My nose shrunk again.
“Great,” Jason muttered. “That makes me feel better about being in a boat with you.” He shook his head. “When I get my hands on my manager . . .”
I didn’t say much else for the rest of the boat ride. Jason filled the silence with a nonstop rant about everything wrong with his castle. “Authentic is one thing, but they don’t have a refrigerator. That’s unsanitary. Even third world countries have refrigerators. I bet bushmen have refrigerators.”
Behind me, Donovan chuckled. “I’ll take that bet. After we get the goblet, have Chrissy send him to live with some bushman so he can find out.”
I smiled despite myself. It was easier to listen to Jason when Donovan was nearby.
Chapter 22
By the time we reached the island, the other princes had already pulled their boats onto the land and helped their dates disembark. Arm in arm, they made their way to the dance pavilion, a picture of elegance.
Kailen was nowhere in sight. Perhaps he’d only come to the shore last night because he didn’t know who Jason and I were.
I walked up the path toward the pavilion, listening to the strains of fairy music. Bell-like sounds were sprinkled through the song, chiming softly. Sometimes I heard the call of birds or the sound of waves. I swear a couple of times I heard the sound of starlight glimmering to earth. I wished I could make that sort of music.
Just like the night before, the tables were heaped with food and drink. Queen Orlaith sat in her throne in patient silence. Her dark hair was pinned up in an elaborate bun, and the crown of teeth glowed in the moonlight. Kailen wasn’t with her. I wondered if I’d been wrong about his reason for not greeting us. Maybe he hadn’t come tonight because he was still angry with his mother. I didn’t mind the absence. The fewer fairies I had to deal with, the better.
The goblet was already out of the box. It stood on the table directly in front of the queen, waiting for her question. She fingered the stem absentmindedly, watching couples take the floor.
She hadn’t been overly friendly last night, but tonight she looked even more severe. Her lips were set in a grim line and her dark eyes were cold. Was she upset about her fight with Kailen, or was I reading emotions into her expression?
She stood up, briefly welcomed the couples, and then sat again.
Instead of taking me to the dance floor, Jason walked to the chairs near the refreshment table. “I don’t feel like dancing. I think I’ll sit out for awhile.”
He was sullen, pouting. I supposed he was used to girls who did their best to flirt and tease and plead him out of his bad moods. I wasn’t going to be one of those girls.
“Fine,” I said. “I’ll walk around and see what’s outside the pavilion.” I headed in that direction, awash in the music and the scent of fairy trees. I had searched the branches on the way here for white fruit, for an overlooked wish. I hadn’t seen any.
At the back of the pavilion, a garden spread out that put the castle’s to shame. Lampposts lined alabaster paths, spilling gentle blue light everywhere. A mixture of flowers made the ground look like exotic bouquets were growing everywhere. Intricately-carved stone benches sat behind a pond with a fountain gurgling from the middle. I strolled around the pond, watching silver fish dart around the edges.
“Donovan?” I whispered. I didn’t know if he’d followed me or was still inside the pavilion scoping things out.
No one answered. It was silly to feel disappointed. Donovan had kissed me, but that didn’t mean he had to shadow me twenty-four seven.
Don’t turn into one of those naive girls who meets a guy and thinks she’s in love, I told myself firmly.
I’m not, I told myself back.
It’s a good thing my nose didn’t grow when I thought lies. I still felt a sort of shiny gladness at the thought of Donovan, a desire to hum a love song, an urge to write one.
Ridiculous. I couldn’t be in love, not really, not this fast. I was more reasonable than that. But then, how did people know for sure? People talked about love at first sight. By that measure, love that took place the next day seemed downright reasonable.
My parents said they loved me before I was born. Clearly love came in many different shades. Was what I felt now one of them?
I kept walking around the pond. Diamond trees lined the path, glittering and wishless. Finally I sat on a bench and gazed at the golden light flecking the fountain water. It was such a beautiful setting, such a romantic one. Would it be so bad if Donovan and I had to stay here?
If I had to choose someplace to be stuck, this wasn’t the worst place.
A noise to my side made me jump.
“It’s just me,” Donovan said. “Can you believe this orchard? There are more diamond trees here than in the forest.”
I had noticed diamond trees rimming the pavilion. Apparently more grew in the surrounding gardens.
Donovan’s hand appeared from underneath his cloak, untangling three small twigs. A silver, a gold and one with a diamond hanging from its end. “I didn’t see any ripe wishes,” he said. “Only diamonds.” He let out a small laugh. “That’s a phrase I never thought I’d hear coming from my mouth.”
“Don’t pick anything here,” I said. “We don’t want to set off any owls—and that’s also a phrase I never thought I’d say.”
He turned the twigs in his hand, making them glitter in the lamplight. “How do trees make silver, gold, or diamonds? I can’t wrap my mind around it.”
I ran my finger across a golden leaf, feeling its unbending ridges. “Is it any stranger than the way trees take water, dirt, and sunshine and make those into peaches, pears, and oranges?”
Kailen was right. Magic was all around us. We just didn’t see it most of the time.
Donovan put the twigs back into his cloak. “Peaches are made through science, not magic.”
“As my fairy godmother told me, ‘True magic, like true love, is open to interpretation.’”
“I imagine the chlorophyll in the trees’ cells help.”
I couldn’t comment on that. I’d forgotten what I’d learned in biology about plant cells. Donovan seemed to know more about most subjects than I did, and it bothered me I kept coming up short. I wanted to be one of those people who could talk about any number of subjects. But I wasn’t.
Back on the dance floor, the princesses’ dresses swirled across the room, colors swishing like blossoms in a breeze. Queen Orlaith sat watching them, waiting for their love to cure her trees. So far, the trees didn’t look any different than they’d looked last night.
“What do you think true love is?” I asked.
“It’s walking two miles to an all-night pharmacy to get medicine when your brother is sick.”
I glanced at where Donovan sat, forgetting I couldn’t see him. “You did that for Shane?”
“No, he did that for me.”
And that was why we couldn’t stay here. Donovan would never be happy here, not when his brother needed him.
“We’ll get back,” I said.
“Right.” He didn’t sound certain.
“What’s the first thing you’ll do when you get back home?” I asked so he’d think about happier things.
“I’ll call you to make sure you got back home too. Which reminds me . . . you’d better give me your number.”
I did and then asked for his. Once I’d memorized it, I said, “What’s the second thing you’re going to do when you get home?”
“Am I still on the phone with you?”
“Sure. And we’ve set up a date for next weekend. We’ll do something we’re both good at.”
“What would that be? Stealing? Monster truck racing? Evading the police?”
I nudge him. “No, dancing. Seriously, have you really ever been monster truck racing?”
“There’s always a first.” His cloak brushed against my arm, then his fingers caressed the back of my hand. It looked odd—my hand had vanished. I didn’t move away though. Just that small car
ess made me want to lean into him and disappear all the way.
“After I hang up with you,” he said, returning to my question, “I’ll buy planting supplies, graft my branches onto a normal tree, and see if they take.”
“I can see wanting silver and gold trees, but the diamond branches? Do you actually want more wishes? They seem a lot more trouble than they’re worth.”
“Wishes, yes. But a tree with diamond fruit would be nice. I’ll pick them before they’re ripe.”
“You never did tell me how you got your wishes.”
He didn’t answer. I didn’t like that I couldn’t see his face, couldn’t read his eyes. “Come on,” I prodded. “It couldn’t be more embarrassing than my experience.”
His clothes rustled a bit, indicating he was shifting on the bench. “Back in Hamilton, I was walking home from my job at the lumber store . . .”
He hauled lumber around. That, I supposed, explained his muscles.
“It had rained earlier,” he went on, “and the night was getting cold. I saw a homeless lady sitting by the building, shivering, so I took off my coat and gave it to her. The next thing I knew the homeless lady vanished and Jade Blossom stood in her place. The rest, you know.”
“You gave a fairy in disguise your coat?” I should have figured as much. That’s how the soldier got his fairy godmother in the story. Still, it surprised me. Impressed me. Living in my suburban neighborhood, I didn’t think about people shivering in the cold. Would I have given my coat to a homeless woman? Donovan had done it even though he had so little.
Donovan squeezed my hand. “I told you it wasn’t going to make you feel better about your own story.”
“But it makes me feel good about you.”
Too good. Melting good. Maybe I wasn’t a reasonable girl after all.
We talked about other things as we sat watching the fountain splash into the pond. School, family, what we planned to do in the future. Donovan wanted to go to college and major in business.
“You’ll go to college?” I asked. “Even if you bring back gold, silver, and diamonds to live off of?”
“Money is gone once you spend it. An education stays with you. Besides, why shouldn’t I know as much as everybody else?”
I opened my mouth to say I was skipping college to work on my music career, but the words didn’t come out. I wasn’t sure about that choice anymore. Suddenly I wanted to know as much as everybody else—or at least as much as Donovan. If I skipped college, would I end up like Jason, only talking about myself?
I could go to college and still work on my music. I could study Bach and Beethoven, learn how different composers approached music, and be well-rounded. And another plus—maybe people would forget about my viral video in four years when I tried a music career again.
“I haven’t decided where to go to college yet,” I said.
“You should visit the University of Cincinnati. In fact, tell me when you go to the campus, and I’ll meet you there.”
“I may need to go there multiple times to consider it.”
Donovan chuckled. “With the gold and silver I’m bringing back, I bet my family could afford a better apartment. Maybe one closer to Kentucky.”
“Maybe one in Greenfield,” I said.
“We should both apply to—” Donovan broke off and he dropped my hand, shifted away from me. I looked at him—again forgetting I couldn’t see him—then glanced around to see why he’d stopped talking.
Queen Orlaith was gliding toward us, as soundless as moonlight on the stone walkway. Her white dress flowed around her ankles like ocean foam sliding over the waves. “There you are.” She held her goblet casually in one hand, apparently unwilling to let it out of her sight. “Why aren’t you dancing with your prince?”
I spoke slowly, careful not to lie. “Jason said he didn’t want to dance.”
She frowned. “Did you fight?”
No lying. “We said some unkind words to each other on the boat ride over.”
“We must only have love here tonight.” She smiled, impatience masquerading as understanding. “Your prince is bereft from the lack of your company. Go set things right. You’ll both be happier.”
I nodded and went back to the dance floor. Jason, far from being bereft of my company, stood at the refreshment table flirting with Penny and Kayla. I could tell he was flirting because my sisters were laughing and chatting to him while their dance partners stood nearby glaring.
No wonder Queen Orlaith came to get me. Jason wasn’t helping the queen’s true love goal. When I ambled up, Jason turned to me. “There you are. I wondered where you’d gone.”
“You didn’t need to wonder. I told you I was going to see what was outside the pavilion.” I glanced at the clock, and did a double take. The hands stretched toward midnight. It hadn’t felt like I’d talked to Donovan that long.
Four more hours and I could go home. If I stayed in the boat this time, I could get some sleep before the king came to check on us.
Jason popped a rose bud into his mouth and took my hand. “We might as well dance. Got to give the TV folks something to watch.”
We went to the floor and waltzed, gliding across the floor to the strains of the music. My practice with Donovan had paid off. Dancing didn’t seem as hard tonight, and I was able to pick up on Jason’s cues.
Sitting at her table again, Queen Orlaith looked on approvingly, all the while stroking the goblet’s stem like it was a cat. Jason’s gaze went to it as often as mine did.
“Let’s get the goblet tonight,” he muttered. “I don’t want to spend one more day in that excuse of a castle.”
“Be patient. We’ll have a better chance of success if we switch the real goblet with a fake one.”
Jason made a dissatisfied noise. “If you’re not even going to try, I’ll do it without you.”
I leaned toward him, serious. “Don’t. Queen Orlaith cursed it. Something bad will happen if you touch it.”
“Yadda. Yadda. Nothing bad better happen to me. I’ve got lawyers, and I know how to use them.”
Last night Jason had depended on the show workers to keep me from drowning, and now he was depending on his lawyers to protect him. I had to tell him the truth. He needed to understand the danger here was real. “Here’s the thing.” I cleared my throat uncomfortably. “This isn’t a reality show. We’re actually back in time stuck in a fairy tale. Queen Orlaith is a dangerous fairy queen.”
“Save that look for your agent, sweetheart. I’m not buying it.”
“Just don’t touch the goblet, okay?”
He looked out across the pavilion, done with the conversation. “Whatevs.”
Whatevs? Did it take too much effort to finish the word?
The clock struck the midnight. I ignored Jason’s lead and waltz-dragged him closer to the queen’s table so I could hear her question.
Queen Orlaith poured a vial of elixir into the goblet and swirled it once, twice, three times. “Magic cup within my hand, make me wise to understand. Two fortnights were spent in vain, and yet this night I ask again. To save my trees, once more I plead: How shall I find the love I need?”
A deep voice rose up, hanging in the air around her. “You mistake in trying to find . . .”
My mind raced ahead to finish the couplet, and I suddenly feared it would be, “Don’t you know true love is blind?” Queen Orlaith would then blind us in an attempt to save her trees. Chrissy was so going to hear about this when—or if—I saw her again.
But the goblet finished, “What comes forth from human minds. Listen to fair wisdom’s voice. Love’s not a feeling. It’s a choice.”
“A choice?” the queen asked. “What choice? Who must choose?”
The goblet remained silent. Its answer was over.
The queen slammed the cup on the table and uttered the word “Brimstone!” as though it were a curse. Then she took a deep breath and put her fingers on the bridge of her nose in an attempt to regain her composure.
/> Jason dropped my hand, and without another word left me and sauntered to her table.
“Your Highness,” he said, dripping his usual charisma. “You said you would teach me more steps of this dance.” He held his hand out. “I’d love to have you as my partner.”
Well, that left me standing awkwardly on the dance floor. Then again, if Jason danced with the queen, I could leave the pavilion and talk to Donovan again. I glanced around, wondering where he was.
The queen didn’t move her hand away from her face. She shut her eyes, fighting for inward patience. “No. Dance with your princess.”
“Another time then.”
I realized what Jason was doing a second before he did it. I had no way to stop him, no way to keep the queen’s wrath from crashing down around him.
As Jason turned, he grabbed hold of the goblet. He didn’t make it more than a step from the table before he froze, hand clenching tighter, spasming. His jaw went slack, and he shuddered as though electrocuted. The goblet tumbled from his hand, slow and spinning until it hit the ground with a clank.
The queen’s head snapped up and her expression hardened. “Thief,” she spat out. One word, spoken with the condemnation of a judge’s gavel. She snapped her fingers and Jason disappeared.
I gasped in alarm, stepping toward the queen. “He didn’t know it was magic. Please, you’ve got to bring him back. He didn’t think any of this was real!”
Queen Orlaith eyed me placidly. “I didn’t kill him. You’ll find him on the ground.”
I looked down. There, sitting on the white stone floor was a large green bullfrog. It held one webbed hand out in front of its face and shrieked—a human sound. A Jason sound.
I covered my mouth. “Oh no.”
Jason held up both webbed hands. To say his eyes bulged was perhaps unfair, but accurate. His voice, only smaller, came from the frog’s mouth. “What happened to me?”
With an air of exasperation, the queen stood and strode around the table. She snapped her fingers again and the goblet flew from the floor into her hand. She set it on the table, then turned to Jason. “Why did you take my goblet?”
My Fairly Dangerous Godmother Page 25
