The fairy who Dances with Shadows

Magic filled the air, but none of it could reach the hollow place inside my chest. — Liora I stood at the arched glass threshold of my spa, hands clasped as I watched the water cascade from the canopy above. The spa, nestled into the hollow of an ancient Vaelunan tree, pulsed with healing magic. Runes glowed faintly along its bark, inscribed in soft, starlit ink that shimmered whenever a soul was soothed. The tree itself drank from the waterfall that poured endlessly down its back, feeding the steaming pools that filled the hollow with warm mist. This was my sanctuary. My dream. Here, I didn’t have to be Princess Liora, daughter of the Fae Queen. Here, I could simply be me—away from the prying eyes of courtiers eager to curry favor through me, or worse, social-climbing leeches who saw me not as a person, but as a steppingstone to power. And yet, the peace I had once hoped to find within these walls now barely held me together. The last patient had left just before twilight, leaving behind empty silken beds and half-emptied bowls of floral balm. The soft hush of trickling water was no longer enough to drown out the ache in my heart. I stepped barefoot into the center pool, the warm water lapping at my calves, silver light spilling over my pale skin. My translucent wings, delicate as spring’s first leaves, shimmered in soft hues of celadon, cream, and sunlit gold, drooping with a weariness no rest could ease. A breeze caught the faint scent of jasmine from my hair as I looked toward the open archway, where dusk painted the sky in strokes of plum and fire. In the hush of this place, I often find myself aching for the laughter of my friends. My final year of doctoral studies had brought two of the most important people into my life—Nerissa, a sharp-tongued healer with a love for pranks from the Mer Kingdom, and Seryna, the quiet girl destined to become Queen of the Moon Kingdom. We bonded over long nights of studying, shared dreams, and whispered hopes of changing the world. After graduation, the king himself invited us to attend the annual Doctors’ Ball, in the hopes of winning Seryna over. That was the night I met him. "It was only one dance," I whispered. One dance beneath the crystal chandeliers of the Moon Kingdom. One dance with the tall, enigmatic stranger who'd moved through the crowd like a shadow wrapped in silk. A vampire among wolves, he had approached me with quiet confidence, offering his hand with the ghost of a smile. Red eyes like twin rubies. A voice like cool night air. Lips pink and soft, shaped by centuries of silence. He had asked me to dance with all the humility of a man who'd never expected yes. And I'd said yes. Noctis. His name was the only melody that ever replayed clearly in my mind. But that night had led to another. Then letters. Then secret meetings in starlit clearings. And then... the war. The war between light and shadow had ended, but its scars still bled beneath my skin. He had saved me—nearly died for me—and in that moment, I knew I could give my heart to no one else. But as the youngest daughter of the Fairy Queen, I was never meant to fall for a vampire—especially not one sworn to the Moon Kingdom’s royal pack. My mother forbade it. With a cruel ultimatum, she gave me the key to save his life, but only if I walked away from him. Otherwise, she would let him perish—despite all he had sacrificed for me. She claimed she was shielding me from a love that could never last. A flower like me, she said, could not survive in a vampire’s shadow—and a vampire could never live in the light. But she was wrong. Even without him, I began to wither anyway. My glow—once soft and constant—now flickered like the dying embers of a star too long without warmth. I closed my eyes and let my fingers drift across the water’s surface. It pulsed with memory—a flicker of magic sparking at my fingertips. A reflection shimmered in the pool, not my own, but his. I saw him again as he had been: standing beneath the floating chandeliers of the werewolf court, looking at me like I was starlight made flesh. I whispered a prayer to the Goddess above. "Selenai, keeper of love’s most fragile flame… if I am not to be held, then let me be unbound. If not remembered, then let me forget." They called her the Moon Goddess, patron of wolves and fate—but we fae remembered her older name too: She Who Loved First. Before she was fate’s judge, she was love’s architect. And I had always believed that it was Selenai’s gentler hand that had written Noctis into my stars. But the pool didn’t answer. Instead, it glowed brighter, and the runes on the tree pulsed with renewed life. Some wounds could not be healed with time, nor water, nor will. Somewhere in the Palace of the Moon Kingdom... I woke gasping. Light—blinding, unnatural—seared into my eyes like fire. My vision swam, and the first breath I drew felt like a razor down my throat. I winced, turning away from the glare that poured through glass and bounced off every polished surface of the infirmary. Everything ached. Muscles stiffened by months of stillness refused to obey. I could barely move my fingers, let alone sit upright. My mind reeled, trying to make sense of anything—until her voice echoed in the silence of my memory: "I would have waited a thousand years to love you." Liora. Her name bloomed like a starburst behind my ribs. Where was she? Where was I? The scent of moonblossom oil and steamed potions filled the air, sweet and sharp all at once. The kind of sterile sweetness that clung to healing wards. It made my stomach churn. The door creaked open. "Noctis!" I turned my head—painfully—and saw Maria rushing in. A bundle of glass vials tumbled from her arms as they hit the floor with a crash. She dropped to my side in the next breath, tears already forming in her eyes. "You're awake—thank the stars, you're finally awake." I licked my dry lips. My fangs ached in my mouth, a sign that I had healed... but not fed. Hunger curled behind my ribs, but her absence devoured me more. "How long...?" "Six months," she said, voice trembling. "You've been asleep for six full months." Six. Months. The words sent a jolt through me, a surge of panic so strong it almost let me sit up. I tried—but my arms buckled. Maria caught me easily, pressing me gently back. "Easy," she said. "The poison... it took a toll. Even with the Fairy Queen’s antidote, you nearly didn’t make it. You need to rest." "I need to find her," I breathed. "Where is Liora?" Silence. That silence was worse than any pain. Maria’s face shifted—her eyes darkening as if the weight of the world had settled there, her gaze faltered, her lips parting- then closing again. "Noctis…" she whispered. "Liora is gone." The world tilted. I stared at her, heart thudding in slow, aching beats, refusing to believe. To understand. Then she pulled something from her pocket—a letter, folded many times over, its parchment worn and soft. It bore the wax seal of Vaeluna. She placed it gently into my hand. And suddenly, I was afraid to read it.