Zodiac Academy 4: Shadow Princess

I woke up on Christmas Eve in a bed that I could truly call my own for the first time in my life. Or at least for the first time that I could remember. We’d never had a real home. Never spent more than two Christmases in the same place. We’d only ever been additional extras to traditions that didn’t belong to us.

I wondered what it might have been like to have had Christmas here with our parents. Would they have been like the other Councillors, more concerned with us showing strength and power than love and compassion even at the time of year meant for it?

I blew out a breath and pushed those thoughts away. They were pointless anyway. What did it matter if our mom would have always woken us up on Christmas morning with a kiss or if our father would have refereed our snowball fights?

They didn’t get to do any of the things they might have planned to do with us. Good or bad. So what was the point in imagining up scenarios that probably bore no resemblance to the reality that had been stolen from us anyway?

I yawned as I stretched my arms out wide and swept them across the enormous mattress I’d slept on. It was practically big enough for five people. I didn’t know whether to think my parents had just had way too much money or if they’d been partial to an orgy or two.

The bed frame itself seemed to have been made out of solid silver and the room it sat in was the most lavish place I’d ever seen. Stone vines grew up and over every surface, flowers in full bloom all over them and looking so realistic that I could only assume someone with the power of earth magic had grown them then turned them to stone.

A huge window sat at the far end of the room spanning the entire wall and holding two glass doors in its centre which led out onto a wide balcony that overlooked the gardens.

I yawned again as I sat up amongst the nest of blankets I’d slept in. They were so silky soft that it had felt like sleeping on a pile of feathers and one glance at the silver clock hanging on the wall told me that I’d fallen back into old habits in my comfortable surroundings.

It was half ten which meant I’d most likely missed that breakfast Geraldine had been going on about last night. I felt like three percent guilty about that but in all honesty, the fact that I’d managed a lie in despite the shadows lurking was nothing short of a miracle.

I crossed the room to the walk-in closet where I’d tossed my suitcase last night and pulled the door wide. 

Lights flicked on automatically inside and I glanced at the huge space filled with rails and rails of clothes. I guessed no one had thought to remove our parents’ things after they’d died, but the end result was this slightly creepy feeling that they were still here.

I stepped over my suitcase as curiosity nagged at me and I moved between the racks of elegant ball gowns and designer shoes.

I trailed my fingers along some of the dresses and the faintest smell of rosewater stirred the air. I paused, my eyes falling shut as the strangest sense of warmth and safety slipped over me. Like I was being held tight in someone’s arms and nothing in the world could touch me.

My eyes fell open again and the almost-memory faded, though I was left with a sense of déjà vu as I stepped further into the space.

Maybe the ghosts who linger here remember me…

At the far end of the closet, a huge mirror stood taking up the whole wall. It had a frame of intricately carved wood which held images of a Hydra and Harpy dancing around each other. In some, the Harpy embraced the Hydra and in others they just seemed to be having fun.

I followed the pattern of the images up along the frame and paused as I spotted two new creatures dancing with them. The Phoenixes soared above them as the Hydra tilted all of his heads back to watch and the Harpy’s eyes glimmered with tears of pride.

“That’s impossible,” I whispered, my breath fogging the glass of the mirror before me. How could someone have known what we’d be?

A strange pulse seemed to hum through the air around me and I bit down on my bottom lip as my gaze slid from the carvings to the glass of the mirror itself. It seemed perfectly ordinary, my reflection staring back at me with wary eyes. But something deep in my gut told me it was anything but that.

“Tory?” Darcy’s voice snapped me out of the momentary daze I’d fallen into and I turned to look back towards the bedroom.

“In here,” I called in response, my breath fogging the glass again. Which was strange because it wasn’t cold in here.

“Sorry, but I had to come. Geraldine’s losing her marbles down there and they seem to have some kind of weird ritual way of eating Christmas dinner that they need to teach us about before tomorrow. Though why on Earth it matters what order we eat our food in is beyond me.” Darcy poked her head into the closet and I looked at her in the reflection. “What are you doing in here?” she questioned with a frown.

“I think I’ve found something,” I said slowly. “Look, here. There’s carvings of our mother and father and then…Phoenixes…”

“What?” Darcy stepped over my suitcase and headed towards me at a quick pace. She was dressed in a dark blue gown which exactly matched the shade of her hair.

“Look.” I pointed up at the Phoenix carvings and Darcy leaned around me to inspect them.

That strange pulse in the air seemed sharper now that she was here too and my gaze fell back on the glass.

“How can that have been there?” Darcy asked. “It doesn’t make sense. No one knew what we’d be before-”

I reached out and placed my palm flat on the glass and a thump of energy slammed through my chest, echoing off of the walls of my power and drawing on the energy which lay dormant inside me.

“Touch the glass, Darcy,” I breathed, not knowing why but feeling sure that this needed her magic too. Just like beneath the waterfall.

Darcy frowned at me then slowly raised her hand and placed it alongside mine.

I inhaled sharply as some deep power coiled its way around my magic and tugged on it hard enough to create a bridge. As soon as I released my hold on my power, it started flowing straight out of my hand and into the glass, merging with Darcy’s as the image of the two of us standing in the closet faded away to nothing. It was replaced by an image of a beautiful woman walking through a busy marketplace as she gathered exotic fruits into a large basket. The sky was brightest blue above her and the air was thick with heat. Yellow sand marked the cobbled street she walked along and the sense of the exotic place filled me with a strange kind of longing.

“Is that our mother?” Darcy breathed beside me. And as the woman in the image turned her face to look up at the sky, I realised she was right.

There were some resemblances to us in her features. Her dark eyes were framed by thick lashes, almost like a mirror image of ours and something about the set of her full lips seemed familiar too.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “But what is this?”

Darcy shrugged as the image shimmered and changed. Our mother was walking along grand halls, carrying the fruits she’d bought in the market laid out on a wide platter. She approached a set of double doors and paused outside as she heard voices.

“Are you sure about this, my liege? It could cause a mighty batch of pickle sauce if the stars aren’t in agreement.”

I frowned as I recognised that voice. I could have sworn it was Hamish Grus.

“Question me again and I’ll have your head along with the Emperor’s,” a dark voice growled in response.

Our mother’s lips parted in shock and she took a step back but the door was flung open before she could escape.

The man who towered over her was powerfully built and darkly attractive. His strong jaw was lined with stubble and his brown eyes fell into a scowl as he spotted her standing before him.

“Do you know what we do with spies in Solaria?” our father growled, magic crackling between his fingers as he took a step towards her like he intended to flay the skin from her bones.

“It’s you,” she breathed in response, not seeming the slightest bit afraid as she stepped closer to him.

She kept walking, closing the distance between them until she was only inches from him.

“Lady, step away from his majesty!” Hamish barked and I spared him a glance. He was at least thirty years younger than the man we now knew, his moustache darker and frame a little slimmer.

Our mother didn’t look at him, but pressed the plate of fruit into his arms as if he wasn’t standing there threatening her.

“On the darkest day and longest night, I’ll guide you home with love so bright,” our mother whispered, her gaze locked on our father’s. She reached out a hand and pressed it to The Savage King’s chest. He stilled, the magic in his hands blazing, but he made no move to force her away. She slid her hand up over the fine silk shirt he wore, trailed her fingers over his neck and paused as she held his jaw in her hand. “I’ve seen the life we’re destined to share. Would you like to see it too?”

Our father’s gaze darkened and he parted his lips, seeming to be about to refuse her.

A knowing smile lit our mother’s face.

“The truth will change the world,” she insisted.

Before the King could reply, magic flared beneath her fingertips and his lips fell slack as she showed him visions of the future she’d seen for the two of them.

We were gifted the sight of them too and my heart beat faster as we caught glimpses them sneaking around a palace with white walls to meet each other in secret, stealing kisses beneath the stars, tangled in the sheets and flying through the clouds in their Order forms.

Our father was a cold man but when he was alone with her, he smiled, laughed, loved. We saw glimpses of a lifetime of happiness between them. Of her calming his foul moods and tempering his rage time and again.

I could feel our mother’s emotions as they were attached to the visions. Their love would save her homeland from the wrath of The Savage King. Instead of conquering this beautiful land of sunshine and sand, he would marry its Princess and bring her home to rule at his side. Their love would save countless lives, not only here but in Solaria too. She’d seen it all. Like their destiny was unavoidable and the power of it greater than all the magic in the world.

It didn’t matter that he was a madman who had ordered more blood and death than any King or Queen in the history of this world, she would love all of the parts of him that no one else ever saw. She would find the good amongst the hate and bring him closer to the light.   

We saw the two of them being summoned beneath the stars and answering the call of destiny as they chose to be Elysian Mates, their souls bound together in love for all of time as their eyes were ringed with silver.

And though she chose him for her own heart’s sake, she also chose him for the sake of everyone who fell under his power. Because with her at his side, the future was brighter, paths clearer and more inclined towards peace and prosperity.

There was so much love and passion in the future she showed him that it set an ache burning in my chest. We even saw her with a huge belly as he planted kisses against her skin and spoke to the babies growing inside her. Then we were shown the two of them cradling tiny twins close like their whole world began and ended with the little lives they’d created together.

The visions faded and I almost withdrew my hand, but the mirror shuddered against my palm and the scene shifted to show me something else.

Our mother woke in a cold sweat, dread pouring from her in waves as she hurried to the huge cot where two sleeping babies were snuggled close together.

A tear tracked down her cheek as she looked at us, panic blinding her as the vision she’d seen filled her with fear.

“What is it, love?” our father asked from the bed, pushing himself up onto his elbows.

“Blood,” she breathed. “And fire and death. I still can’t see any way around it.”

“I told you, I’ll never let that come to pass,” he growled, pushing out of bed and striding towards her so that he could pull her into his arms. “I’m the most powerful Fae in all the world. No one can get to us. No one can hurt our children.”

Our mother clung to him desperately, shaking her head like she just couldn’t believe him and we were gifted another glimpse of her visions.

There was a shadow hanging over our family and no matter what she or our father did, death was coming for them. Every time she tried to change it, the shadow only moved closer. She saw a row of five graves, tiny coffins, fire, fear and screaming. But she couldn’t see the threat itself. It was cloaked in darkness, fear embodied and no matter what choice she made, it still came true.

Every choice but one…as she fought to wrangle her visions, she came up with a single option which didn’t end in the total annihilation of our family.

One night, while our father slept, she took a pouch of stardust and travelled to the mortal realm with me and Darcy hidden beneath her cloak.

Tears poured along her cheeks as she appeared in the house of a mortal family who had twins the same age as us.

She woke the people who she had selected to raise us and fear prickled along my spine as she Coerced them not to notice any difference in their babies. She told them to love and protect us and raise us to be strong in spirit and mind.

She sobbed as she left us there, taking their children in our place as she returned to the Palace of Souls.

I almost snatched my hand away from the glass. I couldn’t understand how she could be so callous as to trade our lives for those of two innocent mortal girls. But before I could draw back, a final vision came to us.

It was me and Darcy sitting on the throne. Peace ruled in Solaria, the people were happy and the balance of power was restored. A dark shadow stood against us in the distance, but together, we just might have a chance of beating it and saving the people of Solaria. But without us, all hope was lost.

The vision faded and I staggered back as my heart pounded.

“Were they…did she store her visions in there for us somehow?” Darcy asked, chewing on her lip as she tried to process everything we’d just seen.

“She thought that we were Solaria’s only chance of standing against the shadows,” I replied in a hollow voice. “That’s why she made us Changelings…”

I didn’t know what to make of everything we’d just seen but a small, pathetic, aching part of me which I never liked to admit existed was tearing open. Our parents had loved us. Wanted us. They’d died wishing for a life with us. And that knowledge meant more to me than I’d ever imagined it could.

“She loved us, Darcy,” I murmured. “Our father did too…no matter what else he was or what he did. Our parents wanted us.”

Darcy burst into tears as she threw her arms around me and I felt myself trembling in her arms.

I hadn’t wanted to find out more about the people who had brought us into this world when we’d come here. But now that I had, I realised how much I’d needed to know.

There were so many stories and rumours about them, so much hatred for the things our father had done and the monster everyone claimed he was, that I hadn’t even imagined the idea that he might have loved his family. Or that the woman he’d married had been making him into a better man, saving the world from the worst of his nature.

“By the light of Uranus, Tory Vega, if you miss the luncheon I shall be most disappointed!” Geraldine called from somewhere back out in the bedroom.

I released Darcy and swiped the tears from my cheeks as I tried to compose myself again.

“What’s all this hullabaloo?” Geraldine gasped as she appeared in the doorway and I half laughed as she caught me out.

“It’s just a lot being here, I guess. We’re feeling a bit overwhelmed,” I said.

“Yeah,” Darcy agreed. “It’s…a lot.”

“Of course it is!” Geraldine gasped. “And here I am like a badgering Brenda trying to make you slot into the roles of perfect Princesses when I should have realised you needed time to adjust to being back home!”

“Home?” I questioned in a small voice. How could I look at this place as my home? The palace was bigger than a small town. And yet…there was something weirdly comforting about being here.

“We’ve never really had a home before,” Darcy said, sharing a look with me that said she wasn’t so sure about this either.

“Well you do now,” Geraldine said firmly. “Our Princesses were lost for far too long. But now you’re home and the Kingdom of Solaria is rejoicing as our most powerful line is restored. The Fae world is built on a foundation of strength and power. And now we have our most powerful family back. There may be those who wish to keep you down or see you fall, but the true Queens are rising. The line of Vega is intact once more. And when you seize full control of your destiny, even the stars won’t be prepared for the might you possess.”

My lips parted on what should have been a protest but instead, I could only look at my sister as the strength of Geraldine’s words washed over me.

We’d never asked for this destiny, never wanted this power or a throne or to be pitted against the Heirs. But it was ours all the same.

We’d been born to rule over this kingdom and the strength of our father and love of our mother ran through our veins.

We were the most powerful Order of Fae that had been seen in a thousand years. We were the first Fae to possess all four Elements in living memory.

So maybe it was time we stopped denying our birth right. Because the Vegas had been born to rule. And I was sick of being forced to bow.