My head ached. I rolled onto my back and grabbed my forehead waiting for the pain to cease. A checker-sized lump had erupted just below my hairline and it shot sparks of agony through my limbs if my hand even grazed it. No light. No heat. Just the endless dungeon and the soft cadence of a light hum. The tune seemed familiar, the heights and valleys registering somewhere in my broken head. Maybe a song I remembered as a boy, or maybe just a dream I'd had once upon a time. Maybe I was still dreaming?
I groaned and pulled myself to sitting, but waves of dizziness pounded at me, saved only because I couldn't see anything to tell if the world was spinning.
"You're awake." My mother's voice whispered.
"Barely. My brain feels like it might explode.”
Her gentle hand pat my arm and kept tapping around until she found my face. "I'm sorry, but there's no time to rest. If we don't get out of here soon, we may never get another chance. I heard the guards talking about an execution, and I'm not going to sit and wait to see if it's ours."
Execution. Everything Edwin ever wanted, the prince and the queen given up for treason and then he’d have the throne all to himself.
"But how are we going to do that. I can't even see my own hands, I’m not sure I'd be able to fight my way out when I don't know what I'm looking for."
"That is something I can help with. Do you remember the rhyme we told you as a boy? The one to open the secret passage in the library?”
I nodded, pain pulsing through my head for nothing as she couldn't see me anyway. "Yes, you sang it to me every night for years."
"Good. We'll need to use it to get out of this place. A dungeon is always a dangerous place for a king to be so they connected the hidden passageway to the block of cells, except you need to know the combination to open the door."
She felt for my hand and gripped it tight then coaxed me to my feet. I stuck out my free arm and held the wall beside me to keep from falling over.
Three Aborian maidens fair,
with silvery voices and golden hair.
Wandered into the wood one day,
left the path and lost their way.
They met a group of goblins five,
then only two maidens came out alive.
She swayed back and forth as she followed the cryptic directions. When she finished, a soft clunk echoed through the cell.
"This way," she said and pulled me through the door.
I pushed it closed behind me and took a deep breath before following my mother up the stairs. We turned and weaved several times, the motion threatening to bring up my lunch but eventually, the steps felt familiar and a small spark of light appeared at the end of the path, growing brighter as we approached. Blankets of green leaves lay ahead. We’d made it.
We exited the cave into the forest and I crumpled to the ground, the pain in my head still not cured by freedom. My mother gasped and plunked down beside me, her hand splayed out just below her throat as her chest heaved.
"They took Alizeh, so we won't be able to call her,” she said between her labored breaths.
A sickening sharp jolt jabbed at my stomach. Edwin better not hurt her. She'd helped me so much, and I'd let her fall prey to that madman. He’d captured virtually everyone in my life that mattered—the ones that were left anyway. Each one a trophy to dangle over my head and force me into line or to my own death. My limbs vibrated, the black thoughts dripping like poison into my bloodstream and coursing through my muscles. An image of Veda locked in the tower flashed through my brain accompanied by a sharp stab of pain in my skull. The gorgeous spark of fight still left in her eyes after all that she’d been through, that defending me had forced upon her. And that night in the tavern she said she thought she loved me. Could it still be true?
I smashed my fist into the ground and twisted my knuckles deep down in the dirt, reveling in the pain as pebbles scratched and tore my flesh.
Mom rubbed her hand across my shoulder blade, her face trying to remain resigned, but the desperation cracked the facade and exposed her fear around the edges of her false calm. “We’re going to need some help. Hopefully, Edwin hasn’t spelled any of the other cities or the border guards. We can slip into Oz and beg for military assistance.”
“That voyage will take days, maybe even weeks without any supplies or a way to travel without being seen. We don’t have that kind of time. Edwin’s power will be too strong by then, and he’s always one step ahead of us.”
She dropped her hands in her lap and stared at her fingers as she twined them around themselves. “We don’t have much choice. We can’t overthrow him if we can’t get in the castle.”
“But we can get into the castle. I can disguise my face again. We can try again.”
“And last time you were captured. Don’t be foolish, Fallon. This isn’t a time to be proud.”
I leaped to my feet and paced the small patch of ground between my mother and the trees. The damp lushness of the forest wrapped around me, a blanket constricting tighter as my thoughts raced a million miles per second through my mind.
“Edwin has been inviting the neighboring nations to court. Delegates from The Forge were here just a few days ago. Who knows how far his influence has already spread? We’ll have to do something ourselves.”
Mom cast her stare up at me as the moonlight sparkled in her watery haze and clouded her vision. “Then we don’t have any resources left. No allies here. I’m afraid we might never regain the castle, but at least we can make it out of here with our lives.”
“No. I refuse to let that happen.” My footsteps quickened, crushing the few blades of green grass that forced their way through the dirt and managed to grow.
There had to a way out of this. A way that wouldn’t kill us all. Leaves rustled in the late-night breeze. Secrets whispered on the wind from the creatures hiding deep in the trees, or maybe just the voices in my head of everyone Edwin had hurt begging me to do something—to save them.
“C’mon.” I halted my pacing and held my hand out to my mother. As soon as her delicate skin brushed mine I swooped her to her feet. “Help might be closer than we think.”
I glanced down towards the sleeping city as we broke through the woods onto the main pathway. A few streetlamps still glowed in the darkness, but otherwise, it lay still, patiently waiting for the dawn. This was my city. My home. Edwin couldn’t have those people. I wouldn’t let him.
Branches crackled under our feet as we ran under the canopy of leaves and night, zigging and zagging deeper into the forest.
“Where are we going, Fallon? We’ll get lost in here,” Mom called from behind me, her voice unsteady as she gasped for air.
I looked back over my shoulder at the worry spidering over her face. “Trust me. We don’t have many other options left.”
My nose perked up as the familiar smell I’d been searching for wafted toward us. I pushed my legs faster as the strain burned in my calves. Ahead, the clouds of dainty white petals kissed the treetops and dusted their ends like winter snow. I trudged on further until the flowers surrounded us. I closed my eyes and inhaled. Memories flickered like sparking candlelight. The intoxicating scent. The humidity of the greenery cloaking my skin. The gentle sound of the wind as it whisked through the forest and across my cheeks. This had to be the place.
I opened my eyes and spun around, letting my feet remember their steps and go off the path into the thicker brush.
“Come back here,” Mom called from the path, but I couldn’t stop.
She followed behind me, her irritated groans growing louder as she started to catch up through the denser bushes. The moon disappeared from above us, casting us into the shadows. In the distance, a wolf howled. Hungry. A shiver shot through my spine as my feet sped up, plunging us even deeper.
Soon the twisted branches of the ancient banyan tree spread out gnarled in front of us. A slight relief washed through me but it didn’t cleanse all the fear bubbling through my veins. Better to be cautious anyway. I knelt down. An
arced row of bulbous mushrooms grew near my boots in a strange circular formation. I slid my fingers over the top of the closest one. Smooth and slippery, but were they magic?
I rose again and stepped inside the circle, then raised my head toward the leaves above me. “It’s me, Prince Fallon. I need to talk to the silver fairy. It’s about the darkness.”
Nothing responded. Nothing stirred. Just me in a circle of fungi with my mother looking on, her lips flat and thin as if she sensed I’d lost my sanity.
“You asked me to save you. Well, I accept. I’ll be the hero you’ve been looking for. Defeat the darkness for you and whoever else needs saving, but I need you to help me first.”
Still nothing.
I hung my head to my chest. Our one last hope vanished in the dark.
“I guess everyone has abandoned us.” I exhaled and my shoulders fell forward as my body crumpled inward. “Better get going toward the border before Edwin finds us gone.”
Mom jerked her head toward the path and held out her hand. A tiny light flickered in the tree above her head. Pink, then purple, then finally blue. It swayed for a second, then cascaded through the air like a fallen leaf, meandering until it landed on my mother’s palm. She yelped and ripped her hand away, the tiny fairy suspending herself on her beating wings then flitting toward me.
I put my hand out for her to land, her tiny silver feet tickling my skin.
“You do know it’s three in the morning, right? Fairies need sleep too.” She slammed her hands to her hips and stuck her lip out in a pout, the drowsy look in her stare hardened into poisonous darts aimed straight at my forehead.
“Trust me, this isn’t what I had planned on doing tonight either, but we’re here now and we desperately need your help.”
My mother inched closer until she hovered near us. Her eyes doubled in size examining the angry sprite.
“Greetings, Your Majesty,” the fairy said and curtsied toward my mother. “I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting the mortal queen before.”
“And I’ve never met a real fairy, at least not close enough to talk to one.” She extended her index finger to the fairy. “Queen Abigail. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
The silver fairy wrapped her hand around her fingertip and shook it. “I’m Natania. Ruler of the fairies in this forest. A blessing to meet you.”
My mother bowed her head.
“How come you are so much nicer to her?” I shook my hand and the fairy wobbled nearly losing her balance.
“Ah, Prince of Many Faces, if you need to ask, then you wouldn’t understand my answer anyway.” She crossed her silver arms and flexed her wings. “Now, you barge into my forest in the middle of the night demanding a favor. Please tell what you want so I can ignore you and go back to sleep.”
I held my breath and forced the story to come out even, lacking the edge of scorn and sarcasm that brewed around my tonsils. “An evil wizard cursed my father to turn into a beast and now he has taken over the castle with magical mind control and is trying to kill me and my mother so he can become king of all Aboria.”
Her saucy attitude flipped away as her arms fell back down to her sides. “Wow, that is a problem. But, this isn’t my fight. What do you think I’m going to be able to do about it?”
“I don’t know. Can’t you use some of your fairy magic to just—” I swung my free hand in a circle, “—poof away all his spells?”
She clutched her stomach and buckled over, the tinkling sound of her fairy laugh echoing through the forest. “Poof away his spells? You read too many fantasy books, my prince, and apparently really bad ones.”
“I thought fairies were these powerful beings. You can’t handle this?”
The laughter disappeared and she regained her serious stance. “Don’t test my patience, prince. I can’t do this because magic doesn’t work like that. Mind control requires a connection between the spellcaster and the target, I can’t just poof that away, but if you can break the connection it’ll eventually wear off.”
I sighed. This was getting nowhere. “But that’s the problem. We can’t get him out of the castle. We’ve already tried and failed. If we show up there again, he’ll have us beheaded for sure.”
Mom leaned in closer as Natania’s glow reflected off her skin. “Please help us. There aren’t a lot of other options and if we don’t move quickly I fear that my husband’s kingdom—” she paused and patted my shoulder, “—my son’s kingdom will be stolen from them and will never be the same. You don’t want Edwin ruling Aboria either. If he thought you and your family were a threat he would try to wipe you out as well. I’m sure you understand, one queen to another.”
“You flatter me, Your Highness, but I am no queen. However, I do understand that you will do whatever you need to if you feel that your family is being threatened. Unfortunately, that’s why I need you so badly.” She stomped her foot on my palm and I twitched. “The darkness threatens us all, but if this reluctant knight refuses to meet his destiny with this plague on his throne then I guess we might need to step in.”
She tapped her tiny finger against her chin as she hummed a tune like chimes blowing in the wind. “Let me have time for consultation.”
Her wings flickered as they vibrated and she hovered in the air then zoomed back to the protection of her tree.
“You didn’t tell me about the fairies. What other secrets have you been keeping?” Mom winked and sidled in closer beside me.
I dropped my hand to my side and sighed. “Secrecy seems to be my legacy.”
Mom frowned.
“It’s the truth.” I shrugged and cocked my head to the side. “Let’s make a promise that is we get through this, there will be no more secrets in their family. Okay?”
“Like it should’ve always been. Maybe if we’d all been more trusting we wouldn’t be in this situation now.”
Lights flickered in the treetops. Every color of the rainbow blinked in the night like stars speaking to each other in code. Eventually, Natania’s blue light grew brighter as she flew back toward us. I held out my hand again and she landed on my palm, the last glint of shimmer falling from her wings as they closed behind her.
“Now, prince, my family and I have discussed the issue and we are willing to provide assistance, however, it is on the condition that we have your word about stopping the darkness.”
“Of course,” I nodded. “Anything.”
Natania wagged a silver finger in my face. “Oh, be careful how you wield your words. Lesser creatures would take advantage of your desperation.”
Then she clamped her thumb and forefinger between her lips and let out a high-pitched whistle. The wolf howled again in response and I shivered. Natania toppled over onto her behind.
She swept her rose gold locks out of her face and dusted off her dress as she stood back up. “Easy now. A hero must have stronger nerves than that. Besides, do you honestly think I can control the wolves? They respond to no one but their alphas.”
The skin on my cheeks warmed, fortunately, hidden by the cloak of night to avoid more ridicule. A pair of green and yellow lights flitted toward us, wavering awkwardly up and down in their flight. As they flew closer, a small purple sack came into view, the contents weighing the two fairies down. My mother put out her hands and they both landed there, then dropped to their knees, huffing and puffing.
“Well, aren’t you two darling?” Mom said, her face illuminated in the dark by their light.
The yellow fairy stood and grabbed the edges of her short dress to give a polite curtsy, while the green one bowed at the waist instead. “An honor to meet you, my queen,” they greeted in unison.
“What is in the bag?” I asked.
Natania flitted over to my mother’s hand and pulled the gold string on the sack. She stretched up on her tiptoes and peeked inside, then nodded to her helpers with a warm smile. They both saluted in response then burst into the sky, disappearing almost instantly in the treetops.
&n
bsp; “This—” Natania swiped her hand into the sack and pulled out a handful of silver flecks, letting them cascade from her hand back into the bag, “—is fairy dust. Traveler’s dust to be exact. When someone causes trouble in our forest we use it to send them far away. The bigger the dose the farther they go and the longer they stay lost before they can start making their way home.”
“Do you have a bigger bag? I need Edwin as far away from here as I can get.”
Natania flitted back up in front of my face and kicked the tip of my nose. “Don’t be so flippant. A fairy handful of traveler’s dust can lose someone for a week. A bag that size will send your enemies so far they may never find their way home.”
I glanced over at my mother’s open hands. That much firepower in such a tiny bag. Impressive. And exactly what we needed.
She snapped her fingers drawing my attention back. “But it’s also all we’ve got left, so you’ll only get one chance. We can make more, but it will take months and it doesn’t sound like you have that much time.”
“We don’t.” I snatched the bag from my mother’s hands and shoved it in my pocket.
“Easy now, are you always so careless with weapons?”
I shrugged. “Probably.”
Natania scoffed then flew further away so her blue light tinged the dark forest around her. She turned to my mother. “Thank you for the visit, Your Majesty. You are welcome in our forest anytime, but hopefully, next time will be under less precarious circumstances.” Then flipped to me, her glare hardening as she thrust her hands on her hips. “And you. Be careful with the traveler’s dust and make sure you’ve locked down your mark before you use it.”
She fluttered higher in the sky until she became nothing more than a flashing light, then stopped. “And one more thing, Prince Fallon. Remember your promise to the fairies. To save the world from the darkness. We are all counting on you.”
Her light extinguished leaving us both in the dark as the shadows crept in again.
“Give me the bag,” Mom said as she reached for my coat pocket.
I pivoted away, just out of her grasp. “No. Why would I do that?”
Fallon: Son of Beauty and the Beast (Kingdom of Fairytales Boxset Book 6) Page 28