Jaiden's entire world changed in one instant. Now he struggles to adjust to the changes. Meanwhile Nesath has taken Rachel as his personal slave. Now she must overcome her personal demons and find a way to survive.

Transcendent — 6:
~Changes~

Jaiden stared at the woman in front of her. Her mother? She had always thought about her father, she had never really given much thought to her mother. She realized that her mother must have been thinking about her often all this time and she began to feel guilty. How could she have ignored her mother for all these years. She supposed that having a tyrant for a father that she was one day destined to replace as king was something that had kept her thoughts quite occupied.

“You are my mother? The queen?” she asked softly.

“Yes, I am. I have thought about you everyday since I sent Tyrone and Felicia to bring you somewhere safe. Now that you are here I can only fear they are dead.”

“Felicia died when I was still young,” she told her mother realizing that Felicia must be the woman who everyone on the farm thought was her mother and knew as Helen. “I don't know what happened to Jedd, or I mean Tyrone, he was captured by Rhyum.” She would not call him father! “I think he intends to torture him in someway because he told the soldiers to bring him here.”

The queen nodded her understanding, “I see. Forgive me Jaiden, but I hoped that I would never see you again. If you had managed to replace your father as king, I would have died with him. As much as my heart wanted to see you again, in my mind I wished this day would never come.”

Jaiden looked at her mother in surprise. She realized it must have been so terrible for her mother to be a prisoner here. Bearing children for an evil man like Rhyum, she probably wished that she would never have children. A thought climbed into her mind that she could have children now, but Jaiden pushed that thought away. She did not want to think of things like that. In fact it was taking all of her concentration to ignore her new breasts and the way that the fabric of her rough linen work shirt rubbed against the her nipples painfully every time she moved. No, she definitely did not want to think of those things and concentrated hard on talking with her mother.

Her attention came back to her mother and she realized that she had been silently thinking. Her mother was studying her face and watching her as she absentmindedly pulled the front of her shirt and held it away from her breasts.

“Jaiden, you must feel so strange and uncomfortable right now. I am sorry for what your father has done to you, and I know that you probably don't want to think about it, but I think you need to change into something more comfortable for your new body.” her mother told her sympathetically.

“You're right mother, I really don't want to think about that right now.” Jaiden frowned.

“Well trust me on this, the sooner we get you into some clothes designed for women, the more comfortable you will feel.” She placed a hand on Jaiden's shoulder and looked her directly in the eyes. “I really am sorry Jaiden, but this really is necessary.”

Jaiden groaned, she realized that sooner or later she was going to have to face this transformation, but she really wasn't sure that she could handle it right now. Every movement of her breasts, the weight of her longer hair, the empty feeling below, all of it was constantly reminding her that she was no longer a man. That she was now a woman and very well might be a woman for the rest of her life. She really wasn't sure she was ready to face that fact yet.

“Jaiden, please.” Her mother pleaded.

Jaiden groaned again, “Alright mother, I will change my clothes, but lets make it quick please! I really don't want to think about what just happened to me yet.”

Her mother nodded, “I understand that completely Jaiden, don't worry. I'll make this as quick as possible.”

Jaiden got out o bed and followed her mother out of the room. The room they entered was much larger than where she had been sleeping. It had a huge four post bed that looked like it could hold ten people comfortable. A large wardrobe stood in the corner of the room. There was also a sitting area with sofas and chairs that looked incredibly soft. A small dining table occupied another part of the room, and she could also see a large ornate desk. The room was quite elegantly decorated and everything was arranged to make it look spacious and comfortable. It looked fit for... well a queen.

Her mother laughed as she watched Jaiden staring around the room. Her laugh was quite pleasant and made Jaiden feel better just from hearing it.

“It might look impressive from where you have been, but it is an impressive prison.” her mother told her.

Jaiden remembered that Aunt Tess had told them all that it was believed the queen was kept as a prisoner in the palace. A feeling of intense grief filled Jaiden as she thought of Aunt Tess and all the people at the farm. Suddenly tears began streaming down her face. All of the people that she had ever known were dead and lost to her. Rachel, Lyal, Glenn and Matt, Alyssa, all of them. She could still see Aunt Tess with the sword through her chest. At the time she had been filled with sorrow and rage, she had used those feeling to attack. Now she only felt sorrow and grief.

She felt her mother's arm wrap around her and felt herself being drawn into her mother's embrace. Her mother whispered to her soothingly and held her close gently running her back. She cried for what felt like hours, until there were no tears left to cry. Finally she began to calm down..

“I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me.” Jaiden sniffed, “I've never cried like this before.”

Jaiden felt so embarrassed. She wondered what her mother must be thinking of her. She was so weak, she couldn't control herself. She had spent hours just crying, letting her emotions go wild. Her mother must hate her. She must be ashamed of her. She prob ably was even glad that she was caught, after all, what kind of king would she have made if she couldn't control herself? All of these thoughts made her almost start crying all over again.

She felt her mother stroking her hair and she looked up at her. To her surprise, there was no shame or embarrassment there, only love and compassion.

“Jaiden, there is nothing to be embarrassed about. You are a girl now. Girls are more in touch with their feelings. This is a perfectly natural reaction for someone who has been through everything that you have.” her mother said comfortingly.

Jaiden felt a wave of anger roll through her. “I don't want to be a girl!” she yelled angrily. “Why did they do this to me?”

Jaiden's mother stepped back from her, her eyes had filled with rage and she was becoming more and more agitated. Her hands had clenched into fists, and her eyes took on a dangerous glint. Jaiden was seeing red, and she wanted blood.

“I'll kill them. All of them. For what they did to me and everyone else. Somehow I will find a way to make Rhyum pay for what he's done to me!” Jaiden snarled. “I'll make them change me back!”

“I wish that you could. I would give anything to see that happen.” her mother replied her voice filled with venom.

Jaiden looked at her mother in surprise. She had not expected a reaction quite like this. She realized that her mother had just as much reason if not more to hate Rhyum. “You hate him too, don't you mother?”

“I do, I hate what he has become, what he had done. He was once a good man, but now he has changed so much. So much has changed.”

Jaiden looked down at herself. She made herself look at her body, the changes that had happened to her. She forced herself to come to terms with the fact that she was now a girl. She looked at her thin slender legs and arms. Her hips had grown wider and she was much softer and rounder. Her hands which where once large and powerful were now small and dainty. Her shoulders had narrowed considerably. Her whole body had become slim and petite. She was still well toned for a woman, but had nowhere near the strength she had before. Judging by the looseness of her clothes, she figured she had lost quite a bit of weight and was now shorter. She guessed she had shrunk down four or five inches.

Finally she could avoid it no longer. She looked at her chest. She groaned at the sight of the two large mounds peeking out from under her shirt. They were enormous! They had to be at least as big as Rachel's had been.

A tear trickled down her check as she thought about Rachel and how she would never she her friend again. The truth was that she loved Rachel, she always had and she always knew it even though she tried to deny it. She believed that she couldn't be with Rachel because her secret was too dangerous for anyone that stayed close to her.

Now it didn't matter anymore. Rachel was dead and so was everyone else that she had ever known. Well everyone except Jedd, and he would probably end up dead or worse in the near future. Rachel struggled to hold back fresh tears.

She turned her thoughts back to what she had been doing. Her new body... right, she was trying to come to terms with it. Her breast, yes, those two new enormous things hanging from her chest. She had been constantly aware of them since she received them, although she had been trying to ignore them. She could feel their weight tugging down at her, and she felt them bounce, shift, or rub against her rough clothes with every move she made. The rubbing was the worst! Her new feminine skin was so soft and sensitive. Every movement made her itch or feel pain as her skin rubbed the rough work shirt she was wearing.

Finally there was the emptiness below. She was surprised however to realize that this although an odd sensation was not the one that caused her the most distress. Perhaps it was because she hadn't seen down there yet, while the rest of the changes were clearly visible to her right now. However her distress rose quite a bit when she realized that she could now bear children. She quickly pushed that thought out of her mind. That was not something that she really wanted to think about right now.

Her attention shifted to her face and the changes that were made there. She saw a mirror on the desk in the room as well as a couple full body mirrors near the large wardrobe. She opted for the one on the desk. Right now she only wanted to think about her face. She would look at the full image later.

Looking into the mirror she didn't recognize much of anything of the person that looked back at her. She still had blond hair and hazel colored eyes, but that was about the only thing that had not changed. Her eyes looked much larger in her smaller oval shaped face. She also had much longer lashes and thinner arched eyebrows. Her hair was now down to her mid back and looked pretty wild. Her lips had also grown fuller giving her a rather cute mouth. Her nose was much smaller and her whole face looked much softer. She had to admit that the reflection that looked back at her was quite beautiful.

Jaiden stared in the mirror for awhile continuing to study her face. So this was it, this was her life now. This was who she was going to be from now on. She knew that all the talk of forcing them to turn her back before was just that. Talk. The truth of the matter was her father was immortal and short of Praxtor himself returning and setting things straight, Jaiden was likely to be a girl for the rest of her life. She decided that she might as well try and accept it and move on.

She turned again to face her mother who had been watching her silently. Once again she realized she had suddenly gotten distracted and jumped from doing one thing to another. She realized she had been doing that ever since waking up.

“I'm sorry mother. It's just this is all so much to handle. I just haven't been able to concentrate on one thing at all. I think I will be OK now though. I...” she paused and took a deep breath, “I have accepted that this is my life from now on.”

Her mother looked at her looking both surprised and impressed. Now that she had seen what she looked like in a mirror, she realized that she resembled her mother quite a bit. Like her father, her mother was also immortal, so she too looked quite young giving Jaiden a good idea of what she would look like in a few years.

“How did you do that? How did you manage to accept what has happened to you so quickly? What were you doing?” her mother asked with genuine curiosity.

“Oh, it was a combination of something that Jedd,” she paused wrinkling her nose, “I mean Tyrone and Aunt Tess taught me. Jedd... I mean Tyrone, taught me show meditation techniques that help me control my emotions, he taught me that emotions can get you killed on the battlefield if you let them run free of self-control. It took sometime, but I eventually realized those techniques could help me with this too. It feels... harder now thought. Aunt Tess, she was the wife of the farmer who owned the farm where I lived, taught me how to accept things I can not change. She told us that life will give us a lot of difficult things to handle, and that by focusing on it slowly, taking one thing, or one part of it at time, we can eventually bring our minds around to accept it. It's going to take some time, but if I keep on doing this... I think I will eventually be OK.”

Her mother smiled at her. “Of course, I should have expected Tyrone would teach you something like that. This Aunt Tess sounds like she is a very wise woman.”

Jaiden smiled sadly, “She was. It turned out she was a mage of some sort. She tried to stop Rhyum, so he killed her.”

“Oh I am so sorry, I should have known better.” She wrapped her arms around Jaiden in a comforting embrace. “I am so sorry Jaiden, I am here for you.”

Jaiden returned the hug then pulled free. “It's alright, I am OK right now. I have myself under control for now. Right now I really have so many questions about everything.”

Her mother looked at her with uncertainty, “Alright, if you are sure you are OK. I know you must have a lot of questions and I will answer them as well as I can. First though, let's get you changed into something more comfortable. We don't have much time, they will come for you tomorrow so let's get this taken care of as quickly as we can.”

Jaiden nodded and followed her mother to the big wardrobe. She supposed it was time to get her first taste of what life as a female was going to be like.

*****

Rachel lay bound on the back of a horse exhausted. Her wrists were raw and bloody from struggling to get free of the ropes that held her. It had been no use, the men who had tied her up obviously knew what they were doing. Still she had struggled, desperate to get free and help her friends.

She had been reliving the events of the night over and over again since leaving the farm. Every time that the events of that night finished playing out in her mind, it would start over again. She realized that it was something she was going to have to deal with for the rest of her life. The nightmares from that night would probably never end. She felt like she was going to go insane. Once again the whole cycle started again.

*****

All around her she heard the frightened screams of people running for their lives. She saw people running among the fire light in an attempt to escape. She hoped that some of them would actually make it out of there alive. Surely in all the chaos some of them would had to make it out alive.

Everywhere she looked she could see men in black armor carrying heavy swords stained red with blood. The men were merciless, they cut down men, women and children with ease as if they were doing nothing more then cut the wheat at harvest. She saw many a familiar face being struck down brutally.

Rachel felt a helpless rage building up deep inside her. She struggled with the tight ropes that bound her in a vain effort to free herself. Tears streamed down her face as she listened to the screams of death all around her. Soon the entire farm had been light by bright flames as the soldiers burnt everything. All the buildings and even the fields were engulfed in flames. Shadows danced in the firelight, shadows of death and violence. Blood flowed freely like water. This night was suposed to be a night of festivities and happiness, instead the night was filled with one gruesome image of death after another. Rachel closed her eyes tightly and soon was screaming herself as she tried to block out the sounds.

Rachel was broken out of the shock that had taken her over by the sound of someone calling her name. She could feel a hand on her shoulder shaking her, trying to bring her back into the real world. She open her eyes to see Alyssa crouching among the horses, looking at her in concern.

“What are you doing?” Rachel hissed loudly. “Get out of here! Get away while you can!”

Alyssa shook her head, “Not without you. I'll untie you and we can go together.” She started working at the knots that held Rachel bound.

“Alright... I won't waste time arguing, just hurry.”

Rachel waited as Alyssa struggled. Finally Alyssa sighed in defeat. “I can't get them lose. I'll have to try and take the horse.”

Alyssa moved from the shadows and into the light as she stepped around to the front of the horse. Rachel screamed as a sword blade flashed connecting with Alyssa neck. Rachel watched in her horror as her friend's lifeless body fell to the ground coating her in blood. Alyssa's head had flown somewhere out of sight.

A face leered at Rachel and she recognized it as belonging to the man that had ordered her to be taken in the first place.

“Looks like you aren't the only girl around here with a backbone. Pity I could only take one of you.” He smirked at her.

Rachel glared at him in anger and spat in his face. Laughing, he wiped the spittle off his face.

“Thanks for showing me I made the right choice. I'm going to look forward to breaking you and turning you into a proper little whore. When I am done with you, you will know your place. You will be begging for me to take you.”

Rachel growled a curse back at him and spat again.

“Your first lesson starts now bitch. You will learn to treat me with respect.” he said and casually backhanded Rachel across the face so hard it caused her vision to swim and her ears to ring.

Rachel glared at him in defiance and he struck her again and again. Eventually the pain became to much and she sank into glorious blackness.

When Rachel came to, she was on the back of the horse still riding behind the man that he beaten her. The movements of the horse were uncomfortable, and her face was a throbbing mass of bruises covered with blood. Her tongue felt dry and swollen in her mouth. She could smell the stink of the man on the horse in front of her, he smelled of sweat, blood and death. Shortly after that the memories came and she began her cycle of remembrance..

*****

Rachel was brought out of her thoughts as she felt the horses come to a stop and she was pulled roughly down to the ground and set on her feet. As soon as the hands that dragged her down released her, she collapsed to the ground unable to stand on her own. It was now almost a full day since the men attacked the farm, and Rachel's feet and legs were numb from a combination of the ropes tight ropes that bound her and lack of use.

The man that had beat her began to shout orders to set up camp for the night. Rachel was left lying on the ground where she had fallen as the men rushed to obey their commander's orders. She lay there with her face to the ground, her hands bound behind her back with a rope connecting them to her feet which were also tightly bound. She could not move if she tried. In the end it didn't matter. She didn't even have the energy left in her to make the effort. She barely even felt the rocks and sticks on the ground that were poking into her.

She was mentally and physically exhausted. Her whole body ached with pain from the beating and the rough treatment that she had suffered. She wished that the men would forget about her and leave her where she lay so that she could die and find peace.

As these thoughts passed through her mind, something built up inside of her. It was a deep and primal feeling, something that was as old as the beginning of time. Rachel embraced that feeling and felt strength flooding through her. She thought about all the challenges that she had faced in her life. Although none of them were anything near what she went through today she realized that she had never given up before, and that she was not going to start now. She found her will to survive again. These men all needed to die for what they did today. As the desire for vengeance consumed her, it burnt away her doubts and fears. She stopped weeping at the memories of what happened and used them as a tool to shape her anger.

Rachel began to think about what she could do. Somehow she needed to escape this situation. After escaping, she was going to need some help to take her revenge. Perhaps she could rescue Jedd somehow. With his help she would have a much better chance of success against these men.

Jaiden might also be alive somewhere. They didn't kill him outright so maybe he was still alive wherever they took him. If she could rescue him, then she would have another person to help her. Sure the three of them would still be out matched by the one hundred or so troops here, but it would be a start. Perhaps they could raise an army of their own, start a revolt.

Rachel wasn't sure how she was going to do any of these things, but she committed herself to looking for opportunities to escape. She began to watch the men around her that were busy setting up the camp. She tried to memorize the layout of the camp.

After the camp setup was complete, Rachel felt she had a pretty good idea of the basic layout. It was already fairly dark when the man that beat her returned and hauled her roughly to her feet. “Let's go bitch. I know you farm girls are all sluts, it's time to see what you can do.”

He cut the ropes that bound her feet with his dagger and began pushing her towards his tent. Rachel watched carefully how they moved from the horses to his tent. If a chance came for her to escape, she wanted to take a horse with her when she went. She kept n eye open for where Jedd might be, She hadn't seen him since they were both dragged away to be tied to the back of a horse. Still.she knew he had to be here somewhere, and she wanted to take him with her if she had a chance to get away.

Everywhere they went in the camp, men would leer at her and shout out crude comments. A few even reached out and pinched her as she passed by. Her captor only laughed whenever she jumped from a pinch.

“Don't worry men, you'll all have your turn when I am done with her!” He called out to cheering and raucous laughter. Rachel had never encountered such vile men before in her life. She didn't know it was even possible for someone to be this evil, to give no value to another person's life. She realized that she had been very lucky and very sheltered growing up on the farm in Davenshire.

She was almost relieved when they finally reached his tent and she could finally escape the attention of the rough lot of men outside. Almost relieved that is, until she remembered what was in store for her in here. Once that thought crossed her mind, she decided she'd much rather be paraded around the camp a few more times.

The tent was the largest tent in the camp but not by much. It was lit by a couple of oil lamps, and in the middle was a large sleeping roll. There was also a pack near the door which Rachel guessed must be filled with basic supplies. All in all the tent was much less elegant than she had expected for a military commander.

Almost as if reading her mind her captor spoke to her, “You're in luck bitch. Normally I travel in much nicer accommodations with a lot more luxuries. You serve as my personal slave. This time since speed was of the essence we traveled light. So there is a lot less for you to do.”

“I am not a slave!” Rachel said indignantly.

Rachel reeled back as the man struck her and fell to the ground. “You are my slave, and you will speak only when asked a question.” He said calmly. “Do you understand bitch?”

Rachel glared at him angrily. Her breath exploded out of her as he kicked her in the stomach. Tears ran down her face from the pain and she gasped for breath. Calmly he watched her and waited for her to recover. Once he was satisfied that she was breathing normally again and listening to him he spoke again.

“When you train a dog you treat it badly when it misbehaves, you reward it when it behaves properly. Show me proper respect and you'll be treated much better bitch.” He stared at her intently. “Now do you understand?”

Rachel's body ached with pain. She realized that she was only hurting her chances of escape by defying him. If she was too hurt to take advantage of an escape opportunity it would be her own fault. She needed to play his game for now.

“Yes I understand.” she said her eyes downcast.

“Excellent! But you are to address me as Master Nesath from now on. Understood?”

“Yes, Master Nesath.” she answered keeping her eyes downcast. She felt physically ill as the words left her mouth. It was a struggle to sound submissive as she thought about calling such a monster master.

He smiled, “I know you are just playing along right now. I'll let it go for the tonight.” He took a water skin from his pack and tossed it to her. She took it and drank greedily. The water was warm and it wasn't fresh, but it was exactly what she needed. Nesath watched her as she drank. The man never seemed to show emotion, when he beat her it was not with anger but a cool aloofness. Even his most provocative and insulting statements were devoid of emotion. That cool detachment from everything that happened around him and everything that he did made him terrifying.

When she had finished drinking he took the water skin and replaced it in his pack. Then turning back to Rachel, he told her, “I don't care who you were or who you thought you were. Your name is not important. What is important is you are mine now. You are my little bitch whose only job is to satisfy me in any way I desire. You do not have any name anymore unless I wish to give you one. A dog needs to learn to respond only to it's master's voice.”

Rachel watched hungrily as he took some bread and cheese from the pack along with a wine skin. He broke off a large chunk of bread and ate. Rachel's stomach growled loudly. She had not eaten anything since the feast and she was quite hungry. Playing his game was starting to get much harder than she expected it would. She sat in silent torture as she watched him eat every last bit of the food he took from his pack and washed it down with the wine. She desperately wished to ask for something to eat but knew that if she did she would be beaten again.

“Come over here bitch.” Nesath beckoned her to him.

Obediently she got up from the ground and stood in front of him. He took hold of her head with one large hand and began to study her carefully. He turned her head to look at each side. Rachel half expected him to tell her to open her mouth so he could inspect her teeth. Finishing with her face, Nesath moved on to inspecting her body. He let his hand wander all over her body leaving Rachel feeling very violated. Still she submitted to his attentions all the while planning how she was going to kill him.

“Well it looks like I made a decent choice. You will do nicely.” He grinned wickedly at her, “This is where your training can be fun for both of us. If you behave we can both enjoy ourselves.”

He undressed himself tossing his clothes in the back corner of the tent. His weapons had been left outside the tent. Rachel looked at him in apprehension as he lay on the bedroll and summoned her to him. She came and knelt beside him.

“There you go. No fighting at all. You want this as much as I do, don't you bitch? You're nothing but a dirty little whore.” He pulled her close and kissed her hard on her lips. Rachel swallowed the urge to bite down hard on his lip.

“I like to undress my girls myself.” he said as he pulled at the back of her dress. “It feels like I'm opening a gift.”

He began to pull the dress over her head and Rachel saw her chance to strike. She reached down to the inside of her thighs and drew two long knives. Quickly she reached her arms around him and plunged the knives deep into his kidneys. She stabbed again and again and again. Nesath let out a loud scream of pain and slumped forward.

Finally she came to her senses again and stopped stabbing into Nesath's corpse. She dropped the knives and pulled away from him. His face was locked in a mix of pain and surprise. She hoped that if anyone had heard the scream they thought it was something else. She looked at the blood that stained her hands red. She had done it. She had killed a man. Rachel felt guilt and revulsion fill her. She felt like she was going to be sick.

Rachel pushed the feelings deep down inside of her. She needed to focus and move quickly. She didn't have time to break down now. Sooner or later, someone was bound to show up to speak to their commanding officer. She only hoped that they expected him to be busy with her for awhile yet.

She picked up the daggers and wiped them clean on his discarded clothes before replacing them in their sheaths. She was thankful that Jedd had given them to her with the instruction to always keep them with her. He told her that most men would never expect her to have them, and that they could end up saving her life one day. It looked like he was right.

Next she went to the large pack and opened it. Inside she found enough basic supplies to last a couple days. There was also a small money pouch filled with gold and silver coins. She decided that she was going to take the entire pack with her if she could manage it. Lifting it, she found that it was quite heavy, but she thought she would be able to handle it.

She considered trying to grab some of his weapons from in front of the tent but quickly discarded the idea. There was a torch out front and with the commanders tent being in the middle of the camp, she didn't think she would be able to get any weapons from there unnoticed.

Instead she blew out the small oil lamps. Once it was dark inside, she moved to the darkest side of the tent where no torchlight was shining in and drew one of her long knives. Carefully she cut a long slit in the wall of the tent. Once it was large enough for her to slip through, she shoulder the pack and slowly crept out of the tent and into the night.

Emerging from the small hole, Rachel found herself in a small gap between tents. Moving low to the ground she slowly made her way to the corner of the tent. A nearby torch bathed the ground in a pool of light a couple feet in front of where she stopped. Glancing out from where she remained hidden between the two tents, Rachel could see men gathered at fires, or moving up and down the makeshift paths between the tents.

Most of the men were eating, drinking and talking loudly. They all seemed occupied in what they were doing and she couldn't see any guards nearby. She suspected that the soldiers didn't fear an attack and that anyone working on guard duty tonight was a mere formality. It made sense to her, they weren't in a war right now. What they did the other night was slaughter a bunch of farmers and peasants. There would be no one coming to attack them in the night. All of this worked to Rachel's advantage as she planned to make her escape.

Taking a deep breath and holding it tightly she dashed out from her hiding spot, across the small path, and into another small gap between another group of tents. She stopped and waited listening to see if anyone was going to call out an alarm about an escaping prisoner. When no shouts came she smiled to herself at her success.

She considered breifly trying to find Jedd and seeing if they could escape together. However, she quickly discarded the idea as she had no idea where he was being held in the camp. Instead she tried to orient herself so that she could find where the horse had been tied when they first arrived.

Once she had her bearings, Rachel continued dashing from shadow to shadow and flitting between the tents. Each time she dashed into the open she would pause upon entering the shadows again and wait to be detected. It seemed that none of the soldiers were really watching anything other than what they were currently engaged in. Since she stuck to the shadows as much as possible, she was beginning to feel like she just might make out of there alive.

Rachel came out of the gap between the tents to find the horses picketed in front of her. She knew at this point she would have to be very careful. The last thing that she wanted to do was startle the horses and alert the soldiers that something was wrong here. She also expected that there would be men guarding the horses. She moved into the shadows of a nearby tree and knelt down in the grass watching carefully.

After awhile she still hadn't seen any guards patrolling along the horse lines. She figured they must be very confident that no one was going to try and steal their horses. She guessed that the guards probably were sitting by a fire somewhere nearby counting on the horses to alert them to anything unusual happening.

Slowly she crept among the horses moving slowly so that she wouldn't startle them. She had spent a fair amount of time among the horses at Master Valin's farm. Jedd wanted all of them to learn to ride in case of an emergency. He had even taught them how to ride bareback. Master Valin hadn't been thrilled at the idea of letting them ride but gave in grudgingly when Jedd insisted that it was a necessary skill to help with the defense of the community.

As it turned out, she would not have to ride bareback tonight. The horses were hobbled in a large group with their riding tack nearby in case there was some need to move out quickly. Rachel just needed to choose a horse, saddle it up and go. She was surprised at how easy escaping had been so far. It was almost as if they wanted her to escape.

As she walked through the line of horses, she felt more than a little intimidated. There were many large horses including a few young stallions that she was sure she would not be able to handle. Master Valin had always been proud of his excellent horses, but she now realized his horses were average at best. She wandered through the lines until she came across a smaller mare. It looked similar in size to what she had ridden before. She approached the mare slowly so as not to alarm it. The horse looked at her calmly and sniffed at her before turning it's interest back to it's feed bag.

It seemed like a gentle and calm enough mount not to be easily spooked by a stranger. She turned to the riding tack and started to saddle the horse. As soon as the mare felt the saddle hit her back, she immediately stood still and ready. Rachel was pleased that the horse appeared to be so well trained. Stealing it was going to be an easier task then she expected.

Rachel tied her new pack on the back of the saddle. It looked like she was all ready to go. She looked around one more time for guards and still not spotting any, she climbed into the saddle. With one last glance over her shoulder, she kicked her heels into the horse's flanks. The mare shot off into the night at a quick run. Rachel made for the cover of the woods and kept the horse moving at a fast pace. She knew that sooner or later she would need to slow down or she would risk the horse breaking a leg in the dark, but first she needed that cover.

*****

Zikor watched the girl racing into the darkness. After she disappeared into the trees, he turned and walked back towards the center of the camp. Passing many fires he saw a large number of soldiers eying him with suspicion. He knew his profession was well known among these men. He couldn't wait until that suspicion would be replaced with fear. After tonight, he knew it wouldn't be much longer.

He entered a tent and Mikkel turned to look at him. “It's done then?”

“Yes lord Mikkel, she killed Nesath and I watched as she fled into the woods.” Zikor answered.

“Good. Then command is mine. Nesath always was a fool. His appetites were always going to be his end.”

“How did you know that she would be able to kill him?” Zikor asked curiously.

“That was the easiest thing of all to predict. Nesath had gotten careless, he thought himself untouchable. He should have expected a girl like that found with Tyrone would be more than what she appeared.”

“I understand. You are very wise my lord.”

Mikkel laughed, “Zikor I have no need of that kind of ass kissing. If you really want to take that route with me, you would be better of licking my boots clean. I won't respect you anymore but at least you'd be doing something useful. You are dismissed.”

Zikor turned to leave then paused in front of the door to the tent. “My lord, one question if I may.”

He waited and when Mikkel said nothing, he continued hesitatingly, “Why did you allow the prisoner to escape? Why not just kill her?”

Mikkel stared at him intently, “I always reward those that help me. Even those that help me unknowingly.” he answered finally, “You did quite well yourself tonight. Continue to serve me as well as you served your old master, and I can promise you that you will have the power you crave.”

Zikor nodded his understanding, “I see, thank you my lord.”

He gave a sharp salute and exited the tent. Things were definitely changing quickly around here and he was going to ride along as far as it would take him. Once that had taken him as far as it could, he would move on to the next person that could carry him up with them. It wouldn't be long before he was the one giving all the orders. His future was looking very bright indeed.

*****

Jaiden stood looking uncomfortably into the mirror. It seemed that she and her mother had very different ideas about what would be considered comfortable. Although to be fair it was more the fault of the lady's maids that dressed her than her mother. She wondered if what she had on now was their idea of revenge for being woken in the middle of the night. She stared at the long rust colored skirt and of her dress thinking not for the first time how much she would have preferred to be in pants. That however wasn't the worst of it. The skirt at least was long and modest. The same couldn't be said of the rest of the dress. She was wearing a black corset form fitting bodice that she was told was perfect for emphasizing her figure. Apparently she had excellent shoulders so the maid's decided she needed something strapless and sleeveless that showed them off. All in all she had to admit that it fit well and made her looked incredibly beautiful. The problem of course being that Jaiden wasn't sure that she was quite ready to look quite like this. Damn it! She still had the mind of a male after all!

They had also decided that there was no way she could walk around with such wild untamed hair. After deciding what she would wear and taking her measurements, they sent the clothes off with one girl to be adjusted and she quickly found herself pushed into a seat near the mirror. One of the maids began cutting her hair, while another set in on her face working at her eyebrows. A third took her hands and started working on her nails.

By the time they were finished Jaiden couldn't recognize herself. Her long blond hair now came just past her shoulders with bangs pulled to the side to frame her face. Her eyebrows were thin and arched making her face look even more feminine. Her nails were neatly trimmed. The girl working on her hands seemed disappointed that she didn't have longer nails. Jaiden was pretty happy about that fact herself. Still the girl made do with what she had to work with and settled for painting them a black. They wanted to paint her face but Jaiden refused that and threatened them with violence if they even dared to try. The maids looked at her in shock and fled the room. They returned a little later with her dress and after helping her into it made another quick retreat.

Her mother had watched the whole thing with a big grin on her face. Apparently she was enjoying all this immensely. Jaiden glared at her coldly which only succeeded in making her mother laugh loudly.

“You're the one who said that you were ready for this.” she reminded her.

“Alright, I did say that,” Jaiden admitted, “but I didn't expect something quite so... feminine to start off with. Why couldn't I wear pants?”

“That would be because I don't have any pants in my wardrobe. Your father never lets me leave this tower, let alone the palace. As far as he is concerned I have no need for pants. My only job is to look attractive and pleasure him.”

Jaiden frowned, “That man is not my father... he may have sired me, but that doesn't make him my father.”

Her mother nodded, “You have a point there. He's not been a true father or husband for nearly five hundred years. Come with me. We need to have a long talk.”

She led Jaiden over to some chairs and a sofa near a large fireplace. Since it was summer, the fireplace was unlit, but Jaiden imagined it would by a cozy place to sit in the winter. She watched as her mother smoothed her skirts and took a seat on the sofa. Jaiden did her bet to emulate her mother's actions and took a seat beside her. She had watched Rachel do the same thing countless times and knew the importance of sitting properly when wearing a skirt.

“There is a lot to tell you,” her mother began, “I'm not even really sure where I should begin.”

“Why don't you begin with telling what just happened to me.”

Her mother looked at her in surprise, “Isn't that obvious? I thought you would have figured it out. Rhyum transformed you into a girl in order to stop you from receiving your birthright as his son.”

Jaiden nodded, “I had expected that,” she said speaking slowly, “What I mean is... how did he do it. I thought that Rhyum couldn't use his power to do anything to his sons.”

“He can't. At least not on his own. That is where the dark mages come into the picture. They combine their magic with his power and that allows the transformation to happen. When they are finished, you are the person that you would have been if you were born a girl. Such a thing only works when the dark magic of Setesh is combined with the power of Praxtor. Such an even was inconceivable even to Praxtor. Therefore it was never even considered when he shaped the rules about how his power could be used.”

“Does that mean that I am no longer immortal?”

“No, that was in you before the transformation and cannot be removed. There are worse things though than death.” Her mother answered softly.

“What do you mean? What can be worse than death?” Jaiden asked incredulously.

“The reason that mages of Setesh first offered this alliance is because they found they benefit from it as well. You see, Rhyum was born early in his father's reign as king and so he was nearly two thousand years old as his time was drawing to an end. He had lived so long that he feared death. He feared it more than any of us released, so when a dark mage of Setesh approached him with an offer, he took it instead of banishing him like he would have in the past. Four mages joined your father in performing the ritual on your first brother. When the ritual worked Rhyum was estatic and readily agreed to the second ritual. He gave his new daughter to the dark mage that first offered the alliance. He used a second ritual to bond with her. This allowed him to access her limitless life force to power his magic. This granted him immense power and a kind of immortality of his own. It is different in that he is not a true immortal in that he could be killed if he was attacked. Since then everytime a son has been born, he has been transformed and given to the mages afterwards to provide power to them.”

Jaiden looked at her mother with shock clear on her face. “This is going to happen to me tomorrow?”

Her mother looked at her sadly, “I am afraid so. Tomorrow you will be bound to a dark mage. Once that happens you will have no free will as long as he lives. You will be compelled to follow and act upon his every whim.”

Jaiden sat silently filled with dread of what tomorrow would bring. Her mother wrapped her arms around her.

“I am so sorry, I tried to save you from this. I really did. I never wanted to see this happen again. I had hoped you would live long enough to take your father's place and correct his wrongs. I really wanted a better life for you. For all of you... I always tried to protect my children, but the cost became too much.”

Tears began to stream down her mother's face and Jaiden also began to cry. They held each other tightly for quite some time. After awhile they were both completely cried out and feeling a bit better.

Jaiden looked at her mother, “I am scared. I am more scared of what is happening to me than I have ever been scared of anything. I hate Rhyum, and I hate what he has done to me. I don't want to be a girl. I am afraid to lose control of my life. Mother I am glad that I have you, without you I would be lost right now. I never gave any real thought to my real mother before today. Now that I finally found you, I realize how much I really needed you. Thank you for being here for me when I needed you more than anything. Thank you for everything you have tried to do for me. I love you.”

Her mother looked at her with tears glistening in her eyes. “I love you too Jaiden.”

Jaiden hesitated then spoke slowly, “Mother... I think... Well... I think the name Jaiden doesn't work for me anymore does it? I... I should have a new name.”

“Are you sure? What would you want to be called then?” her mother asked.

“What would you suggest? You are my mother, I want you to choose it.”

Her mother thought for a bit, “I think Maria would be nice. After my mother.”

“That sounds good to me. I would be honored to be named after your mother.” Maria answered.

Her mother smiled and hugged her tightly. Maria held her mother tightly not wanting to let go. She knew that come tomorrow she would probably never see her mother again. She planned to take advantage of whatever time they had together, she was not going to sleep tonight.

Maria took a deep breath then began, “Mother, there is something else that I have really been wondering about.”

“What is it? I will tell you anything that you want to know.”

“Rhyum seem surprised when he found me with... Tyrone. Like he didn't even know I existed. How did you manage to get me out of the palace without him ever knowing I was born?”

Her mother smiled sadly, “That is a secret that was known only to me, and to the two women that assisted with your birth. The reason that Rhyum didn't know about you is because you had a twin brother.”