to be as bad as--aack!"

With a short scream, I found myself measuring the span of a wooden platform with my backside. I stood up, rubbing my fanny, which had suffered abuse for the second time that day, and looked back at the curtained doorway and the wooden step I had fallen off of, then down at the platform a foot below it upon which I was standing, and then lower still at the lengthy series of steps leading down into a busy street. Mara's cozy house seemed to be half tree house and half cave hollowed out of the mountainside. I looked up again and felt my jaw drop as I took in a sight that most humans could only dream about.

Mahariya, the kingdom of the /engkanto/, was spread out upon the valley like the richest brocade imaginable. Marble columns thrust through the canopy of a veritable forest, and among the branches of the huge trees I could see flickering lights, while rope bridges crisscrossed the air between the trees. Here and there, the forest opened up into gardens adorned with profusions of flowers and twisting spires of pale-colored rock studded with jewels, which also glowed from within, sending out flashes of rainbow light in all directions. A river wound through the kingdom, and from where I stood on the step of Mara's house, it looked like a glistening swath of silk as blue as the sky above. All in all, it was hard to imagine a more breathtaking panorama.

Moving like a sleepwalker, I followed the stairs down into the street, my head turning this way and that. Soon, I was walking through the cobbled streets, staring up at the gigantic trees, the tree houses built among their branches, the rope bridges and the brick and marble buildings rising from the ground between the massive trunks. Bead and flower curtains seemed to be standard, and every window and doorway swayed and jangled in the breeze. The air itself smelled vaguely of pine and rose, and set all along the streets in regular intervals were smaller versions of the glowing, bejeweled spires that served to illuminate the place. Oddly enough, the boughs above the streets were draped with chiffon, miles and miles of white chiffon, from which hung bouquets of yellow and white roses and tall white candles in gold candleholders as well. The chiffon streamers reminded me of the paper buntings the men hung across the streets for the fiesta back in town, and I recalled Mara mentioning something about "royal brides-to-be." It looked like I was just in time for a wedding here, too. Not for the last time, I wished I wasn't so pressed for time. I would have loved to see what a royal engkanto wedding was like.

I must have looked rather idiotic as I wandered through the streets goggle-eyed and gaping, but there were enough people milling around to enable me to pass unnoticed. Besides, surrounded as I was by so many exquisitely dressed denizens of the engkanto kingdom, I, my stubby ponytail, bandanna and serviceable blouse and skirt were more likely to fade against the cobblestones than draw attention. Most of the engkantos I saw were golden-haired, although a few had coppery hair and one or two had lustrous mahogany manes that made me squint with envy. Many too were blue-eyed, but I saw several with gray, green, aqua and even light brown eyes. All were lithe, graceful and elegant. Like Mara, most of the females wore blouses and long skirts made of brightly-colored material that were pinned together in strategic places, only to fall in graceful folds over their frame and coyly reveal shoulders, arms, midriff or thigh. The cut of the blouses was different from the conservatively symmetrical styles used in town, and I found myself looking over several outfits with a practiced eye, mentally recreating the designs and wondering if I could pick up a few ideas for Marikit's dress. Of course, the only way I could ever get to make that dress was if I stopped loitering about gawking like a star-struck twit and got on with finding my companions and completing my quest.

I suddenly realized that I had been unconsciously tailing a small group of ladies in order to better observe their clothing, and that I was now standing in one of the innumerable gardens, while all around me, engkanto men, women and children sat upon the grass and laughed and played and chatted with one another. The engkanto certainly seemed like a merry race, and once again I wished I could stay here in this happy, vibrant place filled with happy, vibrant people. If only I didn't have this stupid quest. Sighing, I sat down on the grass and assessed my situation. Here I was, hungry and lost in a strange kingdom, with no idea where to start looking for my companions and my still-missing sister, let alone finding a way out of here and into the realm of the Diwata. And I had little over a day to figure it out. Sweet Lady, was I in trouble. I watched glumly as a group of laughing engkanto children ran by in a game of tag. I remembered how Marikit and I used to play tag with our friends, although I never got to play for long since I had to get our meals ready before my siblings came home. The thought of meals made my stomach clench, and I wondered if I wasn't torturing myself needlessly by refusing to eat the food here. A voice inside me ordered me to stop dawdling and to get on with my search. I pushed myself up, then plopped back down and sighed again. Was it really so wrong to want to stay here? To sit among the flowers for just a little while longer?

A shadow fell across me, and I looked up into the face of one of the women I'd been following. "Stand up, human," she said. I got to my feet, too lethargic to take offense at her curt tone. The woman looked me up and down as her companions moved to flank her. "You've been following us for some time," she continued. "I want to know why."

I blinked slowly, rather like a cow. "I like your dress. It's very pretty. I just wanted to see how it looked like from the front."

The woman raised her eyebrows and arched a look over at her friends, who giggled. The gesture triggered a memory inside me--of my sister's friends laughing away my plea to go with them--and an ice-cold arrow of anger shot through the fog in my head. "You're a sweet little human, aren't you?" one of the other women said in the same voice one would use to say 'you're a smart little doggie, aren't you.'

"I think it's cute when they do that," another woman commented, and the others nodded.

The woman who addressed me first did not look at all flattered. "Why aren't you wearing your choker?" she demanded.

"My what?" I asked.

"Your choker!" she repeated, pointing at my throat. "Do you want to be sent to the kennels, human? Is your owner so irresponsible that she would forget to tag you before letting you roam freely through the streets?"

"Excuse me?" My hands clenched into fists at my sides as the odd, dreamy sense of longing that swept over me earlier swiftly evaporated.

Unfortunately, the woman seemed oblivious to my mounting anger. "Who is your owner, human?" she queried irritably. "Speak up. I would like to have a word with her. Letting a human walk freely like this, can you imagine?" she said to her friends.

"But she's adorable, Belita! Like a little china doll." The second woman stepped in front of her and, to my shock, pinched my cheek. "Hello, you pretty mortal. Are you lost? Do you want to find your master?"

"My master?!" I echoed in disbelief. Of all the rude, arrogant-- "I do not have a master, and I most certainly do not have an owner. As a matter of fact, I'm looking for--"

"Step back, Elena." Belita pulled her friend away as though I might bite. "She's still feral. Look at her. Such a scruffy, unkempt girl. She must be a runaway, and no doubt whoever tried to adopt her will come looking for her soon."

By the Lady, were they stupid or something? "Hey!" I yelled, vibrating with fury. "I'm not a pet, so stop talking about me as if I were one!"

"Quiet, you!" Belita barked, glaring at me. "You will address your betters properly, mortal, or I will send you back to the kennels myself."

"Oh you will, will you?" I snarled as I raised my hands, fully intending to show these unbearably smug engkanto the true meaning of the word 'feral'. Before I could let loose, however, an arm fell heavily across my shoulders, nearly driving me into the ground. As I staggered and grabbed at the arm to keep from falling over, a familiar voice boomed, practically right in my ear: "Cousin Belita, thank the Lady you found her. I am forever in your debt."

Oh sweet Lady and Lord Jesus. And here I'd hoped never to meet him again. To my surprise, the arrival of the newcomer triggered the opposite reaction in the women. They tittered and preened, and even the snooty Belita somehow contrived to look almost pleasant. I rolled my eyes. Who'd have thought engkanto women would be just as given to the same silliness that plagued the girls in town? I lifted my gaze to the owner of the arm currently holding me in a vice-like grip, and Magno met my scowl with a brilliant smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Oh, is this your human, Magno?" the woman named Elena asked.

"Yes, this little one is mine," Magno answered with a gusty sigh. "She was lost in the woods and half out of her wits when I found her, but I thought her so sweet and delightful that I decided to keep her. Unfortunately, the poor thing took fright when I brought her through the gateway, and she ran away from me."

My jaw hit the ground. "What?! You--you--"

Shut up/. Magno's voice ripped through my head, and I flinched. /Close your mouth, Amihan, and make this easier for the both of us. Bewildered, I glanced at the women to see if they'd heard him, then back at Magno, whose expression never changed. Then the answer came to me, and I slapped my hand on my forehead. Of course a telepath like Magno would be able to transmit thoughts as well as read them. Somehow, in all the confusion, I didn't quite think about the implications of Magno's ability.

Why should you? In case you haven't noticed, you haven't been thinking at all ever since you woke up. I narrowed my eyes at him and opened my mouth. I said, shut up, Magno's thought lashed at me again, making me squeak a little and lapse into sullen silence.

All throughout, Magno maintained the patient, indulgent expression of a loving master for an erring puppy, and I realized that I'd been twitching and glaring and opening my mouth and closing it again without producing a single sentence. I looked at the women, who were eyeing me with varying degrees of horror and curiosity, and swallowed a groan. They probably thought I was a raving lunatic by now.

Good girl, Magno thought/said, and I bit my tongue to keep from growling at him.

Belita was watching us suspiciously. "You haven't put a choker on her yet."

Magno shrugged. "We were on our way to the kennels to get a choker measured for her when she escaped."

"Oh, were you?" Belita said sourly, crossing her arms. "I know how you play, Magno. You enjoy ensnaring humans and toying with them, only to release them back into their world when you've lost interest, even when you know how our enchantment can damage the humans' minds so. It's really quite cruel to these creatures. How do we know you're not going to do the same thing to this girl here?"

If I hadn't been busy swelling with outrage over Magno's appalling treatment of humans, I'd have laughed at the thought of the granite-faced Belita crusading against cruelty to anything. Magno must have felt my body stiffen, because his fingers dug hard into my shoulder, warning me to hold my tongue.

"Belita, really. You make Magno sound like an utter scoundrel," Elena protested before Magno could speak. "In fact, if it weren't for his skill in spell-crafting, the borders around Mahariya would be a lot less secure and we'd have more clumsy mortals blundering into our kingdom. Isn't that right, Magno?" she added, batting her lashes at him.

For a moment, Magno looked nonplussed, but he quickly recovered his composure. "Er, right. Yes. Thank you, Elena. Still my most devoted defender, as always." He bent to place a kiss upon Elena's hand, causing her to giggle and blush.

"That's not the point. The girl is still feral, Magno." Belita shot me a dark look. "You know better than to bring a human here without taming her first. These creatures cannot be trusted. What if the Queen finds out about this?"

"Belita, will you stop worrying?" Magno said lightly as he edged away from the group, dragging me along. "Mother's too caught up in the wedding preparations to notice anything else. She's been plotting forever to get Leana married to that northern prince, and with the wedding a few days away, she's just about driven everyone up the walls making sure nothing goes wrong. And Leana's no better, to tell the truth. Now, I'd love to stay and chat, ladies, but I really must go." He managed to sketch a bow even with me clamped tightly under one arm. "I've still got to see to my new acquisition here."

"Magno!" We both looked over our shoulder at Belita, although I had to stand on tiptoes to see over his arm. "You ought to hurry and put a choker on that grubby thing. She's too dangerous to be running around unrestrained. Oh, and give her a bath as well," she added in a voice that carried throughout the garden. "She reeks, cousin."

"Stay still, damn it!" Magno hissed when I bucked against his grip, trying to get close enough to the harridan's shins to land a kick or two. "Keep a lid on your temper, Amihan. People are watching us."

His words were enough to make me pause and look around. Sure enough, we had drawn the curious gazes of everybody in the garden, including a troop of stern-looking engkanto males who were all wearing identical burnished chest plates and metal helmets. The sight of the shiny spears and gleaming kalis every one of those males carried made me gulp and shrink back against Magno. Somehow, drawing the attention of those particular engkanto struck me as extremely unwise. The last thing I wanted was to end up spending time in those kennels I'd been hearing about, or worse, the palace dungeons.

I started to panic when, instead of walking away, the guards headed toward us, stopped in front of Magno and saluted. "Is there a problem, sire?" said the leader.

Keep calm, Magno's voice spoke in my head. Don't look them in the eye and don't, for the love of all that's holy, talk. "Oh, no problem at all," he said brightly as his arm tightened around me, pressing me against his side. "Just a little wrestling match between me and my new charge here. Carry on with your work, captain."

The engkanto captain gave Magno a penetrating look that made my rescuer fidget. "She seems a little frisky," he remarked. "New, is she?"

Magno nodded. "She wandered into one of the oases outside the borders this morning. I took a fancy to her, as you can imagine."

The captain gave me an assessing look. "Yes, as a matter of fact I can," he said dryly. "I also notice she doesn't have a choker."

"I intend to get her one." The captain continued to stare at Magno, his face devoid of all expression except for the amused glint in his eyes. Here was another one who knew this green-eyed rogue beside me only too well. "Oh come on, Dante. She's just one weak little human," Magno grumbled good-naturedly. "You people act like I'm some helpless dimwit or something. Just because I don't strut around flaunting my rank and power and acting all sickeningly officious the way my sister does--"

The captain chuckled and held up a hand. "Peace, Magno," he said in a friendlier tone. "I apologize if I sounded as if I were doubting you. It's just that Her Majesty ordered us to increase our vigilance over the kingdom, what with the princess' wedding and all. Your mother isn't taking any chances, you know."

Magno raised his eyes skyward. "Believe me, I do. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

We turned and walked away, or rather shuffled away as I tried to match his stride and keep myself from tripping over his feet. They're still watching us, Magno said silently. Just do what I tell you, and you'll be fine.

Where are we going?

Somewhere more private. Now, I'm going to let you go, and I want you to follow close behind me. Keep your head down and look as docile as you can.

What if I don't want to be docile? I thought peevishly, rolling my shoulders to get rid of the numbness when he released his iron grip on me.

Trust me, you want to be docile. He turned to wave at the guards and shoot me a warning glare at the same time. You're out of your depth, little priestess. You either trust me or I leave you here right now and let Dante and his men deal with you. I doubt even your magic will be enough to protect you from the full force of Mahariya should it decide to eradicate you once and for all.

Mahariya? I shivered and hastily did as he instructed, trotting dutifully behind him with my eyes trained upon the ground. Why should your kingdom bother about me?

Because, Amihan, you don't belong here. I could almost see him rolling his eyes at my dimwittedness. Our kingdom is different from your human settlements, with your piles of rock and slaughtered trees and your sheer, incomprehensible blindness to the life force around you. Our kingdom is woven from the life force of every being within it, and the will of our Queen holds it all together. Mahariya is alive, and you/, little human, are a foreign object. If Mahariya decides that you are an enemy, it will bend all its power toward destroying you./

Your kingdom is alive? I repeated, deeply aghast and not a little creeped out. The trees, the gardens, the rock spires and buildings, even the very stones I was treading on-these were all part of one gigantic life form? After a moment of hesitation, I stretched out my senses and was nearly knocked down by the sensation of being surrounded by untold amounts of power. It felt as if I had jumped into a waterfall and flown into a typhoon at the same time. I mentally shook myself and tried again, gritting my teeth against the sensory overload, and soon realized that although the power was tremendous, it was being held back and reshaped even as we moved through it, the way a dam would hold back and even alter the course of a river. I drew back within myself, filled with a renewed sense of awe at the incredible place I now found myself in. A realm of pure magic. Who would have thought I'd get to visit a place such as this?

Typical woman. Magno's amused voice drifted into my awareness. Won't give you the time of day until she finds out where you live, and then suddenly she's all over you.

Will you please stay out of my head?

Why? This way I can talk to you openly without anyone getting suspicious. After all, nobody really talks to their pet, right? Ah-ah! Head down, eyes on the ground, little priestess, he reminded me when I glared at the back of his head. I could practically feel his laughter rattling my skull.

My indignation at his teasing was forgotten in the next instant. Wait a minute. That's the reason for all the warnings not to eat or drink anything /engkanto/, isn't it? And that's how you can cast bewitching spells on us. We'd be literally eating your life force. I grimaced. That sounded plain disgusting.

The Magno in my head actually grinned. Is that what you humans say about us? Yes, that's correct, I suppose. That's also why the humans in our care have to be tamed--or bewitched, as you put it. Because they've absorbed the essence of Mahariya, Mahariya accepts them, even nurtures and protects them to a certain extent. Now aren't you glad I stopped you from attacking Belita? he added with a healthy dollop of self-satisfaction. You seem like a smart girl, Amihan. Knowing what you know now, can you imagine what would have happened if you'd suddenly let loose with your alien magic?

I shuddered when I realized how close I was to bringing the entire engkanto kingdom down upon my head. Thank you for saving me, I returned a tad grudgingly. You seem to know a lot. Can you tell me something? I haven't eaten or drunk anything since I came here/--and here my stomach growled in agreement--/but I'm still here, walking around freely. If humans have to be bewitched before they can safely enter the kingdom, how come you haven't bewitched me yet?

I tried, remember? Magno thought bitterly. You're too stubborn to bewitch.

I decided to ignore that. You didn't force-feed me anything while I was out cold, did you? Or maybe Mara did?

From the corner of my eyes, I could see his shoulders stiffen. You insult me, human. I may be a lot of things, but never dishonorable. As for Mara, I would trust her with my life. She knows about humans, and she would never do anything so underhanded.

I recalled the genuine kindness and easy acceptance in the elf-healer's blue eyes, and had to agree. Besides, Skyblade trusted her, and that was good enough for me. I'm touched, Magno commented sarcastically. You'd believe me capable of taking advantage of an unconscious woman, but Skyblade's word is law.

I hardly know you, Magno, I pointed out reasonably. And would you please, please stay out of my head? This is so unfair of you.

The back of his shirt shifted as he shrugged. You're not as impervious to our enchantment as you think. You've been breathing the air here, haven't you? Most humans would be in a mindless stupor by now, and would practically be begging to be tamed.

Well, that probably explained that strange lethargy that came over me back in the garden. I automatically clapped a hand over my mouth and nose, then dropped it when I realized how futile that would be, unless I could somehow stop myself from breathing. Then the rest of his words registered, and I barely kept from grabbing the back of his shirt. You said 'most humans.' I admit I got a bit, um, confused back there, but as far as I can tell I'm still not in a mindless stupor. Why is that?

He seemed to pause a bit. Well, as to that, uh--

Can a human be immune to /engkanto enchantment? And is it possible that a human can somehow break your bewitching spells? And has there ever been any human who managed to leave your kingdom? Tell me please, is there any way to--/

Enough, already! Your questions are giving me a headache, he complained, which I thought was supremely ironic considering he was the one who wanted to mess around in other people's heads. "In any case, you can look up now. We're here."

It took me a moment to realize that the last two sentences had been spoken out loud instead of simply imprinting themselves upon my brain. And that Magno had stopped moving and had turned around to face me, and if I didn't do the same, I'd be walking straight into his arms. "Oh, at last," I sighed gustily to cover my discomfiture. "I hope you haven't brought me to some shabby...little...corner..."

My voice trailed off as I beheld where I stood. A mosaic made of small, gleaming tiles in shades of light gray to deep blue spread out under my feet, portraying a stylized version of a star-studded sky. Stretching from the mosaic like layers of clouds were lush beds and twisting bowers of white flowers that filled the air with a sweet fragrance. Sampaguita flowers, I realized, spinning around in a slow circle, completely entranced. Trailing green vines arched over us, clinging to the pillars that held up the high, domed ceiling. The ceiling itself was made of a light, semi-transparent material, and although it screened out the worst of the glare and the heat, I could still see the sky through it. The faint tinkle of water registered, and after a quick search I found the small fountain partially hidden by a bower and the pool it fed, complete with fishes that darted about in silvery bursts.

I looked around again, taking note of the pathways and gardens stretching away on all sides and the stone benches situated in various places around the gazebo, then smiled at Magno in delight. "This is so lovely."

He visibly relaxed, and I realized with a touch of surprise that he'd actually been nervous about my reaction. "You haven't seen anything yet," he said with an eager grin. "Look outside. Daylight, right?"

Puzzled, I nodded.

"Watch." He swept a hand over his head and murmured a word. The ceiling darkened to almost pitch-black and a moment later, pinpoints of light like thousands of stars began to twinkle overhead. The darkness ran down the sides of the gazebo, turning daylight into glorious night. Gasping in astonishment, I ran over to the edge of the gazebo and tentatively stuck out my hand, fully expecting to feel the cool, evening breeze against my skin. To my surprise, my fingers encountered a fine, net-like material that parted like a curtain, revealing the rest of the world outside the gazebo, unchanged.

"It's a spell I created for this place as part of an early experiment," Magno explained. "Turn around, Amihan. You're missing the best part."

I did. The sampaguita flowers were closing their petals in reaction to the vanished sunlight. However, another kind of flower had begun to bloom at the onset of night, strewing the ground with tiny stars, and once again the air was filled with heady perfume. I crouched down and examined one of the new flowers curiously.

"/Dama de noche/," Magno said, coming to stand behind me. "Unlike the /sampaguita/, these bloom only at night." He reached down, and without a thought, I took his offered hand and let him help me up, and for a moment we stood close together, my hand clasped in his. Then his eyes widened slightly, and he dropped my hand as if it burned him. "So!" he said loudly, moving backward and raising his arms in an expansive gesture meant to conceal his own awkwardness. "What do you think?"

"It's very impressive," I mumbled, trying to cool off my own suddenly overheated face.

He beamed. "Thanks. Luckily, Mother thought so too, and she let me try out a modified version of the spell over the palace. Come and see!"

He led me to one side of the gazebo, parted the curtain of darkness and pointed in the direction of what looked like empty space. I squinted harder, but all I could see was more gardens and spires. "I don't see anything," I confessed.

"Yes! That's how the spell works!" Magno exclaimed happily. "The palace blends seamlessly with its surroundings, reflecting changes in temperature, degrees of light and weather patterns. It even resonates with the magical auras of everyone inside it. It's a perfect environment-control and camouflage spell, although I admit it is still in the experimental stage."

By dint of will power I managed to keep from asking him what the point was in concealing the royal palace; he seemed so proud of his achievement that the mere thought of bursting his bubble made me feel mean and heartless, as if I were kicking the world's largest puppy. I let him usher me back into the star-lit gazebo as he regaled me with other spell-engineering projects he had in mind. For a while, I was content to watch him as he spoke, his face bright and animated, his green eyes sparkling and his hands darting through the air. Funny, I thought with wry amusement. Now that he'd stopped trying to bewitch me with illusions or brush people off with liberal doses of roguish charm and simply let himself be himself, I actually found Magno to be quite likable. As talkative as a parrot and as mischievous as a little boy, but attractive nonetheless. I bit the insides of my cheeks to keep from giggling. I wondered how annoyed he'd be if I told him that...

Wait a minute. Royal palace? Mother? The princess Leana--his /sister/?

"That glade where I found you actually had a variation of--what?" Magno asked, glancing over at me. "What are you looking like that for?"

I took a deep, steadying breath. "I'm worried. See, all this time I've been calling you 'Magno' when I really ought to have been addressing you as Your Highness."

"'Your Highness'?" he echoed, shuddering theatrically. "Gods, no! You obviously have me confused with my sister. Now Leana, on the other hand, adores all those pompous--"

"Oh sweet Lady." I buried my face in my hands so that the words came out muffled. "You really are the prince of the /engkantos/, aren't you?"

He gave me a look that clearly questioned my intelligence. "Well, that's no big secret, is it? Now will you tell me what this is all about?"

But I couldn't, because I was too busy laughing. I sank down on a nearby bench and shook and howled with laughter. "I'm sorry!" I gasped when Magno scowled down at me. "I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing at /me/. You see, it's just--it's complicated--"

"Obviously," he said sarcastically. Since he looked so affronted, I hastily explained about my mistaking Skyblade for the prince of the /engkantos/, not knowing that I'd one day be meeting the real elf-prince under even stranger circumstances. "I see," he said stiffly. "Disappointed that the prince turned out to be me and not Skyblade, are you?"

"No, of course not!" I shot to my feet and grasped his hand. "I didn't mean to offend you, Magno, really. It's just that even among us humans, we'd heard of the beauty of the race of the /engkantos/, more so of the royal family. So what was a poor, ignorant mortal to think when Skyblade appeared looking so...well, so inhuman?"

To my relief, the tact worked. At least Magno stopped looking as if he wanted to throttle me. Deciding to push my luck, I went ahead and told him about our town's curse and our quest to reach the Diwata's realm to seek her pardon. "I was traveling with my brother and my friend when you found us. We were searching for my sister. She's a babaylan herself, and I'm fairly sure she passed this way. Please, can you help me find my companions?" I pleaded, unconsciously squeezing his hand. "We're running out of time as it is, so please, will you help me?"

He gazed at me with an indefinable expression, then his eyes drifted downward to our joined hands. Flushing, I released him. "A beautiful woman is she, your sister?" he asked slowly.

"Yes!" I cried, elated. "Yes, she is, and powerful, too. Have you seen her? Do you know where she is?"

For some reason, Magno looked uncomfortable. "I...think I do. Damn. That's your sister, huh?"

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Well, for a powerful priestess, your sister got caught fairly easily. She's stuck in a confining-crystal now in the palace, and it's going to be a bit difficult to get her out."

I bit my lip, fearing the worst. "Why's it difficult?"

He shrugged. "I wasn't the one who captured her, Amihan. It was my mother. Your sister's in the Golden Ballroom now as the centerpiece of the wedding decorations meant to impress the visiting royalties of the northern kingdom."

"Oh no," I moaned faintly. "And Bunsoy and my brother?"

"Your brother won't be a problem. He's been thrown into the kennels for the time being. Just leave him to me," Magno said, green eyes glinting. "As for the /tikbalang/, well...he's in the dungeons right now, but I could ask Mara's help with that."

"Mara? Why?"

He grinned. "Oh, didn't you know? Mara's not just a healer. She's a member of the elite corps of royal guards. Tough, no-nonsense warrior, that woman. Fights like a wildcat," he added, chuckling, while I rearranged my brain around the idea of the kind, cheerful, slightly scatter-brained elf-healer as a 'tough, no-nonsense' warrior who fought like a feral feline.

"So you'll help me?" I asked, just to make sure.

He gave a long-suffering sigh. "I suppose, seeing as how your getting stranded here is partly my fault, anyway."

"Thank yo--"

He was suddenly right in front of me, bending me backward over the arm he had locked around my waist. "With your sweet lips, lovely maiden," he whispered throatily, leering at me like a randy don in Father Jorge's and Tia Isabel's worst nightmares.

The sound of someone clearing their throat spared me from having to inflict bodily harm upon possibly my only ally in the entire kingdom. An engkanto wearing the same chest plate as the soldiers we had seen before was standing half-in and half-out of the gazebo. The enchanted curtains falling over his body made him look as if he consisted only of a torso floating in mid-air. "My apologies, sire, but the Queen requests your presence at the Hibiscus Gardens."

Magno pouted. "I'm busy. Can't it wait, whatever it is?"

The soldier squirmed. "She says it is a matter of some urgency, sire."

"Oh, very well," Magno replied ungraciously. Another sweep of his hand and the gazebo returned to normal daylight hours. He lifted one of my hands and pressed the back of it to his lips. "Wait for me here, sweetling. We'll resume our little game when I return," he said in a playful tone, while the soldier struggled manfully not to roll his eyes.

"Oh yes, my adored," I cooed in a syrupy voice, catching on to his game. "I'll be your good little maiden and stay right here." By the Lady, I thought disgustedly, I'll be batting my lashes and simpering like Marikit any time now.

He flashed me a blinding smile before striding off with the soldier in tow. "You see that?" he said to the soldier, his voice growing fainter as the distance lengthened. "No need for a choker; that mortal is well and truly under my spell."

You needn't sound so smug about it, I grumped, and wondered if I'd only imagined the answering laugh that floated inside my skull. Bending down, I dipped my fingers into the cool water of the pool, giggling at the ticklish feeling of the fish nipping at my fingertips. When enough minutes had passed, I rose, hoisted my cloth sack and bamboo cask more securely over my shoulder, and departed the lovely gazebo, walking in the direction of the field of greenery where Magno had said the royal palace was.

I'm sorry, Magno, I thought with a twinge of regret, but I just don't have time to wait anymore. At least I now had an idea where Sinag was being held. Not being able to use my magic was going to pose a bit of a problem, but I was pretty sure I could work my way around it somehow. After all, I'd managed to survive for sixteen years without any magic at all. Of course, after I'd figured out how to free my sister from the holding crystal and explain the situation to the Queen, I still had to find a way to get us out of the engkanto kingdom and into the Diwata's realm--

"Halt! State your business, mortal."

For a moment I kept walking, though every cell in my body fought to obey. I ended up stumbling on my next step, and I wondered frantically whether I could pretend as if I hadn't heard the curt command. Maybe there was another mortal making her way around these patches of greenery and glowing spires--

--that suddenly rippled before my eyes, becoming pale marble walls and massive pillars and cavernous halls and wide gold-and-capiz windows from which hung living tapestries of climbing vines and colorful profusions of flowers. I found myself wavering right smack in the middle of a courtyard, heading straight toward a magnificent chamber, and thinking unkind thoughts about Magno and his palace-disguising spell. The scent of flowers hung in the air, sweet and inviting. Less sweet were the voices shouting at me to halt in the name of Her Majesty the Queen. I glanced around wildly, feeling like a quail caught in a snare, and actually whimpered when I saw what looked like an entire troop of guards marching intently toward me from all directions. Leading them was Dante, captain of the guards. One look at his expression was enough to dissuade me from any half-formed ideas of appealing to whatever common past he and I shared.

He was evidently thinking the same thing. His lips lifted upward in a humorless smile when he halted before me, while his men surrounded me, standing close enough for me to feel the sharp tips of their spears prodding my back. "We meet again, little mortal," he drawled. "I see Magno still hasn't put a choker on you. Well, there won't be any appealing to the prince's kind heart now."

"What have you done with Magno?" I demanded, forcing myself not to flinch away from the pinpoints of steel pricking my back.

"Silence," he snapped. "It is not your place to ask questions, mortal. You are to be taken before Her Majesty, so pray you have the answers she wants."

I swallowed around the knot of dread lodged in my throat. This isn't so bad, I told myself bracingly. I wanted to speak with the Queen, didn't I? This way, I'd be taken straight to her instead of having to waste time searching the palace. The desperate thought was derailed when I felt something cold and metallic clamp around my wrist, then my other wrist was pulled behind my back and similarly clamped. My ankles, too, were bound with chains. I looked up at Dante's impassive face, and my heart sank. I didn't need to be a telepath like Magno to know what he was thinking. You're going to be presented to the Queen as a prisoner, mortal, not a supplicant. Don't expect any favors.

As I was marched through the maze of halls and corridors, I felt a wave of despair wash over me, forcing tears into my eyes. I was going to face the Queen of the engkantos all alone, without my brother or sister or Tia Isabel to do my thinking for me and to speak on my behalf, without even my magic to hide behind. Summoning Skyblade was out of the question; the humiliation of being forced to turn oath-breaker just to bail a silly troublemaker of a mortal out of the mess she had gotten herself into would probably ruin him anyway. As we came to the wide double-doors leading into the Queen's Hall, I wondered if our quest would end here, in the kingdom of the elves, and we would be the only survivors of our town: my powerful sister who was trapped in a crystal, my proud brother who would soon be no more than an engkanto's pet, my tikbalang friend rotting away in the dungeon--and me, the only one left to remember and regret.