Adelaide couldn’t help but compare his shock to the way he looked at her only the night before. At least now I know how he truly sees me. If yesterday Adelaide had doubted which brother she was falling in love with, this moment cinched it. One found her repulsive. The other was literally carrying her close to his heart. Her throat constricted with emotion, as she realized for the first time that she truly did love Julian. She did not dare believe for a moment, though, that he felt the same way.
“Leon, where is she?” the young prince demanded.
The Elder Prince tore his eyes from Adelaide’s marked face to answer his brother. “She just left a moment ago. That way,” he said pointing to the front doors of the castle. “She said she had to leave before midnight.”
The words had scarcely left his lips, when the midnight bells began to toll.
CHAPTER 9
Julian was glad to be in the kitchen, his arms elbow deep in dough and covered in flour. He had woken long before the sun had a chance to rise, though he doubted he had slept much at all. The strange events of the previous evening still weighed heavily on his mind. Pounding his fists against the rising bread dough helped him to think, and Mistress Gretyl didn’t seem to mind the help.
He almost hadn’t believed Merelyn when she first approached him and told him that Adelaide was waiting outside, hoping to speak with him. The last time he had spoken with the girl she had looked at him like a squashed bug she wished to wipe off her shoe. He couldn’t imagine what she might want to say to him, unless it was to tell him off. He had deserved it though.
Giving her the invitation to the ball had been pretentious of him. He’d realized that fully the night before when visitors from all over the countryside and neighboring kingdoms came decked in their finery. Though her father had served the king for many years, it was unlikely that she would have the means, or the reason, to possess clothing that would help her to fit in. No doubt his invitation only punctuated that fact, and served to make her feel even more out of place. Julian was mentally kicking himself as he left the ball to find Adelaide and apologize for his thoughtlessness.
Seeing her hobbling up the stairs, clearly in pain, wasn’t what he expected. Nor was the way she looked at him when she asked for his help. There was no anger, just a pleading for him to understand. She said Merelyn was in trouble, but there was a look in her eye made him feel that a connection had arisen, one which previously had not existed. He wanted to ask her more, but according to Adelaide, time was of the essence.
They had not been fast enough, though. Merelyn was gone. Julian carried Adelaide through the crowded room to the entrance of the ball, her stepmother trailing closely behind. Merelyn was nowhere to be found. “The slippers,” Adelaide said. “They’ve taken her.”
Merelyn had been wearing glass slippers, just as Leidy, the beautiful young girl with red hair had been wearing the night before. Hair like fire, just like Adelaide’s. Julian stared intently at her face. Adelaide held his gaze. Those eyes, like golden honey. He’d seen them the night before. Impossibilities clicked into place, incredulous as they seemed. “Adelaide? Or should I call you Leidy?” he asked.
“Both,” she whispered.
“Perhaps you might want to explain a few things?”
“Yes,” she agreed. “I suppose I do.”
Julian summoned for a carriage, and bound her ankle as it carried them down through the streets of town. She told him the strange tale of an old woman and a pair of magical glass slippers. Celeste was there also, relaying her part in the tale as well.
When the story was done, they sat staring at each other. “I need to get to Merelyn,” Adelaide said.
“No, it’s too dangerous. If that witch is still there, you’ll be in danger as well. Who knows the extent of her powers? I can’t allow her to hurt you.” the prince said.
“Please. It’s after midnight. If what Celeste has told us is true, and Merelyn is doomed to a similar fate, then it’s my fault. I gave her the glass slippers. It was I who persuaded her to wear them. I am responsible.”
“No,” said softly. “You were deceived. You cannot be faulted for that.”
She caught his hand in hers. His heart beat increased a little faster. “Julian,” she said his name. “Please.”
He couldn’t bear the desperation in her voice. “Alright, but only if I come as well. If Merelyn has changed, there is no telling what she might do. She may have gone mad with hatred, and she may blame you.”
Adelaide agreed, and the Prince relayed a new destination to the driver. The journey was short. Merelyn’s home was in the center of the village, and they reached it quickly. Adelaide tried to walk, but the pain was still excruciating. Julian put his arm around Adelaide’s waist, and her arm around his shoulders. He felt the warmth of her body so close to his, and found it difficult to concentrate on the task ahead.
Merelyn’s home was completely dark. How much time had passed so far since the midnight bells had chimed? Thirty minutes? More? “We should check the back,” Celeste suggested. They walked through the narrow alley to back of the home and found Merelyn there, sitting alone on the ground. She was rocking back and forth with her arms wrapped around her as if she were trying to physically keep herself from falling apart.
“Merelyn!” Adelaide called her friend’s name with relief, but Merelyn did not answer, look up, or stir in any way other than to continue rocking back and forth. Adelaide called her name again. Merelyn did not respond. She seemed lost within herself.
Adelaide sat down beside her friend, and held her, rocking back and forth together in silence. Julian awoke Merelyn’s parents and told them what the witch had done. Adelaide couldn’t bear their looks of despair. Would their daughter ever be the same?
As soon as Adelaide entered the carriage for the ride home, the weight of her friend’s fate pressed down, suffocating her. She couldn’t stop the steady stream of tears running down her face, nor did she really want to. Celeste looked as distraught as Adelaide felt, but could offer no comfort. Julian pulled her into his arms, making soothing noises as he stroked her hair.
“It’s alright. It’s going to be alright.”
Adelaide knew that wasn’t true, but didn’t have the strength left to argue.
* * * * *
“You do realize that we want that bread to rise when you’re done punishing it, don’t you?”
Mistress Gretyl’s rough voice retrieved Julian from his memories of the night before. He pulled his fists out of the mounds of sticky dough. “My apologies Mistress.”
“Is something vexing you boy?” His silence affirmed the cook’s guess. “Well, then,” she said, “punch away.”
Julian did so. Gladly.
Adelaide didn’t remember falling asleep. She hadn’t thought it would be possible to do so with so much anguish in her heart. Merelyn was trapped in a shell of her former self, and it was her fault.
When they arrived home, Adelaide couldn’t bear to sleep, or even sit in her room alone. She decided to stay in the kitchen, where memories of Merelyn were clearly everywhere. Sometime during the night, she finally cried herself to sleep in front of the fire. She awoke covered in cinders.
Adelaide stretched out her legs, and pulled her body against the kinks in her back caused by sleeping on the cold, hard floor. Though her ankle was still sore and swollen, she was able to walk on it. She staggered over to her bedroom door. She stepped one foot in the room, and stopped cold. In the middle of the floor sat a pair of shimmering, glass slippers.
Fear seized her heart. Her head whipped around, scanning the room for the witch, but it was empty. The old woman was nowhere to be found, but Adelaide knew she wasn’t free. Those shoes were for her. She slumped to the floor.
It was some time before she could stand again. Being stalked by a witch put a vice grip on her heart. Adelaide found, though, that her fear was giving way to something stronger. Anger.
She wrapped the glass slippers in a cloth, tied the ends tight, and c
arried the bundle outside. She tossed the pack on top of an old tree stump, and picked up her father’s maul. It was heavy, used only for splitting wood, but it would probably work fine for crushing glass slippers into sand.
Pulling deep from the anger inside her, she lifted the maul above her head, roared a deep cry of pain and brought the maul slamming down on the bundle. Again and again, she chopped at the slippers, yelling and cursing as the maul slammed against the chopping block.
The exertion of shattering the slippers into tiny shards finally took its toll. Beads of sweat rolled down her brow, and into her eyes. She wiped them away, dropped the maul to the ground, and began to carefully untie the cloth. The last thing she wanted was to cut her hands on a splinter of magical glass.
It loosened, and she opened the bundle. Inside were two, magical glass slippers, completely unharmed and intact.
* * * * *
Though the noon bells were ringing, Julian did not feel the slightest bit hungry for lunch. His thoughts were still centered on Adelaide and Merelyn. He couldn’t help but wonder if he could have saved the girl. If he had moved faster - left Adelaide at the castle and borrowed a steed to get to Merelyn - perhaps she would still be...
“Pardon, Your Highness,” his footman said, walking into the prince’s chambers. “A young girl is here to see you. I believe she is the late court physician’s daughter.”
“Thank you, James. I’ll be right down.”
The prince walked down to the foyer. Adelaide was waiting for him, pacing back and forth, biting ferociously on a lone, unfortunate fingernail as she muttered to herself. Julian had expected her to be morose, crying perhaps. Instead, the girl was a bundle of energy, clipping along the length of the foyer before whipping around and tracing her steps again. She never was quite what he expected. He liked it.
Adelaide noticed the prince walking slowly down the stairs, stopped her pacing, and met him at the foot of the staircase. “Your Majesty,” she said, curtseying low.
“Miss Adelaide,” Julian said, bowing.
“I’m so sorry…”
“I need your…”
Both began speaking at once.
“Please, Your Highness,” Adelaide started again, “after you.”
Julian paused, gathering his thoughts before he spoke again.
“Miss Adelaide, I am so very sorry for what happened last night,” he began.
“Your Lordship, if I may,” Adelaide interrupted. Again, she surprised him.
“I know you’re sorry. I’m sorry. Even Celeste is sorry, I think, as much as her condition will allow her to be. But I need to put that aside for now. There is a more pressing matter at hand, and I need your help,” she said.
“Certainly, Adelaide,” he said, and blushed at speaking to her so informally. He pulled her hand into both of his own. “Whatever you need, it’s yours.”
“Good,” she replied, “because I need you to help me catch a witch.” She smiled. “I have a plan.”
CHAPTER 10
“What do you know about witches?” Adelaide asked.
He considered her question for a moment. “Not much,” he answered, “but I know someone who might.”
“Who?”
“My brother.”
The Elder Prince’s face showed his surprise to see Adelaide, but this time, his shock did not give way to repulsion, and he began to apologize.
“My lady, please forgive my behavior last night. It was irreproachable, and I am truly ashamed at how rudely I behaved. Please accept my sincerest apology.”
“My Lord Prince,” Adelaide began, “I will be happy to forgive you, if you’ll but help us with a brief, educational lesson.”
“Certainly, what is it you would like to know?”
“Tell us everything you know about defeating witches.”
“Witches? Why in the world would you need to know something like that?” the Elder Prince asked.
Adelaide looked to Prince Julian, and he spoke. “Adelaide is being haunted by one who seems hell bent on destroying her.”
Adelaide’s eyes filled with tears, and she struggled to keep her voice even. “My friend was cursed by the witch, and now she is no longer the kind and loving person she once was. The witch has stolen all traces of love from my friend’s heart. She is in danger of never loving anyone every again if we don’t figure out a way to defeat the witch.”
The Elder Prince put his fingers to his chin, and stood silent for a moment, a pensive look softening the features of his face. “I have to admit, I do not know as much as I should. To my knowledge, witches were forced from our land generations ago. There are some books we can look through in the library, though. That might help.”
Adelaide hastily pushed a tear away and looked Prince Leon in the eyes. “My Lord Prince, there is more you should know. My friend is an acquaintance of yours as well. You met her last night at your birthday celebration. You danced with her all night long.”
Color drained from the Elder Prince’s face, leaving it ashy and gray. “Merelyn?” he asked. “Do you mean Merelyn?”
Adelaide nodded.
“And you say some witch took away her capability to love?” he asked.
“Yes. In time, she will grow bitter and hateful. She will never be able to love anyone ever again if we don’t save her.”
Prince Leon took a shuddering breath, and leaned heavily against a chair for support. Julian clapped his hand on his brother’s shoulder and spoke. “You see how urgent our task is, then. We must hurry. Tonight the witch will be coming back to claim Adelaide as well. We must find a way to stop her, and save Merelyn.”
Celeste, too, if that’s even possible after this much time. Adelaide worried that even if the did find a way to stop the witch, and save Merelyn, too much time may have passed to save her stepmother as well. In fact, she didn’t truly know if they would be able to save Merelyn at all. Once the witch claimed a person’s love, would it even be possible to retrieve it? Adelaide decided to grasp tightly onto the hope that she could do something to help save her friend.
Prince Leon quickly led the way through the castle to the library. Adelaide cursed her damaged foot for not allowing her to run through the halls. Though midnight was still hours away, every second counted. Her ankle began to throb again, the pain causing her to limp. Julian noticed and said nothing, but put his arm around her waist, helping to support her as she walked. Adelaide’s skin awoke with flames of awareness in Julian’s embrace.
Though the situation was dire, she couldn’t help but enjoy this moment of being held by him again. Immediately, shame and guilt flared in her heart as well. It felt wrong to enjoy Julian’s touch when her friend was hurting. Adelaide tried to push the conflicting emotions aside and concentrate solely on the task ahead. Besides, she told herself, he’s simply being helpful. Don’t read more into his touch than is really there.
The Elder Prince pushed open the massive doors to library. Julian and Adelaide followed him inside. Adelaide looked up in awe. Shelves lined every wall from the floor up to the vaulted ceiling. Three levels of scaffolding and balconies were ensconced throughout the room with spiral staircases leading up to their great heights. Adelaide sighed. She could live forever in this room.
An immense fireplace sat at the far end of the room, with several chairs and loungers scattered nearby. In one of the chairs sat a man with a book in his hands, staring at the three of them.
The king.
“What the blazes are you doing here?” he bellowed from across the room.
* * * * *
The wind was blowing more forcefully the third night of the Elder Prince’s ball. The chill was considerably more pronounced as well. The dress Adelaide was wearing, a thin, white gossamer, was not heavy enough to keep her from shivering.
Adelaide was beautiful with her hair piled high on her head, except for a few graceful tendrils spiraling down to frame her face. She stood under the swaying branches of a tall weeping willow, and listened to its soft
susurrus as the wind played with the leaves. It was a strange juxtaposition to the revelry of the guests enjoying the party just inside. Adelaide longed to be there, dancing with Prince Julian. She was definitely dressed to fit in tonight, and wouldn’t look at all out of place on the end of the prince’s arm. But, she was destined to spend the last night of the ball outside, waiting for the witch to arrive.
Though the glass slippers could take her home in an instant, Adelaide wanted to be there, just outside the celebration. It was her desire to be a part of the ball that had caused so much trouble. It was fitting to end the whole ordeal here, just beyond the stairs leading up to the party.
The bells of the clock began to chime.
“Child, why are you still here?” a familiar voice said behind her.
Adelaide turned and stared at the old woman. Bent with age, the old woman did not seem to be powerful enough to be frightening, but Adelaide’s pulse raced like wild horses inside her breast. She wondered if the old woman could hear it.
“The magic of the slippers ends in just a few seconds. You should have returned home,” the old woman chided.
“I...I know,” Adelaide said haltingly. You have to do better than that. Stop shaking, and do what you need to do. She took a deep breath.
“I want to be here, near the prince. I love him. Even if I’m no longer able to fit in here, I still want to be near him, at least until the ball ends.”
The corners of the old woman’s mouth turned up and she grinned a big, fleshy smile at the girl. “Are you certain that you love him?” she asked.
“Yes,” Adelaide breathed, her confidence growing.
“And do you believe he loves you?”
“I don’t know. Does it matter?”
“Well, I suppose not, really. It just seems that young women fall even more deeply in love when they know someone else loves them back.”
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