7.

"Lyra!" I was shaken out of my daze, Alvar's voice loud in my ears. I groaned and shifted away from him to lie on the ground, beyond exhaustion. "What's wrong?"

Alvar's voice was distant, but I could still hear the unease in his voice. I would have smiled if I had the energy because it almost sounded like he cared.

"Water." I managed to mumble, the end of the word lost in translation.

"You idiot!" I vaguely heard Lucius insult his friend, his figure pacing before my fluttering eyes. "She is human, Alvar. She needs something called water! Do you even know what that word means?"

"Oh, so now you care!" Alvar shouted back, his voice muffled in my ears.

"No, Alvar," Lucius scoffed, "but we happen to be outside the city, with no time to turn around, and we cannot show up empty handed! You promised the King the best!"

"We promised him the best."

As they bickered, my hands slid around the grass and dirt, seeking the illusion of refreshment that came with the cool undergrowth. But, as I raked my fingers through the dirt, the water had been soaked even from its grasps as if it were suffering along side me.

"Just get her some damn water!"

Moments or minutes later, something cold and wet was sliding down my throat. My body immediately soaked it in and my hands came up to my mouth to grip the large leaf of water. When I was finished, I shoved the leaf back into Alvar's hands, my eyes opening, demanding more. By the third leaf, my body was satisfied, but my stomach was churning. Too much water on an empty stomach was leaving me nauseous. To me, nausea was one of the worst feelings in the world. After far too many bouts of carsickness as a young girl and overall motion sickness throughout my whole life, I was content with never throwing up again. My motion sickness had gotten to the point where even the scent of something in a car or the stuffiness of a room would set me off. I had enough of it in my childhood to amount to a lifetime of occasional stomach bugs, I didn't want any more.

"Welcome back." Sarcasm was laced into Lucius' voice as Alvar extended a hand to me.

I stared at his palm for a moment, the voice inside my head telling me I could trust him, before I was delicately pulled to my feet with his help. I stared into his dark eyes, captured by the purity of their darkness, and let my hand fall from his grasp. He had captured my fascination. The Periwinkle fluttered around my head, its action matching the feeling deep in my stomach, and landed in my hair.

"So, did you say we were near the city?" I asked, breaking eye contact with Alvar to raise a brow at Lucius. He was staring at us, specifically at the place our hands were touching moments before.

"Yes..." He said after a moment, "Actually, we are here."

And then, will a sweep of his arm he drew back the undergrowth to reveal a city of wonders. The forest ended in one perfectly straight line to open up a society of otherworldly creatures, bright colours moving between large building structures. The sun shone so brightly that it illuminated every building and surface of the civilisation, ancient architecture that mimicked that of the Greek Gods laid in clusters for as far as my eyes could see. Little houses, stalls and market places wove around each other to create a maze of colours and voices, together creating a beautiful scene that my eyes photographed as my lids blinked. And in the distance, towering over the city was a building so tall and magnificent that the tips disappeared into the fog. The palace ground stretched as wide as the city and at its centre was a tower that's diamond windows casted shards of rainbows over the city. It was everything and nothing like the descriptions of castle found in children books and terribly under budgeted Hollywood movies.

Alvar's hand found the small of my back and pushed me forewords, sending me plummeting into the fantastical place the Fae call home.

As we approached the first market place, I was only confronted by even more wonders alien to the mundane world. Winged creatures with lion heads for faces pressed gemstones into the hands of beautiful humanoid fae and tall and unbelievable thin men with no mouths shovelled crumbs into their stomachs that were lined with teeth. Small dwarfish creatures with red caps and large claws scampered around our legs as Alvar pulled me through the crowd. I tried to identify more features that I could identify on the creatures that filled the streets, but I suddenly came to a halt as Alvar pushed me behind him.

"That's a pretty thing you got there." A high-pitched male voice emanated through the noises of the crowd.

A large man stood before us, draped in a red cape, sporting a grey beard, which fell to his chest. His features could almost pass as human, except for his beady red eyes and a sharp nose that protruded out of his face like a deformed carrot. I remembered what Alvar had said about the capes representing authority and wondered where he stood in rank. By Lucius' expression, which was devoid of respect or any vague interest answered that question; this man was way below their rank.

"She is for the King." Alvar responded, his voice tense as his hand tightened around my waist.

The man smirked and cocked his head at me, his beady eyes raking over my thin and dirtied frame. No doubt I looked like a striking image of Carrie; blood all over my dress, bare feet bruised, and hair mattered with sticks and other pieces of junk I picked up along the road. The Periwinkle was fumbling about in my hair, no doubt hiding from the towering figure of the man and his abnormal nose.

"It's a bit late for that now. The Duchess has already greeted the performers and moved them to their quarters." The man licked his upper lip and flashed his sharp teeth. Alvar passed a look to Lucius, sharing a silent conversation. "So what'd you say, you going let me have a go with her?"

There was a loud crack and then the man was on his knees, blood dripping from his mouth to his chin. Lucius examined his fist and extracted a singular tooth lodged into his knuckle. He held it in-between his thumb and forefinger with a large grin stretched across his mouth. The red caped man sunk onto his backside, terror freezing his face in an expression of shock.

"I don't think you will. Actually, I have another idea!" Lucius fiddled with the bone, pieces of gum still stuck to its sides. "How about you run along ahead and inform the Duchess that we are on our way and we sincerely apologise for the delay. You see, we ran into some trouble along the way and as soon as we entered the city, a Red Guard challenged us for our prise." The man was horrified, as was I. Alvar's arm kept me rooted in my position, but what I didn't understand was what was stopped the Red Guard from leaving, or disobeying. "You tell the Duchess that the girl we got is a real treat."

The man was nodding obediently now, crouched on his knees waiting to be released from Lucius' hold. I stared at Lucius, still twirling the tooth in his fingers and noticed the air around him had changed. Just as when I first saw the two men, steam swirled off his cape and into the small bone. I pressed myself against Alvar's side, who had yet to say a word to the man or scold Lucius for his behaviour.

Just as I was about to ask Alvar what was happening, I heard his soft voice in my ear.

"It is glamour that you can see. Magic is what you call it in your world." I shifted uneasily in his arms, unsure of how I felt about this 'glamour'. I know they had used it on me, more than once, and was probably the answer to my undying trust in Alvar. But I still wondered about the tooth, why was it so terrifying to the Red Guard? "A Fae cannot be manipulated by glamour unless another holds a significant possession or part of the person. Lucius holds his tooth, his heart and his brain."

I stared with a renewed wonder. The terror rippling off the man had reasons beyond getting his arse kicked by two men of higher authority. Lucius could ask the man to walk off a cliff and he would have to. Just as the man was about to run to the palace, Lucius stopped him once again with his seething voice.

"Wait! You know what? If the Duchess doesn't kill you straight away for entering the palace without orders from the King, you tell her you take full responsibility for making Lucius Abaddon and Alvar Fenrir so late to the induction of performers."

"Abad-don and f-f-Fenrir?" The Red Guard stumbled over his words.

Lucius' grin widened, stretching almost to his ears. Alvar sighed in my ear, clearly displeased with his choice of words. My curiosity spiked, were they important names? I knew the white capes meant authority, but that did not stop this man from threatening me. If their names meant more than their cloaks, they must have been important.

"May as well have killed him yourself." Alvar said gruffly as the man scampered off into the crowd.

Lucius laughed, tossing the tooth into his pant pocket.

"What's a little fun?" He grinned and began pushing his way through the crowd once more. "Besides, I didn't want to bear the brunt of her rage this time. I gave her an outlet." He shrugged, throwing his hair over his shoulders.

"Oh how generous of you." Alvar muttered sarcastically, dragging me beside him.

I listened to the two of them converse as I raked my eyes through the crowds of people with fascination. My whole body hummed in a mix of elevated excitement and curiosity.

Time passed too quickly and before long we stood in the light casted by the palace. Rainbow specks fell over my tan skin, making even the blood and dirt look beautifully placed in contrast to its delicate beauty. Up close, it was even more magnificent. The walls seemed to be made from large sandstone bricks, bound together by vines and thorns. Glass windows speckled the walls, but offered no clues to the lives of the fae within. Although I stood in awe, a part of me suspected the beauty was one sided and whatever, whomever, lied within was not to be trusted.

"Come on," Alvar gestured for me to move forwards, "Lets go inside."

I nodded aimlessly and allowed myself to be dragged by the arm. The Periwinkle bounced on my shoulder, showing the excitement that seemed to be lodged in my throat somewhere between anxiety and fear.

The large vines that had been stitched together to form a large door uncurled and opened. Although many levels of the palace remained above, the sun shone brightly as if the roof were the sky. There were no paintings on the walls, no furniture, and no windows. The vine walls moved about the cream tiled floors, clustering in the centre of the room to form a magnificent throne. Atop it was The Duchess.

As we entered the room, her violet eyes zeroed in on my form. White hair pooled from her scalp to the floor, a modern Rapunzel; only this time she was the witch. A small sharp nose and pointed ears matched her pinched chin and heart shaped face. Draped in a floor length black slip dress, there was no doubt men would fall before her feet if she lifted a pinkie toe. Her hands clenched the armrests and she shifted in her seat. My presence displeased her, and by the way Alvar clenched my side, her presence displeased him.

"Duchess!" Lucius exclaimed, covering the distance between himself and the foreign beauty in three large strides. He knelt before her and kissed her outstretched hand. "It's good to see you."

"I can't say the same, Lucius." The Duchess muttered, but her voice carried throughout the room.

Power seeped from her being, setting my stomach on edge. I reached for my necklace and clutched it.

"You didn't like my gift?" Lucius pouted and slumped his shoulders dramatically, earning a wicked smile from the Fae woman.

"Oh no. I very much liked my gift. In fact, I actually decided to keep him...for some extended fun later." She purred, drawing a finger down the side of Lucius' face.

"I thought you might say that." Lucius grinned, plucking the tooth from his pocket and placing it in her palm. "A second gift. We do sincerely apologise for our late arrival, but the King will not be disappointed."

"Mm." She hummed, curling her fingers around her 'gift'. "You better hope he likes her, Lucius... or ill have your tooth."

As quickly as it came, her smile was gone, replaced was a menacing sneer. Her hand struck outwards, slamming across Lucius' cheek. He collapsed onto the ground, his body stiff.

"Consider this your last warning. One more screw up, Lucius, and you're misted." Lucius stayed upon the ground, not daring to stand, as I cowered against Alvar. Given a fair hand-to-hand combat, I believed I could defend myself. But something about this woman told me she was more than meets the eye. And I don't mean she was complex. "As for you, Alvar," The Duchess turned, her delicate cream skin crinkling around her neck, "I expect to see you at dinner." She raked her eyes down my form; "I hope she's worth it, for your own sake."

The vines parted for her and she walked into another mysterious part of the palace. I quivered in Alvar's arms, but he offered me no comfort. Frozen in his spot, he stared at her retreating form like she was a ghost until the vines finally closed over and we were alone. For the second time, Alvar ran to Lucius' side; cradling his head in his lap while I stood watching the scene, and my life, unravel before me.

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xx Charli 

The Duchess: