Christmas Curse (Christmas Magic Book 3)

by Alexandra Moody

  The king turned, and his eyes fell on Jack. As he looked the frost up and down, he suddenly tensed. “Guards!” he shouted. The armored clauses in the room darted forward, but the queen shot them all a look demanding that they stay in place.

  “Remain in position,” she said. She didn’t shout like the king, and her soft voice portrayed her command far more powerfully than his even without raising her voice. “I wish to hear what this frost has to say.”

  “That’s not just any frost,” Dash’s father growled. “Why have you brought a criminal here, Dasher?”

  Dash’s eyes narrowed on his father, but he didn’t respond. Meanwhile, Jack gave a flourish and a bow, allowing flakes of snow to fall from his palm as he waved his hand out in front of him. The other creatures in the room gasped, and I felt them all take a step back closer to the walls of the chamber. Jack smiled as he stood tall once more, apparently enjoying the reception he was receiving.

  “Well, I see you’ve all heard of me,” he said.

  “What are you doing here?” the king demanded. His eyes kept flicking nervously toward his guards like he was worried they weren’t quite close enough to protect him. “You were bound to that prison for eternity for crimes you committed in this realm.”

  “Well, apparently, the binding didn’t quite stick,” Jack replied. “And I’m not the only being to have escaped. Frankly, you’ve got bigger problems.”

  “You’re a fugitive,” the king shouted back.

  “Perhaps,” Jack replied. “But one you’re going to want to listen to. Especially if you want to keep that pretty throne of yours.”

  The king’s face was starting to flush a deep red color as he listened to Jack, but the queen remained calm and nodded for the frost to continue. “What do you have to tell us?” she asked.

  “It is something I will only tell you both in private,” Jack replied.

  “You don’t expect us to be alone with you!” the king scoffed, his eyes darting to his guards again. He seemed genuinely afraid of Jack, and the frost was clearly enjoying it.

  The queen rose from her throne and stepped forward though. “If everyone will please clear the room, we will reconvene this meeting later today.”

  The gathered light beings all glanced at the king, as though they expected him to contradict the queen. He didn’t say a word though, and the creatures slowly began to file out of the room.

  Dash’s father stopped in front of his son as he moved to leave. “You’ve disappointed me again,” he said. “You were supposed to fix the barrier.”

  “Some barriers can’t be fixed,” Dash replied. His jaw was tense and his eyes as hard as steel. “I guess you can say the same about families.”

  Dash’s father clenched his hands into fists at his side before he jerked his chin up and continued past Dash without another word. Dash’s brother didn’t even bother to acknowledge him as he followed after their father.

  “I can see why Dash left,” I murmured to Blitz.

  Blitz nodded in reply. “And that was them being civil.”

  It didn’t take long for the room to clear, leaving only our small group and the royals behind. The queen made her way off the dais the two thrones stood upon and walked toward us. The sweet scent of her magic grew stronger as she approached, and I found myself unable to look away from her face as she drew closer. Queen Ciana had always looked so regal from afar, but up close, I couldn’t help but appreciate how perfect she was. Her pale skin was like porcelain, and her blue eyes shone with an unnaturally bright hue of blue. There wasn’t so much as a hair out of place in the long braid that was plaited down her back. She was unbelievably beautiful, and it was only magnified the closer she got.

  “My grandmother told many stories about you, Jack,” the queen said as she came to stand before us. “And I am well aware of the true reason you were at the prison.”

  I frowned as I turned to Jack. “What was the true reason?”

  Jack shied back from the question and almost seemed too embarrassed to answer.

  “Jack was sent to the prison after he froze our realm,” the queen replied. “But it was not as a punishment.”

  “I don’t understand,” I said, focusing back on the queen. It was pretty clear Jack wasn’t about to divulge the truth.

  “Dark beings had started using fairy dust to access our realm through the sleigh points here. The only way to stop them was to alter our realm so drastically that it could not be found again,” the queen explained. “Jack froze the realm under the instructions of my grandmother, who was queen at the time.”

  “How did he end up in prison then?” Coop asked.

  “The process consumed so much of his power that he nearly died,” the queen replied. “The only way to counteract such a significant loss of magic was to merge Jack’s powers with the powers of Incarceror. It helped him survive, but it came at a cost. He became bound to the prison.”

  “Is this true, Jack?” Dash asked.

  Jack nodded, but a look in his eyes made me suspect there was something more to the story.

  “But everyone despises Jack,” Melody said. I was surprised to hear her speak out in front of the rulers. Especially considering the last time we were here they tried to detain her.

  “They do. No one could know the truth about what the dark beings were doing, so allowing the Northern Realm to believe the worst of Jack was a necessary evil to cover up the truth,” the queen replied. “Now, Jack, please tell us what you came here to say.”

  Jack nodded and cleared his throat. He seemed oddly uncomfortable after the queen’s tale of his noble sacrifice. It seemed as though he preferred to be thought of as the villain rather than the hero.

  “We need your help,” Jack replied. “But to understand why, first, I must tell you a story. It’s one I’m not sure you would have heard before.”

  The queen nodded for him to go on.

  “In the beginning of our world, the mother of creation gave birth to three children: the gods Belphia, Bethalial, and Belsnickel,” Jack started. “Her children shared her gift of creation, and from them sprouted three kinds of beings. Belphia was the eldest and created humans and the other non-magical species that inhabit the Human Realm. Bethalial then created magical beings of light. Finally, Belsnickel created something akin to his brother—powerful beings of magic: the dark beings.”

  Jack’s voice was hypnotic, and as he spoke, flurries of snow started to dance around him. The snowflakes drifted together and seemed to shift and merge until they formed shapes. As I watched them float through the air, I could almost see images flickering in the snow as Jack talked, and I recognized the face of Belsnickel as it appeared in the haze of snow the frost was creating.

  “Belsnickel was not content with his creations though,” Jack continued. “He used the persuasion he had over his dark beings to wage war upon the other gods’ creations. He wanted to rule over all the realms, but the gods did not take kindly to the attack. Belphia and Bethalial worked together and infused three Christmas stars with magic that could stop Belsnickel. With the first star, they created barriers, which they used to separate their creations so that they could never fight again. The second star they used to strip Belsnickel of his godly powers.”

  “And the third?” the queen asked, her mesmerizing eyes filled with intrigue as she listened to Jack’s story.

  “The third they used to curse all magical creations and weaken them so their powers disappeared for most of the year. Even should the other two stars fail, the dark beings would not be powerful enough to be used to fulfill Belsnickel’s desires again.”

  “A fantastical story,” the king scoffed. He still sat on his throne and had his arms crossed over his chest. “We all know the story of the nine yule gods, and your words are nothing more than fiction. How dare you enter our throne room and lie to us.”

  Jack shrugged. “I’ve told the truth. You’ve already seen what happened when the first Christmas star was destroyed and your barriers began t
o crumble. The second star has also now been destroyed, and Belsnickel is slowly recovering his godly powers.”

  “What about the final star?” the queen asked. She didn’t seem to share the king’s skepticism, and I could see by the rapt attention she was giving Jack that she believed his every word.

  “The final star and the Christmas curse remain intact,” Jack replied. “For now. Belsnickel will be going after it once his powers have fully returned.”

  The queen’s brow was furrowed as she quietly considered Jack’s reply. The king was shaking his head though. “Is this really what you barged in here for?” he asked. “You didn’t need to send all of the other leaders away to tell us bedtime stories.”

  “The leaders needed to leave because the less beings that know the truth about the Christmas curse, the better. And I do not need you to believe me,” Jack replied to the king. “But we do need your help,” he added, turning to the queen. “In order to discover the location of the third star, we require assistance from both the queen of light beings and the queen of dark beings.”

  “I don’t understand,” the queen replied. “I don’t know anything about the Christmas stars. And why would the queen of dark beings help us? If what you say is true, she is one of Belsnickel’s creations.”

  “She will help us because not all dark creatures agreed with Belsnickel’s power-hungry ways. Once the dark beings were free of his persuasion, most of them wanted to be a part of the solution. That is why one star was hidden in their realm and one was hidden in yours. Only a light being could obtain the star in the dark realm, and only a dark being could obtain the star in the light realm. No one knows where the final star is hidden, but the key to finding it lies with the queens of the two realms.”

  “I don’t know anything about the final star,” the queen said.

  “From what I’ve heard, the details of the star’s location was handed down from queen to queen, in both realms,” Jack slowly replied. “Do you have anything that was passed down to you from your mother and from her mother to her? A precious family heirloom or a treasure of some kind? Anything that could give us a clue to the star’s whereabouts.”

  “I don’t know,” the queen said. Her eyes were worried as she shook her head. “Lots of things have been passed down to me from my ancestors. But none that I can think might help us find the star.”

  A troubled look fell across Jack’s face. It was like he expected the queen to have the answer for him straightaway.

  “Why do you even need to find the star?” the queen asked. “If it’s still intact and I don’t have the information needed to find it, surely there’s no risk of it being destroyed.”

  I glanced at Jack, wondering the same thing. Since he had rescued us from Incarceror after the second star exploded, all he had told us was that we needed to find the final star. But if the queen didn’t know how to find it, then surely the final star was lost forever.

  “Once Belsnickel’s powers return in full, he will not need any help uncovering the star,” Jack replied. “We need to find it before he does, and we need to protect it from him. This is the only way to ensure he cannot rouse an army of dark beings to try and destroy our world once again.”

  “So, what do we do?” I asked. “If the queen has no idea how to find the star, surely, we’re at a dead end?”

  Jack hesitated. There was no sign of the disturbing joy he had radiated while entering the castle, trying to freeze everyone in sight. Concern now filled his eyes, and a frown creased his pale brow as he thought about how to respond.

  “What if we went to the queen of the Southern Realm?” Vixen suggested.

  We all turned to look at her. Her face was filled with confidence as she looked around the room. She shrugged as everyone’s eyes fell on her, as if her idea was an obvious one.

  “Think about it,” she continued. “The dark queen might know what the object is that will help us find the star. And if she knows, then we can find the corresponding object back here.”

  “It might be our only option,” the queen agreed. “But she’ll be difficult to get to. The royal castle is in the South Pole.”

  “And we can’t all just go traipsing into the South Pole right now,” Coop added. “Not when they’re at war with us.”

  “No, we can’t,” Dash agreed. “So, just Jack, Clio, and I will go. We’ll move faster if it’s only the three of us.”

  “You want to take Clio with you?” Vixen scoffed.

  I was just as surprised as Vixen was when Dash said my name. Still, it hurt a little that she was quite so shocked.

  “As a claus, her powers might be useful in trying to get to the queen,” Dash replied.

  “But she can’t protect you like we can,” Vixen continued.

  “Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence,” I muttered.

  Vixen shot me a hard look but didn’t address me again. “And I don’t think it’s a good idea to take an escaped criminal with you.”

  “I thought we just established Jack wasn’t a criminal after all,” Blitz said, earning himself one of Vixen’s scowls.

  “Enough,” the queen said. She’d barely raised her voice, but it cut through the conversation like a knife, silencing us all.

  “Dasher will go with Jack and Clio,” she continued. “The rest of you will stay here at the castle and help with the incoming refugees from around the realm until they return. You are dismissed.” Her tone of voice left no room for argument.

  The others began to trail out, but the queen took Jack by the arm, causing him to stop. “If you have any trouble getting to the dark queen, try to get her a message. Tell her that I’ve sent you and that dire times are upon us and we need to talk. Speak those words specifically, and she should grant you an audience.”

  Jack slowly nodded, seeming uncertain. “Are you sure that will work?”

  “My mother always told me to say those exact words should we ever need help from the dark queen. I hope she knew what she was talking about,” the queen replied. She let go of his arm and nodded for him to go on.

  I gave the queen one last look as I left the room. She seemed concerned and nervous with none of her usual surety about her. It was a feeling I could relate to. I was heading back to the Southern Realm, only this time I was going right to its very heart.

  Chapter Four

  Dash, Jack, and I were quiet as we drove beyond the high walls of the castle and back through the forest toward the city. I hated leaving the rest of our group behind, and the silence put me on edge. I couldn’t stop worrying about Belsnickel considering the seemingly impossible task before us. Not only did we have to get to the South Pole, but we also had to gain access to the queen of dark beings, which I couldn’t imagine would be easy. The one thing in our favor was the fact that the barriers were now almost completely down. Hopefully, that meant I wouldn’t need dark fairy dust to get into the Southern Realm again.

  I glanced at Dash as the memory of our last trip to the Southern Realm rose up in my mind. The kiss we’d shared while under the influence of fairy dust lingered in my thoughts. He hadn’t tried to kiss me since, so I doubted that Adara had been right when she’d told me he had feelings for me. The kiss had been amazing though, and it was something I certainly couldn’t forget.

  Dash turned to look at me, and I quickly diverted my eyes away from his lips—which I realized I was staring at. “So, how are we planning to get to the South Pole?” I asked, clearing my throat.

  “If we enter the Southern Realm through the outer boundaries of the forest again, it will take too long to get to the South Pole,” Dash replied. “I think we’re going to need to visit Merik again and see if he can get us to a sleigh point closer to the city. Unless, of course, Jack here knows how to get to the South Pole.”

  Jack shook his head. “Can’t say I’ve been able to tick that one off my travel bucket list. I am a light being, after all, and I’ve also been trapped in a prison for the last few centuries.”

  “So, Merik i
t is,” Dash said.

  As we entered the outer limits of the North Pole, I felt less worried about getting to the South Pole and more concerned with getting out of the Northern Realm. “Are we really going back to the sleigh point we came in through?” I asked Dash.

  He nodded, looking as nervous about it as I was. We didn’t have Tomi to protect the truck this time, and I knew it was going to be dangerous trying to get past all the fighting again.

  “Surely, there’s a better way to get out of here than driving into the middle of that mess,” I said.

  “There might be,” Jack replied. “Just keep driving to the sleigh point, Dash. I’ll tell you where to stop.”

  It was growing dark as we neared the center of the North Pole. Jack directed Dash to park several streets away from the sleigh point, and I could hear fighting in the distance as I got out of the car. Every so often, the sky would light up as powerful explosions rocked the buildings around us. The battle sounded far more violent than it had earlier today, and there was so much shouting that I was nervous to walk toward it.

  “Are you both sure about this?” I asked, as we quietly made our way down the street. The roads were normally teeming with magical beings, but right now they were all completely deserted. Even the pretty lights that normally lit the street at night were dark.

  “Yes, I have an idea that should work,” Jack said.

  As we neared the central square, Jack didn’t continue toward it. Instead, he headed for one of the abandoned buildings that looked out over the sleigh point. The exterior walls of the building appeared to be made of gold, but the color was tarnished black from all the explosions that had been going off in the area.

  There were cars near the entrance that had been blackened by flames, and the glass windows of the building were all shattered. Jack didn’t hesitate as he opened the front door and entered the building. The interior was dark, but I could still make out the ornate looking furniture. A house this close to the ancient tree in the center of the city would have to belong to a high-ranking being, but that clearly didn’t mean anything when a war was going on.