A loud clunk sounded and both doors swung inward silently, exposing another large courtyard surrounded by a high wall festooned with ivy and in the centre at the back, a modest looking, small building with an arched entryway. In the courtyard, men and women worked at crafts in small, scattered groups. Bowls of paint and fancy coloured cloth lay discarded on the stone floor as their use became unnecessary; soft music swam in the cool air above the studious workers.

Jak guided him toward the small building, staying him at the entrance with a firm hand while he entered alone. After a moment he reappeared, beckoning Jared inside. Jared entered a small room decorated with large bright draperies and paintings strikingly similar to the things he saw crafted in the courtyard. On one wall, amid a mound of plush cushions, sat a small woman with silver hair and the smoothest, white skin he'd ever seen.

Jak steered him toward the woman, who rose from the cushions and smiled, extending a slender hand. Jared stutter-stepped forward, bowing and blushing, unsure as to what the proper greeting should be, and mumbled the words, Your Majesty. Her laugh was the tinkle of a glass bell and she took his hand, leading him to the cushion pile.

"Please, young man, just call me Primula. Captain Staff tells me you have some urgent papers for me to see."

Still blushing and half kneeling and sitting, he withdrew the parchment sheets from his pouch and handed them to the Queen. "I was instructed to present these to you...uh...ma'am... from the Regent of Moraine." Her beauty confounded his senses.

Primula leaned back and scanned the papers, her warm smile fading to an expression of sad concern. "It appears Captain, the last of my mother's family, my great uncle, has fallen ill and is not expected to survive the month. I have been asked to attend him to receive his personal effects and his mortal farewell."

"Should I prepare arrangements for your passage, Primula?"

"Please. We will leave first thing in the morning. Let our guest rest the night and enjoy a deserved meal." She bathed Jared in another warm smile. "Perhaps some fresh garments for the return journey as well." Jak bowed his head and held out an arm to direct Jared from the room.

"You are most generous, your...uhm Pri-uhm...ma'am. Please accept my condolences for your uncle's distress."

Primula smiled wider, tilting her head over the embarrassed young man's manners. "Thank you, young man. Go with Captain Staff, he will find you fresh clothing, a sound meal and a place to sleep the night. I will see you in the morning."

Compared to his room in Moraine, the quarters Jak installed him in were sumptuous. He had a large, feather-stuffed tick, a small table, a chair and a chest with drawers, and on top, a large pitcher of fresh water and a bowl for washing. What luxury, he thought. Jak returned interrupting his reverie, carrying a complete set of fresh clothes, and without a thought, Jared tore off his old vest and leggings and pulled on the new pants with unabashed excitement.

"Have a good wash before you put on the rest of those things, my friend, and when you're ready, come outside and we'll see about some food." Jak left with a big grin on his face; the lad's thrill was almost tangible. The strange mark he'd noticed on the boy's thigh would bare further investigation at some future time.

Outside, the sun had dropped below the hill above the town, leaving the streets bathed in a pleasant, pale glow. Jared found Jak sitting on the steps in front of the outer courtyard, talking with a group of men, some dressed as soldiers, others simply as citizens.

"Is this your new friend then, Staff?" One of the citizens asked as Jared approached.

"Aye, this is Jared..." he paused, frowning. "I never did learn your family name."

"It's Croft," Jared answered.

"Wissam Croft's son, from Moraine?" A soldier blurted.

Jared stared at the man. "He was my father, yes. How do you know of him?"

"I was at his side in the Winter War when he fell from a bolt from a Dramin crossbow. A very brave man, your father. He caused the Dramins many losses with his fierce fighting. His actions helped turn the tide in our favour."

Jared stared around the group of men with a feeling of pride and embarrassment. He managed a mumbled appreciation to the soldier and glanced to Jak for a change in subject.

"We are off to the inn for some dinner, all who wish to join us are welcome." He steered Jared by the shoulder down the steps and into the street without waiting for a reply.

Stars glinted in the inky black sky and Jared traced the pale path of the moon across the sill of his window and onto the stone floor of the room. Dinner had been a feast. Never had he been faced with such amounts of food in such variety. His dinner companions had laughed and teased over his voracious appetite and even Jak appeared a little surprised.

On the way back, after dinner, Jak had pressed for more information about Jared's life in Moraine, learning of the numbing poverty and desperate existence of the town's inhabitants. The Winter War, a number of years earlier, had left Moraine without a leader or even a semblance of authority. Anarchy became the way of life until those that bullied and intimidated found nothing more to gain and left the town.

The remaining populace banded together and formed a skeleton government, beginning the organization of an economically viable community. Now, after hard work and dedication the people were managing to scrape a living from the ground and provide themselves a reasonably decent lifestyle and things looked to improve until the assistant to Elder Stemm, the current leader, fell ill, bringing Jared to Terrault and Queen Primula.

Morning brought Jared awake with a start. Outside his window he could hear the creak of harness and the clatter of horses hooves on the cobblestones. The jumble of voices drew him to the window and he looked down on a small band of men, heavily armed, arranging their mounts around a small carriage. Jak stood by the open door awaiting a passenger and in a moment, Queen Primula strode across the square and climbed inside.

Jared watched dumbly, sleep still drifting in the corners of his mind. The Queen had been clad in leather pants and a bright shirt held around the waist by a wide black belt from which dangled a dangerous looking sword. He rubbed his eyes expecting a new, clearer picture but all he saw was Jak, hands on hips, looking up at his window and shaking his head.

"Come then you lazy scamp. The Queen said we would be leaving first thing."

Jared hurriedly pulled on his new clothes and scampered down the steps to the street, tucking in his shirt and slinging his pouch and water skin over his shoulder. "I wasn't awake... I didn't know..."

"Too much to eat would be my guess," remarked the soldier who had confessed to knowing Jared's father. The others laughed and mounted their horses with a lot of noisy chatter. Jak led a white dapple pony from behind the carriage and held it steady, indicating to Jared to get mounted.

"This is for me?"

"Well you'd never keep up on foot, and only the Queen rides in her carriage... unless you are someone very special."

Jared nodded automatically and climbed aboard the pony, feeling the energy and strength of the animal as Jak released it.

*****