Deep in the Bavarian woods, where the faerie realm touches on the human world lies Schloss Mondschein. Owned by a corrupted human family, the castle is the playground of the Fae. The human staff are their toys.
Servant's daughter Andromeda Arendt h...
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"Andromeda, I've never said we would free your parents. I said we would return to them, and what I meant to do was give them a permanent glamour, put their minds at ease."
"But, why ... I ..." One day to solstice, Andromeda was confused and sad. There had been many wonderful moments between them this week, many orgasms, glorious fucking, and languid cuddling. He made her laugh and he held her when she needed to sob. North Winterborn was a dream.
He rubbed her cheek. "I'm sorry. It's impossible to get them out. My magic is not that strong."
A dream, that was all this was. Outside of this room, beyond this protected time bubble, their reality was a mess.
"Can't we just wreck the mirror? With a sledgehammer or an explosion?"
"Not without hurting the people inside."
"And there's no other way?"
"As far as I know, only the High King can reverse the spell. He would have to give them mercy, but he hasn't done that once in his entire 250-year reign."
"I see."
She dropped back against his chest, glad he held her, but at the same time, her mind was far away. It was back in Mondschein castle, in the little basement room that had been her home. The stolen moments playing card games with pa, ma's soft hands running through her hair, disentangling every knot with the greatest ease, hot cocoa before bedtime.
"Maybe if you spread your wings, try to develop your power? Your mother created floating islands. With that kind of power, you might be able to separate trapped humans from the mirror."
"We've been over this. If she'd wanted me to use them, she would've told me. Being a pixie isn't a good thing. She would agree."
"Being what you are can never be a bad thing."
She could see he meant it but she wasn't convinced. Living in the shadows all of her life, being taught to hate and avoid all magical beings, the idea of breaking out her wings terrified her, and what would she do once she had? Embrace her pixie spirit? The very idea made her want to vomit. "I need to go," she said and fled to the bathroom once more.
The water flowed undisturbed, around the rocks, over the rocks. She lowered her wrists to its coolness. Desperately, she tried to collect herself, tried to come to terms with the idea of leaving her parents behind with a permanent glamour, but she couldn't. She wouldn't. And yet, she had not a single idea of how to turn things around, only the haunting sense of time running out.
After a while, she heard voices in the bedroom. Foodservice probably. Twice a day, a train of food platters whizzed through the hall accompanied by a tiny faerie with a cheerful voice, Sasha. The first days, North had told Andromeda to hide, but after getting to know Sasha, he had been satisfied she was good folk and didn't mind Andromeda being around when food was delivered.
