by E S Olsen
Cheers and gasps of surprise and excitement came from all over the room. The witches and warlocks dug right in. I had to look away from the disgusting scene. Most of them ate with their hands food dropping everywhere. Their conversations continued with mouths so full of food half of it fell out while they talked and ate.
Dag handed me the flask of red liquid. I made my way around the table filling each goblet with the special concoction I’d made. When I came to Valemon, I turned my head and mouthed the word “No” as I filled his cup.
He gave me a wink and proclaimed loudly, “Back away from me!”
I pretended to cry and continued around the table. Vivika smiled triumphantly and the whole room filled with cacophonous laughter.
Valemon stood and held his cup high. “A toast, to my bride, may our time together be a joyous one.”
Everyone took up the cheer. Valemon brought his goblet to his lips. All the party goers drank deeply, belching their assessment.
I waited and held my breath. Nothing happened. I’d messed this one up too. What was I to do? This was my last hope. Then one of the warlocks stood and brought his hands to his throat. Gasping and choking he fell forward into the carcass of a whole roasted pig. There was a moment of silence followed by chaos. Screams filled the air as witches and warlocks all over the room started falling down, choking and spasming, to their deaths.
Valemon dropped his goblet and backed away from Vivika. She threw her goblet down in furry; standing quickly, causing her chair to fall backward with a thud.
“Traitor,” she shouted, webbing shot from her hands wrapping around Valemon, tying him to his chair and covering his mouth. Then turned to me. “You!”
She brought one hand up and with a flick of her wrist I felt myself lift off the ground. Another flick of the wrist and I flew backward, smashing my side into the wall. I crumpled into a heap, my shoulder throbbing and blood dripping from my head.
I saw a blurry Vivika hunch over, her arms wrapped around her stomach. She was gasping and stumbling toward Valemon. She grabbed Valemon’s arm. “I did this for us! Like we planned. Remember? You promised me, you’d love me forever,” she said. Coughing, gagging, her hands slowly losing their grip as she sank to the floor. “That's why I killed them, so we could be together.”
Somehow, I found the strength to stagger over to them. I made a fist with my good hand and felt a satisfying crunch as it connected with her face. “Get away from my husband!”
She fell over backward, staring at me with wide eyes, making a gurgling noise deep in her throat. Her arm outstretched, her hand claw-like raking the air as if to claw my face. Then her head rolled to the side, foam bubbling up and over the edge of her mouth and she stopped moving.
My head spun causing me to drop to one knee. Valemon made some noise and struggled to get free. Somehow, I managed to help him rip the webbing away.
“Maria,” he grabbed me before I fell again. Supporting me, we walked to a basin of water where he helped me clean my wounds. “It’s over, Maria. I’m so sorry that I couldn’t tell you everything. It was part of the curse, I …”
I put a finger to his lips. “It’s ok. I understand.” I pulled him toward me and kissed him hard. “Let’s get out of here. I want to go home.”
*
Dag and the other servants followed us to a basket that we could lower down the cliff and be free of this place.
Valemon held my hand the whole way home. We both couldn’t stop smiling. The curse was finally broken. As we got closer to home I saw a woman with some children waiting on the side of the road.
“Mother!” Valemon shouted. I looked back and forth between them and realized the kind old woman who had given me the magical gifts was the queen mother. How did I not realize it before? That must mean… I choked back a sob as I stared at the little girls.
My girls.
I fell to my knees and they ran into my outstretched arms. My girls. My babies. I hugged them close and covered them with kisses. “I’m so sorry for all the time we’ve missed together.”
“But mama,” my oldest girl said. “We’ve been with you the whole time. You just couldn’t see us.”
Valemon's mother said, “I am so sorry for the deception. I knew the witch would try and steal the babies and so I used my limited magic to hide them away and keep them safe.”
“Thank you. Thank you,” I said between sobs.
We all walked hand in hand to the castle of Summerland. The sun was warm on our backs, the birds were joyus, the air smelled of wild flowers.
That night as I lay in Valemon's arms I looked into his eyes, I couldn’t believe my luck. I’d entered and lived through my own personal fairy tale. I knew now that the fairy tale ending of They Lived Happily Ever After, was probably just that, a fairy tale. But together, with Valemon by my side, we could face anything.
THE END
