A Royal Engagement (Enchanted Galaxy Series Book 1)

by Ruth Ann Nordin

  “Inno,” Calhoun admonished.

  “You love a fairy?” Ann asked, ignoring the shade of red in his cheeks.

  After a moment, he said, “Her name is Erin, and she’s beautiful. She turns eighteen in three days, and she’ll be ready to marry someone. She can’t marry me because I’m a faun, and I can’t marry her because she’s a fairy. But if I became a fairy,” he shrugged, “we could be together.”

  “Aren’t there any faun girls you like?” Ann asked.

  “Not like Erin. She’s one of a kind.”

  “We weren’t happy with the amount of time they spent together at first,” his mother said. “But it’s been a year, and they’re devoted to each other.”

  “It’s an unusual request to bring to the queen,” Calhoun added. “I’m not sure she’ll agree to it. Certainly, she has better things to do.”

  “I’m sure the queen will grant you your request,” Ann replied.

  Hathor smiled at her, and she shrugged. Who was she to deny true love when she saw it?

  The chief called out for everyone to dance, and despite Ann’s aching feet, she rose to her feet and joined everyone. She danced with Hathor, Inno, and Calhoun. In fact, while she was dancing with Calhoun, something tiny fluttered around his head. Then it settled on his shoulder and folded its arms.

  It took Ann a moment to realize it was a fairy. “Is that Erin?” she asked as she stopped dancing with him.

  Calhoun looked at his shoulder and smiled. “Yes, it is. I’m glad you’re here, Erin.”

  Erin sniffed and turned her face away from him.

  Ann hid her laughter by coughing when she realized Erin thought Calhoun had taken an interest in her. “I think I’ll talk to my husband,” Ann said, making sure she emphasized the word ‘husband’.

  Erin quickly flew toward Ann. “Oh, please don’t leave on my account.” She gave a curtsy. “I’m Erin. My family guards the blue tulips.”

  So that was why Erin had blue hair. Ann returned her smile. “I’m Victoria, and I come from a village far from here. Calhoun wants to help me and my husband find the Dark Castle so I can find a cure for my child who is ill. In return, my husband and I will take Calhoun to the queen so she can turn him into a fairy.”

  Erin’s blue eyes lit up as she turned her gaze to him. “You’re going to ask the queen if you can become a fairy?”

  “I told you I was going to find a way for us to be together,” Calhoun told her.

  She let out an excited cry and kissed his cheek.

  “You must come along,” Ann said. She wouldn’t want to miss Erin’s reaction when he transformed into a fairy. It was fun watching them together.

  “I’d love to,” Erin replied. “And I know where the Dark Castle is, too. If Cal forgets, I’ll take over.”

  “Sounds good,” Ann said then left them so they could be together.

  Ann found Hathor talking to Inno and Leo. Hathor petted Leo’s mane but directed his gaze to her. “Inno likes Leo, and I think the feeling is mutual.”

  “Oh?” Ann asked.

  “It’s not like Leo is our pet or anything,” Hathor said. “He’s been a good friend, but I think he’ll be happy here.”

  Leo roared his agreement, and Inno stroked his back, peering up at her with a silent question in his eyes.

  “Would you like him to stay here?” Ann asked Inno.

  Inno nodded. “Can he?”

  “As long as Leo wants to and Inno’s mother is fine with it, I think it’s a great idea,” Ann replied.

  “Let’s go ask your mother,” Hathor told Inno. With a glance at Ann, he asked, “You want to come with us?”

  “I’d rather sit for a while.”

  With a nod, Hathor led Inno and Leo into a crowd of fauns who were laughing and talking. Relieved to have a moment to herself, Ann sat on a tree stump and rubbed her sore ankles. Man, she was going to be hating life tomorrow. And to think there was more walking to do before she got to the castle. A castle filled with all sorts of nasty booby traps.

  Knowing Hathor, he had probably been upset to learn about the obstacles Kathz had set up because he wasn’t going to have the fun of going through them. This was something she’d have to do, and she’d have to do it by herself.

  She took a deep breath. Panicking wasn’t going to do her any good. She was just going to have to go into the place of doom and do her best. No one could expect anything more than that.

  Hathor came over to her and sat next to her. “Inno’s mother said he could keep Leo. I couldn’t tell who was more excited. Him or Leo.” He grinned. “They’ll be happy. And Leo’s going to love it here. All these trees are similar to Forestaria.” When she didn’t answer him, he rubbed her back. “What’s wrong? Did you want Leo to stay with us?”

  “No, it’s not that. I’m happy he found Inno. I was just thinking of the stupid curse Kathz placed on the Dark Castle.”

  “Oh that. You shouldn’t worry about it. Whatever the obstacles are, they’ll be fair.”

  “They’ll be fair?”

  “Sure. Kathz intended for Raz to stay safe. She wouldn’t set up a trap to hurt the woman who has the right to the crown.”

  “But a queen died in there.”

  “Probably through carelessness. You just need to pay attention to what’s going on. Remember the lessons you’ve learned from the adventures you’ve had on your way here.”

  “Adventures? Really?”

  “They are adventures.” When she grimaced, he chuckled and scooted closer to her. “It’s all in how you look at them. You just need to believe in yourself. I know you can do it.”

  She really wished she shared his optimism. But maybe if Raz depended on him for its survival, he would understand why it wasn’t easy for her to think of booby traps as adventures.

  “You look like you’re going to faint. Do you want to lie down?”

  “No. I’ll be okay.” She took a deep breath and slowly released it.

  Brushing her cheek with his fingers, he bowed his head to hers and whispered, “You did a wonderful thing by helping Inno today. If that doesn’t prove you’re the right person to be queen, then nothing will. A queen should be one who cares for those she rules over.”

  A smile tugged at her lips. “Thanks.”

  “You have a beautiful smile.”

  Surprised he should take the conversation in a different direction, her eyes met his, and the world around them ceased to exist. The way he was looking at her made a shiver of delight run from her head to her toes. She forgot how nice it was when someone looked at her this way. He cared about her. Really cared about her. Not because she was going to be the queen, but because of who she was as simple, plain old Ann Kerwin.

  Her heartbeat picked up in excitement. She hadn’t let herself admit she had fallen in love with him at some point during all their ‘adventures’, but now she could without fear that her feelings wouldn’t be reciprocated like they hadn’t been with William for the longest time.

  Hathor leaned closer to her, and she closed her eyes, ready for the kiss. But the kiss never came because she vanished.

  ***

  Alpha Head I

  Planet: Pale

  Jaz turned to Seta. “Ann is back on Earth, and this time she’s with the William who loved her.”

  Pleased, Seta nodded. “Good. Now Pale will survive.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Dayton, Ohio

  Planet: Earth

  Daylight?

  Ann blinked. Wasn’t it just night?

  She glanced around, but things were a bit hazy. Trees. There should be trees. It should be night. But it wasn’t night, and she wasn’t surrounded by trees. She shook her head, willing the fog to clear from her mind. She could feel something slipping from her memory. Something important. But the harder she tried to hold onto it, the faster it faded.

  “Are you going to hit the ball anytime soon?” a voice rang in her ears.

  It was a familiar voice, but it wasn’t the one
she’d heard just a moment ago. Who had she been talking to? And what had she been talking about? She tried to concentrate, but it didn’t do any good.

  “Ann, are you feeling alright?” the same person asked, this time concerned.

  Then the things around her came into view. She was on a miniature golf course. The sights, sounds, and smells were all familiar to her, but she hadn’t experienced them in years. Or at least she thought so. Or maybe not. It was hard to know for sure.

  “Ann?”

  Looking to her right, she saw William coming over to her. She blinked. How old was he? He seemed younger than he should be.

  “Do you want to go home?” he asked.

  Then things began to make sense. He had just asked her to be his girlfriend, and she’d said yes. She was a junior in high school, and he was a senior. They were on a date.

  She glanced around again and realized she was holding a putter. She struggled to recall why she’d been thinking of trees and night and someone else, but it all slipped from her mind. She frowned. Was she trying to remember something? Or was she daydreaming?

  “You’re starting to worry me,” William said. “It’s like you’re somewhere else. Please don’t tell me I’m boring you already.”

  She laughed at his joke and shook her head. “No, you’re not boring me.” He could never bore her. “I…I’m just…getting warmed up,” she finally murmured.

  She turned her attention to the golf ball in front of her. Whatever she’d been trying to remember must not be that important if she forgot it. She swung the putter and hit the ball.

  “Congratulations,” William said. “You got a hole in one, but I believe you forgot that we’re trying to figure out who plays the worst.”

  He wrote her score on the card and handed it to her. She read it as he took his shot. She saw her name was ‘Z’ and his was ‘Xavier’. Something was wrong with her name. She changed it to ‘Raz’.

  “Weren’t you watching?” William called out as he headed over to her. “It took me seven times to get the ball in the hole.” Looking over her shoulder, he asked, “What is Raz?”

  “I don’t know. I must have read it somewhere or heard it on TV.”

  “It sounds cool enough,” he said then studied her again. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

  “I’m fine.”

  To assure him that she meant it, she picked up her ball and went to the next hole.

  For the next few minutes, she felt like a machine going through the motions. But in time, the sensation ebbed away, and she was able to focus on the game. She laughed when he hit the ball so hard it accidentally landed in someone else’s game.

  He retrieved it and returned to her, a grin on his face. “Now you know what happens if you don’t hit the ball gently.” He motioned to something behind her. “Hey, what’s that?”

  She glanced over her shoulder, only to realize too late she’d been set up. When she looked back at him, he was putting the ball into the hole. “You cheater,” she called out good-naturedly.

  Chuckling, he continued to play the game without cheating. After they were done, he drove her home. It was a shame the evening went by so fast. Why couldn’t school go as quickly?

  “I had a good time tonight,” he said as he parked in her parents’ driveway.

  “Me too.”

  She cleared her throat and glanced at her feet. Would he kiss her? He hadn’t done so yet, and the idea he might this time filled her with a mixture of apprehension and elation.

  He slid a CD into his car stereo and played a romantic melody for her. After a couple seconds, he reached for her hand and squeezed it. “This is my song for you.”

  Then he leaned toward her, and his lips brushed hers. And though she knew it was him who was kissing her, for some reason, it seemed as if it should have been someone else.

  When the kiss ended, he smiled at her. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  She forced herself to return his smile. “I’m looking forward to it.” And she was. Wasn’t she?

  As she told him good night and got out of the car, she couldn’t help but wonder what was wrong with her. She had spent the past couple weeks dreaming of this moment, had imagined what it’d be like to kiss him. But something about it didn’t seem right. And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t figure out why.

  ***

  Base of the Mountain

  Planet: Olympia

  Paff, Cem, and Halima arrived on Olympia early that morning, which was about the time Ann fell asleep on Earth. The two suns were peeking over the horizon on the planet, and they had landed their spaceship at the base of the mountain that would take them to the palace where the main gods and goddesses of the world lived.

  “You really think they can help us?” Paff asked, glancing at Cem who had chosen to transform into the image of a Paler for the trip.

  “First Commander Jaz wouldn’t have mentioned it if they couldn’t,” Cem told him.

  Something in Cem’s voice made Paff stop and study him. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  Cem turned his gaze to the steps going up the mountain. “The First Commander knew we were listening to her and Leader Seta.”

  “She did?” Halima asked with a slight gasp. “But how? We were careful.”

  “I don’t know how she knew, but she did,” Cem replied.

  “How can you be sure she knew?” Paff asked, not sure he believed him.

  “Intuition,” Cem said. “It’s something I was born with. All scorpions on my planet are.”

  “If that’s true,” Paff glanced at Halima who didn’t seem any more convinced than he was, “then why did she send Ann back to Earth?”

  “That, I don’t know.” Cem checked their supplies to make sure they had enough for the trek up the mountain then handed them their backpacks. “She doesn’t want to destroy Raz. She’s planning something to help us, but until the time comes, we won’t know what it is.”

  Paff’s gaze went back to Halima who shrugged. Well, he’d just have to take it for granted that Cem knew what he was talking about. Right now, they had a mission. He’d let all his questions fall to the wayside until later.

  “I didn’t realize the palace was so high up there,” Cem said as he led them to the steps. “This is unfortunate. The longer it takes us to reach their home, the longer Ann will be stuck on Earth.”

  Stuck in the Average Galaxy? Paff shivered. What a horrible fate.

  ***

  Alpha Head I

  Planet: Pale

  “Riles?” Jaz repeated into the telecommunicator. “Riles, are you there?”

  Her gaze went to the magic sand in the hourglass that was on her desk. The sand was still going backwards, slowly unraveling everything the Razians were hoping for. She sighed. Seta didn’t really want to destroy Raz. Jaz was certain of it.

  Jaz had spent the entire night searching for a chemical that would revive the dying vegetation she had found under the Great Prison. The answer was close. She could feel it. It was just a matter of finding it.

  She picked up a grain from Ann’s memories of Raz and slipped it into her past. To put all the grains in at once might cause a shock to a frail human body. Sure, a Paler could handle the onslaught, but who knew if humans could? It was best to return Ann’s memories to her in small doses.

  She turned back to the telecommunicator and made another attempt to contact Riles, but it was as fruitless as her other tries had been.

  She tapped the desk. She might not like Riles, but she didn’t want to see anything bad happen to him. She switched the telecommunicator to Seta.

  “What is it, Jaz?” Seta greeted.

  “Riles isn’t responding to my calls.”

  “I wonder what his problem is now. Go to Raz and check on him.”

  “Yes, Leader.”

  Jaz put aside her research and set the coordinates on her transporter. At once, she arrived at Riles’ last position on Raz. The first thing she noticed was the trees. So many of them.
And the vegetation all around her was not only abundant, but it was also flourishing. Perhaps if she studied the vegetation here and compared it with Pale’s dying specimens, she’d find the missing link.

  She heard voices and quickly dodged behind a thick tree. Peering around it, she caught sight of a group of goblins who were trudging through the forest.

  “Who’s going to entertain us tonight?” a male goblin whined.

  “If that deformed white creature hadn’t killed her, we’d have something already,” another grumbled. “What’s the fun of eating a creature we don’t kill ourselves?”

  “It wouldn’t hurt the lot of you to eat some plants for a change,” a female huffed.

  “Ah, make do with that pink dress you took off the girl’s body,” the male replied. “Though I don’t know what good it’ll do since you aren’t as tall as a human.”

  “I can make it into smaller dresses,” she replied. “Pink is a beautiful color.”

  The males in the group groaned.

  Jaz slipped around the trees, remaining out of sight, and headed for the spot they had left. She searched the ground for any signs of Riles. Riles had been wearing that dress when he was disguised as Ann. Her stomach clenched. Poor Riles. If he wasn’t wearing that dress, it could only mean one thing. She never should have left him alone. She should have brought him back to Pale.

  With a sigh of regret, she trudged forward and found him, still in the female human form. She’d bring his body back and make sure he had a decent burial. She took magic powder from her pocket and sprinkled it on him so he shifted to his real body.

  Catching sight of the horrified expression on his face, she gasped. His mouth was open in a silent scream, and his eyes stared up at her in dread.

  The White Terror.

  She blinked as suppressed images from her past came rising to the surface. There was a street on Pale lined with white grass, trees, and flowers. There were vendors in the market place selling white fruits and vegetables. There were Palers exchanging pleasantries as they strolled through the main city.