Chapter One

Once Upon a Time…

Reality

            “This is the second time we’ve gotten a notice from your teacher, Melanie,” Mr. Brooks said quite sternly to the frowning eighteen year old girl sitting at the oak table before him. “English Lit. is a crucial class to pass, especially with graduation coming so close.”

            Gazing up at her father with honey colored eyes, Melanie remained in quiet contemplation. Should she or should she not tell him that she despised that class which was what made it difficult to endure? The sigh that’d escaped her lips made her father mistake it for agitation.

            “Do not get an attitude with me, Mel, this is serious. Honey, I don’t want to see you get left behind.”

            “At least I’d still be with Melissa,” the ebony haired girl retorted, standing from the table haughtily, “and I wasn’t giving you an attitude, Dad, I was just thinking. I got the picture- work hard and pass.”

            Mr. Brooks, a man in his early forties with thinning brown hair and sharp green eyes, nodded. “Well, you’re not off that easy. I’ve spoken to your teacher- you’ll be going to a tutor three times a week to help you.”

            Melanie stared incredulously to her father, for a moment thinking that they looked nothing alike, and then scoffed before walking to her room. A tutor?! Did she really need that much help in this class? Probably so if that blasted Mrs. Tory wrote home twice. A feeling of worthlessness set upon the young woman’s shoulders as she sank back into her bed, gazing out the window…The stars were beautiful that night. How wonderful it had to be living as a star…the things it could see, the longevity…no English Lit classes to worry about…

            “Mel! Earth to Mel!” A rather boisterous young blond teenaged girl shouted into Melanie Brooks’ ear, waving a bubble-gum finger nail painted hand in front of her face.

            Blinking away the daydream, or rather the memory of what happened earlier that day, Melanie turned to look at her best friend, Melissa Matthews. The bubbly blond gazed at her friend slightly worried.

            “Hey, are you still stressing about what your dad said to you? That was last week!”

            Melanie frowned. Of course she was worried about it. This was the first day of tutoring for her and the girl felt like a complete idiot because she’d already managed to screw up by leaving the textbook in her locker. Then she had to have Melissa walk with her to her tutor’s house because she didn’t trust herself to actually show up. Something about the fact that she had to go to his house seemed a little off to her. Melissa was just there for moral support.

            When the ebony haired girl didn’t reply to her friend’s question, Melissa didn’t push the matter. Melanie was probably daydreaming again, as always. Her best friend’s mind had a tendency to escape into the clouds and stay there until it wished to return. However, she did have the remarkable ability to still know exactly what everyone was talking about as if she had paid full attention.

            Wordlessly, the pair turned the corner, shivering slightly from the crisp breeze whipping through the trees.  This particular block had never been visited before by the girls, nor were they familiar with it.

            ‘Wait, where do you have to go again?’ Melissa asked, arching a brow.

            Melanie glanced at the sheet of paper. ‘723 Crystalline Drive; I’ve never heard of it, have you?’

            Melissa shook her head, ‘Not at all…and it’s only a few blocks from school? Totally weird, Mel.’

            It was odd but the street did exist.  They were turning onto it, walking down the sidewalk, and seeing it with their own eyes. The early spring had just arrived in the mediocre town of Westbrook, Maine yet here time still lingered in the autumn.  Copper and rusty red leaves littered the streets and walkways, yet the trees still had leaves on them which were between green and gold in color.  Underneath the cloudless blue sky, one standing at the far end of the lane would believe it to only be a painting of perfection in nature. There were hardly any interruptions in the scene before the girls’ eyes, save for the opening of a dirt road winding into the trees.

            Melanie stood at the edge of it, quieting her thoughts and tuning out her best friend’s chatter.  There was something off about the dirt path that she couldn’t put her finger on.  It didn’t bother her, yet it made her wonder if she’d trodden this path before.

            “Mel, are you sure we’ve never come this way before?” The raven haired girl questioned without turning.

            Melissa shrugged, “I’m pretty sure- I don’t remember ever going anywhere this secluded before.  Why? Are you getting that feeling again?”

            “Yeah…” Melanie replied. The de ja vu feeling came to her often, but it always wore off quickly.  Who didn’t get that anyhow? Everyone felt like they’d been somewhere before that they’ve never visited at least once in their lives. “Oh well.  I guess this is the road up to his house.” She took a step onto it and the strange sensation passed in the same moment.

            “Do you want me to go with you?” Melissa asked, a little unsure if she even wanted to follow her friend. Something about going to the house of anyone remotely like a teacher bugged her. It was just…weird.

            Shaking her head, Melanie didn’t answer and continued up the pathway. Melissa waited until her friend had vanished past where the road curved into the trees before turning to head home.  The blond girl was quite used to Melanie’s eccentricities so her lack of response was hardly anything to worry about.  Besides- Melissa had a ton of homework to do and couldn’t spare the time to walk up that path and back again…

            …The chirping of birds met Melanie’s ears about halfway up the road, a sound like she hadn’t heard before.  They sounded like tiny bells singing out, silver bells playing in perfect synch, in perfect order, trilling up and then down the musical scale without any difficulty. It brought a smile to her lips to hear them and made her wonder what sort of birds could sound like that. Or at least…what kind of birds in Maine could sound like that.  Melanie’s steps felt heavier with each step she took, the lane being much longer than she had thought it would be. The area seemed heavily wooded; there were nothing but trees and shrubbery to her left and right, though it seemed to thin out up ahead.

            ‘That must mean I’m close…thank goodness, I’m getting tired of walking.’ She thought, contemplating going into a run just to finally get there.  Deciding against it for the mere fact of possibly tripping and sprawling on her face from something she didn’t see, Melanie only slightly quickened her pace.  Or perhaps her reason was to listen to the birds a while longer…or more truthfully because she was trying to put off seeing this tutor for as long as she could.

            Quite disappointingly, the young woman came to the end of the path by the end of her last thought. It struck her strange because she could’ve sworn there lay at least forty more yards ahead until the end. Without a second thought, Melanie strode into the clearing where her breath immediately stole from her lungs.

            The driveway circled at least five hundred feet in diameter, and in the center there stood a grassy island holding the most beautiful marble stone statue of a young woman.  Though made of something completely solid, her hair flowed past her shoulders and down to the small of her back, her hands cupped together where a trickle of water escaped through the cracks of her fingers.  The source of the tiny stream couldn’t be seen, and the water appeared to vanish before ever hitting the ground. Melanie gazed at the flawless work of art for only a moment more before turning her eyes to the most extraordinary mansion she’d ever seen.

            The establishment stood perhaps three floors up, not counting the peak of the roof which probably held an attic of sorts, and wider than the girl could begin to guess the measurement of.  Spires reached into the blue sky, stretched like bone thin black fingers of granite, extending from a ledge right beneath the highest window. It ran the entire width of the front and she supposed continued all the way round.  A castle like turret lay on the right side and on the left there was set a balcony under a stained glass window, consisting of a portrait of what appeared to be…the same young woman from the statue.

            Urging her feet onward, Melanie set eyes upon the porch, which she hoped there was a much better word to describe it as. Porch seemed too common a word to use for a place of this magnitude. The steps were carved of the same marble as the statue, whorls of black and blue and white whirling into it.  There were exactly seven steps to the door which was made of a fine dark red wood.  The knockers were ornately shaped with carefully engraved Celtic knots, properly sized for the double doors.  Beside the knockers hung a velvet and silk rope of gold, which Melanie supposed was the likeness of a doorbell.

            Her hand reached for it and only hesitated when she was reminded of old films or cartoons where someone came upon such a house, pulled the rope and fell into a trapdoor beneath their feet.

            “That’s nonsense,” Melanie laughed to reassure herself and grasped the rope.

            No sooner than her hand touched the fine material, the doors swung open. Gasping in surprise, she quickly released the rope and waited a moment.  From behind the doors stepped a young man, perhaps in his late twenties, dressed in a black suit with a white ruffled shirt beneath the jacket. He wore gloves as well and shiny black shoes to complete the look.  Melanie glanced over him briefly, remembering his average face, the red hair and brown eyes, and then smiled nervously. It didn’t shock her that this place would have a butler- or that’s what she assumed him to be.

            “Hello.  I’m…”

            “Miss Brooks, yes, I know.” The man finished for her, stepping aside with a faint smile. “We have been waiting for your arrival.  I am afraid you’re a little late.”

            Melanie hesitantly walked inside and watched the man close the doors behind them. There was something strange about the way he spoke- he had an accent she couldn’t place.

            “I had a little bit of a hard time finding the place.” She answered, which was not completely a lie.  It took she and Melissa twenty minutes just to find a street that was four blocks from the high school.

            “It is understandable.  I am Tevo, you may call me Tev, and am a servant to Master Sterling. Please, follow me to the library.”

            Melanie nodded, clutching her school bag tightly, just now realizing the immensity of the foyer they stood in.  It was round, the floors set with hardwood and lined with a shimmering metal that reminded her of gold.  What person, no matter how wealthy, would ever put gold into their floors? Above her head hung a large chandelier lit dimly with white candles that sent prisms of color through the crystals surrounding each setting.  She’d stared for so long she’d almost forgotten she ought to be following Tevo.

            The clearing of the servant’s voice brought her back to reality and Melanie murmured an apology, following him to a door on the left. She half expected the doorway to lead directly into the library, but of course it didn’t.  It led to a corridor, wide enough for four people to stand across it, and had a thin carpet of red streaking along its length.  There were a few paintings upon the walls and a rectangular table with a vase upon it against the right side, but she hadn’t the time to stop and take a gander.  Melanie couldn’t afford having this tutor, this “Master Sterling”, calling home to her father to complain that she’d been extremely late. 

            Tevo halted suddenly and pivoted to the right, causing the young woman to nearly collide into the man.  It was a good thing she hadn’t- a staircase lay in front of him and it definitely wouldn’t have given her brownie points to have knocked him down them. 

            “My apologies, I should have warned you, Miss Brooks.” Tevo said with a smile. “The library is down this staircase-come.”

            Melanie resumed walking, carefully descending the slightly narrowed stone steps.  She felt strangely like she was about to enter a dungeon, but that was fantastical thinking.  At the bottom of the steps was another door, constructed of fine mahogany with a brass handle and chapel shaped at the top. Tevo opened it, entering first and then she trailed.

            The library was vast, bigger than the public library in Westbrook.  It seemed two Westbrook Libraries could fit inside and there might still be room for another quarter.  Melanie’s jaw slackened a little as she took in the shelves and shelves of countless books. Each bookcase contained twelve shelves, and over them was a balcony that went around three fourths of the room’s perimeter which held even more shelves. Upon the walls, where the walls were not obscured by books, there hung tapestries, some framed and others free.  The carpet beneath her feet was a deep violet and sparkled, as though stars had been woven into the material. Melanie brought her gaze to a round table in the middle of the room, its legs perfectly carved into the mouths of dragons at the bottom with the wings serving as the support for the tabletop. 

            “Master Sterling, Miss Brooks has arrived.” Tevo spoke, breaking through Melanie’s awe.

            She had not seen him, but sitting at the table in a comfortable looking armchair was a man who looked even younger than his servant.

            “Thank you. You may go, Tevo.” Master Sterling replied and the servant went, closing the door to leave Melanie with her tutor.

            The young man stood and smoothed the wrinkles from his black turtleneck.  Melanie was taken aback at how handsome and young her supposed tutor was.  His hair was a fine russet, starting a little long across his forehead, sweeping back over his ears and tapering off at the nape of his neck.  To accentuate his handsome features of high cheekbones, a straight nose, and thin lips, he had eyes of cerulean blue.  That was the closest shade Melanie could think of, but perhaps there was no worldly shade she could possible conjure up to properly describe them. He had a fine physique as well, long and lean, which the turtleneck complimented well.

            Suddenly embarrassed at her thoughts, Melanie stepped forward, fighting an oncoming blush.

            “Hello.”

            “Miss Brooks, I wondered when you would finally show up.” There was a hint of playfulness in his tone.

            She nodded, “I’m sorry I’m late, it wasn’t that easy finding the house…and I got a little side tracked looking at everything.”

            He canted his head to the side a bit, strands of russet falling over one eye. “It’s quite alright.  My name is Aric Sterling and as we both know, I’m to tutor you in the subject of English Literature.”

            The way Aric spoke was so refined, Melanie began to second guess his age. Perhaps he was just one of the lucky few who always looked young.  He was probably in his early thirties.

            “Nice to meet you, Mr. Sterling.” She replied, taking the hand he offered to shake it. 

            He surprised her by placing a brief kiss on the back of it instead then released her hand and pulled out a seat. “Please, call me Aric, I’m not old enough to be called Mister yet.”

            Melanie let him push the chair to her and sat down, placing her schoolbag on the table in front of her. “Okay.” She said softly, now second guessing her second guess.

            Aric laughed softly and took his seat. “I’m only twenty, not much older than yourself.”

            She stared in amazement. “And you own this whole place?”

            “Yes.” He replied quickly. “Actually, to be honest, the wealth is my father’s, or was my father’s.”

            Assuming this meant his father had passed, Melanie lowered her eyes from him in sympathy.

            “Do not worry over it, Miss Brooks, it was long ago.  Now, shall we begin?”

            She smiled faintly. “I forgot my book.”

            Aric paused to think a moment. “You are reading Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, am I not mistaken?”

            “Yes, you’re right. We’re having a test on it next Friday.”

            “I happen to have the text in full. I shall retrieve it and while I’m getting it, take out your study papers and we can begin once I return.” Aric moved from his place to do as he said.

            Melanie blinked, sitting in wonder for a moment. Who spoke the way he did? He had the same accent as Tevo, though it wasn’t difficult to understand, nor was it unpleasant to hear, it was still very strange. Without putting off any more time, Melanie opened her schoolbag to take out her papers. She had a feeling it would be a very interesting tutoring session indeed.

            *                                                           *                                                           *

Soluna

            A single melancholy figure made way along a winding corridor of stone walls and brass candelabras, walking with an eerie and silent gait.  The hall was filled with shadow, as it had been of late with their prince’s absence, and the silence heavies the air. However dark, the young man, thin almost to the point of emaciation, was dressed in such color he could have lit the halls alone. His high collar was bordered with black but the rest was a very bright blue, connecting to the rest of his tunic which lay over a violet trimmed shirt of orange and yellow. The young man’s gaunt face was pale but his eyes, mismatched in color, the left one blue, the right one violet, gave more than enough color under his newly shorn ebony hair.

            Another figure, a young woman, perhaps a servant, stepped quickly from a room and let out a noise of surprise.

            “Sorry, I did not realize you were in these halls, Faolan,” she apologized quickly.

            The thin man turned to meet her gaze and spoke his reply in a haunting and musical voice.

            “No matters of doors opening and closing,

            no matters of paths strangely crossing.

            To seek the room of visions fading,

            Mine eyes shall stay forever waiting.”

            Not having the slightest idea about what Faolan spoke of, the woman turned and hurried along the corridor to her next room to tend. She dared not look back though she knew his mismatched eyes were upon her. The minstrel of the estate frightened her and made her chilled to the bone with nervousness.  There were hardly any who could truly stand him, save for their master.

            How she wished he would finally return.