When day broke and dawn began to filter through the windows at the back of the fairytale room, I found myself thankful that there had been no lock to unlock.

The new light also brought me the knowledge that if Nocti had not kept me from throwing myself off the cliff side, I would have had no morning to wake up to.

Once I could actually see it, the water that broke against the rocky coast seemed much farther down.

The muffins and milk had run out long before daybreak, but I had not fallen asleep. It had not been that difficult to stay awake. The fairytale room was much nicer than a glass pyramid or a desolate forest, but the fear of sudden punishment had kept my eyes open wide.

I had a long day ahead of me.

Fire, pain, torture, there was no end to what could be done to me in a full days time. Would I be burned from the outside in or the inside out? What part of me would be thrown into unimaginable pain? Maybe, her punishment would have nothing to do with my body. Maybe she wished to hurt me in the places that could not be healed. My mind and my soul, what would she put me through to break my mind and dampen my soul?

Whatever it was, no matter how terrible and painful it proved to be, there would be two more longs days that followed.

I had thought about little else in the time since Go had halted my escape with his baking.

I riffled through the hung clothes and full drawers inside the closet after I finally managed to make the stars on it's ceiling come to light. If I had been wearing long sleeves and pants when I had been buried alive, there would be no scars on my arms and legs. If I had been wearing my cuffed boots and thicker clothes when I had fallen into the thorns, they wouldn’t have sunk into my skin.

I found a tight fitting under layer of long sleeves and pants that reminded me of the skin tight garment Mother Gwyn had worn. They were black, but did not cling to me the way hers had. Whoever they were made for was both wider and taller than me. Not by much, but enough that there was still slack in the waist and the need to cuff the sleeves and pants.

The Ladies' rooms. I remembered.

If the colors of the doors were anything to go by, I was wearing The Lady in Purple’s clothes. I couldn’t remember her name, but I did remember her face. I remember the relaxed look in her half lidded eyes after she had been together with The Lady whose memory I had been in. I remembered how they had come to life with anger when Nami had entered the room. I remembered the gloom that had enshrouded the pale skin of her naked legs.

I remembered how it had felt to feel her heart break when her brother had been killed.

This is the weight that you carry. This is the weight of The Well. The Autumn I liked had helped me understand that in a way that the panicked and confused part of me had been unable to.

If ever met her, all that I knew of her would come to me just the same as it had with Trea and Rhiannon. I was in her room. I had used her shower. I had stayed awake all night in her bed. All that had done for me was make me hope I never had to meet her.

I hoped I never met anyone of note ever again.

When I found the right time to escape, Anna and I would find somewhere to start a new life with new names. It would need to be somewhere near a library or a sorceresses school so I could continue to learn how to use my power.

Sharp knocks sounded from the outside of the door just as shrugged into a big black coat that hung down to my knees.

Every part of me snapped still and my planning fell away into uncollected thoughts.

They had come for me.

My long day had arrived.

I immediately realized how much I loved the fairytale room. I loved it so much, I imagined a long and satisfying life spent without ever leaving it again.

The Lady in Purple had such wonderful clothes, I thought I should slide between two of the dresses hanging in the closet and pretend to be one for a while.

“Lady Aubrey? Lady Rhiannon has sent me for you.” A man’s voice called through the purple door.

I didn’t know if it was possible, but maybe I could glamor myself to look like one of the dresses so I could fully understand what it was like to be one.

More knocks.

“Lady Aubrey?” The voice called again. Whoever he was, he sounded perfectly polite and proper.

“Fucking muffins.” I said under my breath. If I had slipped out through the doors instead of letting my empty belly walk me back into the depths of the manor, I would not have been there to answer.

The voice called a third time. “Lady Aubrey, are you well?”

My body relaxed and I slumped my shoulders through a heavy sigh. As desperately as I wished too, I could not pretend to be one of the violet gowns and hide myself away. I had to face my punishment willingly.

There was a small sense of power in that. At least I was being taken away from breakfast with the ones I loved or stolen from my bed while I was asleep.

More sharp knocks echoed against the paneled glass windows and I opened the door before the polite sounding man could call my name a fourth time.

Galahad. I thought, recognizing The Red Mother’s lover immediately by the starlight colored hair flowing down from his head.

The Red Mother had spent the morning brushing his hair out in the garden. It would make her happy that he had not pulled it up yet. That was why she had sent him for me, they had already been together. I had no way to know that was true. It felt like it was because there was not a single strand of his hair out of place and because of my memory of her memory.

“Good morning,” He said, giving me a polite node and smile. “I hope your room was comfortable and your sleep was restful. Although, there is no need to wear such heavy clothes here, it is not cold.”

My mother’s story from his night of Amoranora ran through my mind at the sight of him. He was a prince. He had fought for the chance to ask The Mother in Red for her hand. From his posture to the openness in his bright blue eyes, every part of him rang true with what I knew of nobility.

“You are the lion.” I said, remembering my mother’s words about The Lion’s Maw or whatever it had been called. I stepped into the hall and he turned for me to follow him.

When I finally found the strength to make my legs move again and we left the Lady’s hall, he answered me.

“In a way, yes. Did you hear the story during Amoranora?” He answered and asked.

“Yes. You are a prince?” I replied in the same manner that he had. He started up a wide set of pink marble stairs, but I stayed at their base.

If I was quick enough, I could run and hide before he would even know I was gone. Once the search for me began, and I knew it would, all I would have to do is work my way towards the entrance. I had stumbled my way to it the night before, it would be much easier with the light of day filtering through the place.

Before I could make myself run, Galahad turned around and my opportunity had passed.

“Once, I was. Then, I was a king. Now, I am neither,” He said, looking down at me. “Are you coming?”

“Do I have a choice?” I asked, realizing I had forgotten to pull on my boots before I had left the fairytale room. The Purple Lady’s clothes would save my skin, but my forgetfulness would cost me my feet. I was sure of it.

“Of course? Why would you not? If you would like something to eat or a warm drink first, we will see to that. If you would like to go back to sleep, I will come for later.” Galahad said like I had asked a question that’s answer was so obvious he was confused that I had needed to ask it.

Nothing felt right about the beginning of my long day. Azza would have never given me food. Gwyn would have never let me know my punishment was starting.

If I took my time and requested enough things, could I wait out the three full days?

All of the pleasantness, the relaxed way The Mother in Red’s lovers had interacted with me, it was all a trap. I was sure of it.

“What is she going to do to me?” I muttered and cast my eyes to the ground. My bare feet were planted on the stone floor just before the pink marble of the first step. If I knew what to expect, if I could prepare myself for what waited for me upstairs, I would be able to make myself take it.

“I do not understand what you are asking, Lady Aubrey.” Galahad said as he stepped back down towards me. He looked genuinely confused, but I knew that he knew what I wanted to know.

“My punishment. What is she going to do to me?” I repeated.

“No, damn it all,” Galahad snapped, shaking his head and sending his long hair into gentle waves. “That’s not what she sent for you for. I should have mentioned that. If I have caused you any undue worry, I am truly sorry.”

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Nothing about his posture or expression made me feel like he was lying, which only made my distrust for him grow.

“Come, I’ll tell you about becoming the lion in the way.” He said with a smile and waved me forward with one hand.

I took the first step, but I kept my weight on my heels and my the memory of where we had walked from in the front of my mind.

“Which version did you hear? Did I beat the dark haired outlander or the big bearded Hezbelth?” He asked me when I reached the step he waited for me on.

“The outlander, I think.” I answered as I searched the top of the staircase for any sign of danger. Despite it being very early in the morning, the marble was warm on my bare feet.

“Good. That is the better of the two. In truth, it was neither. It was Rhiannon who was my final opponent in that wretched place.” Galahad said, keeping us eye to eye by only taking a step for every two I took. “She will never admit it, but she allowed me the victory and played as if I had truly bested her.”

“She could have beaten you?” If she was so skilled at fighting, perhaps my punishment would not come in the form of fire. Maybe she would just beat me senseless or cut me to ribbons.

“Easily. Do not take that lightly. There are only two souls in all of chaos that I know could best me in a sword fight. She is one of them.” He answered through a smile.

We reached the top of the stairs and turned to our right. Masses of roses and sweeping red curtains lined the walls. I passed each as if someone or something would leap out of it and pull me into its clutches.

“The story you heard and the others like it came for her lips as well. She made sure no one would think my title as the lion was anything but hard fought and well earned.” He continued as he slowed his pace to match mine.

“Why?” I asked, genuinely curious as to what his answer would be.

“Because she loved me. She had heard tale of my plight with my thankfully departed uncle. She knew it would be much easier for the lion to gather soldiers behind his banner than it would be for some backwater prince without a bag of dust to his name,” Galahad stopped and opened a closed door on my left. “Here you are, she is waiting inside.”

So caught up in trying to make sense of what the starlight haired man had told me, I didn’t realize I had walked into the room until I heard the door shut behind me.

I threw my back against it and searched blindly for the handle.

Windows just like what was in The Purple Lady’s room built the back wall. Each panel was filled with the blue green water of the ocean beyond the cliff side. A rug that only allowed a small sliver of stone to show at its edges covered the floor with a symmetrical pattern of vines and roses. Soft looking chairs with red velvet pillows in each stood as the only occupants of the space beside myself.

“Autumn? May I ask you a question?” A voice called through the door behind me.

The Mother in Red.

I didn’t answer.

She continued regardless. “The dark haired girl from last night? The mortal? Her name is Anna, is it not?”

“Why do you want to know?” I demanded, feeling my anger and aura rising up within me at her mention of Anna.

“I do not have to. I only want you to think about her. Whatever it is you love most about her. Her hair, her hands, her smile, bring it to the front of your mind.” She said with a small laugh playing at the edges of her words

My heart pounded in my chest, but I found myself doing as she asked.

“If there is a memory that is precious between the two of you or something she has said to you that you could never forget, bring it forward.” She continued. There was something in her voice that made me listen to her. I did not think I was being charmed, but as she spoke, all I could think about was Anna.

She called me beautiful the first time I had shown her my true face. She had mooned me to escape my clutches so she could win a game. When my mind had been in tatters and I had been some unfortunate mess of a half a dozen souls, she had put me back together again.

She tried to open the door but stopped when I pressed against it. She could have thrown me across the room and through the windows if she wanted to, I had felt her strength first hand.

She didn’t.

“Take your time. Whenever you are ready, go to the middle of the room and close your eyes, but you must not stop thinking about her.” The Mother in Red said as she pulled the door shut again.

I found myself in the middle of the flowery rug and closed my eyes as she had asked.

The sound of the door cracking open nearly broke my focus, but my thoughts of Anna were stronger. Three days. Three days of whatever torture I would be put through and I would be back with her.

“Keep your eyes closed. Keep thinking about her. I am in the room now,” She spoke very softly as if she was trying very hard not to startle me. “Now, tell me about her.”

“What?” I snapped, my anger and aura reminding me that it was still very much alive within me.

“The meal she enjoys most or something that makes her laugh. Anything about her that you are fond of, tell me.” She said.

The fact that I found her words encouraging nearly made my blood boil.

“Uhm, when she thinks something is cute or truly funny, her nose scrunches like she has smelled something rotten, but the rest of her face is happy.” I stumbled my way through my answer, but the thought of it brought a smile to the corner of my mouth.

“Very good, Autumn. Open your eyes.” She said.

Again, I followed her directions without question.

The Mother in Red stood before me, her rose colored eyes staring down into my own.

Her hair was down and fell past her shoulders in soft waves and curls that were just tangled enough to make me think she had not been out of bed for long. She wore nothing but a thin white sleeping gown that fit her curves loosely and hung down to her ankles. It was creased, wrinkled, and I understood that she was wearing her night clothes.

Even so, she was beautiful in a way that brought unwelcome comparisons to myself. Where I was skinny, she was strong. Where I was short, she was tall. Where she had curves, I was reedy and flat.

Looking like she had just woken up, she was far and away more beautiful than I could ever hope to be.

She was flawless, a work of art, a master piece.

“Something else, tell me something else. Hurry.” She nodded excitedly.

I shook my head to break my eyes away from her. “What are you doing? Why are you asking me these things?”

“Tell me something else about her and I will tell you what we are doing.” She demanded.

“She snores. It’s really loud. Sometimes I think-“

“Come in, my love,” The Mother in Red interrupted me and called over her shoulder. “Go on. You said she snores?”

“-she isn’t breathing and then she will make this awful sound and continue to sleep.” I said as quickly as I could get the words out because of the anxiousness that had begun to run through me.

Patience came through the open door and stood beside The Mother in Red. His hair was short and looked freshly shorn. He wore a partially open white shirt and cream colored pants. The morning sun shining through the window caught the three golden piercings on his left ear and sent a glare into my eyes.

“Good morning, Lady Autumn. Did you sleep well?” He asked pleasantly.

My anger slipped out through my lips. “Will someone please tell me what the fuck is happening?”

“You did it. Patience, she did it. You were right.” The Mother in Red said through a deep sigh.

“What did I do?” I growled, not understanding why I was being looked at the way I was.

Patience cleared his throat and brought his hands behind his back. “I understand that you have been having trouble with your particular burden.”

He kept his eyes on The Mother in Red as he spoke.

“Particularly when it comes to seeing me or Rhiannon,” He continued after The Mother in Red gave him an encouraging nod. “You just saw both of us and seem to be yourself.”

What the fuck?

He was right. Not a single thought or feeling had come from Suri at the sight of either of them. The first time I had seen Patience, I had driven my fist into his stomach. The first time I had truly seen The Mother in Red I had thrown myself at her with violent intent.

I was annoyed, yes, but not enraged.

What I did feel, was mine and not Suri’s

“It is a wonder beyond all bounds that your Anna can bring you back to yourself, I only wished to help you find that strength in her even if you are apart.” The Mother in Red said as she leaned her head down onto Patience’s shoulder.

“Thank you.” I said, not believe the words as I spoke them.

Why was I not being punished yet? Why had I not been set on fire.

“Do not thank me yet, these things take time. I know that better than anyone.” She sighed again and looked past me. Sadness came into her eyes and for a half a breath, it looked like she might cry.

“Which is why you will be spending the day with me,” Patience said. “We’ll start with a warning before I enter a room and go from there. Anytime I am coming, think of. . .I believe her name is Anna, yes? Whenever I give the warning, think of Anna.”

Azza’s punishment had been painful. Gwyn’s had been terrifying. At least the two of them had not been playing with my mind. Every part of me wanted to be happy. All I felt inside myself was relief. Still, I knew the help I had been given was done in dishonesty.

The real reason I was in the cliff side place was to be punished.

I would not forget that no matter how hard they tried to make me.

“Now, I must be off. A Mother’s work is never done, but I will see the both of you for dinner,” The Mother in red said as she planted a kiss on the top of Patience’s head. “I am very proud of you, Autumn. It took me years to master what you have just done on your first attempt.”

The earnestness in her eyes, the sincerity, was too much and I looked away from her with a muttered thank you.

She left, and Patience and I were alone.

A moment passed before he brought his hands forward and clapped. “Have you had breakfast yet? I believe Go has filled the kitchen from wall to wall with his muffins by now. The poor man can’t help but bake when he is nervous.”

“What happened to Suri last night?” I asked, the memory of the pain in her heart easy for me to feel even without it taking me over.

“Oh, right. Rhiannon thought you might ask that. How much do you know?” Patience said as he turned away from me and started out of the room.

I followed him. “I know she loved you and The Mother in Red. I know she still loves you, I think.”

“The way things ended between us was unfortunate and there is much I regret, but Suri has lost herself in herself. If anyone can understand that, it is you,” He said, keeping himself in front of me instead of walking beside me the way Galahad had. “When she finds her way back here or into the city, Rhiannon takes her away.”

I remembered The Mother in Red saying something to her about going somewhere cold and how much she used to love reading.

We started down the stairs I had climbed not very long before and how wrong it all seemed settled over me.

“I can feel your judgment and I know it seems cruel, but there aren’t any other alternatives that Rhiannon is willing to take. If there was someone who was hunting you day in and day out with the full intent to kill you, what would you do?” Patience said, still keeping his lead on me.

I thought about his question all the way until we crossed into the kitchen and could not come up with an answer.

“You could kill them. If you are someone with the power that a sorceress has, you could charm their mind to forget the anger that consumes them,” Patience stepped over the massive body of Go who was asleep on the floor with only his flour dusted apron as a pillow. “Or, you could choose mercy as Rhiannon has and give them the opportunity to change no matter how hopeless it seems.”

I opened my mouth to speak but could not find anything to say.

“Suri may still love me in her own twisted and damaged way, but Rhiannon has never stopped loving her. Despite every reason she should,” Patience said as he finally turned and looked back at me. “Muffin?”