Where We Lie

3. 19 Years

Though the man promised not to drag me, he never said anything about tugging me. He tugs on my sleeve and yanks me in various directions. I try to keep up but stumble on my clumsy feet every other turn.

"Slow down!" I jerk my arm away from him after one too many forceful redirections. I straighten my sweatshirt and grunt as he glares at me. "Just tell me where to go." I gruff. He mutters incoherent curse words under his breath, refusing to give me a proper response. His muttering includes something about Lady Eldwyn's office and how damn far it is.

Though it took me getting on his nerves, (which I bet I would have trampled on even if I obediently followed his every command), he finally walks briskly beside me. I take this mild freedom to take in the scenery:

People, who look more creature-like than human-like, scurry the halls in various clothing ranging from servants to elites. But just like this man's dressings, they resemble something extraterrestrial and historical. Nothing but ballgowns and formal suits where glitter follows every magical being.

My eyes follow different characters. A woman, who resembles a plant, scurries with grace. A trail of flowers blooms behind her and a pair of servants sweep away the blossoms. The ground she steps on is a glass-adjacent material, where marine people swim swiftly. Some look like fish, some look like squids, while others I would classify as human until their tails swim dutifully after their heads.

I study the water below my feet and fight the urge to press my nose to the glass like an overly excited toddler in an aquarium. The waterways beneath my feet are as beautifully decorated as the land-halls. They almost mirror one another. If there is a door in the air, there is also a door under the water. The only difference is that the decorations are more water-friendly. Where there are luminous flowers in the land-hall- there is glimmer kelp that emits light in replacement.

It also does not go unnoticed how deep these water passageways are. I feel the gears in my head spin rampantly as I think of the equivalence to deep waterways. 

I straighten my posture and snap my eyes upwards - bingo. 

The ceilings are incredibly high. By the looks of it- there could be another temperature up there, maybe even another atmosphere. I soak in the carvings within the ceiling. It resembles something out of a Michaelangelo painting. Yet what catches my attention more are the swarms of people flying and gliding above me. Their wings that resemble something I would have seen in a fairytale.

"Fairies?" I whisper aloud, shocked by the fluttering wings.

"We prefer to be called 'fae'." The man corrects as he makes a sharp turn down a hallway without any alert. I scamper to follow him with a sound of annoyance. "We?" I press when I catch up to him. He barely turns to look at me as he answers.

"Not we," he swings his finger back and forth between the two of us, "we." He throws his finger in a circular motion as he refers to everyone on our premises. "Save your questions for Lady Eldwyn." He curtly ended my questioning rampage before I could start. I blow air from my cheeks in frustration. Surely I am handling being thrown into a strange world better than the average being, and yet I still have not received any fruits from my labor. For example: a benevolent tour guide.

Instead, this dreamscape has paired me with a gorgeous yet impatient fae-man who tried to kill me upon our first meeting. I send mental daggers to the back of his head until we abruptly stop at two towering, highly ornamented doors.

I stand a few feet from the man with my hands behind my back, enriching my brain with every detail from the ceiling I had not discovered yet. I patiently wait as he speaks to a servant, announcing our arrival. I feel my palms gather sweat at the idea of meeting my mother again - if she even is my mother.