Hall of Mirrors

Chapter Five: Crossfire

River seized Aleste's hand, as Aleste was too dumbfounded to move. They began to run, though River had no idea where they were going. 

"Please, please be here somewhere," she whispered, praying someone from Endrai would hear- a wild hope. 

"Why can't we go home?" Aleste said loudly, keeping up pace with her sister's wild dash. 

"I honestly don't know," River said, breathing fast. "Mother's decided she'd like to kill me."

 "What?!" 

"We're going to find Elandor's village," she said fiercely and with such finality that she scared herself. 

"You don't know how! They could all be invisible for all we know."

 "We've got to find them," she said, looking down. She ran straight into a man taller than her. 

"What the heck?" Elandor asked, shocked and afraid. River looked up. 

"Take us to your village," she and Aleste said together. 

"Wait....why?" Elandor asked. 

"We can't explain- we've got to move!" Elandor nodded, confused. 

"We're close, I can feel their thoughts," he said. 

"You can hear their thoughts?" 

"Yes, if they allow me. I've been channeling questions and directions for a while now. I can finally sense that they are near." Moments of tense silence passed as they dashed through Forest. They finally stopped in front of a large, flat-faced rock with a many-faceted ruby engraved in the center. "This is our base camp," he said, pressing his finger against the seventh facet of the jewel. 

"We each have our own entrance facet we have to use. Only the leaders, though." He pulled his hand away from the ruby as the stone cracked straight down the middle, revealing a dazzling, and very well built underground city. The Endraithian camp.

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The camp was rich with food, goods, even precious things, to River's surprise. Boxes covered in rich silks lined the halls of the underground palace. The women in the camp glided across the floor in garbs of rainbow colors, carrying rich wine and fruits to their families. The 'streets' of the large cave were bustling with children, women, and men. Though their clothing and food was fine, though, every face was pinched and thin, worry lines creasing between their dark eyes.

Eyes just like River's.

River turned to Elandor and whispered, "Their eyes are just like mine." "I know," Elandor said. "You're Endrathian."

"What? Of course not. I'm Bellumsilvan royalty!"

"Can't you see? Doesn't it all fit?" Elandor asked, panic in his dark face.

"No, I can't!"

"This is why your mother wants to kill you, River. You're the girl of the Prophecy. You are an Endraithian Princess."

Suddenly, River's world made sense.

The thought dizzied her, made her nauseous. She fell limply to the side and cursed herself for being so weak, but Elandor caught her lightly in his arms and pulled her back up again. River felt her face grow hot, though she fought it down.

"Elandor, my son! We thought you were dead!"

River looked up to see a frantic woman charge toward Elandor, tears dripping down her olive skin and hair, eyes dark and tired. She looked remarkably like Elandor, with the same tall stature and sleek black curls that framed her pleasant face.