Smoke and Mirrors (27)

Twenty-Seven

Hall of Shadows

---

The next morning, a knock came from my door.

“Who’s there?” I mumbled, rolling over and yawning. I rubbed my eyes to get the sleep out, then stretched.

“Your cousin,” Adrian replied through the door. “Can I come in?”

I was quiet for a moment, still dazed from sleep.

Another knock. “Tessa?”

My eyes snapped open again. I didn’t realise they’d closed. “Um–yeah, give me a second.”

I put a foot on the soft carpet.

Another knock, this time more urgent, sounded again. My eyes opened. Again. I’d fallen back asleep.

I hurriedly jumped away from the wicked cozy warmth of blankets and pillows. Ha! You can’t keep me down forever, bed.

“Sorry, sorry!” I shouted. “I’m coming!”

I ran to the door, readjusting my pajamas, and opened it.

Adrian was leaning against the door frame, a bored expression on his face which lightened when he saw me. “Ah, glad to see you’re living,” he said dryly.

I rolled my lips into my mouth and shrugged. “I wanted to get the most out of my bed. I never know when I’m gonna see another one anymore.”

He chuckled. “Listen, get dressed. We have some exploring to do in the Hall of Shadows.”

I inhaled with excitement. Today could be the day I got my powers fixed!

Nodding, I closed the door.

I grabbed my clothes from the previous day–which had been washed and folded. I needed to seriously thank some maids–then sat on the edge of my bed to put them on.

Another knock. “Tessa? Are you asleep again?”

I sat upright, heart pounding, and blinked. Oops. “Yeah, I was,” I croaked. “Sorry, I’ll be right out.”

I finished dressing and, with a parting glare to the wicked bed, opened the door.

Adrian laughed. “I think your shirt’s on backwards,” he pointed out.

I looked down to see the tag of my shirt sticking out of the collar. I groaned and tucked it in. “I’m not risking falling asleep again. This is as good as it gets today.”

He grinned and shook his head. “Alright then. Let’s go.”

***

“What happened here?” I asked, my eyes roving the destroyed homes.

Just ahead of me, home after home had been frozen in ice. The ice crushed windows, broke handles on doors, and destroyed chunks of the streets.

“No idea,” Adrian replied. “This. . . I’ve never seen anything like this happen here before.”

Then it hit me.

I knew what was going on here–it was the very same thing that was happening to me. Children were being born with powers too big for them to manage by themselves and their towns were paying for it.

We had to find that unicorn horn quickly.

Adrian seemed to sense my thoughts because he patted my head. “We’ll find it. The Hall of Shadows is just ahead.”

When we reached the Hall of Shadows, it was obvious that it was important.

The building was tall and domed, unlike all the other ‘normal’ buildings I’d seen so far, which mostly looked cube-shaped. The lawn was decorated with black shrubs, trimmed back into what looked like important kings or something. One held a sword, as if threatening the sky itself. Another was a queen bent over a rose. Each topiary was lovely and unlike anything I’d seen before.

“See these hedges?” Adrian asked. “These are knights, kings, queens, and important people who helped make this kingdom what it is now. That one over there”--He pointed at the king that threatened the sky–”was the very one who formed our kingdom at the Great Departing.”

“What is the Great Departing?” I asked, furrowing my brows. The smell of freshly-trimmed grass warmed my senses as we walked up to the building.

“That was when all of the nations split apart and became what they are today. The people knew that they could no longer live together in harmony–fire and water don’t mix. Air and Earth are like the sun and the moon. The rulers of the clans gathered and had to make a decision. Would they stay together and destroy themselves, or depart and try to create a new life for their people?” He inhaled and gestured towards the homes made of shadows. “Obviously, they decided to depart, hence the name.”

“Wow,” I replied, scratching my scalp. “I always just assumed everyone was. . . born with a kingdom to match their magic or something. I don’t know.”

“It’s not Magic,” Adrian said abruptly. “Outsiders always have to call everything they don’t understand Magic. That’s not at all true.”

I rolled my eyes. “Fine, fine. Sorry. Talent.”

“It’s fine. You just don’t realize the difference between our worlds yet. To us, what we do is just like. . . Just like breathing is to you. We don’t question it, it’s just a part of the way things are, you know? There are just mysteries you can’t solve. Our Talents are one of those things.” We reached the door and Adrian opened it for me. “After you, your Highness,” he said with a teasing grin.

I snorted. “Ah, thank you my lowly servant.” I walked past him and he followed.

“Of course, your Highness. I live only so that my lowly life may be of some use to you,” he sighed dramatically.

I laughed, then stopped quickly as I took in our surroundings.

The ceiling of the Hall of Shadows was immensely tall, and bordered with spiraling stairs that followed the edge of the room all the way up to the ceiling. Paintings of royals traced every inch of the wall.

“Woah,” I breathed. “This place is amazing!”

“Isn’t it? Now follow me. We have a lot of ground to cover if we’re going to find that horn.” He grabbed my wrist and pulled me across the checkered tile floors.

The first painting we came across was of a woman. She was an elf, just like all the other shadow people, and was incredibly transparent. I could barely see her at all.

“Who is she?” I asked Adrian.

He stopped and looked at the painting. “Ah, that would be Lady Wyrn. She lived the longest of all the shadow people. That’s why she’s so transparent, you know. Shadow people grow to be more transparent the older they are. They pass on when we can no longer see them.”

My eyes widened. “How old was she?!”

He smirked. “Guess.”

I bit my lip and studied the painting. “Uh–two hundred years or something crazy.”

He chuckled. “Try two thousand.”

I gasped. “You’re kidding!”

He shook his head. “I’m not! Most elves only live to be eight hundred or so, but not Lady Wyn. They thought she was immortal for a long time.”

I watched the painting carefully now, as if she was going to come alive at any moment.

“Come on, we need to find the Light.” He tugged my wrist again.

We hurried on for quite a while, following the stairs around and around the building. When we reached the very top, we stopped.

I was out of breath from climbing so many stairs and my legs cramped something awful.

Adrian seemed fine. “I’m not sure what the clue meant by Light,” he said, scanning the paintings around us once more. “There really isn’t a light here.”

There wasn’t. We were able to see because the walls of the building were transparent, as if the building was made of dirty glass. There were no lights.

I sucked in a breath. “What about. . . about names?” I wheezed. Man, I was out of shape.

He thought for a while. “That could be an option, but I don’t know of any rulers named–” He stopped shortly and looked down, over the banister.

I followed his gaze. The checkered floors seemed so far away from us now and the paintings were as small as ants. “What is it?” I asked.

“I’m–I’m not sure. My Rafforun history is a little rusty, but I think they called Lady Wyrn a Light to the people. She led many of them through some pretty hard times and raised a lot of orphans by herself.”

I groaned. “Oh, great. Why is this place called the Hall of Shadows?! The Hall of Stairs is much more fitting.” I sneezed, which sent fire leaping from my fingertips. The fire disappeared a moment later without a trace.

He began walking down, ignoring my whining. And my fire.

When I reached the bottom of the stairs, Adrian had already been waiting for me for a long while. My lungs were burning and my legs were screaming at me silently, as if from the grave.

My workout for the year was done with.

“Look what I found,” he informed me, holding out yet another small, mirrored box. “It was behind the painting. This has to be it.”

I sighed a dramatic sigh that lasted a very long time.

He raised an eyebrow when I ran out of air. “You done. . .?”

“Yeah. But. . . how is Lady Wyrn a Light?” I asked.

“Well, let’s just say she cared for a lot of orphans in her time. The people loved her.”

“Oh.” I sighed and rubbed my forehead as I stared at the box in his hand. “This whole thing feels like a treasure hunt–made of nightmares. If we don’t get that clue soon, we’re going to see a lot of little kids burn down, freeze, and destroy their towns with whatever their powers are. And all Seraphina can do is send us on another stupid hunt!” I huffed and crossed my arms.

“I know.” He paused for a while and stuck the box inside his brown leather vest. “Come on, let’s head back and see if we can figure out how to get Sterling awake.”

***

It was dinner time and we were all seated around the table in the Advisor’s home.

Warm fragrances scented the air as bowls of soup were brought in. Some smells tingled my nose with scents that almost smelled like chili. Other scents almost smelled like grapes–or roses. It all blended together wonderfully, which made my stomach grumble. I hadn’t even realised how hungry I was until now.

A bowl was placed before me. I thanked the servant, who nodded and continued rolling a cart of food to the next guest beside me.

I took up my spoon and observed it. Unlike normal spoons, this one was wooden and abnormally wide. It dipped down sharply in the shape of an ‘L’, which was almost cumbersome compared to normal Outsider spoons.

Rin sat at the head of the table and lifted a ruby glass to us. “To our guests,” he said. He began to drink.

I lifted my glass with the rest of the table’s occupants. My grey sleeves draped elegantly as I raised my arm, courtesy of the advisor’s maids, who had bought the dress for me since all of my belongings were trapped in Sterling’s mirrors still. It was a lovely dress. Looking back, I should have treasured it a bit more. Then again, how was I supposed to know I wouldn’t have it much longer?

A crash shattered the atmosphere and warmth as figures cloaked in literal wispy shadows dove through the windows of the great banquet hall.

A scream tore itself from several of the women–even one of the men.

“Comply with our commands and no-one gets hurt!” One of the shadowy figures shouted. Fire kissed the ends of his fingers, drawing my attention.

Why was he wearing shadows and controlling fire?

Rin immediately shot up from his chair and threw his fists forwards, submerging the room in darkness. “Leave my home at once! Guards!” His voice reverberated around the room.

I shivered in the darkness and backed myself into a corner between a dish cabinet and a wall, but it was dark and I didn’t know what I was doing.

The room glowed with light as the beautiful, silky tablecloth caught fire. I realised that one of the intruders had done it, as he stood right beside it with his burning hand stretched over the table.

The entire room was now visible in an orange glow of desolation and terror.

“Where is the Son of Fire?” a voice demanded. The voice was harsh and gruff and his face was covered in shadows that looked like ebony mist.

The absence of his features sent a chill down my spine. The Son of Fire? That was–

“You promised you would obey us. Your family will pay for your dishonesty,” I heard another voice say, this time closer. I caught a glimpse of his face as the shadow temporarily thinned.

Panic twisted my stomach. It was one of the men who had tried stealing my necklace back at the Antique Roadshow, back before I had ever known about the Inside world, or the fact that my necklace was special. The day Sterling first tried to kill me. I could recognise the man anywhere.

“Do not drag them into this,” I heard Rin hiss. “He is a guest! In my home–”

“Abandon your formalities. You know what this means.”

I tried to search through the shadows and fire. Where was Adrian?! But from my hiding spot behind the dish cabinet, it was of no use. Most of my views were blocked off.

My heart raced like a drum and my face felt flushed, but I pushed myself away from the wall and ducked under the flaming table. One of the noble women was there, cowering as the fire cast light on her face.

I sucked in a breath as I took notice of her pointed ears. She was a Shadow Talent, not fire. She could be killed!

“I can help you,” I said to her. “I’ll hold the fire back for you,” I promised.

Her dark eyes were full of fear, but she nodded.

I knelt under the table and used my body to hold back the burning tablecloth, which gave her a fire-free passage.

She breathed a quiet ‘thank-you’ as she dove out from under the table.

I released the tablecloth, which did no damage to me, but plenty to my dress. It was no longer a light grey, but charred black in some places. I used my hands to snuff out some of the fire on my sleeves and ducked out from the table.

Still, there was no sign of Adrian.

“We have what we came for, Men!” I heard a voice declare.

As quickly as they had come, they were gone.

The room still burned as if it were trying to mimic the fear in my heart.

I sucked in a breath and tried to summon the fire from the table into my fingers. Only a few sparks came at first, but soon the table began to extinguish as the fire made its way to my hands and then seemed to soak into my skin, creating a comforting warmth inside of me that combated the fear there.

Soon, I had taken all of the fire, leaving only darkness, which Advisor Rin took care of shortly after.

Light returned to the room. Everything was a disaster.

Okay, I’d be the first to admit that I wasn’t the cleanest person in the world. I hated doing dishes, or laundry, and I often sat folded laundry on my chair that seemed to rebel against me by spilling to the floor. My room was always a disaster.

–But this place definitely topped anything my room could have flung at it.

Bowls of soup were spilled across the charred table, chairs were broken, ruby glasses were shattered, food and utensils were slung across the room, and panels of glass from the windows were busted out and scattered like glittering ice across the floor.

However, one very important thing seemed to be missing from the disaster.

“Adrian?!” I called out, frantically scanning the scene before me. “Adrian!”

I side-stepped a fallen chair and checked the room thoroughly.

No sign of him.

I turned to see Rin standing at the edge of the room, his eyes wide at the scene before him. He was still as transparent as ever, but the expression on his face was anything but. His face was pale and ashy.

“He’s gone, your Highness,” he whispered, slowly meeting my gaze.

I knew he was right–where else would he go? But the words still shocked me like ice down my back.

“No.” The word fell from my lips like a marble.

He nodded gravely. “They took him.”