No Such Luck

by Weist, Jaclyn

  “Welcome to our feast. I hope you all enjoy your dinner. Please talk to those around you and get to know them. You are all equal in my sight, and I do hope that you will treat each other as such.” I couldn’t help it. I pulled on my luck a little just to help me through this. “We are here to find the rightful king and queen, and that will only happen if I can see the best in you. We have one common enemy, and we must remember that. Now, dig in.”

  I sat down and tried to calm my thundering heartbeat. So I’d kind of ignored what Ethan had told me to say, but not really, because there was no way I would choose someone to take my place if they weren’t going to be fair to everyone. I’d heard that Oona was once good. I just wanted to try to find someone who would stay good.

  The food was phenomenal. They’d apparently taken to heart that I liked chicken and potatoes, because there was plenty in the bowls along the tables. Along with turkey, vegetables, fruits, rolls, and puddings.

  The conversation was lighthearted as everyone ate. I heard snatches of conversation about the competition and the earthquake afterward, but from what I could tell, there was no mention of the rogue discus. I wondered if it was O’Malley, but I thought the person was taller than that. Either way, I was a little disappointed that we had no more clues about it.

  After everyone was finished eating, the tables were pushed to the side, and a group of fairies played music up on a stage while everyone danced. Jared and I danced a few times, and it brought me back to that night at his parents’ party when the golems had destroyed everything. I pushed that away and brought up memories of the first dance Jared and I had gone to together. It was only a year before, but it felt like an eternity had passed. We’d thought at the time that we were done with Louie, but now I was queen in the fairy world.

  “You’re quiet tonight,” Jared whispered into my ear, sending tingles through me.

  “I know. Just thinking about our past dances.” I rested my head on his chest, and enjoyed the beating of his heart.

  He chuckled. “We’ve had some strange ones, haven’t we?”

  “To put it lightly.” I pulled away when the song ended. “I’m tired. Is it bad if we leave early?”

  “I doubt it. Let’s sneak out, and no one will even notice.” He put his arm around my waist again and led me toward the door, twirling me around here and there so we wouldn’t give ourselves away. When we reached the door, he glanced around. “Looks like the coast is clear.”

  We darted out and ran down the hall. I had to hold my skirt up a little so I could run without tripping. We didn’t stop until we reached my room. Beth and Adam stood by the door and broke apart when they heard us coming.

  “Oh, we thought you were someone else.” Beth cleared her throat. “What are you doing here? We thought you’d be at the dance for a lot longer.”

  “I can see that.” I raised an eyebrow.

  Adam backed toward his bedroom. “Good night. I’ll see you guys tomorrow. Night, Beth.”

  “Night.” Beth smiled at him and then slipped into our bedroom, leaving me and Jared out in the hallway.

  “I guess we weren’t the only ones who wanted to escape.” Jared ran his finger along my jawbone.

  My knees went weak from his touch. “Looks that way. They always seem to pick the right romantic moments, and then we come barging in.”

  “We’ll just have to make some of our own, then.” Jared brushed his lips against mine, sending electric shocks through me. Not real ones, thankfully, but these were more explosive.

  I melted into his arms and gave him a long, lingering kiss. It was only broken when we heard people talking and laughing as they came down the hallway. I opened our door and pulled Jared inside, waiting for whoever it was to pass by. Jared kissed me again, ignoring the annoyed groans from Beth.

  When the coast was clear, I opened the door again, and Jared kissed me one more time before sneaking out of the room. I floated back to my bed and flopped onto it, knowing Nessa wouldn’t be happy with the wrinkles I was putting in my dress. But I didn’t care. I wanted to savor every moment of what had just happened.

  “You two are gross, you know that?” Beth threw a pillow at me. “Plus, you ruined my goodnight kiss.”

  “Sorry about that. We were just tired and wanted to leave the dance.” I rolled over and propped my head up on my hands. “How’d you two get out of there so easily?”

  She shrugged. “No one was paying attention, and Colin and his friends had already left. Besides, your brother doesn’t like dancing, so there was no reason to stay.”

  “Yeah, it’s something Mom’s tried to work on for years.” I stood, and Beth helped me loosen the ribbons on my dress, and then I did the same thing for her. It was a relief to put on the long nightgown and climb into bed.

  MEGAN

  The courtyard was full of activity as I walked out to find Jared, Adam, and Beth. O’Malley’s army had been spotted to the north earlier that morning, and we’d been getting ready ever since. I didn’t think he’d meet us head on, but we had to be prepared for anything.

  “There you are. We were worried you’d sleep through it.” Jared kissed my forehead and readjusted his crown.

  “Never.” I finished buckling on my sword and glanced around. “Everything looks ready to go.”

  Adam shoved a scroll into my hands. “That’s our strategy. We’re just missing you on that chariot over there.”

  “Got it.” I waved at Colin as I passed by. I climbed into the chariot. This wasn’t going to work very well. It was rickety, and felt like I’d fall over at any moment. I knelt down and pushed my luck and magic into it. The boards widened and grew stronger. The nails turned from old splintered wood to thicker steel. When I finally stood, those around me stared at the chariot, then looked up at me. “What?”

  “How’d you do that?” Beth asked. She ran her hand along the wall. “You just completely changed the look of this thing.”

  “Well, I didn’t want to fall while we were going into battle. It would be rather embarrassing.” I caught Jared leaning down in his chariot. No, he couldn’t use his magic right now. I jumped down and ran over. “Here, let me do it.”

  He looked up at me in surprise. “Oh, right. I forgot.”

  I leaned in closer. “You can’t use it here, remember? Not until absolutely necessary.”

  “Sorry. I just wanted to try to do what you did. Maybe I should take off the ring.” He moved to pull it off, but I stopped him.

  “No, you need to keep it safe. Just don’t use it.” I put my hand on the chariot and did the same thing I’d done to mine, then added more reinforcements and a lot more luck. I couldn’t risk losing him.

  He ran his fingers through his hair. “I don’t get how you use your magic twenty-four hours a day. It called me all night last night, and it took every ounce of control I had not to use it. I didn’t think it would be good for Adam to wake up having a swimming pool and basketball court in our bedroom.”

  I kissed him on the cheek. “You forget I’ve had luck my entire life. Up until last year, I didn’t know I could use it. Once I did, I had to make the decision not to unless necessary. You’ll get used to having the ring. Now let’s go. People are staring.”

  He stood and rocked back and forth. “Wow, this is much better. Thanks.”

  “No problem.” I climbed back into mine and waited for Adam to give the command. The hill in front of us was crawling with creatures from nightmares. O’Malley had apparently recruited those who would do the most damage mentally. Imps, large black creatures on black horses, and others that kept transforming between spiders and human forms. I had no idea if swords or arrows would even work on these things. Jared might have to use his magic after all.

  Standing in front of these … things … stood one small creature dressed in green. O’Malley. Somehow, that little man looked worse to me than any of the other nightmares he could have thrown at us. He was the source of all the troubles I’d had since the first time I ran into Louie.
This was no longer about who would be ruler. We knew it would never be him. Every fairy, elf, leprechaun, dwarf, and Atlantian knew the damage he could cause, and that was the one thing that united us. But he was the reckless variable that kept us guessing.

  “Ready?” Adam asked quietly.

  I nodded. “Nothing else can happen until he’s gone.”

  “All right. Let’s do this. And Megan? Be smart.” He turned to the rest of the army. “You know what we need to do. Only attack once they do. We move forward, but don’t do anything until he makes his move. He has the capability to disappear with his army, and I don’t want to lose people just for one of his tricks. For your queen!”

  “For the queen!” they all cheered as they ran for the hill where O’Malley stood.

  I stood back and watched to see what O’Malley would do. A few of the creatures ran toward our army, but O’Malley continued to stand on the hill, surrounded by the rest of his group. Those who attacked were cut down quickly by the Atlantian army. Colin continued to lead his group up the hill. It was to call O’Malley’s bluff, but if they took out a few of his minions in the meantime, I would be okay with that.

  When Colin was only a few feet away, O’Malley waved his hand and the entire army disappeared, just as we’d expected. He was annoying, but he was also a coward, and I’d counted on that.

  There was a crackle from my pocket, and I pulled out the small tablet Colin had let me borrow. Cam’s face appeared on the screen.

  “O’Malley’s forces are now to the south of us.” Cam turned the tablet so I could see it for myself.

  “Thank you. Go ahead and approach him, but don’t attack unless you have to. I’ll send a few groups toward you.”

  “Perfect.” The tablet went dark.

  I was really glad Colin had brought these with him. “I assume you heard that?”

  Adam nodded. “I’m sending Ethan and Puck’s groups over to Cam, and then I think we should probably head to the east side of the castle. I still don’t like how exposed it is over there.”

  “Sounds good to me. The west is secure as well?” I knew it was. Adam had taken care of all of this, but I couldn’t help worrying that we’d missed something.

  Adam pulled out his own tablet that he’d gotten from Cam and consulted it. “Mostly. It’s all fairies and elves. They can hold their own. I wish we had a few giants of our own, though.”

  “Yeah, there’s something about giants. They always seem to go for the dark side. Oh, well. Let’s head to the east.” I turned my chariot and followed Jared, Beth, and Adam. We weren’t leaving this side bare. The dwarves, Atlantians, and a few of the elven armies were staying here.

  The tablet crackled moments later, and Cam’s face appeared. “He’s gone. The whole army disappeared. Anyone else see him?”

  The elf, Galan, came onto the tablet next. “He appeared for only a moment before disappearing again.”

  Several other reports came in, each time with the same message. He’d appeared, but then left again. I growled in frustration and turned my chariot toward the castle.

  “Hey, Megan. Where are you going?” Adam yelled.

  “To find O’Malley.” I sped toward the castle and jumped down before coming to a complete stop. I used my luck to steady myself and then sprinted toward the castle doors. Servants scrambled out of the way as I ran for the map room.

  The large map of the fairy world showed our army surrounding the castle. I could see a few people heading toward the castle, but the rest of the army stayed put. But I already knew where they were—I needed to find O’Malley. I scanned the map, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

  “You think you’re clever, don’t you, dearie?” The voice sent chills through me. O’Malley had found me.

  I turned slowly, taking deep breaths to keep my calm. “It’s better than being a coward.”

  “I’m no coward. I just know when the odds are against me. Well done. Or perhaps I should tell your brother that. He seems to be the brains behind everything.” He pulled a file out of thin air and worked on his fingernails.

  “He’s great at what he does. Part of being a good leader is allowing people to do what they’re best at. You’re the best at annoying people, so you’re the leader of your council.” I glanced down at the map, but nothing had changed. Where were Jared, Beth, and Adam? They had to be coming to see what was going on.

  O’Malley’s eyes turned cold. “Tell me where the ring is.”

  “Ring? What ring?” As far as I knew, he had no proof that we’d taken the ring, and I wasn’t about to give it away.

  “You know what ring. It was in that cavern, but now it’s not. The only one who could have gotten in there was you.” He clenched his fists and grew slightly in size.

  I leaned forward. “Even if I knew where or what the ring was, I wouldn’t tell you. Do you think I’m crazy?”

  “Crazy, no. But I do know you’ll do just about anything for your friends. So I think I’ll just take the love of your life until you cooperate. Think carefully. I have creatures who can make his injury from Bryce look like a small scratch.” He snapped his fingers with a smug look on his face. And then snapped again with a flash of anger in his eyes.

  If he really was trying to get at Jared, it wasn’t happening. The ring must have been blocking O’Malley.

  “Got a problem?” I asked.

  His eyes blazed. “I don’t know what game you’re playing—” He stopped and glanced down at my hands. The angry scowl turned into a menacing smile. “You don’t have the ring. Jared does.”

  “Yeah, so?” I played it cool because I needed to know exactly what he knew.

  His laugh grated on my nerves. “You let that … that human touch the most powerful ring on the planet?”

  “Hey, watch it. I’m human too. Also, that human happens to be one of the best people I know. Did you expect me just to hand it over to you? I’m going to keep it with the person who will protect it no matter what.”

  O’Malley snorted. “Your magic and your luck are totally wasted on you. This ring could have given you more power than you could use in an eternity when combined with your new powers, and you gave it away. I’m done talking to you.”

  He disappeared before I could react. He must have expected me to feel bad because of what he said, but it just made me think. He obviously cared about nothing more than power. Did he even have friends? I glanced over as Jared, Beth, and Adam came barging through the door. Their weapons were raised as they scanned the room.

  Jared ran over and pulled me into a hug. “We thought we’d lost you. The door was locked, and we kept pounding on the door. When you didn’t answer, I thought . . .”

  “I didn’t hear anything. O’Malley was here and must have put up a barrier.” I hated how he manipulated things. There were so much he could do with his magic, and I barely knew what I was doing. Maybe he was right. Maybe it was wasted on me.

  “What did he say?” Adam asked.

  “He tried to threaten me by taking Jared.” I looked up at Jared. “When he couldn’t make you appear, he guessed that you must have the ring instead of me. He got disgusted that I didn’t want to keep it for myself, and left.”

  “Just like that?” Adam asked, surprised.

  “Well, he threw in a few insults here and there to add some excitement, but yes, just like that.” Tantrums were something O’Malley did well, so it didn’t surprise me that he just left.

  Beth walked over and grabbed Jared’s hand. She examined the ring from all sides. “I don’t see what the big deal is, but if he wants it, that’s enough for me to keep it from him.”

  Jared and I exchanged glances, but didn’t say anything. I probably should have told her that it gave Jared magic, but considering that O’Malley had just left, I worried that he could still be around spying on us.

  “Okay, General, what do we do next?” I asked Adam.

  “Attacking his army won’t do anything. He’s proven that over and over again. We
need to draw him out. We could use the ring, but by the way you two are acting, you know more about it than you’re letting on, and we probably don’t want to do that.”

  “No, we really don’t. Louie already warned us about that.” I turned to Beth. “In all your obsessive reading that I didn’t know about, did you read much about Merlin?”

  Beth shrugged. “Not really. I mean, he’s the most powerful wizard ever, there was the sword in the stone, and he helped King Arthur.”

  I blinked. “So you studied Biddy Early from Irish culture and Atlantis, but not King Arthur? How is that even possible?”

  “Everyone knew about him. I like the obscure mythology. Well, and Atlantis, but come on. It’s Atlantis.”

  “Well, I think that before we look for a way to pull O’Malley to us, we need to learn more about that ring. Beth and I will go check out the library. And I think if we’re ever going to leave this place, Megan should probably figure out how to turn over her crown without dying in the process.” Adam avoided my eyes as he spoke.

  “It could take forever going through that library. Jared and I can help you. We’ll deal with the death thing later.”

  Adam grabbed me by the shoulders. “Stop it. Now. You’ve been avoiding this part since we got here, and I’m sick of it. Go make your list or whatever, but you have got to figure out how to let go of that crown, or you will die. Do you understand me?”

  I wasn’t used to Adam being that forceful. Grumpy, yes. Jealous, stubborn, sometimes really sweet, but not this forceful. I swallowed the tears that wanted fall, and nodded. “You’re right. Jared, come on.”

  We went to my room. It had been made soundproof when I went through my transformation, so I figured it could be done again. I didn’t want anyone listening in on our conversation. I closed my eyes to try to figure out what magic they’d done before, except that I had no idea what I was looking for. I pulled on my luck, and then on my magic and pulled on the spell that had been lifted. Traces were still there, and I used those to make it grow until the room was surrounded. Then I created a spell that would help me sense anyone’s luck who attempted to get in. That way, I could pull it from them, and they’d fall over unconscious. It was probably a little drastic, but I wanted privacy.