12. 

All I could think about was the shadow creature as I prepared for another night of performing. The dress fit me like a sheath, a few shades darker than my own skin. My makeup and hair was done softer than the opening night. I drifted through the hallways with the guidance of a Fae with blue skin, a squashed face and short leg. Lost on the path, my mind wandered through a labyrinth of possibilities. Balance. A simple word that carried weight when passed from grave and demanding lips. But what exactly did it mean coming from the mouth of a shadow?

"Through here, Milady." The short man's voice was squeaky and unpleasant as he gestured to two gigantic doors, the only I had seen in the palace not surrounded by vines.

I gave him a tight smile and pushed open the doors. The low hum of chatter filled my ears like earplugs and a series of bright lights shone into my wide eyes. The many glass chandeliers hung from the stone ceiling illuminated the enormous hall that was filled with Faeries in extravagant robes and suits. There were tables of food and drinks where they all mingled around, a few stumbling in their drunkard instability. I could not see any faces I recognised in the crowd, the King and the man in the golden robes nowhere in sight. My chest rose and fell quickly and I made my way over to the far corner of the room, where the last performer was just finishing up.

A young man with purple hair smiled at me from behind the microphone before he stepped away from the platform and gestured for me to approach.

"Over there is a Brownie named John, he will help you find the sound track to whatever music you are performing for the next hour. They're quite connected to our world, so they know they're stuff. Just trust he has the right thing." He laughed and raked a hand through his sweaty hair, almond eyes squinting.

"Okay."

I stepped up to the platform, and approached the creature. A small and hairy thing with a flat face and a pinhole nose frowned up at me, waiting for me to instruct it.

"Wafia, XXIA, in order presented please. Then her singles." I whispered, brushing my hair out of my eyes and taking my place at the microphone.

The music began to pour out of the walls, like the entire room was a speaker and I was plugged in. The words came out of my mouth with ease, just another daily exercise trained into my body. The Fae continued to chatter, a few stopping occasionally to stare at me, making me shift uncomfortably on my feet until they walked away.

But even when the Fae walked away, I felt someone's eyes on me. My eyes shifted nervously as I searched for the person who was boring into my soul with their hard gaze. And just as I wanted, I found them.

It was the man in the golden robes, the man in the vision, cloaked in the darkness created by the look that swam in his eyes. His white hair fell over his lashes, and as soon as my eyes locked with his the world once again shrank into another one.

I fell into a room of darkness, and the doppelgängers appeared, walking through the fog. Their arms linked made swirls and tiny whirlwinds of smoke peal upwards from their skin, writhing around them like a living organism.

"This is all your now." My doppelgänger waved a hand to open the curtain of darkness.

She revealed the city of the First Pane, overgrown with gigantic plants and trees, but more beautiful than it ever was. Fae bustled in the streets, productivity driving their quick feet onwards to another day of work. The jewellery shops melted their jewels down into hard metals, making all sorts of armoury and weapons. The food markets were not selling in surpluses, but handing out portioned baskets to each Fae who passed by. And in the fields where the Fae used to dance were groups carrying swords and brandishing other small weapons. The land was thriving, the trees and the sun casting merciful light over the city, as if it were thankful for the change.

I inhaled sharply, and tried to get a closer look at the scene before me, but it disappeared with another swipe of my doppelgängers arm. Stumbling on flat feet, I shook my head in confusion. I had seen darkness engulfing the land, so how could it be thriving? The Fae seemed more productive than ever, working to better protect themselves and build up their empire. That was it! They were preparing for some kind of expansion, a war maybe. But I still didn't understand my involvement in any of it.

The man smiled and leant inwards to kiss her, and just as their lips touched, I was back in the palace, only mere seconds passing in the time I was somewhere else. My vision clouded with tiny blue dots and a sudden wave of nausea filled my belly, but this time I remained stable, determined to finish my set before I retreated to hurl in the bushes.

The man was nowhere to be seen, doors on the other side of the room swinging slightly as a sign of his retreat. There was no applause when I stopped singing, the Fae continuing to chatter amongst themselves as another performer took my place.

"You can mingle among the Fae now, Miss. You have an hour before they take you back to your quarters." John the Brownie spoke quickly, pointing towards one food table, which was painting red in the line of golden ones. "That is human food, don't eat anything else."

I nodded and smiled, walking slowly off the platform and down to the red table. As much as I wanted to retreat back to my room, with the other humans, I wanted food and I wanted answers. Excusing myself as I slipped by strangers in extravagant robes and immediately grabbed the first item off the table. Shovelling it into my mouth, I tasted salt and pastry and assumed it was a sausage roll before swallowing another. I ate maybe five of the brilliant creations before moving on to a pile of sweet tarts. My third was in my mouth when an older Fae approached me.

"My, my! I've never seen a human eat like that before!" The man laughed from his swollen belly, a wine glass held in one hand and champagne in the other.

I smiled, my mouth still full of the mixture and dusted off my hands. The Fae had a blue beard cut an inch below the chin and a large sharp nose that pointed out of his moustache. His head bolding, I assumed he was an elder of his race but couldn't quite pin his age; even he with the large wine belly would be considered attractive in the human world. His clothes also told a tale of his wealth; a penguin suit and tie tailored to his size.

"Excuse me, Sir. I am always quite hungry." I smiled and extended a hand towards him, only to realise he had none available.

"Oh! Not to worry, dear," He exclaimed, not seeming to notice my attempt at an introduction, "I am always hungry too." He whispered, voice laced with chuckles, "My name is Vincent, I am the treasurer of this plane."

My smile widened as he wiggled his eyebrows and took a large gulp from his glass of wine. This was my chance to ask questions. I already knew this man would not take me so seriously and would easily spill the contents of his brain like the wine he spilled from his glass.

"I'm Lyra." I picked up another treat and plopped it into my mouth, "I performed the closing number last night."

"Ah yes! I remember your pretty voice. Although I much prefer the style you sung tonight." He replied, falling into the friendly chatter trap I set.

"I was wondering what The King thought of it, do you know if he liked it?" I asked quietly, nibbling on another chocolate pastry.

"Why yes! I believe he said something about you being special... oh no, I believe that was the prince who said that. But the King really did seem to enjoy—"

"The prince? Was he wearing gold robes by any chance?" I hoped I didn't sound so desperate, so I quickly grabbed a glass of what appeared to be human Champagne from my table.

"Mmm," He nodded, taking a sip from his champagne, "He is quite a handsome young fella isn't he? I must say, we were all a little confused that he requested you to perform tonight. The King is very picky about who can attend these events, and with The Foretelling and everything else it was unbelievable he didn't just chop off your head!" Vincent bellowed in laughter, making a chopping motion with his hands.

"The Foretelling?" I enquired, perhaps too loudly as a few heads turned in our direction.

"Oh! Forget I said anything, darl!" He laughed, taking another large sip from his wine. "Nothing for your little human brain to be concerned with."

I smiled tightly in response, but couldn't help but feel offended by his remark. It came to my attention that these people believed I was of less intelligence, and perhaps I was, but I understood complex detail and thought; I was no gold fish.

"Excuse me," I whispered lightly, palming my head as if I was hot, "But I need to get some fresh air."

Before Vincent could reply, I had slipped past his round form and made a beeline towards the doors I had seen the prince enter minutes before. He was my last hope for answers, maybe it was he that was the cause of the visions and he could stop them from happening.

I pushed open the doors and the wind hit me like a cold bucket of water, sliding over my skin and cooling the surface. I breathed a heavy sigh of relief and headed straight for the edge of the balcony. The railing was decorated with thousands of tiny red flowers, each in full bloom. It overlooked the furthest reaches of their kingdom. Facing opposite to the city, I saw the vastness of the fields and the mountains that were illuminated only slightly by the pink afternoon sunlight. The landscape looked like a mystical painting, too perfect and colourful to be quite real. But there it was, the truth, staring right back at me. I was in another place, another world maybe, where everything was grander than what humans could offer earth.

"It's you." His voice was like an electrical current through my ear, lighting my brain on fire.

I spun quickly to face him, my eyes wide and wild, prepared to fight or to run if need be. But his eyes made me falter. I had seen him before, I knew of his perfection; his strong jaw, the sharp nose, the golden skin and white hair. But his eyes were like the grass Virgo made bracelets out of, they were like the terrible Christmas sweaters my parents wore every year, they were like far tops of the trees I stared at from my window every day I was home, wishing I were somewhere far away. They were the wildest, purest green I had ever laid eyes upon.

There was a part of me which seeked the attention of those eyes, but it felt as if that part of me was missing, too far away to demand acknowledgement. They were too pure to be anything close to evil.

I realised I didn't even have to ask; he was not the cause of the visions. He was just as confused as I was.

We stumbled away from each other, as if we both discovered the powerful truth at the same time.

"You're not—"

"Doing this? No." He cut me off, running a hand through his beautiful white hair.

"Then—"

"Who is? I don't know. Perhaps no one. Perhaps everyone." He cut me off again and began pacing along the balcony, chin in hand.

"Well can you—"

"Stop it? No. I tried tonight but as you probably know that did not work." He muttered, walking quickly.

"Can you stop cutting me off?" I snapped, flexing my fingers at my sides.

My voice seemed to cut him out of whatever daze he had locked himself into. He looked at me for a moment, blinking softly with his lips parted.

"My apologises." He said quickly, stopping his pacing by holding onto the railing.

I bit my cheek, unsure of the right question to ask the man who was clearly as clueless as I was.

"What did you see... when we...?" I asked softly, so quiet I was sure he hadn't heard me, but after a moment his head lifted.

"That depends... What did you see?" His voice suddenly turned accusingly and his hands found their way to his hips.

"Us...in darkness..." I trailed off, unsure of how to approach the other side of the story. I didn't want him to cut my head off for saying anything like 'taking over your daddy's kingdom!' if he hadn't seen the same thing.

"Interesting." Was all he said.

I breathed in sharply, irritation sliding down my tongue.

"Well, what did you see?" Now it was my turn to be accusing. I pointed a finger at his chest, japing him directly over where his heart would be.

He didn't answer, instead he peered over my shoulder, eyes widening slowly, as if encapsulated by an image behind me. I whirled around to face—nothing. Behind me were only the mountains and the sun melting into the horizon. I turned back around, fury curling my fists and sprouting sweat on my brow. The answers I sought were staring me in the face like a treasure chest; all the answers were inside, but it was locked with some secret lost code that I had no time to figure out.

"What?" I nearly screamed.

"Nothing." He said quickly, flicking his eyes back to my face.

"Are you going to tell me anything or do I have to wait for the next time I pass out and nearly get executed BY YOUR FATHER?" My voice raised, and I was almost shouting, my lungs heaving as I sucked in deep breaths.

But still he said nothing, instead choosing to stare at me with wide pleading eyes, as if he were the one asking questions. I unclenched my fists and grinded my teeth together, turning sharply on my heel to avoid lashing out at the highest member of the kingdoms elite.

"Agh!" I groaned as I pushed open the doors back into the hall, my anger rising my strength.

For the first time in the night, the room was silent. Because on the floor in front of me was a pool of blood, growing towards my toes like a violent fungus. My eyes followed the flow of blood and landed on the crumbled form of the drunkard Vincent, intestines spewed from his swollen stomach like a bunch of chicken sausages. And standing over him was the King, wiping his bloodied hand with a white handkerchief. My hand covering my mouth, I looked back at the prince to find a matched look of horror pass over his face. Behind him, the flowers had wilted on the balcony, as black as death. 

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What do you think the shadows want from Lyra?

And what does the Prince have to do with it?