Lady Alma

by A. G. Marshall

  “Lorenzo, someone’s trying to choke me.”

  He looked down at my waist. I didn’t have time to be embarrassed that I had drawn his attention to my undergarments.

  I pushed my magical energy into the corset, trying to stretch it even further.

  Something inside me snapped. My skin stung, and Rosa’s dress squeezed me all over. I let go of Lorenzo and jumped back. I couldn’t let him get hurt.

  “Fetch guards,” Lorenzo hissed to a nearby servant.

  Rosa’s dress was so tight I could barely move. Someone was shrinking it. I searched for Donna Senona. Was this her doing? She stood across the room arguing with Martina and Rafael. Carlo hovered behind them, trying to keep the peace.

  She hadn’t noticed what was happening to me, and she wasn’t waving her arms.

  Whoever was shrinking my dress, it wasn’t her.

  “Alma, stay here. I’ll get help.”

  Lorenzo darted into the crowd. I ignored his order and hurried up the stairs, clutching the railing for support. I had to get out of here. I would not be humiliated again!

  Seams strained and ripped as the fabric shrunk. I used the last of my magical energy to cut the corset laces so I wouldn’t choke. The salt charm shattered with a sharp crack, and the broken glass dug into my wrist. Blood dripped onto Rosa’s gown.

  I stumbled as I climbed the stairs. The attacker had lengthened my skirt, and it tangled around my feet. I gathered handfuls of the fabric and pulled it out of the way. While the dress shrunk, my shoes grew. I kicked them off and left them in the ballroom.

  The back of the dress split open as I ran through the hallway. At least I could breathe now. My skin tingled in the cool night air, and my soul loop spun out of control, spreading and growing. I tried to calm myself, tried to stop it, but it did no good.

  I kept running. My sleeves tightened around my arms, and I lost my grip on the skirt. The shoulder seams ripped when I reached for it. My skin bulged through the fabric.

  I passed the rose garden, found the stables, and ran into someone so hard I bounced off them.

  “Excuse me, miss,” the guard said.

  “Eduardo!”

  He noticed my torn dress, and his face turned bright red.

  “Do I know you? I mean, pardon me. You don’t look well.”

  “I’m not! I-”

  I glanced to into the stable. Donna Senona’s horse stood in a stall, still saddled and bridled.

  “This is my horse,” I said. “I’m going home now.”

  “In the dark?”

  “Yes. Right now.”

  I couldn’t let anyone find me. Not with my dress shrunk so small and my soul loop spinning out of control.

  Eduardo untied his cloak and wrapped it around my shoulders.

  “No need to return it. Second time this has happened this week, miss.”

  “Thank you.”

  He nodded and ducked into the stables to fetch the horse. It seemed strange that he didn’t recognize me as the same person who had borrowed his cloak before, but he probably saw a lot of people each day as they passed through the gates.

  Eduardo held the horse’s bridle while I mounted. Really, it was more like climbing on. The dress ripped even more when I moved, and I struggled to pull myself into the saddle. I had lost Rosa’s height somewhere along the way. My legs were short again, and my feet dangled above the stirrups.

  Eduardo offered to adjust the saddle for me, but I didn’t want to waste the time. I held on as best I could and galloped towards home through the dark, silent woods. When I finally reached my estate, it was dark and silent as well. The servants must have gone to bed early since they expected everyone to be out late.

  I sneaked through the kitchen entrance and sank into a chair. Moonlight streamed in from the windows and gleamed against the knives. I buried my face in my hands, too frustrated to cry.

  I couldn’t stay in Castello. Not after being humiliated in front of the entire court twice. I would run away. I would find Tía Teresa, learn more magic, and work in the Dark Market. I would-

  The kitchen door swung open, and I blinked as lantern light filled the room. Two figures wrapped in dark cloaks stared back at me.

  “Alma?” Rosa said finally. “Alma, is that you?”

  “Is it?” Ethan asked. “What happened?”

  “Someone attacked me at the ball and shrunk my dress,” I said. “Where have you been? Finished sabotaging the treaty?”

  They ignored me.

  “What would cause this? It’s-” Ethan began.

  “Too sudden. Certainly not natural,” Rosa finished.

  “Are you listening to me?” I said. “I know all about your little adventure. I know you tried to ruin the ball! My corset-”

  “Alma,” Rosa said in a calm voice. “Tell us exactly what happened to you.”

  I shook my head and glared at Ethan.

  “Don’t pretend you don’t know what happened. Donna Senona wasn’t responsible, so it must have been you.”

  They glanced at each other. Rosa pulled a silver baking tray from a shelf and handed it to me.

  “I know I’m a mess,” I said. “You haven’t answered my question yet.”

  “Just look, Alma.”

  I glanced at the tray. Then I looked again.

  The metal was warped. That was the only explanation. My face was wider and rounder than it should have been. The skin beneath my chin bulged. I reached up and touched my cheek.

  My hand didn’t look right. It was too round and soft. I squirmed on my chair. I had assumed the seat had a cushion, but I was sitting on wood. And on padding that hadn’t been on my body earlier that night.

  I pulled my sleeve up and stared at my arm. Rosa’s healing scars had disappeared, and blood dripped from my wrist where the cracked salt charm had cut me. The band pressed into my skin. It was too small. Too tight.

  “Is that my charm?” Ethan said.

  The kitchen door swung open. I glanced up and saw Lorenzo holding my shoes.

  Then my eyes drifted back to my reflection. To my full cheeks and double chin.

  “I- I’m-”

  I couldn’t bring myself to say it, but the truth slowly sank in.

  The dress hadn’t shrunk.

  It hadn’t shrunk at all.

  Chapter 23

  I stared at the tray. My face, somehow expanded from bud to fully bloomed, stared back at me.

  Lorenzo set my shoes on the table and glared at Rosa and Ethan.

  “So Alma was right. You are responsible for this. What did you do to her?”

  “We didn’t do anything,” Rosa said. “We’re trying to help her.”

  “Did you use the salt charm?” Ethan asked. “Alma, where did you get that?”

  “I just need more salt,” I said. “The charm ran out of salt.”

  “That wouldn’t have caused this. You should have transformed back to your normal body.”

  That definitely hadn’t happened.

  “We need to go to the Medical Guild,” Lorenzo said. “The doctors are meeting right now. They can sort this out.”

  He put his arm around me.

  Well, as far around me as he could.

  I turned back to the baking tray. I wrinkled my nose, and the face in the tray did the same. It was stranger than being in Rosa’s body. I was myself, and yet I wasn’t. I poked my cheek. My face was soft and a bit squishy. How much larger had the magic made me?

  Lorenzo took the tray and put it out of my reach.

  “Your doctors don’t know anything about salt magic,” Ethan said. “Alma, who did you transform into?”

  “Rosa.”

  “What? You went to the ball disguised as me?”

  Rosa picked up the shoes on the table.

  “And you took my clothes? What were you thinking?”

  She stepped towards me, but Ethan pulled her back.

  “Something has gone very wrong,” he said. “Something beyond a charm running out of salt. When it
transformed you into Rosa, it made you taller and thinner. In failing, it did the opposite.”

  “Wait, am I shorter than I was before?”

  “I expect so.”

  For some reason, that bothered me more than gaining weight. I fumbled with the charm’s clasp and pulled it off my wrist. I had hoped taking it off would undo the transformation, but it didn’t.

  Blood dripped onto the table, and Ethan gasped.

  “It cut you?”

  “The charm shattered and cut me when it ran out of salt. It isn’t deep.”

  “It touched your blood? This is bad. Really bad.”

  “So fix it,” Lorenzo said. “You’re the expert on salt magic. Hurting Alma won’t help you sabotage the treaty.”

  Ethan’s eyes flashed with anger.

  “If anyone is sabotaging the treaty, it’s you. You’re supposed to be discussing trade agreements with my grandfather, Your Highness.”

  “And you’re supposed to be a diplomat. Instead, you pretend to be ill so you can sneak around my kingdom and attack my citizens.”

  “I haven’t attacked anyone!”

  “Then why are you sneaking around? Why didn’t you come to the ball?”

  “Why did Alma steal my charm? Did you ask her to do this?”

  “Answer my question! What were you doing tonight?”

  “I’m responsible,” Rosa said. “I wanted to go somewhere else during the ball, and Ethan agreed to escort me.”

  She stepped in front of Ethan, who looked ready to punch the prince.

  “You’re dangerously close to treason, Donna Rosa.”

  While Ethan looked angry, Lorenzo was a little too calm. Rosa bit her lip and took a deep breath.

  “We disguised ourselves as doctors and went to the Medical Guild meeting. Does that answer satisfy you, Your Highness?”

  Ethan took Rosa’s hand, and Lorenzo raised an eyebrow.

  “Why?”

  Rosa shrugged.

  “I have the gift of healing, but no one will teach me because I’m noble. Ethan helped me sneak into the Medical Guild meeting so I could observe their techniques.”

  “You can’t take all the blame,” Ethan said. “It was my idea.”

  “You’re a Salarian diplomat,” Rosa said. “If you get in trouble, we could go to war.”

  “But you’re a donna,” Lorenzo said, staring at Rosa. “You’re not allowed to learn magic.”

  “I’m not allowed to work magic. I can learn all the technique I like.”

  “That law is ridiculous,” Ethan said. “Why can’t she heal people if she wants to?”

  This was worse than I had imagined. I stood up and wobbled until I caught my balance. My body was heavier than I had expected.

  “Ethan, do you know the penalty for a noble who works magic? Rosa would be stripped of her land and titles, as would her family. My family.”

  Although it shouldn’t surprise me that Rosa had no respect for the law. Her mother certainly didn’t.

  Ethan met my gaze.

  “Rosa didn’t ask to be born noble, and she isn’t involved in the government. The law doesn’t make sense for her.”

  “You could have ruined us,” I said. “You could have ruined everything.”

  He glared at me.

  “You’re one to talk. I’m a diplomat and your guest, but that didn’t stop you from stealing my charm and breaking it. Do you have any idea how rare that bracelet is?”

  “She was trying to warn me,” Lorenzo said. “She thought you were planning an attack.”

  “Why would we attack you?” Ethan said. “That’s just an excuse.”

  “Everyone please calm down,” Rosa said. “Alma needs help.”

  “Actually, I feel fine,” I said. “If we put more salt in the charm, it can change me back to normal. No harm done.”

  “It’s broken,” Ethan said. “It can’t do anything.”

  “Wait, are you saying I’m stuck like this?”

  Lorenzo tightened his grip on my shoulder.

  “The Medical Guild will help,” he said. “Rosa and Ethan can take you to them.”

  “I just spent all evening with them,” Ethan said. “They don’t know anything about salt magic. They definitely won’t be able to cure a salt curse.”

  “Curse? Since when am I cursed?”

  “Since the charm broke. When fairy salt touches blood, the charm becomes permanent.”

  “How permanent?”

  “Very permanent.”

  Lorenzo scowled.

  “In all our negotiations, no one thought to mention curses? You all assured me that salt charms were safer than soul loops. Foolproof.”

  I twisted and stretched my arms, trying to get more comfortable in the tight dress. My skin bulged through the torn fabric.

  Permanent.

  “I can manage,” I said, trying to calm Lorenzo. “Mirella knows exercises to slim your figure. I’ll get back to normal eventually.”

  “You won’t,” Ethan said. “The curse is pushing you down and out. If anything you’ll get bigger and shorter as time passes.”

  “Shorter? How much shorter?”

  “This isn’t doing any good,” Lorenzo said. “Ethan and Rosa, escort Alma to the Medical Guild. If they can’t break the curse, maybe they can slow it down.”

  “And where are you going?” Rosa asked. “Why aren’t you coming with us?”

  Lorenzo avoided her gaze.

  “I need to sneak away for a few hours while everyone is busy at the ball.”

  We all stared at him.

  “You’re running away?” Ethan said. “Of all the cowardly things to do!”

  “I’ll be back before sunrise. Take Alma to the Medical Guild while I’m gone.”

  “No.”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “No. I’m not one of your subjects, and I’m not taking orders from you.”

  “Alma needs to see a doctor,” Lorenzo said through gritted teeth.

  “They won’t be able to help.”

  Ethan’s teeth were equally gritted.

  The tight dress was becoming unbearable. I used my memory of Mirella to form a soul loop. Magic surged through me. I pictured the dress stretching and snapped my fingers under the table. The pressure around my waist eased. I snapped my fingers again and loosened the sleeves.

  Much better.

  “I feel fine,” I said.

  Lorenzo gave me a look that said I wasn’t helping.

  “Would you refuse to aid a lady in distress?” he said. “Is that Salarian chivalry?”

  Ethan crossed his arms.

  “Even our best magicians don’t know how to reverse a salt curse. Your Medical Guild definitely won’t, so taking Alma to them won’t help. Tell me where you’re going.”

  “No.”

  They stepped towards each other. Rosa slid between them.

  “We were honest with you, Your Highness. You could extend the same courtesy to us. We want to help Alma, but-”

  “I don’t trust you,” Ethan said.

  Lorenzo rolled his eyes.

  “By the roses, you all are impossible! I need to ask someone for advice, and she may also know how to help Alma. Does that satisfy you?”

  Ethan raised an eyebrow.

  “Everyone on your council is at the castle.”

  “Lorenzo, is that wise?” I said. “If you wanted this person’s advice, you should have named her to your council. And I doubt she’ll know anything about salt magic if the doctors don’t.”

  “She’s my godmother. She’s not allowed to serve on the council, but she has experience with magic and Salarians that might be useful. And she may know who is responsible for these attacks.”

  Rosa frowned.

  “Everyone in your family is in the Wine District. You don’t have time to travel that far in one night.”

  “I’ll have time to reach her, but I can’t leave Alma alone. Will you take her to get medical help?”

  “Why are
you so eager to see her?” Ethan said. “How could she possibly know anything about salt magic and Salaria?”

  “She lived there for a time. I trust her experience.”

  Ethan looked ready to agree, but Rosa shook her head.

  “He’s lying. No member of Castanian nobility has lived in Salaria in recent years, and none of them would agree to help him. It violates the rules of the King’s Trial.”

  “Donna Rosa, I am not lying to you.”

  “Prove it.”

  She looked down her nose at the prince.

  “Tell us the truth, or we’ll tell Admiral Benjamin about the stolen charm.”

  “I’ll have to tell him anyway,” Ethan muttered.

  Rosa motioned for him to be quiet.

  “The truth,” she said. “This treaty has no chance of success if we can’t be honest with each other.”

  “You’re Castanian,” I reminded her. “You’re on his side.”

  Rosa shrugged.

  Lorenzo looked at each of us in turn. His bright eyes were strained.

  “You don’t have to answer to them,” I said. “I don’t need their help. I feel fine.”

  “Alma, you’re not fine. You’re cursed.”

  He took a deep breath.

  “I want to ask my godmother for advice. That does not violate the traditions of the King’s Trial because she is not a citizen of Castana, and she has more experience with magic than anyone I know.”

  Rosa’s eyes narrowed.

  “Go on.”

  Lorenzo clenched his jaw as he spoke.

  “She’s a fairy. My fairy godmother. I need to visit my fairy godmother.”

  Chapter 24

  Silence.

  Absolute silence as everyone stared at Lorenzo.

  “You have a fairy godmother?” Ethan finally choked out. “A fairy is your godmother?”

  “That is what fairy godmother means,” I said.

  I was just as surprised as everyone else, but I didn’t like Ethan’s tone.

  “There haven’t been fairies in Salaria since the fairy snow,” he said. “I didn’t think they talked to humans anymore.”

  “They don’t,” Rosa said. “Why were they in contact with the royal family?”

  Lorenzo swallowed.

  “Will you all swear to keep it a secret?”

  He offered his hand, and one by one we clasped it. He took mine last and squeezed it as he spoke.