“Why did we drive a car if we can just walk through mirrors?” I asked as Meredith eased her car between two others on a temporary grass lot.

“Because it freaks people out when we just appear in front of them,” Angela told me, rummaging through her purse for something. Finally, she yanked a pink bracelet from the bag and handed it to me through the seats. It was pretty plain; there was nothing special about it, it kind of reminded me of a slap bracelet, though without the slapping part. “Put that on, it makes it easier to find you in a crowd.”

I didn’t bother questioning her, or rather I couldn’t question her. I just snapped the bracelet into place, immediately noticing that while I was able to put it on, I couldn’t remove it no matter how much I tugged.

“It’s fine,” She smiled at me. “It’s just so no one can take it off of you.”

“Who would take it off of me?” I asked, a little worried.

“No one today,” She reassured me. “Come on, let’s go in.”

I pulled the silver handle and listened to the ‘clunk’ of the bolt being released as I pushed on the door. It was accompanied by a creak and my feet connected with the grass, my long pink skirt billowing out around me. The dress they’d put me in was weird, kind of. It was a pink overdress on top of a white chemise with flared sleeves, like a renaissance dress. It was strange attire for the fair but I’d really learned not to ask questions. We’d spent a full six months at the house watching television, playing board games, and having Meredith ‘teach’ me regularly and while the time had passed like days, the one thing I’d learned to do was let go of my tendency to question things. At least where Meredith and Angela were concerned. It was hard in some ways, really hard, because I could remember being an adult, an eighteen year old guy with his own job, his own apartment, a car, a girlfriend…sort of. I remembered all of that and I remembered being independent, but now I’d gone backwards. I didn’t hate it, I loved it in fact, but it was hard to get used to. As soon as I closed the door, Angela was beside me, her hand in mine and guiding me to the front of the car. Meredith straightened the shoulder strap of my over-dress and checked to make sure the skirt was straight.

“Why am I the only one dressed like this?” I asked, looking to both of them who were dressed very casually.

“Because,” Angela said cheerfully. “If we can do anything we want with you why wouldn’t we put you in adorable outfits?”

“And if you say you don’t like it, you’re lying,” Meredith pointed out. She wasn’t wrong. As we moved through the parking lot, either of my hands grasped firmly in one of theirs I still found it a little weird that I absolutely had to go with them. Like, I had no choice, I couldn’t turn around and leave even if I wanted to. It was a wonderful yet terrifying feeling, having my future and nearly every movement dictated by them, but I had fallen into a trap of my own making and I couldn’t imagine going back to the way my life was eleven years ago. The loneliness, needing to be controlled but never finding a way to get it. In a way I’d gotten what I wanted, and I felt content.

At the entrance to the fair we encountered the most peculiar thing; the entryway was a castle façade with turrets and a ticket booth beneath, a sign reading “Ypsilanti Medieval Fair 2030”.

“Medieval fair?” I looked up at Angela. “What’s that? What kind of fair is this?”

“Don’t worry, you’re going to have fun sweetie,” Angela reassured me. “We go to these every year.”

“AND they have cotton candy,” Meredith told me as we passed beneath the archway and stood in front of the ticket booth. Just beyond the shade of the archway I observed people walking in all directions wearing costumes similar to mine, though some of them were dressed as casually as Angela and Meredith.

“Three please!” Angela said to the booth attendant. The man behind the window, dressed as a jester looked to me immediately. Oh god, what was he looking at?

“Hey, kids under fourteen get in free,” He said, nodding toward me. My eyes went wide, how old did I look? I mean I knew she’d made me look young but I wasn’t prepared for that statement.

“You hear that sweetie?” We don’t have to pay for you!” Angela laughed and patted me on the head. I giggled involuntarily. As she paid, Meredith interlocked her arm with mine and guided me past the archway, into the crowd of people. The energy of the place was what struck me immediately; people everywhere, kids, adults, pets, all buzzing around excited about one thing or another as they pounded up and down the dirt paths, visiting various booths. I was having a hard time comprehending the energy that was afoot here honestly, what was it like to just forget all of your worries and just…be here, to exist in one place rather than a million other places at once? It was almost as if Meredith read my mind, she tapped my arm, I looked up at her.

“You need to let go of whatever it is that’s bothering you,” She told me. “Today you’re going to have fun – hey look at that, they have archery.”

“I think that’s my specialty,” Angela said as she joined us, affixing a paper armband to my wrist and handing one to Meredith.

“Just like you to steal all the glory,” Meredith laughed as we casually followed the flow of the crowd and stepping up to a long booth manned by three people.

“Step right up!” One of them invited in a thick English accent. “Test your skill at archery and win a prize!”

“And what’s the top prize?” Meredith cocked her head. “Is it worth my time?”

“It’s a recurve bow, from the one and only Broderick over there!” The old man pointed a bony finger forward a tent across the path. We all turned, I heard Meredith whisper something to Angela who nodded.

“We’ll try it,” She nodded. “Do you have a bow that’s…easier for a girl?”

“I think we can help with that!” The man nodded. “It’s ten dollars for ten arrows, and you have to hit that moving target five times, on the red spot, there, you see?”

“My god,” Angela craned her neck to see. “That target is like two hundred yards away.”

“You don’t think we just give it away do you?” The old man chuckled.

“Worth a try,” Angela laughed as she handed the money over and took the bow they handed her. Meredith rolled her eyes. We talked over to the range, stepping in between two people. Meredith pulled me back a little bit and pointed at Angela.

“Watch her form,” Meredith told me. “See how she holds it? Look at the bend of her arm, look at how she’s standing.”

I nodded. I had no idea why she would be telling me any of this, but I listened to her intently as I watched Angela fire multiple arrows, missing the first few which elicited laughter from the old man and his co-workers at the booth. Suddenly, her next arrow struck the moving target right on one of the red dots, causing them to fall silent. Their mouths went slack as she fired a few more, each one striking a the target with a ‘thud’. She fired the last arrow, it swished through the air and landed perfectly.

“My god lady,” the old man said. “Who are you?”

“No one you would know,” Angela said coyly, her upper lip pressed on her lower, forming a smug grin.

“Right then,” The old man shook his head. “Take this slip over to Broderick, he’ll set you right.”

“I appreciate it,” Angela did a curtsey, holding an arm out to her side. The old man shook his head.

“Come on,” Meredith laughed as she pulled me away from the booth and back toward the dirt path.

“What do you think?” Angela crouched down a bit to meet me at my eye level. Honestly she was only about two heads taller than me but she was practically a giant. “Are you having fun?”

“I…don’t know,” I swiveled my head nervously, regarding all the people with caution. “I’ve never been to a place like this before…”

“Never?” Meredith raised an eyebrow. “Not once, in all the years you were-“

“Her parents wouldn’t have let her,” Angela explained. “This would have been um…probably satanic or something.”

“And what’s wrong with that?” Meredith folded her arms and shook her head. “I’ve met Satan, he’s a really nice guy. Pretty quick with his tongue.”

“Let’s get over to Broderick’s tent,” Angela laughed. “Before he has a huge line.”

Across the path we passed out of the sunlight and into a white, shady tent filled with wooden bows, all affixed to racks, and at the center, a wooden table. Along the walls of the tent, patches of sunlight teased the fabric, intermixed with dark patches of shadow, providing just enough light to make the interior fully visible. Our feet trod along tall grass, a stark reminder that we were still in fact outdoors. In the center, near the table, stood a man in a leather jerkin and greaves, reading over a sheet of paper. His slicked back black hair and relatively fair skin put him at about thirty in appearance but I had learned not to trust appearance.

“Broderick!” Meredith called out happily as we approached. He glanced up from his paper a wide grin forming across is face.

“Meredith! Angeline!” He replied, setting the paper down. “I haven’t seen you in ages!”

“Three years,” Angela laughed. “Barely a fortnight really.”

The three took turns embracing. I felt so awkward, who was this guy? Why did he know my mother? As I was wondering that he turned to look down at me.

“And who do we have here?” He asked of me. I looked down, toward the grass. I don’t know why I was so nervous.

“This,” Angela said as she placed a hand on my back and pushed me forward. “Is my daughter, Jasmine. Say hello to Broderick, Jasmine.”

“H…hello,” I whispered, trying my best to make eye contact but doing no better than staring at the man’s legs.

“No need to be nervous,” Broderick laughed. “I can’t be that scary.”

“True,” Angela nudged me. “She hasn’t seen you drunk yet so she has no reason to be afraid.”

“Please,” Broderick laughed. “I’m a pleasant drunk and you know it.”

“Tell that to that poor cow,” Meredith rolled her eyes.

“And then,” Broderick interrupted her, as if she were about to say something horribly embarrassing. “What is it that brings you to my humble tent?”

As he said that I turned my head, surveying the contents of the tent which seemed anything but humble.

“I won the prize,” Angela said.

“Well of course you did,” Broderick said, raising his shoulders in a partial shrug. “But what would a girl like you need with one of my bows? I’ve seen what you’re carrying.”

“Not for me today,” Angela touched my shoulder. “I would like something for my daughter.”

“Your daughter,” Broderick looked down at me. “Little girl, if you’re going to be the daughter of Angeline it won’t do for you to cower like that, you need to stand proud.”

“Oh leave her alone,” Angela scolded him. “She’s very new to all of this.”

“To be chosen as the daughter of a Fae is no small deal,” Broderick told me as I continued staring at the ground. “Especially when it’s a soul as new as you. You must be someone special, very special.”

Yes, I was either special, or a decade ago I had begged Angela to dominate me over and over again until she’d finally relented and left me on autopilot, cleaning her house for over a decade. It was one of the two.

“Can you help us, Broderick?” Angela asked, though from the tone of her voice I sensed it wasn’t much of a question.

“Aye, of course I can,” He nodded. “Girl, look up at me.”

I slowly raised my head, meeting his gaze. He had kind eyes but I still felt horribly intimidated.

“For the daughter of Angeline,” He said, reaching beneath his table and producing a long object wrapped in white linen. “I’m imagining troubling times ahead, so I won’t mess around. This isn’t the best bow, by any means, but it’s the best you’ll get in this tent, and the best you’ll get from me, that’s for sure.”

He held the package out to me, Angela nudged me until I took it in both hands.

“You’ll need to teach her to be less timid,” Broderick shook his head. “I don’t know what the circumstances here are, but it can’t be good.”

“I’ll teach her,” Angela confirmed. “She’ll be ready, for whatever may come.”

“For whatever may come,” Broderick echoed back.

“Come on Jasmine,” Angela said as the tension in the tent came to a head. “Let’s get you your cotton candy.”