Daughter of the Night [A Twisted Wonderland Fanfic]

Chapter 1

Y/N drummed her fingers on the surface of her desk, staring at the light of the flickering candle. It cast strange shadows on the walls of Y/N's room, and the girl smiled at the sight. Ballerinas danced across the stone, lions roared as circus masters passed, and phoenixes soared through the air. This had always been one of Y/N's favourite things to do as a child, forced to entertain herself in the long hours from dawn till dusk when her parents were too busy with their work to pay attention to their daughter. The candle shade had been a gift from her grandmother, enchanted to create shapes of beauty, depending on what Y/N wished to see.

Letting out a long sigh, Y/N set the lamp shade down on the edge of her desk and blew out the candle. She waved her hand towards the chandelier hanging from the ceiling and the light returned, flooding her room. Her mother would not be pleased if she came in and found that Y/N had not accomplished anything in the last three hours that she had spent in her room. But how could she when there were so many other, more enjoyable, things to do? She had spent the first two hours finishing up a book that she had started the day before, and after that, she had sat down at her desk hoping to get something accomplished, but had relented quickly and amused herself with her lampshade.

"We should get this done now."

Y/N glanced over her shoulder at her sizable queen-sized bed, draped with the colours of House Umbra. Sitting on the trunk at the bottom of the bed was a girl almost identical in appearance to her. The only difference was that she was wearing a gown of white and silver, and it seemed as though her entire body was glowing, hindering Y/N from distinguishing any real features on the girl's face.

"Or..." another figure appeared, stepping out of the shadows, "we could just ignore the woman."

Y/N smirked as she contemplated the advice of the second figure. It certainly was tempting to just ignore it, but if Y/N wanted this position on the royal council, she had to complete this by the end of the hour. As is, they might not permit her to join due to the clear lack of effort that she had put in. In all honesty, it was not she who wanted the position, but her mother and father. And they would be furious if they realised that Y/N had ignored what they wished.

She took the quill in hand and started to scratch out a request. She shifted away from the relaxed girl that she was when she was by her lonesome, and into the persona that she adorned whenever her parents, or other dignitaries, were around. The two other girls in the room stared over her shoulders, seeming to hover around Y/N.

"Nox. Luna. Please leave me be. I need to finish this, and you two aren't making it any easier."

"We aren't even here right now," Nox hissed, stepping away from Y/N. She disappeared a second later, quickly followed by her lighter counterpart.

Y/N's hand stilled over the parchment as she contemplated the unique magic that she had been born with. It was such an odd concept. To have magic that was unique to one person. One would think that magic was universally the same, but apparently, it wasn't. Y/N had been surprised when she discovered, as a little girl, that her parents didn't have two identical figures following them around, constantly invading their minds.

There was suddenly a knock on the door, and Y/N shot up, her chair almost falling over. She quickly scribbled out the last few words, taking care to keep her penmanship neat, and waved her hand over the parchment. After muttering a quick spell, she yelled for whoever was at her door to enter and quickly rolled up the parchment. She was just tying a ribbon around it as the door opened to reveal her mother and father, dressed in their elegant glory, accompanied by a duo of palace guards, and one of the many butlers.

"Mademoiselle," the butler said, bowing to Y/N. Y/N curtsied, cursing herself for not grabbing her fan. Her mother would tan her hands for that. As she curtsied, a strand of h/c hair tumbled into her vision and she let out a near-silent huff of breath that sent it back.