Dancing on Strings

The Twelve

"You, my dear, appear flustered," Angelique said when Mai nearly ran her over in the halls of the palace.

"What's The Twelve?" Mai asked, gripping Angelique's arm when Angelique reached for her.

Angelique raised an eyebrow behind her headdress.

"You've been talking to The Black Rabbit I take it."

Mai nodded.

"Was Reve around to hear?"

"He was, he went after him."

"Of course he was. Black wouldn't be satisfied if he didn't infuriate Reve," Angelique sighed before turning away. "Come along then, I was just on my way to my rooms to get out of this unbearable weight."

"The dress?" Mai asked, looking at the outfit as Angelique moved passed her.

"Awful thing," Angelique said and headed off down the corridor, Mai following back into the gigantic room filled with its white doors and rippling floor.

Mai slid onto the chair she'd taken before and, once again, watched Angelique transform from Lady Nightmare back into a creature of dreams.

"So... The Twelve," Mai promoted once she was sure she'd given Angelique enough time to settle into her hovering-off-the-floor state.

"The Twelve," Angelique copied, her voice distant as she examined the headdress she held in her hands before drifting to a pair of wide door to one side and sliding them back, revealing a hall of clothing – which Mai found both envious and odd considering she was wearing the same blue misty gown she'd worn the last time Mai had seen her out of her dark velvets.

"What is it?" Mai asked as Angelique flicked her headdress into the hall, where it floated away to some unknown destination.

At the question, Angelique laughed and looked back at Mai with a smile. "Oh now, Mai, surely you should know of The Twelve, one of the most famous legends of your kingdom."

Mai looked at blankly at her for a moment, then blinked and Angelique smiled.

"The... Twelve Dancing Princesses," Mai said slowly, sitting back.

"Ah, so you do know of them," Angelique said, drifting over to another door and opening it, revealing a garden where tea was set out on a fine white table.

Mai's eyes widened.

Sunlight!

The garden was bathed in sunlight.

The first and only sunlight she had seen since she had entered the dream world.

Roses of every colour burst from the ground and wisteria poured from overhead where little mechanical birds sang and chattered in the branches.

Mai quickly followed when it was clear that Angelique was going to take a seat out there, staring around herself.

Angelique gave her time to take in the sight of the garden while she poured them tea and settled into her chair then crossed her legs and settled her chin on her knuckles as she looked at Mai.

"So, what do you know of The Twelve Dancing Princesses?" she asked.

Mai looked back at her, tearing her eyes from the flowers and birds to find her tea.

"I know they were the royal line before my line," she said as she lifted her delicate cup, "I know that, like my father, the king had twelve daughters and, at least according to legend, they all vanished one night with a man and they were never found. The king, with no son to his name, never had children after his daughters and poured his efforts into finding them. He died and my family line took the throne. I don't know what actually happened to the princesses, they're just a fairytale now."