When Felix returned to the Plane of Dreams, he recovered his Shadow Hunter from the handmaids on the upper vestibule in the Dragon's Suite. Brigid and Shane followed slightly behind. When Felix returned to the dining hall, he was surprised to find two new Purple Dragons.

The first was clearly a Fate Binder, with a metal mask covering her eyes, and hair done up in braided curls. Princess Astrid was touching the girl all over her face. The second new Dragon was facing away from Elvira, who was busy fussing over the girl's long straight hair with a crystal comb.

"Grandmother," the girl protested. "My hair was fine."

"Not good enough for dancing," Elvira replied.

Brigid entered the room and marched over to Ambassador Carbrey. "Thank you for your hospitality, Ambassador. The Royal Family places a high value on privacy."

"Of course," the Ambassador said with a fluid bow.

Without being told, the servants all began to shuffle out of the chamber. The Ambassador was the last to leave.

As soon as they were alone, Brigid began to announce the new Purple Dragons: "Retainer Felix, Retainer Shane, Dame Alice, you stand in the exalted presence of Princess Greta of House Anna-Rhea, granddaughter of Crown Princess Astrid, and Right-Honorable Lady Mayor of the City of Skygarden. You also stand in the presence of Princess Nelly of House Anna-Rhea, granddaughter of Princess Elvira. She sacrificed Princess Greta's eyes upon the altar to the Queen, as was her duty. They are bound together now, as life partners in the Dance of the Festival of Fates. You are invited to kneel."

Simultaneously, Felix and Shane knelt. Alice prostrated herself on the fine carpet.

"I see them, grandmother," Princess Greta said. "They both shine with Titania's light."

"Granddaughter," Astrid said, "one must never reveal such things, not even to Retainers."

"I beg pardon," the girl replied.

"As I was saying," Elvira said, "you will have new aunts and uncles soon."

"The three of you may rise," Brigid said. Felix returned to the huge windows and continued to watch the airshow outside. Shane stood beside him in silence. The Crimson Drakes had grown to no less than six airplanes flying in a delta formation. Felix reached out and felt the glass as they passed overhead. It was vibrating slightly.

"A clutch of four eggs," Elvira continued, "two males and two females."

"And which male did you choose as the father?" Princess Nelly asked.

"Mister Vilde, your own grandfather."

"When will I have my own males?" Nelly pleaded. "I'm over a hundred years old!"

"When your mother thinks you are ready." Princess Elvira rubbed her hand across her granddaughter's hair, then nodded. "Much better."

With slow but methodical exactness, Princess Nelly's hair began to braid itself. Within a few moments it was done up exactly like Princess Greta's hair.

"Great Aunt," Princess Nelly said. "I am ready. I am sorry for the delay."

"That is no problem at all," Astrid said. "Brother! Make yourself useful and prepare a dancing platform."

"Of course," Prince Kai said. With a flick of his wrist a long scroll appeared in his hand.

This caught Shane's attention immediately. "What is that?"

"The blueprints for this hotel." He spread the document across the table. "I believe it would reflect poorly upon our family if we accepted an invitation and then destroyed the venue."

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For a fraction of a second Astrid grimaced, however she said nothing.

"Grandmother," Princess Greta said. "Is what he said true?"

"Pay no attention to Prince Kai," Astrid said. "Forgive him for his silly ideas."

"Yes grandmother."

"I am imagining a shape," Prince Kai said, "with a dancing platform, such as one might find in the Festival of Fates, supported by snakes of dragonscale crystal. The snakes wrap themselves, in pairs, around the main support structures of this building as it exists in the Plane of Dreams, such that they only disturb the insulation and to not compromise the structure."

A bright purple crystal appeared in front of his chest, between his hands.

"I Wish for such a dancing platform."

The purple crystal floated across the room and embedded itself in the ivory carpet. The flash of purple light consumed everything. The polished oak doors, the paisley walls, red crystal chandeliers. All the wealth and money paled in comparison to the platform that appeared. Brilliant purple crystal, coated with a mother-of-pearl sheen, began to grow in a flat surface, just above the floor. Pairs of snakes ripped down through the floor with a wooden crack.

Thankfully the cracking did not continue.

Princess Nelly hopped up onto the dancing platform, and then held out her hand. Then she began to hum gently. Princess Greta quested out with one hand, and Nelly dragged her up onto the platform. From the center of the platform, they both turned to face everyone else in the room. The three Purple Dragons all began to take their seats at the table, so Felix joined them.

"The Festival of Fates will not occur for several more decades," Brigid announced. "The chosen gathered here are invited to witness the Dance of the Festival of Fates, as performed by these two apprentices, Princess Greta and Princess Nelly."

Brigid took a seat across the table from Felix, quested for a goblet of mead, and took a sip. Alice took the seat next to Felix, and Shane sat beside her. One of the Purple Dragons did something. Prince Kai, most likely, Felix thought. The natural light of the windows vanished altogether, and the chandeliers began to dim. The two granddaughters stood side-by side on the platform. With a flash of magenta light, Princess Nelly vanished, leaving behind a faint magenta specter of herself.

Alice gasped, then she covered her mouth.

"You are free to express your excitement as you please," Brigid whispered.

A haunting voice filled the chamber as the magenta ghost began singing. It echoed off the dim walls, which gave Felix a chill. Then, Princess Greta began to dance with the specter.

With a pair of cyan flashes, Greta was replaced with a faint cyan ghost, and Nelly appeared on the platform. Both Dragons continued their fluid motions as if nothing had happened. Nelly's singing slightly increased in pace, and the two Dragons switched places across Elemental Planes once again. The faster she sang, the faster they switched. Soon, they were a blur, swapping back and forth so fast that they began to trick the eyes into thinking that the ghosts were a faint overlay painted across the physical body.

"Meep!" Alice said, clasping her hand together.

Felix glanced at Shane. His mouth was dangling wide open. The blue-haired man took a generous gulp of his mead. The flashes of light reflected strangely off the blue scales on his cheekbones.

The dancing became, by degrees, more elaborate, and more impossible. Suddenly they violently threw themselves at each other, which even brought a gasp from Princess Astrid. There was no change in momentum. The two girls were out of phase, alternating between one Elemental Plane and the "Other Side" so fast that they appeared to be in both at the same time. Felix could not believe what he was seeing. The dance continued with more and more violent maneuvers, and soon the ghosts and the physical forms drifted apart, such that the two girls appeared to be in four places at once.

Felix began to gulp the mead. It tasted marvelous. He got the impression he would never see such a performance ever again.

They battled, they embraced, they acted out a drama, they recreated various geometric patterns. Then, the grand finale: they began to orbit around a fixed point in the center of the dancing platform. The normal laws of physics ceased to exist. The two girls, and their ghostly cyan and magenta replicas, themselves replicated a dozen times in space, filling the room like blazing comets. With a brilliant flash of two-color light both girls appeared on the center of the platform, holding hands. They bowed.

Princess Astrid wiped the tears from her cheeks. "They are better than us," she said.

"You were never very good," Elvira observed.

"I was being held back," Astrid corrected.

"YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!" Alice announced.

"How did the Almighty Dragon Astrid see all that?" Shane whispered to Brigid.

"Nelly sings for both of them in harmony," Brigid whispered. "Greta needs to be able to read, from the song, the information meant for herself, against the background of the information meant for Astrid. It is less impressive than the dance itself. I suspect I will be seeing them dance again in a few decades."

The natural light returned to the dining hall. Felix glanced out at the airshow. Fat Tommy, the huge glider tow airplane, was circling in the sky over the park.

Feeling generous, Felix asked: "Shane, want to go see the airshow?"

"Will they let me in?" Shane asked.

"Here," Brigid said as she offered a pouch from her belt. Shane reached inside and snapped up a vial of something that appeared to itself be invisible. "These potions will let you follow Felix into the airshow."

Shane's face was filled with reference for the vial in his hand.

"We think we found a way around the limits of the Realm of Fire," Felix said. "It's something you should see for yourself."