by R. L. Weeks
Edward placed his hand on hers. ‘Calm down. We can sort this.’
She pulled her hands back and wept. ‘This is all my fault.’
Stilt shook his head. ‘It’s not. It’s partly mine, but mainly Lori’s…’ Edward snarled at him. Stilt bit his lip. ‘Mainly Lori’s.’ he pointed out.
Edward huffed. ‘He’s right. We can get her back, I promise.’
She reached out and touched his lips. ‘I was so used to seeing you with scars and well… everything else that I only got to admire how you actually look for a moment before…’ she looked up at Stilt and frowned. He fiddled uncomfortably with his sleeve. She looked back at Edward. ‘I never actually got to tell you…’ she stopped. Her heart throbbed in her throat. ‘I love you.’
Warmth spread through him. ‘I love you too,’ he admitted. Never did he think he would say those words and actually mean them. ‘I love you,’ he said again and lifted her off the bed. He spun her around as Stilt looked on, sickened.
Love had shattered the curse.
‘Oh, I, God, I hate magic!’ Belle admitted.
Edward, still holding Belle’s hands, kissed her and suddenly all the worries, fears that he had, seemed to melt away with her touch. Everything that he had been through was worth it. She was in his arms, and this time, he would never let her go again.
‘Where are you going?’ Stilt asked, looking at the carriage.
‘To visit Merlin.’
Stilt shook his head. ‘Don’t bother. Whatever you need, he won’t help. Not when you’re allied with Lori, or us. He hates us all.’
Belle pressed her lips together. ‘I see. Well, shall we go back to Northmanni? I want to see James.’
Edward nodded and escorted her to the carriage.
HUMAN
Eric walked his usual route back to the lake, as he had done every night since meeting Ariel. His hope of ever seeing the fiery redhead that called shoes crockhoppers and made him laugh more than he had ever laughed in his life, was fading. He rubbed his eyes twice and looked at the blurry figure ahead of him. His vision corrected. It was her, his dream girl, talking to a seagull, dressed in an old rag.
‘Ariel?’ Eric shouted over to her. She turned and grinned, showing off her beautiful pearly white teeth. She went to run over to him, but tripped on the bottom of the rag, and fell onto the pebbles. Eric ran over and helped her up. ‘I can’t believe it’s you.’
‘Hi. I’m human,’ she exclaimed then put her hands over her mouth. ‘I mean, of course, I am.’
‘Right,’ he said slowly and raised an eyebrow. ‘Where are you from?’
‘Uhh, a different place to here.’
‘Well I know that.’ He laughed. ‘Why are you wearing a rag?’
She twirled. ‘Coverer.’
He laughed boyishly. ‘It’s a rag. Shall we get you into a dress at the castle?’ He offered.
She giggled. ‘A dress? Um, sure,’ she said.
They strolled toward the castle. Eric couldn’t stop laughing at the things Ariel was coming out with. ‘You’re rather unusual.’
‘Oh,’ she replied and pouted.
‘It’s a good thing,’ he admitted. ‘I haven’t met anyone like you before. You’re like a breath of fresh air.’
She couldn’t stop looking at his face. His chiseled features, his hair, now dry, was curly. She thought it was adorable.
‘You’re really nice, too,’ she said, smiling.
‘Ah, you’ve only just met me,’ he joked, smiling mischievously.
***
Belle and Edward cosied up for the ride. Belle felt peaceful, happy, even. ‘I feel like I’ve been missing out,’ she said.
‘On what?’
‘Love,’ she admitted.
He stroked her hair and grinned. ‘I never knew it could feel this good.’
Stilt, who was sitting across from them, looked as if he may vomit. ‘Oh thank God!’ he said as the carriage came to a stop. ‘We’re here.’
‘Oh, it’s not that bad,’ Edward said and laughed. He followed Stilt out and helped Belle out of the carriage.
‘It’s nauseating, watching you two. I liked you better when you were a swine,’ Stilt admitted.
Belle grinned at Edward. ‘What happens now?’
Edward smiled back. He couldn’t help it. ‘We defeat Lori, get James, and return to Dolorom.’
‘James has powers now.’
Stilt raised an eyebrow. ‘Does he?’
Belle pursed her lips. ‘You will not try to take them from him!’
Stilt laughed. ‘You’re kidding, right? We have unlimited power now. What would we need with his?’
‘Lori said…’ she stopped herself. Of course Lori had said that. She turned to Edward. ‘Never mind. I just can’t wait for us to be a family.’
Edward raised an eyebrow. ‘You mean it? We can be a family?’
‘Of course,’ Belle said and smiled.
‘Oh Belle,’ he said and lifted her up, twirling her around. ‘I love you so much.’
‘I love you too,’ she said, blushing. She was sure she could never get tired of saying that. ‘Can’t we return to the castle in Milborn?’
Edward shook his head. ‘Sorry love. It has to be Dolorom. I have a kingdom to run.’
‘Of course,’ Belle said, shaking her head. ‘I just want out of all this. I don’t want a part in any of this anymore. I just want a peaceful life.’
Edward took her hand. ‘I promise you we will have that. I will make sure of it. For now, I must help Stilt with his quest. I must help kill Lori. While she is alive, I will never be happy. She will always find a way to ruin my life. I must keep you safe.’
Belle bit her lip. ‘I can go back and pretend that everything is fine. Work from the inside.’
‘Excellent idea,’ Stilt said.
‘Out of the question,’ Edward said and gave Stilt a discerning look. ‘Belle will not be returning there. She will be smack in the middle of all the chaos. I will not let that happen!’
‘Oh, you won’t let me, huh? Since when did you dictate what I do or don’t do?’ Belle said, putting her hands on her hips.
‘Let her do it,’ Stilt said, interrupting their bickering.
Edward froze. A letter flew in their direction with a familiar wax seal. It was from Dolorom. The raven sat on his shoulder. He took the letter off and it flew off into the sky.
Belle and Stilt watched with anticipation. He read it several times before looking up. ‘Northmanni are planning an attack on Dolorom.’
Stilt shrugged. ‘So? They’ll beat them.’
He shook his head. ‘No, they won’t. Lori has built a huge army, apparently.’
Belle walked over and stroked his hand. ‘We will do everything we can.’
Stilt looked at Edward. ‘What do we need to do? My little girl is there.’
Edward looked at them both darkly. ‘We need to go to Milborn. They are our biggest allies.’
He grabbed Belle’s arm and they all vanished and reappeared in Milborn. Belle scowled. ‘I wanted to check on my son!’
Edward looked at her apologetic. ‘Sorry. I promise this won’t take long.’
They looked up at the palace. Moss clung to its walls, and the drawbridge was down. It cast a shadow onto the courtyard where townsfolk were in their carriages trading things like fish and corn. The kingdom was bustling with people. The little road winding down to the pebble bay, had walls either side a couple of feet tall, covered in ivy and plants. Statues of Neptune and fountains littered the castle's entrance, and the iron gates were even in the shape of a clam.
‘Best mussels in all the lands. Forosh have the best fish. Milborn has the best crabs and mussels,’ Edward told Belle.
They walked into the castle and were confronted by guards. ‘What is your business here?’
‘We are here to see Prince Eric,’ Edward replied coolly.
‘Names?’
‘Stilt, Belle, and I am Prince Edward of Dolorom.’
‘Of course, Prince Edward,’ he said quickly. ‘We will tell the Prince.’
Moments later Eric appeared with a human Ariel sporting a baby pink dress. ‘You’re the little mermaid from the boat,’ Stilt said and smiled. ‘I see you have legs now.’
Eric looked at her questioningly. ‘What?’ Asked Eric.
Ariel’s cheeks flushed pink. ‘I was a mermaid. I was given a potion to become human so that I could see you.’
Eric smiled. ‘You became human so that you could see me again?’
She nodded enthusiastically.
‘Ariel, you’re in danger. Ursula is here, in human form, to make sure you don’t return to the lake,’ Stilt said.
They all looked at him. He looked around and shrugged. ‘Really? It’s not hard to join the dots. She’s a jealous person. She desperately wanted the prince to fall into the lake. We gave Ariel’s mother a potion so Ariel would turn to sea foam if she ever became human for over three days…’ he looked around again. ‘What?’
Ariel asked. ‘That makes no sense. I won’t be going back to the lake.’
‘You must,’ Stilt said. ‘If not you’ll die.’
‘No! How do we stop it?’ Eric asked, panicked.
Stilt smiled. ‘I have a plan.’
They all huddled together and nodded as Stilt relayed the plan to them. ‘Ready?’
‘Yes,’ Ariel said.
Edward turned to Eric. ‘Dolorom is under attack.’
Eric grimaced. ‘Who from?’
‘Northmanni,’ Edward said bitterly. ‘We need more troops. Our kingdoms are allied and we have sent you troops in the past.’
Eric nodded. ‘Of course. I will talk to Father. In the meantime, please make yourselves at home,’ he said and hurried off to find the King.
MORAL COMPASS
James took Snow’s hand and looked into her eyes. ‘I will be back soon, okay?’
She sighed. ‘I don’t want you to go.’ He smiled at that. They were growing closer every day, yet he still didn’t have guts to admit to her how he felt. She was just as stubborn.
He looked at her darkly. ‘I’ll be gone for a week, at most. Keep yourself safe. Don’t do anything reckless!’
‘I can’t make any promises,’ she said and winked. ‘I’m kidding,’ she added on seeing his serious expression. ‘I’m just going to try and find out what happened to the dwarves and Red. I know something is up.’
‘Don’t get caught,’ he replied. Henry entered the room.
‘Snow,’ Henry said. ‘It is time.’
‘Wish you could stay for the funeral,’ a teary Snow said.
‘We made a deal with Merlin. I have no choice. Look, there’s been something I’ve been meaning to tell you.’
‘Yes?’ she said.
‘I…’ he stopped himself. ‘I’ll tell you when I get back,’ and with that, disappeared.
Henry cleared his throat. ‘Ready?’
Snow gathered herself and brushed down her black top and trousers. ‘Coming.’
‘How are you? We haven’t spent much time together,’ Henry said.
Snow kept her head held high. She felt as if she was losing her mind recently. Since waking from that slumber, she hadn’t felt okay at all. ‘I’m fine. My dwarves disappeared, and so did mine and James’s friend, Red. I want to find out what happened to them.’
‘Oh, well, to be honest…’ Henry started.
‘Do you know something?’ she asked him, stopping in the hallway.
‘I will do anything to keep you safe; you know that,’ he said. ‘Lori found out about your plan, to take her down.’ Snow gasped and put her hands over her mouth.
‘You’re kidding? She’ll kill me.’
‘She won’t,’ he said. ‘I made a deal with her.’
‘You did what?’
‘In exchange for telling her who was a part of the plan, she promised never to harm you,’ he admitted.
‘Where are they?’ Snow asked through clenched teeth.
He hung his head. ‘I’m sorry.’
She shook her head with disbelief. ‘No,’ she cried. ‘I promised to protect them.’ She ran away from Henry and into the gardens. The church bells sounded as she sat on the bench. The snow was melting, now leaving a horrible slush on the ground.
Her head was spinning. James told her not to do anything reckless, and he was right. Lori was in charge, and anything could happen now. But, she needed justice.
‘Red,’ Snow exclaimed and ran to the stable, grabbing James’s stallion.
In a panic, she galloped down the winding road to the town, then over to the Dead Forest, until she reached a familiar shack. It was Red’s. A wolf shot out of the door on hearing the commotion. Snow put her hands in the air and tried to turn the horse. The Wolf, however, did not attack. Instead, it rested its head on a log and whimpered.
‘Red!’ Snow shouted. ‘Red, where are you?’ The wolf howled loudly. ‘You know something? You’re Red’s pet, aren’t you?’ The wolf howled. ‘What happened to her?’
After an hour of listening to the wolf howl, the wolf and Red gave up trying to communicate in any way. ‘I’ll be back,’ Snow promised and road over to Lori’s shack. She knew Lori wouldn’t be home as she was at the King’s funeral. The King that she had murdered.
Snow jumped of off the horse and tied him to the apple tree. In a manic state, she ripped all the apples from the tree and threw them at the shack before finally falling to the ground. I promised to keep them safe, and now they’re dead. Lori is in power and Edward is still alive. James is gone. I am alone, and Henry betrayed me. She repeated those words in her head until they were deafening. She put her hands over her ears and screamed. The church bells sounded to pronounce the end of the funeral.
Grandfather, I’m so sorry. I will avenge you. All of you, Grumpy, Sneezy, Doc, Sleepy, Happy. Her thoughts were distracted as she saw the wolf again. It was near the shack but appeared like it couldn't go any further.
‘Oh, James. I need you right now,’ Snow said aloud and jumped back onto her horse.
***
James furrowed his eyebrows and looked down at the compass. ‘So, how exactly does this work.’
Merlin placed his hand on top of his compass and smiled warmly. ‘It’s a moral compass. It works when you’re using your magic for good. When you use your magic for bad, it will temporarily paralyze you.’
James looked up at Merlin and put the compass into his pocket. ‘Why do I need to use it?’
Merlin sat across from him and stroked his long beard. ‘It will give you complete control of your powers, and, make sure you only use them for good. You do only want to use them for good, don’t you?’
‘Of course,’ James mumbled. ‘Thank you.’
‘No need to thank me. You’re as of now, my apprentice. I have a task for you,’ Merlin said in his deep, gruff voice.
‘Yes?’
‘Well, Snow’s plan has not worked.’
‘You don’t know that,’ James replied.
‘I know Lori slaughtered the dwarves, and I know that Red was turned into a wolf. Unfortunately, even you cannot tamper with a curse. Not with your moral compass. Only sorcerers who are not attached to moral compasses can tamper, break, and cast curses. Lori, Stilt, Edward, and Gertrude are the only ones who can.’
‘Lori won’t’ James said, feeling disheartened. ‘Poor Red.’
Merlin lowered his eyes to James’s compass. ‘If you can find a way to bind Lori, Stilt, and Edward and bring them to me, then I will help your friends.’
James nodded. ‘I can do try.’
‘Remember,’ Merlin said. ‘You must use your powers for the right reasons. Do not harm them, just restrain. The spells we have been practicing, the method, is the same for the binding spell. Here is the incantation,’ Merlin said, handing him a piece of paper. ‘Say it in your head.’
James nodded and memorized the incantation. ‘I will be back,’ he said and disappeared on the spot. L
earning how to finally do that was an achievement for him. He felt in control, but, not as powerful as he apparently was.
CHOOSING SIDES
Loving her was an honour. Her hair was as vibrant as her personality. Her ideas were so mind boggling that they were bordering on genius. She breathed life into every room she entered. Eric was falling helplessly in love with her.
‘I never thought you could fall in love so quickly,’ he admitted to Ariel.
She was sprawled across his bed, with no shoes on, or crockhoppers as she called them, and was wriggling her toes. ‘I don’t care if people think it’s odd or not. I love you. You just know it’s right when you meet the one. Do you care about what people think?’
‘Not anymore,’ he said and sat on the bed. He stroked her cheek and leant in toward her. Her heart hammered loudly the closer he got. His scent filled her senses. Being around him was a sensory overload. He kissed her like he had never kissed before.
‘You’re a good kisser, for a fish,’ he joked.
‘So are you, for a human.’ She twirled his curly hair around her finger. ‘I can’t believe we stayed up all night talking.’
He laughed. ‘I haven’t stayed up all night since I was a child. Edward came over and me, him, and a few others, went camping and told ghost stories all night.’
‘What is a ghost?’ she asked.
‘The spirit of a deceased person,’ he said darkly.
‘Oh,’ she said glumly.
‘I do believe we have a ball to attend,’ he said.
Ariel grinned. ‘I have always wanted to dance. A dinner and a show, it will be amazing.’
‘It’ll be the best one we will ever have had.’
***
‘They are in Milborn?’ Lori asked the spy.
‘Yes, they are in Milborn,’ he repeated. ‘They are attending Prince Eric’s ball, to announce his engagement.’
‘Engagement to who?’ She asked.