1-18 R

They led me inside like a prize-winning cow.

Somehow, the collar and chain didn’t stop me from moving in sync with the much taller Faerie. Whenever I should have stumbled, my limbs just moved on their own. The same instinctive motion kept my spear at just the right height – and my head at just the right angle – as I was paraded in front of the others. That angle was upturned enough that I couldn’t see off the balcony, barely even keeping the railing in sight. Draperies on the balustrade bore the same shining symbol as the crystals on my captors’ wrists. They were the only decorations on the balcony itself. Above us the walls curved into a cavernous ceiling. The wood there ran and curled like vines of melted wax, twisting itself into statues and displays that I couldn’t focus on enough to understand as we walked. There were just too many things. Some of them were moving, too.

It seemed endless.

Except – there was an end. Directly across from us was a door. The peak of a massive arch, shrouded in shadows cast by the flickering lights darting between the wooden stalactites. I thought, at first, that it was a wall. Then I saw the seam. It was barely a wrinkle compared to the two enormous panels that made up the door, running right down the center of the scene carved across them. Seeming at once both impossibly close and unbelievably far, I couldn’t take in enough of it from here to even guess what it was showing. Especially not since it seemed to go down a lot further than the piece I could see over the railing.

When we were halfway across the balcony, a horn sounded. More followed, and then the sounds of uncountable people enjoying themselves faded away. The five that seemed to defer to him stepped forward to a rising cheer, placing themselves along the railing to frame the pair of us. He stepped forward last, tugging me up beside him.

The other balconies, the floor far beneath us… all of them were filled with Faeries and people and things that weren’t quite people. Every single one – including the servants like Agatha – were staring up at me.

“Friends, companions, esteemed guests – welcome! Welcome to the House of Ended Days. Today, we have something special!”

His speech boomed out, rolling across the room in a rich voice that dripped like honey.

“By the grace and power of the Lady of Sighing Boughs, trueborn daughter of Ash and Lady of this House, my fellows and I have once more acquired a mortal who dared to trespass within the Wood. Unlike the dross such occurrences usually bring, this one was a gem. The blood and bone of the Corpse Grower himself, fruit of the Flower’s loins and shattered dreams, it was the disgraced heir of a lineage painted with the brush of Ash. Now, it stands before you as the last and latest of the Va’Kreth. Its raiment is the very same worn when its forebears fought beside us against Flame. It has stumbled in the footsteps of its forebears, falling unarmed and alone against a mere cairnhound. Then it found its stride against a cerboar and was gifted arms by our Lady herself. Perhaps it will falter and fail in disgrace, a piteous end to its story like no other. Or maybe, in time, it will reach the heights that the womb it spawned from so lightly grazed. Whatever the end to come, it was our fortune to be the first to claim it. Fortune that we, graciously, choose to share.”

“Whatever the Weave holds for us all, we’re quite certain that our new trophy’s tale will be of an exquisitely rare quality. Those of you here today – especially those of you who return for the coming events – will see it unfold. We will test it, trial it, see if it founders. And if this seedling manages to blossom?” He grinned and tugged me forward with the leash. For the first time since it went on, it unbalanced me. “Perhaps it will go free.”

The laugh that followed that felt like the entire room was mocking me.

“All these wondrous things – which we are happy to plan alongside you esteemed guests – shall come in time. Now? We celebrate its first successful hunt!”

For a moment, it looked like he was going to grab my arm to raise it. I saw the slightest tremor run through him as he stopped. The look he gave me was clear, so I raised it on my own. The one holding the spear, obviously. My other was holding onto the railing so tightly that I could actually feel the wood through the gloves.

When the tip was overhead, it began to hum. The light in the room – shining down from a mix of giant crystals and ethereal floating balls – bent to focus in on the spear. They converged into a brilliant column that soaked into some of the gems and scattered from the others. One particularly bright reflection highlighted me, warm even through the armor. Enough that the vast thing inside me stirred. With a bleary slowness, my passenger looked out through my eyes. It glanced at the spear and rumbled a pulse of confusing emotions that would have seen me stagger if I’d been able to move.

Then it turned away.

Almost as if it were an afterthought, I saw the edge of a colossal wing flash across my mind. Nothing in the real world – or as real as this place could be anyway – moved as the ephemeral membrane struck the gem.

It took a few blinks for me to realize that the cascade of sparkling pink dust that exploded outward was real. By then I was struggling not to sneeze as it started landing on me. If I’d lost the struggle I might’ve missed the way the Fae…glitched.

That was the best word I could think of.

The ones that looked foreign sat and stared. The ones like my captors – they cracked. In the glittering spots the dust left in my eyes, they fell apart. It happened to all of them, every Faerie of Ash that I could see, but only one was close enough to actually watch.

Him.

Pieces of Fearghal peeled away. Layers of faces and clothes as thin as onionskin flaking off. Some in shapes that were Human, some that weren’t even close. At the center was something that shone. A crystalline thing, a statue of overlaid impossibilities and roiling color. Brilliant, living gems rotting next the dull dust the shade of wet, clinging ash.

Then I blinked. It ended. The Faeries were all put together again, their inhuman gazes bearing down on me from perfect, flawless faces. As if I hadn’t just seen something beneath them.

I didn’t know what to make of it. Apparently, neither did he. His next words were softer. A whisper that slowly built up to his previous volume.

“The One-First-Burned. An omen of things to come – truly, we here are blessed.”

That, at least to me, sounded like he also had no idea. The words had all the same certainty and tones as the rest of his speech, but something about it felt shaken. All it told me was that they’d seen whatever was hitching a ride inside me, and they had a name for it.

The One-First-Burned.

The stumbling block of whatever the heck had just happened didn’t keep him, or the rest of the hall, down for long. Before I’d even gotten my spear – was that central point glittering now? – back to the ground he was moving again.

“Let the festivities begin.”

The last word echoed out even louder. It was met with a cheer, the wave of sound enough to send me staggering back. The collar – it had to be that. I wasn’t this agile – turned the movement into a graceful step to his side. Without skipping a beat, he lead me down a staircase that hadn’t been there before.

It was dizzying. There were rails, but they were massive, sweeping things along the edges. He led me straight down the center so fast that it left my head spinning. Each step down I took was smooth, but the surroundings lurched forward in stutter-step frames that made my stomach roil. Heady scents, thick with spices and heat, grew stronger as we descended. Clouds of vapor – invisible from the balcony we’d left – filled the space behind us and blocked all but the strongest lights from the ceiling when I looked up. They rolled across us every few steps, immaterial and invisible until we were inside, and brought with them their characteristic scents. No two that touched me were the same – not in color, not in smell, and especially not in taste. With each one a flavor burst across my tongue, lasting only as long as I stood on that step and yet so intense that I could almost feel whatever I was smelling sliding down my throat.

None of them were recognizable. And some of them squirmed.

One – a sickeningly sweet tang – did more than that. Where it touched me, warmth raced out. From my nose, my mouth, and most of all my lungs. Behind each wave a faint tingling followed, one that left my muscles relaxing as tension drained. That warmth lingered even as we moved on, blurring out the others and leaving a dopey smile to my lips. My head started to spin and it felt like I was floating away.

I nearly fell on the next step.

The Faerie snapped his wrist without even looking back. My legs moved without me thinking, the rest of my body pulled along with them to balance on the steps and follow. It also tightened my grip on the spear, which had begun to slip out of my hands without me even noticing. All of that was just a faint awareness that barely managed to pierce the fog around my mind. There were better things to think about. Like my collar’s chain.

It was just so, so shiny.

I couldn’t look away. Each link gleamed in the light, practically glowing all on its own. I was so, so sure that something was reflected in it. Big shapes and little ones, things moving everywhere even thought I couldn’t see them. I really wanted to get a closer look, but my hands wouldn’t listen when I tried to grab it.

That wasn’t enough to knock the smile off my face though. The chain sometimes dropped out of sight as I followed the sometimes-mean man around, but that was ok. There were plenty of other things to look at! There were Faeries everywhere and a lot of them were so much shinier and prettier than the ones I came with. Those shiny ones actually came up to us a lot. I gave them a big smile each time and did what they said. I think it was showing off? The Faerie with me seemed happy, at least, and kept those cold hands away.

A twirl here, a bow there. Sometimes they’d have me mime the way I’d killed the boar, but that was usually in front of a bigger audience than the single Faeries that came up to us. I didn’t like it as much when they asked for that– my skin crawled and I almost felt that hot, hot blood soaking my hands again, even under the armor. The frowns from that never lasted long, though. Someone else would come up, or we’d move along and I’d spot something else amazing. It wasn’t like the things they asked were hard – they didn’t even want me to talk, most of the time. That was fine though – my head felt really warm and my tongue felt really heavy whenever I swallowed. Even if they didn’t act like I was a person, I didn’t mind. It was easy to see why, and just doing what I was told and looking pretty was fun!

It was nice to look pretty and have people say it. One of the pretty green ladies said she could just eat me up! It felt like I should worry about that – especially with how quickly I got tugged away from her – but I couldn’t actually think of why. So I just shrugged and went back to ogling things.

The ones like the green lady were so pretty, even if I couldn’t stay around them long! They were so loud and bright with flowers everywhere. One even had his own little light thing following around, nestled in between a pair of giant horns that I got to watch when he spun another around in a little dance! I had to blush every time I saw them though – the people they always had nearby were almost naked! They smelled nice though. Some were like flowers and trees, others like early rain or wet ground. A few were closer to dog smell, but even that wasn’t bad.

The ones in brown and orange and umber weren’t as eye catching, but they had lots of nice things to say about my outfit. The grey one holding me got happy about that and said he’d adjusted it all himself and improved a few things. He always sent them away when they started asking about the spear, though. The people that followed them were usually bald and in little robes. They all did magic, and they were so much better at it than me! They were quiet though – only a few would even talk to me, and we never had long. I just wanted them to teach me how to do things!

The shiny, golden ones were practically wearing nothing but jewelry! Well, some of them. I didn’t look as closely at the gold ones in regular clothes and stuff like what the grey ones had. The others were prettier, like that one lady that was covered in gems and metal! I wouldn’t want to wear it, but it looked really nice and made me blush too. A gold bikini made me think weird things, so I didn’t look at her anymore after she started talking to someone else. The ones around these were sometimes almost naked too, but most seemed just as happy to meet me as I was them.

One of the girls following the bikini lady around came up to me while our Faeries were talking. She grabbed my hand with a smile and pulled me out onto the dance floor. Passing into the open square, the sounds faded and music took over. There were a few other pairs out, but most people were just standing around the edges watching. Including so many other shiny Faeries. They were all looking at me.

I didn’t know what to do. It sounded like a waltz, but I wasn’t in a long dress and I had the spear and I’d never been that good at dancing anyway. All of that was enough to get through the fog around my head and drop the smile.

“How do I…”

I knew where my hands should go – even if I blushed as she moved mine to her hip – but the spear was in the way of the other. Something told me I shouldn’t drop or leave it anywhere.

“Trust me.” Her voice was breathy and low, a mischievous smile on her lips. She wrapped her hand around mine on the spear, interlacing our fingers. Then she pulled me closer so fast that I gasped. My head went into her shoulder, nestling against bare, warm skin. Her ruby-studded collar was so captivating. So were her eyes. They glittered as she giggled and pulled me out onto our first steps.

It started easy. 1-2-3, my muddled thoughts focused on avoiding stepping on her bare feet. She started to hum at some point, a warm and soothing sound. Like the sun beating down on us on a windy day. Her long, diaphanous skirt swept around on each turn, chiming with each motion and sudden breeze as little golden tags on it collided.

Then the music – and her humming – shifted.

She pulled instead of just guiding. I only stumbled once before my feet started to slide smoothly along with her. If I didn’t look or think about it, my feet would follow. She grinned when I caught on, then tilted her head toward the spear. I focused in on her eyes and it started moving, too. Her hand tugged mine along as the spear began to bounce and twirl in sync with the beating in my chest.

It was just so easy to lose track of things, the rest of the ball fading into blurred strips of colors as she pulled me around. Sometimes she spun me around. Other times, guided by the sound and her giggling laughter, I twirled and lifted her. The clouds overhead twinkled like stars, slowly going dark as the music hit its climactic notes and then began to fade.

I noticed that because I was staring straight up at them. Well – almost. She’d dipped me there at the end and was still holding me up and I could only see part of them around the face pressed up against mine.

Her lips were so very warm.

She pulled away just far enough for me to breathe I sucked in air. She smelled like the wind in a forest, with just the faintest hint of blossoms on her lips.

“Not bad, Lady Aufrey.”

“Teresa.”

It took a few tries to get that right. My tongue felt even heavier.

“Mmm. For you, then? Sivaya.”

We pulled upright, but she was still pressing up against me. It was nice even if I didn’t really feel her arm around me. Or because I didn’t? I think I’d been upset about being touched earlier but if it was like this I had no idea why.

“This Ball is yours, yes? I wonder if there’s anything else you’d want me to show you? Or maybe something you’d want to show me? Perhaps a room?”

She blinked at me, a lot. Something must’ve gotten in her eye since only one of them moved. My room was awful though and I didn’t know how to find it anyway. She was right though; the party was mine. For me? From me? Something like that. I couldn’t leave it early, so I didn’t know why she’d ask. I did have something I could show her though. That one dance that Tammy taught me a few years ago. Maybe she’d like it.

Sivaya looked a bit confused at first, but then she started giggling again. There was a lot more laughing and then some clapping from the people around us, then some of the other dancers copied me. The floor got a bit crowded after that since we needed less space and I lost track of her, but that was fine! There’d be new people to meet for both of us, and I could smell food somewhere. The rumbling in my stomach made that sound so appetizing.

There should’ve been a lot of tables. I remembered seeing them before I hit those clouds, but where were they all? I could smell it, but I kept just running into clumps of people. My tongue was still being a bit weird and fuzzy so asking for directions was hard. People kept pointing me in different directions, so I just wandered around. I waved and smiled whenever people did that to me. Most of them weren’t Faeries – those pretty and shiny people mostly just watched and tittered. The ones that looked like Agatha did kept turning me down when I offered to help them carry stuff.

They also wouldn’t give me snacks from their trays. But that was fine; I wasn’t their job.

Eventually I just decided to follow one with an empty tray. That got me to a table on the third try. I lost the person on the first two when something shiny distracted me. My head was starting to hurt by then and the warmth wasn’t doing enough to cover up the throbbing. It was enough to slow me down and make me grumpy, but I still tried to be nice to anyone I saw. Being mean would be, well, mean. Just because I was starting to not feel well and have a fuzzy tongue that felt way too big didn’t mean that I got to be rude.

The table of snacks was massive. It also hurt to look at; every time a servant came up to grab a tray of snacks, they took one. But there never seemed to be any fewer trays. I looked away every time I saw someone making a grab, but I still couldn’t figure out what I wanted to grab. There was just So Much Stuff.

Half of the table was drinks. Tall glasses, small glasses, twisty glasses – so many different kinds! Colors too. The first few I picked up smelled weird. One was like alcohol. The next two were weird and fruity. The fourth one had something snap up at me from it.

I dropped that one on the floor and whatever was in it scurried off into the crowd.

I just wanted water!

A hand settled on my shoulder before I could reach for another glass. What was left of the fog in my head vanished, the warmth sucked out along with it. That was when I realized that nobody else was coming near the table, for all that they were watching me. And that it was nearly silent.

Except for the creaking rasp of branches scraping together.

“I would speak to you, child.”