Once upon a time, in a land so far away it can’t be found on any maps, there lived a handsome man named Adon, who loved a fair maiden named Analyssa. Now if Adon and Analyssa were ordinary folks, this might be a tale of a humble farming family and the good times they enjoyed. Adon and Analyssa were not ordinary people. All who saw them declared that Adon and Analyssa were blessed with good looks and great intelligence. They were also good and kind people, and even at a young age they were prone to ‘doing the right thing’. What most people didn’t know was that Adon and Analyssa had great magical powers. They didn’t flaunt them, and studied privately; first with each other, and later with wizards across the land.

In due time, as is the nature of grown people, Adon and Analyssa were married. Now, you’d very naturally think that I could write here “and they live happily ever after”, wouldn’t you? But I can’t. Oh, Adon and Analyssa continued to love each other more every day. Their magical powers continued to grow, and their goodness was unsurpassed. But the one thing they really wanted was denied to them. Adon and Analyssa tried for years, but even as all their friends began families, and young children grew into teens and young adults, our couple remained childless and felt the lack severely. Finally, driven to desperation, Analyssa made a decision. She waited for a day when Adon was gone to town on business, and she gathered the ingredients for a spell – one she knew it was dangerous to cast.

Within a few short weeks, it was obvious to all their friends and family that Adon and Analyssa were going to have a child. There was much celebration and rejoicing, and no one was happier than our couple. Analyssa knew that spells cast for personal gain could have terrible repercussions, but the joy Adon felt pushed these thoughts to the back of her mind. When at last she gave birth to her beautiful daughter, she was sure she had escaped the consequences. As people do once they have what they want, Analyssa never gave them another thought.
Adon and Analyssa named their beautiful daughter Ariadne, and they reveled in her daily. The joy she brought to their lives was unsurpassed, and they were sure that they were destined for ‘happily ever after’. Adon earned his living with wizardly duties – a comfortable living, but he never achieved great riches. The services he performed were small, and the payments reflected this. But never did Adon seek fame and fortune, as certainly he could, as an advisor to royalty or the noble class. Analyssa was known as a healer, and she gave comfort to many. She could have received much wealth for what she did, but they were content to live in their comfortable home, with their adored daughter, and to help the neighbors. Perhaps Ariadne's parents kept her too sheltered from life, perhaps they gave her too much, but having waited so long, they could do nothing else.

And so Ariadne grew into a young woman, and if she was spoiled and pampered, and felt the world revolved around her, it was only what could be expected, wasn't it?

to be continued. . .