Renoir glared at him. “I suppose you didn’t take her out to dinner at The Palace a couple of weeks ago?”
“I was supposed to meet my mother there, and when I showed up, Maegera and my mother were waiting for me. Then my mother claimed she didn’t feel well and had to go home immediately. I knew it was a setup the minute I set eyes on Maegera. My mother would give up half her magic power if she could get me to agree to marry into that family.”
Erik looked at Reonir with narrowed eyes.
“Wait a minute. Does Fiona think that I’m seeing Maegera? ”
“Of course she does. Maegera came into our store and told Fiona that you were planning on proposing to her, and that you wrote her love letters while you were away in the Troll Wars, and then she mailed Fiona a picture of you and her having dinner at The Palace.”
“What the hell!” Erik’s eyes glowed blue with fury, and suddenly the street around them was shaking. A garbage can exploded, showering the street with debris.
“Watch the outfit!” Renoir squealed, frantically brushing a greasy fast food wrapper off his silk shirt.
“How could Fiona believe that of me, after all the years she’s known me? Why wouldn’t she just ask me?’
“Uhhh…why do you think? Because her mother, and all the uptown bitches she grew up with, have done a number on her self esteem so she believed that she’s worthless and you’d rather pick a skinny witch over her. And for that matter, wouldn’t it have been smart for you to tell her about the whole Maegera dinner incident so she wouldn’t hear about it third-hand and get the wrong impression?”
“Now that you mention it, yes,” Erik said grudgingly. “But I think so little of Maegera that I didn’t even bother saying anything about it. I should have known better.”
He shook his head. “So this explains why Fiona has been avoiding me. I need to talk to her.”
“She’s not home today.”
“Where is she?” Erik’s eyes gleamed dangerously, and Renoir darted back away from him, alarmed.
“I literally swore an unbreakable vow not to tell you where she is. I am be-spelled. I am incapable of telling you. Fiona didn’t trust me to hold up under torture. Or even under gentle prodding.”
“You’ve got to tell her what’s really happening!” Erik pleaded.
“I’ll try, but she may not listen. It’s a very painful subject for her.”
“She’ll be at the Crystal Ball tonight, and then I’ll have the chance to tell her myself.” Erik’s rubbed his face with frustration. “What a mess. I’m going to give my mother a piece of my mind about this, believe me.”
Chapter Fifteen
“You have to listen to me! Maegera’s been lying all along! Erik never intended to propose to her!”
Night was falling, and Fiona was fussing with a topiary on the grounds outside of the building that housed the Crystal Ball, making it morph into different shapes. She’d tried various hearts; frowning, she concentrated hard and it became a cupid shooting an arrow.
“Perfect!” Serefina, one of the witches from the Florists Guild, trilled as she glided by. “Simply lovely, dear! And you look adorable.”
“Thank you, Serafina. You’re too kind.” Fiona had grudgingly let Rosalind and Delphine talk her into wearing a pink silk Grecian style gown, and Rosalind had piled her hair up high and adorned it with pink silk roses and pearls. Mala insisted on putting rosy lip gloss on her, proclaiming “This way you’ll get a hot date. Dudes like chicks with lip gloss. Rosalind told me.”
Fiona turned to Renoir, shaking her head. “Renoir, that’s lovely of you to say that, but I’m swamped here. And that ship has sailed.”
“Erik told me himself! He said that his mother tricked him into going on that dinner date with Maegera- he didn’t even know she was going to be there.” Renoir was hopping from foot to foot with agitation. “This is important, Fiona! Look, there he is – ask him!”
Startled, Fiona spun around to see that Erik indeed was stepping out of a limousine that had dropped him off in front of the walkway that led to the Crystal Ball.
The Crystal Ball was held every year in a giant ball-shaped structure made of glass panels and supported by an iron framework. Fortunately, Fiona was hidden by shrubbery, and the walkway that led to the front door was a long one.
Heart pounding in her chest, Fiona turned and dashed away, rushing to a side entrance and watching from the doorway until Erik was inside. There were hundreds of witches and warlocks attending, and hundreds of servants, waiters, waitresses, musicians, security staff…with luck she’d be able to avoid him until she was finished creating the special effects for the opening ceremonies.
If Renoir was telling the truth, then she’d made a complete fool of herself, and insulted Erik for no reason, rejecting all of his overtures and ruining any chance she might have had of a relationship with him.
The knowledge that maybe, just maybe, Erik had wanted something real from her, and she’d basically spit in his face and probably made him feel like a fool, made her positively ill.
It looked like Maegera had won after all.
There was nothing that she could do about it now, but she could still make the evening splendid and special for the young witches and warlocks who were streaming in through the front door, aglow with happiness.
Once Erik was inside, Fiona returned to the front entrance and stood with the other witches who’d been hired to ensure a magical evening for everyone.
Enchanted birds trilled classical melodies, swooping through the air serenading the hundreds of witches and warlocks who were trooping up the walkway.
Attendees walked under a living archway of rose bushes, hundreds of feet long.
As the witches and warlocks walked through the archway, the bushes exploded into bloom, with roses of every color swelling from tiny buds to huge blossoms. There were roses of red, white, pink, purple, silver, blue, yellow and orange. There were striped roses and spotted roses. There were roses small, medium, and large.
As they walked, many of the warlocks snapped off the roses and presented them to their intended, with deep bows. New roses immediately grew to replace them. The perfumed scent of the flowers was rich and ready.
Inside the enormous central ball room, refreshments set on floating tables lined the walls. Trays full of drinks floated among the guests. A band played contemporary rock on the central stage in the middle of the room, and witches and warlocks swirled gracefully on the floor.
Fiona wandered the room past vine-twined columns and archways, and every vine that she passed burst into bloom. There was much oohing and ahhhing, and she had to admit, she found it gratifying.
The grand master and grand mistress of ceremonies climbed on to the center stage, wearing ceremonial purple robes and conical hats adorned with silver stars – robes that had remained the same style for hundreds of years. Fiona grabbed a flute of champagne and sipped the sweet golden nectar as they gave their usual speech about the importance of preserving the magical race and keeping it pure, and how the strength of their magic kept the realm safe, and blah blah blah.
Their speech ended, and the music resumed.
The champagne warmed Fiona, dulling the pulsing ache that she felt in her heart. Fiona watched as a warlock pointed his wand in the air and spelled out “Beautiful Bedelia, will you marry me?” in flames. Then the flames swirled together into the shape of a dragon, and the dragon breathed out a ball of flame that formed itself into a heart.
Bedelia, dressed in a shimmery gauze dress of sheerest silver, burst into tears and cried out “Yes! Yes!” to a burst of applause from the onlookers who’d gathered to watch.
Fiona swallowed hard and tried very hard to be happy for them.
As night fell, the stars shone through the top of the dome. Tiny pegasuses swooped through the air carrying a banner with a proposal scrolled across it, dangling in front of a delighted young brunette, to the shrieks and applause of her little knot of friends.
A w
arlock reached into his jacket and pulled out a golden, jewel encrusted egg, which he presented to a lovely redhead. The egg split open and a bird flew out, and then another, and then dozens of birds, and they flew in the air and formed the shape of a heart, while the warlock went down on his knees. “Bravo! Bravo!” shouted the crowd.
Erik was nowhere in sight.
Then Fiona heard the sound of a slap, and saw an angry witch storming away from Aelfwerd. It was the second time she’s seen a witch storm away from him in outrage tonight.
He rubbed his cheek, blinking furiously, and looked around the room. His eyes lighted on a witch, and he started to make his way towards her.
Fiona winced, and stepped in front of him.
“Aelfwerd, were you going to go propose to that woman? Don’t. Just don’t.”
He looked at her suspiciously. “Are you saying that you’d accept my proposal?”
“For the love of Goddess, Aelfwerd! No! Listen to me. You know why everyone not only turns you down, they get furious at you?”
“Poor taste?” He blinked even harder, and Fiona realized that his eyes were filled with tears.
“Your parents are really putting a lot of pressure on you to make a suitable match, aren’t they?” she asked gently.
He shrugged miserably, staring at the ground.
“The problem, Aelfwerd, is that you approach women as if you’re doing them a huge favor condescending to propose to them. As if they’re lucky to have you, and you’re taking a step down in proposing. How would you like it if someone approached you like that?”
“What do you mean?” He sniffed hard and wiped at his eyes with his sleeve. “Darned allergies. All these flowers are killing me.”
“Would you like it if someone came up to you and let you know that you were the last warlock on earth that they were interested in, but since they were desperate and not getting any decent proposals, they’d grudgingly consider you?’
“Good heavens! I’d be appalled! That would be horribly offensive!” He paused, light dawning. “Oh. I see.”
He looked down at her. “Then what do I do?”
“Don’t propose to someone unless you are doing it because you truly love them. Don’t propose unless you feel as if they are the most magical creature in the world, and they would light up your every waking moment.”
“But…but…” He took a deep breath. “Fiona, I underestimated you. Whoever claims you in marriage will be a lucky man.”
Fiona found herself blinking back tears too. “That’s not going to happen.”
“Don’t be so sure.” He straightened his shoulders and made a beeline across the room…straight towards Maegera. Maegera’s hair was piled up into a giant shining blond beehive updo adorned with sparkling crystalline combs, and she wore an ankle length gown of frothy lace that was so light it seemed to float. She was one of the most striking women at the ball, she was having a miserable time; her face was dark as a thundercloud, and Bonnie was standing next to her, wearing a shapeless brown shift, eyes downcast.
Why was Bonnie even there at the ball? Fiona wondered.
It suddenly dawned on Fiona that Maegera didn’t really need an assistant. She needed someone to bully, someone who couldn’t fight back.
Maegera’s younger sister Tamara was there, looking smug, and next to her was a handsome, broad shouldered young warlock with his arm slung around Tamara’s waist; he’d clearly just proposed to her.
Fiona hastily followed Aelfwerd; he couldn’t possibly be thinking of…
Oh, no. Not Maegera, Fiona thought. Don’t ask Maegera…
“No! Just no!” Maegera burst out furiously as Aelfwerd approached.
“You can’t afford to say no! Erik’s already turned you down!” Tamara hissed. “And nobody else is interested in you, and Aelfwerd’s family is very wealthy! Mother will have a conniption if you reject him!”
“No, what?” Aelfwerd looked puzzled.
“I wouldn’t marry you if you were the last Warlock in the realm!” she cried out, furious.
“Maegera! I’ll tell mother! You’re getting too old to turn down a decent offer!” Tamara looked outraged.
Fiona winced. Poor Aelfwerd – how much more rejection could he take?
But Aelfwerd didn’t even blink. “And I wouldn’t marry you even if you had a decent personality,” Aelfwerd said coolly. “You flunked out of Briarthorne’s; you’re far too stupid for me.”
Aelfwerd turned towards Bonnie. “Bonnie, you are the smartest and prettiest woman I’ve ever seen. I happen to know that you love Shakespeare even more than I do. I’ve seen you visiting the Shakespeare library and I always wanted to go talk to you, but I didn’t dare.”
Maegera’s jaw dropped. “You’re proposing to her? You’d want her over me?”
“Well, of course.” Aelfwerd stared at her, genuinely baffled. “Who wouldn’t?”
“She’s ugly as dirt, and she’s a human! Your children wouldn’t even be magical!”
“There are worse fates,” Aelfwerd said. “Like a lifetime being married to someone you don’t love, when the one that you love was right within reach.”
Bonnie’s eyes were filling with tears, which spilled over and ran down her face. “I never thought you’d noticed me!” Her voice was shaky, barely above a whisper, and Fiona strained to hear. “I used to watch you reading poetry. I loved how your lips moved when you read. I wanted you to read that poetry to me.”
Aelfwerd went down on one knee. “I haven’t prepared a fancy speech or magic proposal like you deserve, but…”
Fiona closed her eyes and concentrated hard, and one of the vines that twined overhead burst into flower, and the flowers exploded into showers of petals that rained down on them.
“Is that for me?” Bonnie’s eyes were round with wonder.
“Ahhh….yes! Yes it is!” Aelfwerd said hastily. “And if you agree to marry me, I will read you poetry every day of my life. Because even if you’re human, to me you’re the most magical creature in the world, and you would light up my every waking moment.”
A group of onlookers burst into applause. Fiona joined them, clapping furiously; she didn’t even mind that Aelfwerd had stolen the lines she’d just fed him.
As Bonnie started to step towards Aelfwerd, Maegera leaped forward, grabbed her skinny arm, and gave her flesh a vicious pinch, wrenching a shriek of pain from her. “Not so fast,” Maegera snarled. Bonnie cowered; Maegera held on, twisting harder and making Bonnie cry as she struggled to pull her arm from Maegera’s grasp.
Fiona realized Bonnie’s arms were covered with little black and blue marks, evidence of the abuse she’d suffered at Maegera’s hands.
Aelfwerd pointed his wand at Maegera and zapped her so hard that she screamed and staggered back several feet. Her glossy, beautiful hair exploded into a frizzled brillo pad, her crystalline combs flew off her head, and the hem of her dress turned black and crumbled off.
“Did you hear me? I have claimed her as my intended. She is under my protection. Touch her again and I’ll fry your hair right off your head, as is my legal right and duty to defend my future bride.” Aelfwerd suddenly looked a lot taller, and his chin didn’t seem weak at all.
Bonnie fell into his arms and cried noisily into his shoulder.
“She is under contract to me for five more years!” Maegera spit out. “She’s my indentured servant, and I have the right to deny your marriage proposal until she’s free from her contract. And I’m adding my gown and the cost of my hair to the contract that she owes me; that’s at least two more years.” Maegera leveled a vicious glare at Bonnie. “And just wait until I get you home,” she hissed.
“I have the legal right to buy out the rest of her contract, which I am exercising,” Aelfwerd said coldly. “She won’t go home with you tonight; she will be moving in with me immediately. And I dare you to try to add the gown and the hair to that contract; I come from a family of lawyers. Farewell.”
He walked away, as Maeger
a’s face grew redder and redder and she finally resorted to stamping her feet on the carpet, tearing at her dress, and screaming out a stream of curses. Tamara and her fiancé, mortified, had rushed off and were hiding in the crowd. Fiona suspected that after Maegera’s public outburst, no proposals would be coming her way any time soon. If ever.
Fiona turned away and began walking towards the exit. Her work was done here.
She’d given two people a happy ending they never would have found without her. The night had been a success after all.
Murmurs began bubbling up around her, and she looked around to see what the commotion was all about.
“The stars! The stars are moving!”
She tipped her head back.
At the same time, she could smell a familiar, minty smell in the air…it was the scent of illusion spell.
Someone was making it look as if the stars were rearranging themselves in the sky.
She looked up and saw Erik, standing on a rippling carpet and floating above the crowd. Erik was shockingly handsome in a black tuxedo with a red bowtie and cumberbund. He was pointing his wand at the sky.
“Fiona!” He called out, and she stared at the stars and her jaw fell open.
That was where all the illusion spell had gone. He’d bought it all up…weeks ago.
Because he’d been planning this all along.
The stars spelled out words written like diamonds on the black velvet drape of the night sky. “Fiona Rosewood, I have always loved you!”
The magic carpet drifted to the ground, and then Erik was kneeling at her feet, as the stars began moving again.
The crowd oohed and ahhhed, pointed and clapping their hands in delight. This was epic. The other proposals paled in comparison.
“Fiona, will you marry me?” they spelled out, all across the giant dome of the sky.
“Say yes, Fiona!” Erik knelt and kissed her hand.
The crowd around began chanting. “Say yes, Fiona! Say yes, Fiona! Say yes, Fiona!”
Fiona looked around the crowd, at the happy, chanting revelers, at Aelfwerd and Bonnie who stood hand in hand joining in the chant…
Big Beautiful Witches: I Married A Warlock Page 11