The Alyta Trilogy: Handmaids, Heroes, and Hierarchy.

Jason holds Alyta in his arms so that she can see the field. 
�It really is beautiful, Jason.  Thank you so much for bringing me here.�  She looks up to the ever-darkening sky and closes her eyes.  Jason simply holds her and watches the stars moving through the visible circle of sky.  He leans back and lets sleep come.  He�s needed here more than at any castle.

                                                                        *~*~*

The next morning, Loua and Sytifa are a little more frantic.  They have discovered that both their charges haven�t returned.  Could somebody be trying to sabotage the coronation?  But who?  And why take Alyta?  Would they take all the princesses in time?  So many unanswered questions!

                                                                        *~*~*

Jason wakes up, sees Alyta in his arms, and remembers what happened yesterday.  He looks at her peacefully sleeping there, and places a soft kiss upon her forehead.

Artemis looks with slitted eyes at Aphrodite.  She looks back innocently.
�I didn�t do anything this time, sis.  Really.�  She lets out a silent squeal of laughter and scrunches her shoulders in joy: she didn�t have to do anything this time.

He cautiously lifts his head so he can see her leg without waking her up.
�What?� he thinks, �That�s impossible.  Yesterday there was a cut large enough to kill an average man.  Now nothing?  Inconceivable!�
Alyta shifts in his arms.  She opens one eye, and sees Jason�s smiling yet worried face above her.  She jumps up instinctively. 
�Oh.  I forgot where I was for a moment.  I thought this place was just a dream,� she says, her eyes scanning the area and finally landing back on Jason.
�Alyta� I don�t mean to be rude, but weren�t you dying yesterday?�
She looks at Jason with a quizzical look.  �There was water.  I learned from Atlantis that water cures everything.  That is Poseidon�s promise.�  She states as if that were obvious.  �Without water, everything would die.  A man who is dying of thirst can be saved with one drop of water.  You washed my wound and I am now whole again.�
Jason looks at her with amazement.  Her statements seem to make so much sense, coming from her.  He looks at the stream and sees it in a whole new light.  It really is a life-giver.  It seems to sparkle more with the knowledge of life.  He would have never have seen this without her.  He looks back in her eyes, and sees that they are the exact color of the sea on a perfect day.  He blinks and tears his eyes away.
�We really should be getting back.  We�re probably missed by now.�
�A royal guard searching for me will be one way to find out my real position,� they both think independent of each other, at the same time.
They walk out of their secret spot, Alyta followed by Jason.  He looks back over his shoulder at the field he�s known all his life, now renewed in a special way.  As he turns, the stream seems to sparkle one last time as if to say goodbye.

                                                                     *~*~*