Part One

My name is Honeysuckle. It is not a name I would have chosen for myself; my mother chose it for me. She did it out of pride, I am sure. Yet I have wished many times she had not done so, for though she surely wished it to bring me joy, it has instead brought me grief.

I was born to a minor lord of the Light Courts and a mistress of the Night's Garden. The Courts of Night's Garden are the jewels of the Dark Courts. Some would accuse us of the Garden of slave-breeding, but this is untrue. The Dark Courts can be cruel, yes, but we do not keep slaves. A master or mistress of a House is free to choose, or not choose, their patrons. We do, however, encourage pairings that enhance the beauty of each House of the Garden. The fair elegance of Lily, and the fiery vibrance of Amaryllis. Of course, if a desired pairing is distasteful to the ones involved, it is not forced upon them. However a pairing that would yield a child who would not fit a House's standard...that is discouraged.

Such was my parents' union.

My mother had a good life. As a popular mistress of Lotus House Aster had patrons, and wealth, and an assured position. Her ivory-white skin fit our House's standard perfectly.Dark green hair which matched deep emerald eyes, she had, and the lithe body of the Lotus. And she had the hedonistic temperment the House required, with a slight streak of acceptable cruelty. Now, my father...My father's family was not of a high caste, but his father had amassed a small fortune through trade. Unfortunately, though he had inherited a good portion of his father's money, he had none of his business sense. My father preferred idle pleasures, and was drawn to the dark sweetness of the Garden.

Perhaps things would have been better if my father had a taste for the ladies of his own Courts. But no, when his purse, and his desire, was heavy he took himself to Lotus House. And that was where he lost his money and his heart to my mother. And she was foolish enough to let herself fall in love too. My father had light brown skin and brown hair, and a cheerful if irresponsible nature. A poor choice for breeding a flower for Lotus. Worst of all, he was one of the Light Court.

Now, many in this new land would think Night's Garden was a place of sin, but my people do not see sin as those here do. We treasure beauty in all its forms. And the flowers of Night's Garden are nothing if not beautiful. My mother was a trained artisan, not a sinner. Both Light and Dark would have agreed she was honorable. But the Dark Courts do not tolerate mistakes.

My mother conceived a child by my father, my brother Mandrake. The madame of Lotus House gave my mother a choice: lose the child or take a pairing from within the House to make another child who would be acceptable. Aster was stupid and in love, and nothing could tear her from her lover's arms. She left in the dawn with my father.

They went to the Light Courts' cities, where they hoped no one would think to look for Aster. My father's inheritance soon ran out, and he begged from his brother for enough to start a small business. His lack of sense soon showed, and he lost it. So he borrowed more, and tried again. This happened until my uncle would not lend any more.

My memories of those years are hazy, I was so young. If only my father had given my mother permission to use her training as one of the Garden, they would not have been in such trouble for money. In place of that, he gave her seven children. My mother named us all as the Garden names its children, the females for flowers and males for trees and herbs. She wanted us to be able to claim our pedigree if need be. Instead she marked us. Then nearly bankrupt, with creditors after him and hunters for my mother drawing close, father left the cities and the Courts. He took my mother and her children to the forests.

We lived there for several years. My parents were still very much in love and didn't care about the poverty they lived in. But their bliss was shattered when their middle girlchild showed strange tendencies. I would wander off into the woods, for days at a time. And when I came back, my eyes would be empty of myself, but full of green leaves. Green leaves and small animals, trees and birds.

Aster was frightened. She feared being caught and returned to the Dark Courts, where she would be punished. If I was found by hunters or scouts one of those times I was lost and wandering, and they tracked back to my home... So she begged my father to do something. He tried locking me up. Somehow I got out through a window and back to the forests that so enchanted me. My mother became hysterical when I came back two months later with torn clothes and burrs in my hair, and empty eyes. So my father took me, washed and dressed me, and took me out into the woods.

It was the time of year when the satyrs passed near our home. Herds of male satyrs will travel the wild places looking for females. They will buy and sell things to trade while they wander. I remember my father clutching my hand while he talked to one of the satyrs. I was whimpering because he was hurting me.

"Why should we take her? Fae do not take well to our constant travelling, especially young ones." "I think this one will be just fine. She seems to enjoy wandering too much for her own kind. Just take her far away with you." "She will attract the hunters' attention. Satyrs do not travel with young female fae. We will be noticed."

I began to be scared. Male satyrs have a reputation for being unhealthy for a lone female when they are in those herds. I was not ignorant of the games men and women play; my mother had passed on much of her Garden training to her children. I knew enough to be frightened by the satyr. My father saw my emerald eyes, so like my mother's, shining with tears. I saw something flicker across his face for a moment. Perhaps sorrow. Then he pulled me roughly in front of him.

"See...the ivory skin, with the glow from within. The eyes like deep green forest glades. The hair like spun sapphires. Her body, lithe and graceful. Her name is Honeysuckle."

The satyr caught his breath at the name. He hissed,"A flower of Night's Garden?"

Father smiled grimly. "Her mother was of Lotus House. Aster. A full mistress." Father twitched my cloak off my child's wings, stretching one out. "See, the green-blue shimmer. And the gold markings."

The satyr stared at my father. "She is of the Light Courts?"

"Of both."

The satyr peered at me with renewed interest. He named a number. Father named another. I stood stiff and terrified, not understanding. Father's fingers dug into my shoulders, bruising me. I bit my tongue hard enough to draw blood. I would not cry.

The satyr held out a pouch that clinked with coins. Father suddenly let go of me and grabbed the pouch, and I nearly fell. Then the satyr took me by the hand, drawing me next to him. I resisted weakly. I watched my father stumble away. He shook like he was crying himself. I could not cry. I looked up to my new owner. The satyr grinned down at me. He reached out and ran a lock of my hair through his fingers, chuckling. I was frozen. And so as I was abandoned by Light, Darkness made a place for me.