“I thought you weren’t going to say I told you so?”
“I lied.” Heidi stood and flounced into my closet. She left the door open while she rooted through the dresses and grabbed one.
“Great. Thanks for that.”
“I told you so, and now we’re trapped. You’ll just have to find some way to get us out of this mess,” Heidi said. “Now breakfast. What are you going to wear?”
“I’m not hungry.” I peeled off my shirt before I reached for the waistband of my jeans. I felt weird about the whole getting naked in front of Heidi thing, but I didn’t see where I had much of a choice since we were sharing a room.
“Tough.” Heidi waited until I’d kicked my feet out of the jeans and then handed me a purple dress with silver flowers embroidered on the skirt.
“Why do you care if I eat breakfast anyway?”
“My dad always says that an army fights on its stomach. I’m not sure what that means exactly, but I’m pretty sure it has something to do with eating breakfast every day.”
“I didn’t know your dad was in the military.” I slipped on the dress and turned so she could button it.
“He wasn’t,” Heidi said, her fingers flying over the buttons along my spine. “He just likes watching all those documentaries on the Military Channel. That doesn’t mean he isn’t right. I’m sure Winston’s dad would tell you the same thing, and he is in the army.”
“Marines, but yeah, I know what you mean. We could really use Winston’s dad right about now.” Major Carruthers was a pain in Winston’s neck most of the time, but he’d know what to do. He’d know how to get us home safe.
“Yeah? Well, he’s not here,” Heidi said as she buttoned the last button at my neck. “So, let’s hope all that time without a television means his son learned something, because if Dragon Boy can’t help you get us out of this, we’re in real trouble.”
Chapter Twelve
I walked to the dining room a half hour later, my knees trembling.
“Your Majesty,” the goblin from last night said. What had Rhys said his name was? Tim, something…Timberfield? Timpani? Timbago! That was it. “I hope your sleep was pleasant.”
“It was wonderful, Timbago, very comfortable. How was yours?” I tried to keep my voice even. It wouldn’t do for the goblin to know that I was terrified. Not until I knew where his loyalties lay.
The goblin looked up at me in surprise. “My sleep was excellent as well… Thank you for asking, Your Majesty. May I escort you to your seat?”
“I’d like that.” I rested my palm on the back of the wrinkly hand Timbago held up for me.
The goblin led me to the front of the room, his head held high and his large nose quivering. He waved his fingers again, and the chair I’d sat in last night slid out for me.
I sat and looked over at him. “Thank you.”
“The pleasure is most distinctly mine, Your Majesty,” Timbago said, two bright spots of red appearing on his cheeks.
“Allie,” I said, knowing that it would drive the Fate Maker insane to hear the palace staff calling me by my first name instead of by my formal title. It wasn’t much, but any battle that I could win right now would go a long way in showing that he couldn’t defeat me with just a few threats in the hallway.
He may want me to become a queen who lived under his and Fate’s joined thumbs, but there was another way. If I could convince the people to follow me, then I could fight back; I could do all the things Rhys said last night. I could free us all, and then my friends and I could go home.
“Allie,” he said, his voice cracking. He ran one of his long, talon-like nails under his shirt collar and swallowed. “May I ask what you’d like for breakfast, Your Maj—Allie?”
“Could I have some toast with cream cheese and a glass of orange juice? Wait, does Nerissette have cream cheese and orange juice? If you don’t, I’ll eat anything.”
I didn’t want to seem like I was spoiled and demanding, and it wasn’t like it really mattered to me.
“If we do not have it, Princess Allie,” Timbago said, his voice stern though his face was cherry red, “I will personally fight my way through the Bleak and defeat Kuolema himself to go into your world to find it for you. Every day if need be.”
“That’s not—”
The goblin clapped his hands and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. So much for putting a potential ally at ease.
I set my chin in my upturned palm and started picking at the tablecloth with my other hand. What was I supposed to do now?
“Ah, Princess.” The Fate Maker swept into the room with his long black robes swishing behind him. “How kind of you to be prompt, and may I say you look much better than before?”
“You may say it, but that doesn’t mean it’s true.” I didn’t look at him, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to keep the disgust off my face if I did. Better for him to think I was pouting or something. Just a silly teenage girl who didn’t get her way.
“Now, Princess.” He sat down beside me and took my hand, patting the back of it. “I do hope that we can put the unpleasantness of this morning behind us. You must see that your safety is my gravest concern.”
“You threatened to arrest me when all I wanted to do was go for a run,” I said, trying to keep my voice low and petulant.
“I will admit I overreacted, but you cannot blame me for being concerned. After all, what would your dear mother say if she knew I let her precious child come to harm when I could have prevented it? She would never forgive me.”
What was it with these people and my mother? Sure, I was almost positive she’d known more about Nerissette than she’d told me before, but why did they all care so much? It wasn’t like she’d actually been their queen. I’d have thought that was something she might have told me about at some point if she were. Wouldn’t she?
Then again, this was Mom. She didn’t tell me that she forgot our pet hamster when we moved from Seattle to New York when I was nine. So anything was possible.
“My mother was, I mean, she is—”
“Not well, yes.” The Fate Maker patted my hand. “I still doubt she would approve of my careless handling of her only child. So, out of respect to her, it’s best if we keep you safe.”
“Safe isn’t what I’m—”
“I would have no quarrels between us,” he said, talking over me. “After all, we will be spending quite a bit of time together from now until your coronation. There’s much you need to learn about your new kingdom. So many things we’re going to have to discuss so that you know what to do when it comes time for the prophecy to be fulfilled.”
“Okay.” I grimaced at the idea of having to deal with him for the rest of the day. Wasn’t there someone else who could teach me? Then again, who better to learn from than the guy you were trying to beat?
Besides, maybe he could explain exactly what was going on with my mom. “What happened to the last queen? How did she die?”
“The last Rose didn’t die.”
“But Talia said she was lost. If she isn’t dead then why don’t you just find her and bring her back to rule instead of me?” I could feel my heart sinking into my toes. If the last queen was alive and couldn’t come back that meant Mom had lied to me about a lot more than my hamster Biggles.
“When did you see Talia?”
“We met last night, and she told me that being lost was how you referred to death.”
“It is, Your Majesty, but it also means anyone that we can no longer touch. People who are still alive but trapped away from this realm.”
“So, where is she, then? If she’s not here she’s got to be somewhere. Can’t you just pull her through from that other realm like you did me? Heal her?”
“It’s more difficult than that, Your Majesty. I can’t heal wounds of the mind and the body. It’s beyond even my powers and…”
“And?”
“Fate has decreed that it is your time to rule. The old queen was lost, and when a Rose next returns to
the throne she will be the princess.”
“How? I haven’t met Fate yet. Where is she? How do you know this is what she wants?”
“Fate is a goddess. She lives in the spirit realm with the rest of the Pleiades and doesn’t mingle with the mere mortals of Nerissette,” the Fate Maker said. “She speaks to us through a chosen wizard.”
“You?”
He nodded. “Me.”
“That’s how you became regent. You’re her wizard, so when the queen was lost Talia told me you fought against the Grand Vizier of Bathune in a battle of magic. And when it was over you were declared regent.”
“That—”
A loud crack tore through the air, and we both froze, turning to the red-faced goblin standing in the middle of the room. Smoke wrapped around his feet, and he clutched one of Gran Mosely’s good china plates in his left hand and a crystal goblet full of orange juice in his other.
“Your Majesty,” Timbago panted. He bowed low again and presented me with my food. “I hope I have not kept you waiting for too long. Your request was a bit more complicated than I first expected.”
“You didn’t actually go through the Bleak to get me breakfast, did you?” I asked. “I could have had something else for breakfast. I mean, seriously, you could have gotten hurt.”
“Absolutely not,” Timbago said, his neck flaming with color. “Your Majesty’s every trifling desire is my most fervent command. I have sworn upon the relics.”
“The relics? What are those?”
“They are…” Timbago stared, his eyes wide, and I turned to see the Fate Maker glaring at him. “I should return to the kitchens. We have much to do for tonight’s banquet.”
The Fate Maker smiled at me indulgently. “Perhaps your time here will not be as confining as you first thought this morning, Your Majesty. After all, we’re having a ball tonight in your honor. Just a small thing to introduce you to the kingdom before all the coronation business starts.”
He turned to Timbago and snapped his fingers. “Two griffin eggs, poached, and a glass of dragon’s blood. Warmed, of course.”
“Of course.” Timbago clapped his hands and disappeared.
“The juice, that is,” the Fate Maker said, turning his attention back to me. “No worries, Princess, your friend hasn’t become part of my breakfast. At least not this morning. Although, my guess is that Timbago won’t be delivering my food personally. That’s the problem with goblins, really. They’re horribly insolent creatures.”
“He seemed nice to me.” If I were Timbago I’d have spit in the Fate Maker’s food if he’d talked to me that way. “You know, saying please and thank you never hurt anyone.”
Two fairies appeared in front of him, a silver plate balanced between them. The two creatures lowered the meal in front of him, lying facedown on the table, not daring to look in his direction.
His lips curled into a sneer. “Yes, but it’s so very inconvenient.”
“You should be nicer to people. You’d get further with them.”
He looked around the room, making sure that we were alone before he gave me a cruel smile. “But why should I worry about being liked when I could just make them fear me instead?”
“Why should anyone be afraid of you?” I asked, my voice trembling. “It’s not like you can do anything to them now that you’re no longer regent. Or at least you won’t be the regent once I’ve been crowned.”
“You may be the future queen,” he said, his voice low and angry, “but I am still the high wizard of Fate herself, and this is my world to control. Do you want to know what I’ll do to anyone who tries to get in my way?”
“What?”
He picked one of the fairies up by her leg, dropped her onto the floor, and stomped. I heard a dull crunch and closed my eyes. The other fairy let out a high-pitched squeak and trembled on the tablecloth.
“I’ll crush them,” the Fate Maker said, his voice cold. “No matter who they are.”
I swallowed. “The nobles, the people, they won’t let you—”
“They’ll do whatever I say. I suggest you do the same.”
“If they know what you’re doing, though, they won’t just stand by.”
“They have for this long. That’s the power of fear, Your Majesty. Once you’ve cultivated it, no one gets in your way. Now, finish your breakfast and then find something to amuse yourself. Something quiet.”
“I thought you were going to teach me how to be queen after breakfast.”
“Can you say ‘whatever the Fate Maker thinks is best’?” He stood and smirked down at me. “Or do we need to bring in some more fairies to help motivate you?”
I shook my head vigorously, my eyes wide.
“Good.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “Go practice that until you think you won’t forget. It’s your answer to everything. No matter how trivial. Are we understood?”
I nodded again.
“Answer me.”
“Yes.”
“Say you understand.”
“I do.”
“Say it.”
“I understand.”
“And the answer to any question is?”
“Whatever the Fate Maker thinks is best.”
“Good. Now, go find your precious pet dryad and stay out of my sight. Otherwise, tomorrow morning my dragon’s blood may be a bit more…fresh.”
He stalked away from the table and toward the door.
My knees beat together underneath the table and my hands shook. I couldn’t bear to look underneath the table at the creature hidden below. My stomach lurched, and I had to fight the nausea as tears welled up in my eyes. He’d killed a fairy just to prove a point. To keep me in line.
When he reached the door he stopped and turned back to me. “I have only one other request, Your Majesty.”
“What?” I asked.
“Don’t leave the palace grounds. Otherwise, I’ll be forced to send the army after you, and what will the people say if I have to return you to your rooms in chains?”
“You wouldn’t dare,” I said, my voice choked, knowing that he would probably love to lock me up if I gave him half a chance.
“Never doubt what I would dare. And just so you know, if you’re in chains you won’t need a maid. What will we do with her? What was her name? Heather?”
“Heidi.”
“Right. I’m sure we could find something to do with her. If nothing else I could turn her into a battle dummy for Lord Sullivan’s army to practice their swordplay on, for a few hours at least.”
He swept out of the room, and I slowly pushed my chair back and got to my feet. That had not gone well. I looked at my barely touched breakfast, and my stomach lurched. There was no way that I could eat now. Not after what he’d done.
I peered under the table at the broken, pink body and shuddered. I wanted to throw up, but I didn’t think I could. Instead, I backed away from the table, my eyes fixed on the fairy, and started toward the door.
“Your Majesty?” a small goblin in long, brown skirts asked as I backed out of the room. “Are you all right?”
“There’s been an…” I couldn’t meet her eyes.
“I see.” She lowered her own head for a brief moment and then lifted her chin. “You go on. Get some fresh air. I’ll handle it.”
“But she—”
“I’ll handle it.” The goblin took my hand and gave my fingers a brief squeeze. “Now go on. Try to put whatever unpleasantness it is out of your mind.”
“Do you know where the aerie is? Where the dragons train?” I asked. If anyone could figure out a way to get us out of this before the Fate Maker killed anyone else, it would be Winston. “I have a friend who’s with them, and I’d like to see him.”
“The new black dragon? He’s with Lord Sullivan.”
“With Rhys?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. If you hurry you might catch them.” She pointed toward the back of the castle.
“Thank you.”
She shooed me aw
ay. “Go.”
I started toward the back of the castle where she’d pointed and tried not to cry at the thought of the fairy underneath the table. I glanced around, trying to see if there was someone who could tell me where to find Winston and Rhys or where they would go. I needed to find both of them and then track down Mercedes. The four of us needed to figure out how to get free of the Fate Maker, save the world, and then get the heck out of here before anything else happened. No matter how much Rhys Sullivan disagreed with me about it.
Chapter Thirteen
I pushed open the doors to the back lawn and found Rhys and Winston striding toward a large tower detached from the main palace. A large red bird was perched on Rhys’s shoulder, its talons digging into the black leather coat he was wearing.
“Winston! Rhys!”
Both boys spun around.
“Allie?” Winston started toward me at a quick walk and then broke into a run.
When he reached me he pulled me into a tight embrace. “I was so worried about you. Rhys came and found me this morning, but he wasn’t sure we’d be able to get to you. He said something about the Fate Maker maybe trying to keep you locked away in the castle with Jesse.”
“Oh my God,” I said against his shoulder. “It’s so good to see you. The Fate Maker is—”
“Evil, I know.”
“They don’t intend to let us go, either. He and Esmeralda—they want to keep us here forever.”
“I know. The dragons told me. They say that you’re supposed to rule for one hundred years. According to them, we’re stuck.”
“What are we going to do?” I asked.
“We’ll figure something out.”
“I’ve told him there’s no way out of this,” Rhys said. “Fate has forced you to come here.”
“I’ll find a way,” Winston said, and let me go. “Fate can just stuff it as far as I’m concerned.”
“I’m telling you, there’s no way home,” Rhys said. “I’ve tried. The magic that brought all of us here can’t be replicated. The spells are lost except to the people who know them and—”
“So we find someone who knows the spells,” I said.
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