Royal Witch Curse

by Zoe Arden

  "Whoa," I said. "Say that again."

  "Perx urged me to discontinue my correspondence with Sheriff Knoxx."

  "Did he say why?" Trixie asked.

  "He did not believe the heir was legitimate."

  "But you said you proved it," I said.

  "That is correct. It has been proven beyond a doubt. Both to my satisfaction and to that of my partners, as well as the Goblin Historical Society to whom we presented our information."

  "In your research, did you uncover the possibility of a second heir?" I asked, holding my breath.

  She looked suddenly nervous. Snowball meowed and bit playfully at her large fingers. Esha smiled and her shoulders relaxed once again.

  "Do you know the story of Sheriff Knoxx's goblin heritage?"

  "I think so," I said. "His great-great-great, or something, grandmother was a powerful witch. So powerful that she a hard time finding a husband because men were intimidated by her." I shot a look at Trixie. "It was a different time, and men were threatened by powerful women."

  "They still are," Trixie said.

  "So, she went out into Beggars Forest one day and found herself a husband. A goblin that she disguised as a man," I finished.

  "That is, more or less, accurate," said Esha. "However, what your story fails to tell is the goblin's side of events. Sheriff Knoxx's grandmother did not win his heart; she simply placed him under a heavy spell. He was royalty and much loved by his community. He left his home and his family to be with her and no one knew what had happened to him for several years."

  "His family?" I asked. "You mean he had children?"

  "He had a wife and at least one child, or so the story goes."

  "The second heir," Trixie said excitedly.

  Esha looked at her. "Yes, there is said to be a second heir other than your sheriff. That, however, my partner and I have never been able to prove."

  "So, you have no idea who the second heir could be?" I asked her, disappointed.

  "I'm afraid not," Esha said. "But if you ever find out, be sure and tell me."

  Snowball nudged her head against Esha's chin and licked her face. Esha sighed contentedly and scratched Snowball's head. We thanked Esha for her help.

  "Do you think the kitty might be allowed to stay with me for a short while?" she asked hopefully. "I have some tuna I may give to her."

  Snowball's eyes widened. She nodded her head emphatically. I smiled. "All right," I said. Snowball was obviously in no danger here. "Just make sure you're not home too late," I told Snowball. Even though I knew she was in no danger with the goblins, I didn't want her here after dark. I'd just worry about her until she got home.

  "Yes, Mama," Snowy said. I petted her head and she licked my hand, then Trixie and I turned to go.

  "We need to talk to Perx," I said to Trixie.

  "Forget Perx. We need to talk to Sheriff Knoxx."

  "You think he can help us?" I asked.

  "I don't know about that, but if we go back to Sweetland without having seen him, Eleanor's likely to throw a fit. She'll turn us both into turkeys. And we'd deserve it."

  "Good point," I said. "Let's go."

  Although it had been easy to get inside the kingdom itself, getting in to see Sheriff Knoxx was another matter altogether.

  "Impossible," said a heavyset guard holding something that looked like a giant ax. "Sheriff Knoxx is not allowed visitors."

  "But I'm his niece, and this is his sister-in-law."

  "It would not matter if you were the goblin creator himself, I could not let you in to see the sheriff."

  "Under whose orders?" Trixie asked, though I was fairly certain I already knew the answer.

  "Perx," the guard said. "If you want the orders changed, you'll have to speak to him."

  I looked at Trixie. "Let's go find him."

  * * *

  CHAPTER

  THIRTY-FOUR

  .

  .

  .

  * * *

  * * *

  .

  Perx was in his office. The castle guards hadn't wanted to let us by at first to see him, but after I promised them a visit from Snowball, they soon relented. I'd have to tell Snowy to come by later. I was pretty sure she wouldn't object, given the large amount of tuna they were sure to give her.

  Trixie knocked on Perx's door.

  "Enter," he called. The door opened, and we stepped inside. He was seated behind his desk, as he always seemed to be.

  "What are you two doing here?" he said, surprised to see us. I didn't blame him. "You should not have been allowed entry into the castle grounds, let alone into the castle itself. I must speak with my guards about this immediately."

  "Your guards didn't let us in," I said, not wanting to get anyone in trouble. "We snuck in.”

  I shot Trixie a look. She gave a slight incline of her head to let me know she understood. We'd leave the guards who'd helped us out of this.

  "That's right," Trixie echoed. "We snuck in."

  "If that is the case," Perx said, "then I should have you both arrested for trespassing."

  My shoulders tensed. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end like a ghost was standing behind me.

  "However," Perx continued, "trespassing is not a crime punishable by execution. I have no time for such trivial matters right now, only ones leading to death."

  Perx's words did little to make me feel better. I looked at Trixie from the corner of my eye and saw that she was standing stiff as a board.

  She licked her lips. "Do you have many offenses which lead to death in your community?" she asked hesitantly.

  "We do now. Zulubar was always far too soft with his people, but now that he is gone, I am free to set things right."

  "We'd like to see Sheriff Knoxx," I said, jumping to the point. I didn't want to hear any more about Zulubar or death right now. I just wanted to see the sheriff.

  "Impossible," Perx said, repeating the exact word the guard had used.

  "Why is it impossible?" I asked.

  "Prisoners are not allowed visitors the night before their execution."

  Trixie and I jumped. "The night before their execution?" I said. "What are you talking about? It hasn't been five days yet. You gave us five days to find Zulubar and Kyrab before executing Sheriff Knoxx."

  "That was before," Perx said.

  "Before what?" I asked.

  "Before I changed my mind, obviously." He pressed his long scaly fingers together. "Did you not receive my letter?"

  I looked at Trixie. "What letter?" she asked.

  "I sent a letter to your bakery just yesterday to inform you of my decision. I thought his wife ought to know that he would not be returning home."

  "How decent of you," I snapped. "To tell a wife so impersonally that her husband is about to die. And no, we most certainly did not receive any letter."

  "Are you certain?" he asked. "I know it was sent from my office for delivery."

  "I think we would have remembered receiving a letter like that," Trixie said. Her cheeks were glowing pink, and her eyes were fired up. "If he is to be executed tomorrow then should we not be allowed access to him today?"

  "No. That's not how it works in our community."

  "Can we see him tomorrow before the execution, at least?" I asked.

  Perx paused for a moment as if considering my question. "No," he said.

  But I don't understand —"

  "It is not your place to understand," Perx said, cutting me off. "It is my place to decide. And my decision is final."

  He pushed the button on his desk and two guards came to the door.

  "I shall make sure that my guards know not to let you back into the castle," he said. "In fact," he paused, cocking his head to one side. "Just so I know that you are taking me seriously, I shall give them orders to shoot you on sight. That ought to solve the problem."

  I opened my mouth to protest but Trixie clamped her hand over it.

  "I believe your aunt has th
e right idea," Perx said snidely.

  "What about the execution?" I asked, pulling Trixie's hand away. "Are you going to deny a man's wife and family the right to be there for his last breath? Would your people not object to such a thing? Would there be no outcry?"

  He frowned slightly. "You may be right." He scratched his head. "I will make a special provision for you and your aunts tomorrow that will allow you entry for the execution, but you are not to come too early nor may you remain afterward. His wife will have to stay to fill out some paperwork and receive his body. But you, Ava Fortune, must go immediately following the execution."

  "I will," I promised.

  He nodded to his guards who spun us out of the room.

  "Wait!" Trixie shouted suddenly, spinning back around. "What method of execution are you using?"

  "Hanging." Perx smiled and nodded at us. "Until tomorrow."

  * * *

  CHAPTER

  THIRTY-FIVE

  .

  .

  .

  * * *

  * * *

  .

  We sat around the kitchen in the house that Trixie, my dad, and I shared. Eleanor was sitting in a chair, leaning against the table, her face buried in her hands. Her whole body was shaking.

  "What are we going to do?" she sobbed.

  "What else can we do?" I said. They all looked at me. "You said once before that if you had to, Aunt Eleanor, you'd break him out of prison. Well, it looks like that day has come."

  "Ava..." my dad said, a warning tone in his voice.

  I shook him off. "Dad, I know you're worried, but there's no other way. Sheriff Knoxx is being executed in the morning for a crime he didn't commit. We've got to go back there tonight and get him."

  My dad sighed but didn't argue.

  I looked at the clock on the wall. It was just after ten. "If we're going, we need to go soon."

  "Do you know what time he's being executed?" my dad asked.

  Eleanor let out a sob so loud it sounded like a motorboat.

  "One of the guards gave us an invitation on to the hanging on way out of the castle," I said, pulling it from my pocket.

  "An invitation?" my dad asked. "That seems sort of dark."

  "How else would you take this except as an invitation?" I handed him the card.

  It was cream colored and had an expensive feel to it.

  I formally invite you to the event of the year.

  The execution of:

  Sheriff Zane Knoxx

  Tomorrow, 8 AM

  Be there, or be square.

  My dad looked up from the invitation. "You're right, we need to leave now."

  Snowball came running into the house just then.

  "There you are!" I said. "I told you not to be home too late. I was starting to worry."

  Snowball jumped into my lap and began excitedly pawing at my chest.

  "Mama, Mama, Mama," she said. "Snowball has seen detective man." She paused and screwed up her face like she was thinking. "Colt." It was the first time I could remember her using his name.

  "You saw him, where? In Goblin Territory?"

  "No, on Snowball's way home from Goblin Territory. He was at Russell's."

  I looked at my dad and my aunts. "This could be the break we needed. If we can get Colt to help us, we'll have a much better chance of pulling this off."

  "Let's go," Eleanor said. It was the first time since Trixie and I had returned and told her of Sheriff Knoxx's execution that it seemed her tears were subsiding.

  "All of us?" asked my dad.

  "The more of us there are, the harder it will be for Colt to say no," Eleanor said.

  By the time we got to Russell's, we had a plan. Well, sort of.

  "If he refuses to help us," Trixie said, "I'll tackle him. The rest of you hold him down. Ava, you tie him up."

  "I'm not tying him up," I told her, rolling my eyes.

  "How else are we gonna carry him out of the apartment?" Trixie said.

  "We won't have to carry him out of anywhere," I told her. "Once we tell him that Sheriff Knoxx is being executed in the morning, he'll want to help us."

  "Besides," said my dad, "if Russell's there, none of us will stand a chance of knocking Colt over and tying him up. Russell will pull us off him in two seconds flat."

  Trixie frowned. "I suppose you're right about that. I know that Melbourne is pretty strong. Russell must be strong, too."

  I looked over at Trixie. "Are there different grades of vampire?" I asked. "You know, like how they have different grades of diamonds and things like that. Maybe the older a vampire is, the stronger he is?"

  "Well, Melbourne is definitely older than Russell," Trixie said. "I think that's one thing we can all agree on."

  "There it is," I said, pointing just ahead of us. "Russell's apartment."

  We knocked on the door, and not surprisingly, received no answer.

  "Stand back," said Eleanor. Her face was set into a hard, rigid line. I felt bad for Colt if he refused to go along with us. Eleanor would destroy him. Well, she'd at least turn him into a pig or something like that. If he was lucky, it would be a flying pig and he could make his escape before she decided to turn him into a gnat instead.

  Eleanor pointed her index finger at the doorknob to Russell's apartment and it began to glow. A second later, the knob fell off and she pushed the door open. She stepped into the apartment without even calling a hello.

  "Colt!" she yelled, her voice loud and stern.

  Russell appeared. "What do you think—"

  "Don't argue with me," Eleanor shouted at him. "Just tell me where Colt is. Get him out here now. It's urgent."

  Russell must've seen her face and sensed the reality of the situation.

  "What's wrong?"

  "She told you," I said. "We need to see Colt. Now. We know he's here."

  There was a creak of the floor, and Colt appeared from the back bedroom. "What's wrong?" he asked, echoing his dad.

  "They pushed up the date of Sheriff Knoxx's execution," I told him. "He's being executed in the morning."

  Colt exchanged a look with his father.

  "What time?" Colt asked.

  "Eight o'clock," I told him.

  "We're breaking him out," said Eleanor. "Tonight."

  "Are you in?" Trixie asked. "Please be in."

  Colt looked at his dad. "I have to go," he said. "I can't let Sheriff Knoxx be executed for something he didn't do."

  "Where are Zulubar and Kyrab?" I asked. "We know that Kyrab's pregnant."

  His eyes widened. "How do you know that? Who told you?"

  "Dr. Dunne," I said, feeling guilty for ratting out the doctor. "He's just as worried about them as we are. He had to tell us."

  "I can't tell you where they are," Colt said. "It's my job to protect them."

  "But Zulubar is the only one who can stop Sheriff Knoxx's execution," Eleanor said. "He needs Zulubar right now. If our plan fails and we can't get him out, he'll be killed in the morning."

  "Wouldn't Zulubar at least want to know what's going on?" I asked him.

  "Zulubar has always struck me as a fair-minded goblin," said my dad. "I'm sure if he was here now, he'd want you to tell him. He'd want to help."

  "I'll go with you to Goblin Territory tonight," Colt said. "I'll help you in any way that I can, but I cannot reveal the whereabouts of Zulubar or Kyrab."

  "I'm your fiancée," I said, holding up my hand with the ring he'd given me on it. Right now, it felt as if the ring was stuck to my finger and wouldn't come off.

  "Ava, I love you. But if you know that Kyrab's pregnant, then you know how vital it is that I protect her. I have to do what's best for her, I can't think of anyone else right now. It's my job."

  "I thought your job was to protect those who needed protecting," Eleanor snapped. "And right now, the person who needs protecting is Sheriff Knoxx, my husband, and your friend." She paused. "If it was Ava who was in jail right now, you'd get Zulubar to help, wouldn't yo
u?"

  Colt said nothing, which could've been taken one of two ways. Either his answer was yes, and he realized the hypocrisy of it. Or his answer was no, and he realized how angry I'd be with him for saying such a dreadful thing. Either way, I wasn't happy with him right now.

  "Look," Colt said, "I suppose that if I see Zulubar, I can pass along the message, but don't expect—"

  Just then, King Zulubar came walking down Russell's hallway, Kyrab on his arm.

  "You're here?" I shouted, unable to contain myself. I was angry and happy all at once. "Have you just been hiding in the bedroom listening to us this whole time?"

  "Yes," Zulubar said. "I'm sorry to have deceived you as to our whereabouts, but it was necessary for the protection of my beloved." He looked at Kyrab.

  "That's why we're here now," Eleanor said. "My beloved is in trouble."

  "I know," Zulubar said. "And I wish that I could help you."

  "What do you mean you wish you could help?" Eleanor said, her face paling. "You can help."

  "As Detective Hudson has told you already, my life is in danger. Not just my life, but that of my wife as well as my unborn child."

  "Wife?" Trixie and I said together.

  "Yes. Kyrab and I were married two months ago in secret."

  "Why in secret?" Trixie asked.

  "I was receiving death threats," Zulubar said. "I was afraid that Kyrab would be in danger if we had an open ceremony."

  "How long have you been hiding at Russell's?" I asked.

  "Only a couple of nights," Colt said, interjecting. "We were at Whisper Crossing for a while and in Mistmoor before that. I wanted to get them off Heavenly Haven altogether, but Zulubar refused."

  "I won't be run out of my home forever," he said. "This is temporary. Leaving this island would make it seem permanent."

  "The night you disappeared," I said, "who was chasing you in Beggars Forest?"

  It was the answer we'd all been waiting to hear. The answer that might finally solve this puzzle for us.

  "I don't know," Zulubar said.