Wickedly Ever After

by Tegan Maher

  ‘Child,” Endeara said with a soft sigh. “I don’t know what time period you come from, but I have to believe it’s a more civilized one. He believed our country to be unprotected without a king and that we’d be easy to conquer. I’ve disabused him of that misconception several times, and yet, he still tries.”

  The pieces fell into place in my head. “So if he ever found out about Ella, he’d have a rightful claim to the throne.”

  She bowed her head. “He would. He’d marry her and then he’d kill her.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Because he’s had a mistress for years. She’s as evil as he is, though like him, you’d never know it to talk to her. Ella would be in the way.”

  I considered all that she’d said. “So as long as he lives, she’s not safe.”

  She shook her head. “Like I said, her situation isn’t ideal, but it’s the best I can do. I promised her father I’d look after her. She obviously can’t go prancing around like a princess as she deserves. I can’t even show her any true affection outside of our private chambers because that would draw attention to her.”

  “But your servants—”

  “Have been spelled so that they can’t mention it to anybody. That much, I can control. My kingdom, my rules. Though I doubt a single one of them would betray her even if they could. She’s well-loved. Still, we get emissaries and visitors.”

  I had no response and I couldn’t think of a solution. I had to admit—she’d done the best she could in a crap situation.

  “But she said she’s been beaten,” I said.

  “Well of course she has,” Endeara snapped. “Spare the rod, spoil the child. No more than her sisters got, though. Less, actually. They were hellions.” +

  Colin spoke up. “So I guess my only question is why you brought her here, where she’d be in such close proximity to him.”

  She looked toward the sky, then gave me a disbelieving look. “I thought this would be the safest place for her. I thought maybe she could even participate in the ball. I didn’t realize there would be other mortals here, let alone that Albert’s been playing tickle-tag with Aphrodite’s grandchild or that he would bring Alexander with him. What are the odds? I’m just grateful I didn’t tell Ella that I was planning to let her participate. It would have broken her heart.”

  Suddenly, the mood in the room shifted. Even through the dampening spell, I could feel the thickness of the silence that blanketed the hall. I turned to look in the direction everyone else was and gasped.

  Endeara’s hand fluttered to her chest. “Oh, child, what have you done?”

  One of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen was standing at the top of the stairs, her ball gown shimmering with the sheen of the finest pearl. Though her intricate mask hid most of her face, there was no doubt it was Ella. And every eye in the place was on her.

  Chapter 9

  Endeara turned to me. “This is your fault,” she hissed, then started to push herself to her feet.

  Colin placed a hand on her arm to stop her. “Don’t,” he said. “If you do, all’s lost for sure. Sit down and hope he doesn’t recognize her.”

  “But what about her stepsisters?” I asked. “Surely they’ll realize who she is.”

  Endeara huffed. “Don’t be too sure. I love my girls, but they’re not the sharpest knives in the cupboard. Besides, even if they do recognize her, my spell should hold. They shouldn’t be able to reveal her identity.”

  I searched the crowd for Alexander, hoping beyond hope that he wasn’t in the room. Of course, our luck wouldn’t extend that far. He was sitting a couple tables away, fork halfway to his mouth as he stared at the vision that was Ella.

  “Do you think he recognizes her?” Colin asked.

  Endeara shook her head. “There’s no way he could. He’s never seen her. I’ve made sure that any time he’s ever had cause to be at the castle, she was kept far away and out of sight.”

  Two men sat across the table from us. My knowledge of fashion was limited, but they were dressed sort of like the men in A Christmas Carol, right down to the top hats. They were as enthralled as the rest of the room, though their interest seemed almost clinical. “Do you see what I do, brother?”

  “If you mean the apparition of beauty standing yon, then yes, I do indeed.”

  “She’s a vision born to foster stories,” the first man said. “She deserves to have her name recorded and preserved for all time.”

  It was a weird conversation, but I couldn’t help myself. Maybe it was because I couldn’t do jack-diddly about the fact that Ella was standing up there like a lamb for slaughter, but I turned to them, curious to know who they were.

  “Kind sirs, if we’re going to be dinner companions, we should introduce ourselves. I’m Destiny Maganti.”

  “Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. Charmed, I’m sure,” the one directly across from me said without taking his eyes from Ella.

  If only he knew how close to the target his words were.

  “Wait,” Colin said. “Did you say Grimm?”

  “I did. And what of it?” The older brother asked.

  “Nothing,” Colin replied, shooting me an astonished look. “I just wanted to make sure I heard you correctly.”

  Though I had a million questions for the brothers who’d written such timeless stories, I didn’t have time to indulge my curiosity. I caught Ari’s eye, and though I wasn’t sure if he had some way of telling what was going on, I tried to get him the message with my eyes that he needed to do something to break the spell she’d cast over the whole room. Figuratively speaking, of course.

  Thankfully he was quick on the uptake and stood, once again clanging his spoon to his glass.

  “The food and wine will continue to flow until you’ve all had your fill, but the musicians are preparing to play in the ballroom. You may make your way there at your pleasure.”

  That did the trick. The silence was broken as people resumed talking and laughing. Some trickled from the room, but others, afraid to miss anything but not wanting to miss out on the food, dug into the feast in earnest. I breathed a quick sigh of relief that at least she was no longer the center of attention.

  Still, as she made her way down the staircase to the dining hall, my heart sank when Prince Alexander rose to his feet.

  I turned to Endeara. “How can we fix it?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t see any way to fix it. It’s easy to let the cat out of the bag. Stuffing it back in is another matter altogether. But I suspect you’ll find a way; you strike me as a resourceful girl, and since you put her life at risk, I’m trusting you’ll find a way to save her.”

  No pressure, then.

  My mind whirled. There had to be something.

  But no matter how hard I thought, the evening dragged on until eventually my worst fears came to pass. I saw them dancing, each of them smiling. I couldn’t help but notice this time around that Alexander’s smile never quite made it to his eyes. I finally saw what Endeara did—a cruel spirit hidden in the face of a near-angel.

  ‘What if we explain everything to her?” I asked Colin a couple of hours after the whole debacle had started. “Just tell her what the score is?”

  He shook his head. “She’s a teenager who’s just had her first experience with the whole man/woman thing. Do you think she’d listen to you? You can’t undo it, Des. This is what I meant when I said you could make things immeasurably worse for her. You weren’t playing with all the cards when you said those things to her.”

  “I wasn’t trying to play anything,” I snapped. “I was trying to right a wrong.”

  “Which ended up not being a wrong after all,” Tempest not-so-helpfully pointed out.

  I glowered at them both. “I realize that now, and I know I should have listened to you, but that ship’s sailed. Now we gotta figure out how to save her from him.”

  Endeara, who’d worked her way back to us after spending the last hours hovering as close to Ella as she cou
ld, worried her lip. “There’s one last thing you should know, and it looks as if it may come to pass.”

  I cocked a brow at her, not sure how the situation could possibly get any worse.

  “I added one more emergency measure to the layers of protection I built around her.”

  I was afraid to ask, but had no choice. If I had a snowball’s chance of fixing the mess I’d made, I needed all the pieces. “What did you do?”

  “I spelled her so that if they kiss, she’ll fall into a deep sleep.”

  Tempest turned toward her. “And how, in the name of little green apples, is that supposed to help?”

  Endeara’s brows snapped down. “Because Henry had a suspicious streak, and I suspect he wanted to protect his daughter, too. He put in the contract that the marriage had to be willingly consummated before Alexander had any right to our throne.”

  I thought about it. It was a bit ruthless, but I could see where she was coming from. Sometimes you have to sacrifice the pawn to take the queen. Or, in this case, to protect the queen. I didn’t play chess, so I had no idea if that played right as an analogy, but whatever. I couldn’t fault her for it, especially given that she’d only put it in place as a measure of last resort.

  Then it occurred to me that the story was all wrong. The queen and stepsisters were supposed to be the evil ones, and the prince was the good guy. I gave the brothers, who were standing across the room, the hairy eyeball. If I managed to fix this mess, we were gonna have a come-to-Jesus chat before they let their quills fly on this one.

  Ari, who’d been waylaid by one guest after another, finally made his way toward us. “May I ask who the princess is and why you felt it necessary to take the well-deserved attention from her earlier?”

  I explained, and he heaved a sigh. “Destiny, what did I tell you about meddling?”

  I squirmed beneath his gaze. “I know, I know. But wasn’t the story supposed to take place anyway?”

  “Not here, it wasn’t. It was supposed to take place on your plane of existence.”

  “But the Brothers Grimm are here,” I pointed out.

  “Yes, and?”

  “What story are you talking about?” Endeara asked, puzzled. “And what does it have to do with Maribella?”

  “Wait,” I said. “Who?”

  She motioned with her hand, exasperated. “Maribella. Ella.”

  My mouth formed a little O. Boy had I really muddled things.

  Ari shot me a warning glance and I did my best to extricate myself before I sank myself even further into the hole I’d dug. “It’s one of those rule things. The short answer is that maybe Maribella isn’t supposed to have anything at all to do with the story.”

  I glanced around the room to see where Ella and Alexander had gotten to, and I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that they were on opposite sides of the room talking to different groups of people. Still, I didn’t like the way he kept looking in her direction, his eyes appraising, nor the way Ella kept fluttering her lashes at him. Alexander may have been a real jerk, but he wasn’t a stupid jerk. If he managed to put two and two together, we were in real trouble.

  “Maybe she’s had time to get her fill of the ball. I’ll try to coral her and get her to go back to her room,” I said. “You two keep Alexander occupied.”

  “I’m afraid I can’t help there,” Endeara said. “He despises me, and any overture of kindness on my part would be suspicious. He’s a murderous swine, but he’s no idiot.”

  “I’ll do it,” Colin said. “We’ve already met, so it won’t be odd for me to approach him.”

  While Colin worked his way toward Alexander, I elbowed my way through the throng of men vying for Ella’s attention.

  “Excuse me gentlemen, but I need a word with the lady.”

  Ella looked at me, her big baby blues dancing with delight. “Destiny! Isn’t this grand? Thank you so much for talking me into defying Endeara.”

  “I didn’t mean for you to do it in such a grand fashion,” I snapped, then pressed my lips together when her face fell.

  “I thought about what you told me,” she said, “and then it occurred to me that our meeting was not just happenstance. Perhaps you truly were my destiny, come in the flesh to guide me.”

  I didn’t even know how to respond to that for a couple of moments.

  “Not even close,” I finally replied. “In fact, I’ve made a royal mess of things, no pun intended. You need to go back to your room. Endeara knows what’s best for you; trust me.”

  “Silly girl,” she said as if I’d made a joke. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m having the time of my life and I deserve to be here. I am a p-p-p—” she stumbled over the word princess, and I was glad to see Endeara’s spell was holding. She lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “And that prince, the most handsome man in the room, likes me, I think.”

  “That prince is trouble with a capital T. He does not have your best interests at heart. He wants your kingdom, or at the very least, your virtue.” I couldn’t believe I’d actually just used the word virtue in a serious conversation, but then again, I was standing in a room full of angels talking to a mythical princess. It wasn’t the weirdest point of my evening.

  Her eyes sparked with righteous anger. “Why would you say something like that? You’re the one who said I didn’t deserve to be treated poorly, and now you’re saying I’m not enough to attract a handsome man.”

  I sighed. “I’m not saying that at all. I’m saying that particular handsome man has an ulterior motive. Maybe two, if he’s figured out who you are.”

  Her face fell and I wanted to kick myself for being the one to knock the wind out of her sails. “Look,” I said. “You’re beautiful and kind and deserve a man who will treat you well. That man is not him. Now please, just go back to your room and wait for Endeara. The ball’s about over, anyway, and then we can all go home, no harm, no foul. Hopefully.”

  She narrowed her eyes at me but then heaved a sigh. “You’re the first person who’s ever treated me as if I have worth. If you say that’s what I should do, then I’ll do it. Besides,” she said, giving a self-deprecating laugh as she plucked at the shimmering fabric of her skirt, “I should have known this was too good to be true. I’m ... related to my father in name only. In reality, I’m a servant.”

  I didn’t have the time or luxury to correct her. If that’s what it took to get her away from the prince, then I’d just have to deal with the blow to her newly found self-esteem later.

  “Do you need me to escort you back?” I asked, half-afraid to leave her alone.

  She shook her head, resignation in her eyes. “I’d rather be alone, thank you.”

  My heart ached at the harm I’d done to her, but I let her go. When she disappeared from sight in the direction of the living quarters, I scanned the room to make sure Alexander was still occupied. He was. Colin had him locked in conversation, his back to us. I sent up a little prayer to the universe that I’d managed to fix my screw-up, then returned to Endeara’s side, stopping along the way to chat with other guests so that I didn’t look too obvious just in case I was being watched.

  “Thank you,” she said, worry deepening the fine wrinkles around her eyes. “I think I should go check on her. She looked crushed.”

  “She was,” I said, disgusted at myself for doing so much damage. Even though I’d done it with her best interests at heart, I’d harmed her much more than I’d helped her.

  Endeara laid a hand on my arm, the worry on her face shifting to compassion. “Don’t berate yourself. What you tried to do was commendable, given the information you had to work with. Just, in the future, be wise in your actions. Know the whole story before you assume the worst.”

  With those words of caution hanging in the air, she left me to go check on the child she’d done so much to protect even though it had broken her heart to do so. I felt like a real ass.

  I plucked a glass of champagne from a tray and gulped it down, reveling in the
warmth that spread through me. I waited eagerly for the numbness I knew would follow.

  Tempest jumped onto my shoulder and nuzzled the side of my face, an affectionate action that she only used when she knew I was hurting. “You realize that in almost any other situation, what you did would have been right, don’t you?”

  “It doesn’t really matter, because this wasn’t any other situation,” I said.

  “Then go ahead and wallow,” she said, using her standard tough-love approach. “I love it when you’re all woe-is-me. It’s such an attractive look, and you wear it well.”

  I scowled, but she was right. What was done, was done.

  Colin extricated himself as soon as he could without raising suspicion, and we went back to our rooms. The ball had lost its magic for me, and all I wanted to do was sleep until it was time to go home.

  Chapter 10

  A loud pounding on our door roused me from a solid sleep, where evil princes had chased me through a dark forest all night. Try as I might to get away, I kept falling, and my magic failed me. I was almost grateful for the intrusion.

  As always, Colin was on his feet and wide awake before I even had enough wits about me to realize what was making the noise.

  He pulled on his clothes on the way to the door and jerked it open.

  “You have to come,” a woman’s voice said. “I’m Syri, Endeara’s handmaid. Endeara’s been cursed and the princess is gone.”

  “Which princess?” Colin asked, buttoning his shirt. I peered around him, Tempest already on my shoulder, to find a woman dressed in a serviceable dress and a maid’s cap.

  “Princess Ella,” she whispered, and I wondered how she’d been able to speak her name. I about passed out when realization hit me. Endeara’s spell was broken. That couldn’t mean anything good.

  “Ari!” I called, hoping against hope that he’d hear me and come. I was nothing short of amazed when he popped in less than three seconds later.

  “What?” he asked, poised for battle, his panicked gaze darting around the darkened room for the threat. I explained what had happened, and his eyes darkened. “Wait here.”