2. Lily

"It's nothing but a Mortal woman," the one with bluish-purple eyes—Regent Mordren—remarked, his lip curling. "Put a dagger in her heart and throw her body into the forest."

"Wait—no, please!" I begged. "Please, I didn't mean to spy on you—I just saw the lights and heard the music and smelled the food. And I've just been so hungry—that's the only reason I came here, honestly!"

"Wait—you heard our music and smelled our food?" Captain Seldarin, who was still holding my arm in an iron grip, demanded. He frowned down at me. "How is that possible? Mortals are insensible to our presence while we are here in the Fae Realm—everyone knows that."

He was even taller up close, I thought, my heart pounding. He must be seven feet at least because he loomed over me, making me feel tiny and helpless. My knees felt so weak I wasn't sure they would continue to support me.

"Look at me, Mortal!" he demanded and lifted my chin with one huge hand.

I really didn't have a choice—I looked up at him, his glowing bronze eyes glaring down into mine. He frowned at me at first, but then those bronze eyes widened as he seemed to see something strange.

"By Queen Lolth!" he exclaimed, leaning down to get a better look at me. "The Mark! She has The Mark!"

"What? You lie!" Mordren exclaimed, sitting forward in his chair, which I now saw was an exact replica of the larger, empty throne that stood behind him.

Seldarin's eyes flashed.

"I never lie," he growled, his deep voice rumbling through me. "She has the Mark! Let the Keeper of Records examine her—Krynn, come here!" he added.

The Fae in the flowing green robes with the golden streaks in his long white hair came forward. He was the one who had the face of an angel—the one I had thought was so beautiful before, I realized.

"Look at her," Seldarin insisted as he finally released my face. "Krynn, look at her Mark!"

I wasn't sure what they were talking about—maybe my birthmark? It was burning again as Krynn took my face between his long, slender hands and looked down at me. Though he wasn't as tall as Seldarin, he was still much taller than I was. He had to be in the six foot six range, I thought numbly.

He was definitely staring at my forehead and my birthmark was burning and itching like crazy. I wished that I dared to rub it but I felt frozen to the spot as his glowing green eyes studied me.

"You see what I mean?" Seldarin demanded. "It's The Mark—it has to be!"

"I think you're right." Krynn nodded. "But I still can't believe…after all these years of searching for her with no result…"

"It doesn't matter how long it's been—she's here now! It must be her," Seldarin muttered. "The Markings I took are burning—aren't yours?" He touched the sides of his neck where the strange silver tattoos seemed to be glowing almost as brightly as his eyes. They were indeed a spider web with a tiny spider right in the center, just as I had thought earlier.

"Mordren isn't going to be happy about this, you know," Krynn murmured under his breath. The golden spider web tattoos on his pale silver skin were glowing also. "If we do this, it's going to cause a rift in the Court, Sel."

"Fuck that and fuck Mordren—he only wants power. I won't be ruled by a non-Royal who doesn't have the Dark Faes' best interests at heart and you shouldn't want to be either!" Seldarin argued.

"Of course I don't want him on the throne—it would be a defilement of the Midnight Court." Krynn shot him a look. "But until this moment, I didn't see a way to stop him."

"Well, we have a way now—she's back!" Seldarin nodded down at me. "We've been waiting for her to return for the past half century—it's the whole reason we took the Markings of Lolth." He touched his spider web tattoos again. "You're the Keeper of the Records—the Court Historian—if you say something, people have to listen."

"All right then." Krynn nodded, rather reluctantly I thought. "I might be sorry later, but I can't deny it's true."

"What…what's true?" I asked faintly. "What are you talking about?"

The tall Fae didn't answer. Instead, he nodded and stepped back, releasing me.

"It is indeed The Mark of Lolth!" he said, loud enough for the whole assembly to hear. "This woman is no Mortal—she is the Lost Princess Lilliana!"

"What?" Mordren shot to his feet, his gorgeous face dark with anger. "You lie!" he shouted, pointing at both Krynn and Seldarin. "It's well known the two of you are friends and you don't want me on the throne! This is nothing but a plot cooked up between you two half-breeds keep me from my rightful place!"

"Your rightful place is nowhere near the throne of The Midnight Court!" Seldarin growled, his bronze eyes blazing. "Tonight our true ruler was drawn to us—she heard our music and smelled our food as no human would have been able to do. She came to us after so many years of being lost and you would turn her away?"

"She cannot be the Lost Princess!" Mordren protested. "She isn't wearing the Jewel of Lolth. And look at her—she's Mortal! Her skin isn't the right color—it has not even a kiss of Moonlight—and her eyes don't even glow! How could such an ugly creature rule us?"

All this time I'd been wanting to shrink into the ground—but now I felt a jolt of anger. I might not be as beautiful as the Dark Fae, but I wasn't exactly a hag!

"Hey—you try living in a minivan for a month with no place to shower and let's see how good you look!" I snapped, without thinking about it. "I'm just going through a rough patch right now—not that it's any of your business!" I added.

Mordren's bluish-purple eyes widened. Clearly he hadn't expected the "ugly creature" to talk back to him.

I was kind of surprised myself, but I was tired of being treated like dirt! After what my ex-husband had done to me, I had a lot of built up anger and resentment towards entitled men who acted like assholes.

"She needs time to readjust. Clearly she's been among the Mortals for years," Krynn remarked, looking down at me. "Regent Mordren, you cannot deny her the trial period that any Changeling who returns to the Fae is allowed. You know the Law."

"Krynn is right—she deserves the same consideration we show to any Changeling," Seldarin agreed. "Look at the Court, Mordren—you cannot pretend you're fit to rule us if you won't even follow the ancient Laws of our people!"

Mordren frowned…but then the frown smoothed away into a politician's smile.

"Well of course we must offer this poor, pitiful creature sanctuary," he said, raising his voice so everyone could hear him. "I would never deny a Changeling anything less—though I doubt she can be brought back to us fully after so many years among the humans." He looked at me, his eyes narrowing. "Tell me, child, how old are you?"

"I'm not your ‘child.'" I lifted my chin to glare at him. "And you don't need to know my age—it's rude to ask."

"She must be fifty if she is the Lost Princess," I heard Krynn murmur. "She was stolen away nearly half a century ago."

"Look, I might not be as young and gorgeous as you—" I began, but Seldarin interrupted with a laugh.

"Young? Krynn's two hundred if he's a day!"

"As are you, my friend," Krynn remarked. He frowned down at me. "I am sorry the Mortal world has been so hard on you, Your Highness."

"You can't call her that—she's nothing but a Changeling who finally came home!" Mordren hissed. "And you know as well as I do that Changelings who have been among the humans for too long loose their Fae powers. So many years of eating human food and breathing human air will have turned her gold to dross. She is nothing."

"If you're really not worried about her, then you'll be happy to put off the Investment Ceremony and welcome her to the Palace to let her recover her strength," Krynn remarked. "A night among her own people isn't too much to ask for one who has endured the Mortal Realm so long."

"Fine!" Mordren snapped. "She can stay in the Palace—for tonight only."

"And the Investment Ceremony must be postponed," Krynn repeated patiently, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh…very well." Mordren snarled, giving me a distinctly unfriendly look. "Not that it will make a bit of difference. Tomorrow we'll revisit this issue and then you'll see she's nothing but a Mortal!"

"It's agreed then. Come, Your Highness," Krynn murmured to me. He held out an arm to me courteously, like a gentleman offering to escort a lady.

Reluctantly, I took it, but only because I didn't know what else to do.

"I don't understand any of this," I told him.

"No, of course you don't. But I will explain." Krynn shot Seldarin a look. "You'd better come too, Sel. For security."

"Right behind you," the taller Fae growled. "Let's just get her safely to the Palace and we can worry about everything else later."

"Agreed." Krynn nodded. Then he looked down at me again. "Come, Princess—your Palace awaits."

I still thought this whole thing was crazy but I didn't seem to have any say in the matter. I was being swept along in a tide of events that was bigger than I was.

I went with them—what else could I do?