Kingdom of Villains and Vengeance

by Laura Greenwood et al.

  “Why didn’t you just give it back?” Romy asked.

  “Because when she noticed it was gone, I looked down and it was no longer clasped to my dress. I searched everywhere, my room, under my bed, in the garden, near the privy. It was as if the item had vanished from the earth.”

  Romy shook her head. “I am sorry, Frieda. Was she terribly angry?”

  Frieda cast her eyes away, digging the toe of her shoe into the ground. “I never told her.”

  Romy’s brows shot up. “Never?”

  “No, never. She got sick the following week and within a month she was gone. I should have just told her the truth. After she died my father came and looked for the broach as well. He wanted to have it buried with her. Apparently, my mother loved it because it had been passed down in her family, a bit of a good luck charm. Don’t you see? I lost my mother’s luck. I caused her sickness and later her death.”

  “No,” Romy insisted, “It was a terrible accident that I wish had never happened to you. But it wasn’t your fault.”

  “That’s not what my father said,” Frieda said in a low voice.

  Romy stilled. “What did your father say?”

  “He found the broach in the bottom of my chest when we were moving. He lashed out at me asking why it was there. I couldn’t hold it in any longer, I had to tell him—tell someone—the truth. It was eating me alive. My father told me that day that I was responsible for what happened to Mama. If I had kept my hands to myself, she would still be here.”

  Frieda’s voice cracked and a tear slipped down her alabaster cheek.

  “He’s wrong,” Romy stated. “Your father is wrong.”

  Frieda shook her head. “It was a magical broach. I didn’t know. My grandmother had taken it to the magic wielders when my mother was a sickly baby. They told her that my mother had to touch it every day to have the magic flow throughout her body. Don’t you see. I lost the broach. I took away the very item that allowed her to live.”

  “It was a horrible mistake, that is all,” Romy insisted. “Magic cannot take away what is meant to be lost.”

  “Was it?” Frieda asked in a sad voice. “Sometimes I’d like to think so. But I know the truth. It sits in my belly every hour of every day. My Papa started to drink after that. The more he drank the angrier he became. I think sometimes he wished that I had died and not her.”

  “You listen to me, Frieda. What happened wasn’t your fault. You said it yourself that you mother was supposed to wear it always. Why was it on the dresser? We don’t know every side to every story.”

  As the girls hugged, they heard Papa calling out for Romy.

  “Romy!” Papa yelled.

  Frieda hurried to dry her tears while Romy frowned and tried to think of ways to comfort her friend.

  ‘There you are,” Papa said as he came into view. “Let’s get some supper on. Frieda, would like to join us?”

  Frieda shook her head. “Thank you, but I’d best be getting home to my father.”

  As she fairly ran down the path toward the village, Papa glanced at Romy. He didn’t like the way she was frowning.

  “What is it child?”

  Romy looked up at him. “I thought that magic was a blessing.”

  Papa’s brows rose as he considered her. “It can be. All things have the ability to be good or bad, child. It’s what we chose to do with them that makes the difference. Are you worried about your magic?”

  Romy shook her head. “No, just confused. When will I know everything like you do?”

  Papa threw back his head and laughed. “Well, the older I get the more questions I have. So, if I ever get to the point where I know it all, you will be the first to know.”

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7-

  Two years later.

  “Well, aren’t you the most beautiful thing I ever did see,” Papa exclaimed as Romy twirled about to show him her new dress.

  “Frieda gave it to me for my birthday,” Romy exclaimed with excitement.

  “Your Papa has something special for you as well.”

  Romy took the package wrapped in sack cloth and tied with a simple string. It was small in size, no bigger than her palm.

  “It’s heavy,” Romy exclaimed. “What’s in it?”

  “Open it, child!” Papa’s eyes were bright with excitement making his lined face look much younger than it truly was.

  Romy carefully pulled the string and watched as the fabric fell away. There in the palm of her hand was a necklace. The necklace was made of a sturdy metal. The medallion was a dark opal surrounded by leaves and vines. On the very top was a raven with its wing extended. It almost appeared as if the raven was protecting the opal.

  Romy tipped the necklace back and forth watching the rippling effect as the light hit the stone. “Papa, this is far too expensive, we can’t afford it.”

  Papa scoffed at Romy, tossing his hands up and shaking his head. “You let me worry about what we can afford. Why don’t you try it on?”

  With shaking fingers, Romy tried to undo the clasp. Unfortunately, her fingers on the misshapen arm aren’t as strong as the other hand. The necklace slipped from her grasp and landed on the floor.

  Romy bent down to scoop the necklace up. “Papa, I am so very sorry.”

  “About what? Do you think that everyone doesn’t drop things once and a while? Here, give that to me.”

  Lifting her hair, Romy turned and allowed Papa to place the raven necklace around her neck. A flash of heat as the medallion touched her skin had Romy gasping.

  “What?” Papa asked.

  Romy picked up the necklace expecting the be burned, but there was nothing there.

  “It’s nothing,” Romy replied warily as she gently placed the necklace back.

  This time the metal was cool against her chest, just as she would have expected it to be.

  “Do you like it?”

  Romy looked up into her father’s worried eyes.

  “Like it?” she repeated. “Papa, I love it. This is the most beautiful thing I have ever owned. With this nice dress and necklace, I feel like a princess.”

  Papa smiled so bright that the corners of his eyes crinkled, and he began to laugh. “My dearest girl, you have always been my princess. Now, let’s get you off, shall we?”

  Romy could hardly believe that Frieda had invited her to dinner on her birthday. Romy was excited to see the inside of Frieda’s home. In all of the years they had been friends, Frieda had always shied away from having Romy come near her house.

  Papa walked with Romy down the garden path and out to where the forest ended, and the city began. Forest Folk didn’t often go into the city. They felt more at ease with the smell of pine wafting around them and the damp earth at their feet.

  It wasn’t any wonder that Papa stopped on the edge of town to say goodbye. “Promise me you will have a wonderful time.”

  Romy nodded. “I do promise, Papa. I am not a little girl anywhere. You don’t need to worry so much about me anymore.”

  “A Papa always worries,” he scoffed waving fondly once again and then setting back towards home.

  Romy walked into town as she had many times before. The children and dwellers no longer bothered her, but they weren’t welcoming either. With her limping gate, brand new party dress and old medallion, Romy felt on top of the world.

  She laughed to herself as it crossed her mind that this would be the perfect time for her to burst into song.

  “What are you smiling at?” Leon sneered from behind her.

  Romy stopped quickly and nearly stumbled. After getting her balance back and turned to Leon. This was the first time he had been openly hostile to her in years. Romy had hoped that they were through with such nonsense.

  “Where is Frieda?” Romy asked with more calm that she was currently feeling.

  “She’s not coming for you,” he said loftily. “It’s disgusting the way you hang off of her. Can’t you see she’s just being nice? You don’t have to be
her charity case.”

  “I’m not her charity case,” Romy said, holding her ground. “We are friends, so if you will excuse me?”

  Leon stepping in front of Romy. He was much larger than he had been when they were children. At nearly seventeen, Leon was as tall and broad as a grown man. Suddenly Romy felt very afraid.

  Her mind was screaming at her that something was wrong with Frieda. The fear spiked higher with Leon leaned in to whisper, “I know your secret.”

  Romy stumbled back. Unused to the new dress, she tripped on the hem and fell on her backside.

  Leon took advantage of the opportunity to advance on her. His demeanor changed from threatening to enraged. “Did you honestly think you could hide your magic forever? How pathetic are you? And drugging Frieda’s dad with Devil’s Breath? That has to be one of the most insane ideas I have ever heard.”

  “You can’t tell anyone,” Romy blurted out. Her heart was thumping wildly but it still couldn’t keep up with her thoughts. How could Leon know? Had Frieda told him?

  It didn’t matter. Once the magical community found out, she would be taken from Papa. Magic only lived with magic or city dwellers. They never mixed with forest folk. Romy looked up to see Leon’s sneer. He knew he had her right where he wanted her. There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do to stay with Papa.

  “What do you want?” she spat.

  “Nothing from the likes of you,” he laughed. “Once everyone knows you have magic, you will be sent far away from here and I will never have to look at your ugly face again.”

  It shouldn’t have hurt. It wasn’t like it was the first or even tenth time he had insulted her. But this time was different. This time Leon was going to do his best to rip apart the only parts of her life that really mattered. She had to do something. Romy had to try.

  “Name your price,” she said thickly.

  “Anything?” Leon’s face broke into a cruel smile.

  A ripple of unease raced down Romy’s spine and she began to feel the amulet heat once again against her skin. Unconsciously, she picked it up, rubbing it between her two fingers.

  Romy nodded miserably. “Anything.”

  “You will stay away from Frieda and this village. If I ever see you come near town again, I will tell everyone.”

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8-

  Frieda came racing up the path and didn’t stop until she had barreled into Leon.

  “Stop!” she cried, her momentum sending both of them to the ground next to Romy.

  Frieda was quick to hop back on her feet, and she pulled Romy up beside her.

  “What did he do?” Frieda asked in an angry voice.

  Romy was frightened. She wasn’t sure if she could answer Frieda honestly. The last thing she wanted was for Leon to hurt Frieda. The secret of her magic would indeed send Romy away. Who would make the Devil’s Breath? It was a plant that grew far away from their little forest. Who would protect Frieda from her father?

  “What did he say. Romy?” Frieda demanded.

  Romy shook her head and clamped her lips shut.

  “I didn’t say anything she didn’t deserve to hear,” Leon taunted. “Go ahead, Romy, tell her what I know?”

  Romy looked from Frieda to Leon and then back again.

  “Why won’t you stand up for yourself?” Frieda’s tone was laced with scrutiny as she chastised Romy. “He’s just a bully, nothing more.”

  Leon didn’t care for being called a bully. With a snort he added, “At least I know where I belong. Maybe if Romy had stayed where she belonged, we wouldn’t be having this problem. But then, I suppose that she wasn’t wanted.”

  Frieda’s eyes bulged as she listened to the vitriol words coming from Leon’s mouth. “What is the matter with you? What gives you the right to speak to anyone this way?”

  “Don’t you know that those with magic make the rules? They are the purest, the smartest, and the most blessed of all races.” Then Leon deliberately looked at Romy. “At least most of them are. I suppose there is always an anomaly here to there that needs to be smashed out of existence.”

  Romy recoiled from him just as Frieda picked up a stick and hurled it at Leon. He easily cast a spell of protection causing the stick to bounce off of the invisible shield and fall to the ground.

  Then he whipped his hand around twice and the wind began to pick up. A funnel cloud appeared out of nowhere and began to suck Frieda up. The magic couldn’t touch Romy. Therefore, she could reach in and grab onto Frieda’s leg. Holding tight she turned to Leon. “I asked you again, what do you want? Do you wish me to stay out of the village? Done!”

  “I want you to stay away from Frieda and all of the other village dwellers. I want you to convince your Papa to move far, far, away so that I never have to look upon your face again.”

  Romy was just about to agree to Leon’s demands when they heard the familiar sound of a horse’s hooves, clopping against the cobblestones. It sounded as if the rider was headed directly toward them.

  The three of them turned to see a large white horse with a handsome stranger in the saddle. Romy’s mouth gaped as she took in the broad shoulders and handsome visage. Leon cursed beneath his breath. His pallor suspiciously light.

  “What are you doing, Leon?”

  “Nobody asked you, Thomas.” Leon replied childishly.

  It was one the first times in recent years when Leon reminded Romy of the horrible child, he had once been

  Thomas was a little older than the others, by perhaps a year or two. With golden brown waves and a glowing tan, Thomas was something to behold. Romy had no qualms about staring at the handsome boy. It really didn’t matter anyway. Thomas’ gaze was locked on Frieda.

  It would seem that Frieda was trapped in a similar spell. Her cheeks were pink, and her eyes were bright. She bit her lip and twirled a lock of hair between her fingers.

  “Well, hello.”

  Why was it when a boy wanted to impress a girl, he dropped his voice an octave or two? Romy had always thought it was rather silly. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t just heard him speak to Leon.

  “Thank you,” Frieda replied, her ridiculously long lashes brushing the tops of her cheeks. “You saved us.”

  This seemed a bit rich to Romy. Sure, Thomas had good timing and Leon had been in the midst of being a right git. However, they weren’t drowning. He didn’t pull them from the cliff, nor did he slay a savage beast.

  Well, Leon was beastly—but that was beside the point.

  Once Thomas had dismounted, he went directly to Frieda and took her hand. “I must apologize for my cousin. He has always had trouble controlling his temper.”

  Leon grunted angrily. “What are you doing here, Thomas?”

  Thomas turned and eyed his cousin with barely concealed contempt. “Didn’t you hear? My father has decided to do a grand tour of his kingdom. This is the first stop on our journey.”

  It didn’t take a rocket scientist to put together the clues in Thomas’ statement. If his father had a kingdom, that made him…”

  “You are Prince Thomas the brave?” Frieda asked in wonder.

  Romy half expected her to melt right there into a great big puddle of goo. It was more than obvious that Frieda was smitten, and Thomas had the same earmarks about him.

  Leon was fuming. Pacing back and forth, he was muttering things underneath his breath.

  If Thomas was the prince, that meant his father was the king. It also meant that Leon was someone of importance. However, it was clear that Thomas’ station was superior to Leon.

  Romy, having never been one for politics, was fascinated by the way that she had once again faded into the background. It appeared that the rage and spitefulness that had once been directed at her, was now shifted to Thomas.

  It was also clear that Frieda would not be celebrating Romy’s birthday with her.

  Right before her eyes, Romy watched as Thomas began to lead Frieda away. His horse following along like the faithful subject
he no doubtlessly was.

  Not wanting to give Leon the chance to remember their previous conversation. Romy picked up her skirts and ran. It wasn’t lady like or proper. Frieda had tried so hard to make a lady out of Romy.

  But you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, and you certainly couldn’t change one strange magical girl into a lady.

  Thankfully, Romy was able to run most of the way home. But the time she stopped to catch her breath. She had a stitch in her side. The beautiful dress was dirty, and the hem was torn. Romy reached up and felt the medallion underneath the cloth of the dress. At least she still had that.

  A part of Romy’s heart knew that with the entrance of Thomas in their lives nothing would ever be the same again.

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9-

  “Did you really slay a dragon?” Frieda asked in wonder.

  “Of course, I did!” Thomas puffed his chest out a little further and Romy fought the urge to gag.

  It had been three months since Thomas had come for a visit. After convincing the king that he needed to stay in the city for a while, the king reluctantly left his eldest son behind as he went on to tour the rest of his kingdom. The king, being a rather indulgent man, knew when his son was besotted and had no desire to bust up a budding relationship.

  It was uncertain who was less pleased by these events, Leon or Romy.

  “Then what happened?” Frieda asked, leaning in just a hair too far to be casual.

  Romy had certainly received an education in flirting since Thomas had come to their fair city. Between Thomas’ tales and Frieda’s flights of fancy, Romy was just about certain that it was better to be alone in the woods.

  “They make me sick,” Leon muttered, more to himself than to anyone else. In the weeks since Thomas had come, Leon hadn’t said a word about Romy’s magic. It was almost as if it didn’t matter to him anymore.