Promise Forever: Fairy Tales with a Modern Twist

by Pauline Creeden

"Soufflé."

  I frowned. I had tried to cook one before on my own but couldn't quite get the hang of it without it falling. Would learning from Sebastian this time make a difference? I had to have faith in my teacher.

  Movement outside the kitchen window caught my attention. Prince Evan pulled the hood of his cloak over his face and peered around the alley way as though checking to see if someone followed him. I frowned. His behavior was curious. And it made me wonder how he could possibly slip away from Aria's grasp. She did say that he often disappeared weirdly. Where did he go during those times?

  "Do you want to start learning soufflé this evening or tomorrow?"

  I began untying my apron from the back, tracking the prince with my eyes as he continued toward the west and the sun which was beginning to set.

  Sebastian finished the last bite of his pie. "See you in the morning then?"

  I nodded and dashed out the side door of the kitchen. My sandals slapped against the cobblestones, making too much noise. After I stopped a moment and leaned against a wall, I slipped off the shoes and continued running on the cold stone in bare feet. Each misstep was magnified as well as every pebble, but it was a small price to pay for stealth. When I spotted the prince, he was just turning my direction, checking over his shoulder. I threw on the brakes and backed up a step so that I was hidden around a corner. Heavy pants came out of me as I attempted to draw in enough breath to satisfy the craving in my lungs. Air didn't hold as much oxygen as water, and occasionally it left me feeling lightheaded.

  I peered around the corner and caught sight of the prince's common brown cloak as he slipped through one of the gates in the wall. The guards let him past. I lifted a brow and then debated whether I should still follow. I hadn't spent any time outside the walls of the castle since alone since I had arrived. Was it safe? I frowned at myself. Would the guards even allow me to leave? Or return when I was finished spying on the prince?

  What was I doing anyway? Why was my curiosity peaked like this? Maybe it was just the allure of knowing something Aria didn't. Maybe it was the feeling that I'd have a secret with the prince because it would be something only I knew about him. That thought made my heart skip in my chest. Why did I even crave that?

  I sighed. If I didn't follow him soon, I could lose his trail.

  Swallowing down the fears that rose in my throat, I marched forward as nonchalantly as I could and nodded to the guard who stood at the gate.

  He nodded back.

  I couldn't help but ask. "If I step out for a moment and return directly, will I be allowed back in?"

  The guard eyed me quickly. "Yes, milady. I am the guard for this gate until midnight. Provided you return before then, I will let you pass."

  Relieved, I nodded and continued out the gate. The sun had gotten low enough on the horizon that it blinded me a moment while I searched for the prince to the west. I blocked the shine from my eyes and found him walking several paces ahead of me and heading toward the beach where Aria and I had first come to land.

  I gulped. No way. He couldn't be.

  My pace quickened as I followed, and I caught myself starting to gain on him. I stopped by a tree and rested my back against it while I tried to calm my heart. It had begun racing the moment I realized where the prince was headed. The sun had sunk below the tree line at the horizon so that it no longer shined in my eyes, but orange streaked across the darkening sky. Even though I'd lost sight of the prince, I knew where I would find him, and my feet headed there of their own accord.

  I reached the sand of the beach and turned toward the wooden dock and found the prince sitting in the chair on the dock, his back facing me. Of course he was still spending his hour of meditation after sunset waiting for me to visit. He had no idea that I had already come. When he'd seen me in my kraken form, my green skin and hair probably blinded him, so he wouldn't notice my violet-silver eyes, and my face had been covered the whole time since we'd met.

  For a moment, I tugged at my veil and pulled it from my face. The cool sea breeze kissed the skin of my cheek, unfiltered by the fabric I'd created from fishing net and driftwood. I stared at the prince's back and willed him to turn around. Stepping toward him, I wanted him to see me and know it was me that he waited for. He no longer needed to wait. I could award his faithfulness by simply saying his name.

  But my voice was caught in my throat in the same way Aria's had. My jaw clenched as my hatred for the woman surfaced again. I covered my face again with the veil and took a step back. What punishment would I receive for showing him my face... for speaking to him... for falling in love with him?

  My hands fisted, and I shook my head.

  No. I refused to fall in love with him. He'd already stolen Aria's heart. I wouldn't let him have mine.

  I took another step back and turned toward the castle. He had only surprised me with his devotion to keeping his word. It wasn't his devotion to me. He didn't even know me. I swallowed against my dry throat and forced my feet to start the trek back toward the castle. Although my heart hurt in my chest and begged me to turn my head and look at him again, I denied it.

  Chapter 6

  The festival began, and I was helping Sebastian make crabmeat pies for the crowds along with other workers in the castle kitchen. We had set up an assembly line of sorts, and I was in charge of cooling the items as they came out of the oven by the window as I had the strongest magic among the kitchen helpers, with the exception of Sebastian, of course. It was the best duty, in my opinion. I was able to watch the crowds move about the town square out the windows of the kitchen, and see several displays, including parts of the battle tournament, jousting, and puppet shows. The jovial atmosphere brought a smile to my face.

  "How many days long is the festival?" I asked as Sebastian set another rack of a two dozen crabmeat pies in front of the window for cooling.

  "Five days. It culminates on Friday when the tournaments end and winners are selected. Then there is the ball that evening. Only those in the court are invited to attend as well as the winners from the tournaments. There is a baking tournament, you know?"

  I shrugged. "As much as I'd like to win a prize for baking, the prize of going to the ball doesn't appeal to me much."

  The last thing I wanted to do was go the ball to watch Aria and a few dozen other females fawn over the prince. The thought of all those women fighting for his attention made me nauseous. Another reason I couldn't possibly let myself fall in love with him. He'd not only stolen too many women's hearts—which probably gave him an inflated sense of self—but he didn't even respect the women enough to give them flat-out rejections. He allowed them to continue trying to gain his affections when it seemed he had no intention of returning them. He was a pig.

  "What makes you so angry?" Sebastian asked, pulling the rack away that he'd placed there and handing the cooled rack to the waiters who would take them out to the food tent in the crowd.

  The cool breeze from the window licked against my skin and made me shiver. I smiled at Sebastian. "I'm not angry, just... pensive."

  He chuckled. "Don't think too hard, it will make those wrinkles on your forehead permanent."

  I shook my head. "And laughing too much can cause the wrinkles at the corners of your eyes to remain as well."

  He nodded and started walking back toward the oven. "That's why I say it's best to do everything in moderation."

  I could tell by the sense of smell that I'd trained over the past couple weeks that the next batch of crabmeat pies was nearly finished. "Good advice," I called back to him.

  Outside the window, crowds of people milled about. I had no desire to join them. I even liked the kitchen best when it was just myself and Sebastian. Now there were more than ten others in the kitchen and their constant chatter was overwhelming. Though it was nothing like the noise of the festival outside the window that was carried in on the breeze. Sebastian came and set another rack of pies in front of me and this time, I closed my eyes and called to the mountain win
d and asked it to return with its chill again.

  The smell of snow and pine and clean, untouched air met my nose moments later. I breathed in deeply, trying to swallow it all in as it took away from the smell of people and horses and confections outside as well as the scent of meat and dough within the kitchen. Not that any of those smells were necessarily bad, it was just a matter of cleaning out my system so I didn't feel overwhelmed. I leaned toward the window, standing on my tip-toes.

  "Where is she?" Aria's voice screeched from the door of the kitchen.

  My eyes snapped open as my heels hit the ground, sending a jarring feeling through my spine so that even my teeth clacked together. I turned around and faced the source of my displeasure. Her eyes locked on me the way a predator fixes on her prey.

  "There you are. I have need of my servant. You cannot remain in this kitchen when your services are required by me."

  I frowned and glared at the woman. She rushed forward and snatched me by the arm. My hands fisted. If she thought for a moment that I would just sit idly by and let her dislocate my fingers again, she was horribly mistaken.

  "The princess speaks!" Sebastian said as he pulled the rack of pies from under the window. He lifted a brow. "Could it be that you're coming out of your shell? Will the prince soon have the pleasure of hearing your voice as well?"

  Blood rushed to Aria's cheeks as her grip loosened on my arm. She watched Sebastian with wide eyes for a moment before dropping her gaze to the cobblestones. Had she really not realized that she'd just spoken in front of the humans for the first time?

  "And the princess's demure veneer returns." Sebastian leaned toward her. "Please forgive me for selfishly monopolizing your servant in my kitchen."

  Aria shook her head, but still refused to look up at the chef.

  I opened my mouth, becoming her voice once more. "Please excuse me, chef. I have overstayed my welcome. I must now attend to my princess's needs."

  He nodded and winked at me as though he truly understood my plight. My shoulders fell a little, but my heart warmed. It felt good that he tried to understand me, but he would never truly fathom the extent of my enslavement.

  Aria glared at me and then stomped away like the spoiled child she was. She didn't look back at me to check to see if I followed, she merely expected it to happen. When we had made it to our chambers, I closed the door behind me. Aria turned on me again with tears in her eyes.

  "I never realized how many beautiful women I would have to contend with for my prince's affections." She whined. "I want him for myself again, but now there are more courtesans than I can count with him at all times."

  Crocodile tears continued to flow over her ruddy cheeks, but I refused to be affected by them this time. My hatred for her flared in my chest, and my hands remained clenched in fists. I had to keep reminding myself that destroying her would remove my ability to create. I could only choose one or the other, and there would be no redemption, no turning back.

  "I need to do something. I need to get rid of these women and remind the prince that it was I who saved his life and deserve his affections." She clutched the front of my robes, her eyes wide and pleading with me.

  I narrowed my gaze at her. Considering that I was the one who saved him in the first place, did this crazy woman actually believe the lie she'd spun herself? "And what would you have me do about it?"

  She released my robes and straightened her spine. She turned away from me and faced the window. She swiped the tears from her face and took several deep breaths. Was she thinking about it? No, surely not. This was her dramatic ploy to make me think that she hadn't already come up with a plan. She turned to face me with an evil glint in her eye and a sinister smile. "I want you to make the prince drown again."

  I blinked at her, not sure I'd heard her right. "What?"

  She stepped toward me, her eyes narrowing on me. "I need you to make him drown again so I can rescue him. These other women shouldn't even be able to compare to the one who saved his life. So to remind him of the value I have, I need you to drown him again."

  I frowned at her. "You want me to use the power of destruction to attempt to kill the prince."

  I would lose the power of creation and not even get rid of the one who truly deserved it.

  "No, stupid. This isn't about destruction." She rolled her eyes. "It's about creation. This year's ball will be on a ship. All those stupid women and their pretty little dresses, the winners of the tournament, the members of the court and the prince will be aboard. I want you to create a sudden storm. I have other helpers who will make sure the prince ends up in the waters."

  "A storm." I frowned. Killing by accident was not the same as killing with intention. The storm itself would not kill the prince, but the princess would work toward that goal with my knowledge and using something that I created to do it. Morally, I didn't know if I could stomach this idea.

  "Yes. You will create a storm, and I will do the rest. You will be destroying nothing so you won't lose your precious magic." The princess smiled sweetly at me.

  About as sweet as a thousand bee stings.

  Maybe this would be the deciding factor for me. I had been weighing the pros and cons for several days now. Do I kill the wretched woman and lose my creation magic, or do I bide my time, help her win the prince's heart, and then go about my merry way at the next full moon? There were only eight days left before my enslavement would expire. But if it ended without the princess winning the prince's heart, then I would have more hell to face. No. If it ended without the prince's heart, I'd definitely turn to destruction. I would rip the princess to shreds before I allowed her to tell her father where I was. Then I'd bring down destruction on the King of Atlantis as such the world had never seen.

  "So, what say you?" she asked, facing me again with a scowl while tapping her foot with impatience.

  "I can create a storm." I would create a storm for her and give her this last chance to win the prince's heart. He would be a fool to choose her as a bride. If he did, then he deserved her. If he died in the storm and providence decided I had a hand in his death and took away my power of creation, I would rain down destruction on the princess and all of Atlantis. If the prince proved his intelligence by rejecting the princess, and Aria decided to run to tell her father, then destruction would still be my choice.

  One path to everyone's happily ever after, two paths to destruction. A sinister smile tugged at my own lips. It felt like a win no matter which way the dice would roll.

  Chapter 7

  I peered out the window below deck in the kitchens at the night sky and called another cloud near. I wasn't quite expecting to attend the ball, but at least I was allowed to do it on my own terms, which was in the kitchen. The prince hadn't allowed the ship to leave until one hour after sunset. I sighed. Only I knew what the prince had been doing during the hour before he rushed back to the ship. I rubbed my chest, trying to alleviate the sudden ache there. I wanted to pound on my chest instead and beat my heart back into submission. I didn't need to fall in love with the prince. Either he would choose to love Aria, or I would become the evil sea witch that everyone claimed I was destined to become. I couldn't see this ending in any other way.

  The party overhead had been in full swing for over an hour. Sebastian, myself, and a smaller staff of only three others prepared food for the guests, mostly seafood appetizers of varying types. Lobster and shrimp were among the favorites of the guests above deck, and were in constant need of replenishment.

  "Ursa, be a dear and take this tray upstairs for me, if you please?" Sebastian handed me a tray of lobster puffs.

  The wait staff had been overloaded, so some of the kitchen staff had been taking the trays up for them. It was my third time doing it and catching glimpses of the party. As pretty as all the women were in their best dresses, the ball still felt like a group of sharks at a feeding frenzy. And Prince Evan was the chum.

  Every time I came up, he was surrounded by at least four of them, and I f
inally understood Aria's frustration. The prince was too nice to them all. He didn't deny anyone's advances any more than he denied Aria's. Was he a pushover or a player? Neither one was appealing in my opinion. Overhead, the bright moon shined through a nearly cloudless sky. I was supposed to create a storm with this? Originally the sky had been completely clear, but I had slowly asked the clouds to gather each time I came topside or had a moment to look out the window.

  And the clouds were answering my siren call.

  Aria spotted me the moment I rose from the kitchen. Her beady little eyes fixed on me, and she scowled as she stomped over. "It's time. Start developing that storm. I'm sick of this party and all of these people," she hissed in a whisper to me. "I want this to end. Now."

  I swallowed and smiled toward the waiter who took the tray. It turned out to be more of a grimace, so I was glad he couldn't see it beneath my veil. My heart pounded against my chest. This was the deciding moment. Would I remain on the path of creation or turn to the one of destruction? I nodded toward the evil wretch who had enslaved me. And then I glanced about the dance floor. The prince was nowhere to be found. Could Aria already have had her henchman snatch him?

  Somehow that prickled against my skin. He could die from my actions. It was something I didn't want. At all.

  The princess's sinister smile returned, and she clapped her hands together. Then she leaned toward me. "Get started."

  I nodded, uncertain of myself or how I felt about this situation. I retreated toward the kitchen below deck. I didn't want to witness what might happen as I called the clouds to come closer. A small storm, I reasoned. A summer squall should be enough to keep the stupid princess happy. As I headed down the steps, I called the storm and then heard thunder in the distance as it answered.

  As I reached the door to the kitchen, it swung out toward me, and I narrowly missed getting slammed in the face. When I stepped backward, I tripped over the hem of my robe and began to fall.