Hello readers! How many of you are watching season 7 in Greek because you couldn't wait? I am! It seems to be a really cool season so far, though Butterflix is not gonna be my favorite transformation.

26 The Elf Queen's Ball

Mirta was grading papers in the library after class, with Hexen lounging on the table next to the stack of worksheets. From the looks of her first assignment, Alyss seemed to remember everything about magic and school, just nothing about where she was from. It was sad, but at least she could go to school like everyone else.

Professor Palladium came in and wandered around the library, as he often did, stopping to talk to people, looking over students' work, and saying hello to Concorda who was lecturing some disobedient tomes back onto their shelves.

"Evening, Professor. These are yours, if you want them now." Mirta said.

Palladium took the top sheet and made a horrified face at Anjita's answers. "Oh dear."

"But she can already shapeshift into three forms. We're getting together to look over the potions textbook tomorrow."

"Thank you. Comfrey tells me you're a good tutor."

Mirta shrugged, embarrassed at the praise. "We just all got together and played with ingredients. I was trying to teach them to brew a skin balm my mother makes, even if Anjita slopped her ingredients it wouldn't explode."

"Actually... I have a favor to ask." Palladium pulled out a chair and sat down, reaching out to give Hexen a pat. "Grandmother is holding a week-long party to announce her successor and I've been ordered to attend."

"You want me to cover your classes?" Mirta asked, a knot of nervousness settling in her stomach. The next thing the teacher said jolted it out.

"I want you to come with me."

Mirta gaped. "To the elf realms? I thought humans weren't allowed there."

"Usually they aren't, but Grandmother requested that everyone bring examples of their 'finest work.' As a teacher, bringing one of my students seems appropriate."

There was a rumor about Professor Palladium. Mirta had heard it from Ortensia last year, but nobody had had the guts to actually ask Palladium if it was true. "So, your grandmother is..?"

"The queen of the elves."

"It's true!" Mirta squealed, then made apologetic gestures at Concorda. Yelling in the library was against the rules. Palladium was grinning at her reaction.

"So, the queen of the elves is choosing her heir? And it might be you?"

"I hope not. But I do have to go to the party."

"Why me?" Mirta asked, "Wait—because Bloom is on Domino with her family so she can't."

Palladium gave her an apologetic look. "Well, yes. But I think you'll impress my family."

Mirta tried to think what about her would impress a bunch of elves and came up blank. There had been the big spell last year, but that had been Keith's magic, she'd just helped along with a bunch of other people. And she was a witch. And she wasn't even a normal witch, she was a strange witch.

But on the other hand... the elf realms. The mysterious amazing elf realms that no human had seen in hundreds of years. "Of course I'll come! What do I have to do?"

Palladium had said that the elves would understand a human hadn't been raised with their manners and she could just be herself, but Mirta spent the next few days reading up on elf culture and manners. The book said the main thing to remember was that elves lived a long time, thousands and thousands of years, and had ever since they'd first arrived in the universe. Humans, back before scientific and magical medicine had been invented, only lived forty years or so. So elven culture was built on everyone having time to do everything they wanted. And then the book had a whole huge list of dos and don'ts that Mirta was sure she'd never remember and after that the book said that these rules were only for elves and humans were expected to be rude and crude.

Which was more comforting than insulting, actually. Being thought a barbarian was better than causing an interrealm incident by accident!

Her study was interrupted by a delivery of lots of boxes—and interrupted again before she could open them by a call on the hologram phone.

The projection covered one wall of her room, looking as if the wall had vanished revealing another room beyond it. Katy Spika was sitting at her desk, which was spread with papers, a computer, and a crystal ball. Katy's light brown hair was tied up in a sloppy ponytail and she was wearing her uniform which looked like a servant's outfit but with gold trim.

Katy was employed by the king of the realm of DeLane. Officially, she was there to take care of his sister, who was under a curse. Unofficially, she was a spy, there to figure out who'd cast the curse.

Katy's nine-year-old ward, Tabby, crouched by the hologram phone on her end. "Hi Mirta! Is it time for story yet?"

"We can't start until Amelia gets there, but you see what's in these boxes with me."

"What is it? Who's it from?" Tabby bounced, her wild black hair flapping.

Mirta shrugged and started undoing the seals on the biggest box. She looked over at Katy "How are you doing?"

Katy grinned a sharp-toothed smile and sent her words on a magical link to Mirta alone. "We're closing in. I found a way to track the curse, and there are only a few people it could have been. We'll know more in a few weeks."

"Oh Katy! You did it!"

"Maybe. We'll see." She shifted her voice back to include Tabby, who was scowling. "Sorry Babycat, royal business, just for grownups."

Tabby growled high in her throat at her foster-mother, and her tail appeared under her skirt lashing with annoyance. A minute later, her point made, she turned back to Mirta and chirped, "Presents?"

Mirta opened the biggest box and lifted out a long dress of heavy cream-colored silk. "Oooooh..." The rest of the clothes were similar, long robes and loose pants in pale green and silvery brown. "Professor Palladium said he was sending me 'appropriate wardrobe' for his family's party but... wow..."

They were much nicer, more elegant, and certainly more expensive looking than anything Mirta owned. Katy and Tabby admired from their place across the room and realms away, and Mirta explained all about the ball and what she'd been reading about elves. "I didn't expect stuff like this would be part of my job, I thought it was just grading papers and keeping the first-years out of trouble."

"You have to tell me everything after! And ask if you can keep the clothes!" Katy said.

Mirta draped a long, leaf-patterned robe over her clothes and tried to figure out how to fasten it. There was a sort of sash, but it seemed to lace up instead of tying... "I'd look pretty weird dressing like this in Magix! Stella would not approve."

They were talking clothes quite seriously when the door to Katy's room opened and Queen Amelia peeked in. The queen had a guilty expression and her curly brown hair was sticking out.

Mirta waved, "Hi, your majesty."

Queen Amelia was under a curse that tangled her thoughts and left her, most of the time, acting a lot like half-wild nine-year-old Tabby. And from her expression, she'd probably just gotten in some kind of trouble and forgotten Katy didn't know about it yet.

Suddenly the queen stood straight and imperious, "You are not an elf! Why are you dressed like one of the ambassadors?"

Mirta hurriedly stripped off the robe. "One of my teachers is an elf, and he gave me some clothes."

Amelia sighed a little, relieved normality had been restored, and sat down on the end of Tabby's bed. That was why they were here: Friday Night Story. Fridays were when Katy wrote most of her reports so Mirta had taken over story duty for that night.

Shortly Tabby was settled in bed, with Amelia sitting at the foot in her nightgown and bathrobe. In her room Mirta sat in her chair and opened the book. "Long ago in a realm of evil the dark fairy Queen Devila called on her minions and said, 'When you see people dating, destroy them! When you see people in love, destroy them! And when you see two people getting married, destroy them both! Mwahahaha!"

Tabby and Amelia joined in the evil cackling.

Mirta turned the page, "Meanwhile in the city of Magix a girl was walking to school..."

The elf queen sent a ship, a sleek silver and brown ship that landed by autopilot in Alfea's courtyard. It was a fancy ship, and Mirta spent part of the trip folding and unfolding the seats and trying the snacks in the little fridge.

Professor Palladium watched her with amusement but didn't seem to mind. All he said was, "Watch the drinks. Elf food is safe for humans, but some of our drinks would flatten you."

Mirta nodded. "Don't tell me elves have drunk parties."

"Elves have very calm parties. Nights will be, oh, like the ball on Domino. Days everyone can sit around, play sports, and watch entertainments. Everyone's going to be trying to impress everyone else. There are only a few people who could be named heir: I'm one, my nephews, and a few cousins, but everyone else will want to be friends with the few."

"You don't want to be king?" Mirta asked.

Palladium laughed. "No. Not at all. I like teaching, I like my students, I'd much rather spend my time at Alfea than trying to solve the really boring problems of my own people."

"Alfea sure isn't boring. Are you sure I'll be all right? Getting along with your family?"

"You'll do fine. Just be yourself. And tell everyone what a great teacher I am and how sad you'd all be if I had to go be king..."

The ship landed in a stone-paved clearing between giant trees. The air was clear and clean, without even the faintest hint of pollution Magix technology still produced. There were plants everywhere, flowering vines climbed the huge trees and low bushes marked a path through the forest. Mirta stepped onto the perfect pale green grass in the mild springlike sunshine and looked around.

A moth with wings the size of dinner plates flapped slowly past her and Mirta looked after it, hoping this realm wouldn't have giant bugs. This world reminded her of Linphea, with the huge trees and plants everywhere, but there was something strange about this forest. The grass grew right up to the bushes and trees, the vines curled in perfect spirals. There weren't and brown patches or dead leaves on anything. Like a garden. A garden the size of a forest. It was beautiful, and quiet except for the little chirps and rustles of animals in the bushes. "Where is everyone? There are buildings here, right?"

"There are, and they're that way. But there's no rush."

That was fine with Mirta, she was happy to wander along slowly and look at everything. It really was all a huge garden. They passed sculpted glades with statues of elves in heroic poses, a tree with a flower-filled cave in it, and a pond with fat silver fish.

Four of the giant moths were sunning their wings and drinking at a fountain surrounded by big trumpet-shaped purple flowers. Mirta paused, looking at them. They were pretty cute, for insects. Furry, and almost the size of cats.

"They're friendly—and they'll mob you if you wear purple."

Mirta laughed. "There aren't any more giant bugs are there?"

"No, just the moths. I think my ancestors made them, like that witch general made your cat."

So, giant moths. Mirta could understand the idea. They were pretty, once you got over the 'bug' thing.

Beyond the fountain Mirta saw two elves approaching them, a tall man and a boy The man called, "Palladium! At last. Grandmother laid a bet you'd abandoned us."

And they did the whole back-slapping guy greeting thing. Mirta, and the elf boy, watched in similar bemusement.

"Mirta! This is my brother Zanelin, the court healer, and is son Galen."

Palladium's brother looked almost exactly like he did: tall and handsome, though the healer's golden hair was cut to his shoulders instead of hanging down his back. Galen was a shorter, rounder-faced version of his father. He looked about twelve years old, but something about his expression said 'teenager' not 'child.' He was looking at Mirta with curiosity.

"Mirta is a former student, now working at Alfea."

Mirta curtseyed, "Nice to meet you."

"You're human?"

Mirta pulled her hair back to reveal her round ears, then conjured a tie from her luggage to hold it up. Galen was clearly fascinated, but he glanced at his father and offered to carry Mirta's suitcase. Mirta stuttered for a moment—wasn't Galen the prince?—then let him.

The four of them followed the path through the perfect garden. There were no other giant bugs, but they passed a clearing full of white deer and another where three huge striped cats lounged in the sunlight. All created animals? While she was staring at things like a tourist, Galen was staring at her like he'd never seen a human before. Which he probably hadn't. Mirta hadn't quite understood that she was going to be the sole representative of her species, and it was an uncomfortable realization.

Then they came in sight of the palace and Mirta stopped caring. It was an amazing building. Huge and sprawling, made of brilliant white stone that gleamed in the sunlight. The palace sat like a jewel in the filigree of gardens—more gardens—with ponds and gazebos and trees that seemed to be growing up through the building itself. Elves were walking back and forth in front of it, all of them slender and beautiful, all with long golden hair.

Palladium openly grinned at her reaction. "The palace on Domino is older but it's half the size."

"You grew up here?"

"Yep."

The inside of the palace was just as impressive, lots of pillars, gold detail on white walls, plants everywhere. And lots of beautiful elves. Lots of beautiful elves looking at her, which was uncomfortable and left Mirta mostly silent. She was going to have to talk to these people?

Mirta and Palladium had rooms next door to each other in what seemed to be an entire wing of guest quarters. Mirta looked at the huge bed with the elaborately carved headboard and equally elegant sofa, wardrobe and writing desk, and decided she could get used to this. Bloom probably had a room like this on Domino. She put her clothes away, took a bunch of pictures with her phone to show her friends later, and went to ask her teacher what to do next.

Palladium had changed into a positively princely gold-trimmed tunic with a long belt. His room had a display of weapons and armor on a rack on the wall. They were very beautiful weapons, but they looked used. The enamel on the armor was scarred in places where it had been cracked. "Are those just for decoration or are you expecting to fight something?"

"It's not impossible."

"In the middle of the palace?"

"Ah. Something I guess your books didn't mention. This is a very peaceful kingdom. Very boring kingdom. So some elves devote themselves to chaos, just to liven things up. The dark court, they call themselves. They're not evil, usually, just exciting. And easy to identify: they color their hair."

"Are all elves naturally blonde?"

Palladium nodded. "We never evolved all the colors. Ready to meet the queen?"

"I suppose."

The hallway led to a wider hallway with big crystal windows on one wall and portraits of elven ancestors on the other. Mirta dawdled, looking at the pictures of previous kings and queens, who all looked alike.

And then the tall doors opened and they were in the ballroom. It was so big it was like being outdoors, with plants growing through the floor and, and a shelf up by the ceiling, a long row of mirrors of different shapes, that shone steadily in the morning sunlight. People were milling around talking, some were dancing, and all attention focused on the white figure on the throne. Mirta had already begun to think of all elves as 'golden' but the queen was silver. Her skin was very pale and her long hair flowed over the arms of her throne to pool on the floor like moonlight. She looked them over with strange, crystal-pale eyes.

Palladium bowed, but he was smiling. Mirta curtseyed as low as she could without falling over.

"Grandson, you must be determined to avoid the throne, bringing a human into the very heart of our realm."

Mirta wobbled.

But her teacher laughed. "My students are my masterpiece and the only thing I have to show for a life among wild humanity. This is Mirta, a very impressive young witch who you've probably frightened half to death pretending you didn't know she was coming."

Mirta managed a polite, "It's nice to meet your majesty. I'm glad to learn I'm not intruding." while managing not to glare at either one of them. One didn't glare at royalty no matter how much they deserved it.

The queen turned her pale gaze to Mirta and smiled at her. "You are most welcome, Mirta. Forgive me for teasing; it was unkind of me. In truth I wanted you here; how my heirs react to a person the like of which they've never seen before is important. You are aiding the throne simply be being here."

"I'm glad to help. This is a beautiful world, and I'm thrilled to be able to visit."

"I hope you enjoy your stay."

That was a dismissal and Mirta curtseyed again and backed away in relief. They rejoined the general crowd in the ballroom. Now that she was a little less nervous Mirta realized the crowd felt more like a family reunion than anything else. There was some tension and some knots of people who were obviously plotting, but mostly people were talking calmly but happily. Palladium pointed out the other potential heirs, all beautiful, all with long melodic names."...but none of them have any interest in politics, which leaves young Galen. He'd actually make a good king."

There was nothing else official to do until evening and Palladium eventually wandered off to talk to some friends leaving Mirta alone. Alone and not quite confident enough to talk to anyone, because while pretty much everyone was sneaking looks at the human in the room, none of them seemed confident enough to talk to her. Of course being gawked at was part of why she was here, so she wandered around letting people stare at her red hair and round ears for a while. Nobody was going to mistake her for an elf no matter how she was dressed.

Her nerves could take only so much getting stared at, and after a while she headed outside and down and empty path in search of a little solitude. The gardens really were amazing and she got her phone out and took some pictures. The giant white flowers as big as her head were nice, with their fat leaves and stalks, and growing over it a thread-thin vine with tiny blue blossoms. The two flowers together created a scent both sweet and spicy.

She rounded a corner, thinking about flowers, and came upon a strange scene. Three giant cats were dozing in a clearing by a pond, but they'd been dyed bright clashing colors. And admiring his handiwork was one of the elves 'devoted to chaos.' A boy, he looked Galen's age, with raven feathers tied in his black hair. He looked up quickly, surprised, and did a double take.

Mirta backed off. Wasn't her business what color the pets were.

And backed right into the elf, who'd somehow gotten behind her. "A human!" he purred, grabbing Mirta's shoulders as she nearly jumped out of her skin in surprise. "What beautiful hair. How did you get here?"

His voice was hypnotic, dangerous. Mirta froze for a moment in fear and confusion, then it came to her: he was trying to sound dangerous. On purpose. Her temper sparking, Mirta ducked away. "You're pretty too, but I'm not being weird about it!"

The elf laughed, head thrown back, the feathers in his hair dancing in the breeze. Beautiful.

"Sorry." he said, not sounding sorry. Also, he was staring.

Mirta stared back openly. "So... why are you dying the cats?"

On hearing 'cat' one of them looked up and yawned, displaying long white teeth in a currently bright green face. It didn't seem to mind the paint job.

"Wait and see." He snapped his fingers, "Got it. You're one of Uncle Palladium's students. I didn't think he'd really bring a human here. So what's interesting about you?"

Mirta fumbled for an appropriate answer, something that wasn't boasting or rude or weak since she didn't trust this boy. Finally she said, "I'm a witch." And undid the spell on the green cat, letting it fade back to its natural stripes.

The elf boy gaped.

"So what makes you interesting?" Mirta asked, trying to sound cool and confident.

"I'm very interesting. "I'm Rook, like my feathers. A bird of ill omen."

"Witches think they're good luck."

"Now you're just being contrary, human. Did Uncle Palladium teach you to cancel spells?"

It had been professor Zarathustra at Cloud Tower, but Mirta nodded anyway. "I won't do it again, if you want to turn him back green."

Rook muttered something else about contrary humans and looked at her out of the corner of his eye while he made a few gestures and dyed the cat green again. Once it was colored to his satisfaction he said, "I'm going to be king."

Mirta didn't really care. It wasn't her business. But she didn't think a guy who enjoyed recoloring the cats would make a good monarch for such an elegant society. Something of this must have shown in her face since Rook leaned in and whispered, "I did something no-one's ever done before. No mortal anyway."

Which was a little worrying.

And then he disappeared, which was also worrying, and a second after that three blond elves came around the corner, saw their precious pets recolored, and started shrieking. Mirta had a moment of fear that they'd suspect her, but they ignored her. It seemed this was a common prank.

Galen came to investigate the shrieking. He laughed at the colored cats and their dismayed owners, and seemed to decide Mirta was more interesting. He offered his arm and she took it, glad she'd had classes in how to accept an escort. "Um, I could break the spell..."

Galen waved the suggestion away. "Who did that?"

"He said his name was Rook. Feathers in his hair. Looked like you!" Mirta added, only now seeing the resemblance.

"We're related."

It didn't seem polite to ask about that one, so Mirta asked the other question on her mind. "Is that the 'dark court?' Just pranks?"

Galen looked at her in surprise, then his face became thoughtful. "In the human realms that wouldn't be a big deal would it? Since humans are already so chaotic..."

He seemed to really have to think about this. Mirta couldn't quite figure out what was so complicated.

Galen tried to explain, "I know what's going to happen every day. Everyone does. This realm is perfect."

Mirta had begun to see that. Everything here was perfect, the gardens and buildings and even the animals. Those big cats had huge teeth, but Mirta hadn't felt any sense of danger from them. Hexen had clawed her before, accidentally when he was going for a toy, but Mirta didn't think the elven cats would even do that. But that feeling expanded to cover everything... she couldn't imagine it.

"I... I never know what's going to happen. Three days ago I never thought I'd see this realm. My friend Selene is a cop, her whole job is dealing with things people didn't expect to happen, and things they do to each other."

"It must be... exciting." Galen said finally. "I believe once in our history chaos was given rein one year out of ten. Then the Mad Kings nearly destroyed the realm and chaos had to be banished from the throne."

"Mad Kings?"

"Six rulers who lost their minds and did terrible things before they were found out and deposed. It rather soured the kingdom on chaos. That's why everything is so peaceful. It's safer."

"It must be nice not to have to worry about getting attacked by monsters and things."

"You've been attacked by monsters?"

So Mirta told some stories from the last few years. Not the really bad things, just the witches, the evil magical weapon, and the dragon.

That evening there was dancing. Mirta liked dancing, but everyone was still staring at her, and she was feeling very intimidated by the beauty of the elven ladies. They all seemed to have long legs and tiny waists and perfect flowing hair.

But the music was good, if strange, and the food was good, so Mirta parked herself by the buffet, nibbled on dainty little sandwiches, and watched the beautiful guests. There was less color than at an Alfea party since the elves all seemed to wear green and tan and cream, and they all had gold or silver hair. But the variations in costume and hairstyle were amazing. Stella would have loved it, and Mirta felt a little guilty all this was being wasted on her. Professor Palladium was dancing with one of the elven ladies, much to Mirta's amusement. Teachers dancing, who knew?

Galen came over, resplendent in elven green with gold and silver embroidery. If he hadn't looked about twelve years old, he would've been stunning, but as it was Mirta mostly wanted his clothes. Galen was holding a slim glass of something pale blue. He took a sip and held it out.

Mirta remembered Palladium's warning about elves and humans having different biology, but a little bit should be fine. And it looked tasty. She tried a sip. Cool and full of sparkly bubbles. "Oh, this is really good." She took a longer drink and handed it back.

"Are dances in the human realms like this?"

"The Alfea dances are more... colorful..." Mirta said slowly. She was missing the beginning of the year dance to be here, but she remembered the one from last year. It took a minute to build memory into illusion and then, just for the two of them, the room was suddenly filled with colorful fairies and lots of blue uniforms. Most of them had blurs for faces, but Mirta added Selene and Sterling, and Alice and Jared and the rest of her friends.

"Why are the men dressed the same?"

"They're uniforms, from Red Fountain school."

"Why does Red Fountain have blue uniforms?"

Mirta, who'd never thought of that before, shrugged and laughed.

The real dancers couldn't see the illusory ones, and passed right through them. The elven dances were slow and elegant, to allow maximum chances for their dresses and robes to trail gracefully in the air. They were so... perfect.

"Would you like to dance?"

Mirta didn't. Everyone already kept staring at her, and she was going to look really clumsy compared to the elves. Lucy's dance teacher would look clumsy compared to these elves. But she was here to make professor Palladium look good, so she said, "I'd love to."

The last time Mirta had danced with a boy it had been Keith, before he left, and she was glad that everything was so different here. Galen was a good dancer, and once Mirta realized she wasn't going to step on his feet she began to relax and enjoy herself. Between dances they got snacks and talked with a group of young elves, Galen's friends, who Mirta had trouble telling apart. At first Mirta did a lot of the talking, since everyone wanted to hear about life in the exotic, dangerous human realms. And not just horror stories either, or 'you know Princess Bloom?!' stories. So Mirta talked about school and life in the city and, Galen's interest, the governments of different realms. Most of what Mirta knew about politics came from her Arts of Rulership class, or from listening to Katy and King Ansel. Galen reminded her of Ansel, they both talked with great passion about governmental theory.

It was getting later, and the servants changes the buffet from dinner-type food to late-night snacks and more interesting drinks. The lights were brighter too, and Mirta rubbed her eyes as talk turned from governing to the differences between elf and human food. Everything was good, but the flavors were mostly unfamiliar. "These spices, do they grow in any human realm? Why don't you sell them?"

"Why?" Galen asked, honestly confused, and after a minute Mirta realized the elves didn't need to sell anything because they didn't need to buy anything from other realms.

And that was so strange. Inhuman. And creepy, just at that moment when all the lights were too bright and the colors in the room, already similar, were beginning to blur together.

The musicians started a faster song and Galen whirled one of his friends onto the dance floor. Mirta was content to watch them, squinting at the light. She was too tired for more dancing and her head was starting to hurt.

Professor Palladium wandered over, leaving behind the lady he'd been dancing with. "Having fun?"

"Yes." Mirta decided after a minute. "It's not like anywhere I've ever been. I like your nephew. We've been talking politics, he's certainly read all the books on how to be a good king. Am I doing all right, impressing your relatives?"

"You're doing fine. You spooked Rook, which everyone approves of."

"He was a jerk. What was he on about saying he'd done some impossible thing and was going to become king?"

"The first, I don't know. The second, well... Rook is Galen's half-brother. The usual story; a young man and a young lady meet at a party, she has no place to stay, he invites her home... and then it turns out she's the Lady of Ravens from the dark court and she's just delighted to be carrying a royal baby. So Rook has plenty of genetic right to the throne, but none of the personality. He just likes to make people run around and yell. Are you all right?"

"It's bright in here. Rook sounds awfully human for an elf."

Palladium laughed and said something back, but Mirta wasn't paying attention because just then the wall behind him opened a hole and worms poured out. Big worms, segmented and squirming. They fell in a pile and writhed there for a minute, then some grew legs and scuttled off between the dancers. Palladium didn't seem to notice, even though the pile was right by his feet.

Screaming would not have been polite. "Um... Professor..." Mirta said faintly. Her head really hurt now.

"What's wrong?"

"There are bugs coming out of the wall." And suddenly she was so dizzy she was having trouble standing up, and could only think how embarrassing it would be to fall over in front of all these people. Careful hands grabbed her shoulders.

"Galen, get your father..."

A few blurry hallways later they were in someone's room. Mirta curled up on the couch and buried her face in the pillows, feeling sick and grouchy. "It's too bright, I can't see, and someone should tell the queen there are bugs all over her castle."

"Can you still see them?" Said a voice above her head.

"Yes!" Mirta yelled, hoping they'd go away and leave her alone.

And for a while they did. She heard some urgent discussion, then clinking glass and metal. Then a hand shook her shoulder. "You awake?"

"Go away, I'm sick, I want to sleep."

"In a minute. Come on, sit up." When she didn't, Palladium hauled her upright. When Mirta opened her eyes to yell at him, he was holding out a cup. "Drink this, it'll make your head better."

The potion was cloudy brown, with little things floating in it. "Urg..."

"It's not as bad as it looks, we all just had some."

Mirta glared at him, but took the glass and drained it, then started coughing at the taste. It was just as foul as it looked. Palladium passed her a glass of water, took the two cups, and left her alone. Mirta burrowed back into her corner of the couch. The two elves were still talking, but Mirta had lost her translation spell so all she heard was a lot of very worried sounding talk in elvish. The door opened and closed, Galen joined the conversation then left again, voices came and went then—a low, familiar chuckle.

Mirta gasped and sat up fast. Everything was moving, the walls squirmed and the floor rose and fell as if breathing. Palladium and his brother were doing something at the table, and Icy was standing in the corner of the room. Grinning. Mirta gaped, thoughts stuttering, aware that Icy shouldn't be here but unable to doubt her own eyes.

"Oh look, it's the number one wimp of the freshman class, still whining and hiding behind your friends, just like the last time I saw you. Now, why don't you... hmm... blast your teacher. Or I'll freeze your feet until they fall off."

Mirta was shaking her head, trying not to cry since that was a bad idea when Icy was in this mood. Why couldn't anyone else hear her?

"Or your wings." Icy added.

"No..."

"Mirta?"

"Icy's here." Mirta whispered.

"There's no one there. You just rest."

They couldn't see her. Icy must be invisible. Mirta gathered power, pulling it into her hand. She could blast Icy-

A hand wrapped around hers and the power drained away. Mirta managed an undignified yelp of protest before the healer's spell dropped over her like a warm blanket. Suddenly the couch was so comfortable all she wanted to do was snuggle into the cushions and slip away.

Velvety black shading to deep green. Shapes of giant leaves and tiny starlike flowers. The silence was deep and peaceful. And... familiar.

Recognizing the place jolted Mirta awake. She'd been here before. "I'd better not be dead just from that!"

And a familiar voice answered. "You're not dead, just dumb. That healer had to spell you to sleep before you damaged anything. Glad he did, since this seems to be the only way I can get your attention." She looked the same too, like a nymph, log swirling dress and hair, but glowing with a cool purple light.

Mirta said, "I know you, I found the recording. You're the first witch."

"And you're the first of the new witches. Not what I would have chosen but you'll have to do. I need your help, and we need to talk when your head's all here. Scry for me when you're awake."

"I'll try... what's your name?"

The violet light faded for a moment. "It's..." The ghostly witch's confident voice wavered, "Hecate."

She couldn't remember, Mirta thought. For a minute there, the ghost hadn't remembered her own name. "All right, I'll try to talk to you later." The air began to move, tugging at her wings. She tried to stay where she was. "What do you need help with, what's going on?"

But the forest was breaking up and flowing away and all Mirta heard was, "They are coming back."

"...professor?"

"Ah, you're back. How are you feeling?"

Mirta had to stop and think about that one. The room was dark, and everything was holding still. Her head didn't even hurt anymore. "Everything's back to normal!"

"Still too bright?"

"No, it's dark." Mirta magicked the lights up and blinked for a second before her eyes adjusted and her brain caught up. "What happened? Just because I was dumb and drank too much?"

Palladium leaned forward to look at her face. "Your eyes are back to normal and you're talking sense; you'll be fine. You weren't dumb, you were poisoned."

It took a minute then, "...Galen's drink! I shared his drink! He'll get sick too!"

"Whoa, it's all right. We all drank the antidote, if you're safe then so are we. Want the full story now or later?"

Mirta got up, slowly, waiting for the walls to move and relieved when they didn't. She really did feel fine, or at least only a little fuzzy as her brain tried to put the last few hours in order. But her clothes were wrinkled and her hair was a mess, and a ghost needed her help. The third one was going to have to wait a little while. "Full story while I wash my face. Someone tried to poison the royal heir. Would we have died?"

"No, just seen things coming out of the walls for the rest of your life."

"...Mad King Galen."

"Yes. And Mirta?"

Mirta looked up from rinsing her face.

"Elves and humans have different biology. Galen wouldn't have gotten sick for weeks. The antidote only works in the first few hours."

Mirta went cold. "So I..."

"Saved the heir to the throne, kept the kingdom from falling into chaos, yes."

It was a good thing, of course it was good, but now she'd be famous. "Do you have to tell... everybody? I didn't do anything heroic!"

Palladium looked confused, then seemed to understand. "I'll tell Grandmother you don't want any fuss, but who knows what she'll do. For now, my brother's making up more of the antidote and Galen is checking the rest of the food in the ballroom to make sure nothing else was poisoned. We should go back to the party if you're feeling up to it."

Mirta nodded. "I'm fine. Clothes..." She shed her outer gown to change. Palladium looked away, even though the elven underdress covered more than normal human clothes. "Who do you think it was, Professor? One of the 'chaos elves'? I met Rook. He was coloring the cats, he tried to freak me out but he didn't seem evil."

"Happily for us, we don't have to figure it out. Grandmother's mirrors will have told her already. All we have to do is act like nothing happened."

That was a relief. Mirta didn't really want to go all Nancy Brew and search for the bad guy. Not all by herself. But she got herself looking put together again and headed back to the ballroom, nodding and smiling at the elves who at least looked glad she was all right.

Galen was loitering near the food tables. He smiled and bowed, relief easing the tension on his face. "I'm so glad you're feeling better."

"It was just a headache, I'm fine now."

Galen offered his arm and Mirta accepted the escort, with a pang as she remembered Keith making the same gesture. He was wearing a bracelet, a silver band set with a piece of shimmery material. The piece was white but somehow held other colors sparkling faintly within it. "Opal?" Mirta guessed, "It's beautiful."

Galen lifted his head to whisper, "It's unicorn horn, it's one of the royal treasures. When you have to check for poison in a hurry..." His voice wobbled slightly under the practiced confidance.

"Is everything... all right?"

"Yes. Nothing else was poisoned, and the queen will find who did it. Would you like to dance?"

"Um..." That was so far from what Mirta had been thinking that she stopped and blinked and suddenly remembered she was talking to royalty. She'd been so worried she hadn't really been using royal manners, and maybe it was rude to talk so familiarly with a prince, even if she had just saved him. And felt sorry for him. It had to be awful knowing someone wanted to hurt you that much.

The prince frowned and finally said, "Humans do things like that to each other all the time, don't they?"

"No! Well, some humans. Sometimes." And when Galen kept looking at her almost accusingly, "Us, Alfea students, we try to stop people from hurting each other. That's what we do, that's why your uncle is a teacher, he teaches us to be stronger to protect people."

Now Galen just looked thoughtful, turning the unicorn-horn bracelet on his wrist.

Maybe he'd never been in danger before. Mirta remembered how she'd felt after escaping the clouds of Marigold, it had taken a little while for everything to make sense again. Not a good state to be in when you were going to be named crown prince tomorrow. Mirta searched for something to say that would make him feel better, and convince him humans weren't terrible. She didn't want him to hate humans, or hate her just because she came from a violent species. Only she couldn't think of the right thing to say.

She was saved when Palladium and Zanelin joined them. The healer nodded to Mirta and put a steadying arm around his son. "We didn't find anything else."

"They were only after me then." Galen said

His father drew him aside for a serious low-voiced conversation.

Mirta looked up at her teacher. "I'm tired. Can I vanish for tonight?"

"Go ahead. It's been quite a day."

This was true. And it was so nice, after the day of talking and dancing and being stared at, to be alone in her beautiful room, the curtains pulled across the windows and the door locked. The elves had plants inside the palace, but they had normal bathrooms, unlike on Linphea. So Mirta could fill the huge marble tub, enchanted to swirl and bubble, and scented with something flowery. The room came complete with fluffy towels and scented soaps and shampoo, and some other bottles Mirta was afraid to try since they were labeled in elvish and she didn't want to accidentally color her hair or something. The faucets were even shaped like fish, on the sink too. It was a wonderful bathroom.

A wonderful palace, a wonderful realm. Except that what Mirta really wanted was to be home with her friends.

And...

"They are coming back." could not possibly mean anything good. The enemy the first witches had been fighting, called demons in the modern world, had been forced out of the universe forever by a major spell. They'd created monsters and left behind strange weapons, supposedly. Mirta had never seen any but Hecate would have.

Or Hecate could have meant the witches called the Three Ancestors. She'd known them too. But they were dead, destroyed when Bloom and Sky defeated them and their little private realm blew up in a million pieces.

Her thoughts turning dark, Mirta decided it was time to get to bed. She got out of the tub and pulled on a fluffy robe, clearly meant for an adult elf since it dragged on the ground behind her. If her friends had been here they would all have gone sneaking out to look for the poisoner. Priscilla could have asked the plants all over the palace if they'd seen anything and Selene could... do whatever you learned to do at detective school. But alone, and without any detective skills at all, Mirta decided to let the royal guard do all the heroics. She brushed her teeth and went to bed.

Morning in the ballroom was just like the night before. Another band played light music and the buffet was filled with breakfast food, little flavored breads and unfamiliar kinds of fruit. Mirta watched the people around her as she loaded up a plate. Nobody sounded upset, everyone was eating, some people were already dancing—or still dancing. Mirta had read about house parties, in books, so she knew the day would be spent in more elegant show-offy kinds of fun, dancing, taking walks in fancy clothes, and playing games like tennis or golf, or whatever elves played instead.

Mirta had breakfast—she tried one of everything she didn't recognize, so it took a while. Nobody she knew had turned up, so she went looking for something to do that would make humans look good. She ended up playing a game like tennis but with magical rackets that translated enthusiasm into skill. The three young elves playing were much better at it than Mirta, but once she got used to her racket dragging her across the court she started to enjoy herself and didn't lose too badly.

Then one of the players, Valenia, introduced her to some of the giant cats. Valenia's special companion was white with wide black stripes, who rolled on his back in delight the same way Mirta's cat Hexen did.

They had the "You really know Princess Bloom?" conversation and Mirta asked about different people she'd met. Valenia had solid opinions. Professor Palladium had left because, "he's strange." Galen was, "sweet but a little boring." Rook was, "Ooooh, so handsome! I'd dye my hair for him, if he wasn't my cousin!" Mirta was reminded of her friend Ortensia back home, except that Ortensia was, well, smart and Valenia seemed cheerfully empty-headed. But the two girls had a nice afternoon chatting and playing with the giant cats. The elves put saddles on their cats and rode them around, so Valenia said. Mirta didn't quite believe it.

Evening came, and after dinner the queen would officially announce her successor.

The ballroom was packed, all the guests were there and many who'd come just for the announcement, plus the entire palace staff.

Professor Palladium, to Mirta's surprise, was not up on the dais around the throne but back in the crowd, with the lovely Kelandra on his arm. The elf maiden pointedly ignored Mirta, so Mirta tried to politely ignore her back.

Mirta greeted her teacher with a quiet, "Are you hiding?"

"Absolutely."

"Um, do you need to hide?"

"Maybe. The other contenders are Valenia, who won't be chosen, Rook who won't be chosen, and Galen and me."

Mirta fumbled for something good to say. "I'm sure the queen will do what's best for her subjects." Palladium chuckled.

The queen stood up to speak and everyone went quiet. She began a long speech, in an oddly poetic rhythm. It took Mirta a minute to realize it was poetry, some kind of ritual recitation of elven history with a lot of long names and references to brave deeds and noble speeches. Mirta's translation spell couldn't really follow it, only picking up the impression that elven history went back really, really far.

At last the recitation seemed to reach the present day. The queen seemed to be describing the qualities of a good ruler: patience and compassion, wisdom, courage and foresight.

Then, right over the ritual words, a loud voice said, "Yes yes, but what about audacity?"

And there was Rook, standing on air above the crowd. Posing, actually.

The queen lifted her head slowly to look at her great-grandson. After a few moments of absolute silence it was clear that she wasn't going to say anything.

"Fine. Say nothing. But I am of the royal blood and will present my claim!"

A long moment of silence. "Then present it. What accomplishment makes you worthy to be considered?"

Happy to finally be acknowledged, Rook smiled a cheerful and slightly mad grin. "I have done a thing no breathing being has ever accomplished! I have stolen from the humans' most guarded realm! Behold—my uncle brings one ally, I bring three!"

A portal flickered open. Three familiar figures appeared.

Mirta stumbled as her knees gave out. "I'm... seeing things again?" she said faintly.

The Trix, standing on air with Rook, surveyed the room and laughed.

Palladium had stepped protectively in front of Mirta. He glanced back to mutter, "Sorry, they're real!"

Icy chuckled. "So this is the elf world? I'm... unimpressed."

"Nice throne though." said Stormy.

"Wouldn't mind one like it. Or that one."

Rook began, "My allies are here to claim the throne for me so-"

"What's this about allies?" Darcy asked languidly.

Mirta saw Rook's expression change as he realized his plan was about to go wrong. "But when I broke you out of Light Haven-"

"Now we're here and we won't be sharing this realm with you or anyone else!" Icy blasted the elf boy against the wall. He slid down, yelling something about unfairness.

The Trix turned to look down at the queen. Icy called out, "We're the Trix sisters, direct descendants of the three ancestral witches, and we stole all the magic of Light Haven! Do you want to surrender now or after we defeat all your guards?"

Watching, Mirta saw the silver mirrors all along the walls flicker. The Trix were reflected over and over in them. The elf queen calmly raised her hand, and light jumped from mirror to mirror, all around the room. The Trix looked around wildly for an attack.

All the mirrors lit up at once. Mirta ducked and covered her eyes as white circles danced in her vision. The crowd of elves were all yelling too, and shoving. Mirta heard Icy shout something.

Then the light went out and the room returned to normal. Mirta rubbed her eyes and looked around fast. "The Trix..?"

"Grandmother banished them. You all right?"

"I'm fine." Mirta lied. "Where did they go? Back to Light Haven?"

"That's probably too much to hope for. They could be anywhere—we can't call Alfea until this is over."

Everyone else seemed to be calming down. There was a stir on the other side of the room. Mirta craned her neck, but elves were tall and she couldn't see. Palladium said, "Hauling Rook off to the healers."

"I don't think he knew..." Mirta began, not really sure what she meant, and not really talking to anyone since Palladium had turned away to talk to someone else.

After a few minutes the talking had died down and the queen stood again and went back to the ritual. The interruption seemed not to matter. There was another long recitation, and music, and presentation of a very impressive crown and scepter and Galen became the royal heir.

The whole palace swung into serious celebration, in a calm, ritualized sort of way. Galen had to make a speech, and his father made one and a bunch of other important people. It was a joyous occasion but Mirta couldn't enjoy it because all she could think about was that the Trix were back, and out there somewhere, and probably already plotting to attack Alfea.

Though reason suggested they probably weren't attacking Alfea now. They'd need a place to stay and food and time to decide what to do next. But Mirta was having a hard time listening to reason. So she was worrying all through the celebration, even when the new royal heir asked her to dance.

Mirta wanted to get her phone and call Bloom as soon as she could, but Palladium caught her slipping out of the ballroom.

"We have to tell everyone about the Trix!"

"That's what we have to not do, I'll explain later. Right now the queen wants to see you. Sorry in advance."

"For what?" Mirta began, but they'd been walking and now they had arrived. In a small personal room of some sort, also lined with mirrors. The queen sat on a simple velvet-cushioned stool, her hair hanging over her face like a silver curtain.

She looked up, eyes blazing silver like the mirrors. Mirta flinched. She didn't recognize the spell but she could feel its power thick in the air. The queen, perhaps realizing how frightening she looked, smiled gently. "Palladium has been telling me about these Trix, but you know them as well. Please tell me what Rook has loosed on the universe."

Mirta stuttered, "They're... they're bad... you probably heard what they did, with the Army of Decay, and helping the wizard Valtor. They want to rule the universe!"

The queen seemed to consider this, her eyes moving back and forth as if watching something. "I see. And how do you know them? How did you meet?"

Mirta didn't want to tell her. She didn't want to tell anyone that story, she hadn't even told Katy or Selene. But she couldn't exactly say no to the queen of the elves... "We were at Cloud Tower together."

The mirrors around the room suddenly showed Cloud Tower, tall and dark and brooding just as it was in Mirta's memory. So the story would come with video. Great. At least it was just the queen and Professor Palladium seeing it.

"I was a first-year student, I'd only been there a few weeks, I was exploring..."

She'd felt drawn to that wall in the library, a little blank space between bookcases, and it had swung open when she touched it. Delighted, Mirta had summoned a light and crept down the secret passageway to see where it went.

The passage wound downward, getting colder and damper as it went. So Mirta hadn't been surprised to come out in a dungeon. Or rather, a dungeon that was now mostly a storeroom, with piles of cracked furniture and old alchemy equipment and stuff. Mirta had gotten quite distracted pawing through some empty potion bottles and wondering if anyone would mind if she took a few to decorate her dorm, so she jumped when someone called out to her.

"Hey, you over there!"

Locked in one of the dungeon cells were three girls. The tall one with the long white hair smiled at her. "Hello, you must be one of the new girls. Could you please let us out of here?"

She sounded nice. Mirta automatically went over to tug at the cell door. It was locked. "Why are you guys locked in there?"

"We're in detention." said the curly-haired one.

"You'll have to get the key from Griffin's office. But we'll be very grateful. We'll let you sit at the seniors' table if you help us."

Mirta had started backing away. She'd thought these girls were locked up on a prank, but if they were in detention they might've done something really bad. And anyway Mirta wasn't brave enough to break into Miss Griffin's office even if she was sure it was a good idea.

"She won't, she's a wimp." Said the third girl, who hadn't even bothered standing up.

"I was bored anyway." A line of frost raced across the floor and Mirta shrieked in surprise as ice grew up around her legs. "Hey! Let me go!"

"Sure—if you promise to get the key for us." The white-haired girl said with a wide grin. "Or you can wait for the monsters to come eat you."

Mirta should have just agreed, but she was trying to free her legs from the ice and hadn't realized yet that the Trix were scarier than the teachers.

Then something moved, off down a corridor. Mirta turned to look, off balance since she couldn't move her feel. A monster crept out. It was low to the ground, shaped like a rat with patchy purple fur and red eyes. Its humped back came up to Mirta's chest.

Mirta yelled and made go-away gestures, and when the creature got close enough to sniff at her iced-over legs, she screamed. Then two more monsters arrived. They were all very interested in Mirta, and she was expecting to be attacked any second and couldn't get away- panic took over. Mirta wailed and hit out at the things, completely losing it.

The Trix laughed.

"That's what I remember. The monsters weren't really dangerous, they just live down there, but I didn't know that. So that's what the Trix are like, they just loved how scared I was, they thought it was great." Mirta scowled with remembered rage.

The queen nodded, "Thank you. Rook owes the human realms a debt for turning those three loose, now I know the size of it. And we owe you a debt for saving my heir even if it was, as you say, by accident. Is there anything in our realm you would like for yourself?"

This seemed like a chance to be terribly insulting by accident, but suddenly the etiquette classes kicked in and Mirta had an idea. "I am glad to be able to help, Your Majesty. If you wish to give me a gift, perhaps one of your mirrors? We don't have anything so fine at Alfea."

"Of course." the queen smiled, seeming honestly pleased. She stood, waved a slender hand to summon a guard and told him to collect a specific mirror. Mirta was just happy the interview was over. There was something not threatening but very spooky about the queen with her eyes glowing like she was looking into some other version of the world.

"Was that all right?" Mirta asked her teacher when they were clear.

"Perfect." palladium said. "I should've warned you, I'd forgotten how frightening that spell is."

"Now what did you mean we can't tell Bloom about the Trix?"

"We missed some excitement, check your phone. Short version: Wizards attacked Alfea, there's a new fairy on Earth, and the Winx are going to Earth to stop those wizards from finding her. The Black Circle is a greater threat than the Trix and Faragonda thinks the girls don't need the distraction. And, before you say Bloom would want to know, there's another problem. The Trix seem to like teaming up with other villains and if they met the Black Circle that would not be good for any of us. Faragonda thinks she can cast a sort of don't-look-at-me spell on the whole earth, but if Bloom and the others are always coming back and forth it won't take. Does griffin know that sort of thing happens at her school?"

That was a sudden change in topic. Mirta stuttered, "What? Oh... I didn't tell anyone, but all the seniors bully the first-years."

"Hmm."

"Professor?" Mirta began, then had to stop and try again. "I don't know if I can fight the Trix. I'm afraid of them. I know I did all kinds of scary things last year, but I might be too scared. So tell Miss F not to count on me to protect Alfea like Bloom does."

There was a short silence then Palladium smiled and said, "I'll tell Faragonda. But, there's a paladin, a gremlin mage, and two members of the Company of Light protecting Alfea too."

That was... embarrassingly obvious. Mirta blushed and felt dumb. "It's been a long day." She muttered.

"It's been a long visit. Just our luck, the only excitement to happen in this realm in a hundred years and we're here for it."

"Not your fault." Mirta said because it wasn't. "Maybe the next few days will be more peaceful."

As soon as she was alone in her room Mirta did call Alfea, and got the whole story in a calm tone from Vecta, who'd been there, and in a slightly more hysterical tone from Selene, who'd been called in after the excitement was over.

Wizards, Bloom and Flora in danger, a fairy on Earth... and Alyss had been pretty heroic, very fairylike behavior for someone who couldn't remember being a fairy. And there was no reason to think the wizards would come back to Alfea so everyone was safe, at least for now. Except that Mirta had expected Bloom to be just a phone call away on Domino just in case, and having her on Earth out of casual contact would have been a little scary even without the Trix in the picture!

But these Wizards of the Black Circle sounded like really bad news if they'd wiped out most of the fairies of Earth and Miss Faragonda had a point that if Icy, Darcy and Stormy decided to work with them it'd be really bad. Maybe the Trix would leave Alfea alone once they realized the Winx weren't there. Maybe they'd go after something else. There were plenty of magical power sources in other realms after all.

So, reluctantly, Mirta decided not to rush and tell everybody about the Trix. And then there was nothing to do but what she'd come to do: show how pleasant humans could be, and have fun. She was thinking about this when Valenia knocked on her door. "You can fly, right? We need another person for our team, come on!" And Mirta found herself dragged off to adventure.