Sacrifice for a Wish

Chapter 10

We spent the night at the castle, so that I could have some more time to spend with my sister. Since the party was winding down and none of us really wanted to go even though days before we had all been excited to attend the event. Coach and mom took a stroll around the gardens to see the sights of Wonderland Castle.

Lark lent me some clothes to change into and a female servant took my gown and accessories to pack it for tomorrow's journey through the mirror. The Lost Boys went with the Princes to find spare clothes of their own to change into.

Once we were both changed, Lark pulled me into her room beside the sitting room and onto a pile of blankets and pillows. I noticed she had a blanket just like mine.

"You have a rubby blanket!" I yelled, pulling it to my face to breathe in the smell. My whole life, I had constantly brought things to my face to smell.

Lark laughed, "I do that too! Smell things, like that. And yes, Aunt Dahlia brought it from the outside world, when she was a teenager."

"That's weird, I've had mine for years and it's all snagged and old looking. Yours looks brand new," I was perplexed.

"Magic!" Lark wiggled her fingers at the blanket. "You know most of my story, but tell me yours?" Lark asked me, I tried to study her face, to see if she was just being polite but I couldn't find anything except curiosity.

"Well, I went to live with mom and Gerald when I was 9," I told her, rubbing the blanket edge between my fingers. I wanted Lark to like me, to not think I was weird. "Before that I moved around a lot."

"Where is Gerald, why is your mom making googly eyes at our father?" Lark laughed as she said the words and I knew she was just as happy that they found each other as I was.

"Gerald wasn't the nicest guy and he and Anne got a divorce a year ago," I explained. I didn't want to tell her about the bad parts of my life.

The door burst open and ten handsome young men fell in, they all wore soft pants and tunics with no socks or shoes. The laughed and shoved each other playfully, my Lost Boys getting along well with Larks' guys. The guys came and surrounded us on the pile of blankets and pillows that littered the floor.

Lark smiled at me warmly again, "how long ago did you find your mates?"

The noise and rough housing stopped immediately, and everyone listened to my response, "umm, well, they are my friends."

I was so embarrassed I could feel my whole body burn with it. Stone sat next to me and kissed me softly on the forehead. "Of course, Little one."

"Is that what they are?" I asked her, "your mates?"

She nodded and smiled, a smile of extreme happiness and joy, "we met when we were little, and we all knew."

Tick and Tock sat next to her, each holding her hands and stroking their thumbs on her palm in a rhythm. I saw something slither under Tick's skin, almost like a snake.

I jumped up and screamed, backing up into Stone who was behind me and wrapping his arms around me. "Baby, what is it?!" he asked.

I wanted to turn and bury my face into Stone's chest, but I couldn't look away. I saw the movement under Tick's skin again. "There's something moving under his skin!"

"It's okay petite sœur, I promise no one will hurt you. I know your scared, take a deep breath and we'll explain," Silk said calmly. I followed his directions and took a breath, but my body still shook.

"You already know that I'm telepathic and an empath, actually very much like Stone here. His power isn't as strong in your world, but here it will start to look like mine. Tick and Tock are dragons," Silk spoke slowly and quietly, giving me time to absorb his words.