“Luca left magic behind?”
“Here we go,” Stefan said. “You’ll regret letting him into your club.”
“Marcus has always loved magic,” Alaric whispered to Lina. “He’s been trying to teach himself enchantments since he was a child.”
“I don’t suppose you ever joined him?”
Alaric winked.
“I might have once or twice.”
“Everyone must wear a smock in the vault!” Simon said. “The items Luca left are irreplaceable. I won’t risk getting them dirty!”
He rushed around handing everyone white smocks. They slipped them over their clothes. The silver moonlight gleamed on the white cloth.
“I can’t tell you how pleased I am to finally share this secret,” Simon said. “The greatest resources in the Aeonian archive, and I’ve had to keep them hidden away!”
“They won’t be for public display,” Queen Marta said. “You know that, right? We’re the only ones allowed in.”
Simon bowed to the group.
“This is more than enough. And to have Evangelina Shadow-Storm to help us interpret the documents will be invaluable. I must apologize again for not recognizing you the first time you came into the archive.”
Lina nodded to him. She was having trouble pulling her smock over her head. It had been a few weeks since her battle with Nog, but her arms were still stiff. Alaric took the smock from her hands and slipped it over her head and shoulders. She thanked him with a quick kiss.
Queen Marta and King Noam smiled and shared a kiss of their own.
“I am so glad you woke up, Lina,” Marta said. “It is wonderful to have you here.”
“It is wonderful to know the truth,” King Noam said.
Stefan pulled his smock over his head and made a face.
“I was looking forward to not doing any more research. Is it really necessary for all of us to go to the vault?”
“Yes, it is,” Marta said. “Together, we are the new royal family of Aeonia. We all need to understand what the previous one left behind.”
Cael, Henry, and Benjamin ignored Stefan’s protests and walked towards the center of the room. They gathered light magic in their hands and aimed it at the ceiling.
“Of course,” Prince Marcus said. “The mirrors that reflect sunlight and moonlight also reflect light magic. Do you think you could teach me?”
King Noam laughed.
“Let them open the vault in peace, Marcus. If it is possible to teach you, I’m sure they will.”
Marcus smiled at Lina.
“I found some scrolls at the school archive that might interest you,” he said. “I could request to have them transferred here if you want to look at them.”
She nodded.
“Yes, that would be helpful. Simon, how does the vault door work?”
The archive keeper shrugged.
“I’m not sure exactly. Light magic must be mixed with moonlight for the doors to open. It will take about an hour to activate the enchantment.”
Stefan choked.
“An hour? We’re going to sit here for an hour while they blast those mirrors with light?”
“Yes,” Marta said. “We are. Be thankful all three of them are here. It takes much longer for one person to open it. This is why we weren’t able to fetch enchanted gems quickly enough for Lina when she fought Nog. It took too long to open the doors.”
“Moonlight,” Lina said. “I wonder if the spell was originally meant to be aided by shadow magic. I can’t imagine Luca having the patience to spend an hour opening a door.”
She walked to the middle of the room and shot a blast of shadow magic towards the mirrors. The archive shuddered, and a section of the floor slid away to reveal a winding set of stairs.
“Remarkable!” Simon said.
“Thank goodness,” Stefan said.
Simon led them down the stairs. Lina’s heart pounded as she walked. It smelled like her old workshop. Like potions and gems and parchments. Like magic.
“All this time,” Alaric said. “Proof was here this whole time. Do you know how many hours I searched scrolls for evidence of Evangelina? You could have given me a hint, Simon. Some encouragement.”
Simon sniffed.
“I would not risk the safety of Lady Evangelina Shadow-Storm to satisfy the curiosity of a young prince.”
“Or two princes,” Marcus said. “I spend more time in the archives than you do, Alaric.”
“I’m older. I started before you.”
They reached the bottom of the staircase. A huge room supported by marble columns stretched as far as Lina could see in every direction. Enchanted gems in the ceiling illuminated the space.
“Oh,” she said. “This is amazing! I had no idea it would be this big!”
“We don’t know what half of it is,” Marta said. “Luca’s cataloging system isn’t very organized.”
Marcus ran to the nearest table and surveyed its contents.
“These are communication charms, right, Lina?”
Lina glanced at the table and nodded.
“Yes. How did you know that?”
Marcus smiled.
“I’ve spent a lot of time researching ancient magic. I recognize most of this. I could have helped Marta catalog it if she had told me.”
“Well, you can help me,” Lina said. “How would you like to be my research apprentice? I’ll need a lot of help to take inventory of everything.”
Marcus beamed at her.
“Truly? You would let me help you?”
“I’ll need you to help me. Do you accept?”
“Yes! Of course!”
Marcus ran from table to table examining the magical objects.
“You’ve made him very happy,” Alaric whispered.
“He’ll be very useful. We can use this magic to protect Aeonia once we know what we have.”
Alaric kissed the top of her head.
“I’m glad.”
“I’m not helping,” Stefan said. “I’m done with research for a decade at least.”
Lina grinned at him.
“I won’t ask for your assistance, then. From what Alaric has told me, you’ve already helped me quite a bit.”
“More than you’ll ever know. This oaf refused to acknowledge his feelings for you. He might have ended up with that bird brain Carina if not for me.”
“She isn’t really obsessed with seagulls,” Lina said. “She was helping me. Distracting Alaric.”
Stefan shrugged.
“So you keep saying. Ugh. The only one worse than her was Fiora.”
“Stefan!” Marcus called. “Come look at this! I found armor and swords!”
“Excellent!”
Stefan bowed to Lina and rushed to join Marcus.
“Lina, come with me,” Marta said. “I want to show you something.”
Lina took Alaric’s hand. Together they passed tables full of magical items. Marta paused in front of a small silver door.
“I think you’ll want to look at these first.”
Lina pushed the door open and gasped. Shelves of scrolls filled the room.
“Are these-?”
Marta nodded.
“Letters from Luca. He wrote to you every day. The earliest are over here.”
She led Lina to a small shelf in the corner. Lina pulled out the bottom scroll and checked the date.
“He wrote this the day I fell asleep.”
Tears gathered in her eyes. Alaric wrapped his arm around her.
“Do you want me to leave you alone?”
“No, please stay.”
Lina unrolled the scroll. Her heart pounded as she read Luca’s familiar scrawling script.
Dear Goat-Face,
Blast it all, Lina. It isn’t any fun calling you names when you can’t answer. I’m tempted to call myself donkey just so it feels like you’re here.
From what I can tell, your enchantment was a success. At least, I haven’t been ambushed by any goblins today. I reported as
much to King Dacian, and he seems pleased. I’ve been promoted, and he’s agreed to give me whatever resources I need to make sure the seal holds.
I plan to use them to wake you. Don’t worry. I won’t do it unless I know the seal will hold without you. Well, I might do it if I know only a few goblins will slip through. We can deal with those.
I miss you, Lina. It has only been a few hours, but I miss you.
Lina lowered the scroll. She couldn’t see it any more. Tears streamed down her face.
Alaric held her close while she cried. He stroked her hair.
“I miss him,” Lina said. “I’m sorry, but I do.”
“Don’t be sorry. Of course you miss him. He was your brother. Your best friend.”
Lina looked at the long line of shelves.
“He missed me for a lifetime,” she said. “I’ve only been without him a few days. It feels so wrong. So strange to be out of sync. We did everything together.”
“I can’t imagine. Lina, I would make it right if I could.”
“Make it right? No, Alaric. Don’t think that way. Luca and I chose this. We made this sacrifice to keep Aeonia safe. I miss him, but I wouldn’t change it.”
“You are too perfect, you know. Too brave.”
Lina rolled the scroll up and returned it to its place on the shelf. Her heart ached. She couldn’t read any more right now.
It was too painful to have Luca’s words and not Luca. She would read the letters later. A little at a time. She wanted to know Luca’s story.
But she also wanted to discover her own.
Lina wrapped her arms around Alaric and pulled him into a kiss.
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Author’s Note
Thank you for reading The Princess and the Pea. If you enjoyed this book and would like more Fairy Tale Adventures, leave me a review to let me know!
The story continues in The Frog Prince, now available on Amazon. Follow Stefan and Carina as they fight dark magic in Santelle.
The Princess and the Pea (Fairy Tale Adventures Book 1) Page 26