"Hey there, sis," Marius said with a yawn. "You don't look very well."

"I… I didn't sleep well last night. I had that dream about the battle again."

"Again? That's the third time this week." Marius leaned across the table and put his hand on her forehead. "I knew I shouldn't have brought you along. It really shook you up. Shall I call the physician?"

Claudia shook her head. "No, because that would mean admitting I was there in the first place." She removed Marius's hand and held it in hers. "I can't do that to you, Marius. Imagine if people found out?"

Her brother nodded and went back to eating his eggs. "All right. But there's got to be something we can do." He pointed his fork at her, chewed thoughtfully for a moment, and then swallowed. "We will talk to the doctor. Say you've been having some bad dreams. If he asks what they're about, make something up. We'll get him to give you a draught so that you don't dream. Or maybe some herbs or something to make the dreams more pleasant. I just have to do something."

"Something about what?" Maxwell growled as he strode into the room. Their father snapped his fingers at a passing servant. "Breakfast." The servant bustled away to fill the order.

"Claudia has had trouble sleeping," Marius reported. "I was going to have the physician see what he can do."

"A glass of brandy before bed," the lord grumbled. "That's all you need to make sure you sleep soundly. No need for any expensive medicine."

"Father, we should at least make sure it isn't something more serious." Marius's voice had gained an edge to it, as it always did when he stood up for his sister. "I can't brush this off like it's nothing if there is a danger of it becoming a pressing concern."

Maxwell sighed as the servant brought out a plate of eggs and ham, along with a steaming cup of tea. Claudia silently picked at her food, and then quickly consumed it to leave her father's presence. While Lord Maxwell was an amiable man come midafternoon, he did not do mornings well.

Marius soon followed her out of the room. "By the Father, Claude, you inhaled that! I hope you don't do that in front of Count Ferdinand! Think of what kind of impression that will leave."

Claudia smiled sweetly. "Brother dear, I have to get all my bad manners out with you! I won't have time to be vulgar when I'm married!"

Marius wrapped an affectionate arm around her shoulder. "Got a point there, sis. Hey, you want to go riding? I'll bring the dogs along, it'll be fun." They walked to the stables in a comfortable, companionable silence. The grooms quickly saddled their horses and the siblings rode through Rosemont Keep's heavy wooden doors.

They galloped to the forest's edge, the hunting hounds her brother cared for nipping around the horses' hooves. The summer breeze was warm on their face, and the trees swayed slightly above their heads. The boughs made soft shhhing noises as the wind played through the leaves. The dappled shadows on the well-worn trail seemed a whole world away from the sinister air this forest had conveyed mere months ago.

"So tell me about Count Ferdinand," Claudia finally asked. "You met him in the war, didn't you?"

"Briefly," admitted Marius. "He's a tall man. Rather pale. Quiet. Perhaps two or three years older than I am. He'll treat you well, I think. And his estate near the ocean is supposed to be very beautiful."

"You'll come visit me, won't you?"

"As often as I can. At least once a month." Marius glanced to the southeast. "You know, when I'm lord around here, I want to change some things. If I can find the workforce, I want to build a canal from the Faulker River. Then, we can run little tributaries along it to help the irrigation of the peon fields. We'd put less stress on the Frost Lake, and I'm sure it would bring more life to the country side."

"The only problem is, the Rosemont coffers can't support a project like that." Marius glanced at Claudia. "You'll talk to the count about it when you're married, won't you? We'll be brothers-in-law, he'll have to help me."

Claudia leaned over and patted his hand. "Of course, Marius. I'm sure Count Ferdinand will be happy to help." Her chestnut horse sneezed as they passed through a meadow dotted with pink wildflowers. She reined the animal in and slid to the ground.

"What are you doing, Claude?"

She ignored Marius and continued to walk on foot. Her brother slid off his horse, an old gray charger who had made it through the war, and followed after her. Claudia picked a few of the flowers, but when she saw Marius chasing her, she hiked up her skirts and started to run. Marius laughed and ran to chase her down. Claudia tripped after running up a rise, and Marius dove to catch her.

His reflexes weren't quite quick enough, and Claudia landed on her face in the soft green grass. Marius laughed as she tried without much success to regain her composure. She huffed and brushed a lock of mahogany-colored hair from her eyes before struggling to her feet. "Don't you dare!" she cried as Marius burst out laughing.

"Sorry sis! I can't help it! You just look so ridiculous!" He offered her his arm and led her to the shade of a beech tree growing on the shores of a small pond. "You have to be careful, Claudia. You could have ruined all your pretty clothes."

Claudia sighed and sat down. "Marius, you should know by now that I don't care about stupid things like that."

"You should," Marius replied, leaning against the tree. "Who knows? You might be pretty if you cleaned yourself up a bit." Then he smirked. "Of course, only the Light and its Triad would know for sure! Certainly I've never seen it!" Claudia tried to cuff him, but Marius darted out of the way with another laugh. "And don't you try hitting the count when you meet him! I'm pretty sure he'd call the marriage off in three seconds flat!"

He sank down next to her and sighed. "I think I'm going to miss you, sis. Rosemont Keep won't be the same without you around. It'll just be Father, the servants and I."

"Well, you're going to be a lord. Why don't you start looking for a wife?"

Marius smirked. "Once I get you carted off, I will. Have I told you the master plan yet? No? I'm going to marry the oldest, richest widow I can find, wait for her to die, get all of her considerable fortune, and then marry the prettiest girl in Galletia. Once I've found her, of course."

"Marius!"

"What? Don't flatter yourself, Claude. I don't think a year's worth of scrubbing would make you the prettiest girl in Galletia."

"Marrying the oldest widow you can find? That's horrible!"

Marius pretended to swoon. "It's a noble sacrifice done in the service of my people. Unless, of course, you and the count can find me a pretty, rich young thing, and I can start from there."

Claudia punched his arm. "Marius, you're incorrigible!"

"And you're going to miss me so much when all you can do is sit around knitting in Count Ferdinand's beautiful seaside estate." Before Claudia could reply, he whistled to the hounds they had brought along with them. The dogs loped across the meadow, led by an old female named Sasha.

Sasha laid her head in Marius's lap, and he scratched her behind the ears. Though she was much too old to be useful on hunts anymore, Marius still kept her around for the companionship. She had been a puppy when he was a little boy, and he had taken special care raising her. She wasn't capable of much more than a romp through the woods and sleeping in front of the fire anymore, but for Marius, that worked just fine. The dog licked his face as the other four hounds lolled about around the two Rosemonts. The horses wandered around the meadow cropping the long grasses there. Claudia and Marius relaxed and enjoyed the sunshine until sometime in the late afternoon.

"All right, come along," Marius finally groaned. "Father's going to be wondering where we've been this whole time."

They fetched the horses, and slowly made their way back to Rosemont Keep. Marius stretched his arms out and yawned. "So will you be wearing a gown you've already got, or will you spend all of tomorrow with the seamstress? Because you know, I was thinking. I just got that new crossbow, so if you wanted to take my old one and we could go…"

"Wait. Why would I need a gown in the first place?"

Marius blinked. "Father didn't tell you? The ball?"

"What ball?"

"Oh, by the Crone." Marius blew out a long breath. "So you know that King Septimus and the princes and a bunch of nobles and foreign bigwigs are going all over Galletia to visit the other lords and give them a big pat on the back for all the support in the war?"

"Vaguely."

"Meaning you had no clue. Anyway, sis, Father is going to be throwing a ball in their honor. And they'll be here by the end of the week."

"Oh dear, what a bother. Can't I just go hide in my rooms?"

"Count Ferdinand will be there," Marius needled.

"So?"

"So? Don't you want to meet your future husband?"

"Well… a little, I suppose."

"Then what's it going to be? Because after we get done with crossbows, I was thinking of riding down to Sylph's Landing and checking in with the people there…"

While the idea of spending the day at one of their father's villages, a little hamlet on a hill where a group of sylphs were said to have come down centuries ago, hardly struck Claudia as a good time, being prodded to death by the family seamstress appealed even less.

"I've probably got some dress I've never worn stashed away somewhere," Claudia replied. "I'll just wear that and be done with it."

Before anyone could say anything more, a large dark shape ran across the trail in front of them, startling the horses. Claudia got her mount under control as the creature, whatever it was, disappeared into the underbrush on the other side of the dirt path. Marius, however, had a little more difficulty. His old charger threw him from his back, and her brother landed with an unpleasant crunch and a gasp of pain. Claudia jumped from her saddle and ran to his side.

Marius tried to sit up and winced in pain. "Hey, don't worry. It's not broken. I think it's just dislocated." He laughed at the look on her face despite his obvious pain. "Light, sis! You think I hadn't been through worse."

Claudia shook her head and envisioned a geometric pattern in her mind. The pattern appeared in front of her right hand, etched with light. She placed her hand over Marius's shoulder and closed her eyes, pouring her strength into it. Soon, the pattern faded, and she helped Marius up.

Her brother worked his arm in a circle. "Whoa! Nice work, Claude! I don't feel a thing! When did you get so good at healing magic?"

Claudia smiled sweetly. "Well, I had to do something while you were off fighting the war. Did you think I just sat in my room all day staring out the window, waiting for you to come home? No, I practiced!"

"Ah, so that's what you were doing in the war camp!"

"Right. I was a battlefield nurse."

"And the best damn squire I ever had, too."

By the time they arrived back at Rosemont Keep, they had put the incident behind them, and neither of them stopped to question what the creature in the forest was. In this age of peace and enlightenment, it did not matter.

The moon would be full soon. Claudia sat on her windowsill and traced its path across the sky. The stars all glimmered around it on the perfectly clear night. The young woman had the glass panes open, allowing the summer air to enter the room. It played through her hair, ruffling it ever so slightly to the point where it was enjoyable, and not a bother.

She made a small contented sound. With a sigh, she turned to crawl into bed and nearly screamed. Before her stood three figures in dark clothes, upon their faces a look of serene calm. The woman in their center stepped forward and spread her arms wide. Almost as though beckoning her into an embrace.

"Claudia."

The young woman pressed her back against the wall, and her hand reached for the penknife on her desk. "How do you know my name?"

The young man behind the woman smiled. "As though that knife would be able to harm us." He chuckled and glanced at the third figure, a wizened old man. The way they looked at each other made it seem as though they were sharing a private joke. And then the young man vanished.

"I'll take care of that for you, my lady."

Claudia recoiled again as the young man appeared beside her, holding her penknife in his hand. He then appeared behind the woman again and inspected the tiny blade. The young woman narrowed her eyes. "Just who do you think you are? And what are you doing in my chambers?"

The old man's bushy eyebrows went up. "My, she's actually asking questions. The last one had already tried slicing us to ribbons by now. I do believe I like this one much more."

The woman held up a hand. "Now quiet, I'm sure she's confused enough already." She stepped closer to Claudia. "My dear, you may call me the Mother."

"My mother is dead," Claudia replied sharply. "And if you dare to presume…"

"Not your mother. The Mother." She pointed behind her. "And that is the Warrior, and there is the Patron."

Claudia could tell that the proper titles were implied. "I'm afraid I don't quite understand. You're rather chatty for assassins, aren't you?"

The Warrior looked first at Claudia, then at the Patron, and back at Claudia again. "Assassins. She thinks we're assassins. Why on earth would we bring along a codger if we're assassins?"

"If you aren't assassins then what are you? Why else would you come into my rooms in the middle of the night, clothed all in black?"

The Mother placed her hands on Claudia's shoulders. "Surely you know of the Maiden, the Father and the Crone?"

"The Light's Triad. Of course."

"We are Darkness's Triad."

Claudia blinked. "Preposterous."

"If the Light has one, why would Darkness be any different?"

"Because… Because that's just… It makes no sense!"

"It makes perfect sense," the Patron sighed. "Oh dear, she's not simple, is she? I thought she showed promise, but I've been wrong before."

"I'm not simple!" Claudia cried. "All right, suppose for a moment that I believe you. All right. So what is the Dark's Triad doing in my bedroom?"

The Mother pulled a tiara from within her cloak. "Claudia, dear, you've been chosen to become one of the most powerful people alive."

Claudia could only stare mutely at the tiara. It was made of some kind of steel, with a diamond set into it. "I don't understand."

"You were there when Kalaryndor died," the Warrior said slowly. "The closest being capable of bearing the Darkness within you."

"No!" Claudia shouted. "No! Humans are creatures of the Light! I… I can't be tainted! I'm good! Honest!"

The Patron sighed. "Darkness and Light is not a question of good or evil. Dark Lord Melestrophrastes was one of the most benevolent kings to ever walk this world. The point is, Claudia, that you have no choice in the matter. The Darkness needed a mortal host, and given the circumstances, you are the only one capable of doing so." Claudia started to shake her head, and the Patron gently took her hand between his weathered, rheumatic ones. "My dear, please. Take the Crown. This world needs you. It needs a Dark Lady."

The Mother gave a small smile. "Claudia, we only want to help you. Help this world. You see, the world you live in is ruled by Balance. When that champion of the Light struck down Kalaryndor, that balance was shattered. There is no Darkness in the world anymore."

"How is that a bad thing?" Claudia asked, a pleading note creeping into her voice. "There's no more fighting. No more monsters lurking outside the walls. People are safe."

"The creatures of the Light are safe," the Warrior growled. "But your people are not. The creatures of the Dark suffer each day you do not accept your destiny, Claudia."

"I can't do it," Claudia murmured. "I can't be the Dark Lord. I'm… I'm just a woman."

"An exemplary woman," the Patron said softly. "Quite the excellent specimen, a pride of your race."

"For the Balance, Claudia!" the Warrior snapped, his calm composure dropping. "Take the damn Crown!"

"Easy," the Mother consoled. "She must accept it of her own free will. Come. We will try again at a later date."

The next thing Claudia remembered after that was waking up in her bed, tucked in like her mother had used to do when she was a little girl. As she slowly changed out of her nightclothes, she couldn't shake the feeling that she had just awoken from the strangest dream.