There was something inherently seductive about the red satin ballgown I had chosen for tonight. The off-the-shoulder design emphasised the regal tilt of my chin, and the golden embroidery which covered the skirt and train somehow managed to look like the sparks off a flame.

As the maids moved to pin my hair up, Merino made a noise of disapproval and flapped them aside. I watched her twist small sections back from my face and pin them, allowing the rest to fall about my shoulders in gentle waves.

"Perfection." She murmured as she stepped back.

I smiled at her in the mirror. "You are a dressmaking wonder, Ms Merino."

"I know." She replied, already moving away, clearly not interested in my praise.

With no one hovering at my side, I could breathe for a moment. The girl looking back at me from the mirror was so different from the one I had become used to seeing over the last couple of weeks.

There was a sort of glow about me now. An almost happiness that I had found it hard to believe I could ever feel again. Tonight I would give my heart and break a heart. The thought was a sobering one, and I closed my eyes to fight the guilt.

"My Queen?" Alessia's quiet voice pulls me from my worries. "The ball has begun."

My fingers smoothed the skirts of the dress one last time before I looked up. "Of course, let's go."

We walked in silence, flanked by two guards on either side.

"Have you decided Elor-, my Queen?" Alessia asked as we approached the doors to the ballroom.

I glanced sideways at her. "I think so. I just, I hope I am making the right choice. For myself and the kingdom."

"Any choice which brings you happiness is right for the kingdom."

"If it weren't entirely inappropriate and I would hug you now, Alessia." I whispered as I prepared to enter.

"Thank heavens for proprietary, then."

I snorted at her whispered response and saw the smile on her lips just before the doors opened and we were a Queen and her guard once more.

"Her royal highness, Queen Elora of the Light Court. Bright may she be." The announcer called out.

I smiled politely and waved as I descended the staircase to the cheers of my people. It never seemed to become any easier to have all eyes on me, waiting for a misstep.

At the bottom of the staircase, I spotted Melida. She had clearly arrived only moments before me and had decided to wait. The fitted blue gown she wore clung to her curves as though it were made for her body, and I gave her a small nod of my head to let her know I was impressed.

She laughed out loud and inclined her head back towards me, as if to say I impressed her as well. My eyes scanned the crowd for other familiar faces, and I spotted Owen watching me calmly from a spot by the doors out onto the gardens.

Just behind him, I spied Finn and Lina in an alcove. Whatever conversation they were having seemed to be rather heated and my curiosity had me promising to myself I would look into it later.

I continued to search the room, but there was no sign of Ezra. My heart sank at the thought he might have left me again.

"Has anyone seen Prince Ezra?" I asked Alessia as we emerged from the crowd.

Alessia's eyes searched the room. "I'm afraid not, your majesty. Perhaps he is running late?"

"Perhaps." I murmured.

He had made it clear before he left me earlier that he intended to be here. Worry gnawed at my insides as I made small talk and exchanged pleasantries with various lords and ladies.

"May I have this dance?" Melida's voice politely interrupted the Baron, who had spent the last few minutes rambling at me.

I give him an apologetic look before taking her hand and allowing her to lead me out onto the floor. "Thank you."

"Think nothing of it, your highness. I only hope you will return the favour and rescue me from certain boredom one day." She teased.

"Absolutely." I laughed, allowing her to lead me through the steps.

We move together in perfect unison along with thirty other couples around the floor and I note the whispers as they wonder if perhaps Melida is my choice.

"Have you made your decision?" She asks as her arm comes around my waist and we move to the centre of the room.

"Yes, I think I have." I duck my head, cheeks flushing a little.

Melida chuckles and spins me slowly. "The dark fae boy?"

I bite my lip. "I cannot confirm anything until the announcement."

She nods. "You did not deny it. I don't know why, but I have a good feeling about him. I hope you'll both be happy together."

"I hope so." I smile as we finish the dance with a curtsy.

"I am sure I will see you shortly to congratulate you on your betrothal." Melida grins before disappearing into the crowd.

Alessia is at my side in a moment. "Any sign?" I ask her.

"I am afraid not, my Queen."

"I have a terrible feeling about this." I murmur as my eyes continue to scan the crowd.

"My Queen?"

"Please Alessia, find him. Something is very wrong. I can feel it in my chest." I whisper, fighting the urge to press my hand to the ache just below my collarbone.

"I shouldn't leave you, not on a night like tonight. I can send some other guards?" She suggests, guiding me expertly through the crowd.

"There is no one I trust as much as I do you. Please Alessia, please find him. No one will do anything to me here. In a crowded ballroom, surrounded by guards? It would be foolish." I plead.

Alessia looks like she wants to refuse me, but her training won't allow it. "If that is what you wish, my Queen. Stay here and keep close to the guards. I will be as quick as I can."

I want to thank her, but she is already melting into the crowd and my heart pounds with fear about what she might find.

"Elora?" A quiet voice breaks through the worry and I turn to see Owen's sheepish expression.

For a moment, I don't know what to say. I don't want to hurt him again.

"I'm so sorry for what I said to you. It was uncalled for." He reaches out to grab two of the small goblets of mead from a passing server and offers me one, "All I have ever wanted is your happiness. Will you accept a peace offering?"

I take it and smile, relieved we are no longer fighting. "I never wanted to hurt you, Owen. You know that?"

"I was jealous, and I lashed out. I suppose I had hoped..." He shakes his head. "It doesn't really matter now. To your happiness, my Queen."

We clink our cups together and take a long sip. "I'm glad we are friends again. I hated thinking we wouldn't talk."

Owen laughs, "We will always be friends, my Queen."

"I'll drink to that." I laugh and we tap our cups together again.

In this quiet spot, I can almost forget what this night is for. I can pretend that Ayden is still here and we are just hiding from our responsibilities as we used to.

"So where is the lucky man?" Owen asks after a moment.

"Hopefully just coming. Alessia has gone to look for him."

Owen looks concerned for a moment. "I had wondered where she was. I hope everything is OK."

I link arms with him. "I'm so glad we are friends again."

The band start up a slower piece of music and Owen offers me his hand, "May I have this dance?"

"Of course." I deposit my almost finished goblet on a passing empty tray and Owen does the same before leading me to the floor."

"How are you feeling about it all?" Owen asks as he places his hands respectfully just above my waist as we dance together.

My head has a little buzz from the mead, and I am reminded why I typically avoid drinking. "I don't know. Excited, but also afraid I'm not ready to decide."

"And you are sure of your decision?"

"Yes, I'm so sorry Owen. But it's him. It always has been him." My heart aches as I force the words out.

"I suppose that helps me feel less bad about all this."

"I'm so glad. You know I care deeply for you." I squeeze his arm.

My feet feel odd suddenly. Heavy, as though they're no longer the right size for my body and I stumble. Owen catches me as I fall forwards into his chest. "Woah there." He laughs.

"I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me."

"Perhaps it was common sense, and you realised you want to be with me?" Owen's voice is serious and I pull back slightly to reply.

"You know that will not happen, Owen. I'm so sorry."

"I am a simple man, Elora. I can hope you will change your mind." He shrugs as he dips me back.

As soon as I am upright again, I reply. "I love you as a friend, Owen, nothing more. The love I feel for-"

"Don't you dare say his name!"

Owen's voice is sharp as he cuts me off, and I freeze. My blood runs cold as the danger finally seeps through my addled brain. Something is very wrong.

"Do you know the moment I knew I had to be with you?" Owen asks conversationally as he pulls me closer.

My head lolls against his shoulder and I'm confused. Why am I allowing him to continue to lead me around the floor? The wrongness is a whisper in the corner of my mind that I am not safe here.

How can I not be safe with my childhood friend? Someone I spent most of my life with?

"From the moment I stole your mother's diary and knew what you would become."

I process that for a moment. "You took my mother's diaries?"

"I had to confirm our suspicions."

"Our suspicions? You were supposed to be my friend." The betrayal tastes bitter on my tongue as I try to understand why I can't pull away from him.

"I had to get close to you. How else would I discover the perfect ingredients to break the binds and make you compliant to my needs when the time came? I had hoped you would come around to the idea of being with me and this would not be necessary. But that monster had your heart all along, didn't he?"

My brain is struggling to come to terms with the difference between the friend in my memories and the person before me. "You are the one who one who was betraying our court?"

"Yes." He smiles a dark and sinister grin and just like that, I realise I didn't know him at all.

"Was this a game to you?" I ask.

"A game is an activity for amusement. My dear, this was just a means to an end. Try not to take it so personally."

"Take it personally? You pretended to be my friend and all the while planned to use me? You won't get away with this." My voice is stilted and distant as I turn in his arms to call for help.

He twirls me and dips me low to the ground. "Now, now, don't call for the guards. You didn't think I was working alone, did you? My associate is keeping your beloved occupied. As long as tonight goes as I wish, he will remain unharmed."

My heart jumped into my throat. "Ezra?"

He smiles sadly. "I thought that might get your attention."

"I don't understand. Why are you doing this? Why now?"

"I tried, you know." He says, almost conversationally, "Tried to give you hints of information so you would realise and understand why it has to be this way."

"You were the one who left me the notes?"

"Of course. I needed you to understand. I wrote them, and my associate delivered them by shadow stepping, a handy skill, truly. You understand now, though?" His voice is almost pleading and I shake my head as my heart tells me to comfort the boy who was once my friend.

"Who is your associate? Liam? Understand what?" My head is pounding and my limbs feel so heavy I can hardly dance.

Owen is stronger than I realised. His arm around my waist effectively holding me up now.

"Liam?" He laughs. "That boy is too stupid to be a part of our cause. Do you understand the prophecy needed to come true? Do you know what your mother's diary said?"

I shake my head, too dizzy and disorientated now to reply.

"You know you and Ayden were born on the turn of the new century?"

I nod. Everyone knows the story of how my father burst out of the room, beaming with pride and announced the start of a blessed century with the birth of a Prince and a Princess.

"Ayden was born before the midnight hour. You were born in different centuries, my sweet."

My head spins. How can that be possible?

"This prophecy is from millennia ago, when the Biotáillí and their ruler were forced beneath the Earth and locked away for supposed crimes."

I fight to understand why we are now discussing fairy tales. I remember the stories of my childhood about the Biotáillí. Horrible stories meant to frighten young fae into obeying their families and never straying too far from home. Spirits of the long forgotten dead with no connection to the world, twisted and broken by the darkest of fae. They dwell in the Kingdom of Darkness and serve its wicked ruler Roarc, or so the stories told us.

"There are those of us who have not forgotten our Biotáillí brethren and know the meaning of the rhyme passed down through generations. I did not know it would happen in my lifetime, but when I discovered the truth, I knew what I had to do. Do you remember the words of the prophecy?"

I blink slowly. Whatever he is doing to me is worsening by the minute. The lights are too bright, the sounds too loud, and the Undoing is starting to scream inside my head.

"Siblings parted by centuries, that is you and your dear brother. One that will break us, another that frees. Do you remember how the earth broke apart when Ayden fell, dearest? A coming together to signal the end, one betrayed by a lover, your poor sweet brother. One betrayed by a friend, my foolish little friend."

"You were there during the battle?"

"Only as an observer. It saddened me to see you steal Duncan from the cause."

"You were working with him?"

Owen laughs, "Working with him? Darling, it was my orders he was following. My family may have escaped being trapped beneath the earth, but I am Biotáillí bred. It was infuriating to have to hide my strength all these years. To play the weak scholar and befriend a foolish girl so that no one would guess what I am. My family are directly descended from Roarc's brother. We know the pain they have felt and we will help them rise." 

My legs are hardly working now and he guides me to the edge of the ballroom so I can sink into a seat beside him.

To anyone else, it might look like a loving act. One meant to care for me. But I know better. I know what he truly is now, and I wish everyone else could see it.

"What have you done to me?"

"I have broken the binds your parents placed on your magic when you were young. They thought they could protect you from your gift. Fools! It was not easy, but soon you will be free and once you are, your powerful blood will be the last thing we need to help the kingdom of darkness rise once more."

"You're insane if you think I will help you bring back those monsters." I snap, digging my nails into my palms to keep myself lucid.

How could my parents bind my magic? How could they never tell us any of this? Perhaps if we had known Ayden might still be here. I think of all the bloodshed and loss I have known and anger burns through my skin.

Owen lets out a tinkling laugh, as though I have said something amusing. "Oh my sweet one, what makes you think you have a choice?"