The Changling

Prologue

                           It was night time, perhaps it was thousands of years ago, perhaps not. The palace was silent with both sleep and mourning. It was the day the princess had died. It had happened very suddenly, her eyes closing as she clasped her baby. Not even the court's finest physician knew why. She lay in her bed, covered by a thin white sheet, hidden away from gawking eyes. Her husband lay in the neighbouring room, still awake. Next to her bed was a cot. From that cot came a furious wailing, reaching out for a mother that would never come.
                         No one except that child ever saw what happened when the clock struck twelve. A warm gust of wind went through the courtyard, spiralling around the lemon tree. It blew off one of the lemons, as if deciding to save it for breakfast tomorrow. The wind then turned its attention to the palace wall, which was covered in stringy vines. After some negotiation with these vines, it began to scale the walls. When it reached the window, it only just managed to stifle a gasp. It had not expected the body to still be here. The wind quietly climbed inside the room, and, ignoring the baby's scream, tiptoed over to see the corpse of its friend. The sheet blew away, revealing the cold remains of a beautiful young woman. Her ebony hair was ringed with a gold tiara, which was decorated with blue wisps of fabrics that flowed down to her light brown skin. A kiss was planted on her pale lips, and a tear, which may not have even been real, dripped down to her forehead. The wind wiped its eyes quickly, and turned its attention to the baby. The child had stopped crying, and was staring at the wind in fear. The wind gently picked him up. Then, it started singing to him. No human could comprehend the words, but the tune was an ancient and well-known one. The young prince recognised it, and it pleased him. Before long, he was lost in a dream of a different palace, far away from there.
                        In his cot now lay another baby boy. This baby was composed of shadows,  intricately woven together by that wind. Both the wind and the prince were gone, travelling faster than the speed of sound across the ocean. The shadow baby would live as a human. He would live, and die before too long. The other, the actual human, would live a very long, and a very strange life.