Dark eyelashes fluttered against pale cheeks. Waking was always her favorite part of the day. It was something she drew it out as long as she could, much to the exasperation of others. She struggled to keep her eyes closed just a few moments longer, enjoying the warmth of the morning sunlight on bare skin.

?Selene ??

She muttered a bit and turned into the pillows hiding her head.

?Get up lazybones. You know Papa will get cross if you miss morning chores again.? Lara?s voice was brisk with impatience.

?I?m up. What time is it??

?Half-past seven. Papa?s already outside waiting.?

Selene tossed the pillows aside and sat up quickly. ?Why didn?t you wake me earlier Lara?? She scrambled out of bed and reached for the simple linen shift hanging at its foot. Tugging the shift over her head she turned to look at her sister.

?That little sister is because I have better things to do with my life than to be your wakeup call.? Lara smirked as she said that, then she moved to tug at the shift pulling it into place. ?Relax little sister. Papa knows where you were last night. He?ll understand you being late today.?

?Oh. Did he say anything?? She had the grace to blush a little, looking away from Lara.

?Only that he approves of your choice. Maxim is a good strong man; He?d make a good husband.?

?We didn?t do anything you know. We just sat out by the pond and talked.? She was still blushing as she tied her long black hair back with ribbon. ?He held my hand when he walked me home.?

Lara laughed, a soft kind laugh. ?Selene you are such a darling little innocent at times.?

The sister?s headed downstairs and headed outside after quick stop in the kitchen to grab a slice of bread and honey. Selene was still nibbling at hers as they approached their father.

?You are late again Daughter.?

?I?m sorry Papa, I overslept.? She couldn?t help it she blushed again.

The disapproving frown on the salt and pepper haired man?s face faded to a smile as her cupped the back of her head and pulled her forward and placed a kiss on her forehead. He whispered softly. ?I remember what falling in love with your mother felt like ?Lene. Just try not to forget that you still have responsibilities.?

He let her go again the turned to look at both daughters. ?You both look so much like your mother, God rest her soul. Some day soon your old Papa will find himself all alone because some dashing young men will steal you away while I?m not looking.? He chuckled and patted Lara?s cheek, ?When they do, you be sure and give me lots of fat grandbabies to keep me happy in my old age.?

The stars were out and the moon was full. The air was crisp and smelled of fallen leaves. Lights sparkled in the little stained glass windows of the village church. Music and laughter floated on the breeze. The harvest was in, and it was time to celebrate.

Selene watched the moon from the balcony of her bedroom, daydreaming when she should have been dressing. Maxim was waiting down there in the church, along with Papa and Lara. It was romantic of Maxim to have chosen to hold the wedding under the full moon where they had shared their first kiss.

There was motion down in the square where the wedding feast had been set out. The older ladies of the village looking out for ?their motherless lamb? by fixing a wedding feast to rival that of the mayor?s daughter the moon before. Smells of roasting ham drifted along with a hint of smoke.

The door behind her creaked open, her Aunt Madda slipping inside to join her at the balcony. Father?s aging aunt had stayed behind to help her into her wedding gown. It was a divine froth of ivory lace and amber silk with harvest leaf embroidery. It had been her mother?s wedding gown before her.

?Time to get ready little ?Lene. Your groom is anxious to have you by his side. They just sent Pitor to fetch us.?

?Aunt Madda, you were married once weren?t you?? Selene left the balcony rail slipping her nightgown from her shoulders and reaching for the delicate gown.

?Yes child, years ago. Being a wife and mother is the greatest joy a woman could have child. Do you love your Maxim, little ?Lene?? Madda fastened the tiny hooks on the back of the gown, before brushing tenderly at the young woman?s dark locks.

?Yes, Aunt Madda.?

?Then you have nothing to fear. Lets get you to the church.?

The square was louder than Selene had expected. Pitor was helping Aunt Madda along the rough cobbles of the street so their progress was slow. There was no way Selene was getting married without the only mother she had ever known.

The noise from the square stopped in a sudden eerie silence that sent shivers up her spine. She turned to look at Pitor and Madda, then at the flicker of torches up the road.

?Hide. Something?s wrong.? Her voice was hardly a whisper and she was already picking up her skirts getting prepared to run.

Pitor helped Madda into the shadows without asking questions, and Selene took off towards the square and the church. She stopped just at the edge of the square taking in what was happening.

Six black horses, six men in black, torches in hand. The doors to the church were closed. They shouldn?t be closed. She was having a hard time understanding, until one of the men put the torch to the church doors. One of the horses screamed as the other five men mounted, swinging the three kegs of ale provided for the feast up behind them. The sixth tossed the torch onto the straw roof of the church as he mounted. The dry grasses did not take long to catch, and then the men were riding away.

?No!? The horse ragged word ripped from her throat as she raced to the church. She clawed at the wood that had been used to bar the door, screaming to the people inside.

?I?ll get you out! Please I?ll get you out!? She was sobbing. She could hear children screaming and men shouting. Then there was a loud crack. The roof gave way in a rush of flame that drowned out the sounds form inside. And still she struggled with the bar.

And then, hands were pulling her away from the door. Small desperate hands, the hands of a boy hardly more than a child.

??Lene, Come away! Please come away! Its too late for them.? Pitor wrapped his arms around her waist and dragged her away.

?No? No I have to help them.?

?They can?t be helped Selene? Madda?s voice was quiet and soothing as she took the sobbing girl form Pitor?s arms.

They buried the remains of the villagers in graves outside the charred ruins of the church. Pitor and Selene spent hours digging the pits then sifting through the rubble. Throughout it all her face was as blank as an unwritten letter.

The only time she cried was when they found tied to the charred remains of a little satin pillow two gold bands, one slender and small, one thick and masculine. Maxim had saved for months for those matched bands. But no one could see her tears for the rain. It poured as if the heavens themselves were mourning the little village.

Madda watched the digging of the graves from the porch of the nearest house. She was afraid for her brother?s child. The silence wasn?t healthy for the girl. She wasn?t eating or sleeping. Just digging and shifting debris, then digging more. Pitor came in regularly for meals. He had lost just as much as Selene in the fire that night. A mother and father, and two sisters not even out of swaddling yet.

?Try and get her in Pitor. She must eat and rest.? Madda coaxed the boy while he ate his supper.

?I can not Madda. I?ve tried. She just sits and stares at the moon when she is not digging. She doesn?t make a sound.? Pitor made a folk gesture warding against the spirits of the dead and shivered as he looked out the window to where Selene was still digging.

It took four days to find all the remains in the church and dig all the graves. Only when the last stone was placed atop the priests grave (She felt the kindly old fellow would not have felt right about resting before his flock, thus he was last) did Selene enter the house where Madda was staying.

Madda lay in the bed built into the wall near the hearth. Shivers and coughs wracked her body, as Pitor did his best to tend to her. But it was obvious he was fighting a losing battle.

The keep of the lord responsible for the village hardly deserved that name. It was really little more than a long hall with low ceilings and too much smoke. Pitor and Selene had bundled Madda up as best they could and walked the seven miles there supporting nearly all of the old woman?s weight. The hall had been busy when they arrived, the music and laughter so loud that no one noticed the three figures crossing its length until Madda broke into a coughing fit a at the foot of the Lord?s dais.

It felt like all eyes in the room were on them then. It was know in the hall that the Lord of the local lands was near phobic of illness. So badly so that he had sent his own heir into seclusion over a childish case of the sniffles. A hush fell over the diners at the banquet at the sight of the obviously fevered old woman.

?Who the devil are you?? Red cheeked and blustering and obviously drunk, the lord roared at Selene and her companions.

Pitor started to stammer a response, only to be cut off as the lord roared again. ?Get that old hag out of my hall. Toss her to dogs, she obviously won?t last long enough to be fit for aught else. Keep the pretty one and the boy. The boy can serve in the kitchens, and the girl will do well enough in to warm my sheets.? He laughed cruelly as several armed men leapt to obey.

When one of the men went to grab Madda, Selene screamed. The first sound she had made in days. Pitor winced and threw himself between the women and the armed men shouting ?Lene, take Madda and run. Run fast and run hard.?

The last sounds Selene remembered as she fled the hall with Aunt Madda was the lord?s biting, braying laughter, and the gurgling scream that was the end of poor Pitor.

The sound of Pitor?s dying scream haunted Selene as she struggled to get Madda back to the village. The familiar walls offered little comfort but at least the houses were warm and dry. A chill rain had started while they were in the hall and had not let up since. Madda hadn?t stopped coughing in hours, and her skin was ruddy with fever.

?Aunt Madda, you can?t leave me yet.? Selene pleaded softly as she settled the old woman in the bed her mother and father had once used. She tried to remove the older woman?s soaked clothing but her own fingers were chilled to the point of fumbling. ?Please Madda, I don?t want to be alone. I?m so scared.?

Madda coughed again and opened her eyes, weakly lifting her hand to touch one of the girl?s dripping curls. When she finally spoke her voice was a harsh raspy whisper. ?Oh ?Lene. You shouldn?t be afraid. Your Mama would cry if she saw you like this girl.? The old woman?s eyes closed, her breathing setting into an exhausted rattle.

Selene sniffled and wiped her tears on her sleeve. She gave up on trying to remove the sodden clothing and covered Madda with the thick down quilt kept in the chest at the foot of the bed. She knelt and started a fire in the hearth then settled in the spindle legged chair beside the bed watching Madda sleep.

Hours passed and the rains let up. The moon still bright in the sky peeked through the clouds and filled the room with its gentle glow. Selene was growing drowsy, her head nodding when she noticed it. The utter still silence. It was almost as unnerving as Pitor?s scream had been. It meant for the first time in her life, Selene was alone.

?Someday Selene, you?ll have to get your head out of the clouds and grow up.? Lara?s voice was chiding but not harsh as she spoke to her little sister. ?Life isn?t like one of Madda?s stories. Castles and princes are for girls who don?t have chores to worry about.?

?But Lala, Aunt Madda said that having dreams was a gift.? Seven year old Selene couldn?t quite grasp why her beloved big sister was angry again. ? Do you really want to stay on the farm forever Lala??

Lara couldn?t help the long drawn out sigh that slipped past her lips. ?Oh ?Lene. It?s not that I don?t want to leave, but where would I go? All I know in this world is taking care of Papa and the house and you. Even if I had somewhere to go who would take care of all of you?? At sixteen the world seemed an unfair place to a girl forced to grow up too soon.

?I could care for Papa. Then you could go and find your prince. Madda said that every girl has a prince out there somewhere.? ?Lene frowned a little at her sister. ? I don?t want you to be sad anymore Lala.?

Spindly arms in that awkward stage between child and adult swept the little girl into a hug. ?You have a heart as big as the moon little sister. Promise me you?ll always stay so sweet??

The child giggled embracing her sister in return. ?Only if you promise to dream sometimes too Lala.?

?Papa! Papa! Mama won?t wake up. I tried and tried but all she does is moans.? Little Lara was sobbing as she tugged at her father?s sleeve. ??Lene?s crying and Mama still wont get up. I dunno what to do Papa.?

Miron Morganti wasted no time, scooping up his eldest daughter and heading back from the barn. ?Don?t worry Lara, We?ll soon set things to rights. Your Mama?s most likely just very tired from the new baby.

Things felt off to him when he entered the house, but he tried to no let on to Lara. When he left Neomenia and the children had all still been sleeping. His pregnant wife had been still and peaceful in the rosy shades of dawn. Now her face was a mask of pain. He settled Lara before the hearth and collected two year old Selene from her bed, giving the child a crust of yesterdays bread covered in honey to munch while he set things to right.

??Mena, love tell me what is wrong?? His voice was soft and gentle as he settled on the bed, brushing damp strands of long dark hair from his wife?s flushed cheeks.

She was beyond answering, lost in a fog of pain and fever.

?Lara go fetch your Aunt Madda. I?ll watch over your Mama and sister.?

Lara didn?t wait for a second prompting. Madda was the village midwife. If Papa thought she should be summoned, things were bad enough to run.

Madda took one look at Neomenia and bustled Miron and the girls out.

Hours passed. Miron did his best to keep the girls distracted, helping them make flower chains in the field beside the lake. When Madda sent a runner to fetch them both girls were crowned like princesses in tiny Belle-Celeste flowers.

A sheet covered two still forms on the bed. Neomenia and her son had passed to the next life.