Jess nodded, giving Angelica the time needed to collect her thoughts.
“Then, before I knew it, I was in his arms. And…things happened. By the gods, I thought I was falling for him!”
“It's okay,” Jess soothed. “I understand, believe me, I do.”
The creature chuckled bitterly. "I can see by your eyes that you do. Don't tell me you were seduced, all innocent and unassuming, by some charming fae knight when you first arrived here as well?"
Jess’s furious blush was all the confirmation the creature needed, its diseased eyes apparently able to see just fine in the luminescent sickly green light, and Angelica gave a solemn shake of her massive head. “Ah well, Jess. At least you were not turned into some hideous monstrosity. You have that, at least.”
“Never mind me, Angelica. What we need to do now is figure out how to help you. Please, continue your story.”
“He said he could make me beautiful!” She sobbed. “Unspeakably beautiful!”
Jess gazed at her calmly, willing her to continue.
"He took me that night, you see. I, experienced at avoiding a man's charms, aware of all their wiles, thought myself so above it all. Immune to their presence. My heart strong and secure. Only to find myself yet another lovesick girl, sore and afraid the next morning, having given away my most valued prize to a man I realized I knew nothing about." Angelica shuddered. "The way he looked at me. Like my heart and soul mattered no more to him than a pleasant evening's diversion. ‘Thank you so much, my dear, a pleasure to have made your acquaintance and bedded you, and now I must be off for more Faerie adventures of my own.'"
She shook her head. “His words were far kinder, of course, but I felt like I was dying inside. I tried to play it cool, strong. He invited me to breakfast as a courtesy before we went our separate ways, as he put it, and of course I accepted.” Her soft laugh became a sickening wheeze. “I thought myself so clever, and really I was a puppet being led by strings I was too stupid to even know were there! I asked him what he liked about me, what he was looking for in a prospective wife. I tried to draw him out, to engage him. He pretended to think about it, gazing at me with those damn beautiful eyes of his, and told me that what he wanted most in life was a companion who understood him, who would be by his side and never hesitate to be there when he needed her. A companion, not just a lover, as he put it. He acted so forlorn, so preoccupied, and I bought right into it. Asked him what was troubling him.
“He had his story all ready. He was desperate to obtain a certain precious item he had promised his master, but it was an item of considerable value, and he dare not retrieve it himself. He needed someone he could ‘trust’ to retrieve it.”
Jess nodded sympathetically. “And let me guess, the minute you offered to assist, his eyes lightened up and he gazed upon you like the first spring day after a hard winter.”
Angelica laughed bitterly, nodding her monstrous skull in agreement. “Exactly, Jess. You understand completely. Of course he assured me nothing could possibly go wrong, he just needed someone he could trust. And if I aided him, not only would he be indebted to me, his smile hinting at just how indebted he would be, but he would also reward me with priceless beauty beyond the compare of any woman in the mortal realms, beauty that would make me more desirable to kings and emperors than any woman alive.”
The monster before Jess squeezed her eyes as if to clamp the endless stream of bitter tears. “Of course I said yes. How could I not? I admired him so, already. I was so enamored of him that I would have done anything for his approval. Anything. Do you understand? I had faith in him, even when he told me that there was a curse associated with retrieving the artifact. I believed him unquestioningly when he assured me that I need not worry, that after he cast his magic, men would lust after me with the same intensity as they did gold itself!” Angelica's scales slid restlessly within the murk, echoing its owner's intense discomfiture with her painful confession.
“Of course I agreed, without the slightest hesitation. So eager I was to secure his good opinion of me. And before I knew it, I was the focal point of a plan to rob the Faerie Queen herself!” She laughed bitterly. “Of course, I didn’t know it at the time. Soren just made it sound like I was retrieving an artifact his friend’s mother had unfairly kept from him, and he needed it desperately to better the world. And I believed him without a second thought. He made me memorize exactly what the artifact looked like, and gave me a potion that he promised would turn me invisible. A potion so skillfully made that no wizard could breach its magics.”
Jess and Twilight exchanged a glance, feeling suddenly less secure than they had, even moments before. For as much as Jess had once thought herself a master at perceiving magics, faerie enchantments were something she feared she was utterly oblivious to.
“What happened then?” Jess asked softly.
The creature shrugged its hideous, malformed shoulders. All six of them. “About what you’d expect. He gave me the word of power that would activate the potion's effects, and the word to dispel the effects, once I had retrieved the artifact. He then instructed me on where I was to wait for him. Next thing I know, he’s taking me by carriage to the most amazing looking palace I’ve ever seen! Walls of gold inlaid marble, crenellations enameled with electrum, minarets sparkling like great jewels in the sky! A palace of such wealth, all the kings on the face of Dawn would go to war over it, if they could but behold its splendor. And almost as soon as I could blink, Soren all but shoves the potion down my throat, whispers for me to follow the coordinates he had drilled in my head over the trip there, and I’m off.”
Jess whistled. “And the potion worked? You actually managed to break into the palace of the Faerie Queen? Amazing.”
Angelica nodded, wincing only slightly. "The palace was rather impressive, inside and out. But honestly, all I was focused on, all I could focus on, was making Soren proud of me. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, I possess an excellent knack of direction, and found myself before the queen's very own quarters in almost no time at all. And would you believe, the door was unlocked?"
Jess blinked. “Truly!”
"Yes," Angelica nodded. "Supposedly, no faerie would even dream of entering such a room. Although I think Soren might have said something about my mortal blood opening all portholes sealed by eternity, and I did prick my finger as he had carefully instructed before opening the door. As I had thought he had instructed. To be honest, my mind was whirling with so many things before he shoved me out of that carriage, he could have said anything. In any event, I could tell even then that it was some sort of royal chamber, meaning that Soren's friend must be very highly placed indeed."
She shook her twisted, monstrosity of a head bitterly. "I should have known. I should have completely known from the very start that I was being seduced and played. Even then I began to have an inkling of suspicion. But the very idea that I was just a cheap tool to be used and thrown away, the thought that he didn't care for me at all was just so horrific, I couldn't bear it. So, like a fool, I opened the door and strode within."
“What happened then?” Jess asked breathlessly
Angelica managed to still her restless, coiling tendrils; searching, perhaps, for a measure of calm within her soul. “And then I took it. I found the mirror lying upon the dressing table, just where Soren said it should be. Not even that grand a hand mirror, really. Upon the back of the wooden handle was a quote saying ‘For the lady most fair in all the land. May the truth of virtue forever burn away the folly of deception.’ I was going to look into it myself, but I realized that such was pointless, as I was still invisible. It was then that I snuck back out, congratulating myself on not managing to bump into anyone. But the mirror seemed to grow heavier and heavier as I proceeded, and I found myself plagued with second thoughts. Second thoughts and worse.”
The creature's countenance, horrific as it was, twisted even further into a parody of regret. “Even the most idealistic, hopeful side of me knows what is all to
o often the fate of a nobleman's toys. So I snuck out just as I had agreed with Soren, and there he was, right at our meeting point, looking so vibrant and alive and just so bloody handsome. It took every bit of my will to resist saying the words to end the enchantment and just fling myself into his arms.” She sighed. “but I didn’t. I held back. I just had to know if my fears were true. I just had to understand the game being played a bit more, to see if, pawn that I was coming to understand and accept that I was, I was at least a piece he cared for in his grand game. So we waited, him and I, opposite ends of the small little clearing at the entrance to the rose bush maze, just outside the palace entrance.
"I gazed at him quite awhile, seeing his relaxed, amicable grin slowly fade into something calculating and cold. Eventually, his eyes were like ice, and the curses I heard him mutter sent chills down my spine. It was perhaps the most brave and foolish thing I ever did, following him back to the grand carriage we had arrived in, only to find, to my shock, it was occupied by another, eyes glimmering like amethysts and tapered ears making it quite clear she was a faerie just like him.
“She had asked if he had retrieved the mirror from his moppet. He had laughed most cruelly at the jest and said that his little toy had turned coward and ran. Her laugh was twice as cruel when she mentioned having saved such a present for me. And sitting right next to her was a perfect likeness of me. Made of solid gold. Inanimate. Dead.”
Angelica began to shake, her entire twisted form trembling with horror and despair. “It was then, of course, that I knew. I was nothing more than a pawn to them, and one they would dispose of once they were done with me, turning me into a statue of purest gold.”
She sobbed then. “Oh, if only I hadn’t cried out, if only I had headed right back down that terrible road, through forest and dell, and found the entrance back home! But no. I had to scream, and somehow that was enough for that evil shrew to sense exactly where I was, to cut the mystic spell of invisibility that cloaked me, for all that Soren had sworn that no wizard could. She did something then, something so that I fell into a deep sleep, only to wake up, chained here, still in my human form.”
“Was she really a shrew?” a captivated Jess asked.
“No, you idiot! It was a figure of speech! Who ever heard of a talking shrew?”
“No need to be snippy, child,” Twilight reproved. “It was a reasonable question. We have run into a number of talking animals, of late.”
Angelica shrieked and slithered back. "Ye gods! A talking cat!"
Jess and Twilight exchanged a look. "No, Jess. Don't say it. It would just be too cruel."
Jess nodded solemnly before turning to Angelica. “Lots of talking animals about, these days. But back to the topic at hand. The evil faerie woman cast a magic spell, and you woke up chained here in this cavern. What happened then?”
Angelica sniffled. "The first thing I saw when I came to was that monstrous bitch laughing at me! And not just me, she was mocking Soren too. Calling him a fool. Telling him the mirror was only the perfect tool if it was freely given! His gaze was one of such pure hatred I swear I felt my soul shrivel. He had the gall, the gall to gaze at me with his fake hateful smirk and say, ‘I guess it's too much to assume you'll give me the mirror willingly?' And I just screamed and swore at him. He already had the mirror in his hands, so I don't even see why he bothered mocking me with it, and after a few minutes of his cold gaze I just started crying."
Jess so wanted to give Angelica a heartfelt hug. If only she weren’t so huge, putrid, and, well, slimy. She settled for a sympathetic nod. “I am so sorry, Angelica. Truly, this whole adventure has been a dark nightmare for you.”
“I know!” the poor creature howled. “That’s when that bastard Soren truly showed his fangs, saying that in that case he declares he had caught me with a stolen artifact of the queen, the Mirror of Truth, as he put it, and he and his partner were going to make sure all of Faerie would see the ugliness of my soul, and deliver just retribution upon me. I guess the laws of Faerie don’t care that the accuser was also the one pulling the strings. And that’s when that evil faerie lady began hissing these awful sibilant words… I tried to cover my ears, but they just started burning through me and I writhed and thrashed and felt horrid and sick. Next thing I know, I woke up to find myself surrounded by mirrors, forced always and ever to look at the hideous creature I’ve become!”
Angelica burst into fresh tears. “Sometimes his cruel face glares at me through all the mirrors in these chambers, his taunts and mockery burning through my soul, and I just know he is gazing at me through the very mirror I stole for him! Oh gods, how I hate him!”
"My heart weeps for you, Angelica." Jess's voice was filled with aching sympathy even as her expression became one of firmest resolve. She raised her head high, planting fist to chest. "On my honor as a noble adventurer and paladin, I will find that miscreant and make him pay! I shall reverse his curse, if it is at all within my power to do so!"
Jess felt her heart swell with the power of her oath, the very ground vibrating beneath their feet, as if Faerie itself was responding to her declaration.
Jess exchanged an awed glance with her familiar.
“I do believe you have just made another Choice, my mistress, and perhaps oaths influence fate far more significantly here than they do in mundus, particularly when made by one such as yourself.” Twilight's gaze turned thoughtful. “I know you find strength in your passions, but I would counsel you to watch your words ever more carefully, as oaths given here are perhaps even more binding than they would be in the dark courts below.”
Jess shivered at her familiar's words.
Angelica immediately began sobbing even louder, her tears this time ones of relief, slithering forward almost as if to hug Jessica before thinking better of it. Jess shuddered but grimly repressed it, showing only a sympathetic smile. “It's going to be okay, Angelica. Somehow, we will fix you.”
Angelica gave a trembling smile. Truly a hideous sight. “By all the gods, Jessica. If you could do that for me, well, I don’t know what to say. I would hold you close to my heart like a sister, and if you ever needed a friend in the future, I would be there for you. I swear it.”
Jess smiled. "And I would welcome that friendship. You and I got off on the wrong foot, I think. And just as there were some things I really didn't like seeing you do, I know that I was no epitome of diplomacy either." Her smile was almost rueful. "I came off like the most arrogant Highrock git. I see that now. And I fear I also gave half the girls the impression that I didn't want to be associated with them, when really, I just wanted to be back where I belonged; clothed in armaments, not dresses, mastering the dance of war, not of courting."
Jess ruefully shook her head. “Bloody hells, that really is the extent of it, isn't it Twilight? I took my ongoing battle with Mother, and turned it into a school-wide war. I couldn't go back to Highrock, so I took my Highrock attitude and brought it to the Academy, to the point I went back to wearing my old uniform, disregarding dresses, classes, and deportment entirely.”
Twilight grinned. "You were moderately terrible, yes. You were right as well, however. Once Lady Grimsly had revealed her true vile colors, you did need to take a stand. And you wouldn't be you if you hadn't taken the most extreme option available to you in dealing with Grimsly and the headmistress both."
Jess sighed. "That may be true, Twilight, but I really didn't do a very good job of making friends, even before Grimsly had tried to make a lesson of me, having already written off half the girls in my classes."
Angelica's gaze was oddly sympathetic. “You did indeed dismiss most of us with that arrogant gaze of yours. Just the way you stared at me had infuriated me, and yes, I confess to so wanting to break that pride, to show you that you were no better than the rest of us. But I think I understand now why you were like that. My brother had struggled for years to get into Highrock, and was so bitter when he didn't make the cut. To go from a school of such elite knights in trainin
g, renowned and feted by all the lesser lords, to just one more girl struggling to learn the skills necessary to connive her way to some sort of safety and security must have been a hideous blow, whatever the maneuverings in Court that had led to your downfall. I suspect I too would have had a face as puckered and bitter as yours was, had I been forced to eat so much crow.”
Jess felt her cheeks grow hot. “Did my face really look so puckered and bitter as all that?”
Angelica's hideous countenance twisted into an oddly endearing smile. “You did indeed, dearest Jess. Like you had just eaten a score of lemons. And frankly, I don't blame you. Gods above know I wasn't perfect, probably why the fates are giving me such a comeuppance right now," she sighed bitterly. "For no matter how I resolved to act with elegant grace; to be cool, aloof, yet as eloquent and charming as the truly great ladies of Court, it just took one letter from Mother highlighting all my transgressions and failures, and how she would never find a man willing to marry such a flawed creature as myself, to send me flying into yet another bitter rage. And there I was, sobbing in my own quarters after sniping at all the other girls who had been doing the same, knowing that I was stuck in my own misery, and that I had no friends I could trust who weren't just as ruthless and conniving as Mother would approve of! I had no one who cared about me, and it was my own bloody fault!"
This time when Angelica sobbed, Jess did not hesitate to gather up her hideous torso and hug her, Angelica crying all the harder for the simple human contact. Twilight, or course, beat a prudent retreat away from leaky fluids and tears, and Jess couldn't help smiling even as she shed a crystalline tear for her newest friend.
“By the way, you haven’t happened to see any mirrors belonging to a wolf wearing a farmer’s hat or a town run by a badger, have you?” A somewhat damp Jess asked sometime later.
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