The air around him shimmered and shivered, falling about him like glitter rain. A moment later, his green skin shown with a deep, golden-brown tone, and waves of platinum blond hair framed his head. His eyes now flashed back a muted blue color that made him look like someone from the blue lagoon. His lips widened in a grin as his eyes crinkled with it, smooth, tanned skin now where the green used to be. He looked like some kind of surfer dude stranded inland.

Shade felt her mouth gape open. She pulled it shut and grinned back at him. Not bad for being a green skinned guy.

“Nice. You’re pretty good. Soap is probably just as good as you. I’m impressed.”

“Soap? No one can top Soap,” Camulus laughed. “But I do try. I’m glad you’re impressed. You should see Prince Lotinar. He is very good at glamours, mostly ones to entice the female gender of course, but he is one of the best at changing appearances like a Changeling can, even though he isn’t one. Lately he has preferred his own face to that of any other.”

“Really? Well, he sounds pretty amazing too. I can’t wait to meet him either.” Shade said.

“Oh, he is most impatient to meet you too, Shade.” His voice seemed to wrap around her name in a deeper tone, causing the hairs on her arms to rise. She licked her lips as she nodded and turned back towards the rest of the group. He was handsome, but something about him made her feel just a tad na**d.

Dylan stood a couple feet away and had almost certainly been observing them the entire time. Shade lowered her eyes away from his cold, steely, glare. His face smoothed out to a blank stare when he realized she had seen him. She tired of his brooding moods, and started walking away from both guys. Not a moment later, she felt Dylan’s hand grab her arm and readied herself to swing at him but stopped as he brought himself into step next to her, his body practically blended into hers.

“I wouldn’t get too friendly with an Elven-Pixie. They are more conniving than you can imagine,” Dylan muttered under his breath.

Shade pulled away but found his iron grip a bit too firm. “Dylan, let go! You’re digging your fingers into my arm!” Shade hissed at him. She stopped, making him turn towards her.

“You think I’m joking?” Dylan hissed. “Why do you think he likes to wander about your human world? He plays tricks and messes with ordinary people. He doesn’t care who he hurts. You best keep your distance.”

Shade yanked her arm loose, glaring at him. “You know what, Dylan? I’m tired of your pathetic bouts of jealousy. Get over yourself already! He is just being nice, and I don’t see why you have to be such a cold, narcissistic, jerk all the freakin’ time!” She marched ahead towards the Glass Castle, where everyone was filing in one by one through the clear doors.

She breathed in deeply, letting her temper slide away slowly. She wanted to smack that boy so badly. He pricked at her like a thorn that she couldn’t get rid of. She knew how frustrated he was with the blood bind, but she really had no idea what to do about it. Ilarial didn’t have any solutions either. All Shade knew was that he was becoming more of a headache with each passing day. She wondered how much longer they would be stuck with each other.

“The Glass Castle of Winter,” Soap explained as he slipped into step with her. He had waited for her to enter and had probably witnessed the whole fall out. He could sense her sullen mood, so he had decided to play tour guide instead of his usual incessant chatter. “The Castle is made of a billion connected plates of glass, none the exact same size. It is one of the last original castles built in Faerie thousands of years ago. The glass stands strong and impenetrable, no matter how fragile it may seem. Wars have waged around it so frequently and yet, here it stands. Through time and chaos, nothing has undone it. What do you think Shade? Nice digs, don’t cha think?” His slang made her smile and think of the high school kids back home. His jokes were a welcomed change from the glumness of Dylan.

“It’s pretty amazing. Is this where Prince Lotinar resides? It’s absolutely breathtaking,” Shade said.

“No, he lives in the Great Horned Castle right smack in the middle of the Santiran City. This is his summer home, the farthest south his borders reach of the northern realm of Faerie,” Soap responded.

Shade nodded at his brief geography lesson. She remembered the extensive Faerie maps she had studied on the way to the Santiran Fountains, and the ones stolen from Ursad. They looked nothing like the maps of earth that regular humans possessed. The world was much more massive and larger in land than anyone could imagine. A huge chunk of it belonged to the world of Faerie. She wondered how upset the rest of the world would be if they discovered this huge chunk of untaxed lands. Probably not too happy at all, Shade thought.

“Hey Shade,” Soap’s softened voice broke through her thoughts. She turned toward the Faerie Warrior and smiled at his twinkling emerald eyes.

“Yes Soap. What’s up?”

He squirmed for a moment and sighed, looking around the great hall they were walking through before answering her. “What’s going on between you and Dylan? I mean, well, I was going to ask you if you wanted to, um, hang out more often…” He breathed in deeply before continuing. “It’s just that, Dylan seems to be your jealous boyfriend attachment lately. I don’t want to interfere if you guys are together or anything.” They had come to a stop just outside a doorway. Soap’s voice was just above a whisper so only she could hear his questions.

Shade felt her cheeks flush as she watched him stumble over his request. She knew that he liked her, but it hadn’t occurred to her that he wanted to be an item. Her eyebrows rose in surprise as she studied his face. She spotted Dylan a ways behind them, making sure he wasn’t within earshot.

“You mean like girlfriend-boyfriend? I–I really don’t know Soap.” Shade watched his face fall in disappointment as he turned back towards the rest of the group.

“Soap wait, I just didn’t expect that. Um, I love to hang out with you. You’re a ton of fun. I just don’t think I should have a boyfriend right now, even Mister Jealous. We’re not together like that. I’m not seeing him at all, if that’s what you thought. He just feels like being an overprotective bossy pants. Plus the blood bind keeps us together. You know that.” Shade felt a twinge of denial in her words but shrugged it off.

This made Soap smile and glance back at her, pleasantly surprised. “Well, I’m glad to hear that. At least I’m in the running, I guess. Especially since the stuff I’ve heard going on with the Teleen Clan about all this.”

It was Shade’s turn again to be shocked. “What did you say? What do you mean? What’s going on at the Teleen Caverns?”

Shade stared at him as he pressed his lips together. He looked like he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “Uh, well. I thought you knew,” Soap stuttered. “It’s just, I heard through the grapevine that there would be some Teleen males coming to Guildrin to court you. You being all Teleen fire-resistant and all, you’re eligible bachelorette number one to them. That’s why I thought that maybe you chose Dylan already. He would be the best choice out of all of them to pair off with. I, um–I thought you wouldn’t want to be with a half-breed Teleen Changeling like me.” Soap stared ahead of them, his face still as he retreated into himself; his face glum.

Shade stared at him, her mouth agape as the shock rippled across her face. Remembering what Dylan had mentioned in the oubliette about the Teleen scarcity of females to pair with the males. She felt her heart skip a beat.

No way! Totally forgot about that. Oh crap.

Before she could answer him, Camulus opened the door they had gathered outside of and let the group file into a large sitting room. Large and intricately designed rugs lay uniformly across the floors with plush sofas in a u shape facing a large marble fireplace. The marble stone was exquisitely carved into what looked like smooth vines and tree limbs. The vast windows let the brilliant light of day flood the room enough for there not to be a need of any kind of lights. Shade wanted to walk around the room to study the elaborate designs, paintings, and trinkets on the various tables and shelves lining the walls, but someone caught her attention instead.

The Elven Prince stood by the massive fireplace and turned toward them. Shade stared at the tall Faery. His hair was silver-grey and hung down to his waist. It was partly pulled back with a leather tie. It reminded her of liquid mercury but lighter with its shining highlights. His skin was a pale milky-white, and his lips were the color of a dusted rose. They were thin and firm. But his eyes were what caught Shade. They were a deep emerald green. So deep that they seemed like an endless bamboo forest. She was sure she had seen eyes like his before. Soap had similar eyes, but these seemed to match a distant memory of hers that she could not quite put a finger on. She gulped as the Prince approached them, walking with an air of power that pulsated across the air.

“May I introduce the warriors of the Guildrin Court, Your Majesty,” Camulus said as he introduced them to the Prince. “They are Stephen, Than, Sary, Dylan, Shade and Rylan.” Camulus’ voice echoed in the room as he spoke. “This is Prince Lotinar, the Crowned Prince of the Northern Realm of Faerie and Lord of the Santiran City.” He bowed before the Prince and the group followed his actions.

The Prince also bowed his head slightly, his eyes never leaving the group. They seemed to settle on Shade, and bore into her like hot pokers. Shade felt the scarlet heat flush across her face again as she averted her eyes to the floor. She was never going to get used to how much the Faeries seem to stare at her, as if dissecting her and examining the little pieces inside her like a science project. She gulped and let her eyes dart to his still face again. They continued to drift back and forth from his ghostly skin and metallic mane, to the soft rugs under their feet.

“I am most pleased to meet all of you, especially you Shade. The Water-Wielder of the Sacred Santiran Fountains. Your reputation precedes you, and I am most interested to see if all I have heard is true.” He glided towards her as everyone parted and she became lost to him as he trained his eyes on only her.

Shade felt like a mouse in a lion’s den as she was swallowed by his eyes. He was definitely powerful. His magic poured off of him in a tidal wave, crashing into her. It made her feel faint as she felt the room swirl around her. Again the feeling of déjà vu crept into her, his voice, his overall essence felt so familiar. It was as if she had known him before, maybe in another life, long ago.

She shook her head and felt the magic recede like low tide. Her head cleared up immediately as she felt Soap place a hand against the small of her back, helping her clear her mind. Prince Lotinar reined in his magic and shut it deep inside him as he realized how much it affected her. Shade bore her eyes into his and tried with all her might to remember how she would know him, yet her memory failed her.

“My apologies, Shade. Seems your powers have flared my own to life. I will try to be more careful.” Prince Lotinar’s voice was a low, sturdy, jaunt. Shade couldn’t ignore the slight feeling that he was a bit angry with her. She was hoping it was all in her head, but her gut feelings always seemed to be right-on.

“Pleasure to meet you, Prince Lotinar,” Shade said. Her voice caught in her throat and came out just above a whisper as he turned away and walked to the enormous glass windows. He stared out of them as the breeze swayed the lush trees outside.

“I have been waiting for all of you to arrive. I can feel much unrest in Faerie, and as it grows, Queen Aveta becomes more restless, and more powerful. She sends her winter abound. Frost scorches my lands and withers the forests, burning the soils with its death grip. She holds the Eastern Realm, but I think she will be mobilizing soon. I feel her taint crossing the borders into the neutral territories. Wild magic is pouring out of the Sacred Vices of Faerie with her disturbances, and I fear she is pawning to capture Shade, since she holds the key to the water magic of Santire.” Lotinar turned then, looking stern and seriously at Shade. “Tell me, Shade, have you mastered the water wielding arts yet? We will need them when Aveta decides to invade the other three territories.”

Shade clasped the small ampoule dangling from her neck. Ilarial had made her split the original flask of Sacred Santiran Water; one part into a necklace she now wore. The original flask was safe in Guildrin, but since no one could wield it but her, Ilarial thought it better to have Shade keep some with her at all times, that way she could wield it whenever she chose. Unfortunately, no one alive knew how to use the water magic. Shade had been doing exercises with Ilarial. She was able to move water around from bowls to glasses and make it float all around her in a dance of small water baubles. She definitely had not mastered its power yet, let alone be able to use it as a weapon against the dark Unseelie Queen’s army. She slowly shook her head.

“Pity. I had hoped we had one thing going for us.” Prince Lotinar’s icy voice echoed in the room. Shade caught his cold stare before he turned back towards the dance of the landscape outside.

*****

“WOW, PRINCE LOTINAR is some kind of stone-cold ruler, huh, Shade?” Sary smiled, crinkling her beautiful hazel eyes. “I have to say, I guess after what happened to him though, he has all the excuse in the world to be so hard.” She sighed and flopped herself on the second bed that was in the enormous room they had been given for their night’s stay at the Glass Castle. Shade sat on the edge of her bed, staring out the obscenely large window into the darkening world.

“Ya, he’s a whole different kind of Fey.” Shade murmured as she turned towards her roommate with a puzzled look splayed across her face. “What exactly happened to him, Sary?”