Midnight Law

by Geanna Culbertson

  I nodded in agreement, as did the others. I could distract myself for an hour at a ball in the hopes our Midnight Law portal materialized. I’d been to a hundred balls in my life, but we were in Toyland so there was bound to be some interesting—

  We entered the ballroom.

  WHOA.

  I’d gotten used to the toys; the scenery is what surprised me. Lifelike sculptures of ballet dancers five times our height made of teal, mint, and lavender modeling clay were mounted atop platforms across the ballroom. Meanwhile, actual ballerina dolls performed on top of shining, tall cylindrical pedestals beneath spotlights to the tune of the orchestra music.

  The left wall displayed a stunning mural of the Toyland landscape featuring floral cities, metallic cities, candy cities, snowy mountains, and the castle. The right wall hosted exits to glass balconies framed by thick, red velvet curtains. Planters that held giant sticks of rock candy sat on either side of the balcony doors. And the entire ceiling was a collage of working clocks—a thousand different styles and sizes and colors overlapping one another.

  I loved it.

  “Let’s go say hi to the king and queen.” Chance pointed to the other side of the room. The Nutcracker King and his entourage inhabited an elevated royal viewing area. “We should thank them for their hospitality.”

  We made our way across the emporium of wonder and climbed the stairs to the platform. Lovely courtier dolls and handsome toy soldiers milled around the three thrones there. The wider throne held our pal Kevin, adjusted for his mouse size. Kevin was dressed in a formal jacket and a thin crown sat atop his head at an angle. He gave us a casual wave. Next to him, golden thrones with forest green cushioning hosted the king and queen of Toyland.

  The Nutcracker King wore a powder blue uniform jacket with white and silver trimmings. His wife had dark brown hair pulled into a ponytail by a grand pink bow. Her shimmering golden dress was accented with matching pink bows at the short sleeves, the waist, and the bottom of the skirt where the fabric bustled in bunches. Her long silk gloves were pale pink as well. And just below the hem of her dress, I could make out her shoes—silky pink ballerina slippers.

  We all bowed and curtseyed—properly now that I had the right dress to pull it off.

  “Children,” the king said, standing and bowing himself. “Welcome. May I present my kind and noble wife, Marie.”

  She smiled at us warmly. “A pleasure. And such a treat to see humans here outside of December. Though I must insist you return during Christmastime someday; we spare no detail to ensure a magical holiday season.”

  “It’s hard to imagine you topping this,” I said. “Everything about this world is magical.”

  “You’re one to talk,” the king said, sitting back down. “When you sought transport with our troops, you neglected to mention your powers. Or yours.” He gestured to Chance. “I cannot express how grateful I am that you stayed to help us fight. It is very heroic of you.”

  “And it is very human of you,” the queen added. “That’s something this realm has come to appreciate about our otherworldly visitors. Humans are beautifully unpredictable and have the capacity to keep surprising you. I love teaching our toy people about this, and it is my responsibility to as well, as I am one of the few humans who maintains residence here.”

  “And yet she is such a doll,” Kevin joked.

  “Oh, Kevin, you scallywag,” the queen said merrily.

  Kevin’s face turned serious. “All jokes aside, Chance, what are the odds that your gold magic keeps my great grandfather from—for lack of a better word—thawing out in seven months and attacking us all over again? You said you’d done this before, but how long has this magic lasted in the past?”

  Chance nodded thoughtfully. “When I use my powers like this, it’s supposed to be a permanent situation. I recently stopped a villain in our land the same way. By that logic, the Rat King should be frozen in time until I de-goldify it. However, I’ve never petrified a creature connected to a curse, so I don’t know if that power is strong enough to break my magic hold. We didn’t kill the Rat King because if the monster doesn’t need to regenerate that could nullify the curse. But I can’t make any promises.”

  “Then we will plan for a battle in seven months,” said the Nutcracker King. “And if the Rat King does not thaw, and the curse is really broken, we shall revel in our customary victory ball without a battle beforehand. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst, as it were. In any case, the monster is defeated for now and I say we continue to persevere in the belief that he is beaten for good.”

  “That would be on theme with this adventure,” Girtha commented.

  “On that note,” the queen said. “I believe my handsome and heroic husband owes me a dance.” He took her hand and they rose from their chairs.

  “I realize that your departure from here is uncertain,” the king said. “But if for some reason we do not connect again before you leave, thank you for your service and come back any time.” He and his wife bowed and curtseyed. We mirrored the sign of respect. Then the Nutcracker King escorted his queen to the dance floor and twirled her. She moved with the grace of any dancer, high on the toes of her ballerina slippers.

  “So . . .”

  I turned to find Kevin standing beside me, offering his arm.

  I was genuinely confused. “Do you want to dance?”

  “Well, I’m not holding out my arm like this in the hopes we’ll play hopscotch.”

  I cracked a smile and glanced over at Jason. “Sorry,” I said, linking my arm through Kevin’s. “I’m in demand tonight.”

  “I believe that.” He smiled back.

  Kevin tried to twirl me onto the dance floor with the same grace as the king and queen, but with our different species, it made our body compatibility awkward and kind of hilarious. I didn’t mind how silly it was though. I loved silly. I missed silly.

  It was quarter to eight o’clock. I’d danced with Kevin the Mouse Prince, several toy soldiers, and even that pink squeaky bear who’d given us the flight instructions, but I hadn’t danced with Jason. I think we both wanted to connect, but he never asked me and I didn’t have the gumption to ask him myself. I wanted him to ask me. But maybe that was asking a lot, given how many times he’d already put himself out there only to be met with my rejection.

  When I found myself partner-less for a dance and saw Jason twirling with yet another doll, I wondered if my tender revelations about who I was and what I wanted us to be had come too late.

  Craving some air, I pushed past a meaty red curtain and opened a balcony door. The door sealed shut behind me, blocking out the noise of the ball. Glancing side to side, I saw that all the other balconies were empty. I guess toys didn’t want to be isolated in the quietude when there was a party going on. So that just left me—alone on a glass floor balcony with a fire pit in the center that crackled with fuchsia flames over cerulean blue coals.

  I strode across the glass to the railing and leaned out to take in the beauty of Toyland’s night sky—so much color and light it made my imagination sigh with enchantment.

  “Blue?”

  I turned as Jason ducked around the red curtain and joined me on the balcony. He closed the door behind him and approached with his hands in his pockets.

  “Hey,” I replied. “No more dance requests from lovely ladies?”

  “None that I was hoping for.” He stopped a few feet away, eyeing me. We stood there in awkward silence. “So, I was thinking . . .” he said eventually. You know, it’s later.”

  “What?”

  “When we were traveling across Alderon, we agreed that we would put a pin in figuring out ‘you and me’ until later. Here we are.”

  “Here we are,” I replied. But I gave him nothing else.

  I hated that. Wasn’t this what I wanted? A chance to talk to him? Now that I had the opportunity my stomach buzzed with nerves and I self-consciously looked at the view.

  “Blue . . .” Jason said after a momen
t. “I understand what the Nutcracker King was saying about perseverance, but believing in things can only go so far if nothing changes. You get that, right?”

  “I do,” I said. I sighed and made myself face him. “And honestly, I’m impressed that you have waited for me this long. You have to know what you are, Jason. You have to know what a catch a guy like you is.”

  “No more of a catch than you are. You’re the strongest, funniest, most irritatingly endearing person I know. And also . . . the most beautiful.”

  I shook my head with a slight huff and a small, amused smile. Then I pivoted to place my hands against the cold marble of the balcony as I gazed out at the city again.

  I felt Jason studying me. “Blue . . .” There was concern and confusion in his voice. “You know you’re beautiful, right?”

  He approached me and stood at my side.

  I took a deep breath, inhaling the lights and sweet air. “You know, I’ve never really thought of myself that way. It’s not that I’m not confident; I’ve just always seen myself as the tough girl, the strong girl, the feisty girl. Those things aren’t everything that I am; they’re only parts, and I’d like to be known for my softer attributes too. But regardless, beautiful is never the first word that comes to mind when it comes to me. It kind of weirds me out to hear someone describe me that way.”

  Jason put his hands in his pockets and turned his back to the city so that he leaned against the balcony. “Okay, how about if I just say you’re not hideous then,” he said with a smirk.

  “Now you’ve gone too far,” I replied smirking back at him. “With compliments like that, a girl’s likely to fall head over heels.”

  Jason’s smile was so warm it made me melt with all the same hot and sweet feelings that filled me up when I enjoyed a chocolate fountain. I held the boy’s entrancing eyes. Jason was certainly handsome, but that wasn’t the sole reason I’d been trying to avoid looking at him for too long lately. Though his appearance was captivating, I found Jason distracting because when I focused on him, I felt something. I felt all sorts of things actually, overwhelming things, and that was not my thing at all. At least it never was before. I was a girl driven by instinct who tended to lead with her heart, but the emotions that pulsed through me with regards to Jason were unknown territory; they turned everything else to static.

  I took a deep breath and steadied myself. I didn’t want to be afraid of the static.

  Sharing a story with someone didn’t mean giving up your own. It meant you were a leading character who happened to find another leading character that you could forge additional adventures with. Rain and thunder. Tides and sand. Stars and sky. Alone you had something powerful and unique. United, you worked together to create something new, grand, and magnetic.

  I’d seen this truth in so many strong pairings—Ashlyn and Donnie, Gwenivere and Arthur, the Nutcracker King and Marie, even Crisa and Daniel—mighty teams that didn’t have to surrender what made them strong as solo acts. The amazing women I’d met kept their stories and character without becoming subsumed in the stories of their male counterparts.

  To an extent, my concerns would always be valid. Traditional storytelling didn’t have a knack for promoting heroines without love interests, which encouraged the idea that we needed them when we didn’t. I didn’t want to be a part of that broken system of storytelling—just like I didn’t want my girliness to detract from my tough image. But as I had on an individual level in my room when getting ready for the ball, I realized now on a relationship level that sacrificing something you wanted for the sake of making a point wasn’t winning. It only said you were too weak to stand in the face of what was wrong with the world, and too timid to do what you wanted out of fear of how it came across. Fighting against these two stigmas was the basis of a self-assured, powerful character. So why shouldn’t they also be the basis of me?

  I wanted to be a memorable heroine who stood on her own, but I didn’t want to stand alone all the time. That shouldn’t have to be a qualification for being a strong, independent woman. I’d like to find love one day, and be confident and grounded enough to do so without worrying it meant sacrificing any part of me.

  This is what I wanted. The realization ached inside and I felt the urge to tell Jason. And yet . . . Ugh, I just needed a push!

  This was scary. Big feelings were scary. I’d never done this romance thing before, and for once my gut instincts were out of whack and I found myself wishing I had a rulebook or a set of instructions. Anxiety fluttered inside my stomach and it took all of my focus not to just bolt. I was practically trembling.

  A bit of sadness had crept into Jason’s eyes while I had been thinking—and staring at him. “Blue, if I asked you a straightforward question,” he said, “could you answer it honestly?”

  I nodded.

  “Have you ever fallen?”

  “You know the answer to that question, Jason.”

  “I think I do,” he said carefully, not breaking my gaze. “I know when I did.”

  My heart stopped.

  “It started with little things. Noticing how much stronger I fought when you were around. Realizing that with a half dozen textbooks open on my desk at school, my thoughts still somehow wandered to you. Being worried about our friends when there was danger, but always checking on you first. But it became clear when we were in Camelot all those months ago on our Excalibur quest. You remember when I got injured in the Mercy Pit and we stayed the night at Gwenivere’s castle? When I woke up and saw you asleep on the couch—your face was smushed in a pillow and you were clearly uncomfortable, but you were so determined to stay there even as I slept. You saved me, Blue.”

  I cleared my tight throat before I spoke. “You saved me that day, Jason. In the Mercy Pit when that soldier would have killed me, you’re the one who jumped in, just like you did in the Passage Perelous when you sacrificed yourself to protect me.”

  “I don’t mean it in that way,” Jason said. “I mean you saved me from myself. My brother is famous for all the risky moves he pulled—climbing a beanstalk, stealing from giants, putting our whole kingdom in danger when that royal giant climbed down in revenge. He was reckless and greedy; Jack always put himself first and threw caution to the wind. I never wanted to be like that. At school, they teach heroes to be brave, but whenever possible I’ve always avoided risk and taken a more calculated approach to things. You’re not like that. You showed me the beauty of risk and taking action, and more importantly, you taught me that doing so is not always being selfish. It can be selfless; it can be a reflection of honor, and of love.”

  He sighed.

  “For years, I’ve watched you leap into the thick of things for the sake of doing good and protecting the people you care for. You inspire me to do the same. It’s what made me jump in heart-first in the Mercy Pit, and the Passage Perelous, and countless other times on countless other quests. You saved me from being afraid of taking risks, Blue. And that’s made me brave enough to keep persevering and take this one now . . .”

  He took my hand. Goosebumps shivered up my skin so I pulled away, moving a few steps closer to the firepit. My heart felt two sizes too big for my body. It swelled with enough emotion to cause a hurricane.

  Suddenly, I felt Jason’s touch on my arm. His fingers lightly closed around it. I turned to face him. He continued to hold my arm, and his kind eyes held me in the same way—gently, but with assuredness. He stepped closer—two small steps to end the distance between us. He leaned down until his nose hovered above mine. Then he tilted my chin up with his other hand and he kissed me and I kissed him.

  There was no sound, but I heard violins. There were no threats of combat, but my adrenaline pulsed like in a beautiful fight. My hand went to his face and caressed his neck as I pressed into him more and more until we abruptly pulled apart.

  We beheld each other with wonder for a moment. His hands remained on my waist and mine rested on his shoulders. Jason’s eyes sparkled while his face held an expres
sion of bewilderment. Then a small smile of relief and disbelief crossed his lips.

  The fire throbbed. My heart sped up and the violins grew louder. We’d pulled away to catch our breath, but it seemed more difficult to breathe now. So I threw my arms around his neck and brought him to me again, fast and hard. He responded in kind and held me tightly as we kissed, the fire roaring beside us. I’d never felt so scared and safe all at once.

  A vivid light suddenly flashed in our peripherals. We turned our heads to find that the green portal we’d been waiting on had opened beside us. I smiled and touched my hand to Jason’s face.

  “Thanks for persevering,” I said staring in his eyes.

  He smiled and put his hand over mine. “Thanks for always giving me a reason to.”

  ou still haven’t told us what made the portal open,” Girtha said as we hurried down the grand stairs.

  After our ticket out of here had appeared, we’d rushed inside to find Chance and Girtha, only to discover them mere feet away from our romance balcony—chatting up the sock monkey from earlier. It made sense that the prince would be nearby. The portals opened in close range to the Midnight Law hero they were meant for.

  We asked the sock monkey to guard the balcony while we hastily changed. The portals took some time to relocate based on Chance’s position, and we didn’t want any unsuspecting toys to wander into another world. Five minutes later, my friends and I were hastening back to the ballroom in our normal clothes. We hit ground level a moment after Girtha posed her question. Jason and I looked at each other. I nodded.

  “Well . . .” Jason began, but I cut him off by taking his hand in mine, holding them up together.

  “Really?” Girtha said.

  Chance grinned.

  “Any more questions can be answered later,” I said. “Are we good?”

  “Good,” Girtha said. “And I will have a lot of questions, by the way.”

  “Fair enough.”