IN THE KINGDOM OF LJOSALFAR a different kind of game was in play. A decorative banner hung from an arch over the entrance to the Labyrinth, where Princess Asra joined her friends for a game. Along the winding footpaths, past sculpted shrubbery, a dozen young Elves forgot their sophisticated manners and raced like children through the maze. Asra turned a corner and dodged around a fountain. Her friend Skara followed close behind, giggling, and the beads that hung from the straps of her embroidered cap jangled as she ran. "Hush, Skara, they'll hear you!" whispered Asra.
"But I want them to hear me!"
Asra and Skara reached an archway in the hedge, and on the other side the Elflads were drawing near. When playing the Labyrinth game, the males always entered from the north side, and the females entered from the south. When an Elflad and an Elfmaid met at any place where the paths intersected, they were expected to kiss. If the same Elflad and Elfmaid should meet three times within the maze, then they were betrothed, which meant that the couple was fated to one day be married. Of course, it was just a game for young Elves to play. It was an acceptable way to act out the rituals of courtship. But Princess Asra felt strange playing the game. Though three hundred and sixty moons had passed since Udos's death, it was but a brief time for the Elves. Asra was the only one of her group of friends to have ever been engaged, and if the hunter's bullet had not felled Udos, she would be married now. Married Elfmaids did not play games, they did not run and chase and kiss Elflads they barely knew.
Asra saw the shadow first. She grabbed Skara by the shoulders and thrust her into the archway. A pair of Elflads tumbled over each other in the effort to stop in front of Skara, and the taller of the two straightened himself and tried to appear dignified. Nevertheless his cheeks gleamed like apples as he leaned forward and kissed Skara on the mouth. Then the pair turned away from each other, laughing, and everyone raced ahead. "Why did you push me in front of you?" demanded Skara. "Vittror was yours for the taking. You've already kissed him once!"
"I know," said Asra, with a shudder. "That's why I didn't want to risk it again!"
"He's handsome," Skara enthused, "not to mention one of the royals of the Ellyll Clan. He'd be a perfect match for you, Asra!"
"'Tis just a game, Skara. I don't want to even pretend to be engaged to someone now. I'm only here because you didn't want to come alone." Asra stopped to peer around the corner of the hedge. "I don't need a perfect match. I don't need a match at all. But if my time should ever come again, my parents want me to marry a Ljosalfar lad, like Udos was. They say 'twould be good for the Clans." Asra looked left and right, and then hurried around the corner. "Besides, I lost my mother's wedding shoe. The shoes have been used for a hundred generations. I'm not getting married without them. In fact, no Alfheim Princess will ever be allowed to marry without the shoes."
"A convenient excuse!" noted Skara, as they came to a courtyard with five identical arches. The friends stopped for a moment to catch their breath. "Asra, were you in love with Udos?"
The Princess brushed a strand of hair from her eyes. "My parents arranged the whole thing! I hardly even knew him."
"Then what about his cousin," Skara persisted, "Prince Macta? He's been in love with you forever!"
"Macta Dockalfar?" Asra grimaced. "You must be joking. He claims he was Udos's cousin, but he's from Helfratheim, and the Northern Elves haven't married into the families of Ljosalfar. Macta just uses that cousin story as an excuse to be familiar with me and my family.
"Still," Skara said, her eyes glazing over, "there's something about him … he's strong, and willful. And he's not bad-looking, Asra."
"The Dockalfars are the opposite of everything we stand for," Asra said. "Macta makes my skin crawl! And he's not in love with me, he just wants to possess me. Listen, Skara, I'm perfectly happy being on my own. You're the one who's crazy for the lads. Let's find a mate for you, and spare me the romance!"
The paths of the Labyrinth had been designed to represent the pattern of Cords that circled the earth. Seen from above, the weaving paths crossed, and crossed again, and the young Elfmaids and Elflads charged headlong, flirting with chance and hoping to find their future hidden behind an unexpected kiss. "Look!" exclaimed Skara, recognizing the familiar bushy tail of a topiary squirrel. "I think this is the shortest path to the next archway."
She grinned back at her friend, grabbing hold of her sleeve. "Come on, Asra, hurry, there's not much time!"