They crashed through the doors and stood, dripping on the carpet, glad of the warmth that surrounded them. The great oak doors slammed shut behind them and they stood in a large hall that was engulfed in an eerie silence.

“Do you think anyone lives here?” Solana whispered.

“I’m not sure but it’s kind of creepy.” Her friend whispered back.

“Yeah, but I don’t want to go back out in the storm.”

“Me neither.”

“What should we do?”

“Get out of our frozen clothes so can get warm.”

“Good idea.”

Ending their hushed conversation, they took off their soaked jackets and slush pants, preventing the clothes they had underneath from becoming even more wet than they already are.

The girls looked at each other and slowly started towards the giant staircase at the end of the hall.

A voice boomed above them, “The queen awaits you in the Grand Hall.”

A dark red door opened to their left and the girls tentatively headed towards it.

As they entered the room, they took in the long tables and vast fire place that lit the whole room. Windows were dark on either side of the hall, and gold adorned the sills. The two girls were so busy viewing the room that they didn’t notice the three people near the fireplace.

When they did, the girls stopped dead in their tracks. The three women were beautiful, as if an otherworldly light shone on them all. Their hair was silk and they complexions were as smooth as glass. The girls could think of no one who was this beautiful. As Solana watched them a fleeting thought that her mother could have fit in nicely with the group passed through. The three women had very similar appearances, the main differences were the clothes they were wearing. One wore blue, another red, and the last a pale purple.

Suddenly, Miyuki turned to her friend and whispered, “Sol, do you think those are faeries?”

Solana gave her friend a funny look thinking, could it be true? It was really the only explanation she could think of to explain their beauty and aura that surrounded them.

She scoffed at her friend, “No way, faeries don’t exist.” Trying to believe what she was saying for herself.

“Funny you should ask Miyuki,” The one at the head of the table in purple said, she was also the most beautiful.

Miyuki froze. Slowly, she asked, “How do you know my name?”

The one who wore pale blue said, “We have been monitoring you two for quite some time now. Why do you think you found this place? Without us, you’d still be wandering the forest.”

Nervousness overwhelmed Solana. Something like recognition gripped her heart. Solana repressed the feeling and shouted, “You still haven’t answered her question: are you faeries or not?” Solana’s voice quivered in a mixture of anger and fright, “and how do you know her name?” She demanded, hoping her quivering voice hadn’t given her away.

The woman whose dress was a blinding shade of scarlet raised her hands and said, “Relax, we do not wish to harm you.” She smiled, “Now, Solana, Miyuki, come sit, we shall explain everything to you soon enough.”