I changed into a plain blue dress she had sent over for me and walked down the stairs to meet her. It was lonely having no friends here, and I told myself Tristan and Cade would be there if anything went wrong. Aiden would not dare attack me while Tristan was around.
I heard voices at the bottom of the stairs and I stopped—my name had been mentioned. It was Skye.
“Aurora needs to get out, Tristan. You can’t keep her in the tower forever,” Skye was saying. “I know you are supposed to protect her, but it will be nice for her to see the city. She’s trying hard to win your approval, go easy on her.”
“There’s no need to invite her to come with us.” Tristan’s voice was tense. “I see enough of her already.”
“Fine,” Skye huffed. “I don’t think she’s coming anyway. I told her to meet me here a while ago. You must have tired her out too much at training today.”
Their voices drew away, and I hung my head, walking slowly back up the endless flight of steps to my room.
I ignored Tristan the whole morning at breakfast and spoke only to Skye and Cade. I kept my interaction with him to a minimum, and if he asked me something I answered in monosyllables. It may have been childish of me, but his refusal to see me as a friend and equal was upsetting to me. Tristan didn’t seem to mind; in fact, I think he was happy I wasn’t chattering in his ear all the time.
During those first few days I spent more time with the dowager as she showed me how to use my spirit magic properly and create portals. It was hard at first and brought back memories of Lilith. But I knew I had to do it—I couldn’t make another mistake—so I practiced as much as I could.
“Close your eyes and imagine where you want to go,” said the dowager duchess in our first lesson. “In the beginning the process is slow. But once you get used to it, moving through portals will be like stepping through a doorway. Reach for your magic and guide it, concentrate on where you want to end up. Choose a place close by in the castle.” She paused. “But be careful—only create a portal to a place you have been before, or things can go drastically wrong.”
I gathered my magic and projected it outward, thinking of my room and imagining myself there. Slowly a spark ignited in front of me, growing larger and expanding outward, swirling like a ball of mist. From within it I could see a faded version of my room.
“Good, now step through it. But remember to close the portal after you reach the other side, or anyone can follow you through.”
I stepped forward, my heart hammering, and I clenched my fists as I entered the portal. My body lurched as I was thrown forward, and in a split second I was in my room.
I lay sprawled on the floor, but I waved my hand and closed the portal behind me. I smiled; I had done it. No more walking up and down steps for me, which was a relief.
Another portal opened and the dowager stepped through, elegant as ever without a hair out of place. “That was adequate,” she said, smoothing her dress, “but we are going to have to work on your landing. It would be quite inconvenient for you to step out of a portal and find yourself prone at the feet of your enemy.”
I pushed myself up and straightened my hair. The magic needed to create a portal was complicated, but it was easier than I expected. It would take a little while to get used to, but I quite enjoyed having the freedom it gave me.
“Is this your room?” The dowager turned up her nose at the unmade bed and sparse furnishings. “Without crystal in the windows?”
“This is where my grandmother put me.”
“But why haven’t you decorated it yet?” she said, a puzzled expression on her immortal face.
“I didn’t know I could.” I looked around. “There isn’t much I can do here anyway.”
“Nonsense,” said the dowager, waving her hand—all the furnishings in the room vanished. “You’re fae, are you not? You have the gift of glamour. Use it. How do you think the rest of the rooms in the palace are done up? When I come to stay at court, I do up the room given to me how I please. As does anyone else with enough glamour. You can even change the size of your room—the castle adapts to the space.”
“I don’t understand.” I glanced around my empty tower room. “How can I make it bigger if there is no space?”
“Make your own space.” The dowager waved her hand again. The room started expanding, the walls moving outward and swallowing up parts of the mountain, revealing a massive open space to do whatever I wanted with. “There, that’s better.”
I looked around, wide-eyed. “But I’m not sure I know how to do that.”
“This kind of glamour may be difficult for other fae,” said the dowager. “But for spirit-fae like us, glamour is easier yet more complex in the way it is woven. Imagine what you want in your room and connect it to your magic, the same magic you use when you open a portal.”
“But is it real? What if I sit on something I created and it disappears?”
“It can be as real as you want it to be,” the dowager explained. “You can recreate anything that you have seen and make it solid. Mind you, this only applies to inanimate objects—you cannot create a real flower or a plant, but you can create an image of it that looks and feels
