Midnight Rose

Chapter 8 The Seelie Courts

You guys make me so sad! The only reason I'm updating is I don't have many readers yet. Sorry I don't update often, but marching band is almost over so updates will be (hopefully) weekly.

Mom took me into a room guarded by a man in green armor and a man on white armor. Oak doors stood proudly and ominously. Carvings of summer decorated the door the man in green guarded: dandelion seeds playing in the wind, grass dancing in the breeze, flowers blooming in every color under the sun. Even though it was monochromatic, I could see the bright colors.

The other door, the one guarded by the man in white, was dotted with scenes of winter: leafless trees reaching for the sky, snow falling softly, rabbits sniffing curiously at snowdrifts. Once again, I could almost see the bright whites and dull gray-blues of the scene despite the lack of paint or color.

Beyond the doors, I saw a scene directly out of my dream, down to the wildlife exploring their surroundings.

"Welcome to the Seelie Courts, Princess Rosalie." Mom said. I looked over at her. And then I gasped.

Instead of the clothes I had grown up watching her wear, she was wearing a flowing gown of white silk. A small tiara white-gold was perched on an elaborate knot studded with what looked like sparkling ice.

Seeing my stare, mom merely smiled and said,"The Courts have been watching you ever since you came to live with us. Of course, some of us were closer than others."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Mom bowed. "Queen Eleanor of the Winter Court, at your service." I could do nothing but stare, my mouth struggling for words like a fish's.

I finally managed to blubber an incoherent,"what?!"

Mom merely laughed once more. "We've been watching over you. Keeping you safe. So you could come back and retake your throne. So you can take revenge on your parents' murderer. So you can restore the balance that was upset by their attack, and ease the panic that lives in your peoples' hearts."

"What?! I'm - I- I can't-"

"You can, Princess. And you must."

"But I'm not ready!!"

"You must be. I will be here, behind you, as if I were your mother."

"You don't understand. You didn't grow up thinking faeries were fiction, much less not knowing you were one!" And then it all came crashing down.

Faeries. Soul mates. Princesses. The Seelie Courts. Flying cars. Magic lakes that led you to your destiny.

I sank to my knees with my hands folded over my head. It couldn't be real. I was dreaming. Wake up wake up wake up WAKE UP! I told myself.

Mom- the Winter Queen- whatever she was- placed a comforting hand in my back. I shook it off and ran from the room, not knowing where I was going, except somewhere I could be alone.

I burst through door after door, not paying any attention to my surroundings. When I found the exit, I ran through the woods surrounding the castle until I couldn't run any more. Then I slid my back against a tree as I collapsed, curled in a ball in a sitting position. And began to cry.

I was stressed. I couldn't wrap my mind around any of this. I had to wake up. I had to.

Suddenly I felt a comforting hand on my shoulder. "I was just coming to see you," said the voice connected to the hand on my shoulder,"but looks like you met me halfway." It was Pierre.

I looked up through my tear filled eyes.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He said, squatting in front of me and wiping away a tear.