Edmond said nothing but motioned to Martin to give Arabella back into his keeping. As they made their way through the end of the tunnel, it sloped up and widened into a cavern. A circle of light ahead showed the way out; Lona extinguished her light as they approached it.
“Stay in the shadows,” she said.
Vines and dripping moss lined the stone opening, and rushing water sounded below. The birdcage clanked against the rock as Martin set it down and joined Edmond at the entrance. Edmond recognized the place. To their right was the large tree that spanned the river with Warren’s rope strung above it. The dragon had attacked them here, so they’d been in no position to notice the cave entrance. “I hate this river,” Edmond said.
Lona pointed across the river. “There she is. She has only one guard with her, that big fellow, John. But we cannot forget that she has the dragon.”
Then, without warning, Lona cupped her hand around her mouth and shouted, “Rhoswen, Arabella is awake! Isn’t it wonderful?”
Edmond heard Lady Rhoswen shriek with fury across the river. The sound echoed off the rock of the cliff and chilled his blood.
“You fools!” Lady Rhoswen shouted. “All these years I have kept this kingdom safe from her, and now you would give it into her keeping? Never! Not so long as I draw breath.”
“I accept the challenge!” Lona shouted back, abandoning her fake pleasantry.
Edmond watched Lona jump out of the cave and disappear from sight. Turning away with Arabella still draped over his shoulders, he said, “Martin, guard the entrance.”
With a curt nod, Martin pulled a knife in each hand and jumped out of the cave onto the narrow ledge below.
Edmond knelt on the rock floor and let Arabella slip down to rest upon the ground, supporting her head and shoulders with his arms. “I wish I could awaken you to the peace you deserve instead of the danger you will face. But Lona is right: It is time.”
Then, tipping her chin up, he leaned down and pressed his lips firmly to hers. Though they remained still beneath his, they were warm and sweet like the sun-kissed petals of a rose. Emotion surged through him until he thought his heart would burst. Surely only love could feel that way! But was it enough?
Slowly he raised his head but kept his eyes shut, afraid to look and find her still sleeping.
“Don’t you want to see if my eyes look the same in real life?” a dear and familiar voice asked.
Joy and relief raced through him, and he didn’t know which was stronger. He pulled her tightly against his chest, and this time she returned his kiss in full measure. She was not lost to him any longer, and he was determined to see her safely through this.
The cave went dark as a shadow passed over its entrance, and the two broke apart. The full force of his love for her left him speechless, but there was no time for words anyway. Only true love could have broken the curse, and their steady gaze into each other’s eyes affirmed the miracle of that reality. Later they would speak of little else, but not yet.
He had a dragon to face.
As Arabella gazed into his eyes, he saw much more than sapphire blueness. He saw the strength and courage of a queen.
“Come, my love,” she said. “Our friends are in danger.”
Edmond pulled Arabella to her feet and made sure she was steady, then ran to look out. The dragon flew in a circle around Lona and Lady Rhoswen, who faced each other on the far bank. Then the great beast landed next to Lady Rhoswen, settling down like a tame dog beside her.
Chapter 10
UNSTEADY ON FEET THAT hadn’t held her weight in far too long, Arabella struggled to compose herself as Edmond drew the string with the spindle over his head and held it out to her. “Take this and hide in the tunnel,” he said.
She put it over her head and pulled her hair out of the way then clutched at his arm as he turned away. “Let me go with you.”
“If we are to have any chance of surviving this day, I must get the chain off that dragon’s neck and break the spell. Worrying about your safety is a distraction I can’t afford. Here.” He pressed something else into her hand; she recognized by touch the hilt of his knife. “Just in case,” he whispered.
Then, after one last look, a world of emotion in the gleam of his eyes, Edmond turned and jumped down onto the ledge.
Stumbling forward, Arabella sank down on the rock and leaned out to watch. A steep path snaked down the sheer side of the ridge. Martin was halfway down, struggling to defend himself against John, a much larger man. Edmond sprinted down to aid his friend, sliding more often than running.
Across the river, Lona waved her wand toward Rhoswen several times, but Rhoswen simply regarded her with an air of mild contempt, apparently impervious to any spell Lona might cast. But then Rhoswen noticed the struggle across the river and, with a pointing finger, directed the dragon’s attention toward the men fighting near the riverbank.
Horrified, Arabella watched as the beast took off and flew straight toward its targets. She shouted, hoping desperately to be heard, “The dragon!”
Though Edmond looked up first, he had no time to do more than jump into the river. Martin stumbled and rolled forward, but somehow managed to land in the river as well. When their heads broke the surface moments later, relief surged through Arabella.
Until she saw that John was climbing up the path toward her.
Looking around, she saw dozens of large rocks scattered over the cave floor. Lifting one, she threw it as hard as she could toward the guard’s head. It struck the ground in front of him and rolled under his feet. He stumbled but kept going. With shaking hands Arabella picked up another one and hurled it at him, not worrying about aiming or waiting to see if it hit him. She threw rocks, one after another, as fast as she could until she heard a dull thud and a grunt of pain. She’d hit him on the brow above his right eye. Blood streamed down his face, but he was still standing.
She looked around for another stone, but she’d already thrown all that were near the entrance. She ran deeper into the cave to look for more, found one, and turned around holding it just in time to see the dragon land on the lip of limestone jutting from the cave’s entrance.
The huge beast’s body blocked nearly all of the light, but she knew that its glowing yellow eyes had spotted her. Arabella had witnessed what this beast could do, and her only defense was a knife.
Summoning what courage she still possessed, she fumbled with the blade until she gripped it in both hands and pointed it toward the dragon.
With sinuous steps the dragon approached, drawing back its head like a serpent preparing to strike. Certain that it was about to breathe fire, she seized her only chance. Grasping the knife in both hands, she ran forward, aiming for its heart. Her knife bounced off the dragon’s scales, the impact knocking her to the ground. As she lay there, dazed and hopeless, a blue light filled the cavern. She cringed, waiting for the inferno.
But the fire never came.
Instead, Arabella was enveloped in a cloud of steam and white debris. The dragon roared as if in pain and fled from the cave, the breeze from its hasty retreat whipping Arabella’s hair and dress. Unable to breathe, she sat up, coughing and waving her hands frantically to clear the air around her face. Hearing Lona call her from the mouth of the cave, Arabella staggered to her feet then stumbled toward the fairy.
“Where’s Nicol?” Lona asked, her face wild with panic.
“I don’t know,” Arabella said, gasping.
Lona disappeared through the white fog, and Arabella soon heard the cage’s metal door squeak open. “Go on, get out of here,” came Lona’s voice from the shadows. “But if you ever want to be human again, you’d better come back to me!”
Prince Nicol scuttled past Arabella without a glance but turned at the cave’s entrance and sat up, whiskers twitching. “Then you had better live through this, fairy!” he called back in his high squeak, then slipped outside.
An instant later Lona’s hand grasped Arabella’s wrist and pulled her to t
he mouth of the cave. “Jump!”
She’d trusted Lona for over a century and was not about to stop now. She jumped.
They landed in a heap on the path below the cave and struggled to stand up. Arabella grabbed at the white things caught in her hair and pulled at one to see what it was. “Feathers?”
“It was the first thing that came to my mind,” Lona grumbled. “Fire to feathers. Saved you, didn’t it?”
Arabella nodded, looked up to see feathers flying out of the cave and fluttering down, and gave a choke of strained laughter. But an instant later all humor vanished. “Where’s Edmond?”
“I don’t know.” Lona scrambled down the path.
Still desperately scanning the landscape for a glimpse of her prince, Arabella followed as best she could. At the bottom of the ridge, near the riverbank, they had to step around the guard’s body. Arabella cringed at the gash her rock had inflicted on his head, but from the angle of his neck she thought he must have died from a fall. “Later,” she whispered, not wanting to worry over his death when they were still in danger.
“What was that?” Lona asked from where she stood on the bank of the river.
“Nothing.”
“Well, don’t talk to yourself. People will think you’re mad.”
Arabella didn’t bother to answer. On the far side of the river, Edmond and Martin climbed the muddy bank while Rhoswen looked down on them in disdain, a mocking smile twisting her face. The dragon once again circled above its mistress.
Lona grabbed Arabella’s shoulders. “Rhoswen is wearing a charm that protects her from my magic, and the Elixir of Abeyance prevents wounds. I need help.” So saying, she ran toward the tree that stretched across the river. With amazing grace and balance, the fairy ran across, easily navigating the awkward angle as the tree sloped up. Arabella did not know if she could manage to cross, but she was determined to try.
She removed her torn silk slippers, hoping she could climb better in her bare feet, and stepped up on the log. With her arms out for balance, she managed to make it halfway across, but the shouts and screams of the others terrified her. Though she dared not look away from her task, she looked down at the river and froze with fear.
She couldn’t swim, and in her heavy gown she would be powerless against the strong current. Terrified, she closed her eyes and lost her balance. Feeling herself tip backward, she flung herself forward and gripped the tree trunk with all her strength. She scraped her hands against the rough bark but managed to cling tight.
She turned her head, scraping her chin on the bark, and saw Lona and Rhoswen struggling together as Lona tried to tear off something strung around Rhoswen’s neck. Edmond and Martin stood between the dragon and the fighting women, keeping the great beast’s attention focused on them. The dragon still belched feathers instead of fire, but it slashed at them with its wicked claws, and they could not get close to the chain around its neck.
With painful urgency Arabella clawed her way up the rest of the tree trunk. Her gown caught and pulled against the bark and branches, but she managed to make it across. Rolling down on to the grass, she landed in a heap and stood quickly.
As she ran to help Lona, she could think only one thought: The men needed Lona’s help with the dragon. So with no sign of grace or elegance, Arabella rammed into Rhoswen from behind and sent her down in a sprawl. As Rhoswen fell, she grabbed Lona’s wand, but Lona held it tight. Lurching to her feet, Rhoswen twisted the wand around and pulled with all her strength. Lona lost her grip, and Rhoswen sent the wand spinning into the river.
With an anguished cry, Lona ran to the riverbank. “Get that charm from around her neck!” she called over her shoulder as she chased her wand downstream.
Rhoswen turned to Arabella and smiled. Her smile was strangely similar to Arabella’s, for they were alike in many ways, these two cousins. But that smile was a warped and twisted thing on Rhoswen’s face. “You can try to take my charm,” she said, her lip curling back in a snarl. “But you’re a delicate little flower, aren’t you?”
Arabella clenched her hands into fists. “I am a different person from the girl you once knew.”
“Perhaps, but now I have all the power.”
As Rhoswen spoke, the men shouted, and Arabella turned to see the dragon crawling straight for her, one heavy step after another.
“Do you like my pet, Arabella?”
But Arabella was frozen in fear like a bird before a serpent, and couldn’t answer. Then, as though in a dream, she saw a most unexpected sight.
With the dragon forced by compulsion to focus on Arabella, it could take no notice of any distractions. So it did not pause to shake off or scratch at the human climbing up its back, gripping the spikes along its bony spine. Soon Edmond straddled its shoulders. Martin tried to follow, but the dragon whipped its massive tail and sent him flying.
Arabella took a step back and tripped over the torn ribbons of her skirt. She hit the ground hard and lay there gazing up into the dragon’s cavernous mouth with its deadly teeth. Just as it began to lower its head, she saw Edmond swing his sword in a mighty arc, hacking into the gold chain.
The soft gold was no match for Edmond’s steel, but it was thick. The dragon, feeling the jolt of that weapon behind its head, swung itself from side to side, trying to dislodge him. But Edmond hung onto the chain with one hand as he hacked at it with the other, and the dragon could not shake him off.
Arabella clawed her way up from the ground, trying desperately to get away before she was trampled. Hearing a cry, she turned back in time to see Edmond flung to one side and land hard on the ground, nearly rolling into the river. He curled up in pain, but he held the broken chain in his hand. The weight of his body being thrown had severed the weakened links.
The dragon roared, and feathers erupted into the air. Through the swirling cloud of white, Arabella saw the great black beast rise into the air on its massive wings and race away through the blue sky to freedom.
“My dragon! What have you done?”
Startled at the raw fury in Rhoswen’s voice, Arabella turned and saw her cousin clutching her own temples, her face white with wrath.
“It is free now,” Arabella said, “even as I am. You hold us captive no more.”
Rhoswen turned to her, eyes huge, teeth bared. “The grave will be your prison now!” she cried in a voice scarcely human. She reached to her side and pulled a gleaming knife from a leather sheath. With trembling hands she clutched its carved handle and strode toward Arabella.
Stepping backward, Arabella lifted both hands. “Haven’t you taken enough from me?” Though she saw only madness in her cousin’s face, she tried to keep her voice calm and reasonable.
“Not yet, I haven’t! I’ve always hated you, my perfect cousin, and I could not allow you to hurt this kingdom. Consumed by your pleasures and vanities, you were no more fit to rule than my father was in his greed!”
“And are you fit to rule, Rhoswen? You, who have driven the fairies nearly to extinction? Are you, with murder in your heart, as benevolent as you believe?”
“I do what I must!” Rhoswen screamed. Then she charged forward, the knife raised high, its deadly blade flashing.
Arabella flung her hands up then saw the charm at Rhoswen’s throat. With no more than a whisper of a movement, Arabella grabbed it and pulled down with all her strength.
The charm broke free, and Rhoswen froze as still as a statue, her face contorted in a snarl of rage but her eyes rolling in confusion. A faint blue halo of magic hovered over her.
Arabella had only an instant to marvel that she had not been stabbed. Then, in an instant more amazing still, she saw the spindle that hung around her neck spring into the air, almost as though of its own volition. It pricked Rhoswen on the breast above her heart.
Time seemed to stop as Arabella and Rhoswen both stared at that sharp point, stared at that tiny bead of crimson bubbling up from Rhoswen’s skin.
Then Rhoswen’s eyes closed. She sagged fo
rward and fell to the ground.
With her red hair fanning out over her face like a veil, Rhoswen lay still on the grass. Feathers swirled above her and fluttered down like falling leaves. Arabella turned her over with trembling hands and saw that her cousin was lost in an enchanted sleep.
The spindle’s curse had entwined her in its grasp.
Chapter 11
RUNNING FOOTSTEPS APPROACHED, AND Edmond caught Arabella to him. “Are you hurt?”
“No.” Her limbs shook, but they were whole. She pulled back a step so that she could look at him. Blood from a cut trickled through the sheen of sweat on his brow. “Though you are.”
“I was never better,” Edmond declared. He framed her face with his hands and kissed her with the same firm precision he did everything. Arabella put her hands on his arms and kissed him back, rejoicing that they were together and safe.
But a moment later she pulled back and demanded, “Where’s Lona?”
They both turned to search and saw the fairy nearby, sprawled on the grass and gasping for breath. Breaking away from Edmond, Arabella ran to her friend’s side. “You saved me, didn’t you? You made the spindle prick her.”
“Yes. Though why you took so long to get the charm off her I don’t know!”
“Well,” Arabella said, smiling, “there was this dragon, you see. How did you think to use the spindle? Did you know that it would curse her too?”
“I only hoped. But I’ve always known there was great power in it.”
“How did you find your wand?”
Lona sat up and waved her hand as if brushing away one of the feathers that floated by. “You’ll never believe me. Nicol saved my wand! It was caught up in a tangle of fallen trees and branches downstream. He ran across and plucked it out of the river for me. Doesn’t that prove that he is sorry for his misdeeds?”
“It proves he wants be a human again,” Edmond said, raising a brow and folding his arms.
“Yes, well, I took care of that already,” Lona said.
Five Magic Spindles: A Collection of Sleeping Beauty Stories Page 31
