Behind The Mirror ( The Glass Wall Series - Prelude to Book 1 ) by Carmen Caine, Madison Adler Page A

mission, Melody, his mentor and the most learned Fate Tracker of them all, had given him a strict order never to follow her. He could still hear her shrill warning as she had addressed him, along with his fellow student, Jareth, Fate Tracker to the Queen of the Dark.
    “Rafael, Jareth, I must leave now to seek a Blue-Threaded girl on Earth. Never have I seen such a fate line on any creature. Her fate could bring the ultimate disaster upon us all!”
    “Would it be better if she does not live?” Jareth had asked in his dark way.
    Rafael had sent him a disapproving look and said, “You know well that as a Blue Thread, her fate is a double-edged sword. While she may bring disaster, she could also bring about the ultimate triumph. You cannot dispose of her simply because her fate is blue!”
    “Silence!” Melody had cut in. “Enough of this competition between the both of you! The two of you must now work together! We are on the threshold of strange events. This Blue Thread is highly unusual … Her fate has reached us now, and especially you, Rafael, you must be cautious!” Melody had gripped his hand tightly, so hard that her nails had dug into his flesh. “Her blue line entwines with yours, and I’m sure it means that the two of you must never meet. Do you understand? If you phase-shift to Earth, we must all tremble, for our destiny will have taken a turn toward disaster! Remember, Rafael, you know what we protect here. You cannot love a human!”
    “What is it, child?” Zelphie’s quiet voice broke into his thoughts.
    “I cannot go to Earth.” He shook his head resolutely. “I will tell the Queens that I must refuse.”
    * * *
    “You have no choice,” the Queen of the Light informed Rafael coldly. She stood high above him on the marble dais, clothed in flowing white silks bedecked with jewels, and myriad of seed pearls studded the blonde cascade of curls falling down her back. She glistened like the stars as she paced before him.
    “You cannot refuse.” The Queen of the Dark’s eyes flashed dangerously as she rose swiftly from her throne, the silver-spangled black velvets of her skirt swirling about her like a cloud. “We order you to leave at once!”
    Rafael clenched his jaw. Remaining on bended knee, he repeated, “I cannot. The danger would be too great. You must send another.”
    A long silence fell in the Great Hall of the Queens, a hesitation that Rafael found unusual. The Queens were usually quick and decisive. He waited patiently.
    At last, the Queen of the Light said, “There are no more Fate Trackers left to send. There has been … an accident.”
    Rafael jerked. His gray eyes widened in alarm. “An accident?”
    The Queen of the Light turned away from him as the Queen of the Dark took her place. “The other Fate Trackers are dead. Only you and Jareth remain. And now that we have received Melody’s distress signal, you must join him on Earth to find her. She does not have long to live.”
    Astounded, Rafael rose unbidden to his feet. “This cannot be!”
    “It is!” the Queen of the Dark replied harshly.
    “But if so, then it is imperative that I remain to protect you both!” Rafael shifted his focus quickly in order to read the Queens’ fate lines.
    Like all living creatures, there were many white fate lines flowing through them—lines that only Fate Trackers could see, lines that changed with each decision made. Reading someone’s fate was nearly impossible as the intricate tapestry of possibilities often proved endless.
    But their lines were astounding. The Queens had always walked a perilous path with fate, but something had recently changed. The twisted lines of danger surrounded them now, closing in about them. Startled, he gasped, “How can I even think of leaving you? I must—”
    “You must go!” the Queens ordered in unison. And then the Queen of the Light returned to stand before him.
    “You and Jareth are both very young,” she said. “But we have no