Alice woke up, startled. She found herself in a brightly lit room with light-colored walls and cream curtains. Her sheets were white, and the quilt was the same color as the walls, with golden details.
The healer remembered the day she had been kidnapped by the king.
They arrived in that unknown kingdom, in a castle with tall white towers topped with blue, wide wooden and iron doors, and large glass windows. A strange atmosphere hung in the air, a silvery and white mist that mingled with the place, making the walls shimmer.
The guards dragged her through the enormous corridors that followed right after the white wooden door. Portraits of various men and women who seemed to be kings and queens adorned the dark walls. After those, several white wooden doors were seen, something very rare to find. They stopped in front of one of them, and as soon as she stepped into the room, the woman's vision blurred, the mist entered her nostrils, and she fainted.
Now, she noticed there was a table next to her with fresh fruits. She was hungry, but she decided not to risk it. There could be anything among them.
"Oh, good! You woke up!" someone said, opening the door.
The "someone" was a woman with silver hair, light brown skin, and yellow eyes. She wore a shiny black dress fit for a queen.
Certainly, she wasn't a servant. Could Alice be there to be a slave?
"I'm sorry to ask something right away, but… Could you tell me where I am?" Alice inquired.
The other woman smiled and sat on the bed.
"Of course, dear! We're in Harlisze. In the castle."
"Harlisze?" Alice exclaimed in surprise. "It can't be." she said, concerned.
"You're here because of Mira," the other woman replied.
"Mira? What do they want with my daughter?" Alice asked, worried.
"I'm sorry, but you were used as bait to bring our daughter here," the woman said sadly, holding Alice's hand.
"Are you Queen Sophie? Her real mother?" Alice asked, remembering what Liam had vaguely told her about Mira's story.
"Yes. I believe Liam has already told you something about me."
"Yes, but not much. I only know that you wanted to protect her from something."
Sophie stared at her.
"How is she? What is she like?"
"She has become a beautiful woman. Mira is a bit clumsy," Alice laughed. "But she does what she can. She's great with medicines, and she tries very hard."
Sophie smiled.
"It seems the healing aspect runs in the family," the queen said. "Are you also a healer?" Alice asked, interested.
"A healer? Almost that. I was a priest's apprentice," Sophie replied. "Not a royal priestess like Mira. We learned to use magic along with nature for healing, but I did have real priests in my family. Of course, they are from centuries ago when that group still existed."
"That's great. Mira would have learned a lot from you," Alice smiled. "Her hunch about Mira was correct." Alice wondered what happened to Mira to go to my world."
The queen's gaze darkened as she began to recount the story to Alice:
"My husband, the king, wanted to kill her. He was one of the faithful followers of the god Temenis and wanted to please him at all costs. Neelas was a cruel and vile man. He hated fairies and half-breeds for some unknown reason. So he murdered several families. I believe you know the story of the gods. Well, even though he was imprisoned, Temenis was furious because he wanted all species on his side for something I don't know about. The only species the god wanted dead was the priests. But there were no living priests, or so we thought, until Mira become six. Her powers awakened. I prayed to the gods to help me. And so Eluin, the god of healing, and I sealed her powers. However, it was too late. My husband found out, and he didn't care about Mira or the fact that she was his daughter. The only thing the former king wanted was to kill her to please Temenis."
"It can't be... you are the queen. And Mira… I never knew."
"You don't have to treat me differently, Alice. Call me Sophie. Besides, you have my eternal gratitude for being a great mother to my daughter. I didn't want her to be treated differently."
"Thank you. What happened to your husband?"
"Dylan, my eldest son, killed him."
"How?" asked Alice, surprised.
"It was the right thing to do. That tyrant had to be stopped" Sophie said with displeasure.
"My mother's right, Miss," someone said, entering the room. "Someone had to stop him."
In front of her was a young man, no older than 18, with white hair and honey-colored eyes, wearing a black hooded cloak.
"Who are you, and what do you want from me?" she said, pulling away. Somehow, despite their different eye colors, Alice knew that was the man who had brought her there.
"I'm King Dylan Idies," he smiled. "And as my mother told you, you are the bait to bring my little sister here."
"Why? What have we done to you?" Alice asked angrily.
"Nothing. But I need her."
She stared at him for a moment. "Why would a brother want to lure his sister into something? It surely can't be something good."
"Alice, remember I told you about the families my husband destroyed?" Sophie said. "Well, a relative of one of them decided to seek revenge. She cast a curse on us. That's why Mira is needed. However, due to the seals we placed on her to lock away her memories and her powers, along with the curse, our girl has to come here willingly."
"What kind of curse?"
"I can't tell you, every time I find something about it, my memory about this subject is erased. I think the fairy wanted my children to pay for their father's horrendous deeds."
Alice looked at the young man, wondering if he would tell her about the curse. However, what came out of his lips was something entirely different.
"Shall we? Your boyfriend is waiting."
"Boyfriend? Does he mean Liam?" Alice thought.
Dylan extended his hand to her.
"Come, I need to show that you're okay."
"How do I know if I can trust you?" she asked.
"I don't think you have much choice, right?" He gave her a mischievous smile.
The king led her to the entrance of the palace. There, Liam stood with someone else. A man with orange eyes and blue hair. Both were dressed in dark green loose pants, brown boots, chain mail protecting their chests, and cloaks with hoods that were the distinguishing piece between their attires; Liam's was green, and the other's was red.
But what she noticed most were their pointed ears. And Liam's hood had disappeared, revealing his short, vibrant, and unruly red hair.
However, she didn't mind. She ran to Liam, but Dylan stopped her, holding her arm.
"Let's talk inside, cousins."
"Don't you dare touch her, Dylan!" the redhead shouted.
"I'm not," he said, letting her go while smirking sarcastically.
When Liam entered the palace, Alice rushed to hug him at last.
"You're safe now. I'm here." he said, holding her tightly.
"You can go, cousin. You can take her. I won't stop anyone from leaving!" Dylan exclaimed.
Alice stared at the king, not understanding anything. How could they be cousins?
As if guessing her question, Dylan exclaimed:
"Liam and I are cousins since our mothers are sisters. However, I know your real curiosity is about why you were brought here, right?" The king looked at her with sharp and astute eyes. "You heard about the curse, and Mira will come to me in any case. I just needed a trigger. I'm sorry for using you as such."
"I won't allow her to go back." the woman replied.
Dylan laughed.
"Do you really think so? We are siblings; we share the same blood. And nothing can break that bond. One day, my little sister will come to me. It's her destiny to reunite with the family and break free from the seals. And there's nothing you can do about it."
"Come, Alice, let's go!" Liam said.
"Thank your mother for me, Your Highness," Alice curtsied before him, despite hating him. "She was very kind to me."
"I will. I believe we'll see each other soon. We're family now, right? In various ways…" Dylan replied, locking eyes with Liam.
Before leaving, she gave him a hateful look.
"Thank you for helping me, Liam," she smiled.
However, a thought crossed her mind.
"Or if Queen Sophie is your mother's sister, she must be of royalty, right? Should I address you as Your Highness?" She chuckled.
"Don't worry about that, dear. I might be the prince from the other realm, Idys, and my mother is the queen, but just call me as you're used to."
She looked down, embarrassed.
"Mount my horse. You're still weak. Let's ride together," the man said, caressing her hand.
The prince helped her onto the horse and sat behind her, his arms around her waist, guiding the animal.
"And your friend?"
"My brother must be with my aunt right now," he smiled.
"With the queen?" she exclaimed, surprised.
"Yes. They are quite close."
Alice stared at him in shock, and he laughed.
"Rian isn't my mother's child. Only my father's. From a relationship he had had before they got married. But she treats him as her own."
"Understood," she replied, less surprised.
Hearing that, Alice remembered her daughter.
"Are you worried about Mira?"
She nodded.
"Don't worry, I think I know where our girl is. After she was abducted, my aunt took Mira to a school, Luminus Theorys. It's considered a neutral zone, not belonging to any realm. I'll send a friend of mine there. I don't want you to go; it might be dangerous. And I can't go because... well, let's say I wasn't the best student." He chuckled. "I wasn't expelled only because of my father."
"So you were a troublemaker?" Alice laughed.
"No! I wasn't…" Liam tried to defend himself. "People just didn't like the pranks I pulled," he laughed, making an innocent face.
"We're here!" he finally exclaimed.
Initially, the healer saw nothing, until the horse began to move, and Alice felt something cold touch her, like dewdrops falling on her skin after the rain.
It was obvious that Liam lived in a castle. However, Alice hadn't imagined anything like it: the place was surrounded by trees as bright as the stars, and the sound of waterfalls played in various shades, touched by the sunlight. The castle was covered in shades of silver and gold, as if absorbing the light of the sun and moon. It was magnificent. She had never seen anything like it before.
"It's... marvelous! I've never seen anything like it."
"You can see this every day if you wish," the elf wanted to say, but he held back.
"Thank you. Shall we? My mother is waiting for us."
"Your mother? But… I'm not presentable."
"You're beautiful. Besides, she doesn't care about such things. Even if you were wearing rags, the queen wouldn't mind."
Alice looked at him worriedly, and he smiled, encouraging her.
Approaching the castle, he helped her dismount and offered his hand. Accepting it willingly, she followed him with her heart racing. She was concerned about her daughter and meeting the queen.