Stilt looked quizzical as he started laughing mirthlessly. Lori waited patiently for him to stop.
‘Done?’ she asked, raising her eyebrows, seeming bored.
He coughed then got his breath back. ‘It’s just the funniest thing I have heard, well, ever. You really think Merlin will help you? You need all the living sorcerers to help you. James hates you. The rest hate you, and there is no way in hell I am helping you.’
She sat across from him and ran her hand across the bone arm of the chair, looking down at the once powerful sorcerer. ‘What if I could promise you, guarantee even, that I can make it happen? What if I could guarantee that in exchange for your help, I will bring your wife and daughter back from the dead? I refuse to bring Edward back, but I promise you your family and revenge.’
‘I only seek revenge on you,’ he pointed out.
She shook her head. ‘I don’t believe that. You hate Merlin too. I want to kill him! That’s how he will help me, by dying. I have managed to find a way to end his pitiful existence.’
He looked up, wide-eyed. ‘How?’
‘Mermaids.’
He nodded approvingly. ‘Powers, unlike sorcerers,’ Stilt said.
Lori smiled slyly. ‘Yes. They don’t have to use a moral compass. Their powers are controlled without one. They don’t need to spend years learning, unlike us.’
Stilt managed to stand. ‘We won’t be able to get one to come with us. They need to stay in their own lakes,’ he pointed out.
Lori wagged her finger and looked mischievously at Stilt as she removed his chains with magic. ‘All but one. A feisty redhead. She was only given legs, but she is still a mermaid.’
‘Ariel,’ Stilt whispered.
Lori nodded and turned to the mirror. ‘The only one left once Merlin is dead is James. We can persuade him.’ She watched James in the magic mirror as he sat down to dinner with his mother. ‘We need one other person too. Someone magical, someone outside of our realm who doesn’t use the compass. Someone powerful.’
Stilt tilted his head, trying to work out Lori’s deadpan expression. He racked his brains until the answer hit him with a worrying realisation ‘Wait, you don’t mean—’
‘Yes, Peter.’
Stilt weighed the pros and cons. Peter was powerful, but Neverland had a terrible reputation. However, what did he have to lose? ‘Fine. I guess we are off to Neverland then.’
MAKE A WISH
Ariel and Eric sat down to breakfast.
The king, Eric’s father, had died due to old age, and unfortunately, Eric’s mother had followed shortly after. Ariel was amazed that one could die from heartbreak.
‘Are you okay?’ she asked for the fiftieth time that day. She stroked his beautiful brown hair away from his eyes.
Eric held her hand and squeezed tight. ‘I have you. I will be fine.’ He shot her a small smile.
‘The whole kingdom is here for your coronation. You will make a wonderful king,’ she said excitedly. ‘You’re a good man. The kingdom is lucky to have such a kind, compassionate… and handsome king.’
He rolled his eyes. ‘Flattery won’t work, you know. She will die.’
Ariel stood up and placed her hands on her hips. ‘I don’t like what she did any more than you do but to deserve death?’
Eric slammed his fist down on the table, making a nearby guard jump. ‘She would have had you die. You would have turned to seafoam if we hadn’t figured out what was going on. You’re lucky we had magical help. She dies tomorrow.’
Ariel held back tears. She hated seeing him angry but understood that his anger was not with her. It was toward Ursula.
She sighed. ‘I’m going to dress for the coronation. If you need me, you know where I am.’ She squeezed his hand and walked up to her chambers.
Her ladies-in-waiting appeared excitedly by the door. She was shocked when she found out they had a separate chambers, considering they shared a bed. Yet she quickly realised that one room could not fit all of their belongings, and it was great for when she had to dress for her wedding. After all, he couldn’t see his wife in a wedding dress. That’s bad luck. At least, that’s what she was told.
She had also learned that shoes were not called crockhoppers and forks were definitely not for brushing your hair. Something cropped up each day that surprised her. Apparently, wearing a curtain as a cloak would earn one odd glances as she had found out. Also, everyone said one in the palace, and her biggest mistake was mistaking what the royal ‘we’ meant. The human world was alien to Ariel, but the one main lesson she had taken from her experience was to watch where one walks; stubbing your toe was the most painful thing she had experienced.
‘You look beautiful,’ one of the ladies exclaimed. She had an almost skeletal appearance. Apparently, it was fashionable to be as skinny as possible. She could not understand that.
‘Thank you,’ Ariel replied and looked down at her golden ball gown. It was heavy, due to the many layers on the skirt and heavy diamonds. She put on her silver shoes that sparkled like fairy dust, and her laced golden gloves that reached up to her elbows.
One of her ladies tied Ariel’s long, red hair into an elegant bun and placed a tiara on top of her head. It was dainty, like her, and covered with precious jewels. One bit of hair kept escaping and dangled down the side of her head. She just laughed and tucked it behind her ear. ‘Time to go,’ she exclaimed on seeing the last of the few people walk into the palace through the window.
The bell sounded several times as Ariel hurried down the spiralling staircase with her ladies holding up the bottom of her dress. She walked up the aisle of the ballroom, the largest room in the palace. Eric had wanted to marry in there, but Ariel had insisted on a beach wedding so her family could look on from the rocks. It had been a beautiful ceremony under the glistening sun. As they said their vows, Eric and Ariel’s words of love moved everyone in the kingdom. Not once did Ariel regret her decision to live as a human and have legs. It had been the best decision she had made ever. Nothing would take her happily ever after from her—nothing!
Ariel heard the gasps from her subjects as they watched their beautiful future queen take her place, glistening in gold with her vibrant red hair tied up in an elegant bun. Her hair paired with her sea blue eyes were so different to how anyone else looked in the kingdom. She was beloved, even for her quirky ways. Or as Eric said, especially for her quirky ways.
Eric walked down and kneeled onto a red velvet cushion. Ariel smiled as she watched him take his oath then finally the thick gold crown was placed on his head. Everyone applauded and proceeded to the gardens for the party. The party Ariel had planned.
She ran over, hugged Eric, kissed him, and then said she’d meet him at the party. She told him that she wanted to change into something more comfortable first, but that was a lie.
Sneakily, she avoided being seen as she took the side entrance out of the room and to the side of the palace.
She ran over to the dungeons. A guard bowed his head as she walked in. She smiled kindly. ‘Just making sure that all the arrangements are ready for tomorrow,’ she said to the guard in her poshest voice. He nodded, and she walked over to Ursula’s cell.
Ursula, still in her human form, was sat on the dusty floor with chains around her wrists and ankles. ‘Here to gloat?’ Ursula asked slimily. ‘Because I’m not interested.’
Ariel shook her head. ‘Are you up for making one final deal?’
Ursula arched an eyebrow. ‘I’m listening.’
‘One that would mean your freedom,’ Ariel admitted.
Ursula smiled evilly. ‘I’m definitely listening. What do you want?’
‘You can only obey others wishes permanently. Not your own, right?’ Ariel asked.
Ursula rolled her eyes. ‘As it is for all mermaids, yes!’
‘Then I wish for you to be beautiful, to be accepted. I wish for you to be free, and in exchange, you must not hurt me or my family or anyone in this kingdom again.’
&nb
sp; ‘You’d do that for me?’ Ursula asked. Ariel nodded, and Ursula smiled her first genuine smile.
‘Go, be free,’ Ariel said and turned away.
Ursula broke free from her restraints. ‘I always did like you the best out of the whole lake.’
Ariel grinned slightly then walked away. At the end of the dungeons, Ariel noticed a familiar face.
‘Stilt?’ she asked, hurrying over to him.
‘I am so sorry, Ariel,’ he said, and then everything went black.
***
Snow walked out of the woods with her head held high. The pack of wolves followed behind obediently. Snow turned and bowed her head. ‘You are free.’
The wolves, one by one, turned and walked back into the woods. All but one.
Emerging from the shadows was a tearful Red back in her human form. Snow hung her cloak around Red’s shoulders. ‘You freed me.’
‘I promised you I’d help you when Edward was killed. You’re free. You don’t need to stay with me.’ Snow dangled the empty vial from her bracelet and threw it away. ‘It was a potion I had stolen back at the palace. It removes all enchantments. I used it to break yours and the other wolves’ bond to Lori, and incidentally, the spell keeping you as a wolf.’
‘Thank you,’ Red said.
Snow laughed. ‘In all fairness, I had little choice. You were all about to eat me. Doesn’t matter now anyway; I’m glad I helped you. You’re free to do what you want now, to go home.’
Red shook her head. ‘No, if Lori is there, then I cannot return. Plus, you freed me, so I owe you. James and I were friends. He loves you. Therefore, I will be helping him by protecting his loved one.’
They walked through the snow, the white cloak covering Red. Her hair was tangled, little twigs stuck out at odd places, and she smelled of wet dog. ‘In all honesty,’ Snow started. ‘I thought you liked James, in, well, a fancy him kind of way …’
Red laughed. ‘No, sweetie, I’m not interested in men.’
Snow raised her eyebrows. Of all the things Red could come out with, she didn’t expect that. Red pursed her lips, waiting for a response.
‘Oh,’ Snow replied then shrugged. ‘Cool. So do you have a girlfriend?’
‘No. I liked a girl once, but it didn’t work. She was a princess and knew she had to marry a prince. Her parents would never have understood, and she was loyal to her kingdom. Unfortunately, she was locked away in a tower some time ago, branded insane by her father.’
Snow patted Red’s shoulder. ‘Sorry to hear it.’
‘It’s been a long time. She will always be my lost love,’ Red said and shrugged. ‘Anyway, we need to find a way to get rid of Lori.’
Snow grinned and looked down at her sword. ‘Oh, I know a way. I just need to catch her off guard.’
MERLIN
The world around them was captured in a powdered white silence. The snow crunched under their boots as they made their way to the centre of Cantata, the magical hub of their world. Tears trickled down Ariel’s face and into her hair, which she had pulled down in an attempt to warm her neck from the deadly cold that swept through the forest.
Lori walked ahead of them, wearing a tight black dress that cinched in so tight at her waist Ariel wondered how Lori managed to breathe.
Ariel’s teeth chattered. Stilt sighed and magicked a hooded gold cloak with white fur trimming the edges. ‘Here,’ he said throwing her the cloak. Lori looked at Stilt and rolled her eyes.
Ariel smiled. ‘Thank you.’
‘I am sorry,’ he said truthfully. ‘We are going to a place where I may be able to get my dead wife and child back. I can’t turn my back on anything that could help with this journey.’
Ariel nodded. ‘I understand, but can you promise me I will return to my Eric once I have done what you need me to do?’
He smiled at her. She truly was a kind person, and even he couldn’t help but like her. ‘I promise.’
Lori put her hand up. ‘Don’t make promises you can’t keep.’
Ariel scowled at her and continued to walk, rubbing her head. ‘Eric’s going to lose his mind! He’s going to be so worried. You didn’t need to knock me out with a candlestick. If you needed help, I would have come willingly. I would have brought Eric with me, and we could have all saved ourselves all of this worry.’
Lori laughed. ‘Oh sweetie, we need you to help us, yes. But what we need you to do requires a darkness that I’m afraid you don’t possess. Eric won’t be out of his mind with worry because he is here.’ She tapped her purse.
‘What?’ Ariel asked. ‘What have you done to him?’ Ariel’s hair turned from red to purple.
‘That’s the darkness we needed,’ Lori said and pulled out a frog. ‘I turned your handsome king into a frog.’
The frog opened his mouth. ‘Ariel, don’t do it.’
Lori took his voice and grinned. ‘Don’t listen to him because if you do, then you will never see him again. I will stomp on him just as easily as I would a real frog.’
Ariel gulped as she watched Lori put the frog back into her purse. ‘What do you need from me?’
Stilt lowered his head. ‘I am so sorry, Ariel, but we need you to kill Merlin.’
Ariel cried out. ‘No! I can’t kill anyone.’
Lori turned and looked at Ariel. ‘Oh, but you have no choice.’ Lori looked around and lifted the veil with her hands. ‘We are here. I have hidden us from Merlin with an invisibility spell until now.’
Merlin appeared not far from them, stroking his long dark beard which was tied into segments with purple bands. ‘Lori, Stilt, and who’s this?’ he said, addressing them all.
‘Ariel,’ she said and gulped, trying not to cry.
Ariel lowered her head. ‘Ursula,’ she whispered. ‘Ursula, I need you.’ She knew Ursula was not her friend, but she was the only magical person she knew who could help her. That she could call too with a simple whisper of her name. But Ursula did not appear.
‘She won’t help you,’ Lori said, laughing. ‘Now, prepare to die, Merlin!’
He lifted his hand high in the air, and a snowstorm blew over the forest. The trees flailed in the ferocious wind, the animals scattered, and Lori, Ariel, and Stilt held onto the trees. Lori lifted her hands, and a tree uprooted from the ground. It was at least fifteen feet tall. She threw it at Merlin, but he turned it to ash just before it hit him.
‘Help us or your king gets it!’ Lori shouted at Ariel. Lori pulled the frog out of the purse and held a knife to its throat. Ariel watched as it frantically tried to escape her clutches.
‘No!’ Ariel screamed. ‘Don’t hurt him!’ Her hair turned to purple again, and a fury took hold of her, turning her eyes dark. Her gaze locked onto Merlin’s. She put her hand on the snowy ground, and the area around him turned to quicksand. He tried to free himself, but his magic wouldn’t work on Ariel for some reason. He wanted to hurt Lori, but his magic would not allow him to hurt another, only to defend himself. He managed to stop himself from sinking by making a large branch fall over the sinkhole, which covered its length. He held onto it for dear life.
Ursula stepped out from behind a tree and kicked the branch from Merlin. ‘I will kill him,’ she called out to Ariel. ‘If you do, your heart will darken. Mine is already dark. If I do this, then we are even!’
‘Yes,’ Ariel shouted, crying.
Merlin made the ivy from the forest creep over to Ursula, tripping her. Lori and Stilt both used their magic to pin him to the sinkhole which slowly consumed him. Ursula got to her feet, and Ariel kept the ground steady for her, using her powers.
Ursula pulled out a jagged blade and glided it across Merlin’s neck. ‘This blade will kill him. It’s made from darkness; from souls.’ Gurgled screams echoed through the forest as the snow storm stopped. The sinkhole disappeared, and Merlin turned to dust.
Lori waited for the forest to implode, but nothing happened. ‘It has no master. He is dead. How is it still here?’
‘Unless he left
it to someone,’ Stilt said.
Lori gritted her teeth. ‘James.’
***
James galloped over the hills; his stallion, the one Snow had gifted him when she was a princess, was incredibly fast. He crossed the border from Dolorom and headed toward Northmanni. He had to start somewhere, so why not start in the last place he knew Snow had been.
As he rode alongside with his mother, memories of him and Snow cuddled by the fire, their first and last kiss, and their last I love you stabbed at him painfully. He remembered every bad thing he had said to her after Edward’s death. He was just angry at seeing his mother so hurt. He had told Snow that he never wanted to see her again. He lied. It hurt him so much to say it.
He reached the edge of the Dead Woods and looked out into the sea of dead trees. Next to them, a frozen lake shone like polished glass. A little duckling tried to swim but was trapped. James jumped off his stallion and helped the little duck escape the ice. It quacked and ran off.
Belle smiled. ‘You were always a caring boy.’
James shrugged. ‘Sometimes, I prefer animals to people. They know nothing of vanity, greed, and selfishness.’
‘I agree,’ Belle replied. ‘There’s actually a legend about a woman called the Ugly Duckling.’
James nodded. ‘Would love to chat about it but another time, okay? Right now, we need to find Snow!’
He was going to get her back. He was going to make everything right.
LET DOWN YOUR HAIR
Rapunzel sat with her back against the brick wall frustrated at her mother. All she wanted was to go outside, to see the world; but she was forbidden.
She walked over to her bed, almost tripping over her hair. It was a pain, her hair. When not in a braid, it was three times the length of her body. As a braid, it reached down to her feet, which meant she could at least walk freely, only tripping over it now and then. Washing it, however, was. A. Nightmare!
‘Rapunzelll, let down your haiirrr,’ her mother sang from the bottom of the tower. She huffed and walked over to the arched window. She undid her braid and pulled her hair down. After fifteen minutes of undoing it, she finally let her hair fall down the small tower. It almost reached the bottom, and her mother grabbed it.
Journey to Neverland (Haunting Fairytales Series Book 2) Page 4
