by Chanda Hahn
Every inch of the walls had been painstakingly painted of the northern woods with their white gnarled trees that many believed were haunted. The artist had used great detail in capturing the fae creatures that were hidden among the boughs—fauns, dryads, ballywogs, gnomes, house elves, and more.
That was what he was studying. He was recreating a world to include the fae. My breath caught as I saw an easel in the corner of his room where he had begun a charcoal sketch. Even though it was in the early stages, I recognized myself.
“It’s quite beautiful, isn’t it?” a feminine voice said.
I turned and dipped into an ungraceful curtsey as Queen Giselle entered the room.
“He gets the gift from his grandfather.”
“Who?” I asked, confused by what she was revealing.
“Why, Dorian of course.”
“I don’t understand?”
“And here I thought you were the smart one among the girls.”
“No, I’m just... me.”
She smiled sadly. “I see that.” As she moved across the room, I could see her noble grace for her steps didn’t make a sound. She paused to look at the charcoal sketch of me. “He is quite fascinated with you.”
“I know,” I said. I was struggling to follow along. Was she referring to her son Prince Evander or Dorian?
“Now, we need to clear the air of some things. You will marry Evander and be done with Dorian?” Her voice was cold. “I see the way he watches you, and it is unhealthy for one to be so infatuated. You must be loyal to my son Evander and Evander alone.”
“I understand.”
“Really, then why are you in Dorian’s room? I was just informed that you agreed to marry my son.”
“Because, my... I, uh….”
She waved her hand to dismiss me. “It is forgiven as long as it doesn’t happen again. You have proved to be quite useful and will continue to do so.”
“Of course,” I said.
“Good.” She smiled, though the smile did not reach her eyes. “I need you to prove it now.”
From the bell sleeve of her gown, she pulled out an enchanted mirror. She whispered a few words and an image came into focus. She turned the mirror toward me so I could see it. “Do you know this traitor?”
It was Meri, my younger sister, who was locked in a warded cell. I was unable to hold back my quick intake of breath.
“Ah, yes, I see you do. Either way, her life is in your hands.”
“What do you want?”
“Easy.” The queen held the mirror up and walked closer to me. “I saw it the moment you let your anger slip in the garden and caused the storm. I know you are one of the adopted daughters of Lorelai Eville.”
“I can explain—”
She waved her hand through the air, silencing me. “I know that my husband is truly thrown off by that stupid prophecy that the seer spoke into existence years ago, and since then it has driven him to do unspeakable acts of evil in an attempt to protect his son. I, too, have studied the prophecy. I, too, have prayed for guidance and searched the stars for answers, and it has come to me in the form of you.” She pointed and slowly circled me, looking me over from head to toe.
“I believe that you are indeed part of the prophecy. It’s just that a prophecy can be interpreted many different ways. They said a girl with power will kill the prince on his wedding day. No one said which prince.”
“I don’t understand. I thought Evander’s older brother, Vincent, is dead.”
“Vincent is indeed alive and well… for now. But I want to make sure that he doesn’t remain that way. You kill Prince Vincent, and I will make sure that no one will harm a pretty red hair on your sister.” Queen Giselle tucked the mirror back into the folds of her bell sleeve. “Then the prophecy will be fulfilled. A prince is dead. My son is alive, and you will be the future queen. That is as long as you don’t betray us.”
“Then you will let my sister go?” I asked.
“Of course, you will have what you wanted, and I will have what I wanted. My son on the throne and you will be by his side.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Your sister will be dead within minutes, and you will follow in her footsteps.”
My hands shook as I tried to come to terms with what she was asking me to do. Murder a lone prince I’ve never met and then save my sister and become queen.
“Where can I find Vincent?” I asked, my head dropping to my chest in subservience.
“Why, you are already acquainted with Prince Vincent. Or do I need to introduce you to Vincent Dorian the II?”
“Dorian?” I couldn’t swallow. My mouth went dry, and the world swayed. “But I don’t understand.”
“You don’t need to understand. Just follow orders,” she hissed. “Kill Dorian, save your sister.”
“I… I will. On one condition.”
“You have no business asking for anything.”
“I would like to see my sister. To make sure what you say is true.”
The queen’s eyes glittered dangerously. “Very well. I will make sure that Oz finds you and brings you back. He is loyal to me. If you so much as try to help her escape, he will cut her down. Do you understand?”
I nodded.
Queen Giselle stepped closer to me, and her finger glowed with power as she drew a sigil over my mouth. “In case you get any crazy ideas to tell anyone my plan. You can speak, but you will be unable to warn anyone or speak my name.”
My mouth burned as I tried to cry out, and my lips automatically closed. Tears burned in the corner of my eyes. I never would have suspected that Queen Giselle knew magic. She was a sorceress too. Now it made sense how she wooed and married a king.
“Now remember, dear Eden, kill Dorian and save your sister.” Queen Giselle clapped her hands and the man from the king’s study stepped out of the shadows. He bowed his head to me, and I felt sick to my stomach. I could see the remains of a bandage under his vest. I hadn’t stabbed him hard enough.
The room became blurry as I followed him out of Dorian’s bedroom, through the study, and down the winding steps. My tears almost caused me to fall multiple times, and I slowed when I came to the hall. Oz never spoke but kept his hand on his knife as he escorted me into a private sitting room. It looked exactly like one of the three other sitting rooms in the palace, but I didn’t understand why this one was so special. I didn’t see my sister.
“Where is she?” I asked.
He turned those deadly eyes my way and moved to stand in front of a cold fireplace. Reaching his hand inside, he felt around for a switch, and I heard the click as it activated. Gears began to grind as a hidden door opened inside the fireplace. He gestured for me to go first into the darkness and I did. If Meri was down there, then I would go after her.
It was a long tunnel with cold metal doors on either side with slots on the bottom big enough to fit a plate of food through and a peephole to check on the prisoners. He stopped in front of one, and I heard someone cough inside.
“Meri?” I called out.
“Eden?” I peered through the hole and her hand reached through and began to paw at my face. She was checking for a glamour, and I let her. I was thoroughly poked and prodded in the eyes and nose before she said, “It is you. I’d recognize that scowl anywhere.”
“Are you doing okay? Are you injured?”
“No, it actually hasn’t been so bad. Except for the food. The food is terrible.”
I couldn’t contain the snort. That was one thing about my sister Meri. She loved food and eating.
“Meri, how did you get here so fast and why did you come?”
“Well, I wanted to make sure you were okay. I felt bad for refusing to help you, so I used a traveling spell and... well, here I am. I came to rescue you.” Her hands waved through the bars. “Although, it looks like you were able to get out of the ward after all.”
“And now, it is you who needs rescuing.” I laughed as tears silently fell down my face.
“No. I’m just here as a backup. You know, in case you need me,” she said bravely, but I could hear the worry in her voice.
“Oh, Meri,” I sighed. “Have you kept your spirits up by singing?” I asked the hidden question about using her powers.
“Uh, no. I’m too scared too. There was another woman down here, Bellamy, and she tried to sing,” Meri hinted, “but she’s gone and hasn’t returned.”
“Well, don’t you worry. I have it on good authority that you will be released soon. I just have to do a favor for the queen.”
“Really, then what is taking you so long?” Meri whined. “I’m starving.”
I chuckled. “Uh, we just have to wait till tomorrow. All will be well by tomorrow. I promise.”
A dramatic whine came from Meri. “I will be skin and bones by tomorrow.”
“You will be fine.”
“Cake! Send cake and all will be forgiven.”
“I think we can send you some wedding cake.”
“Ooh! Who’s getting married?” she asked.
“Me to Prince Evander,” I said softly, no longer excited about the prospect.
The musical laughter that poured out of the cell at my expense didn’t stop until I heard Meri slapping the door and trying to catch her breath. “Oh, that’s great. Two for two. Mother Eville sure knows what she’s doing. She sent two daughters out and gets them married to royalty. Well, that’s not happening with me. I guarantee it.”
“Maybe this isn’t the best time to talk about it,” I whispered.
Meri didn’t hear me but began to rant out loud at why she wasn’t in a hurry to get married. “I would rather die an old hedge witch with tons of orange cats, not black ones because everyone always thinks witches have black cats. Or a boat. I will stow away on a boat!” she yelled out after me. “Let’s see Mother marry me off to a prince if I’m in the middle of the ocean!”
Oz gave me a curious look as he reached up and slowly closed the grate over her rant, which only muffled her outcries. I would have laughed at the cold-blooded killer, if he hadn’t tried to take my head off.
But it seemed that Meri was in fine spirits for now, especially since I gave her something new to worry about. She was right. Rosalie was married to a prince, and I was engaged to one. It seemed that we were following a pattern.
As we were leaving, I was distracted by a familiar house elf that was missing a pinky and was carrying a tray of food. Pinky stopped outside of Meri’s cell and slid the food under the flap. I tried to not stare but wondered if that was Dorian’s spy. It would make sense that he would use the house elves. No one ever noticed them.
I came to the end of the tunnel and waited for Oz to hit the hidden switch again to open the wall and let us back into the upper room. But the switch wasn’t on the wall where I was watching, and I missed how he made the wall move.
When I stepped through the fireplace and back into the sitting room, I was surprised to see Evander waiting with his mother.
Neither one of them were surprised to see me exit from the secret fireplace. “Why hello, dear.” Evander gave me a grin. “Did you have a good visit with your sister?”
“You knew she was here?”
“Of course, I knew.” He gave me a sly smile. “And I knew who you were the very first night of the ball.”
“How?” I asked, perplexed.
“Who knew that my new acquaintance Derek was also truth seer? He told me that there was something off about you. Then you showed your hand again and again—with your thunderstorm antics, choosing the glamoured stone, which was a test, saving Elise. I would be dumb not to have figured it out. Now, I can use your sister to control you, and therefore control the prophecy. Isn’t that right, Mother?”
“It is a good plan,” she cooed and gave his shoulder a squeeze.
My hands became cold, and I reached for the top of a chair to steady myself. “Why do you want to kill Dorian?”
“Because as long as he lives, he stands between me and the throne,” Evander answered.
“But I thought you didn’t even want the throne, that you were only taking it because your brother had died.”
“That’s what I want my father to believe.” Evander shrugged. “Dorian is his favorite son. He is obsessed with the fae. Of course, I want the throne. Always have. It is rightfully mine. My half-breed, bastard fae brother should not wear the crown of Candor. He can’t.”
“But Dorian abdicated and is dead to the world. There’s no need to kill him.”
“There wasn’t until you came along.” Evander came up and walked around me, his hand trailing along my shoulder and golden hair. “He was obsessed with Sisa, his first love, and swore to never love or marry out of respect, and therefore abdicated the throne. Because he can’t become king if he refuses to marry or have heirs.”
“I don’t understand what this has to do with me,” I said.
Queen Giselle held her fan and was using it to fan away a large bug that kept trying to land near her. “As I said before, Dorian is infatuated with you. He is forgetting his place, the place he has banished himself to—that of a servant. He is acting irrational, and we think he may be questioning his choice.”
“He made it obvious the night of the masquerade ball when couldn’t take his eyes off of you the whole time we danced,” he sneered.
“That’s the reason you asked me to stay on, isn’t it? To infuriate Dorian and rub it in his face. Not because you liked me.”
Evander sneered. “Yes, you should have seen the panic in his eyes when I asked you to stay.” He laughed. “And then I did everything I could just to woo you to hurt him. It was obvious the way he felt about you. He couldn’t hide his feelings during dinner, and when I confronted him about how he favored you, he tried to throw me off by seducing Adelle instead.”
My cheeks burned, and I realized now what Dorian was doing that night. He was trying to hide his feelings for me.
“Frankly, I don’t understand what he sees in you. You’re ungraceful, uncoordinated, not eloquent. You’re kind of a mess. It was a struggle to find a reason to keep you on and even harder to pretend to be attracted to you. But I did it to upset him.”
“I thought you had feelings for me,” I whispered, feeling my heart break again at being rejected, learning it was all a lie. “Why then did you propose to me?”
“To hurt Dorian!” Evander said. “I already decided not to marry for love. I would marry to strengthen the crown, and your powers could do that. You are already invaluable to me, as soon as you take care of Dorian.”
“Why do you need to hurt him when I said I would marry you?” I looked up at Evander. “Why don’t you believe me?”
Evander slammed his fist into the coffee table. “As soon as Dorian found out that we were engaged, he rushed off to father to try and stop it. Right now he’s petitioning father to have him redeclared crown prince.”
“Really?” I couldn’t hide the excitement in my voice.
Evander’s eyes darkened. “We can’t have that! I didn’t go to all that trouble to poison Sisa for nothing,” he yelled.
I began to tremble at his outburst. “No! Tell me you didn’t. You wouldn’t kill your brother’s love just to take the throne.”
“Half brother,” Evander spat.
I turned to Queen Giselle for answers. “During Ferdinand’s royal ball, he had fallen in love with a fae woman,” Giselle scoffed. “He even proposed. But I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t let a fae women sit on the throne of Candor.”
“You used magic. What was it? A love spell? Forgetting charm?”
“A little of both,” she said. “He forgot all about her and his promise. Then we were married. But I wasn’t expecting him to remember her. Ten months after our marriage vows, he had the nerve to bring his bastard son under our roof and declare him as his heir.” She looked sickened. “He is not my son. That thing is not my son.”
Evander went and rubbed his poor mother’s shoulders
because she looked like she was about to faint.
“You clipped his beautiful fae ears,” I accused. “Whipped him and beat him.”
“It was for his own good,” Queen Giselle said. “I knew he wasn’t king material when he spent all of his free time at that stupid tavern with his whore of a mother.”
A light went on in my head, and it all made sense. The story that Madam Pantalonne said about falling in love with a king. She was in love with the king, and her big cotton-candy-colored wigs covered her ears so no one ever saw her true heritage, and Dorian was her son. No wonder she had a soft spot for him, and he was so torn apart when the tavern was destroyed.
My heart ached, for in the span of a day, we had both lost our mothers.
“Why don’t you do it?” I snapped. “Why haven’t you killed him? I’ve seen his back; you’ve had the chance to do it multiple times.”
“Don’t you think I’ve tried?” she hissed. “My husband has threatened that, if anything should happen to Dorian, that if we harmed him, that Evander and I would be cast out of the palace.”
“Then why tomorrow?” I asked.
Evander walked over to the portrait of King Ferdinand and looked up at his father. His face turned down in a sneer. “We can’t take the chance that he would reinstate Dorian as his heir. This is your fault that we must kill them both.”
“Now, you will be a good little sorceress and go to the room that we have prepared for you and will do as you’re told. Tomorrow, under the guise of marrying my son, you will kill my husband and his favorite bastard son.” Queen Giselle’s smile was viperous.
“No, I won’t do it,” I declared.
Evander came up and took my hand, giving me a sweet kiss on the top of my knuckles.
“You forget I have your sister and I will kill her in a heartbeat,” he threatened, his hand crushing my fingers in his grasp. “I’ve done it before.” He dropped my hands and held up his fingers. “Now the board is set. All you need to do is kill two birds with one wedding.”