‘Like hell.’ The thought of being dragged off to that ball leant me the strength of ten men as I wrestled with the vines. But the pumpkin kept throwing more and more creepers at me until finally I was encased in green foliage from head to foot. ‘You have got to be kidding.’
‘What’s that Izzy?’ Grams said. ‘Your voice is all muffled.’
‘What’s going on?’ I yelled.
‘I’d say it’s dressing you.’
I lay still, trying not to panic as claustrophobia tried to claim me. A warm tingling started at my head and worked its way down to my feet. When it had dissipated, the vines relaxed their grip on me. I rolled away and clambered to my feet where I wobbled unsteadily.
I looked down at my feet. They were encased in glass slippers. ‘So when you said Cinderella spell you really meant Cinderella spell?’
‘Ahuh,’ Grams was grinning. ‘Oh Izzy you look beautiful.’
I staggered to the mirror in the lounge and gasped at my reflection. I had on a crystal-encrusted, white gown. It sparkled with my every move. The gown had a V-neck with little cap sleeves, and was cinched at the waist before it flowed to the ground. My hair had been piled on top of my head and laced with more crystals. The pumpkin had even done my make-up.
I reached down and tried to tug a slipper off my foot. It was stuck tight.
‘Not till midnight,’ Grams said, chuckling.
‘What do I do now?’ I asked her.
‘Well you probably should take the pumpkin and rodents outside and let them do their stuff.’
I picked up the pumpkin and carried it out to the driveway. The rodents scampered after me, making shrill cries of excitement. I placed the pumpkin on the ground and Scruffy stretched out his nose and sniffed it. He lifted a leg over it and the pumpkin reached a vine up and slapped him on the bottom. Scruffy bared his teeth, growling as the pumpkin lifted two vines like little fists, ready for a fight.
‘Scruffy,’ I said, laughing, ‘leave him alone.’
He growled one more time and then sat beside the road and started to sniff his balls. Grams nodded her head at Scruffy and said, ‘Do you want me to look after him tonight?’
‘I don’t know.’
The pumpkin settled the matter by throwing out a couple of vines and entangling Scruffy. They wrestled for a minute; Scruffy barked and growled as the pumpkin encased him. When he was finally freed, he was wearing a tiny tuxedo jacket, complete with bowtie.
‘Guess not,’ I said.
‘Nice job on the outfits,’ Grams said to the pumpkin.
It jumped up and down on the spot and then began to expand.
‘Oh look, I’ve made his head swell,’ Grams said.
As the pumpkin grew larger, several vines sprang to the side, looping around and around to form wheels. A door appeared on the body of the vegetable and a little seat up top. Then the whole pumpkin glistened and turned translucent.
I tapped on the side of it. ‘Wow, it’s glass.’
‘Can I hop inside?’ Grams asked. In response the door opened and Grams clambered up into the carriage. ‘The seat’s a bit hard,’ she said, standing back up. A purple cushion appeared on the bench in the back. ‘Much better,’ she said, testing it out. ‘Can’t have your bottom going to sleep during the ride.’
The ludicrousness of the situation hit me and I started to giggle. I was going to hop into that pumpkin and go to the ball, dressed up like a princess. I turned to look at the rat and mice. ‘Are you going like that?’ I asked.
Squeaking, they ran in front of the carriage. Sparkles appeared in the air and floated down over them, touching them before settling to the earth. The rodents danced and twirled, getting bigger and bigger, turning faster and faster, until they were whirls of colour slowly morphing before our eyes.
When the dust finally settled, six white horses pranced in front of the carriage, and one man, with a suspiciously rat-like nose, wore a red, velvet suit and a large hat with a feather. He hooked the horses up to the carriage and then held the door open for me.
Scruffy let out a big huff and jumped up and lay on the purple cushion. He wasn’t very happy about his tuxedo.
‘Here goes nothing,’ I said to Grams as I climbed on board and took a seat next to him.
‘Have fun.’ She waved at me through the translucent wall.
‘Everybody’s going to be able to see me.’
‘I think that’s the idea,’ she said.
The coach driver flicked his whip in the air and we were off at a stately trot through the streets of Eynsford. He took the long way, obviously keen to make the most of the spell, and I had to sit and wave to the villagers as we passed by. It’s not every day that a rat gets to wear a magnificent hat and drive a horse and carriage so I let him have his moment.
Eventually we came to Eynsford Castle. A large gap had been opened between the veils and was being maintained by a group of faeries.
We swept through the gateway. One minute we were in Eynsford, England, and the next we were in Isilvitania. The landscape stayed the same but that’s where the similarities ended.
Garden faeries, flitting through massive oak trees, lit the way down the road. The air was sweeter and more wholesome, the trees taller and more numerous. But by far the biggest difference was the castle. It dwarfed our crumbling ruin both in size and magnificence.
The walls of the castle were swathed in lengths of silk and bathed in different coloured lights. Garden faeries congregated in the manicured trees, bobbing and glowing as they weaved an intricate dance. The fountains flowed freely, their water adding a magical tinkling to the music emanating from the castle. A full moon blazed overhead, bathing the whole scene in a silvery light.
The coach continued past the drop-off point at the front, and around to the back of the castle. I wasn’t sure if that were a good or a bad thing as I still didn’t know who had cast the Cinderella spell.
I gathered Scruffy into my arms as the coachman helped me alight from the carriage. He pointed to a pathway.
‘You want me to go down there?’ I asked him.
He nodded his head in affirmation and then climbed back up to wait for me.
Placing Scruffy down beside me, I approached the start of the path. The castle blocked the moonlight, and the way was dark and narrow. I wished I had a weapon. I wished I had a weapon but I didn’t, so my glass stilettos were going to have to suffice. I moved slowly down the path, stopping to listen and allow my eyes to adjust to the dark. I could feel Scruffy pressed up against the back of my legs.
Just when I thought my heart was going to beat its way out of my chest, the path opened up to a courtyard. Light from the castle showed a huge fountain raining in the middle. Soft grass surrounded it.
A man, facing away from me, stood in the shadow of the fountain. He wore a resplendent, green coat that fell almost to his knees. Embroidery covered every square inch of it. His hands were behind his back and I couldn’t see any obvious weapons, so I cleared my throat.
Aethan looked like a dark angel as he turned to face me. He sucked in a breath and stared at my face. ‘I knew you’d look beautiful.’
Damn the man and his ability to make me blush. ‘You did this to me?’
He nodded his head. ‘It was the only way I could think of getting you here.’
‘You could have invited me.’
‘You wouldn’t have come.’ He was probably right.
‘Why did you want me here?’
‘I need to tell you something.’ He walked towards me, taking my hands and turning me so the light from the castle shone onto my face.
‘What?’ I was having trouble breathing. With him this close, alone, looking so dashing in his fine coat, I couldn’t help but think of that kiss.
‘I’m sorry I embarrassed you. I didn’t think it through properly. I forgot you can’t remember.’
Disappointment flooded me. So that was it? He wanted to apologise?
‘It’s not your fault I couldn’t see th
e funny side of it.’ I tried to pull my hands from his but he tightened his grip. The tinkling of the fountain drowned out any noise from the castle.
‘You mean couldn’t see the irony.’
‘The irony?’ Great Dark Sky he was handsome. Suddenly, I was glad he held my hands tight. I wanted to touch his face so badly I wasn’t sure I would have been able to stop myself.
‘Rako said we could ruin your memories if we told you anything. I would die before I did that.’ He let go of my hands and stepped away, spinning so his back was to me. ‘But I can’t risk losing you.’ His voice choked and he turned towards me, reclaiming my hands with his. ‘No, I can’t risk that.’
The look in his eyes became tender as he pulled me towards him. ‘I promised I wouldn’t,’ he whispered, ‘but I can’t resist you any longer.’
The world spun as he moved even closer, bending his head towards mine. He traced the side of my face with his fingers as he stared into my eyes. ‘I’ve missed you so much.’ His body felt hard as he pressed me to him.
My breath caught in my throat and my knees felt weak. Was this really happening? Was I really getting what I’d been too scared to admit I’d wanted?
I closed my eyes and parted my lips, needing to feel his mouth moving over mine. Needing to feel the heat of his breath, the tease of his tongue… and that was when they attacked. A score of huge, dark-skinned warriors leapt from the top of the courtyard walls and surrounded us.
‘Goblins,’ Aethan hissed through his teeth, pulling me around so I was behind him.
I was welded into that dress and those shoes with no weapon. If I could ever have conceived of such a ridiculous notion, it would have been my worst nightmare come true.
Scruffy let out a long, low growl.
‘Hide,’ I said to him.
He whimpered.
‘Hide.’ I said it with enough force that his ears and tail went down, but he obeyed me, scurrying to a nearby hedge and diving underneath.
Aethan reached out to pluck a sword from where he had stuck it tip down into the grass. I turned so we were back-to-back. The least I could do was try to defend him.
Somehow I didn’t think my stilettos were going to cut it. I wished fervently for a sword. I wasn’t going to make it out of this alive without one. Hell, I probably wouldn’t make it out alive even with one, but a chance would be good.
The air shivered in front of me and a sword fell into my outstretched hands. Did I do that? My magic was so random I couldn’t be sure.
Goblin warriors were still jumping over the stone wall. They formed up, but kept their distance. I reached down and hacked at my skirt with the sword while I wondered what they were waiting for.
‘Well, well, well, what have we here?’
Ahhh, of course. They had been waiting for Galanta.
Dressed head to foot in her garb of leather and bones, she seemed well recovered from the injury I had given her. Scruffy growled from under the hedge as she jumped down into the courtyard and paced towards us.
‘Aethan, Isadora,’ she said, nodding her head.
‘Galanta.’ Aethan’s voice was terse with anger. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘I’ve come to take you,’ she said. ‘And to deal with you.’ She nodded her head at me as she said the last bit.
One of his arms wrapped protectively back around me. ‘Don’t you think you’ve hurt her enough?’
‘Hurt her? I haven’t even begun hurting her.’ She threw her head back and her evil laugh echoed around the courtyard.
‘Now, now, Galanta,’ Aethan said in a pleasant voice, ‘you don’t want to harm us.’
‘I may not want to harm you,’ she said, ‘but I’d like to cut out your girlfriend’s heart and have it for breakfast.’
I pasted a huge smile on my face and turned to face her. ‘Eat shit and die.’
Aethan tightened his grip on me and placed himself back between us as she hissed and took a step towards me.
‘You’ll be smiling on the other side of your mouth when I’m finished with you,’ she said.
‘You mean face,’ I said. ‘It’s smiling on the other side of your face.’
She roared with rage and pounced towards me. Scruffy barked in fury, darting out from under the hedge to bite her ankle. She looked down at him, in his little tuxedo, and snarled in disgust, shaking her foot to dislodge him.
I screamed in rage as she stabbed towards him, sweeping my blade to deflect hers. Power bloomed inside me, and without even thinking about what I did, I caught him up in a shield, formed it into a bubble, and cast him up into the air beyond her reach. He floated above us, barking and growling, but safe.
Aethan swung us around so that she was fighting him, not me. She tried to get through his guard to me, but he fought like a demon. I had time before her warriors attacked to admire his speed and grace. After that I was kept busy dodging and blocking as they tried to dismember me.
We put up a pretty good fight, standing back-to-back. Galanta, breathing heavily and clutching the side I had wounded, stepped back and signalled more warriors to attack us. I willed a second sword and fought double-handed, pulling on my magic to lend me strength. I took a slash to the arm and stabbed the warrior in the eye. He staggered to the side, leaving room for two more to attack.
Laughing like a crazy woman I engaged them. I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins. They may have been big, but they were slow and clumsy, relying on their brute strength to dominate. Sweat and blood soon speckled their bodies.
But as fast as they fell, others filled the gaps. Fatigue became our enemy. Just when I was beginning to despair, a cry of alarm sounded from above in the tower.
Galanta swore in fury, put two fingers into her mouth and whistled. At the noise, another score of warriors appeared on top of the wall. They jumped down and rushed us with no thought to their own protection. The sheer weight and size of them bore us to the ground, and even though we managed to take a couple out on the way, they easily overwhelmed us.
I felt my swords ripped from my grasp as I punched and kicked. The faeries’ cries were getting closer, but shutting my eyes, waiting to feel the sting of cold steel, I knew they would be too late.
Then suddenly the goblins were gone. The first of the faeries charged into the courtyard and raced to the wall after them. I pulled myself into a seated position and turned to see if Aethan were all right. Terror shuddered down my spine as I realised he was gone.
‘They’ve taken him,’ I yelled, pointing over the wall.
‘Taken who?’ one of them asked me.
‘Prince Aethan,’ I said.
One of the faeries turned to another and issued a command. The smaller, slighter faery sprung nimbly over the wall and disappeared into the night.
‘Izzy?’ I turned to the sound of Wilfred’s voice.
‘Oh thank the Great Dark Sky,’ I said as I stood up. ‘The goblins have taken Aethan.’
‘Have you hit your head?’ Wilfred asked, looking me up and down.
I was in quite a state with my ripped skirt, my tousled hair, and blood soaked into the bodice of the dress (the pumpkin was not going to be happy), but I had to make them see the urgency of the situation.
‘No,’ I said, panic clawing at my insides. ‘Galanta has kidnapped Aethan.’ Tears welled in my eyes as the words came out of my mouth.
But Izzy,’ Wilfred said, a confused look on his face, ‘Aethan is at the ball, dancing with all the pretty girls.’
15
I Didn’t See That One Coming
‘Dancing with all the pretty girls indeed,’ I fumed as we trekked through the castle to the ball. Scruffy floated in his bubble behind me, attached by a string of air. I wasn’t ready to let him down till I knew he was totally safe.
I looked awful but I didn’t care. After what I had just been through, I couldn’t believe that Aethan was inside dancing. Perhaps I had tripped and knocked my head.
The ballroom was filled with brightl
y-dressed, young women, all waiting for their turn to dance with the Prince. It was a farce on the highest level. I didn’t know him that well, but I was pretty sure Aethan would never have been a party to this disgraceful meat market. But sure enough, there he was, cradling a blonde in his arms as he waltzed around the dance floor. I heard a growl come out of my throat.
‘That’s not Aethan,’ I said to Wilfred.
‘I’ve been with him the whole night.’
‘Would Aethan really put himself on display like this?’
‘He did seem a bit excited by the whole thing.’
I pointed at the imposter. ‘That’s because that isn’t him. Oh come on, we don’t have time to waste.’
I waded through the women towards the floor. Some of them started to protest, but when they saw me, with blood tattooed on my face, they backed away in fright.
‘Aethan Gabrielle,’ I yelled from the edge of the dance floor.
The dancing stopped and everybody turned to look at me.
‘Get her out of here,’ Queen Eloise shrieked from her throne.
‘Not so fast cousin,’ I said. ‘Aethan has been kidnapped by Galanta.’
‘You’re crazy,’ she said. ‘You can’t handle the fact that Aethan doesn’t want you any more.’
I strode over to fake Aethan and his simpering blonde. She pouted her lips and leaned in close to him. I managed to control my urge to scratch out her eyes.
‘Now,’ I said to the imposter, ‘you and I both know you aren’t Aethan. The real Aethan has just been kidnapped by goblins and I need you to stop this so we can save him.’
A look of horror crossed Aethan’s face. ‘That was never supposed to happen,’ he said. And then slowly his features began to morph. His face melted and his body shrank and finally, all that was left was a small being who clung to my skirts and sobbed, ‘You have to save him.’
‘It’s a pixie,’ Wilfred said. ‘Danoo?’
‘Yes, friend of my master,’ the pixie said.
‘It’s Aethan’s personal servant,’ Wilfred explained to me.
I watched as Danoo used the remnants of my dress to wipe his eyes. ‘That’s enough,’ I said as he started to blow his nose.
Faery Born (Book One in the War Faery Trilogy) Page 18