Aurelia promised herself she wouldn't cry. Not when Skylene told her the news, not when she saw her mum's body, not when the doctor told her his diagnosis.
"She's alive. She's strong. She's going to be fine." Aurelia muttered over and over, repeating what the old man had said. "She's alive. She's strong. She's going to be fine."
He's just telling you that. A tiny voice said. Trying to shield you from the truth. But you deserve the truth. Everyone deserves the truth. Truth can hurt, but it can set you free. Just ask your mother.
"Shut up!" Aurelia wanted to scream, but that would attract unwanted attention. So she just sat in the corner of the room, muttering to herself like a lunatic, as the council members clustered round her mother like bees around a flower, or flames around wood, or cave walls around a single sapphire lying unconscious on a gilded chair.
"You really should eat something." Tangerina prodded her. "Toast and honey? Honeycake? Pancakes and honey? Just a spoonful of honey?"
Aurelia couldn't tell whether she was trying to lighten the mood or whether she genuinely did just want her to eat some honey.
"I'm not hungry, thanks." Aurelia mumbled. Tangerina made a face.
"Your mum's gonna be alright, you know." She said. "She's been through worse than this."
"I know, I know." Still, there was something unnerving about seeing her mother so still. At least the steady - albeit shallow - rise and fall of her chest indicated she wasn't dead, just unconscious.
"Most of the damage was done when she hit her head on the flagstones after she fainted." The doctor had said. "And she was in shock, which didn't help. But she'll pull through. She's a fairy, after all."
But fairies can still die, the little voice in her head hissed. Remember your great-grandma, the one you never got to meet. She was the most powerful fairy around and she died. Aurelia clutched her head, willing the voice to stop.
"Headache?" Skylene asked sympathetically. "Maybe you should have a lie down." Aurelia nodded. She needed to get away from it all, from her mother, from the council, most of all from the voice in her head. I speak the truth. It told her. I speak the truth nobody wants to hear. Do not hide from the truth. The truth will find you.
She clambered up the stairs and into bed, trying to find a cool spot on the pillow.
They've been lying to you about your mother's condition. They've been lying to you about everything. You deserve the truth. Don't you want the truth? I speak the truth.
"Be quiet!" Aurelia moaned. "Is there an anti-headache spell somewhere?" She reached over for her mum's spell journal, where Alex had made notes on spells she found particularly useful.
"Headache... Headache..." Aurelia muttered. "Spell for relief of pain. Sounds good. Sends castee into slumber for approx. 30 mins. When awoken, all non-magical pain will be gone. NB For magical pain see Spell Removal, p47." Aurelia silently thanked her mum for her dedicated note-taking, and read the instructions on casting. Her last thought before she fell asleep was: I hope mum's OK when I wake up.
☆
The first thing Alex thought when she woke up was: Rook. Then: I hope Aurelia's OK. And then: where am I?
She lifted her head off the soft white pillow and looked around. She was sitting in a room with marble pillars wreathed in ivy and marble archways with hanging plants acting like a curtain. Somewhere in the Fairy Palace, then. To her left, there seemed to be an orchard of fruit trees, their long, leafy limbs creating a roof over Alex's head. Pink cherry blossoms grew on one, and ripe oranges weighed down the bows of another. Interesting. On her right stood flowers, loads of them, tulips and daffodils and sunflowers and sweet peas on trellises, snowdrops and peonies and roses, so many roses, in red and pink and white and pale yellow, so that the floor seemed to be carpeted in a rainbow of petals. None of the plants seemed to have any regard for season, they just grew and flourished and blossomed as if they knew how beautiful they were. It was breathtaking. Alex had never seen anything like it. Except... she thought of Rosette's garden behind the Palace. The myriad of colours, the variety in the plants. As if to confirm her thought, a figure dressed in red stepped out from behind a fruit tree and grinned.
☆
Aurelia woke up. Not suddenly, not groggily, just... awake. Here and now. She got out of bed, and shielded her eyes as she looked at the noon sun. Thirty minutes seemed about right. She marvelled at how much better she felt. The dull ache in her ankle which she had mostly stopped noticing was completely gone, and her stomach didn't feel the need to remind her how long it had been since she last ate. Aurelia joyfully twirled around the room, almost laughing. Then she remembered. The dancing stopped and she ran out of her room, bumping into Coral.
"Coral, where's my mum? Is she OK? Has she woken up yet?" She demanded.
Coral looked flustered and nearly dropped Fisher.
"She's in Rosette's room. Come on, we'll see if she's awake."
Aurelia didn't wait for Coral to elaborate, and snapped her fingers without a second thought. It was only as the world around her disappeared into darkness that she realised she didn't actually know where Rosette's room was or what it looked like.
☆
"I'm so glad you're awake. We were all so worried!" Rosette gushed.
"I... sorry?" Alex winced as she pulled herself up into a sitting position.
"Oh, no, don't apologise!"
"What-what happened?" Alex asked. "All I remember is Rook - oh, mother of dragons, Rook!" She choked back a sob as her mind was once again filled with the image of Rook's face, contorted with fear, and the bullet hole in his marble chest.
"Hey, hey, don't think about that!" Rosette looked stricken. "You look so... so..." the fairy was at a loss for words. "Anyway, you went into shock when you saw... that" Rosette winced. "And you fainted. And hit your head. Hard."
Alex gingerly touched the base of her skull. Pain flared through her body.
"Ow." She regretted it immediately.
"Yeah, the doctor said you had a nasty bruise and bumps and stuff. I have a tonic here for you. He was very pleased with my herb garden, said it was very useful." Rosette looked a little smug as she uncorked a clear glass vial and held it out to Alex. The liquid inside had a faint yellowish tint, and tasted bitter. Still, Alex was grateful.
"It's not instantaneous, but it will help your wounds heal and the pain to subside." Rosette advised her.
"Thank you. Um.... How long was I unconscious for?" Alex bit her lip, anxious about the answer.
"Few hours."
"Well, that's... better than it could be, I suppose." Another thought struck Alex. "How's Aurelia?"
"She's fine. She had a bit of a headache so she went upstairs. I'm sure she'll be along soon enough." Rosette reassured her. "The doctor said you shouldn't go near the Hall of Memories again, or anywhere that might trigger a similar reaction from your body. Bodies are quite weird. Brains are really weird. He said you should still be careful because he doesn't know the full extent of what happened to you, physically and emotionally." Rosette sounded quite dramatic, and Alex found herself nodding.
Suddenly, about an inch away from Rosette's shoulder, a scroll wrapped in a pink ribbon appeared with a faint pop. Rosette rolled her eyes.
"Coral is just obsessed with this magic messaging!" She exclaimed as she unrolled the scroll. "Aurelia incoming. She could've told us that in person! Anyway..." She turned back to Alex.
"Well, I guess that's your answer."
☆
Aurelia ended up materialising in the library, since she could picture it well, and there were lots of maps in the corner. She motioned with her finger, and a map of the Fairy Palace flew to her hands. Holding it in her hand, she imagined the breakfast room, and disappeared.
When she appeared (again) she practically ran down the short corridor to Rosette's room. She swept a curtain of ivy to one side, and gasped at the floral fantasy before her. Beautiful plants of all shapes and sizes stretched out before her. At the back of the room, in the middle of a wall, was a neat white bed. And sitting in the bed, looking pale and drawn but very much alive, was her mother.
Aurelia couldn't help it. She ran across the room, feet practically flying over the grassy floor, and gave her mum a bear hug.
"Oof, Aurelia! I've only just woken up!" Her mum smiled at her, tears glistening at the edges of her eyes. "How are you, darling?"
"How am I?" Aurelia asked incredously. "Mum, you were unconscious for like three hours! You scared us!" She hugged her mum tighter, her own eyes beginning to water.
"Shh, it's ok now. I'm ok now." Aurelia felt like she was five again as her mother stroked her strawberry-blonde hair and wiped away the tears that were threatening to escape.
"Are you sure?" She asked.
"I'm fine, honestly!" Alex smiled.
LIES!
"You've got nothing to worry about."
LIES!
Aurelia fought to keep the smile on her face as the voice hissed at her again.
Your own mother lies to you! I tell the truth! I am truth!
"Sweetie, are you sure you're alright? Still got that nasty headache?" Alex's face adopted a mask of worry as she surveyed her daughter.
"Yeah, I'll... I'll be alright."
See, stupid voice? I can lie too. Actually, I hope that's not a lie.
"Aurelia!" Coral appeared in the doorway, the leafy curtain swaying.
"What?" Aurelia turned away from her mum and folded her arms.
"There's something you should know about." Coral beckoned to her.
"Why me?"
"Just... come on." With another glance at her mum, Aurelia crossed the room until she and Coral were centimetres apart. Coral's voice was barely audible as she whispered:
"It's about Trix and Noodle."