The Real Folktale Blues (Beyond Ever After #1)

by Random Jordan

  The amusement in Bonny’s face dropped away and she glared me over with her one visible eye. “How?”

  I sighed, “You ran off after Hue threw an axe at you. Hue’s notorious for rooting out pirates. He hates them enough to openly attack them anywhere, even around me. All it took was some asking of the right people then.”

  She let out a hearty laugh, but not like her usual ones. “Good. But I can’t just leave. It will take at least a day to get to the docks and longer to sail to the Sleeping Kingdom. I don’t have a scheduled return to my ship for another week at least.”

  “If we don’t leave now, I will huff and puff and blow your carefully crafted world down, Bonny.”

  Her eye locked with mine and I could practically taste the energy ignited between us. And it actually tasted funny, like incredibly old cheese but not. It wasn’t magic either though, which dismissed my theory that Bonny had been the culprit responsible for my magic time trip.

  “Fine. The shift change is in an hour. We’ll leave then. For now I suggest some sleep, because I am not stopping for any of you if you feel tired on the journey.” She set her jaw then settled back into her chair, scooping up a piece of paper and ignoring us.

  “I guess we really are sleeping with the captain then?” Ashe glimmered with a smile.

  I lifted up from the desk and shifted to look at the brunette with her new shoulder-length hair. I shook my head. “I can’t believe I used to think you were so innocent.”

  She blushed and squeaked in defiance, “I am innocent!”

  “Says the girl who came up with the consort cover story?”

  Ashe’s blush grew more vibrant and I just grinned and laughed.

  She pouted her lips and reaffirmed with a much quieter voice. “I am innocent…”

  Twenty-One

  Dread Shadows

  “I don’t care if you want me to be quiet. If you use that spell on me one more time, I’ll do worse than take your shoes while you sleep!” Goldie threatened as we reached the docks.

  I turned around to walk backwards since I wasn’t the one wearing my cloak at the moment. This way I could face Goldie and keep track of the stalker we had acquired about an hour ago. “I only did it the two times. You are over-reacting, you just pick the absolute wrong times to talk and I always give your voice back.”

  “You are drunk with magic power, Gnidori! You don’t ask or anything. You could at least respect me.” Goldie cried.

  I narrowed my eyes at her. “Just like you were respecting me by interrupting me to make jokes? Or calling me by a name I didn’t like?”

  “T-that’s… different…” She lowered her head and I didn’t even need to say it for her to know it was definitely not different.

  My attention shifted to the shadow that had been stalking us for at least the past hour. I was almost sure it was one of the more delicate stealthy faeries that could be devastating in a single moment.

  I spun back around and glanced ahead to Bonny with her silvery traveling cloak on and Ashe covered up in my red cloak, with all my tools, the fox and currently her body reworked to look like mine.

  It felt awkward walking around with Ashe’s form ever since we hit Hue’s territory and had to switch, due to my magical barring from his lands as Red Riding Hood. I had silenced Goldie when she attempted to make a remark about Ashe and I being inside each other.

  My precious psyche just couldn’t take hearing that, especially when I had already thought about it. I only chose Ashe because she was the only one I trusted enough with all my things, especially my cloak. It wasn’t like I wanted to feel what it was like to be her; although, it was nice to have extra height.

  The shadow behind us shifted in the crowds and I finally felt like I needed to do something about it. Ashe and Goldie stopped in front of the ship, while Bonny went to fetch her shipmates, whom were all likely in a tavern somewhere nearby.

  This was the best opportunity I’d have. The last thing I wanted was the individual to attack while we were on the ship. That hadn’t gone well last time.

  The problem was the crowd still around us. I needed a more secure and hidden spot that the individual would follow me to.

  I turned to Goldie and Ashe and whispered to them while placing my hand to their backs. “Get on the boat. We have a shadow and I need to make sure they follow me and not stay with you two.”

  Ashe looked over her back at me, twisting up the hood. “Do you need your weapons?”

  “If I do, you’ll know pretty quickly.”

  Ever since I mentioned the soon-to-be assassination attempt by Fioravante, Ashe had been nothing but worried every time I got out of her visual range.

  When I turned around, she grabbed at my arm. “Are you sure you don’t want help?”

  “I’ll be fine. If you plan to be any help, you’ll have to start practicing with some weapons at least. Goldie will work with you.” I said as my hand fell upon her gloved one. I pulled her hand from my arm and smiled to her. “Don’t worry.”

  She seemed somewhere in between melancholy and joy before her whole body slumped when I let go of her hand. She nodded to me though and started up the ramp to the ship. If I knew her, she would be showing me new methods of attacking with my axes soon.

  My attention fell back to the mysterious person as I pushed through the crowd to find the quietest and darkest alleyway. Night was still held back by the blazing horizon, but enough people were heading to their homes that I managed to find at least a few pathways that were mostly empty.

  And just as I thought, the shadow was picking up the edges of my trail.

  I turned the corner into one of the empty alleys and spun around before flinging my body back out into the alleyway.

  A burst of energy gushed down my hand and flew toward the shadow. It caught them and I yanked their entire body straight toward me by pulling my hand back.

  As they came close enough into my view, I had prepared to wrap my arm around their neck to restrain them. But then I realized who it was. I shook my head and laughed as I cut the spell with a flick of my wrist and the shadow went flying to his hands and knees.

  “Roberts? What are you doing here?” I asked as he picked himself up slowly and dusted his clothes off.

  “I had to follow you guys. I knew if the Captain saw me she’d just send me away.” He glanced down at the floor.

  “I doubt it. You would have been a risk to her identity. She probably would have killed you.” I explained and his face shot up to look at me with huge blue eyes.

  I laughed. “I’m just winding you up.”

  He sighed with relief and then asked warily, “So you are Gnidori then?”

  I nodded and smiled, wondering how my smile looked with Ashe’s dimples and cheeks. It probably seemed all wrong.

  “What is the captain doing for you?”

  “That…” I strolled up to Roberts and slapped my hand on his shoulder before dragging him down the street with me, back toward the ship. “… you will have to ask your captain about.”

  He gave me a funny look and all I would give him in return was an innocent smile. “How do you feel about pirates, Roberts?”

  His eyebrows pinched and a very natural, “Why?” came out.

  “Because I—we are going to be taking a pirate ship and I have this strange feeling you are looking for something more fulfilling with your life than staying in the military when the only reason you were there is gone.” I finished as we reached the edge of the plank, leading up to the ship.

  “How did you know?” He asked, still rather bewildered.

  I grinned and raised an eyebrow. “You left your post on the drop of a coin and followed us for a day without saying anything. The only people who ever follow me, Roberts, are trying to kill me or be like me.”

  He lowered his head, “Yeah, you’re right. I thought maybe an adventure would be good.”

  “Then a pirate ship might be perfect for you.” I laughed before adding, “Trust me, plenty of adventure.
”

  He thought about it for a moment, even looked at the ship, before someone knocked right into both of us from behind.

  “Ah, good. Roberts, I was wondering when you were going to come out of the shadows, you’re just in time to help me set sail.” Bonny said as she passed by us and turned around to make sure the rest of her pirate troupe were straggling along up the steps well enough.

  I watched them all go, then glanced back to Bonny. She had known Roberts was following the entire time and just let him be?

  I pushed the boy toward the eye patch wearing woman and nodded to him. “Go ahead.”

  He glanced back at me with brilliant wide eyes before turning to look at Bonny and lowering his head quickly. “Uh, whatever you are doing for Gnidori, I want to help.”

  Okay, so… that was not quite what I had been expecting him to say, but it worked.

  Bonny stepped down the plank and leaned in to glare at him with her one visible eye. “Gnidori told you, didn’t she?”

  Roberts nodded sheepishly.

  The Pirate King sighed and pulled back. “Well it’s no easy task being a pirate, especially on my ship. Are you sure you are up to it?”

  He quickly pulled himself straight and saluted her. “Y-yes, Captain.”

  She shook her head a few times. “I want to see you, Roberts. If you don’t keep your individuality on a pirate ship then you just become another one of the crew. It’s life or death here. If you can’t handle that, then you aren’t a pirate. Can you, Roberts?”

  He was still stiff but he took a deep breath and the words poured out of him firmly, “To avenge Ashley, I’ll do anything. And Gnidori was right, traveling would do me better than orders I never wanted. Besides, I’ve wanted the underworld title of dread pirate, ever since I’d heard about it as a kid.”

  Bonny smiled then bowed her head and showed off her ship with a wave of her hand. “Then welcome aboard the Siren’s Song, Future Dread Pirate Roberts.”

  Twenty-Two

  Waterworks

  The lack of warmth at my side stirred me awake and into a dreamy stupor as I sat up on my cot. The rock of the ship on the ocean waves was almost soothing enough to make me fall back over if it hadn’t been so cold. I could hear Bonny sleeping in the bed near me as she made quiet, happy noises.

  My head spun as I stood up, the sea taking a dive at my senses, which forced me awake far too quickly. I looked around Bonny’s cabin to find the cot, pulled up next to mine, was empty except for my cloak laying on it.

  Now I knew why the warmth had vanished; Ashe must have taken Reynard with her. Or maybe he just didn’t like sharing the bed with me and left to explore or follow my new travel partner.

  What am I saying? He’s a three day old fox.

  I ran my hand over my face as I sat back down. My nose was freezing, but that’s expected at night on the sea with nothing more than Ashe’s undergarments covering me. It must not have reached midnight yet.

  I looked down; realizing I still had my former charge’s body then jumped up quickly before my mind went anywhere else. There was no way I would be getting to sleep now, I didn’t want to think of the dreams I’d have.

  So I threw on the dress I was forced to wear, since Ashe would only agree to change with me if I wore one, and snapped up my cloak to throw around me before emerging from Bonny’s cabin.

  Almost immediately the sea knocked me on my ass with the strong scent of salt and the minor traces of magic. But I recovered and followed the sounds of battle to the upper deck stairs.

  Reynard couldn’t have gotten his tiny paws up here, which meant Ashe must have taken him.

  My bare feet trembled against the cold and wet wood as I ascended, but a voice sent me ducking to just look over the top of the stairs.

  “You’re getting better already.” Roberts exclaimed as he held a rapier in front of him. He paced the wood with gentle steps before continuing. “I’m surprised Gnidori never taught you to fight. From all the tales about her, even the non-legend ones, she doesn’t seem like the type to hold someone back.”

  He lunged forward multiple lengths but Ashe side-stepped and swung an axe to push the blade out and away from her. “She’s more about freedom than anything. She never wanted to force anything on me, but it also meant sometimes…”

  Ashe gritted her teeth hard as she ducked under a swipe of Roberts’ blade and took a sweep with the axe, which Roberts jumped back from.

  “Sometimes she wouldn’t give me the choice to decide for myself. Like she was protecting me. But I don’t want her to, I just want to be next to her, not behind her or far away from her. Next to her.” Ashe finished as she stood back up and wiped some sweat from her forehead. The red hair, she currently had, clung to her from all the moisture around.

  It was strange seeing my body fight when it wasn’t me. It was even more bizarre to hear Ashe’s opinions of me. Was I wrong to be eavesdropping on them?

  “I can understand that. Ashley used to be the same way. Never giving me a choice except on the rare occasion; just always deciding things for me. Like the military.” Roberts replied while wiping the sweat from his eyes. They both seemed to be taking a break, but still stood like they were ready to strike at any moment.

  Ashe frowned with sympathy. “I’m sorry about him. He still sounded like the kind of person that would have gotten along with Gnidori. And don’t be hard on yourself, if something happened to Gnidori I would be out for revenge too.”

  He? Ashley was a he?

  “Yeah well… it doesn’t stop me from missing him. I never even got a goodbye. I said my goodbye to a pile of guts. I would have broken down in tears if Gnidori hadn’t been there.”

  “That’s what scares me the most about Gnidori traveling. One day, months after leaving, I’d suddenly get one of her friends coming to see me to tell me she isn’t alive anymore.” Ashe sighed and added, “The first week she leaves, I never get any sleep since I’m so worried about her.”

  My mouth fell open. Ashe had really been keeping all of this in? I never even knew. So the worrying wasn’t new; I just never saw it before.

  “How long were you two together?” My former charge asked as she swiped one of my hatchets through the air a few times.

  “We knew each other all of our lives, but a month from now would have been our fourth year anniversary.” Roberts explained as his head fell sullenly.

  Ashe stopped in mid-swing and stepped forward to lay a hand on Roberts’ shoulder. She tried forcing a smile but it came out just as sad. “You’ll find someone else to ease the pain. And if it wasn’t for what happened you’d never be here, having an adventure you wanted, living your life as you chose.”

  He smiled and looked up at Ashe. “I’ll find someone else on a boat full of women?”

  Ashe giggled and shrugged. “You never know. Besides I saw at least one cute boy in the crew.”

  Both their smiles softened as Roberts replied, “Maybe.”

  Ashe nodded curtly, “I know you will. You have a good heart, I can feel it. And someone else will too.”

  “Thanks.” Roberts concluded with a sniffle, and wiping at his eyes again. Probably sweat again.

  I shifted with my seat on the stairs, feeling my body numb from the cold. I adjusted my position and wrapped my cloak tighter around me, before looking back to Ashe and Roberts.

  Between the two of them, over the stern of the ship, was a massive wave of water closing in, which shouldn’t have been there…

  Midnight Magic…

  “Get Over here!” I yelled to the two of them as I stood up on the steps. They both turned to me with a mix of confusion and surprise. I pointed behind them before motioning for them to head to me.

  It was too late though.

  The wave crashed down and I gripped the railing as I watched Ashe and Roberts look to it then start running to the nearest thing they could grab as the water gushed over them.

  Had I just lost Ashe to the sea on our first real journey together?r />
  The torrential flow ripped across me, nearly yanking me from the hold I had. I was submerged instantly, feeling the current drag me one way while I resisted.

  It was then that I saw them… not Ashe and Roberts, but faces in the water that lit with a gentle illumination.

  Hundreds of Ondine were the cause of the wave. Annoying little elemental wraiths of the sea; made mostly of water.

  It took until that moment, drowning underwater, to realize what the sylph attack had been on the ship last time. It was obvious, yet I had been so focused on Gabbi.

  Sylph and Ondine, along with the Salamanders and Gnomes, were elemental beings often controlled by powerful wielders of those elements. Gabbi had a special control over the Sylph with a power I didn’t know, but she wasn’t the only one who could use them. I knew a faerie in the academy once whom managed to produce control over the creatures.

  These were the faerie attacks, using the literal elements against me.

  I pulled a hand free from the railing just as the flow direction hung at a pause, getting ready to recede. I reached out through the water and focused on each one of the glowing faces I could see in the water.

  A rainbow pulse rippled from my hand, through the water, catching each of the faces and lighting them up more brightly before they solidified.

  The icy bodies of the Ondine started to float to the surface as I snapped my hand back to the rail to hold against the recoiling wave.

  I gasped for air as the water lowered to the point of being able to hear the rushing current pour over the sides of the ship. Three massive ice cubes sat in the middle of the ship with terrifying faces etched into them.

  I stumbled to pull myself up from the stairs and dashed up the steps to look for Ashe.

  “Ashe!” I screamed, even if I knew it was probably pointless. Both of them had to be washed out in the pitch black sea by now like most of the ice-body Ondine had been.

  That wouldn’t stop me though. I splashed through the puddles on the ship, shivering as I ran around it looking for any area they could have hung on.