Gray Light Before Dawn

Chapter 1

 "Now I am not without a heart," The Fairy Queen told me, "but you understand I must keep up appearances. This is a boon, I promise you." I watched her stop her pacing to sit on her throne and resisted the urge to look around. Even though I'd never been in a Fae court before, hardly even in a human castle (I managed about twenty minutes before being arrested, most of that spent in the servants' quarters. I don't count the dungeons.) I didn't want to be vaporized for seeming disrespectful, or caught off guard if I were to be attacked. This was the Evil Queen's court, after all. Honestly, I wouldn't even be here had I not been arrested and if the Good Fairies hadn't gotten it into their heads to send a prisoner-- me-- on the suicide mission to lift the curse off of the Princess Aurora. I had just wanted some food, dammit.

"How exactly is this a boon?" Fuck. So much for respect. To be fair, I had no clue how eternal sleep could be classified as a boon.

She got up to pace again. "You'll see. It's in the wording of the curse. You humans always assume things, never stopping to think that you're dealing with Fae. We're very tricky. Now come here." I stepped forward, and the Queen handed me a small, flat rock with some sort of symbol on it. "This will be your main tool for breaking the curse."

"I thought it was a boon." Please curse me to never speak again so I stop getting myself in trouble.

"A curse is not necessarily bad, it's simply a specific type of spell that can be used to help or harm." She tapped the rune. "Your task is to travel to the other universes and retrieve the Princess's memories. Each alternate version of her has some of her memories connected to something of theirs."

"What do you mean, 'alternate versions'?"

"Other universes have other versions of the Princess Aurora, each with some of your Princess's memories." She seemed to study me to see if I understood. Apparently I did, because she continued. "Most of the universes will be vastly different from this one, but the stone will help you understand and mask you so you blend in. It also is what'll get you between universes, and the Princess's blood in the rune will get you close to whatever version of her you need to see."

I recoiled. "Blood? How'd you--"

"The spindle wasn't for nothing." She grinned at me. It was unnerving, to say the least. "Now before I explain to you how this stone works, I'd like to have some name to call you by."

I thought for a second before answering, "River." (Twelve fairies knowing my name was quite enough, thank you, I don't need to add another to that list.)

The fairy in front of me must have seen something in my face, because she asked me, "The other fairies know your real name, don't they?" At my nod, she asked, "Did you tell them yourself?"

"No."

"Then you have nothing to worry about. We fairies can only use names freely given. You'll be fine." She sat down and leaned forward, elbows on her knees. "Now, about how this works."

After who-knows-how-long of explanations of my task, the stone, windows of opportunity for when I could go to a universe, and my first destination from Queen Nox-- what she'd told me to call her-- I found myself standing in front of a massive, blocky building with brick sides and large chimneys. Odd. The sign said 'Boreal Mechanics,' which made no sense to me. I shrugged and walked in.

I jumped when I saw that the woman behind the desk looked almost exactly like Queen Nox (but human). After I composed myself, I walked up and addressed her (her name tag said 'Sadie.') "Hello, I'm here to see Doctor Boreman," I said. The stone must have supplied the name, because I had no clue what a doctor had to do with mechanics, but I just went with it.