Once Upon a Curse

by E. D. Baker

  "Hrumph!" grunted the dragon, shaking his head. Smoke billowed from his mouth as he looked about for his prey. "Where'd it go?" The dragon turned a half circle before spotting me. "A different one," he said, "but it should be just as tasty."

  "Wait!" I said, but the dragon had already built up a good fire in his belly and was eager to use it. I shut my eyes as the flames washed over me. It felt hot, but no hotter than the sunshine on a summer's day. When it grew feeble and finally stopped, I opened my eyes and looked down. I looked wet and shiny from the salve, although the flames hadn't done a thing.

  The dragon looked at me in surprise. "What happened?" he said. "It should be crispy. And that smell...." He took a step toward me and sniffed. His gaze softened and he almost seemed to be smiling. "That smells like the salve my mother used when I was just a hatchling. How did a human get hold of it?"

  "It is the same salve," I said. "A friend gave it to me."

  "It knows the true tongue!" the dragon exclaimed, flicking his ears in agitation. "I didn't know humans were able to speak it."

  "I'm a witch. I can do a lot of things most people can't."

  "Why haven't I seen you before, human?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.

  I didn't want to let him know that I was there for only a short time. If my plan worked and he left, I wouldn't want him to think he could come back. "I've been away," I said. "And I have a name. I'm Princess Emeralda, the Green Witch."

  "Green Witch, you say? I've never heard of you."

  "How could you, if you don'1; speak human?"

  "You have a point," said the dragon, sitting back on his haunches. "Who was this friend who gave you the salve?"

  "A young dragon named Ralf," I said.

  "So what do you want with me?"

  "I want you to move away from here. Find someplace to live where there aren't any humans around."

  The dragon snorted a puff of pink smoke that smelled like boiling cabbage. "Why should I?" he said. "I like it here."

  "Because I told you to and I'm the Green Witch, which means that it's my duty to protect the kingdom. If you stay here, I'll have to do something neither of us will like."

  The dragon drew his brows together in a fearsome scowl. "Such as?"

  I rubbed my chin and looked him over. "I could turn you into a newt and send you scurrying under a rock. I could extinguish your belly fire permanently so you'd never have another hot meal. I could bind a storm cloud to you so it rained on you every time you left your cave. I could shrink you and keep you as a pet. I could—"

  "All right! And what's to keep me from eating you now? I know I can't cook you while you're wearing that salve, but I don't mind raw food."

  "You wouldn't eat a Dragon Friend, now would you?"

  "You're not a ... OH!" he said, squinting at me. If a dragon looks at a Dragon Friend in a special way, he can see a certain kind of aura. I'd been told that Dragon Friends were very rare, and that all dragons were honor-bound to treat them with respect. Of course that was in the future, and I had no idea what they'd been treated like in the past.

  "Why didn't you tell me straightaway?" said the dragon, looking disappointed. "Now I'll have to find something else for dinner, and I was so looking forward to eating you! I don't get to eat an intelligent meal very often."

  "Would you feel better if I told you that I know of a wonderful place not too far from here where there are no humans?"

  "Not really. I'm giving up the nomad life. Going to settle down right here. I've just decided—-no more roaming for me."

  "That's because of Millie's spell. You can give up roaming once you've reached the place I mentioned. Going to a new permanent home isn't really roaming, especially since it isn't far from here. You'll be able to see it once you get above the treetops."

  "Where is it?"

  "I'll tell you if you swear on your honor; as a dragon that you won't ever go near humans again."

  The dragon rolled his eyes and sighed. "On my honor as a dragon. Now where is this place?"

  "In the Purple Mountains," I said, pointing in their general direction. "You can't miss them. And if you look in the center of the mountains, you'll find a natural arena with a pool of lava where you can have a good, long soak."

  When I mentioned lava, the dragon's face brightened noticeably. "Lava, you say? That would feel good."

  I nodded. "And the arena would be the perfect spot for the Dragon Olympics."

  The dragon shook his head. "The Dragon Olympics have been held on an island for centuries. No one is going to want to move it now."

  "It won't hurt to look, will it?"

  "I suppose not. But if it isn't just as you say, I'll be back."

  "Fair enough." As the dragon raised his wings to begin his first downbeat, I added, "Before you go, I didn't catch your name."

  "It's Bone Cruncher. You may have heard of me. My motto is: Flame once and ask questions later."

  Nine

  I used my farseeing ball to watch Bone Cruncher fly to the Purple Mountains. When he didn't come back, I turned myself into a bird again and flew to the castle, arriving shortly after dark. Everyone had been hard at work getting ready for the party. Men had carried hogsheads of ale from the cellar under the kitchen. Maids had removed the old rushes and debris from years past before scrubbing the floor of the Great Hall. The new rushes they'd spread were scented with herbs, making the room smell wonderful. Torches had been cleaned or replaced, tables and benches set around the room and colorful banners hung from the ceiling. Additional guests had arrived, bringing their servants with them.

  Hazel had been busy using her own special talent. A table in the buttery was piled high with everlasting bouquets of roses, lilies and some dainty white flowers I didn't recognize, all looking as fresh as if they'd just been picked. I wondered if she'd really made enough or if I should make extra myself. I remembered Dyspepsia's words, and I had to keep myself from making too many changes. Flowering vines spread across the walls of the Great Hall, dripping pink and lavender blossoms. Sturdy trees had sprouted in the corners of the room, arching to meet the ceiling in cascades of delicate leaves and pale yellow blooms. Even the herbs sprinkled throughout the rushes on the floor looked as if they had taken root and were growing.

  I found Millie talking to Jasper, Fenton and Eadric. Of the other young men who had volunteered to kill the dragon, one had changed his mind and gone home, while a second had disappeared downriver, chasing a water nymph. Eadric admitted that he and another knight had continued on until they realized that they were lost. After wandering around for most of the afternoon, they'd stumbled into a woodcutter who had showed them the way back to the castle.

  Millie seemed relieved to see me and couldn't wait to talk to me alone. "I know Jasper needed help, but I felt awful leaving you the way I did," she said. "I worried about you all the way home. Did everything go well?"

  I nodded. "That dragon shouldn't bother anyone around here again."

  "When Garrid came back from hunting, I asked if he'd seen you. He said he hadn't and offered to go look."

  "Did you tell him why I was in the woods?"

  She shook her head. "I said you went for a walk and hadn't returned yet. I'd better go tell him that you're back. He was going to the kitchen first to drop off some rabbits he'd killed."

  "I'll go," I said. "I'd like to meet this mysterious prince."

  Finding Garrid wasn't hard this time. Since Millie had told me about him, I knew he had to be the tall, young blond knight I'd found chatting with the head cook. What Millie hadn't mentioned was that he was the handsomest prince in the castle—with his chiseled features and broad shoulders—and that he made all the other visiting princes, including Eadric, look like little boys.

  Although everyone in the kitchen was working long hours to prepare for the party, they'd taken the time to inspect the rabbits he'd brought, already bled and gutted. While the cook praised the rabbits, giggling kitchen helpers fawned over Garrid, but I had the feeling he wasn'
t listening to any of them.

  "Prince Garrid," I said as he left the kitchen. "May I have a moment of your time?"

  He raised an eyebrow and said, "Do I know you?"

  "I'm Emma. Millie said that you had offered to go looking for me, so I came to tell you that I'm back now."

  A spark of recognition lit his eyes. "So you're Emma. I've heard all about you."

  "You have?" I said, wondering what Millie might have told him.

  Garrid patted me on the shoulder and smiled. The moment he touched me, I knew there was something different about him. Once I wouldn't have noticed it, but since my power had increased, I was sensitive to all the magic around me. In some way I didn't recognize, Garrid had magic. "Don't worry," he said. "Your secret's safe with me." Stepping around me, he strode off down the hall.

  I felt cold all over, as if someone had opened a door on winter. My secret? Which secret was that? In this time and place I had too many to keep track of easily, too many things I didn't want people to know. What had Millie told him? That I was a witch? That I wasn't Frederika's daughter? Or had someone finally figured out that I didn't belong there at all?

  I hurried back to the Great Hall to see Millie, but it was crowded when I arrived and everyone was talking excitedly.

  "Did you hear?" said one of Queen Angelica's ladies to another. "Jasper and Fenton fought the dragon. Fenton says they chased it off."

  "I heard he dealt it a grievous wound. The monster will probably bleed to death."

  I wandered through the Hall, looking for Millie and hearing snatches of conversation.

  "Fenton says it was enormous, the biggest dragon he'd ever seen."

  "Its teeth were strong enough to cut through stone! He said it can chew up rocks and spit them out again."

  "Have you seen Prince Jasper's armor? You can see where the dragon bit him."

  I nodded. That much was true.

  I finally found Millie, gnawing on her lip as she tried not to say a word. I knew how she felt, because I would have liked to squash a few rumors myself. I ground my teeth and tried to keep a pleasant expression on my face. "I'm going to bed now, Millie," I said. "I have to get up early tomorrow morning—very early."

  Meeting Garrid had only made me more interested in him. Of all the princes courting Hazel, I had a feeling that he was the one I'd really have to watch. Apparently the only way to do that was to follow him when he went hunting. Maybe I could learn why he always went alone. Could he be using magic? When I tried to find Eadric to ask if he wanted to go with me, a squire told me that he was meeting with King Grunwald to discuss the best way to deal with werewolves and probably wouldn't be back until late. I waited in the Great Hall for another hour or so and was about to give up and go to bed when Eadric entered, talking to one of the squires.

  Running to Eadric's side, I told the squire, "Excuse us. We have something important to discuss."

  "Really?" said Eadric. "Like what?"

  "That depends," I said after the squire had taken his leave. "What are you doing tomorrow morning?"

  "Sleeping," Eadric said. "I haven't gotten much rest since I started sharing a room with five other princes."

  "How would you like to go hunting with me?" I asked.

  Eadric raised an eyebrow. "Hunting? You were never interested in hunting before. What do you plan to hunt?"

  "Answers. I think it's about time someone followed Garrid and found out what he's really doing. Don't you think it's a little suspicious that he goes off by himself every day?"

  "You think he's up to no good?" asked Eadric.

  "I think he's up to something," I said. "He's too secretive to be innocent. Do you want to go with me? We'd have to leave early."

  Eadric sighed. "Of course I'll go with you. I'll just have to sleep late another day. Maybe in a week or two."

  It was easy to get up before dawn the next morning since I tossed and turned all night. When I couldn't lie in bed staring at the ceiling any longer, I dressed as quietly as I could so I wouldn't wake Millie. I met Eadric as we'd agreed, and we slipped downstairs to the Great Hall together. The guards were dozing at their posts, so we tiptoed past them to stand beneath one of the windows. With one eye on the closest guard, I turned Eadric and myself into bats, and we fluttered through the opening. Being able to see in the dark meant that we didn't need to wait until dawn when the guards would lower the drawbridge, and we could be ready and waiting when Garrid arrived. Besides, being a bat was fun when no one was chasing you.

  We flew to the maze and called for Li'l, but it seemed to take forever before she answered. While I perched on her rosebush, Eadric darted back and forth, catching his breakfast of mosquitoes. "Where have you been?" I asked Li'l when she finally appeared.

  "With Bugsy," she said, with a faraway look in her eyes.

  Eadric gulped, swallowing a mosquito, and asked, "Who's Bugsy?"

  Li'l sighed. "He's the most wonderful bat in the world. He doesn't know it yet, but I've decided to stay here with him."

  "You mean until we go home?" I said.

  "No, I mean forever. I love him, Emma. Bugsy is the perfect bat for me! I've never met anyone like him before, and I probably never will again. He's sweet and funny and thoughtful. I hope you'll be as happy with Eadric as I know I'm going to be with Bugsy!"

  "Are you sure, Li'l?" I asked. This seemed totally bizarre, but maybe I had been too focused on the human world, or myself. "Have you really thought about this? If you stay here when Eadric and I leave, you'll be stuck in the past forever. And you don't know a thing about Bugsy! You don't even know his real name. You made up the name Bugsy, remember?"

  "Past, future, what difference does it make to me, Emma? I'll miss you and Eadric, but my life is here with Bugsy. I know he's wonderful, and that's enough for me."

  The sound of rattling chains and groaning wood announced the lowering of the drawbridge. It was happening earlier than was normal in my day, perhaps at Prince Garrid's request. A figure crossed the bridge and started down the road toward the forest, a bow slung over his shoulder.

  I'm glad we came early, I thought and took to the air. "I'll talk to you about this later, Li'l. This is a very big decision." Li'l was my friend and I didn't want to leave her behind in the past, but I didn't see what I could do about it.

  "Don't wake me if I'm asleep," said the little bat, yawning broadly.

  It was generally unheard of for a member of my own royal family to go hunting without a group of friends or servants, and I was sure it was just as unusual in Millie's. Even so, Garrid strode alone down the road with great confidence, acting as if he was used to walking in the predawn dark by himself. Eadric and I flew behind him, staying far enough back that we could see him but where, I hoped, he wouldn't see us.

  The black of night was graying to morning when Garrid entered the woods, although it was still dark under the trees. If we hadn't been bats, we would have lost him altogether because he could move through the woods as silently as a shadow. We hung back, watching him when he stopped and cocked his head, then took off running so fast that we had a hard time keeping up. We lost him for a moment when he disappeared into a scrub-lined ravine. Something hit the ground with a crash, and a creature thrashed the foliage. I flew toward the sound and found Garrid bent over an injured doe, its limbs scrabbling feebly. Garrid's back was to me, but I could see the creature shudder, then grow still. After a time, Garrid straightened and stood up, lifting the deer as if it weighed nothing. Cradling the lifeless body in his arms, he climbed out of the gully and picked his way through the woods.

  Eadric had joined me, and we were both following Garrid when he suddenly disappeared. It wasn't until we reached the spot where he'd vanished that we saw the opening to the cave. It was pitch black inside, and I expected him to light a candle or torch. He didn't, though, and we had to use our special sounds to find him.

  Garrid was walking purposefully to a large hook set into the stone, moving as if he could see perfectly well. After tyin
g the deer's hind legs together with a strip of leather, he hung the carcass up to drain, setting a wooden bowl under it to catch the blood. Then, taking off his cape, he turned toward a large box set on a broad stone platform. I wondered what could be in the box that had to be kept so secret. Weapons perhaps? Something magical? Secret messages about an invasion? Yet of all the things I imagined, nothing could have surprised me more than what happened next.

  He must have kept the hinges well oiled, for he lifted the lid without making a sound. I craned my neck to see when he reached inside, but all he did was take out a pillow and plump it between his hands. After setting the pillow back in the box, he climbed in, lay down and yawned. Although his two front teeth had looked normal when I spoke to him in the castle, they were now long, pointed and tipped with blood. I gasped when I realized what it meant. Handsome Prince Garrid, suitor to the future Green Witch of Greater Greensward and possibly my own ancestor, was a vampire!

  Garrid must have heard me because he blinked and looked in our direction. He began to sit up, but we didn't wait to see what he'd do next. Beating our wings as fast as they could carry us, Eadric and I darted out of the cave and zipped between the trees. I didn't even try to talk to Eadric until the trees thinned and we could fly side by side.

  "He's a vampire!" I said. "We'd better hurry back and tell Millie. I was sure he had some kind of secret, but I never thought it could be this bad." I didn't have anything against vampires as long as they kept to themselves, but I certainly didn't want Hazel to marry one. Not only did vampires exist on the blood of others, but they were known to carry all kinds of diseases, keep terrible hours and spend most of their time trying to convert everyone they met.

  "I guess that explains where he goes every night," said Eadric. "And I thought he wasn't feeling well."

  "He won't be," I said. "Not if he tries to marry into my family."

  We were out of the forest, speeding back to the castle, when we heard the nicker of horses and saw three men at the edge of a pond. We wouldn't have paid them any heed if we hadn't noticed that one was Fenton. He was arguing with two men I didn't know, a hulking man with a neck as big as his oversized biceps and a smaller man with a narrow face and pointed chin.