We twirled and twirled with the stars up above, 
And in my heart, I knew it was love. 

The king raised his hand up and muttered something then flicked his hand to the left and to the right. Two torches on either side of the door lit up. It was not with fire though. It looked more like a cloud than it looked like fire. I looked closer and saw that the cloud was made of hundreds of glowing little yellow insects.

The king walked towards the double doors. Lit up, I could see the figures more clearly. There was a tree that was right in the middle, split between the two doors. The wolves on one side looked ready to do battle to the various birds of prey on the other. I blinked, and yet again I thought I saw them moving.

The king touched his thumb, forefinger and middle finger to the door and whispered things I could not hear.

There was the sound of three loud knocks. The door shuddered with each loud knock. It echoed through the air. All the animals on the door at once turned their heads to look at him. Then the door slowly creaked open.

The king walked back to his horse. He looked old and haggard, with wrinkles I did not notice before. He got back onto his horse and rode into the castle. We followed behind him.

We entered a very long well-lit hallway. Large glass bowls hung from the ceiling, each filled with the little glowing insects writhing around.

The walls were lined with many different types of tapestries. There were detailed pictures, complex designs, ones just filled with colour. There didn’t seem to be a pattern to how they were placed. The floor was carpeted with a splendid red runner that spread out as far as my eye could see. The hallway seemed to never end.

We galloped down the hall. I tried to look at the pictures, but we flew past them, each of them blurring into one giant purple stringed mess as we ran done the hall. My head hurt. I shut my eyes tight and kept them that way until we stopped.

When I opened my eyes we were at the end of the hall. My head still hurt and the room seemed to be a covered in a weird purple haze.

It was a large hexagonal room. In the middle was a throne made of silver and glass. The walls of the room were decked with silver designs, pressed onto a translucent wall that looked as though shadows were moving behind them. I wondered if the shadows were people trapped within the walls. I shivered thinking about it. The king slid of his horse and with a weary sigh sat on the throne.

Instantly the room darkened and then glistened, more radiant then it was before. The walls shimmered and then the shadows were gone. Replacing it was darkness with many specks of shining light. It felt like we were standing in the middle of the night sky. I looked down at the floor. The floor too mimicked the walls.

The king coughed brining my attention to himself. I was fearful of my fate.

The king’s eyes glowed a dark blue. His eyes were glittered as though there were stars trapped within.

“Child,” he said looking at me. “What colour are… what colour do you think your eyes are?” He said peering at me curiously.

“I… um… they are black,” I respond.

“Are they now? Interesting,” he said. His eyes looked like he was looking somewhere far, far away. His hands were gripped onto his chair. We were looking at him in silence for a while before he began to talk again. Slowly my headache disappeared and the purple mist did too.

“Grandfather, what do we do with the portal?” The boy said interrupting his thoughts, unable to sit still any longer. The prince slid off his horse and stood in front of the king. I wondered if I should leave the horse too, but the man sitting behind me was unmoving. So I did not.

“Nothing. Leave it be, I will see to it tomorrow. Or…maybe, no wait… never mind. Let me… What?”

There was a pause from the king. He looked like he was intensely listening. But to what?

“Yes. Not today. Tomorrow perhaps we will have to. Oh. No…she is? I thought she might be. I didn’t know if… no… yes, forgive me. No, you are right. He would, wouldn’t he, without telling anyone. He would, if he did it to… No. That was not her fault. And it would not be the fault of this child.”

He was talking to himself, I thought. Was he mad? What was this about a portal? What was going to happen to me? I shivered again, frightened and confused. I glanced around uncertainty looking around this strange and mysterious room.

“Look at her, she’s shivering. She’s cold. This is no place for a little child,” the king said wearily. His breath escaped from his mouth in trails of mist. Only then did I realise that I actually was getting cold. “Take her to the maid’s quarters. Let Stella take care of her, while we figure this out.”

“What? But Grandfather!” The prince said. “We should deal with what we are going to do with her now. We should put her through, then she will forget and we can get on with our lives.”

I did not understand what he was saying and I don’t know if it was venom his voice, but I was beginning to dislike him.

“…No. She cannot. She will have to stay here, we do not know she will forget. Not for a fact. And we cannot risk it.” the king said. “For now at least. Until we can find some other option. Go. We need to think. Take her. Leave me be. You too Nox, go. Get some rest.”

Astin nodded behind me, then turned the horse around and we rode out of the room.