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[I]Finally, as promised. Here is chapter 16. Sorry for the time in getting it up, but things have been pretty hectic. I'll update in another blog entry later, but for the time enjoy the story. I hope to be adding more soon as my current situation is winding down to a more easily managed level. I know where I wish to go with the story, and I think I have the plot worked out. As always, a surprise or two comes along, but I really just need the time to write what I have in my head and scattered across dozens of sheets of paper. If you haven't already guessed, Tam is a surprise character that just sort of intruded, but I like him as an addition to the story.

Enjoy,
Meg[/I]

Chapter 16
Arabella laughed as she felt the wind blowing through her hair off of the lake. She had arrived at the secluded spot with Tam a couple of hours earlier. Riding the lorelilla had been just what she had needed to raise her spirits. The animal Tam had chosen for her, Lani, had been a delightful creature. Her head stood at the same level as her own, and she was a creamy gold color with wingtips that reminded one of the deep brown found on aged paper.

Flying atop of Lani had been exactly like Arabella had dreamed it would be. The lorelilla was sweet natured and graceful. They had performed aerial dives and loops all while she clung to the back of the animal. The wind had whipped Arabella’s curls into a frenzy, and they now hung down her back unbound. Her tie she had used to hold her hair back was gone, but there was a blush to her cheeks and a sparkle in her eyes that showed her exhilaration and happiness at the chance to escape.

Tamarin looked at the woman walking before him on the beach. It was a far different lady gracing his presence than the one who had entered into his stable. It had only taken a short time to reach the hidden cove by the lake, and Arabella had let out a breathless gasp of wonder at the sight before her. The cove was little more than an open cave in a sheer rock wall that rose behind them. Years of the tide moving in and out had carved the stone smooth, and the wall looked like polished gold. It was the same stone which the palace was made of, and small pebbles littered the water. The suns glinted off of the wall and the stony beach giving the sense that this was an enchanted place.

Arabella twirled like a small child as she turned to address Tamarin, “Thank you for showing me your hidden place. I hope you will not mind if I escape here from time to time. I’ll not come if you don’t wish me to intrude, but I would love to just come and walk along the water.”

“How could I deny you anything Bella,” she had finally succeeded in getting him to address her by her nickname, “while you stand there looking like an excited child. I am glad that this has given you much joy. Feel free to visit whenever you wish, perhaps I can come along if you do not wish to be all alone.”

“I shall be happy to have you come with me on some days Tam. I need a friend in the palace, and I would be glad to consider you as such. We could come and share lunch sometime or maybe escape to watch the suns set upon the lake. I only worry that I will become an interruption to your work.”

Tamarin smiled indulgently at the lady before him. He was finding it hard to believe that she was really the daughter of a lord and a guest of the Syine. She treated him as if they were equals, and in just a short time it had them building an easy friendship. He had not missed her defense of those below her in the stable, but he was still surprised to see that she did not act as if she were better than he. Tamarin was well aware of his position in life. He was not a slave, and therefore he was free to choose his own mate and own property, but he had no political clout and he still was required to be loyal to a lord. He was free to decide whom to be loyal to, but without the protection of the Syine he would have been at risk of being taken and forced into the position of slave though it was not his birthright.

“It would be unseemly for you to call one such as me a friend my lady,” Tamarin slipped back into his formal address of Arabella as his last thoughts sobered his mind. He was certain that they could be good friends, but he knew that this was not the way of their society. There was no possibility that a friendship between the ruling caste and a laborer would be tolerated by others within the palace.

“Irrelevant Tam,” Arabella waved a dismissive hand at this suggestion, “and please just call me Bella. I’ll not answer to any more formal addresses, so if you wish to converse then you will just have to concede and call me Bella as my other friends do.”

Arabella glanced at the sky after this admonishment, and she realized that it was past time for her to return to the palace. She had promised to meet Philomina for lunch, and the height of the suns in the sky said it was far past time to return. She only hoped that she was not too late joining the midday meal.

“It is time for me to return. I was to meet Philomina for lunch, and I fear that I may already be too late,” the last was said with such an unrepentant smile that Tamarin couldn’t help but laugh again at her antics.

“Let us return quickly then. I’ve no wish to have the guard sent after us because you did not return in time for the meal.” Tamarin rushed Arabella to the waiting lorelilla, but there was no mistaking the continued amusement in his eyes.

It only took perhaps a quarter hour to return to the stables, but when they arrived it was to be greeted by the Syine himself at the doors. One view of the angry look on his face was enough to let Arabella know that Tamarin was only half joking when he had spoke of the guard being sent after them. Rage was radiating off of Allarick in waves, but he stood their silently with his fists opening and shutting. Rather than speak to her as she dismounted from Lani, Allarick merely grabbed her arm roughly and hauled her towards the palace.

Once inside he didn’t stop his progress. Allarick pulled Arabella through the corridors towards his own chamber. Nechemya awaited and held the door as they approached. Arabella found herself shoved unceremoniously into the room, and then Allarick shoved the door closed.

All Arabella could do was stare at the man before her and wait for the coming explosion. She didn’t have to wait more than a moment as Allarick began his ranting tirade.

“Where have you been? Philomina came to me with an invitation to lunch, and the little minx manipulated me into accepting her offer. When the meal comes around you are no where to be seen, and Nechemya then admits that he watched you leave towards the stables. So, I then go on a search for you only to find that the stable is deserted and you are no where to be found. We looked over the grounds and still could not find you. Then I think to check with some of the guests, and Phelon, Phelon of all people,” his voice raised another notch at this exclamation, “said that you had flown off on one of the lorelilla. What were you thinking to just go away without letting us know where it is that you had gone?”

“I was thinking that I needed to get away from this place for a while,” Arabella’s own temper had been pricked by the scolding. He had yelled at her like she was little more than a child she thought as she continued to rage, “I was thinking that there had to be somewhere for me to go and sit where I didn’t have to worry over who would come along. Somewhere where I would be able to just act like myself instead of the lady I’m pretending to be. Do you have any idea what it is like to be somewhere entirely foreign? Do you know what it is like to try and change who you are just so you can fit into a society that you have no choice but to accept. I can’t return home, and because of this I’m stuck here on some planet in the middle of nowhere. I’m stuck on a planet that actually allows people to own others, and one where most people think nothing of abusing those that are weaker than they are. So, my Syine,” the sarcasm in the last two words was unmistakable, “is that answer enough for where I was and why? I just needed to be somewhere else for a while, so I decided that a ride might clear my head and offer some relief. Tam was kind enough to come along and show me a secluded spot that I can visit when I need to be alone.”

As she ended her own rant, the fight seemed to drain out of Arabella. She turned from Allarick, her anger spent, but the slump of her shoulders and head told of her wariness. A long sigh escaped as she moved towards the windows to look at the sky. She had never felt so alone. Her navigation equipment had been unable to offer any hope on finding her way home, and she feared that she must resign herself to spending the rest of her days on this strange world. It wasn’t that this was such a bad place, but she really just wanted to return home.

Arabella missed being where she felt safe and secure. She missed not having to worry over characters, like Phelon, threatening her. More than anything, she wanted to be away from the intriguing man behind her. Allarick was not what she would have expected from this world, and it was difficult to not view him in a different light. She wanted to find something to hate so that she could dim her attraction to him, but the simple truth was that Allarick had many qualities that she admired. He was standing up for the rights of those beneath him, and he cared deeply for those around him. He would never admit to such a thing, but he had a great capacity for compassion. She had caught a glimpse of it the night he ran to a young girl’s defense. She had seen it again today as he scolded her. While she was not some recalcitrant child to be scolded for not saying her whereabouts, she knew that he was angry because of the worry she had caused him.

Arabella thought of the night in the gardens. It was the night that Allarick had kissed her, a night on which she became fully aware of the danger here on this planet. It wasn’t the threats from Phelon that she feared in her forced captivity here. She was terrified that she may just lose her heart to someone that she felt would never be capable of giving her the love she needed. The only people towards whom Allarick showed real affection were Philomina and his deceased parents when they were mentioned. He showed compassion for others, but that would not be enough to sustain her. When, and if, she ever allowed herself to fall into love with someone, they would have to be as equally devoted to her as she to them. They would not be able to hold themselves aloof as Allarick had during the past days. Those were not qualities that she wished to find within the man she gave her heart to.

A small thread of doubt eased into Arabella’s consciousness as she thought of her desire to keep from falling in love with Allarick. What if you have already given him your heart? The query upset Arabella even more, because she knew that there was every possibility that she would have no control over whom would gain her heart. She turned to spy the man who was causing such turmoil within her thoughts. Her aqua eyes were filling with an ocean of tears that she quickly brushed aside. Here she was getting ready to weep, again, and all it did was infuriate her more. Her anger had been spent, but it returned full force at the feeling of wetness in her eyes. “If you would not mind, my Syine, I wish to return to my own chamber. Give my regrets to Mina about having missed lunch, and inform her that I do not believe that I shall be hunger for dinner either.” Arabella stormed from the room, her scathing anger leaving Allarick speechless.

“My Syine, I shall carry Arabella’s regrets to your sister,” Nechemya’s head peered around the door frame, and it was difficult for him to control the amusement in his voice. He had been outside the door during the entire exchange which had lasted for only a couple of minutes. He had never heard anyone speak to his lord in such a manner. Philomina had a certain amount of freedom with her brother, but she even watched her tongue when Allarick was in a temper. Even more shocking to Nechemya was the fact that Allarick was just standing there with a shocked look upon his face. There was no further raging. In fact, he seemed befuddled by the idea that someone would dare to yell back at him. It seemed the Syine had met his match in his beautiful guest. With a shake of his head and a small smile, Nechemya left to inform his mistress of the day’s events. She was undoubtedly worried over what hat become of her new friend. If Nechemya knew the young mistress, she would be demanding a recounting of all he knew about the happening of this afternoon.