"I don't want to marry Vivilda!" Prince Gilden complains, his brow dropping sharply. "I don't even like her. Not one bit. She's mean, she's rude, and I don't want children with that brute at all. I don't care how pretty her mane and her pelt are. Vivilda is rotten to the core. She's nothing like you, Nyraxi. How I wish...You were more than a servant. That you were royalty. Then...I could. I could..."

  Nyraxi's eyes cross as Prince Gilden leans forward and kisses her right cheek. He offers Nyraxi a kind smile as he withdraws, showing all of his splendid white teeth.

  "Well? Say something, Nyraxi. Tell me. What are you thinking?"

  Nyraxi promptly falls to the ground in an unconscious faint.

  -

  -

  The Mazda Household

  "Nyraxi? Nyraxi, honey? Wake up!" Gidde Mazda says, carefully studying her unconscious offspring.

  Beside Gidde, Prince Gilden also observes the dozing female centaur. He notes the rapid rise and fall of Nyraxi's chest and the wide flaring of her nostrils. Is she dreaming of him?

  "Mother?" Nyraxi utters, her eyelids fluttering.

  After a moment, Nyraxi summons the strength to open her eyes. She catches sight of Prince Gilden and shrieks. Sitting up on the bed, Nyraxi points a finger at the prince.

  "What's he doing in here? The prince? In my bedroom. And I haven't dusted in days. It's shameful. Oh no. No, no, no. No. This cannot be happening. Why me? Why now? Oh no."

  Nyraxi almost lapses back into a faint. Instead, she falls against her pillows and begins to sob. Gidde strokes her sorrowful daughter's thick mane of black hair, making soft shushing sounds.

  "There, there. It's alright, Dear," Gidde whispers. "I'm here. The prince is the one who brought you home. He was concerned about your well-being. There is no shame. Quiet now. You'll be alright. Everything will be fine, Dear."

  A moment later, Nyraxi's father, Dreden Mazda stalks into the bedroom. He observes the occupants of the room with flashing brown eyes, the muscles in his forelegs twitching.

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  "What was my daughter doing in your garden at this time of the night, Prince Gilden? Are there not enough females amongst the royalty to satisfy your whims? Are you not already to wed King Hoten's daughter...Vivilda? Must you have my daughter too?"

  The prince meets Dreden Mazda's angry gaze. The irritated youngster shakes out his mane, but remembers to keep his tone civil.

  "That is not what happened, Dreden Mazda," Prince Gilden exclaims. "Nyraxi is very fond of wandering through the gardens after her evening chores are completed. I have seen her do so many times. Tonight, I met Nyraxi in the garden. I could tell...At dinner...That something was truly wrong. I only wished to comfort her and hear of her pain. When she fainted, I ordered a carriage to bring her home. I did what was honorable and right. I would never take advantage of Nyraxi. She is a good servant. And an even greater...Friend."

  The prince's eyes shift to Nyraxi. Nyraxi shifts her gaze to meet that of the young prince. They stare at each other for what seems like an eternity. The moment is broken when Dreden Mazda releases a loud sardonic laugh. The enormous centaur slaps a hand against the thigh of his right foreleg.

  "Friend? Ha?" Dreden laughs. "You are no friend of my daughter's. You are her master. Whatever you ask...She must do. So it has been since your clan overthrew my great-grandfather--and claimed his throne. We have served your house faithfully, Prince Gilden. And yet, at every turn, you and your mother have found a means of humiliating us. Now, you go too far. I will not have you near my daughter, Prince Gilden. She is not a puppet for you to play with. You will not break her heart as you have done to others."

  "Father!?" Nyraxi yells, sitting up in bed a second time. "What has gotten into you? What Prince Gilden has told you is true. I wandered into the royal garden to think. And to watch the fireflies dance above the pond. The prince did me no harm. He has been very kind to me. You have no right to speak to him in this way."

  "I have every right!" Dreden Mazda retorts, taking two steps closer to Prince Gilden. "Do you remember Sephone, Nyraxi? I do. She was the first centaur ever promised to 'Lord' Gilden. Back when he came only to the height of my knees. Poor Sephone loved Prince Gilden. More than anything. Didn't she...Prince? Yet, he could not find it within himself to love her back. Sephone died of heartbreak, Nyraxi. When she was...Only a few years younger than you. I won't see your heart broken in the same way. I would rather leave your employ, Prince Gilden...And risk losing it all...Than lose my daughter. I think...You should leave here, Prince. I think you should leave here, right now."

  "Father, no!" Nyraxi protests, tears seeping from the corners of both eyes.

  "It's alright, Nyraxi!" Prince Gilden says, studying Dreden Mazda's face with hawkish attention. "I'll leave. I love you, Nyraxi. I always have. Since the day I met you. Goodbye. I will see you tomorrow at breakfast."

  "I look forward to it," Nyraxi replies.

  Prince Gilden strolls from the room without another word spoken to either Nyraxi's mother or her father. Dreden Mazda glowers in his stubborn daughter's direction.

  "I forbid you to see him," Dreden says in a low growl. "You will not serve Prince Gilden ever again."

  "What?" Nyraxi exclaims, her heart racing in her chest. "No!"