by Everly James
Ellie laughed loudly. “My family is crazy. You must think that I’m crazy.”
“Only confirming what I already knew, my love.”
Her words hung in the air.
“I miss you. It’s only been a couple of days, but I miss you,” Ellie replied. “And there’s something else.”
“What?”
Ellie inhaled sharply, as if trying to suck all the courage out of the air that she could. “I love you and I’m sorry.”
Melody’s eyes glistened with tears. “I love you and I’m sorry. There are so many things I didn’t get to tell you. Jason ruined it all.”
“He didn’t ruin it all. I’m here, now, in this gorgeous castle and we’re talking. I have you again. That’s what matters.”
“I love you so much,” Melody said. She reached her fingers towards the camera.
Ellie followed suit, putting her fingers up like she was able to reach through the screen and touch her, the love of her life.
Her Melody.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
The Mayhews sent Melody off to the airport burdened with an extra suitcase. It was filled with Ellie’s Christmas gifts and another tote bag containing baked goods and sandwiches.
“That airplane food is so awful,” Blanche said, dangling the bag from the edge of the walker.
“I’m going to miss you,” Melody said.
Blanche pinched her cheek. “You’ll see me again soon. I can feel it in my bones. And don’t be too hard on my Ellie. She can be a bit of a fool.”
“Smartest thing you’ve ever said,” Eric replied with a grin, opening his arms for a hug.
“I won’t miss you,” Melody said with a smile on her face. “You annoying little bug.”
Eric laughed. “I love you, too. Safe flight.”
Melody hugged Lily and Tom and hopped into the taxi she’d insisted on taking instead of making Eric drive her to the airport. She wanted some alone time, a buffer between leaving the warmth of Ellie’s family and having to go to hers.
Ellie was waiting out in front of the castle with a grimace on her face.
Melody hopped out of the car that Herschel had sent for her. “What’s going on?” She saw Ellie raise her eyebrows in warning but it was too late. Regina came walking primly out of the castle.
“Nice to see you again before the new year,” Regina said. She was wrapped in white furs, and Melody thought she looked paler than usual.
“I left for seventy-two hours, Mother. I can’t control the weather any more than I can control what it is you think of me.”
Ellie stood there looking supremely uncomfortable. “Should we…go inside?”
“Yes. It’s positively freezing up here. I think it’s somehow even colder than the cabin was, don’t you?”
“Whatever you say, Mom,” Melody replied.
Regina walked into the house.
Melody slipped her arm through Ellie’s and leaned over to mutter in her ear. “If I haven’t already, I apologize for my mother.”
Ellie squeezed Melody’s arm in response.
She understood.
“So, Ellie, what is it you do for a living other than being up to your elbows in cow manure?”
The four of them—Ellie, Melody, Paul, and Regina—were sitting in the formal dining room. Ellie felt as uncomfortable as it was possible to be in a situation like that. She’d dressed as nicely as she could, but she’d lost a lot of weight at the Block and most of her clothes hung on her like she was a skeletal hanger. The mood around the dinner table was as icy as the air outside
Ellie cleared her throat as Melody looked at her mother, murder in her eyes. “I’m kind of in between things at the moment.”
“Ah, so I trust your stay here will be brief as you’ll need to get on with your job hunt.”
“Mother!”
“Regina,” Paul added. “Let’s not traumatize our guest, shall we?” He turned a kind smile towards Ellie. “What are your interests?”
“Well, I majored in art in school. I’d love to be a master ceramicist, but that won’t pay the bills for a long while. I’m hoping to get a job in the city. New York City, that is.”
“Expensive place to live. You’re definitely not taking the easy path there,” Paul said.
Ellie took a polite bite of her roasted pheasant and sipped her wine glass a little too enthusiastically. Some of the red liquid slopped over the edge of the glass and onto the crisp white tablecloth. “Oops.”
Regina couldn’t hold back her eye roll, sniffing haughtily as she did so. A moment later, she was coughing. They were deep, wracking coughs that sounded painful.
“Are you alright, Mother?” Melody asked. Ellie couldn’t help but notice that Melody looked genuinely concerned. However poorly her mother behaved, she was still Melody’s mother at heart.
“Just the remnants of a cold,” Regina replied, taking copious gulps of water.
Ellie thought she saw a flash of red on the napkin Regina had coughed into, but she couldn’t be sure. It might have just been a lipstick stain.
Paul restarted the conversation. “I think all that sounds lovely, Ellie. I just know you’ll go on to do great things in this world. I can tell you’re that kind of determined person.”
“Thank you, sir,” Ellie said.
“Call me Paul, please,” he said with a smile, flashing his brilliantly white teeth. “What are your plans for tomorrow?”
“I don’t know what Melody has planned, but I was hoping we could head into town. I passed so many restaurants and little shops on the way over here.”
“You must take Herschel with you,” Regina said. “And provide him with a list of places you two will be going together so we can call ahead to the shops and shut them down.”
Ellie blinked. “Sorry, what?”
Melody nudged her thigh under the table reassuringly. “It’s always a bit of an event when I am seen in public. You have to understand, this is a small country and I’m…a bit of a celebrity.” Melody said the word celebrity with heavy bitterness.
Regina looked thrilled that Ellie’s plans were already falling to pieces. “It isn’t impossible to go into town, it just takes a bit of planning. And I’m sure you’ll be spending a good amount of money at the shops to make up for the fact that they close down for half an hour to allow you to browse?”
Melody grimaced again. “Mother.”
“It’s fine,” Ellie said, her voice a little higher than usual. “Maybe you can just show me around the grounds tomorrow.”
“Melody has meetings all afternoon with me, so I’m afraid you’re going to have to get up early to take your stroll around the castle.”
Ellie pasted on a pained smile. She hated how much Regina hated her. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll be cognizant of her schedule.”
The rest of the dinner passed with pained silence, only the sound of scraping forks echoing around the massive dining room.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
The next morning dawned clear and bright, illuminating the piles of snow around the castle grounds. Melody greeted Ellie in Ellie’s room holding a tray piled high with hot toast, soft butter, and fried eggs. There was also a tall crystal pitcher filled with freshly-squeezed orange juice.
“So you don’t have to deal with my mother again,” Melody said by way of greeting. She stepped into Ellie’s room and shut the door behind her, putting the tray on the coffee table in front of the fire. “Let me kiss you.”
Ellie beamed. “It’s the only thing I want this morning.”
“Ah, then I shouldn’t have bothered with breakfast after all,” Melody said with a smile. She stepped closer to Ellie and wrapped her arms around her shoulders, pulling Ellie closer. Their lips met, and shivers coursed through Ellie’s body. The brief kiss soon melted into something far more passionate. Tongues twisting together, they fumbled around to find Ellie’s unmade bed. Hands and fingers flew to buttons and ties, and soon, they were both naked, their legs twisting together, each woman’s fingers on the othe
r’s most sacred of places.
They bucked and writhed in perfect harmony with one another, climaxing almost simultaneously.
Ellie dragged herself across the bed to kiss Melody. “Now that’s what I call a good morning.”
Melody kissed her nose. “We should get dressed. Herschel will probably be—”
There was a knock at the door.
Ellie shrieked. “Just a minute!” She scrambled into her fluffy bathrobe while Melody dived to pick up her own clothes off the floor and run into the bathroom.
Ellie tied her bathrobe as tightly as she could, then walked over to the door. She opened it.
It was Herschel. He looked to be back in his own element, with a beaming smile and a crisply pressed suit. “Morning, ma’am.”
“Please, just call me Ellie.”
“Ellie, yes. Have you seen Miss Melody this morning?”
Ellie’s eyes betrayed her by flicking over to the closed bathroom door.
Herschel nodded and glanced at her with only a hint of embarrassment across his features. “Don’t worry, I am the picture of discretion. I just wanted to give her this.” He reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a crisp, thick piece of paper. “This is her schedule for the day.” He said schedule with a soft ‘ch’ that made Ellie grin.
“Thank you, I’ll pass it along to her. When I see her, that is.”
“Yes, of course. And if you change your mind and want to travel into the village, please just come find me and I can arrange absolutely everything for you.”
“Thanks, Herschel. I think we’ll probably stick to the grounds for the day.”
“Very well, ma’am.”
Ellie shut the door and Melody stumbled out the bathroom, still trying to get her jeans back on. “At least it wasn’t my mother.”
“Will Herschel say anything?”
Melody shook her head. “No. He’s good about stuff like this. He’s discreet.”
Ellie walked over to the sofa and grabbed a piece of crispy toast, smearing butter on it with a heavy silver knife. She chewed thoughtfully. “I’ve decided I could get used to having people wait on me hand and foot.”
Melody laughed. “You’d get sick of it here. I promise you.”
They ate breakfast quickly and bundled up. Ellie smeared sunscreen all over her face at the last minute. “You good?”
“I put some on this morning,” Melody said. “You ready to explore?”
The castle grounds were like something out of a movie. Melody and Ellie walked hand in hand across the enormous vegetable patches. Melody pointed out where the sunflower patch was in the summertime, and showed Ellie the labyrinth at the far end of the property. It was a maze with hedges as tall as they were. They walked it together in silence, only the sound of snow crunching under their feet. When they reached the middle, Ellie had tears in her eyes.
Melody wiped one of them away with her gloved hand. “You’re not the first person to cry in this labyrinth. There’s something about walking this thing that brings out emotions in absolutely everybody.”
Ellie took a deep breath. “Thank you. I just feel so grateful and happy to be in this gorgeous place with you.”
Melody smiled. “Not as happy as I am to have you here.”
Ellie sniffled and took a deep breath to clear her head. “Imagine growing up here. I mean, you don’t have to imagine, you did it. But I just can’t believe it.”
“I’ve got one more thing to show you out here,” Melody said. They walked back out of the labyrinth and over to the woods. There was a low wooden fence that had collapsed in one part. Dead, frozen stalks of wildflowers stuck out of the pure white snow. Melody helped Ellie over the low part of the fence.
The forest was filled with so many lush, evergreen trees the sunlight was almost entirely blocked. It felt like dusk even though it was midday. Melody let go of Ellie’s hand when they reached a clearing. The sunlight fell through the wide, circular opening in the trees; the snow glittered brightly where the light hit it.
Melody pointed up towards a tree at the perimeter. “This is how I made it through my childhood.”
Ellie squinted. “Trees?”
Melody laughed. “Look a little closer.”
Ellie leaned forward and shielded her eyes from the sun. “It’s a house!” And it was; a miniature house built so well up and into the trees that it was barely visible from the clearing. There were stained glass windows inset into the worn wood siding. A cedar shingle roof protected the structure, and a rope ladder hung from the porch.
“It is. Herschel had it built for me one Christmas. He didn’t tell my parents about it. As far as I know, no one knows it’s here but me. And now you.”
Ellie felt her eyes welling up again. “You’ve told nobody else about this?”
“Just you.”
Ellie kissed Melody so hard they both fell over, laughing, into the snow.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
“Sit up straighter, Melody,” Regina snapped. Melody was sitting with her and her mother’s secretary in one of the main sitting rooms.
Melody adjusted her posture automatically. It was entirely out of habit that she did it at all. It was like her body wouldn’t even allow her to protest by slouching. “Can we get to the point of this meeting, Mother? You’ve been going over numbers for the cost of the New Year’s Eve ball, but I feel like we’ve covered everything.”
Regina took off her reading glasses and set them on the table. Then she pulled out her handkerchief and coughed into it rather violently.
“Ma’am, there is water right here,” the secretary said, pushing a crystal cup across the table.
Regina sipped from it.
“Are you sure you’re feeling alright, Mother?” Melody asked, worried.
“I am fine, as I’ve told you multiple times now,” Regina replied. But there was an air of worry on her face. She returned her handkerchief to her pocket and folded her hands on the table. “Melody, it’s time for you to settle down.”
Melody spread her hands out to indicate the room around her. “What is it that I’m doing now? I’m here, you have me. What else do you want?”
“Gertrude, will you excuse us?”
The secretary gathered up her notebooks and stepped out of the room. The door clicked shut and echoed like a gunshot around the space.
“Melody, I mean really settle down. Find a mate. Someone to marry.”
Melody guffawed. “You’ve got to be kidding me. I’m not getting married. I’m never getting married.”
Regina slumped a little bit in her chair, as if energy was draining out of her body. “Melody, you know that to succeed the crown, you must take a partner.”
Melody gnawed on the inside of her cheek. “You mean husband. You and I both know that Madrana law doesn’t allow same sex marriage.”
“Melody, the whole country is well aware of your, your proclivity for entertaining women instead of men.” Queen Regina turned up her nose.
“Mother, this is not a proclivity. None of the women I was with was some…some kind of fling or rebellion any more than the men were; I’m bisexual. This is who I am!”
“If this is who you are, then I don’t think you’re fit for being my daughter.”
Melody stood up. “I wish I weren’t your daughter.”
The words hit Regina like a tidal wave. It took her a minute to recover. Then she spoke words that sent Melody reeling.
“Melody. I’m sick. I’m dying. This family needs you.”
CHAPTER FIFTY
Ellie had spent the afternoon wandering around the castle, taking in the heavy stone walls that were cold to the touch and the labyrinthine passageways. She bumped into Herschel shortly before tea.
“Ellie, pleasure to see you, as always,” Herschel said with a smile. “Are you quite enjoying your time here?”
“I am,” Ellie said with a smile. “I have a question.”
“I am your man. I know absolutely everything there is to know about t
his castle.”
“Where are all the family photos?” Ellie asked.
Herschel frowned. “Pardon?”
“Family photos. You know at my house there are photos absolutely everywhere of me and Eric as babies. I was hoping to see some of Melody when she was a baby.”
Herschel thought on it a moment. “There are a few in Queen Regina’s bedroom that she shares with Prince Paul. I will ask them if it’s appropriate for me to collect them and bring them to you at once.”
“Oh no! Please, there’s no hurry. I was just curious.”
Herschel nodded. “Oh, and I almost forgot. Everyone is taking supper in their bedrooms tonight, I’m afraid. A little too much excitement going on. I’ll be bringing you your food shortly.”
“Even Melody?” Ellie asked with a frown. “Is she alright?”
Herschel nodded curtly. “Yes indeed. Just feeling a touch under the weather. I assure you she’ll be fit as a fiddle tomorrow morning.”
“Thanks,” Ellie said, and resumed her wanderings. There was a wing of the castle she hadn’t explored yet. She figured supper would be around six o’clock and that gave her a good thirty minutes more exploring.
She walked down the flagstone corridors, running the tips of her fingers along the shiny mahogany doors that were inset in the stone walls. She stopped at the end of the hallway where two enormous doors lay. Her hands were on the brass doorknobs when she stopped and looked around. There was no one. Surely it couldn’t hurt to look. What was this, Beauty and the Beast? Would she be banished from the castle for her nosiness? Her exploring had only led her into open rooms. This would be the first time she turned a doorknob.
As she opened the doors, a voice from behind her made her drop her hand in shock.
“Exploring?”
Ellie whipped around and saw Prince Paul standing a few feet away with a smile on his handsome face.
“Sir, I apologize,” Ellie said, curtseying awkwardly in front of him.
“Call me Paul,” he said. “All this formal courtesy amongst friends really is overkill.”
“Paul,” Ellie said. “It’s just, this room has some sort of magnetic power. I found myself drawn to it.”
