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Krynn flinched away from her touch, but she didn’t appear to notice.
“I’ve been thinking of you lately, darling boy,” she said to him. “I’ve never found anyone half so pretty as you to serve me since you left. The position is still open, you know—if you should ever like to return.”
“I am the Court Historian and Keeper of the Royal Records.” Krynn’s face was as stiff as a mask. “I’m no longer your servant and not interested in being so again.”
“So you didn’t like serving me?” She pouted at him. “You don’t miss me at all? Not even when the Needing comes on you?”
Krynn’s face flushed and for a moment I saw his composure slip. Then he swallowed hard and lifted his chin.
“I serve another now—for the Lost Princess has returned.” He nodded at me and raised his voice so the whole room could hear him. “I say again—the Lost Princess has returned and is now standing before us! Who among you is still loyal to the Blood of Lolth which flows in her veins?”
“Cease this nonsense!” Mordren hissed, narrowing his eyes as the whole Court started murmuring among themselves. “You are lying—this is not the same creature you found at the clearing last night and insisted on dragging back to the Palace!”
“Yes, she is!” Seldarin growled. “This is the Princess—she has eaten our food and shed the human dross that collected while she lived in the Mortal Realm.”
“She can’t be!” Mordren protested.
“She is. Look at her eyes, Mordren,” Krynn demanded. He pulled me forward—much closer to the angry Fae on the mini throne than I wanted to be. This also brought me closer to the mirror, however, and I was able to study myself more closely.
My eyes were like the Dark Faes’ eyes now, I saw—just as my ears and features were. My eyes were glowing—they had also changed color. Instead of the dull brown I was used to, they were a brilliant, glowing violet. A pure, deep purple with no other color in it at all.
“They’re Royal Purple,” Krynn said, pointing at my eyes. “A color which cannot be faked—no matter how much Tincture of Amethyst you take,” he added, giving Mordren a disdainful look.
For a moment Mordren sputtered, clearly not sure what to say or how to refute Krynn’s words.
“What about her skin?” he demanded at last. “It’s not the platinum shade of our people!”
Which was true—my skin was still an extremely pale tan—though it did shimmer as though moonbeams were dancing across it when I moved.
“Her skin doesn’t matter—it’s merely a consequence of living among the humans for half a century,” Seldarin growled. “But the Royal Purple eyes cannot be faked, as Krynn says. Nor can her birthmark—the Mark of Lolth, the Spider Queen.”
“The Changeling has returned. She has eaten our food and drunk of the Nectar of Lolth and it has revealed her true form,” Krynn agreed. “You must acknowledge her and crown her, Mordren—she is the rightful Queen of the Midnight Court!”
“No, she is not!” Mordren thundered, his platinum cheeks going dark with anger. “If she is the Princess, then where is the Jewel of Lolth, which disappeared with her?”
“Who expects a baby to hold onto a necklace?” Seldarin growled. “The humans who found her probably stole it and sold it for their own profit!”
“Wait,” I said tentatively, speaking up for the first time. I was so stunned by how I now looked that I had been rendered speechless before. “Is this, uh, Jewel of Lolth—is it a silver pendant with a purple stone in the center?” I asked.
“Yes—that’s it!” Krynn turned eagerly to me. “Do you still have it?”
“I did,” I said, shrugging. “Unfortunately, my ex-husband kept it when he divorced me.”
“But you did have it?” Krynn asked.
I nodded.
“All my life. It was found with me when I was a baby and my adoptive parents kept it safe for me until I grew up.”
“There, you see—she has it!” Seldarin exclaimed triumphantly.
“She had it, you mean.” Mordren crossed his arms over his chest. He was wearing a richly embroidered golden tunic and cloak which made the entire gesture sparkle with his movements. “Or she claims she had it, anyway. But since she does not wear it now, I cannot acknowledge her as the Lost Princess. Everyone knows that the Jewel of Lolth will light up for a true descendent of Lolth—one with Royal Blood. Without it, I cannot possibly agree to relinquish the throne. Why—she might be an imposter!”
“You know she’s not,” Seldarin growled, his bronze eyes flashing angrily. “You’re just trying to take the throne for yourself, Mordren!”
“Me—take the throne for selfish motivations?” The Lord Regent widened his bluish-purple eyes, somehow managing to look both hurt and innocent at the same time. “You wound me, Captain Seldarin. I simply want what is best for our kingdom and our people. I can’t just step aside the minute some raggle-taggle half-breed creature comes forward, claiming to be the Lost Princess.”
“How dare you speak of the Princess like that? You cannot deny her eyes or her birthmark!” Krynn exclaimed. He took me by the arm and turned me to face the Court. Then he pulled back the long purple and white hair that covered my forehead. “Look well upon your Princess, my people!” he said loudly, his clear tenor voice carrying to every corner of the mirrored room. “See the Mark of Lolth on her forehead—behold her Royal Purple eyes—come and pay your respects to your rightful ruler!”
