“I promise,” I breathed, finding it hard to say anything when he was so close to me, and all I wanted to do was kiss those gorgeous lips.
When we first arrived at Dover’s Tavern, I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Beer was flowing, sloshing out of massive glasses, barmaids were pushing their breasts high up and together in hopes of higher tips, and guests were bickering with each other and lusting after the barmaids.
Then I saw the singers. They were swaying side to side, standing right below the small stage on which a middle-aged band was playing. As soon as the four men announced they were taking a break, several singers stormed the stage, fighting for the microphone.
“Hello, Arcadia!” one slurred before another grabbed the mic from him and began to sing a summer hit offkey.
The other singers watched them from below. Their glassy eyes and disbalance gave away how drunk they were. Even though they cheered and acted upbeat, it was easy to spot the downturn of their lips, the sadness in their eyes. Understandably, they were devastated that they hadn’t made it into the next round of the competition.
Those who had passed weren’t here, which wasn’t surprising since the next round would be tomorrow, and it was preferable to show up well-rested rather than disheveled after a night of partying. Also, I didn’t think that a seedy establishment like Dover’s Tavern would appeal to those who still hoped to become regular court performers. For the losers, it was a different matter, however. As the saying went, beggars couldn’t be choosers, and I was certain that the disqualified candidates would have accepted any invitation to distract themselves from their pain and sorrow.
While there was no sign of the fae, I was certain they lurked nearby, waiting to pounce. My guess was that they would show up when their targets were completely wasted, making them easy pickings.
To not draw any attention toward us, Lorenzo and I stayed in an unlit corner, watching as the night unfolded.
Soon, the disqualified contestants became rowdier. There was yelling and shoving from the more aggressive ones while the more sensual ones channeled their energy into provocative dancing, grinding their bodies against each other. And then, something unexpected happened. Georgette and Bernadette flounced in. They were decked out in multi-colored gowns, completely out of place in the cheap tavern.
The sisters turned up their noses and headed straight for the stage without acknowledging anyone. “Hello, Arcadia, we are Georgette and Bernadette or the Fontane sisters. We are competitors in this year’s royal singing competition, and tonight we’re going to rock you, Dover’s Tavern!”
There were cheers from the regulars and eye rolls from the candidates that had lost. The sisters launched into a pop song, and I dug my nails into my palms, disgusted by how they flaunted their stolen voices. I wasn’t the only one who resented their audacity, and soon several girls were throwing bread rolls at the sisters.
“Stop it, you losers!” Bernadette yelled into the microphone, tap dancing as she dodged the flying rolls.
The manager rang the bell. “The bar is closed for tonight.” There were protests that died down as several burly males stepped forward to escort the patrons out.
Lorenzo and I slipped out first, exchanging a knowing glance. If the fae were going to strike, now was the time.
Indeed, as soon as all the singers were out of Dover’s Tavern, a melodic voice sounded. “Get a free carriage ride on us.”
Everything inside of me tensed as a huge, gold-adorned carriage with six horses pulled to a halt. I saw through its beauty to the ugliness underneath. The contestants were nothing but cattle that the fae wanted to drive to the slaughterhouse without blinking.
The drunken, exhausted, and devastated singers were helpless to resist the glamorous ride and walked toward it in one long procession.
“We need to do something,” I said to Lorenzo.
“I’ll set the horses free, but you need to stay here,” he responded.
“All right.” I agreed for two reasons. First, I had no idea how to disconnect the horses from the carriage, and I would probably just end up being in Lorenzo’s way. Secondly, if I stayed hidden for now, I could launch a surprise attack later. In fact, I decided not to mill around but to use my voice.
But what should I sing, and whom should I influence? If Abigail was right and the fae were prepared for my interference, they would’ve probably safeguarded themselves against my voice, something that magic wielders could do. Thus, I decided to focus on the rejected singers, hoping I would get through their drunken state.
“Walk home. The carriage is a trap. Don’t fall for it,” I sang as loud as I dared. But the singers showed no signs of hearing my message. One by one, they piled into the carriage, and I wondered if there had been something else in their drinks. Perhaps an emotions serum that made them more adventurous and risk-taking? Or something that made them deaf to my pleas.
Lorenzo teleported in front of the horses, taking the human coachmen by surprise and began to free the horses from the contraptions tying them to the carriage.
“What are you doing?” One of the coachmen jumped off the bench and tried to push Lorenzo away but was no match for my demon.
Then the air around the carriage glittered, and the next second, the carriage with the coachman, who had remained seated vanished, leaving Lorenzo behind with a very perplexed coachman.
I rushed toward him. “Where did they go?”
“Fae portal.” Lorenzo tensed. “It has already closed. We can’t follow.”
“There she is!” Georgette’s voice sounded from behind me. I whirled around to find her flanked by Bernadette and Victor. “She has sent this dreadful letter.” Georgette pointed at me. The next minutes were a blur. Victor advanced toward me, waving a letter in my face that looked like my handwriting but hadn’t been written by me.
“Halia Bright, you are under arrest for assault and stalking. This letter proves that you have threatened to harm Georgette and Bernadette Fontaine if they didn’t exit the competition.” As Victor cuffed my arms behind my back, a cavalry of ten guards appeared behind him. I shook my head no at Lorenzo, whose wide stance made it clear he was prepared to fight them all. While I believed that he could beat the men and free me, it wasn’t worth it since it would make us public enemy number one and reveal his teleporting ability to everyone.
“I’ll get you out as soon as I can,” he said, his expression pained as I was dragged away.
“The letter is fabricated. The truth will come out,” I hissed to my ex-boyfriend. “This will never hold up in court.”
Victor smiled viciously and whispered low so that only I could hear. “It doesn’t have to. All we have to do is keep you in prison today and tomorrow so that you miss the next stage of the competition.”
I gritted my teeth to stop from crying out at the unfairness. There was no point in yelling at Victor. He was convinced that his actions were justified since I had injured his pride by breaking up with him and had thwarted his promotion when I had let a boy escape from his custody.
As I descended the stairs of the prison building, I prayed that Victor would throw me into my cell and leave, not stick around to continue what he had tried to do less than a fortnight ago. A shiver raked through me as I remembered his rough hands, him ignoring my pleas to stop.
Enough! I couldn’t think about that. I had to be strong. I had used my voice the last time to make him back off. I could do it again if need be. At least, that’s what I hoped.
7
4th August
Footsteps pounded outside my cell, jarring me awake. I pushed off the stone floor, my neck stiff, my fingers icy, surprised that I had managed to fall asleep on the barren ground. I had stayed up the whole night, waiting for Lorenzo to come. Sometime after the sun had risen, my body must have finally given out.
I probably would have frozen to death if not for the warm light streaming through my tiny barred window. Given how bright the sun was I guessed that it must be around midday
.
How could it be so late already? Where was Lorenzo? Outside my door, keys jangled, and I stood to attention. Please let it be Lorenzo. My whole body tensed in anticipation. The lock on my prison cell turned, and the heavy metal door creaked open.
I froze at the sight of Victor. He was alone. He could do anything to me without repercussions.
“Stay away from me. Stay away from me,” I sang, but he only smirked in response.
“Your little voice won’t help you in here, songbird.” He crossed his hands in front of his chest. “The prison cells are guarded against magic use.”
My heart plummeted as I realized that I was helpless and that Victor knew that I had magic. When had he found out? Did he remember the night he had tried to rape me, that I had kept him off me with my singing? Whatever way he had put it together, I decided that it was in my best interest not to say anything and wait for his next move.
He took a step closer, and I fought the urge the bolt for the door or press myself into one of the corners.
“I’ll make you a deal. I’ll let you go and say that it was all a misunderstanding if you break up with that demon and get back together with me.”
I stared at him incredulously, certain I must’ve misheard.
“Don’t be mulish, Halia. I’m good for you. Since you’ve started seeing that demon, you’ve been ear deep in problems.”
I was too shocked to respond, which he took as an invitation to continue. “I’ll even let you participate in your silly competition. Your singing might actually be good for us. If you win, we can get married at court and rise up in our social standing.”
I suppressed the chortle working its way up my throat. Was he for real? How could he think there was a chance of us being together after him assaulting me, locking me away, and harassing me in countless other ways?
He jerked his head at me expectantly, letting me know he would perceive it as rudeness if I remained silent.
“It’s too late for us,” I said softly, hating that I had to appease him when all I wanted to do was scream at him and pound him with my fists.
He shook his head. “It’s never too late.” He took another step toward me, and this time, I flinched backward. I expected him to lunge at me, but whether it was because he wasn’t under the influence of alcohol, which had allowed him to justify his physical aggressiveness, or because he was afraid that the other guards would discover that he had roughed me up, he didn’t jump me. Instead, he scowled and said tersely, “Think about my offer. I will be back in a few hours.” He glanced at his watch. “It’s one now. You have five hours until your little concert starts. You decide if it will be with or without you.”
The door flew shut behind him, and my body broke out in a tremor. I slid to the ground, rocking back and forth and trembling for a few minutes until my heartbeat finally calmed down, and my mind cleared.
I had less than five hours to get myself out of this mess. Longingly, I glanced up to the tiny window, leading to the street above me. Even if I could reach it, which I couldn’t since there was nothing I could step on, I couldn’t do anything about the metal bars.
My hope that Lorenzo would come for me dwindled with each minute. If he couldn’t use his magic here, he wouldn’t be able to help me. If only I could get Thomas to come here and plead my case.”
“Thomas, come to me. Come to me now,” I sang for about ten minutes without any results.
Desperate, I rattled the metal door, which predictably, didn’t budge an inch. What about picking the lock? I searched myself. No hairpin or anything else I could use.
I sank to the floor and stared up at the window, begging anyone who was listening to help me. As if the gods had heard me, a while later, a letter fell through the bars, followed by a single blue hair. Tia. My dear friend had once again come through for me.
Hastily, I tore open the envelope to find two notes inside. The top one was written by an unfamiliar hand, but I recognized the handwriting on the bottom one.
I started with the first note.
H,
l have kindly agreed to help you, putting good faith into you upholding your end of the bargain. As you’ve probably realized by now, your prison cell is guarded against magic. However, this only extends to the cells. Therefore, I suggest that you do not squander your chance when I send Thomas to you and make him take you out of your cell and into his office. You should be able to convince him of your innocence since I have vouched for you. You will also need to convince him while in his office to leave you alone for a minute. Then listen to the call of magic. It will guide you to an object that you must take from his study and bring to me. Do not disappoint me. If you succeed, I will call on the fairy godmother.
There was no signature, but it was clear that it had been written by cunning Abigail.
The second note was also unsigned, but I recognized the handwriting as Lorenzo’s. This note was much shorter than the first.
This is our only way. I know it’s not ideal, but we have to do this for her. I have no idea what it is that she wants.
I read the two notes again before crumpling them up and hiding them in my bra. It appeared that I had no choice but to enter an agreement where I didn’t know all the components. I hated how exposed and vulnerable it made me, but I needed to get out of here, and I needed Abigail’s help to call on the fairy godmother. Thus, I ignored the warning bells going off in my head. Even if I didn’t trust Abigail, she was my ally for now. Also, since her request involved me using my voice, I could fulfill the favor I owed her. The quicker I settled my debt, the better.
As Abigail had promised, there were footsteps a while later. The lock turned, and the door creaked open.
Thomas looked me up and down and said unceremoniously, “I’m releasing you, but first, we’ll have a chat.”
“Can we do it in your office, please?” I made myself tremble. Thomas must’ve taken pity on me because he nodded.
We didn’t speak as we walked up the stone staircase I had been dragged down the night before. Thomas herded me down the corridor and into his office. He sat down in front of his desk and motioned for me to take the chair across from him.
“I know it was all a misunderstanding,” he began. “But you need to be careful from now on, Halia. I can’t bail you out again, and it seems that you’ve been getting into a lot of trouble lately.”
“The sisters and Victor got me into this mess out of revenge.”
Thomas interlaced his fingers. “Right now, I can’t do anything about the Fontaines, but I promise I’m looking at them and their boarding house very closely. As for Victor, I’ll deal with him once I get my promotion.”
A jolt of joy and excitement went through me. “You’re going to be the captain? Congratulations!”
A warm smile spread across his face. “Thank you.” He paused, then said, “I’m assuming the note telling me that not everything is right at the mental institution came from you.” I nodded in confirmation, and his forehead furrowed. “I appreciate it. But in the future, I have to ask you to stay out of police business.”
Not wanting to break a promise I would have to break later, I asked, “What happened at the facility?”
He sighed heavily. “We arrested the head doctor, and we’re questioning the rest of the staff.” He straightened a few papers before adding. “Patients did go missing. Apparently, they’ve been handed over to someone called the leader.” Thomas studied me. “What can you tell me about him?”
“Not much. I’ve never met him. I don’t know what he looks like, or what his real name is. All I know is that he’s working together with the fae.” I fell silent, wondering if I had said too much, but Thomas motioned for me to continue. “I believe that he’s been abducting humans to extract their life energy from them. However, it seems that that wasn’t enough for him, and he asked the fae to help him extract magic out of the humans.”
Thomas didn’t declare that such a thing was impossible. All he said was, “What for?”
“Probably to overpower the king.”
Thomas inhaled deeply. “Those are very serious accusations.” He thought for a minute. “I believe you, but nobody will believe it if I try to flag it. We need more proof before I can go to my superior.”
I nodded.
“In the meantime, I need you to focus on your singing and representing Arcadia. I appreciate what you’ve done, but please don’t get involved any further.”
I knew I had to tell him what he wanted to hear, even if I knew, and he probably suspected, that I wouldn’t be able to keep my promise. “I’ll focus on my singing.” And I meant it in that moment, as I thought about the competition. I knew I had to at least make it to the next round, which would be in front of the court and thus the king, presenting me finally with the chance to talk to his majesty.
“Good luck, Halia. I hope you win.” Thomas smiled, and I hated what I had to do next.
“Thank you,” I sang. “Give me a few minutes by myself. Go outside, check something.”
Thomas rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache coming on.
“You need to check on something. You’ll be back in a few minutes.”
He stood, still rubbing his temples. “Before I discharge you, I need to check on something. I’ll be right back.”
The door fell shut behind him, and I jumped up. I didn’t have to concentrate, the ancient pull of magic was strong; It pulsated; it whispered to me. It wasn’t right. It didn’t belong here.
I stepped to the bookcase and grabbed the book that the power was coming from only to discover that it wasn’t the book but what lay behind it. The moonstone was coin-sized, easy to overlook, and not much worth to someone seeking money, but the spell in it was mighty.
I grabbed the stone, put the book back where it had been, and fell into the chair just as the door opened.
“Sorry about that.” Thomas shook his head as if trying to wake up from a dream. “You’re discharged now. I’ll deal with Victor. See that he gets transferred somewhere else. It appears that he can’t coexist with you in the same city.”
Halia: Daughter of Cinderella Page 25
