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I've lived in this place and I've know all the faces Each one is different but they're always the same They mean me no harm but it's time that I face it They'll never allow me to change But I never dreamed that home would end up where I don't  belong

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Saqarra shoved the last items into the pack, sighing at the finality of it all.  Although she was sure of the decision that she had made, it did not make things easier.  She had spent her enire life in Argyle, never setting foot outside its borders.  As princess, she had been bound to this land for as long as she could remember.  A beautiful bird, trapped in a gilded cage.  But all that had changed in the past few days, as the bonds that had held her were torn asunder.  She had finally come to terms with the fact that she would never be content as the princess of her elven land, that those that loved her would never allow her to be what she truly was.

As a child, she had been happy and content.  Content to be the gem in her father's crown, the center of his world.  Content to live the life he had set out for her, to be what he wanted her to be.  But, as the years swept by, she discovered within herself strange powers; abilities that were dark and frightening.  As the pressures of living up to her father's expectations grew, so did her desire to use those powers that she had been forbidden to practice.  And as those powers had grown, so had the stories told by her people.  And somewhere along the way, those legends had become her defining traits; until it seemed that no one knew the real Saqarra anymore.  She had become lost to them, entangled in what they believed her to be.  Restlessness grew within her, the desire to break free of her gilded cage; to fly.  She knew that she would someday leave Argyle, and journey into the wide world.  And now, the time had come.  With the cursing of her love, the last connection holding her to Argyle was severed.  She no longer had any reason to stay, nothing left to bind her to her people and their ways.

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I've dealt with my ghosts and I've faced all my  demons Finally content with the past I regret I've found you find strength in your moment of  weakness For once I'm at peace with myself

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Saqarra moved to stand before the large mirror, studying her reflection intently.  She was trying to spy the difference in her, the thing within herself that had brought her to this moment.  The delicate features, the gift of her elven blood, were as they had always been.  The slender arms and delicate hands had not changed, nor had her long flowing hair.  Looking closer, she turned her attention to the golden eyes that stared back at her.  Eyes that had once been full of light and life, eyes that now harbored a sadness that words could not descibe.   A sadness brought on by love and loss, by the epic fall.  Sighing heavily, she pulled the silver brush through her long white curls.  Perhaps it had not been so bad, the fall.  Perhaps.  But neither had it been simple.  For the fall had led to a love that was doomed from the start, a love that had brought her to this point.  It had stirred in her a great sadness, as she had come to realize that she could not remain in Argyle.  Though it had long been her home, she no longer belonged there.

A light knock at the door snapped her from her reverie, bringing her sharply back to the moment at hand.  She watched in the mirror as the door crept open, and a young woman stuck her head into the room.  Saqarra smiled sadly, knowing that she would miss her handmaiden most of all.

"Come in Rahne."

"So, you intend to do this?"

"Yes, I do."

"But Saqarra..."

"Rahne, please.  This is difficult enough, do not make it more so.  I have to go, there is no other way."

"If I may say so M'lady, you are not nearly the wicked elf that you believe yourself to be."

"Be that as it may, I still must go.", Saqarra whispered; turning to Rahne.

Tears welled up in the sapphire eyes of the younger elf, and she bowed her head to hide them.  Saqarra moved to her, wrapping her arms around her sobbing form.  She could feel her own tears begin to fall, and let them come freely.  Rahne had been by her side for most of her life, and the princess was not sure how she would go on without her.

"Please M'lady, do not go.  And if you must, then take me with you."

"I must go Rahne, you know that as well as I.", Saqarra whispered; pulling away.  "And I can not take you with me.  This is your home, and you love it.  I could not ask you to leave your home, to leave your family."

"I would, if you asked it of me."

"I know that you would, and that is why I can not ask it.  But I will ask you to do me one last service.  Go to the stables, and have Tor saddled.  Speak nothing of this to anyone, I beg of you."

"Yes M'lady.", Rahne whispered sadly; turning to the door.

"And gather Amirilli as well."

"And Myrdinn, what of him?", Rahne asked, speaking of the great black falcon that Saqarra had been caring for.

"The wide world is no place for a wounded falcon.  He will be yours now, if you will have him."

"I will cherish him as I have cherished you.", the younger elf replied.

"Then he will be well and truly blessed.  Now go, time grows short."

Saqarra watched as the handmaiden left the room, her head bowed in sorrow.  She sat down heavily on the edge of her bed, steeling her courage.  The time of leaving had truly arrived, and she found that fear had taken grip down deep in her soul.  She momentarily considered staying, binding herself forever to her father's dreams.  She may well have done so, if not for the appearance of a large black wolf.  The beast walked slowly to her, laying his head in her lap.  She looked down into soulful golden eyes, and knew that her fate was sealed.

"So, this is it Tristan.", she whispered.

The wolf whined softly, giving her comfort in his own way.  She smiled gently at him, then stood and walked across the room.  She took a piece of parchment, and wrote a final farewell to her father.  Tears dropped to the parchment as she wrote, staining the delicate paper.  With one final sigh, she laid the note on the pillows of the bed, and left her rooms forever.

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Daithin stopped before the elaborately carved doors of his daughters rooms, knocking softly.  He waited patiently, listening for the lilting reply from within.  Several minutes passed in silence, and he finally opened the door and stepped in.  The room looked just as it always had, full of the things that his child had long cherished.  But there was an emptiness to the room, a lack of spirit; and he knew that Saqarra was gone.  His gaze wandered around the room, settling on the piece of parchment lying on the bed.  He moved across the room, picking up the note.  Tears flowed down his face, as he read her final words.

There comes a time in everyone's life, when all you can see are the years passing by.  And I have made up my mind that those days are gone.  I've loved like I should, but lived like I shouldn't .  And I had to lose everything to find out.  Perhaps forgiveness will find me somewhere down this  road...    ~Saqarra

Daithin fell to his kness, clutching the note to his chest.  His mournful sobs filled the room, his tears falling to the marble floor unheeded.  His morning star had fled, leaving him to face the coming years in twilight and grief.

~FIN