"Purity test? I won't do it." Klick and Klack hissed on my shoulders and snapped their beaks at him once they felt the tension rise in me.

"The Temple will insist." He stood in front of me, then fended off my birds as they pecked at his face. 

 "I don't have to prove anything. If the Temple needs something like that, then you can find someone else to help you." I turned from him to leave.

"Wait." He grabbed my hand. 

I turned as he pulled me and found myself nose to chest with him. When I placed my hand on his chest to push him from me, the tracery of roots pulsed brighter with my contact, and Luke put his hands over mine. Although I meant to pull my hand free, the emotions that traveled from him through our touch flared stronger and stopped me. 

Layers of other complicated emotions were all directed towards me. I recognized the soggy sponge of worry. There was despair which felt like boulders being stacked upon me, and shame was like a vice squeezing me. However, I also felt respect which gave me a sensation of flying up on wings. Awe was vast, like being in an endless field, and longing was a silk tie that tugged. I was frozen from the assault. Touching had amplified everything.

The emotions did not freeze Luke, but they had struck him the same as me. He was lifting my face with his fingertips so that he could meet my eyes. I stared at him unflinchingly, my mind still processing all the feelings coming at me. "What is that?" He whispered. "I can feel what you feel."

"It started happening after I attached myself to you guys with these roots.  It looks like it gets worse when we touch, so you should probably let go of my hand." I hadn't figured out how to let go of his. His longing continued to tug at me, bind me.

His hand tightened as his expression grew sad. Sadness was saltwater against my face, and it hurt. "You are frightened and angry, and you resent me."

I made a mirthless, sputtering noise as I tried to resist feeling sad with him. "We don't need this connection for you to figure that out." Then I stepped back and forced myself to let his hand go.

His hand reached out again, but I shook my head. "I'm tired and in pain. I want to like you, I do. I get that you believe you're doing the right thing, but It's been a long, confusing day, and it's still not over."

"I apologize." His voice was gruff, and I felt his shame chipping at me again. "I am so bound to the traditions that I keep forgetting you have been here for less than a day. I never thought I would meet someone so frustrating, so..."

"... So not fit to be a princess?" I asked with a quirk of my lips.

His features had softened - such a contrast from his stiff introduction, and his longing grew so strong that I felt my body lean even though we weren't touching. His hands were cupping my face, and I left them there. The ties of his longing were pushing down the pain.

Luke exhaled sharply, and his expression became intense.  "Not a princess, no. You have taken all this in with a steady resolve that I never expected. You are more than worthy of being a queen."

"Oh." I fidgeted from his compliment and the swell of his pride for me. Pride felt like being at the top of a tall mountain, and mountains had cliffs. "Well..."

"So I apologize about the purity test. I cannot imagine why the Temple should ask you to endure it. You are not full Sidhe, and Duir only considers the Sidhe as truly pure worshippers."

"Duir's not my goddess." I had said it before; why didn't he get it?

Then he drew up tall, and the crazy intimacy we had experienced evaporated as icy rejection pulled his emotions from me behind a wall. Although I didn't like it, I held onto that feeling as the key to blocking out the emotions bombarding me. If I threw up that wall of rejection, I didn't feel them. 

"She is mine, fearsome though she may be." His brows dropped as he realized we were cut off from each other now. "I can no longer feel you."

"Yeah... you helped me figure that out when you rejected me for not liking Duir.  That's why we probably will never be friends, Luke." 

I  fled him and the office and saw that no one was in the foyer. All the servants here were less substantial than the ghosts that visited me. To emphasize that point, guards popped into the entry from thin air. First one, then another, until there were at least twenty. Next, they went outside. I guess they were the reinforcements.

"Madeline." I could hear an argument rising in Luke's voice; frustration emanated from him like a tangled rope that wished to bind me. It chafed, and I strengthened my rejection.

I bounded up the stairs before he could lure me into listening to anything else, nearly tripping on my robes as I did. When I got to my door, Elsie and Jeanne were waiting along with Luis. Beth wasn't present, so I guess someone took her to the dungeon.

Remembering Beth, I just grew wearier. Though I would have to talk to her soon, I didn't want to. 

I eyed Luis, and although he was bristling with all sorts of emotions, I kept that shield that I'd learned fully in place. "I don't want to talk about anything with you right now. I need a moment."

His jaw ticked, and despite my shield, his jealousy coated me like in a layer of oily sludge and threatened to choke me. If the emotion was powerful, I guessed they could leak.

 "What did he say to you?" Luis demanded.

I coughed and tried to make my shielding stronger. Luis noticed, and his expression turned suspicious.  I shook my head at him, both in rejection and denial. 

 "He said nothing, Luis. I don't want to talk about anything right now. I'm a mess." 

Luis and all his secrets were not something I needed right now. He'd hid such a vital part of our history together from me, and I hadn't decided what to do about that yet. So, I ordered him away from me.  "Go get Dominic and Adrian and find someplace quiet where we can talk.  Knock on the door in about twenty minutes. I need to get out of these robes and clean up."

Luis looked like he wanted to argue about it, but after staring at me for a minute, he finally spun on his heel and stalked away.

 I grabbed Jeanne by the hand and allowed her and Elsie inside my room. Then, I slammed the door shut.

 I looked down at my hand still clasped around Jeanne's wrist and let her go. "Sorry."

"I'm honored to be needed, My Lady." She was looking everywhere but at me, "Elsie and I have prepared another robe for the party."

I groaned. "Really? Do I still have to wear them even at the party? Gah... never mind." Klick and Klack snapped their beaks on my shoulder in sympathy. 

"Sorry, you must wear them for official ceremonies like the Becoming. You can wear dresses, otherwise, but should always be veiled." Elsie said.

I was horrified. "Veiled all the time? And no pants?"

"Pants are not worn, normally, unless in battle." She primly folded her hands in front of her.

When she told me this, I groaned again and wanted to throw myself on the ground for a good tantrum. It was just one more thing. Although I had been dying to wear dresses once I was a girl again, I was stuck wearing a gray gunny sack. I'd enjoyed the freedom pants gave me for years and hated having my choices taken from me. 

"All those pretty clothes in that closet, and I can't even enjoy them! You guys are evil! With a capital VIL!" I screwed my eyes shut.

"We... we could try them all on now if that would please you," Jeanne said, hoping to comfort me.

I opened one eye, the idea of doing something fun like that almost distracting me from the weight of everything that just happened. "We can?"

Jeanne nodded, her sweet face brightening with a smile. "We can, My Lady. No one's here but us three. Shall we?"

"Yeah, okay." It might be just the thing I needed to get my mind off everything. 

I followed Jeanne and Elsie to my closet, and a rainbow of dresses spread before me like a fashionista's land of Oz. I stood still and just let the glorious color wrap over me. I could feel pleasure like gentle rain upon me, and I realized that my shield had dropped. Someone had felt my delight and was happy about it. Luke again.

"Which one would you like to wear, my lady?" Elsie pulled out several dresses from the dizzying selection.

"So many..." I breathed, stunned at the department store that was called my closet.

I spotted a blue dress among her choices with a sparkling tulle skirt. It reminded me of the one I had been set to buy on Saturday. It wasn't the same, but it was close. I pulled it off the hanging rod. Was it only yesterday? I looked at Jeanne. "Can you tell me something?"

"What is it, My Lady?"

I put the dress back on the rod reluctantly. "Why did you want to do this? Why be my banmuinen?"

Silence greeted my question. Jeanne fidgeted with her skirt. "I dare not say..." she whispered.

"Come on. I swear I won't get mad. Promise."

"You swear, My Lady?"

"Stick a needle in my eye."

She shuddered.  "I would never, My Lady!"

That was so cute that I couldn't fight my smile even though she was so severe.

She screwed up her courage and stated, "In my village, the snow is so deep that we cannot farm any longer. We rely solely on the goodwill of the borderland to bring us goods from the human world. The Temple has claimed any areas that still are green. Becoming servants in the houses of nobles is one way to ensure our families don't die."

I nodded for her to go on. It occurred to me that I might be to blame for making everyone starve here, at least in their eyes — way to pile the guilt on me.  Thanks. Appreciated it. I sat down on a plush stool in the center of the closet. I figured whatever she would say would be better heard sitting down.

"As a banmuinen, I have the opportunity to be of the court myself in a fashion. I'd never dreamed of being anything so high. I am simply a farmer's daughter. As a banmuinen, I could bring my family out of their poverty. The only thing higher in your court is your seven consorts."

"What's this about consorts?" I blinked. Was she saying what I thought she was saying? I read a lot of fiction, romance being my most guilty pleasure. Consort. Noun. A wife, husband, or companion. In particular, the spouse of a reigning monarch.

"Each of the seven men in your court becomes your consorts, with one being chosen as royal consort if you win," Elsie said, then looked at me oddly, "Didn't you understand that, My Lady? Master Luke had stated he wanted to be chosen as your Royal Consort, and he was worried about you not having your seven men."

"Buh..." I gaped at her. "No! I had not understood! Until now, I thought that 'being part of my court' was like a job. Yes, Luke had demanded I marry him, but I thought it was only him! My friends would be secretaries or advisors - bodyguards, maybe. Not...I gotta tell the guys... they'll freak!" I wrung my hands, fretting.

Jeanne was patting my hand. "I am so sorry, My Lady. I thought you knew. Would you still like to try on dresses?"

I blinked at her flower-headed goodness and laughed. Good Heavens. Thank you, God, for at least giving me this girl. "No, but..." I chose a green dress from the piles of dresses and gave it to her impulsively. "Take this one. That color would look fantastic on you."

Then I gave a yellow dress to Elsie. She accepted it with a curtsey and her face colored.

Jeanne hugged the dress to herself with a gasp. "You're giving this to me, My Lady?"

"Yeah... you've both been honest with me. I would have gone into this not knowing the truth." Was I going to marry seven guys? Seven? No way!

She hugged the dress tighter, her eyes shining. "I'm so glad to be your banmuinen. I will happily bear children of the court for you should you need me." She kissed my cheek, then clapped her hands over her mouth. "Forgive me, my Lady. I shouldn't be so bold."

It was a good thing I was still sitting. "Uh... what?"

"The role of the banmuinen is to serve you in all ways, even as your surrogates if you cannot bear children... or wish not to..." Elsie said with a careful glance at my face.

"What? No." I stood up and grabbed Jeanne's shoulders. "I would never make you do something like that, Jeanne!" I shook her gently.

"Why not, My Lady? I am yours." She honestly looked perplexed that I was outraged. 

I shook my head. "Not like that." I stomped out of the closet and went to the door.

"My Lady! At least put on a new robe!" Elsie cried.

I sighed and clenched my fists.

It took another fifteen minutes, but I was back in the god-awful robe with my hair so tight upon my head that I looked as horrified as I felt when Luis knocked on the door.

"Everyone is downstairs," Luis said, then feeling my horror, he stepped forward. "What happened?"

"I'll tell you when we get downstairs. Let's go."