He had lied to her.

After all of the talks, the instruction on how important the truth was, he had lied to her. Arista Leandra Blackthorn drew herself up to her full almost four-year-old height, her eyes blazing.

Her own father had lied to her.

It had started out a fine day, Ari managed to not miss Shane all that much. She and Brittany had chased butterflies again, and her Mama was in her little workroom making those sweet-smelling juices from flowers. Mama called them perfumes, and it made the soap smell good, and the bath water too. And when it was Ari's turn to take a bath... she smelt good as well. She and Brittany had laughed at her Mama's sneezing, and Skye had shooed them out with a smile while she worked. They had sneaked some cookies, with help from Lumiere and while they played together, Ari was thinking of how nice it would be to have a sister, instead of the brothers she was stuck with. Boys... who needed them?

Although, Kylan was nice... he had taken up for her when Shane called her dumb. And her father, but he wasn't a boy, he was a man. He had even told her that she didn't have to have dragon babies. Arista smiled. That was it, just make all the boys go away and when they became Daddies who loved their little girls... THEN they could return. She would ask him about it tonight. She would ask her Da if he would send all the boys away until they grew up. That would teach them. There were advantages to being a girl after all.

All too soon Brittany had to go home, and with Skye still working away, Arista soon grew bored. Cook didn't need any help, and Lumiere was quite picky about who he let behind his bar. That Corrine girl wasn't around either... and neither was Kylan... or Shane. There was nothing to do, until the sound of laughter reached her. Arista smiled. The twins were awake! She could help Nanny with them... and she went tearing down the hallway to the nursery.

A blue glow surrounded the door and seemed to leak from the cracks in the threshold. Hearing her baby brothers' laughter, she pushed the door open carefully and her jaw dropped. Conn and Calen were tossing a blue light back and forth, their hands enveloped in the same blue glow. Even the babies had it... they had the magic. Her Da said that the magic came from the Daddy and the Mommy... then why didn't SHE have it? Tears filled her big green eyes as the answer came to her. Because she was a girl. She was the only girl and they wouldn't give her the magic. Shane was right. Dumb girls.

Arista turned and let the door close, her vision blurring as the lie repeated itself in her head over and over. She hated them. There was only one person who had told her the truth, and she was going to find him.

Slipping out of the firehall and heading towards the woods, the truth hit her then.

She would be better off as a frog.

********

In a tent in a meadow far, yet not far, from Camelot, a tall fair haired elf broke out in a loud laugh as he viewed the scene before him in the scrying bowl. Yarrowvathallion of the House of the Silver Rose was well pleased. "Both of them traipsing about the woods! How rich! How... wonderful!" He tossed the contents of the crystal bowl out on the ground in a blasé gesture, and strode across the room, picking up his cloak. "Poor lambs. I must help them find their way." He giggled, then swept his hands out in a grand gesture summoning the Road. "Hold on, my sweetlings. Uncle Yarrow is on his way." He stepped through into the blue mist and set off down the Road towards Camelot Forest. For a time, his cold laugh echoed down the Path Between the Worlds.

BlackthornS 8/99