NaNoWriMo 2005: 31700 Words

Maia had always lived in the Palace, and Mella had always lived in the forest near the borders of the Kingdom. Maia's hair was dark and Mella's was light. But they were both ten years old, and so when they looked into the mirror that day, they believed.
Mella looked into the strange mirror and saw, instead of her own reflection, the little dark-haired girl. She tilted her head, and the other little girl did not. She raised her right hand, and the other girl raised her right hand. Mella was standing in the forest and the other was in a lavish room.
Fairyland, Mella though immediately. And so this girl must be a fairy.
Suspecting some sort of magic, Mella reached out to touch the mirror's silver surface; the little fairy girl did the same.
And, where Mella had expected to touch glass, her hand touched the fairy hand...

Part Two: Dybera

They were in another garden space, one equally as unkempt as the one they had just left. The border-like walls, too, were the same as the walls of the borders always were. But it was by no means the same garden. That garden, that world had shut behind them when the latch of the wooden door clicked back into place.

What Pearl saw now was... unbelievable.

Yet she didn't question its existence or reality. Not even Talwyr, the greatest wizard known to the Kingdom, could have conjured this. Maybe someone older, who thought themselves wiser, would have disbelieved his eyes.

Emryn certainly did.

"What is this-- this-- what have you--" he stammered. "What is this sorcery?" he managed finally.

"No sorcery of my own doing, I'm afraid. No, this is magic far older than I am and, I concede to you, I am indeed very old. This is the old magic that has protected the Kingdom for hundreds of thousands of years. What you see is very real. It is the border which is an illusion."

They were standing not near the Palace, but a building taller than any Pearl had ever seen before-- bigger than the Temple, bigger than the Palace itself. And it was white, and parts of it gleamed. Its countless turrets were rounded or came to points so sharp that Pearl was sure if she touched one she would prick herself. Beyond this place large enough to house an entire city, Pearl saw more buildings, none of them so tall, but still taller than anything in the Kingdom. They shone in the sunlight. As Pearl craned her neck, trying to see the top of the palace bigger than the Palace, she at last recognized the gleaming shapes shooting by overhead.

"Dragons!" the little girl exclaimed. "It's lots and lots of dragons!"

Emryn gaped. Bhodi rolled his eyes. "Ships, stupid. They're ships. Why do you keep calling them dragons?"

"I keep forgetting," she answered quietly.

Bhodi turned to Talwyr. "You got me home."

The wizard nodded.

"We're... beyond the borders, then?" Emryn gulped. "In the Land of the Gods?"
It certainly looked like the Land of the Gods to Pearl. But Talwyr smiled gently.

"Not precisely," he said. "It's called Dybera."

"It's where he came from, though?" Emryn pointed at Bhodi, who nodded defiantly. "It's why we were holding him in the Palace, like some government secret."

"Exactly like some government secret," Talwyr said, "because very few in the Kingdom aside from the royal family have any idea that Dybera exists."

Bhodi, Pearl, and Emryn all exchanged glances, not knowing how to respond to any of this. Talwyr sighed.

"Come. I should have explained this to you all sooner, I suppose, but I did not know..." he started forward, toward the impossibly tall, towering building before them. "I did not foresee this. I should have."

The wizard pressed something on the building's nearest wall and a door appeared and slid open-- Pearl assumed that it must have been done by magic. They entered, and the girl was disappointed to find the interior to be stark, plain and dull when compared to the outside of the structure. As they walked along though, it began to occur to her that, just as they had gone through many corridors dusty with long neglect in the Palace, this part of the building had not been used in a long while. Not surprising, as what population could possibly take up all of this space?
The rooms they passed gradually began to appear more clean, more lived-in, and more beautiful than most rooms in the Palace, although the beauty was of a very different kind. The floor was everywhere carpeted now, and strange objects decorated the walls. Though Pearl could see no windows, and no torches or candles lit their way, there was light everywhere. It seemed to the girl to be a different color from the sun's light, though the thought, even as she thought it, made little sense to her. Light had no color, not unless it fell through stained glass. Both she and Emryn and even, to a certain extent, Bhodi, were agape at the luxury that surrounded them.

"What's the matter with you?" Pearl whispered at the young boy. "I thought you lived here." She found herself slightly irritated that Bhodi had kept such a big secret from her-- it wasn't as though she could have thought to ask about this.

"Not exactly here," he whispered back, annoyed at the tone of her voice. "You think I could afford this stuff? Not if I ran spice for a living! I think... I think this might be the Queen's Palace."

"What Queen?" Emryn, having caught some of the words, asked now.

"I believe," Talwyr said, "that your fondest wish, Emryn, was not to be king, not to be prince, not to be ruler of any kind?" Emryn nodded. "Here, then, let us say all your wishes have come true."

***
Queen Silvara of the world called Dybera, the fourth planet in orbit around its sun, was concerned. She had been interrupted only moments ago with the message that Lord Talwyr had arrived, and that he had brought a small company of followers with him. This was troubling for two reasons-- the first, that Lord Talwyr only ever came to Dybera when there was some sort of trouble; the second, that Lord Talwyr always only ever come alone. It had been more comfortable this way. Oh, once, apparently, her mother had met the king of that other place, but Queen Silvara never had. She had only ever had Talwyr as an occasional reminder that that other place existed, and the rest of the time could almost convince herself that it wasn't really there at all. But now the old wizard was waiting for an audience with her, and with him were other people from his land.

The Queen was being dressed for the inevitable audience now, a process which would take some time, even with the help of the two ladies who attended her. There was before them a wide array of ceremonial gowns, jewels, diadems, and crowns, and they were carefully choosing which ones were most proper for today's occasion. Silvara left the matter entirely to them; it made little difference to her what combination of absurd finery they decorated her with. As long as she appeared as a Queen should, the specifics did not matter. It was the effect-- the look, the costume, the imperious gaze that could put everyone instantly in awe of her, no matter where in the galaxy she might be. This first impression was essential, for otherwise they might see through her, they might notice that she was not grand and regal at all, but only a child playing dress-up with her mother's clothes.

She was a good Queen-- she had kept Dybera in prosperous peace throughout the short period of her reign, warding off threats and making shrewd deals, taking the counsel of her advisors and listening to the problems of the people. Her name suited her-- Silvara, "Star of Peace." But there were some, nevertheless, who still took issue with the fact that Queen Silvara of the world called Dybera, the fourth planet in orbit around its sun, was only fifteen years old.

***
Emryn, Pearl, and Bhodi sat on cushions so soft and smooth that Pearl felt as though she was floating, in a room in what she could not help thinking of as the Palace of the Gods. They listened to Lord Talwyr speak. They did not interrupt or ask questions, only listened to the old man who paced before them.
"Long ago," he began, "so long ago that memory has passed into legend and myth, so long ago that no living man remembers the time when the memory of what I tell you became legend..."

***
A long time ago, the Kingdom was as big as the whole world. Now, of course, those who live in the Kingdom think that it is the whole world, but they are mistaken. The world is much bigger, and it is not hemmed in by the sea and the borders. The world is called Dybera, and it is only one of many worlds floating among the stars.
Once the people of the Kingdom and the people of Dybera were one people, ruled over by one king, obeying one law, and worshipping together in the temples. For there was more than one Temple then; the world of Dybera is too big for one place of worship to serve the many people spread out over its lands. The Dyberans were a peaceful people and, for the most part, happy.

Then, one day, the people of another world came to Dybera. They offered the people of Dybera the tools they would need to also explore the stars, and to build great building stronger than stone that would reach to the very sky. This was a magic the people of Dybera had dreamed not of, and many of them rejoiced its coming, excited at the new prospects and opportunities such abilities offered them.

But others became afraid that, in accepting these things, our old ways and old magics would be lost. Many of the priests thought this way, although some did not. The world of Dybera became quickly divided.

It happened at this time that the old king had twin children-- two sons. They were as different as day and night, and disagreed about most things. This was no different. One wanted to keep to the old ways, and one wanted to welcome the new. They fell to fighting about it, and each drew a group of followers to himself. Each faction began to proclaim that it would accept no one but its own leader as the next king. It seemed that it must come, at last, to war-- if not in the old king's lifetime, then as soon as he was decently buried, for everyone loved and respected the old king. At last, it seemed that he would not live long; some said his quarrelling sons were driving him to his death.

He called all of his priests and wizards to him, and held counsel with them for a long time. He told them that he could see no other choice but that he must divide the kingdom of Dybera between his two sons. Yet if he did so, each would want to wrest the remaining half from his brother-- either there would be the old ways on Dybera or the new ways on Dybera, and neither son would accept a compromise. Besides, the priests and wizards who sided with the old ways knew that if the new ways were in one place, they would spread, and contact with them was nothing more nor less than blasphemy. So the old king asked if there was some way for them to create a magical barrier in between the two lands, so that no army could pass from one land to the other and the ways of one world would not pollute the second.
The Wise Ones told him that there was, but that it would be difficult and dangerous to attempt. Lives might be lost, and in the end it might not work.

Yet all agreed it was their best chance, since there was no other way.

They would be able to contain the old Kingdom, keep it safe from the influences of the outside, but it would be small. Even the greatest of them all together had not enough power to divide the planet. A great shielding spell would be put around it, so that the rest of Dybera would not be able to find it again, search though they might.

And so all the Wise Ones, upon the appointed day, performed the great work of magic that would separate the Kingdom and Dybera forever. It took all the effort and all the strength that they had. Some died. But when they were done, the spell had worked. Where the Kingdom had been, the Dyberans saw nothing save wilderness. It was as though a tract of land had been removed, leaving no trace, no seam to mark where it had once been. The people of the Kingdom saw, beyond the borders they had erected, impassable forest and mountains and vast waters. The older twin retained rulership of the Kingdom, in the castle where his old father stilly lay dying, proclaiming himself to be too old for change. The younger twin ruled the remainder of Dybera.

In time, the people in Dybera did begin to use their magic-- from disuse more than anything else. Their technology rendered it unnecessary, and it was forgotten. The magical creatures there died off, and nowadays most Dyberans will not believe that their ancestors ever knew or possessed magic power. The people of the Kingdom developed the idea that the Gods live beyond the borders, and the Dyberans did a remarkably similar thing. They still tell stories, although few believe them, of a magical sanctuary of the Gods which vanished from the world of men.

There were doors, of course-- a few places where the magic was weak enough to allow those few who knew of them to pass between the worlds. But most found that they preferred not to do this, for time ran differently in the Kingdom than it did in Dybera. In the Kingdom, the cycles of time had a much smaller space in which to run, and so time began to move faster. For the people in the Kingdom, of course, it seemed no different than normal. But those who left the Kingdom and returned after only a short time found that many years had passed, and so many of the pathways were sealed shut. It still happens, occasionally, to children wandering near the borders. You've heard of it-- heard it said that the children had been kidnapped by fairies. Niama was one of them, but she was lucky; Corbin found her and fell in love.

Recently, though, time in the Kingdom has begun to draw level with that of Dybera. More and more people and objects, like Bhodi's starship, are beginning to come through. The borders are failing. It is a very old magic which built them, and while the Wise Ones who made it intended it to last forever, forever turned out to be longer than they had dreamed. The magic fades now, and soon it may be lost. Then Dybera and the Kingdom will collide, and what will become of us then I do not know.
***

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