clearing, the scene changed dramatically, no longer shrouded in shadows, but bathed in sunlight. Within the clearing, there seemed to be a preserved daylight, as though night only existed outside this haven. She was standing before a small pool of ice, which seemed impossible to her in the late summer warmth. Beneath the surface of the ice pond, a silver liquid shone. She realized that the light filling the clearing was not sunlight at all, but moonlight trapped within the ice, shining as brightly as the sun. Across the ice, there was a beautiful faerie seated on an ornately carved throne of fine wood. She had the dark, slanted eyes of most faeries, but they seemed softer somehow. Her dark, luminescent hair fell down to her waist in curls, and it occurred to Nameh that she had never seen a faerie with curly hair before. Her skin was pale, but not the lifeless pale of a vampire, a shining pearl which reflected the moonlight filling the room. She was dressed in a silver-white gown of velvet which fell in long folds around her ankles. The Queen looked as though her very existence had been forged from the moon itself, and it became clear that they did draw all of their power from it.
The Queen spoke to Nameh in a voice that could be compared to nothing but a moonbeam, soft and sweet and dark all at once. “I see that you are admiring our moon pond,” she said with a smile, “moonlight captured in eternal ice, a gift from the Nature faeries. We are the faeries of war, and offer them protection; theirs is the craft of beauty, and they offer us that which we do not possess.” She puzzled over the Queen’s statement for a moment; the Moon faeries appeared as beautiful as any creatures she had ever seen. Then she realized that she was referring to their ways of life: the Nature faeries spent their lives creating art out of the world’s splendors, while the Moon faeries fought a constant war of spite. She wondered if it was an empty existence.
“It is very beautiful,” responded Nameh. Her eyes flitted about the clearing, studying her surroundings. Beyond the trees, she could see nothing; it was as if they were in a separate world. There were two guards on either side of the queen, having much of her beauty, but none of her fragility.
“Yes, but we are not here to speak of beauty. We are here to speak of battle,” the Queen said. In these words, Nameh could hear the carefully hidden tones of malice, laced with honey to mislead the listener. The faeries were not evil, but were not as pure as perceived, she thought. “You both fought nobly,” she said in a proud voice, “and your spell has brought us great victory and many days of peace,” she added to Nameh. “Maxim tah Solie, you have already earned my people’s title of warrior. Step forward.” Max complied, circling around the ice to stand before her throne. “I award you a mark of the tah to bring you the strength of all faerie kind. Although it is customary to receive this mark on one’s face, I will present it to you as a token.” She extended her hand, unfurling her slender fingers to drop something small and silvery in his hands. He hadn’t touched her fingers, and Nameh thought they may have shattered if he had. At this, Max stepped back, giving a small bow.
“Nameh, step forward.” Although she had never told the Queen her name, she was not surprised that she already knew. She approached the throne as Max had. “You have never before fought with us, but have proved yourself well,” she said in an amused tone. “I grant you the power of the tah warriors, and you will now be known in our domain as Nameh tah Seran.” The queen rolled the words off of her tongue with an inflection that she didn’t think she could replicate if she tried. The Queen offered her hand forward again, and Nameh cupped her hands beneath it. A cool and smooth object fell into her palms, and she bowed before her. “You, we will also offer a mark of the tah.” Nameh backed up to stand next to Max, and the Queen was still for a moment. “Leave this place now, and return only when you have understood the mark we have given each of you, and you are