Our story begins in the enchanted Isle of Dreams, or as it is more oft called – The Dreamscape – an arcane land home to a colorful people known as the Cubi. The Cubi were what one would call ‘near-human’, taking on their shape for the most part, with a few key differences. Setting them apart from humans were silver eyes and hair, varying shades of purple skin, and a pair of horns upon their brow. They were just alien enough to spawn rumor and myth, and human enough to birth the rare half-breed. Our tale follows one such half-breed – a one Lilliana Aldridge, princess heir to the Dreamscape.

  Lilliana stared out her balcony window at the growing crowd below. Her knuckles were pale with anticipation for the coming event – coronation. Today she would become Queen. She wasn’t ready, she knew that, both mentally and emotionally. She was just a girl for Gods sake, hardly a woman of eighteen! Why did she need to become Queen? She didn’t ask for it, and yet it was demanded of her from the Council. As far as she was concerned, they had been ruling just fine until now – finer still if they kept at it! She didn’t want to be a queen. Lilliana didn’t want the expectation nor the responsibility. She wanted to be free, free to roam, free to experience the world as she had been. All that ended when she became Queen - then the job began.

  Lilliana propped her elbows up on the railing of her balcony. Everyone was so damned excited – everyone but her - her who had almost never been beyond the city walls. How was she supposed to rule a kingdom she’d never seen before? Again, the Council had been ruling just fine after the old Queen’s untimely demise. She had ruled the Dreamscape for fifteen years before deciding to up and die on them last summer. The battleaxe of a woman had decided everything from the fate of criminals to the meaning of the stars. Lilliana didn’t have that in her. She didn’t want to decide fate or ordain the stars! What she wanted was far simpler – to live her life of pleasure without expectation or consequences. She wanted to sneak off to the candy man and eat sweets until she burst. She wanted to spirit away to festivals and watch the bards play out their shows. She wanted all the perks without the punishment of duty. Was that really too much to ask? She already knew the answer was a resounding yes. Even she had to grow up.

  But she didn’t want to, dammit! Lilliana balled her fist and pounded the railing. She wanted to be just a girl forever! She didn’t want to be Queen, she didn’t want to get married, she didn’t want to squat out a royal heir that’d have the same conflict of fate one day, perpetuating the cycle. If she could give up her destiny for the comforts of a safe out-of-the-way life, she would. But no, they were hellbent on making her Queen – today, that evening. There was no escape, no forestalling it. Today she would become Queen of the Dreamscape, with all its honors and expectations.

  The door to her chamber opened with the ringing of a bell. “Pardon the intrusion, your excellence…” announced a familiar voice, the voice of her nanny, Cassandra, “but it’s time for your next fitting. I think this dress might finally be the one!” Lilliana peered over her shoulder scowling at the idea. “It’s made of the finest dream-wool available! No nightmares here, just the sweetest of lullabies.”

  “Oh joy,” Lilliana said, clapping her hands together in mock excitement. She hated gowns, the frillier the worse, and this one was no doubt the frilliest. It had been a weeklong affair, finding a dress to wear, with every tailor in the kingdom throwing their hand into the lot. She had rejected them all thus far and planned on rejecting this one as well. The scarlet-haired nanny shuffled with the dress propped up before her. Somehow the dresses only got uglier with each addition. This one was an awful cream color with half a dozen pink bows and a hoop skirt that made her ass look fantastically gigantic. “Oh nan, you can set up tea on this thing!” Lilliana complained as she turned around to look it over. “Its rear is practically a table! What even is that for? To have luncheon on?”

  “It’s the newest fashion, my dear!” the woman would claim, spinning the dress about so she could see it from all sides. “You’ll look positively beautiful in it! Especially to suiters!”

  “What, so they woo me for a fat arse only to find on our wedding night that I’ve hardly got none?” Lilliana exclaimed with a huff. “No thank you, madam!”

  “Language, my dear!” Cassandra scolded. “A Queen doesn’t use crude curses!”

  “Well, I’m yet to be queen,” Lilliana said with another huff, “so arse, arse, ARSE!”

  “Ooo, you’re positively trouble!” groaned the nanny before laying out the dress on her bed. “Please be trying it on before nightfall – that’s when coronation is about. You need a dress, Lilly – like it or not.”

  “Oh, Nan, they’re just so awful!” complained Lilliana as she left the balcony behind to ogle the gown a little. She did not like what she saw – nothing new. There had been fifteen before it, and probably fifteen after, if time wasn’t so short. But she had until nightfall to pick, and that was a mere eight hours away. Eight hours, it was hardly enough time to do anything! Lilliana groaned and threw herself facedown upon her bed. “It’s so ugly, nan!” she uttered, smothered by a thick down comforter. “Even for one night, it’s unbearable!”

  “That’s what you said about the last dozen,” replied the nanny with a click of her tongue. “But there has to be one that stands out – for just one night even.”

  Lilliana groaned some more and shrugged haplessly, saying under her breath, “The white one wasn’t so terrible…” It was, in her opinion, but less so than the rest of the lot. It looked far too much like a wedding dress for her likings, but if she had to pick… Lilliana rolled over and stared up at the ceiling. “Oh, Nan, I don’t understand any of this… Why must I become Queen and get married? The Council has been doing just fine without me cracking the whip.”

  “You don’t have to get married,” Cassandra said, making her way to her side. She sat on the bed and then picked up a brush from the nearby nightstand. Setting out to detangle Lilliana’s curly mess of hair, Cassandra got to brushing, saying all the while, “It’d just be proper, you know? To have both a King and Queen on the throne. It’s what your late Queen Mother would have wanted.”

  “Would she?” Lilliana questioned, turning her head sideways so she could see Cassandra sidelong. “Did the Queen Mother really want anything? She was a warrior without a war. I’m honestly surprised she hadn’t done herself in from boredom years ago, I am.”

  “Oh, hush now!” Cassandra said scoldingly. “It’s ill to speak so of the dead.”

  Lilliana wasn’t wrong, and she knew as much. The old Queen had been a warrior, finding her calling in the civil war that ravaged the kingdom during Lilliana’s childhood. Once the war was over, the late Queen was found wanting, just as Lilliana was. And just like Lilliana, she had been expected to play her role dutifully and justly. Lilliana couldn’t fathom trying to fill her shoes. The Queen Mother had been all about honor and duty, which was good for her, especially when the King had shown up one fine day with a royal bastard tucked in the nook of his arm – that being Lilliana. When others would have seen her abandoned in the woods, the Queen Mother took her under her wing, adopting her as if she were her own. The King, however, hadn’t gotten such forgiving treatment. After the war, he was exiled. Stripped of honors and titles, he left in disgrace, never to be seen again. That was fifteen years ago now. Lilliana couldn’t help but wonder if he was still out there, somewhere, but she knew better. No one survived the thick wall of fog surrounding the Isle, no one, not even a king.

  “What’re you thinking about?” asked Cassandra, gently stroking her freshly brushed hair. Lilliana shook her head and then said, “Nothing… Er well, just how ugly this dress is!” She didn’t like to admit how often she thought of her father, or that she thought of him at all. Despite her being the outcome to his infidelity, she couldn’t imagine betraying someone he had claimed to love, firmly sitting on the late Queen Mothers side of things. Though, it was anyone’s guess whether she despised him for that reason or for simply leaving her all alone. The Queen Mother had been accepting but distant. Now, there she was, motherless and fatherless, readying herself to fill in for a position she was ill-prepared for. At least she still had Cassandra, she thought as she sat up with a sigh. “Alright, I’m ready, I am,” Lilliana said resignedly. “Let’s try this dress on.”

  It took the better part of ten minutes to fit her into the dress good and proper. “There you go, Sweetness,” proclaimed Cassandra with a clap of her hands, “all done!” Lilliana stared into the standing mirror with disbelief – not only was it ugly, but it felt awful as well. “Why is it so damnably tight? Did they get my measurements wrong?”

  “It’s fashion, my dear!” answered Cassandra with a wag of her finger. “A thin waist is all the rage these days. The thinner the better.”

  “A fat arse but a thin waist? It makes no sense, it doesn’t!” bemoaned Lilliana. “I hardly recognize myself, and I don’t even have my face on yet!”

  “Oh tut – you look beautiful!” said Cassandra, waving her off. “Positively and truly! I really think this is the one.”

  “Oh, it very much isn’t, Nan!” Lilliana denied, throwing her hands up. “Get me out of this thing! I can hardly breathe!”

  Defeated once more, Cassandra set out to free her charge from the imprisonment of the latest fashion. With a heavy sigh, Cassandra bundled the gown up in her arms, saying, “I’ll be back with the next one shortly, Sweetness.” Lilliana waved her off from the foot of her bed as she stared at the ceiling boredly. All there was to do was wait, and Lilliana hated waiting. She groaned and rolled about before throwing herself to her feet. Nope – she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t just sit there waiting for the next dress, waiting for them to force a crown on her head. She made her way back to the balcony. Everyone was running around like ants below, setting up stalls and booths for the afterparty. The whole city was busy, from the peasants to the guards. With the whole wide world wrapped up in her coronation, Lilliana wondered if they would even notice if she were gone.

  That was when the inkling of an idea crept into her mind. Lilliana was willing to bet if she were to disappear for an hour or two, no one would be none the wiser. She eyed the door, freedom just beyond. Lilliana made a beeline to her closet, throwing the doors open with a mischievous giggle. Digging through her clothes she found the plainest attire she had, an ivory silk dress with silver threading, and a green dream-wool cloak embossed with thistles, the state flower of the kingdom. Any other day she would stand out like a sore thumb, but today, with everyone wearing their best and busy with the festivities, she was sure she would slip on by without notice. But what was she to do? Slumming around with the common folk wasn’t enough, not for the price of becoming Queen. She had to do something truly liberating – like going beyond the city walls – something she hadn’t done since the late King still sat upon the throne.

  That was it, she thought, she’d go beyond the walls. Maybe she’d visit the Fields of Dreams, or the Forest of Nightmare. Maybe she would go so far as the next town over – take a stroll amongst their famous pumpkin patches, see where her Queen Mother had been raised. The whole world was her oyster, and she was going to slurp that shell till they beat her off with a stick. Before reasonable thought had the chance to set in, Lilliana was already down the hall, stomping her way down the curved stairs that led to the main entrance. At the base of the stairs was the Captain of the Guard, Barnabas, hollering up commands to two of his men balancing precariously on the top of ladders as they struggled to put up a disagreeable banner. Lilliana quickly took the chance and snuck on by.

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  The main hall was filled to the brim with people, all rushing around to get this or that done in preparation for coronation. On one side of the grand hall, druids grouped together waving censers while chanting out prayers. Opposite of them, the bards practiced their squeezeboxes and routines, haphazardly juggling and singing. Maids and other servants rushed between them, preparing tables for guests and the celebratory feast. Not a single one looked up from their business to see her march on by, bold as can be. Within moments, Lilliana was outside, down the road, and looking back at the castle.

  Also known as the Caerwyn – the White Fortress - castle Aldridge was an impressive display of engineering. Made of brilliant white stone, from which it got its name, it grew brick by brick up out of the clifftop overseeing the churning ocean below. Despite its beauty, it felt like she was looking back at a prison she had just escaped from. Lilliana turned her back on her home, shifting her gaze to the colorful town below. At the base of the hill sprouted the town of Whiterock, named so for the alabaster cliffside at its back. It was a dreamy place of pastel buildings and fanciful architecture as old as the Dreamscape itself. Lilliana enjoyed visiting Whiterock, she loved perusing the shops and meeting with the townsfolk. However, even it felt like bars around her as she made her way down the cobblestone road, with the sleepy little town being as far as she had been allowed to go on her own.

  Making her way downtown, she found Whiterock all abuzz with crowds of people running this way and that, setting up what would be a grand faire in the middle of the town square. Like at the castle, these people were far too busy to notice her as she inched through the flood of bodies. There had to be a thousand people there, Lilliana thought, maybe two! She had never seen half so many people in her life. She hadn’t realized there were so many people in the world! And all of them were there to see her ascend to the throne. For a moment, she felt bad about abandoning her duty for an adventure – but only for the moment. Lilliana tugged her hood over her head and made a direct route to the city gates before she lost her nerve. The heavy iron portcullis was wide open, letting in a constant stream of horse-drawn wagons, with each one carrying goods from every corner of the Dreamscape. Lilliana couldn’t help but stare in wonder for a time as they passed her by.

  At the moment’s end, she made the plunge, stepping under the heavy stone gateway into the world beyond. She was free and in the wind, but now what? For a breath, Lilliana stood there at the crossroads. Did she go left, to the Field of Dreams, or the city of pumpkins? Or did she go right to the Forest of Nightmare? Supposedly her father had a cabin somewhere in the heart of the woods, a hidden sanctuary protected by the forest’s nightmare inhabitants. Lilliana had never seen a nightmare, she thought to herself. Nor had she ever had one, as the Cubi didn’t dream. Apparently, they were horrid creatures that would snatch you up and eat you as soon as look at you – that was, if you weren’t royal blood. Royalty like her commanded respect from both dreams and nightmares and could, supposedly, go freely in the realms of either. Some brave part of her wanted to test that theory. But what if it wasn’t true? Lilliana bit her lip and clenched her fists. White-knuckled, she made her decision. If she couldn’t stand up to a nightmare, then she knew for sure she wasn’t ready to be queen. Lilliana turned right. She chose the Forest of Nightmare.

  The path to the forest was one less traveled. The road itself was hardly more than a dirt path overgrown with weeds, but still, each step forward excited Lilliana more and more. She felt as if she were truly on an adventure, like the ones Cassandra read to her in the small hours of the night. Lilliana picked up a stick and swished it around like a sword. She felt like a warrior, like her late Queen Mother – even if her warrior’s feat was just walking to the Isle’s edge and back. There was nothing that could stand in her way. She felt pride in having gone so far, and further yet. The journey took a grand total of ten minutes, but it was the most exciting ten minutes of her life.

  Soon enough, Lilliana stood at the very edge of the Forest of Nightmare, heart racing. She stared deep into the towering oaks and ash trees. It was dark even at midday. The trees were twisted and gnarled, growing up like great clawed hands. Lilliana swallowed hard. Suddenly, she wasn’t feeling very brave. The woods themselves looked evil, fit for its nightmare inhabitants. She had nothing to fear, Lilliana reminded herself. She was royal after all, and the nightmares would bend to her will as quickly as any dream – she hoped. Lilliana took a step forward, stick at the ready. All she had to do was make it to her father’s cabin, that’s all. And then, then she could return home, having had her adventure, and become Queen. She inched forward, feeling as if something could jump out at any moment. And then something did.

  In a flurry of feathers and caws, a large black bird burst forth from the shadowed woods, nearly taking her head off as it flew above her. Lilliana dropped like a rock, shielding her head with one hand while swinging the stick with the other. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” she wailed. “I won’t go in your woods, I swear it! Please don’t eat me!” After a moment of not being eaten, she dared to look up. It wasn’t a nightmare at all, she quickly realized, but some kind of corvid, a raven or perhaps a large crow. What stood out as odd to her was its dark plumage, being nearly as black as the foreboding woods it had launched from. This was particularly strange considering that all the messenger ravens in the Dreamscape were ivory in color, a stark contrast to the peculiar black bird.

  Lilliana huffed and stood up with a pouty look on her face. Propping a fist up on her hip she thrust the stick at the bird scoldingly, saying, “You nearly scared me half to death, you did!” The blackbird only cocked its head and croaked in reply. “Oh, don’t give me that look – you know what you did! I’m a princess, you know? Soon to be Queen! I could have all your eggs scrambled!” The bird paid her prods and threats little mind, pecking at the ground a moment before taking flight. Lilliana watched as it soared up and back down again twenty or so feet ahead of her. It turned and croaked insistently. “You want me to follow you?” Lilliana asked unsurely, feeling as if her need for adventure had come and gone. “I don’t think I want to do that. Nope – not after the fright you gave me.” The bird cawed more and flapped its wings. Lilliana turned her back on it and started home.

  She would only make it a couple of feet before the bird abruptly landed in front of her, cawing loudly. It seemed it wasn’t about to take no for an answer. At the same time there came a voice in the back of Lilliana’s mind, an intrusive thought that said, “Brave Queen Lilliana, couldn’t even make it to the Isles edge and back… You’re so close. It’s only a few feet further and you’ve walked so far already.” That was true, she thought, glancing over her shoulder. Maybe she didn’t have to brave the Forest of Nightmare, maybe she’d just go have a stroll on the beach instead. That sounded almost lovely, she mused, especially in contrast to the woods. With a sigh, Lilliana caved to the intrusion and spun about on her heels. “Fine, I’ll take a look see… and NOT because you want me to, bird.”

  As if understanding of her words, the blackbird took flight again, soaring overhead and down the road. Lilliana sighed again and started after it. Despite the scare it had given her, it seemed to be awfully comfortable with her presence, making Lilliana wonder if it was somebody’s pet. Maybe someone had sent it out to get help, she wondered idly with an inkling of worry as she strode down the dirt road after it. If that were true, maybe she would save someone’s life, return a hero! Lilliana liked that idea, however unlikely it was. In all truth, it was probably just a wild goose chase, or crow chase for that matter. Lilliana didn’t have much experience with creatures of avian distinction, but she was sure she heard or read somewhere of a mischievous nature. It was probably just leading her to some shiny rocks, or perhaps a meal it couldn’t get to without thumbs.

  Soon enough the dirt road turned to one of sand and gravel as the sound of lapping waves met Lilliana’s ear. At the summit of a sandy hill the ocean came into view. The beaches of the Dreamscape really weren’t anything to write home about – cold and rocky shores covered in the dead tangles of seaweed. Lilliana took a deep breath, taking in the salty scent of it all. Despite its lack of hospitality, she loved the seashore and giddily crept down from the hilltop onto the rocky beach. Despite living right above it, it had been ages since she had last been to the beach, so long she could hardly remember it. Lilliana squat down and picked at some wave-polished rocks as she tried to dredge the memory up. Her late Queen Mother was hardly one for vacations, so it must have been her father that had taken her last. All she could remember was the smell and playing in the sand. There were patches of sand here and there, but this beach didn’t match the one from her admittedly distant memory. Lilliana wondered where that had been as she stared out across the waves to the thick wall of fog that surrounded the island.

  This was as close to the fog as she had ever been. It was four or five hundred feet out but seeing it so close still sent a shiver down her spine. Lilliana still remembered the day her father had been banished. He hadn’t just been sent out of the city, but banished from the isle entirely, however that was possible. As far as she knew, venturing into the fog was a death sentence. Lilliana had heard all the ghost stories about boats that ventured too close. They all ended in the same way: the boats listing back to shore without a soul left onboard. No one ever survived, not even a king. They might as well have executed him, Lilliana thought morbidly, tossing a stone into the water.

  Just then, a loud caw pulled her from her thoughts. She had nearly forgotten all about the bird, and now it was reminding her. It stood there, fanning its wings, chattering noisily at her as if to say, ‘hurry up!’ Lilliana groaned and stood up again. It was such a nagging creature, she wondered if it and Cassandra were related. With a dramatic sigh, Lilliana stepped forward, saying, “Alright, bird, I’m coming… Better be leading me to a pot of gold, or a particularly handsome prince.” The blackbird croaked encouragingly as it hopped along the shoreline in front of her.

  Lilliana followed it in pensive silence as they made their way down the rocky beach. Wherever the bird was taking her, it had better be close. She already felt crazy for letting it take her this far, and her patience and curiosity was wearing thin. Then, when she was just about to give up and turn around, something strange appeared in the distance. “What is that?” Lilliana wondered out loud as she drew nearer. It was a great stone bridge, seemingly grown up out of the rocks below. The large black bird glided gracefully over to it, landing with a hop on the polished stone railing. Lilliana stared in surprise as she got closer. It was such a strange place to find a bridge, on the beach, out in the middle of nowhere. It looked ancient, older than anything Lilliana had seen before. Carved out of polished black stone, it stretched out across the lapping waves, leading to, of all places, the fog.

  Lilliana strode right up to it, mouth agape in awe as she slid a hand over the strange black stone. She looked down the length of it, into the wall of fog in the distance. Surely it led right into it. Lilliana bit her lip and glanced over at the bird. “Is… Is this what you wanted to show me?” She asked, her voice hardly a whisper. It croaked in reply and ruffled its feathers. It was safe to say Lilliana’s curiosity was piqued. Where did it go, she wondered, daring to step up onto the bridge. “Why not find out?” That intrusive voice uttered in the back of her mind. “Why not have a real adventure? Cross. Find out how big the world really is.” Her heart raced in her chest. Swallowing hard, she took a step forward. The idea both excited her to no end and terrified her. But what if it wasn’t safe? What if she disappeared just like the crewmen of all those lost boats? Fear set her taking a step back. She should really get home, Lilliana told herself. Nan was probably looking for her now with another ugly dress under her arm. She didn’t want to worry her too much.

  “But you’re so close,” the intrusive thought said. “If you turn back now, you’ll never get this opportunity again. You’ll go home, ascend the throne, and become the do-nothing queen they want you to be. Just a hand to stamp papers, and a womb to birth heirs. Is that really the kind of queen you want to be?”

  “No…” Lilliana answered the thought out loud. Lilliana didn’t know what she wanted to be, but she knew she didn’t want that. She didn’t want to be a living corpse chained by duty to the throne like her Queen Mother had been. Lilliana wanted to live – truly live! She wanted to see the world, to have adventures, to try new things, to experience life and all its wonders. She wouldn’t get that if she went home now, if she turned tail and ran. Nan would throw her into another unbearable dress, and then the council would plant her on the throne, and the job would begin. Everyone would cheer and dance and celebrate what was essentially a death sentence for her. “Then cross…” uttered the intrusive thought. “Cross and free yourself from boring fate. Choose your own path. Cross…”

  Lilliana liked that idea – that she wasn’t running away but choosing her own fate. She stepped forward. One step. Two steps. Three and four. She took a deep breath and kept walking forward towards the wall of fog – her barring fate made manifest. What was beyond it, she wondered. Would she find her father there, alive and well, waiting for her? Would he be happy to see her? She hoped so. Suddenly she could hear something, faint at first, barely noticeable over the waves, but it grew louder the closer she got to the wall of fog. It was the sound of crickets and cicadas, the cries of grebes and loons, the sounds of a wetland, of another world. Lilliana’s heart raced in her chest. Never once did she think about what was beyond the fog, that there was a beyond the fog. The Council and her Queen Mother had all but bade it forbidden to talk about and she had never been curious enough to ask. But there must be more – more than her Isle, more than the Dreamscape, more of the world! And she was going to see it.

  The black bird croaked and cawed as it flew ahead of her, right into the fog. Lilliana stopped at the border, at the misty barrier that seemingly cut the bridge in half. She could still hear the bird’s calls within. It survived, it was alive and well within the fog. Lilliana swallowed hard and clenched her fists. She looked back over her shoulder. She had come so far from home. Did she dare go further still? Would she tempt fate rather than change it? She was afraid, but so very excited. It was a tossup to which was causing her to shake more. “One more step…” that voice whispered in the back of her mind. “One more step and your adventure begins… Don’t cow to fate… Master it! Decide who you want to be.” Lilliana chose. Shutting her eyes tight she stepped forward into the fog.