“The twenty-nine g...uh...the twenty-nine born on the twenty-ninth day of February are presented to you, Great Ones, on this their sixth birthday,” the village elder announced. He bowed to the large mirror before him and backed away.

Alaine’s whole body tingled with anticipation. She’d noticed how the elder stumbled over his announcement. While there should be twenty-nine girls, there were actually twenty-eight and one boy. Everyone was a little worried about what would happen.

Without fail, every thirty-six years, twenty-nine girls would be born to the village all on February twenty-ninth. But the day of Alaine’s birth twenty-four years ago, twenty-eight daughters and one son were born and the unease started.

She, like her mother, believed there was a reason for it and they didn’t worry. They were alone in their opinion.

Alaine let very little upset her. She was destined to be with her love soon. Nothing could faze her when faced with that. Some of the other girls were nervous and frightened. They held hands, trying to give each other strength. Alaine stood ready and willing. She’d waited for this day all her life—well, most of it—since it meant she may see him again.

“Let them step forward,” said a deep voice with the hint of a growl beneath.

The girl at the far left of the line squeaked and huddled into her cloak more.

“Come forward, child,” the village elder snapped when the girl didn’t move. “Be quick.”

The girl clutched at her cloak and inched towards the mirror. She didn’t move fast enough for the village elder, who yanked her forward and ripped the cloak from her shoulders. The girl covered her nakedness with her hands.

“Stand tall and display yourself properly, Olivia,” called a woman in the crowd of onlookers. “Stop embarrassing our family before the Great Ones.”

Olivia seemed to gain some courage from the woman’s words, because she straightened and dropped her hands. She bowed her head, turned so her back faced the mirror then faced front and bowed once more.

“Good,” the village elder said.

Olivia retreated and the next girl took her turn. Each girl did the same thing, displaying themselves for the unknown multitudes of men on the other side of the mirror until it was Alaine’s turn. Unlike the other girls, who’d clutched their cloaks until they reached the mirror, she dropped hers and walked proudly forward.

Alaine bowed and gave her head a little toss as she straightened, flinging her black locks over her shoulder. She held her arms a little out from her sides as she turned then winked at the mirror once she faced it again.

“You do us proud, Alaine,” her brother yelled from the crowd.

Only two other girls and the single boy displayed Alaine’s level of confidence. The last girl presented herself to the mirror, but before she could resume her place in the line, a tiger-striped, fur-covered male hand appeared. With its orange and black palm facing upwards, it reached for the girl.

She glanced at the elder, who motioned her forward, then she looked back at the crowd.

“Do you accept me?” asked the voice that belonged to the hand.

The girl faced the mirror. With hesitant movements, she placed her hand on the one offered and said in a whispery voice, “Yes.”

“Then step through.”

Brigid leaned over and whispered to Alaine, “Doesn’t the royal family usually pick first?”

“Yes. Erica is so lucky. That must have been the crown prince or possibly even the king,” Alaine whispered back.

Erica walked through the mirror and cheers erupted from all who witnessed it.

Another fur-covered hand exited the mirror, but this one pointed. The girl the hand’s owner indicated didn’t hesitate. She took the offered hand and voiced an affirmative when he asked if she accepted him.

To everyone’s surprise, the third hand pointed at the lone boy amongst the girls. All noise stopped as he walked forward.

A decidedly deep, male voice asked, “Do you accept me?”

The boy smiled and put his hand in the offered one. “Gladly,” he said then stepped through the mirror before his suitor could tell him.

Brigid muttered, “Guess the great ones have those types amongst their ranks as well.”

“I’m glad for him,” Alaine said, nodding. He deserved happiness after the ridicule he’d suffered for being a boy born during the sacred time.

One by one, the rest of the girls were chosen. Alaine almost screamed every time the furry hands pointed at one of the other girls instead of her. There were nine girls left, counting her, before a white and black furred hand extended its finger in her direction.

White fur. That could be him, she thought as she went to the mirror.

“Accept me.”

“That didn’t sound like a question,” she said.

“It wasn’t.”

“You’re supposed to ask.”

“Alaine! Do not presume to tell the great ones what they can and cannot do,” the elder yelled.

“I didn’t,” she said. “It was a friendly reminder.”

“Hurry up and say yes. You’re holding up the line,” Brigid said.

She looked at the mirror and wished she could see the owner of the hand instead of her own reflection staring back at her. She wanted to be sure the hand belonged to the man she wanted and not another. Though she wasn’t sure she’d recognize him after all these years. He did tell her white fur was rare amongst his people.

She placed her hand in his and his fingers closed around her hand, hiding it. He pulled her forward but she hesitated. Again the feeling of wanting to be certain plagued her. This choice was final. Once she crossed the mirror, she’d be mated to whoever owned the hand, whether it was the man she wanted or not.

“Do you want me?” she asked, looking at the place on the mirror where his eyes should be.

The hand gripping hers tightened. “Yes.”

His reply was so soft she almost didn’t hear it. Something in his voice—in that one simple word—sparked a little recognition. It was him. Riovan had kept his word to her.

She crossed the mirror threshold, ready to meet the eyes of a love she’d pined after over the last twenty years.

Instead, she fainted.

* Back to Top *

Riovan caught Alaine as the effects of crossing the mirror overwhelmed her. Like all those who had chosen before him, he carried his new mate away. He would rouse her after he reached his bedroom.

“Lord Riovan, you’re forgetting one thing.”

He turned back.

The priest smiled at him in a knowing manner. “Eager, aren’t you?”

“Hurry up,” Riovan snapped. He offered Alaine’s arm to the priest, who snapped a bracelet around her wrist.

“Simply done. Enjoy yourself, my lord.”

Riovan walked away without another word. He ignored the congratulatory remarks in favor of getting to his room before his precious burden revived.

He’d just laid her against his pillows when Alaine moaned. “You have not changed,” he said in a soft voice. “Even as a small girl, I knew you would be unafraid.”

True the creamy brown beauty before him was a far cry from the tiny little girl he’d met so long ago, but her spirit was the same.

“Riovan,” she whispered. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at him.

Had he changed much from what she remembered? Of course he had. He was a tiger when she saw him the first time. It was the curse of crossing the mirror. His kind were forced to revert back to what they were if they would walk amongst those of the unaltered realm.

Only on this side of the mirror could he stand on two legs and possess a more human-like body, though he still retained his feline features—his tail, his claws, the ears atop his head instead of on the sides and his black and white striped fur.

He smoothed a single finger along her jaw. “So, you remember me then?”

“Yes. I was hoping you would choose me, like you promised.”

“Then you remember that as well. I thought your child’s mind would lose such a memory.”

Alaine gripped his hand and used it to help her move to a sitting position. She placed her face close to his and searched his eyes. “You really expected me to forget an entire week of laughter and fun?”

“No.”

“Good, because I didn’t. You’re the reason I never feared the time of crossing or the Great Ones.”

“Such a silly name you humans gave to us, but it serves its purpose and thus we do not correct you.”

“What name would you like me to call you?”

“Only my own. That is the only name that ever needs to be on your lips.” He moved forward and pressed his lips to hers. “So soft,” he whispered.

Alaine wound her arms around his neck and pulled him to her. Her eagerness only made him want her more.

He’d almost lost her during the time of choosing. Denlal and Xaf had threatened to choose her before he could only so they could keep her away from him. Their taunts had given him just the incentive he needed to ensure he won a place before them when the challenges commenced.

After going through it, Riovan was happy the challenges only took place every thirty-six years. He couldn’t imagine the turmoil amongst his people if challenges for the honor of a human mate happened more often. He’d heard the last choosing had resulted in the death of the current king’s brother.

Nothing so extreme had happened this time. He’d won his place, which was lower than he'd liked but before Denlal and Xaf, and he had his mate—a sweet human girl who had showed him no fear even when he was a giant cat.

She’d had no way of knowing he was one of the “Great Ones” but she’d approached him and spoke with him. Once she'd realized he could understand and speak with her, they’d played for hours…days.

He hadn’t known at the time that Alaine had run away from home and her destiny as one of the twenty-nine. Before she met him for the first time, she’d been scared of mating with a tiger of the other realm.

Her parents had searched for Alaine for an entire week. They’d found her in his company and were simultaneously scared and relieved—scared of him but relieved she had been safe and well cared for.

Alaine had shown great reluctance in parting with him. Only his promise that he would choose her when the time came, thus enabling her to meet him again, had gotten her to return with her family.

Now, she belonged to him and he wouldn’t have to return her. He moved forward so she lay beneath him, all without breaking their kiss.

Her lack of clothing made him thankful. His patience wouldn’t have held through undressing her. Perhaps those who’d come before him had met with such a frustration and that was why the twenty-nine came to the choosing with only a cloak.

He touched her body tentatively, not wanting to hurt her in his eagerness. A female of his race had the protection of her fur to shield against his claws, but humans were more fragile.