Kingdom of Villains and Vengeance

by Laura Greenwood et al.

Romy wasn’t sure if she should be thrilled or terrified that he might one day flip on her again. He knew that they were still spelling Frieda’s father. Instead of gambling all day and drinking all night, he was now working as an accountant for the king’s treasury.

  Frieda couldn’t have been prouder of her father. He looked at least ten years younger. His body was leaner, and his laughter often rang through the air. Romy was able to meet him in his sober state. She was shocked to see how much he reminded Romy of Frieda when he wasn’t being a violent drunk.

  “Let’s go swimming, shall we?” Thomas suggested.

  Leon rolled his eyes. Everyone knew he wasn’t the strongest swimmer. However, he was far from being the worst. Sadly, Romy held that honor. With her misshapen arm, most of the strokes were difficult to perform.

  The Frieda from the past would have remembered this and offered another pastime. However, Frieda in love was nothing like Frieda the best friend. Swimming was one of Thomas’ favorite activities, and therefore it was Frieda’s favorite as well.

  Romy felt like knocking Frieda about the head with a club. Perhaps that would beat some sense into the silly girl.

  “Did you bring your suit?” Frieda asked Romy.

  Romy shook her head. “No, I think I will just wade today. You go ahead though.”

  The others had their suits on under their clothes. It wasn’t long before Thomas and Frieda were splashing into the current. Leon wasn’t far behind, struggling to keep up. Romy sat on the edge of the river and watched them.

  There was something about the way the leaves were changing and the coolness to the breeze that indicated to Romy changes were coming and it wasn’t just the seasons. She put her hands into the soft dirt beside body and took a deep breath.

  Her medallion was warm against her skin. Where it had once frightened her, Romy now knew that it was a sense of protection. She never took it off or went anywhere without it. However, it did seem like something Leon would make fun of, so Romy always kept it out of sight.

  It’s funny how excited she had been on her birthday to show Frieda the jewel, and yet she never had shared it.

  Squawks from the sky indicated that birds were flying over. Romy looked up and saw a murder of crows flying by. There were majestic, ominous, and lovely. Papa would say that they were just like Romy, but she held no illusions as to the person she had grown into.

  Happily, ever afters weren’t meant for Raven girls. They were meant for ladies with golden curls who could curtsy like a goddess, sing like a nightingale, and collect the heart of a handsome prince.

  “Help!” Leon screamed.

  At first Romy wondered if he was faking. Having floated further down than Thomas and Frieda. Romy couldn’t see Leon’s position very well. His head kept dipping underwater. She sat up on the bank and then stood. This time when Leon went down, he didn’t come up.

  “Frieda!” Romy exclaimed. “Leon is in trouble!”

  Frieda hadn’t even been aware of the trouble. She and Thomas immediately went to Leon’s aid, but they couldn’t find him. As the seconds ticked by, they seemed like minutes. As much as Romy disliked Leon, she didn’t want harm to come to him.

  “There!” Thomas called out. “By the falls!”

  Leon’s shirt could be seen caught by a branch on the edge of the falls about one hundred and fifty yards from where Frieda and Leon had been swimming. There was no way for them to get close to him without putting themselves in danger.

  It was also obvious that Leon wasn’t conscious.

  “Cast a spell to save him!” Frieda screamed.

  Thomas looked struck dumb. It was clear by his expression that he was frozen into inaction.

  Frieda’s gaze turned to Romy asking the one thing that she really couldn’t do. “Romy, you have to do something! He will die!”

  Indecision plagued Romy. Of course, she didn’t want Leon to die. As horrible as Leon had been in the past, she was no killer. However, would it be her fault if nature took its course? Magic was a tricky thing. It wouldn’t interfere with life or death unless it wasn’t meant to happen. It wasn’t as if she could do magic in front of Thomas. How could she possibly use magic in a way that Thomas wouldn’t find out? All the while praying that she wasn’t breaking the rules enough to save him.

  What if it depleted her magic?

  What if she grew ill or even died herself?

  “Romy!” Frieda pleaded again.

  Romy had known that these moments weren’t ones that she should be taking. Every infinitesimal second was a step closer to Leon’s demise. With a sigh, Frieda put her hands into the water and began to chant. For a moment it seemed as if her idea had failed.

  Then the water began to slow and stop.

  “What’s going on here?” Thomas demanded.

  Frieda wasn’t even listening to Thomas. After seeing what Romy was doing, Frieda began to swim furiously for the falls. If the flow of water was stopped long enough. Frieda and Thomas could pull Leon to safety.

  Sweat began to pool on Romy’s brow and upper lip. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold the stream still. The currents were beating against her arms, the power radiating from somewhere deep inside.

  “I’ve got him!” Frieda cheered.

  Thomas helped Frieda drag Leon to the shore. As soon as they were on dry land, Romy released the water and she fell back against the bank—darkness playing at the corners of her vision.

  “You saved him, Romy!” Frieda cried as they turned Leon on his side and watched him retch half the water from the stream.

  The entire time Romy fought consciousness. It would seem that her body had expended more of its life force than Romy had anticipated. As Frieda rushed about frantically, trying to get the water out of Leon’s lungs.

  Romy slipped into the inky darkness.

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10-

  “She cannot be allowed to live with the forest folk, Frieda. The laws are clear about where the magical may live.”

  Romy could hear the ins and outs of a heated whispered conversation going on in the next room. Clinging to her medallion she went over the situation again and again in her mind. But every outcome was always the same. She had to save him, even if it meant exposing her magic.

  “You don’t understand, Thomas. Romy… she’s not like other magical people.”

  Great, Romy thought to herself, now Frieda is making excuses for me.

  Rather than sit there and listen, Romy decided to take matters into her own hands. It didn’t sit well with her that Leon, Thomas, and Frieda were discussing her fate. It also hurt more than Romy cared to admit that Thomas was acting this way after she had saved him.

  Her feelings were already bruised when Freida had suggested that Romy wait outside in the hallway. Pushing her shoulders back, Romy walked around the corner and into a well-appointed living area. It was nothing like the cozy cottage that she and Papa lived in. Frieda’s home looked, for lack of a better word—expensive.

  “What are you going to do?” Romy asked quietly.

  Thomas ran his hand through his hair. It was funny that after going through this experience, Thomas had lost even more of his handsome appeal to Romy. Now she had a hard time picturing what Frieda saw in him. The man clearly wasn’t anything like the image he portrayed to other.

  A magpie, Romy decided.

  “Romy, it’s nothing against you personally,” Thomas began uneasily.

  “But you are speaking of me—personally. Are you not? I can hear the both of you clear as day, there isn’t any point awaiting my fate like a recalcitrant school child. I saved your life. If you think that is worth punishment, then I will take what is coming to me. But at least let me face it with some pride.”

  Frieda’s chin went up a notch and a slight smile played about her lips. She moved to stand beside Romy, linking arms.

  “Whatever you choose to do to Romy, you must do to me. I knew about her secret and didn’t tell anyone. I have benefited from he
r magic. If she is to be punished, then so must I.”

  Thomas scowled at Frieda. “You are taking this loyalty too far.”

  Frieda looked at Romy, her brow furrowing. “No, I don’t think I have taken it far enough. Thomas, I care about you. But Romy is my best friend. There are things that you couldn’t understand, even if I tried to explain them, I couldn’t. So, if you punish Romy by sending her away, you send me away as well.”

  Thomas pulled at his hair making it stand on end. “Do you realize that if my father finds out this is treason? You are asking me to go against the rules of the kingdom.”

  “Your father makes the rules of the kingdom, Thomas. Perhaps it’s time to change the rules that aren’t fair to the people.” Romy wasn’t sure where she had gotten the courage to utter those words. But she meant every last one of them.

  Frieda nodded. “She’s right.”

  Thomas looked over at Leon who was still snoring on the couch. “He won’t be so easy to convince.”

  “Leon knows,” Romy said. “The first day we met you. Leon had cornered me-”

  Frieda gasped, saying, “That’s what he was doing that day? Why wouldn’t you tell me?”

  “He knows about your father,” Romy answered in a whisper.

  “What about your father?” Thomas demanded.

  Frieda’s eyes had grown wide with fear. “He knows? Leon has known all this time and you didn’t tell me? Romy! He could have told my father! Something terrible could have happened. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Romy felt Frieda drop her arm and immediately felt the loss. She was confused as to why Frieda was suddenly angry with her. “I was trying to do what was right.”

  “By not telling me?” Freida screeched. “Do you have any idea the amount of danger you put me in?”

  Romy refused to get into a screaming match with Frieda. She had done what she thought was best to protect her friend—not harm her. “You don’t understand.”

  Romy tried to reach out her hand, but Frieda took a step back. Hurt laced Frieda’s eyes as she accused. “Is this because I have gotten close to Thomas? Are you jealous, Romy?”

  The very idea was ludicrous. Romy didn’t want Thomas as a boyfriend or suitor. Frankly she wasn’t even keen on his being the prince of the kingdom. Thomas was spoiled, selfish, and bigoted. In Romy’s eyes he was ninety percent ego and ten percent good looks. How had she suddenly become the bad guy? Wasn’t Frieda just defending her moments ago?

  “Frieda, I didn’t say anything because Leon said that he would tell if I told anyone.”

  Frieda shook her head. “I tell you everything! Hiding things? That isn’t what friends are made of Romy.”

  “Maybe you should calm down,” Thomas said looking from Frieda’s angry face into Romy’s stricken one. “Maybe we all need to calm down.”

  “Maybe you should go home,” Frieda pointed toward the door. Only she wasn’t looking at Thomas, she was looking straight at Romy.

  Tears stung Romy’s eyes as she turned on her heel and began to walk out of the room. Step after step in the long hallway she fought the emotions that threatened to steal her every breath. How could this have happened?

  Everything Romy had done was to protect others. She saved Leon’s life and was threatened to be sent away. She grew the Devil’s Breath for Frieda daily, and ended up being banished from her home. Had she been in the wrong?

  Romy couldn’t stop the tears as they fell. She didn’t stop to speak to anyone as she raced once again down the garden path, much like she had all those years ago with rotting vegetables clinging to her clothes.

  Darkness surrounded her, Romy looked up, wiping furiously at her face. Trying to see what had blocked the sun, she was shocked to see a murder of crows’ overhead. It was as if she could feel their heartbeats pumping along with her own. Her anger and sorrow becoming theirs. Her body felt lighter, her mind clearer. Romy was running faster and faster until suddenly the earth was no longer beneath her feet.

  Her misshapen arm no longer bothered her. It flexed and elongated just as it should have. She turned her black head and saw the silky feathers that now covered her wings. Her raven black feathers covering her breast and tail. She soared high in the sky. Her brothers and sisters flanking her sides.

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11-

  “There, there, child. It was only a dream.”

  When Romy opened her eyes, she was in her attic bedroom with Papa bathing her forehead with rose water.

  “What happened?” Romy’s voice was hoarse. Her throat felt dry and scratchy.

  “You have been out for nearly two days now. You gave me quite a scare young lady.” Papa’s words were kind, but Romy could hear the fear behind them.

  Two days? That couldn’t be right. Romy remembered being near the stream with Thomas, Leon, and Freida. They had wanted to go swimming. It had been so very hot. Much like now, Romy felt very warm.

  “Can I have some water?” she asked.

  Papa reached for the side table and brought a glass to her lips. The water felt cool and refreshing against her dry lips.

  “Don’t gulp it all, child. You will vomit. Just sips until we know the state of your stomach.”

  Romy wasn’t worried at all about her stomach. She just knew she needed water and lots of it. The water reminded her of the swimming. Something had occurred when they were there.

  Leon.

  He almost drowned.

  Piece by piece the events came back to her. She had used magic in front of Leon, Frieda and the prince, Thomas. Her Papa wouldn’t be happy at all if he knew.

  “What has you looking like that?” Papa asked gruffly. “Out with it then, I know when my girl is upset.”

  The story poured from Romy like water from a leaky faucet. Slowly at first, but once the words began to flow a steady stream escaped until the whole of it was out and Papa was sitting there with his mouth agape.

  “Romy!” he exclaimed in a hushed whisper.

  Romy nodded miserably. “And now they all know, and the prince is going to send me away.”

  Papa shook his head. “No, you don’t understand. It’s been two days since you left with Frieda to sit by the stream. If you were giving her Devil’s Breath every twelve hours. She is far behind on the dose.”

  Romy shot up, and a wave of nausea nearly overtook her.

  “Papa, I have to go and see if Frieda is okay.”

  Papa shook his head. “No, it’s too dangerous. If that man finds out that you were be-spelling him all of these years, he could do something dreadful. Oh Romy, I really wished you would have told me before now.”

  It was something that Romy highly wished as well. It had seemed like the perfect answer at the time. Now it seemed that she had ruined everything.

  “Papa, I have to go,” Romy said, this time remaining upright.

  Her Papa clearly didn’t want Romy to leave, but he knew better than to argue with her a second time. Romy tossed on a dress over her nightshirt and slipped into a pair of shoes. She didn’t even bother with the laces before beginning to climb down the ladder.

  Papa followed Romy, only stopping to get his revolver and a sharp hunting knife.

  Darkness had fallen as they made their way down the familiar path to town. Neither one speaking a word as they were both wrapped in their own thoughts.

  Romy had dreamed she was a bird. It was the strangest thing to focus on in a time like this. But the images kept flashing through her mind. Her medallion warmed against her skin. What did it all mean?

  As they entered town a great blaze illuminated the night sky. Papa and Romy began to run toward the end of town where Leon and Frieda lived.

  Sure enough, Frieda’s home was enveloped in flames. The crowd of villagers made it difficult to see what or who was fighting the fire. Romy elbowed her way toward the front, not even bothering with apologizes. She had to find Frieda.

  Terror was clawing at her throat. Was Frieda still inside? Had her father hurt her�
��killed her even?

  “Wait!”

  Papa seized Romy around the waist right before she ran into the flames. He yanked her back to safety and pointed to where Leon was fighting the fire with magic. Frieda was huddled in Thomas’ arms near the edge of the property.

  Romy didn’t care that they had parted in an argument. She ran straight to Frieda and dropped to her knees. “I am so sorry.”

  Frieda’s eyes were glassy, and her voice wasn’t steady when she answered. “No, it was my fault. I sent you away.”

  Romy felt as if she could have died a thousand deaths at that moment. How could Frieda have ever thought she would abandon her?

  “No, you don’t understand. I have been ill, unconscious for two days. I didn’t leave you Frieda, not on purpose.”

  Frieda looked up in confusion, her eyes focusing for the first time. “You were ill?”

  Romy laid her head in Frieda’s lap. “When I awakened, I remembered our fight and insisted that I come right away. I didn’t know it had been two days. Oh, Frieda, I am so sorry. Please forgive me.”

  Frieda stroked Romy’s hair with one hand as she leaned against Thomas. “I am the one who is sorry. I accused you of terrible things, Romy. I don’t know what got into me. When you didn’t come, I thought that you had washed your hands of me.”

  Romy choked on her words, trying to get them right. “I promised that I would always be there for you, Frieda. I would not let a silly fight get in the way.”

  “I spoke with Thomas,” Frieda said, her eyes mesmerized by the flames.

  “What?”

  Frieda turned to Romy. “You will always be safe here. He won’t tell his father, and neither will Leon. Thomas made Leon promise and sealed it with magic. He literally cannot tell on you. He can’t write it or speak it. You are safe.”

  Romy bit her lower lip. “Thank you, thank you so very much. But what about you? What happened here?”

  Frieda shuddered and turned to bury her face into Thomas’ chest.

  It was Thomas who answered. “I had no idea her father could be like that. I am glad that I was here. I was able to shove Frieda behind me and absorb most of the blow.”