Don't eat or drink their food.

Don't get dragged into their dance.

And most importantly, make it before it strikes six.

Those were the rules she had sworn to. The only rules that could let her survive in the ball of the circus of the damned.

The clock had struck midnight quite some time ago. The only time that the old clock showed. Maya didn't know how long it had been exactly. She was already late for the ball. She could only hear the distant ringing of the bell toll, signifying the hour of the day. She could still feel the cold wind that had drifted past her as she ran through the palace grounds.

She had rushed past the palace doors, up the slippery ice stairs and in the process, had fallen down on the last step, breaking one of her glass slippers and bloodied her feet. But she could not spare it more than a glance. Her attention had already been fixated elsewhere.

She looked past the intricately designed transparent doors that were the entryway to the ballroom. She could tell at one glance that these doors were made for outside looking in. To be looked past at the ethereal gathering crowd. To a world that was not inviting to others. Something only to be seen and not touched. Like an observer viewing a painting.

And look she did. Amazed at how it all looked. Ethereal. As if the heavenly court had descended on Earth. Truly meant to be put into a painting.

It started with the trills. The ballroom was dazzling with the light of the candles. But those candles did not burn with the regular fire of the human world. No. From where Maya was, she saw something unnatural about them. Something of a colour that shifted between blue and white and something altogether new. Something far away from her imagination.

That was when her gaze shifted to them. The folk. As they came forward, in their unreal attires. Shimmering gowns that seemed otherworldly, with the gossamery fabric that clung to their skins and hair twisted into ridiculous knots that somehow accentuated their features even more. Jewellery glinting with stones of forgotten times.

They wore masks. The kind that thinly veiled their dainty features, drawing more attention to their faces, if anything. Her own mask that she had put on had slipped off since.

They gathered all around, and as the sounds of various instruments filled the air, they started dancing, imitating the ways of the humans, their steps so light it appeared they were floating in the air. The muffled tunes from the room reached her ears. The unidentifiable sounds floating from the room were something so fascinating, It drew the listener in.

Maya knew something was not right about it but couldn't quite put her finger on it. Did she truly not have any rules about the music of the Fae? But she could only draw a blank as her mind couldn't focus on her own words. The tune, although behind closed doors, was already affecting her so much, that she couldn't think of anything else.

Maya clutched the tiny pocket watch in her hands tighter. The only human world possession of hers. The only thing keeping her sanity in check. She flipped the cover and looked at it. It was made of iron, a family heirloom that had no business to be possessed by her.  She should have let go of it a long time ago. But she couldn't. It was probably one of the only timeless, precious things she still had.

The second and minute hands ticking slowly. The haze over her mind cleared a little looking at them. Only until 6. That's far too little time for doing something that was going to decide the trajectory of her life.

They did not have much of a time constraint here. To be more precise, time itself wasn't quite a concept in the land the of fae. They could dance on whenever, wherever and however they wanted. And wasn't that all it was? An excuse. To do whatever they wanted. The clock that had struck midnight had stopped ever since stopped working. It was merely an imitation of how the humans did it. It would only toll again when they wanted it to. Or if a higher authority wished it.

As she looked on, Maya couldn't help but ponder. She didn't quite think she'd be able to reach this far. But she had hadn't she?

With hands and feet so frozen that they could fall off at any moment, and she would probably feel nothing of it until everything was gone. And she had passed through everything. She had walked into this icy abyss. Of monsters hiding under those graceful skins. But it seemed that cold would cling on to her still.

There was no warmth to this place. And definitely not this palace. Nothing to offer her even a moment of comfort. Everything about it as cold as the ones inhabiting it.

Just how could she dream of redeeming her soul? Just how could she survive a moment of it all?

But the truth was that she had. She had come so far. And she had walked through those very halls and assimilated with the damned. She was one of them after all. Bound to live like this forever.

But she couldn't. How could she? When she still had feelings left in her bones. When she had ambitions so big? She refused. Refused to be backed down by a bunch of demons behind sheepskin. She would find a way.

I can get through this. I will find my cure. I shall find my way.

And even now as she sat, with her left glass slipper broken, her feet bloodied and bruised, salvation was only a distant dream.

Perhaps, after all, it was time to give up. She still couldn't believe how she had fumbled it all up. She had held on to herself for so long. Only to slip off at the worst moment.

Or perhaps, this was the way after all. In her delirium, it was, she realised, that it was only through getting in the mud that she could truly find her way out.

All her rules that she had held close to herself couldn't truly protect her from anything. They didn't much protect her on the way here. And she didn't think that they would in that circus of damnable creatures. She was still just a little girl, inexperienced to the ways of the fae. Their cruel kindness and their crude laughter.

So she did what she was here for. What she endured everything for. She built up her courage to begin again. She dragged herself up, leaving out her slippers. She wore her mask again, giving her a skin too to hide behind.

She walked through the glass doors. Her silvery gown made of crystals sparkling as she descended the stairs, icicles hanging all around her, the ballroom iridescent in soft blue light. Her hair too was bound, letting out a few strands into delicate curls.

And when the moonlight filtering through the side windows hit her silhouette in the suddenly, dimlit room, she truly felt herself glow.

She could feel the eyes on her. Drunk, dazed and half-curious on the newest individual in the room. Their aura filled with cold and guile.

Yes, give a restart to all. I will find my soul and get the hell out of this place.

When she landed on the last step, they all parted as he came to her, their prince. The most cunning of all.

He asked her for the dance he had been promised of all that time ago. All that had led her here.

She replied, “My slippers are broken.”

Thus, the prince of the fae spun her the glass slippers of dreams. She knew better than to believe it as anything more than an illusion.

And when he held out his hand, she took it. His hands were cold. Something that sent chills down her spine.

She had heard of the circus of the damned only in the stories told to her by her grandmother when the lights had been blown and everyone in the town was off to sleep. Back when she was only a child, back when she could never imagine that she would come all this way. Stay away from them. Their circuses, their balls. Always keep your iron and pack of salts close. She had heard how their balls lasted days. They feasted and danced for so long that night and day became one. She had heard how they lured humans and how they danced with them until their feet fell off. Until they were gone mad and couldn't even recognise their own family.

As he led her to the very centre of the room, she walked, her back straight her chin up. And as her eyes met his, she looked on with a confidence that she didn't think she ever had possessed. She tilted her head, a form demure and just sort of mysterious.

The tunes from their instruments filled the air. Something so hauntingly melodious that gave her goosebumps up her arms.

And when they danced on that unnerving icy floor, it was to be the most talked of dance of the night.

And as she danced on with the prince of fae, she clutched her watch as she felt herself slipping away, with the chant in her head,

I shall find my way.