Castle of Glass
698 Words
Amanda POV:
The vines that had wrapped intricately around and under me had formed a carriage that held me securely as the prince flew ahead. We were going to his castle of mirrors. I could not move or escape, and the prince knew this because this was his doing, which was further emphasized by him not looking back. His wings unfurled and soared over me, casting a dark shadow over the carriage, a dark and honest contrast between Wonderland and where I truly was. Without warning, he nose dived off the cliff, and the vines, without skipping a beat, wrapped tightly around me, the dark red roses had their soft petals pressed against my skin. The vines lowered down the cliff like an experienced snake. I looked around, everywhere but down. The rivers were neon green and the fish had wings, as it flew above the water. There were pools of galaxies on the ground scattered with stars where the sky looked more like glass against the smooth blue texture behind it. This world didn't make sense, everything was upside down in its own way.
The vines had stopped moving, and I was placed on the ground gently. The prince was standing in front of me, his back turned to me. "Where are you taking me now?" I asked, "To my castle," he answered in a tone of necessity and not because he wanted to. "Where is your castle?" I asked, looking around to try and spot a stone castle, "Right in front of us," he said, and I had to squint, "what are you-" Before I could finish, a large door that was the height of the sky opened before us, it was like it was invisible, and then I saw my distant yet tiny reflection, it was a mirror. He started walking forwards, and I followed behind him, my focus on the building made entirely out of mirrors. "Welcome to the Castle of Glass," he said, and I gasped. Inside this castle everything was dark and sort of grunge rock in terms of decoration. It looked nothing like the outside, another contrast between the image of this world and what it truly was. "Why am I here?" I asked, trying to sound strong but failing, as my words trembled as they left my lips. "This is where truths are revealed and destinies," he said as his wings crackled and bent, sliding and hiding in his skin like a needle being inserted through the folds of skin. I felt nauseous, "are bound." He turned to face me. His features were dark and befitting of the environment we were in.
I looked up and gasped again, the ceiling was made of jagged glass and the Milky Way. The stars were in constant rotation. The structure fractured the air like a shattered star, each jagged spike made of polished glass or crystal—or something far stranger. It rose impossibly tall, spiraling into the sky, its countless mirrored surfaces shifting, changing, revealing glimpses of—
My face.
My mother’s face.
A child’s silhouette.
Something with wings.
Something screaming.
I squeezed my eyes shut, but the reflections were inside my skull now, bouncing around my mind like trapped lightning. "What—what is that place?" I whispered. His answer came like silk over steel. "A doorway. A prison, a truth-teller, and, to some a liar." He paused. "And to others, a home." My jaw was dropped to the ground, and I was speechless, with a straight face, and hard golden eyes, "Amanda," he said in a voice that was neither hard nor soft, "welcome to the heart of Wonderland, my home." My heart started to beat rapidly, and the baby was kicking harder now, my head felt heavy as I stumbled, trying to find something to grip fo support. In an instant, he was beside me, his cold calloused hands were holding me against him, and those golden eyes were piercing through me. At that moment, two things were certain:
I didn’t feel welcome.
I felt claimed.
And as his golden eyes swept over me—hungry, knowing, impossibly ancient—I understood something terrifying:
This was only the beginning.
- Writer
