The Beginning

Winter was her favourite season. The icy winds and rain howling through naked branches brought her comfort. She found an affinity with the tormenting elements and it soothed her. Or perhaps it distracted her from her own dark and tumultuous emotions. Either way she felt calmer when the days were shorter and flames flickered in the hearth.

She sat deep in thought, remembering all that had gone before. It was her 18th winter here. The palace was vast and echoes of secrets and troubles could be heard in the halls if one chose to listen. She did. She heard the whispers and she wished she knew how to answer them. She wished someone would listen to hers.

"Your Majesty," A gruff voice sounded from the corner of her study.

She turned her head towards the man and smiled.

"Lucas! I trust you are well?" Her tone was warm, familiar.

"Very well, My Lady. You sent for me?" Always formal, always direct. A man of few words but vast knowledge and skill.

"Yes. I have a favour to ask. A task for you, if you would oblige?" She rose from her seat by the fire place and crossed to her desk. She lifted a small envelope bearing her seal and stretched out her hand to Lucas. "It is time for my daughter to come home."

Lucas froze, only for a moment. A look of confusion and some other emotion she could not quite identify flickered across his face in the firelight. He cleared his throat as if to regain composure and strode across the room to the woman presenting him with an implausible task. "Yes, Your Majesty."