The Arrival: An Epic Fantasy Romance

by Nicole MacDonald

  An hour later we trawled through the racks at the shop, holding anything of interest up so the others could comment.

  'How bout this?' We turned to see Kassie holding a cute plaid skirt. I stared at the skirt, trying to recall any fantasy character who wore one.

  'As who?' I called.

  'A schoolgirl.'

  Sian, Loi, and I started laughing. 'Not that sort of fantasy, Kass. Think make-believe or fairytales.' Loi shook her head and winked at me. Kassie grew up in Malaysia so English wasn’t her first language. Sometimes things got lost in translation.

  'What are you thinking?' Sian called to me from a couple of rows over.

  'Maybe an elven character? Like from the Lord of the Rings,' I frowned while I looked over a couple of pieces. 'I’m not sure if I’ll go as a particular character, I think I’ll just make it look fantasy-ish. Good thing I have the boots already.' A groan rose from the three of them and I feigned innocence. 'What? They’re the perfect style.'

  'We’re gonna have to bury you in those boots aren’t we, Cat?' Kassie said sarcastically.

  'Yes and I expect an open casket so everyone can admire them.' I wrinkled my nose at her.

  Sian started laughing. 'Oh God I just had the best visual of you as a little old lady in a coffin with a mini-skirt and thigh-highs.'

  'What if we got them cremated and put in a box beside you?' suggested Loi with a wicked gleam.

  'Not all of us are five eight, Miss Loi. I like my legs looking long and slim.' Not that I could complain when standing next to Kass and Sian, at five foot five my legs look fine. My gorgeous black suede thigh-high boots however, make them look that much longer and sexier, a guaranteed head turner. Considering what they’d cost me last year I needed to get as much wear as possible out of them.

  'Well then, how about this?' Sian glanced up wondering what Kassie had found this time. A deep red dress hung from the clothes-hanger, strapless and knee length with a split up one leg.

  'That’s gorgeous,' Cat said. 'I know! Jessica Rabbit. We can dye her hair red.'

  'Don’t want to be the only redhead?' teased Loi.

  Cat gave her a look. 'I love being the only redhead thank you, but I’m too tall for that size.'

  It’d be nice to be too tall for something, thought Sian. Most of the time she had to shop in the children’s section. Might have to do that now, she thought when she looked at the meager selection left on the size six rack. Then she spotted it. Hell yes! 'Look,' squealed Sian. 'Lookee!'

  Loi stared at the item Sian clutched at, gushing in delight. A black pleather romper suit, with baggy legs that gathered at the ankle and slim arms that led into a short turtleneck. Loi couldn’t stop staring at the item, wondering what the heck her friend would do with something so unflattering. Out of the four of them Sian always had the most daring and usually sexy costumes. But this? 'Siany,' Loi hesitated. 'What are you going to do with it?'

  Sian stared at the three gob-smacked faces of her friends. What's their problem? She looked at the item with fresh eyes. No. Surely they wouldn’t think she’d actually wear it like that to the party?

  Sian gave us a look. It read, "You’re idiots". 'I’m going to turn it into a death dealer’s costume.'

  'Oooohh,' we chorused in recognition.

  'Awesome idea,' I enthused. I knew Sian loved the Underworld vampire movies and with her petite figure she could easily pull the look off. I threw the items I’d selected in Loi’s trolley and went to help Sian look for leather pieces to create the corset. 'Hurry guys,' Kassie called. 'We’ve only got an hour before class starts.'

  Ugh, jujitsu on a Saturday. I resisted the urge to bail and scooted over to the leather section where Sian hunted through the rack.

  Later that evening while Kassie and Sian watched some hospital drama on TV I sketched ideas for my costume and Loi’s. Loi found a stunning pair of black leather pants at the shop and decided to go as Anna from Van Helsing. This meant Sian and I, as the two in our group who owned sewing machines, got to turn a beautiful red thick velvet skirt into Anna’s jacket. The design wasn’t hard; I just wanted to emulate the look not copy it and now I frowned over the sketches of my own costume. Not too bad, perhaps if I shape the top more, give it a racer-back look to show off my shoulders. I enhanced the lines with my pencil. Perfect! It’ll stop my upper arms looking chunky. Actually that’s a thought, armbands could look good too.

  The TV flicked to a commercial.

  'That new doctor is so cute.' Sian sighed, glancing at Kassie and Cat. 'Why aren’t there any guys like that around here?'

  'The guys around here are scrawny enough to make you look fat,' replied Cat, eyes glued to her sketch pad.

  Kassie snorted and winked at Sian. 'She’s right. What happened to all the built guys? I don’t want a guy who looks better than I do in skinny jeans.' Sian nodded in agreement and leaned back on the couch. There’s been a real lack of decent male specimens lately, she thought while idly watching the TV commercials; wonder how we can find them?

  Kassie leaned over and snatched one of Cat’s sketches. Loi’s jacket will look gorgeous, she thought, impressed. 'Siany, are you and Cat really going to make this?' Kassie glanced up. Sian gave no response, eyes focused on the TV while a loud toilet cleaner commercial played. 'Sian?' Still nothing. 'Sianus Rachel Price!'

  Sian’s head snapped up. 'What?'

  I giggled at Sian’s stunned expression. 'Where were you, Siany?'

  'Yeah?' Kassie asked curiously. 'What were you thinking about?'

  'Boys. I mean an idea. How would you feel about casting a love spell?'

  'A spell?' I tried not to sound too dubious. Sian’s practiced witchcraft for years; it didn’t surprise me that she would suggest such a thing but she’d never invited us to join in before.

  Kassie looked confused. 'Do you want us to help?'

  Sian resisted the urge to roll her eyes. 'Of course.'

  'What sort of love spell?' Cat sounded unsure. 'Not one where we just have all the males of the species attracted to us? 'Cause that’s never an issue.'

  Catherine the modest, thought Kassie in amusement. She exchanged a glance with Sian who, after a pause, continued. 'No, nothing vague. Something to attract the right person for each of us,' Sian explained. 'The four of us actually cover the elements. I’m Cancer, that’s water, you’re Leo, Cat, which is fire. Kassie, you’re Gemini—air and Loi’s Taurus, so we have earth. It’s perfect. We’ll really be able to make something happen.' Neither Kassie nor Cat said anything at first but Kassie could see Cat didn’t look too concerned. Sian watched them both anxiously.

  What the heck, thought Kassie, it can’t hurt and she spoke up for them both. 'You plan it, we’ll participate.' Sian grinned. They settled back down to watch TV while she jotted down notes.

  I arrived at work first thing in the morning and did my usual mad dash around the office. Distributing mail, putting dishes away, cleaning the kitchen and made sure the meeting rooms looked tidy. Once done, I grabbed my make-up bag and headed to the bathroom. In the midst of careful mascara application, the door burst open and I jumped. 'Emma!'

  'Sorry,' Emma said with a laugh. 'I’m just running a bit late. Did you have a good weekend?'

  'Yeah, but it flew by like usual. We went shopping for fantasy pieces for a costume party we’re going to next weekend.'

  'Oh fun. What are you going to wear?'

  I explained the basic concept and mentioned my idea of making or buying armbands to go with it. She nodded with a thoughtful expression.

  'Wait, wait, oh I remember! I saw stuff that would work for armbands in that ethnic store, the one by the second hand book shop with the ferret.'

  'Really? I’ll have to have a look at lunch.' Great, hopefully the shop will have something suitable. Then it’s just Loi’s jacket to finish. With Sian busy on the corset for her costume I knew I’d end up creating the jacket. At lunchtime I wandered up Cuba Street, peering through shop windows for inspiration. I came to the shop Emma m
entioned and walked in.

  'Can I help you?' queried the shop girl.

  'I’m looking for something to finish off a costume,' I explained. 'An armband? Or something ethnic looking? It’s for a Lord of the Rings style of costume.'

  'We have some things that would work…Ooo! No, I know!' She ducked out the back and retrieved an item. 'Would these work?' She offered a pair of copper colored daggers to me; they had short belt straps to tie them on.

  'Yes! They’ll be perfect, are they real?'

  'Oh they’re blunted, of course.' The shop assistant wrapped them in tissue paper while I counted out the notes, reworking my weekly budget in my head—perfect, yes, but not cheap. After thanking her I headed out then paused in front of the book store next door while my inner voices argued. You really don’t need any more books, Cat, pointed out my rational voice. A quick peek can’t hurt, countered my silly voice. No buying, retaliated the rational voice sternly.

  I pushed through the door setting the jangling chime off and took my time while wandering along the musty smelling aisles, gazing over the motley collection. Then I spotted it. Easing the thick book out from the bottom of a pile, I dusted off the worn green leather with a grimace. It could do with a good clean, I thought, wiping my fingers on my jacket before squinting at the title. The beautiful, once gilded script made the words difficult to decipher and I traced a finger over the letters, reading it in my mind.

  'To Improve your Time, Space and Place'

  Two tired looking tan leather straps with brass buckles tarnished to a dull gray brown held it closed and I lay it on a table to unfasten them. With gentle hands I turned the cover, trying not to damage the yellowed, brittle pages and studied the contents. A spell book, I thought in fascination, it looks so authentic too. Sian would love to read this. I hesitated at the idea of buying it but couldn’t resist, how often did you find books like this? I ignored the rational voice that protested against the purchase and carried it to the bored looking teenager manning the till.

  Hurrying back to work, I heard my phone beep with a message. It was from Sian. 'Coming to archery?'

  Drat, forgot I had that tonight. Juggling my parcels to the other arm, I typed back, 'Yes. '

  Sian drew in a breath and let it out slow and even while she released the string. The arrow hit the target with a thud. Peering down the range she could see it’d struck bull’s eye.

  'Bull’s-eye. Nice one,' Cat congratulated her.

  'Thanks.' I’m so glad I bought that new bow, Sian thought with a smile. The results make the price worth it. Cat stood up to the line and drew her bow. Sian watched her friend with pursed lips, waiting for the inevitable. Stubborn is Cat’s middle name, she thought again. Cat bought the bow at a craft fair four months ago, determined to prove that the medieval styled bow was just as good as Sian’s modern fiberglass bow. While Cat’s bow did look authentic Sian suspected it didn’t measure up properly. It took Cat a decent effort to draw and the accuracy…

  'Damn!' Cat glared down the range.

  Sian laughed at me. 'I don’t know why you bother with that bow, Cat, it’s practically an antique.'

  I glanced at her and in a snooty tone replied, 'Because I like feeling authentic.'

  She looked sideways at me. 'Authentically crap?'

  Laughing I objected. 'I wasn’t that far off bull’s-eye.'

  Our phones beeped simultaneously, Sian yanked hers from her pocket, reading aloud. 'Hey guys want to come to practice? We haven’t got many here. Fancy rounding out archery with a little sword fighting?' She arched an eyebrow at me.

  'Sounds good. You pack the bows and I’ll get the arrows.'

  Loi acted as an assistant instructor at the kenjutsu class our sensei taught. Though Sian and I didn’t actually take the class, we had fun joining in occasionally. Kassie, who did attend the classes, always enjoyed sparring with us and showing off her skills.

  Later that evening we lay sprawled in the lounge watching TV. Loi had decided to stay over and we’d made a night of it, ordering pizza and hauling out the sleeping bags to camp out in the lounge like kids. I went to hop up. 'Ouch!' It felt like I'd pulled another muscle, or two. Fun.

  'What’s wrong, Cat? Old age getting to you,' Kassie teased.

  'Nooo,' I said in a shocked tone. 'I’m only twenty five remember.' The others sniggered. 'Nope, I think I’ve been doing too much. Kenjutsu is lots of fun but with archery and running too, there’s no way I could properly attend class.'

  Sian nodded in agreement then turned to Loi. 'Besides this way we have two archery experts and two swordsmen.' I snorted, Sian’s grin widened. 'Don’t be too hard on yourself, Cat,' she teased, ducking the pillow I hurled. 'You’re not that bad.'

  'Oh,' I exclaimed. 'I forgot!' I ran to my room and retrieved my day's purchases. 'What do you think of these for my costume?' I gave Loi and Kassie a dagger each.

  'They’re ideal, Cat,' Kassie examined the one she had.

  'Are those real blades?' Loi sounded disconcerted.

  'They’re blunted,' I assured her. 'Anyway I’m good with a blade.'

  'That’s what concerns me,' she muttered giving me a wink while the others laughed.

  'What’s this, Cat?'

  'Sorry?'

  Sian had the book I’d bought in her hands and wore a perplexed expression as she turned it over slowly.

  'I found that at the ferret bookshop. Isn’t it gorgeous? I think it might be a spell book.'

  Sian's eyebrows shot up, she wrestled with the buckles, opening the book and thumbing through it with small sounds of excitement. I flinched at the rough handling then inwardly shrugged; it wasn’t like I’d know what to do with the contents.

  My week seemed to vanish as I squeezed in any time possible to work on the costumes. By Saturday afternoon the house looked like a pigsty as we raced around, tripping over Audi and each other, trying to get ready. In the end I chased Audi out the back and went to check on Loi’s hair. I’d spent the good part of an hour setting it in rollers. It should have dried by now, hopefully. I guess I can blast it with the hairdryer if necessary. 'Oh!' Loi strutted down the corridor toward me fully clad in her costume and she looked amazing. The leather pants hugged her curves and the jacket sat perfectly over a white peasant top and a shiny black corset belt. I giggled when I reached her head. 'Let’s get those rollers out, Loi. They so don’t go with your look.' Soon she had a mass of ebony ringlets hanging past her shoulders. It looked stunning, I felt a pang of envy.

  'C’mon, Sian’s got the hairspray, we don’t want them dropping.'

  When we entered Sian’s room she tottered out of the closet struggling with her corset zip. 'Caaatttt!'

  'Hold on,' I stood behind her and drew the zip up. It fit beautifully. 'Look at you, Sianus. A perfect tiny Selene.'

  She beamed at us, then handed me a short black wig, 'Help?' and bent her head forward. I fitted the front to her forehead then flipped it over. Snatching a couple of hair pins from the dresser, I slid them into place.

  'Give your head a gentle shake,' I instructed. She complied and the wig stayed put. Great! Two costumes complete, just two to go. I headed for the bathroom to see how Kassie had managed.

  'Uh-uh, shoo!' Sian ushered me out. 'I’ll sort out Kassie’s hair, you go get dressed. We have to leave in half an hour.'

  Yikes! When had it got that late? The easy day I’d envisioned had vanished with sorting out their costumes first. 'Thanks,' I called as I walked to my room. My own costume had been simple to create in the end. Fitted tan pants that tucked into my boots and then a moss green top I’d fashioned out of a dress. I’d shaped the top so it fitted well and had a low V neck with racer-back shoulders. The shade of green enhanced my eyes and showcased my pale skin and red hair. A bronze singlet added underneath meant I didn't freeze; winter in Wellington is icy. Setting the straightening iron to heat, I hunted through my jewelry box for earrings, selecting a pretty pair of gold leaves with enameled sections in blue and green. Loi hollered for me ju
st as I finished straightening my hair so I grabbed my keys from the dresser and headed out behind them. It started to rain as we drove off. I clicked the window wipers on while the others chatted.

  'Hey guys,' Sian spoke up. 'How do you feel about casting a spell tonight? After the party?'

  'I didn’t realize you’d found a spell,' I said in surprise.

  'I found one in that book you bought. It’s to create the perfect conditions in which to meet your soul mate.' The girls paused, visibly considering. Sian mentally crossed her fingers; please don’t chicken out.

  'Why not?' Kassie winked at her in the rear view mirror. 'Sounds like a fun end to the night.' Loi and Cat nodded in agreement. Excellent, Sian thought in relief and ran through the ritual in her mind again, double checking all the details.

  Chapter Two

  Arriving at the address we found a car park and hurried inside. Poor Kassie shivered when we started up the stairs but by the second floor she’d warmed up. 'It’s not often you’re the scantily clad one,' I teased. Her costume looked great, the red dress fit her like a glove. I’d only had to make minor adjustments. I reached out and tugged a curl. 'The red rinse looks fantastic, Kass.'

  She flushed. 'Thanks.'

  I wish my hair would hold like that, I thought enviously. My red mane tended to do its own thing no matter how much work went into it. Kassie had naturally curly hair and with Sian’s help she’d coaxed it into large curls, very Jessica Rabbit like. I glanced at Loi’s hair. Whew, the ringlets still held, I thought the rain might have ruined them. My own hair began to ping back into unruly waves. Darn it.