Fairy Godmothers, Inc.

by Jenniffer Wardell

  Gingerly, Kate opened the door, chest loosening in relief as the light from the hallway fell on the edge of a pink skirt. Rellie was standing close to the wall adjoining the room where her stepfamily was, eyes closed and ear flat against the wallpaper as if trying to listen to whatever conversation was happening on the other side. “There you are,” Kate said quietly, not bothering to hide the relief on her face.

  Rellie’s eyes flew open as she leapt away from the wall. “Kate! You’re—” She froze, every ounce of her attention focused over Kate’s shoulder. Her eyes were huge, full of fear and hope and a little guilt. “Ned?”

  Kate stepped out of the way so Ned could move forward. “It’s me.” He peeled the paper backing off the patch. “You kind of scared me for a minute there, Rellie.”

  “I heard Belzie yelling at someone, and I wanted to know what they were doing in the palace,” she whispered, taking a hesitant step forward. “Ned, you know it was just the love potion, right? I don’t really want to get all fluttery when I—”

  “I know,” he cut her off gently, shaking his wand until a fine pink mist formed. “We’ll fix it.” He moved close to her, brushing her hair away from the side of her neck. “This won’t hurt, but it’s probably going to feel weird.”

  She squeezed her eyes shut. “Just do it, please.”

  Ned swallowed as he pressed the patch against the side of Rellie’s neck, holding it there. When the girl swayed he wrapped his other arm around her, and a few seconds later she opened her eyes again. His arm tightened and she grinned up at him. “You are so much cuter than Jon,” she whispered and threw her arms around his neck, holding on for all she was worth. Ned, having a firm grasp of priorities, dropped his wand so he could return the favor. “So. Much. Cuter.”

  Kate gave in to her own grin as she picked up Ned’s abandoned wand before retreating into the corridor. At the other end she could see Jon talking to Lawton, who had apparently given up his own search for Rellie sometime in the last few minutes. When she moved closer, Jon shifted his attention back to her. “So, everyone’s back to normal now?”

  “Relatively speaking.” She kissed his cheek, happily moving into the circle of his arms for some snuggling of her own. Everyone she cared about was safe and accounted for, and she was going to let herself savor that state of affairs for as long as it lasted. “They need a few minutes alone, but after that we should all find someplace slightly less out in the open. I’m all for collapsing in relief for a little while, but not this close to your mother and Rellie’s stepfamily.”

  “There are a few rooms in the east wing we keep ready for diplomats, which means they’ve been recently dusted.” Jon smoothed a hand down Kate’s hair. “Once everyone’s settled in, I can double-check that everything’s moving ahead on the little show I’m getting ready.”

  Lawton raised an eyebrow at his friend. “Don’t be ridiculous, Jon. You’ve had what, fifteen minutes of sleep in the last forty-eight hours?”

  Kate pulled back, alarmed. “Really?”

  “He’s exaggerating,” Jon protested, then sighed when Kate narrowed her eyes at him. “It was about an hour, but I’m fine. Really.”

  “Oh, that makes such a difference.” Lawton looked at Kate. “Katharine, I beg you to make him sensible for me. I need to go retrieve Rupert from whatever trouble he’s undoubtedly wandered into in the last few minutes, and hopefully force him to assist me in rounding up assurances from the women Jon insists he’ll need for his master plan.”

  After he’d left, Kate stepped back and gave Jon her most resolute look. “He’s right, you know. Bubbles isn’t going to know enough to come after me until at least late tomorrow morning, and hopefully we’ll have even longer than that. If you get some sleep now, we’ll still have plenty of time to finish putting together that plan you mentioned.”

  “I’m fine,” Jon repeated stubbornly, the effect ruined when the last word broke off in a yawn. This time, it was his turn to narrow his eyes. “I blame that on Lawton.”

  She kept the smile from showing, knowing he was fully capable of charming her out of making him go to sleep. Luckily, she wasn’t completely defenseless against him. “If we’re going to make this work, then I’ve got to be able to take care of you, too. Equal partners,” she said gently, brushing her knuckles against his cheek. “Which means that right now, it’s my job to make sure you get some rest before you fall over.”

  His expression softened as he lifted a hand to capture hers. “I like the sound of that.”

  The conversation would have likely dissolved into sheer romantic nonsense at that point, but Rellie and Ned’s arrival interrupted them. Kate couldn’t help but notice they held hands so tightly it would have taken an army to pry them apart. “Feeling better?” Jon asked, clearly pleased by the sight.

  Rellie grinned at Ned, who blushed. “I definitely want to kiss the right person again, if that’s what you mean.”

  “That’s exactly what I mean,” Jon said. Reluctantly, he moved away from the wall, taking Kate’s hand in compensation. “Ned, Rellie, it’s probably a good idea for neither of you to go home tonight. We’ll get you settled into some rooms and see about anything else you might need.” He caught Kate’s eyes. “Then, all four of us are going to get some rest, and I’ll get your help with the shoe-fitting in the morning.”

  Ned’s brow furrowed. “I’m not sure how a shoe-fitting is going to help keep Bubbles from killing Kate and me.”

  “Image, mostly.” Jon’s eyes lit with anticipation. “And lawyers.”

  As it turned out, they didn’t make it all the way over to the east wing—pages kept flocking to Jon like enchanted minions, and Kate finally dragged him and the rest of their little group into the nearest bedroom and locked the door behind them. Rellie insisted she wasn’t tired, but after they’d taken care of the dust clouds, and Ned had cuddled up close on the couch, she was asleep within moments. Kate and Jon stretched out on the still-made bed, arms wrapped around each other, and immediately drifted off into a long-awaited slumber.

  The next morning, it was Kate’s turn to spend some quality time in one of the palace’s many closets.

  “I thought, ‘How hard can it be? Even royalty has to have something better to wear than a Fairy Godmothers outfit,’” she muttered, peeling off a brocade gown stiff enough to potentially injure innocent bystanders. “They have to wear something normal occasionally.”

  “Normal’s boring, and you’re just being picky.” Rellie, who had invited herself into the dress-up session after complaining of Kate’s slowness, held up a silver dress seemingly covered in three-inch-long fringe. “How about this one? It even sort of matches the shoes.”

  Kate sighed. “With my luck, someone will mistake me for a duster.” She did like the shoes, though—she’d made them earlier, a set of “glass” slippers almost identical to Rellie’s, but a little too large even for Lawton’s feet. Then she’d given Ned her wand and shown him how to change their size, a set of moves he was currently out in the bedroom practicing so he’d be ready when she put the shoes on.

  If she could, she would have taken over his part of the plan in a second. But that wasn’t how fairy tales went.

  Grabbing a dress off the floor and holding it in front of her, Kate opened the closet door a crack and poked her head out to look at Jon. “Next time we get ourselves into this kind of trouble, all I ask is that you come up with a plan where I get to wear something sensible.”

  Jon shook his head regretfully. “Not with those wings, sweetheart. Everyone’s fine with fairy princesses, but no one’s ever heard of a fairy serving girl.”

  “This is so much easier when I get to be the one holding the wand.”

  Lawton, settled back against the couch, looked amused as he took a sip from his glass of brandy. “It continues to fascinate me how much you remind me of Jon sometimes.” He turned to Jon. “In answer to your previous question, eighteen of the twenty-five women are downstairs getting dressed and waiting for furt
her instruction. The rest should be arriving within the hour.”

  “I’ll be babysitting any kids they had to bring along,” Rupert chimed in, stretched out along a bare spot of floor. “It’ll let some of the women hide the fact that they’re not really single, and I’ll get to hide from Mother until all of this is over.”

  “Good. I’ve already prepped the lawyers.” Jon nodded as he mentally reviewed the plan. “Their other clients are exactly the kind of people who use Fairy Godmothers, Inc., and they’ve already assured me they’ll be more than happy to spread the word that the company no longer offers the reliable service it once appeared to.”

  “And gets in the way of other socially-appropriate love stories, such as the handsome prince falling in love with the fairy princess who magically fits the glass slipper.” Lawton’s smirk broadened as he lifted his glass in an imaginary toast.

  “People, you have to stop calling Kate a fairy princess. It will make her even crabbier than she is now.” Rellie stuck her arm out underneath Kate’s, a mass of velvety deep blue fabric bunched up in her hand. “Try this on. It’s the absolute most boring thing I could find in here.” When Kate took it, the girl used the same route to duck out of the closet completely. “Jon, you probably need to kiss her again.”

  “I’m not crabby, I’m frustrated,” Kate said. “There’s a difference.”

  Jon lifted an eyebrow. “Does that mean I can’t kiss you?”

  Kate’s cheeks went red, but she felt a smile itching at her mouth. “Wait until I’ve gotten changed.”

  She shut the door again, holding up the dress Rellie had found for her. It was extremely basic, with long straight sleeves and a skirt that didn’t pouf out at all—it was probably meant to be an under-dress originally for some of the more ridiculously complicated see-through things they’d found in here already. Even better, the back clasps looked like they would work with her wings.

  Kate opened the door again, fastening the top clasp by feel as she stepped out of the closet. “Okay, now I’m ready to actually do something useful.”

  Jon grinned at her, coming over for a quick kiss. “As much as I’d like to say being glued to my side is where you’re most vitally needed at the moment, it’s the perfect time for you to give the other women some acting cues for the shoe-fitting. I’m going to go see if I can—”

  He stopped as someone knocked at the door. Everyone turned; even Rupert lifted his head. “Is there any chance that’s Father coming to see how we’re all doing?” he asked.

  “If it is, he won’t mind that we’re being a little cautious.” Jon gestured for them to stay where they were as he approached the door. “Still, there’s no reason to worry. At worst, it’s probably one of Madame Stewart’s assistants annoyed that they’re not in charge of whatever’s being set up in the ballroom.”

  But the visitor turned out to be a short, neatly dressed man with a touch of gray in his hair and a stack of paperwork in one hand. “Your Highness, I’m aware you’re busy with a personal project, but I’ve been needing to speak to you about one of our suppliers for several days.” Whatever else he’d been about to say trailed off at the crowd gathered in the room. “Ah.” The man’s eyes widened as Rupert slowly got to his feet, and he cleared his throat, before meeting Jon’s eyes again. “Perhaps another time.”

  “If you wouldn’t mind, Graham.” There was more than a trace of guilt in Jon’s voice. “I’m sorry I haven’t been as available as I should be, but I’m hoping to have this project wrapped up sometime in the next day or two. We’ll talk then.”

  “Of course.” Graham nodded, gaze sliding back to the still-silent group as if he couldn’t quite help himself. “Forgive me for asking, Your Highness, but speculation over the details of your personal project have run rampant this last week or so. You’ve been responsible for some of the most solid management the kingdom has seen in years, and your recent distraction has been the cause of some concern.”

  Jon winced. “Like I said, I’m truly sorry. I promise you things should return to normal within a few days at most.” He paused a moment, considering something, then turned to look at Kate. She grimaced as she realized what he was about to do, but he was speaking again before she could try to signal him. “As to what my personal project is, let me refer you to someone far more qualified to answer that question than I.”

  Kate glared at Jon, but he just tried to look supportive as he tilted his head toward Graham. Not knowing what else to do, she joined him at the door. “Hi, I’m Kate.” She held out a hand to the other man, who was looking almost as startled as she felt. “I guess you could call me the personal project.”

  “Well, that would make sense.” Graham’s expression slowly eased, and he gave Kate a bow instead of taking her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am.” He straightened, smiling. “The staff will be comforted by the news. There has been some speculation in this direction, but the young blond girl who has been staying with us the last day or so seemed to be the most likely candidate for our future queen. Naturally, that has been the cause of further concern.” He nodded at them both, ignoring Rellie’s indignant “Hey!” in the background. “Good day to you all.”

  Once he left, Jon shut the door and put an encouraging arm around Kate’s shoulders. “See? They like you.”

  Not having a sufficiently witty answer to that, she groaned.

  TWENTY-FIVE

  Romantic Destiny

  Evening was rapidly approaching and there was still no sign of Bubbles. Jon had sandwiches brought in to feed the gathering crowd he needed for his plan. Unfortunately, the queen arrived a few minutes later. She stood next to Jon outside the ballroom doors, glowering at the crowd of women sitting on the ballroom floor, their borrowed skirts spread around them as they laughed and chatted with each other. “Princes do not find their true love in the middle of some fancy dress picnic, Jonathan. You said this entire display of yours would show me the woman capable of finally making you act properly besotted.”

  Jon patted her on the shoulder. “Our villainess hasn’t arrived yet. Trust me, it’ll look much more impressive once we get started.” He resisted the temptation to walk her inside and introduce her to Kate, who had gone to hide behind the stairs the moment Lawton had come in to warn them the queen’s arrival. “Out of curiosity, why aren’t you still upstairs playing dominance games with Rellie’s stepmother?”

  The queen huffed. “That ridiculous woman. It completely escapes her that I am the one ruling a country.” She glanced over at her son. “It’s probably for the best that you aren’t madly in love with that blond child. It’s been years since royalty received carte blanche to execute the in-laws.”

  Jon made sure his mother had turned away again before he let the amused smile escape. “True, but it seems like a bad idea to let them wander around the palace un-chaperoned.”

  “Oh, they’re fine. Your father offered to show them the armory.” His mother’s brow furrowed. “It was rather sweet of him, actually.”

  Jon’s response was cut off when one of the palace guards hurried toward them. Jon hoped the man’s determined look was a good sign. “Any news?” Jon asked.

  The guard bowed as the queen turned to look at him. “A woman matching the description you gave has been seen in town, Your Highness, along with four men wearing what appear to be private security uniforms. It seems she’s been asking questions about a Fairy Godmother who works for her.”

  “Excellent. Have your men collect the entire group and escort them to the palace. Tell them this is not an arrest, but that their presence has caused a disruption among the citizenry and the royal family has some questions they need answered.”

  The guard bowed again and left, and Jon turned back to his mother. “The show’s about to start. Do you want to be the one to collect Father and our guests, or should I have a page do it?”

  The queen appeared to have other things on her mind. “This ‘true love’ of yours had better not be that Fairy Godmother,�
� she warned her son, eyeing him suspiciously. “I can’t have one of my daughters-in-law employed by people she’ll outrank. I could never show my face at a ball again.”

  Jon just smiled. “I’ll let you know in a few hours.” He turned and headed into the ballroom. “Places, everyone! We’re about to have company!”

  A half-hour later, the guards walked a gray-haired woman in a pink Fairy Godmothers uniform and four men who looked like security personnel through the main ballroom doors. The men, who kept glancing over at the palace guards, looked increasingly confused and uncomfortable with every step. The gray-haired woman—Bubbles, undoubtedly—was glaring as if she were a giantess being ordered around by pixies.

  Jon ignored her for the moment, slipping the gigantic glass shoe over the foot of a very happily married woman who ran a leather goods shop in town. With one hand braced on Lawton’s shoulder, she lifted her foot to show the gathered crowd that the shoe was much too large for her foot. Both she and Jon shook their head solemnly as the rest of the room made a disappointed sound in almost perfect unison. The woman gave a single, delicate sniffle before heading back down the steps, allowing the next in line to approach the throne and test her foot in the shoe.

  It was only then that he looked up at Bubbles, as if he had just noticed her presence. He gestured to Lawton to take his place, then stood and approached her with a carefully surprised expression on his face. “A senior staff member of Fairy Godmothers, Inc.? If I had known I would have sent for you immediately.” His voice was welcoming as he gestured to the crowd behind him. “Clearly, this was where you wanted to be all along.”

  Bubbles’ eyes widened as she stared at the women, then narrowed again as she snapped her gaze back to Jon. “You shouldn’t be holding a shoe-fitting,” she accused. “Your contract was fini—” She drew in a low breath, her expression closing down. “I see Kate lied about that as well.” Her voice was full of repressed fury. “Your Highness, my people and I need to leave immediately and resume our search. The company has an internal matter that needs to be taken care of.”