by S R Nulton
Time to change the subject before we start arguing again. “They should be here tonight. Are the rooms ready?” I asked while punching down the dough.
“You know they are. You cleaned them yourself. Well, with some help. I have to say, this castle is fairly pleasant to stay in. Why is that, do you think?”
I blinked. “Well, for one, the king avoids it. He hates being here. It reminds him that he’s a fake, I think. Also, I’m pretty sure that the few spells that were placed here have already been well taken care of so the usual feelings of dread should be gone. Those were added later, I think, so they were weaker.”
He nodded. “The magnification should disappear soon, as well as all the other old spells to make the place look grander. It will be interesting to see what it looks like afterward. By the way, why do you always call him ‘the king’ or ‘my husband’? You never seem to call him his name. Either of them, I suppose.”
That question gave me pause. “I guess that I don’t feel like I know him well enough to presume. There is no real reason to refer to him so familiarly. I don’t know him, not really anyway. In fact, in the fifteen years we’ve been married, I probably have spent about three months in his presence. At least, if you total up all the times he’s visited me. And he rarely spoke to me during all that time. We… well, I suppose I have to remind myself that I am married to him, that it isn’t just a nasty dream.”
My wistful voice must have drawn Dallin closer because he was there again, holding me tightly, this time for comfort rather than seduction. “It won’t be long now,” he promised.
Before I could answer, a chime sounded from the library. “They’re here.” I looked up at my… actually, I didn’t know what Dallin was to me. He was more than a guard, but nothing was official. And it couldn’t be, at least right then. I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment before moving away from him so that I could clean my hands off. “Would you meet them for me? They probably want to know that it’s safe.”
The captain smiled at me and nodded before striding off, his long golden hair dancing around his back as he did so.
By the time I had finished cleaning up, the castle was full of boisterous voices and happy conversation. I leaned against the wall just out of sight, and listened.
It was what I’d always longed for. I’d wanted a home full of love and laughter, one that was comfortable and inviting. I didn’t want to be a queen or anything special. It was time to enjoy it, before real life intruded once again.
~
“I can’t believe you won’t tell me what’s going on,” my daughter complained as she helped me wash the dishes. Dinner had been over very quickly and most of my guests had retired already. The dwarves were heading home in the morning to pick up some reinforcements. We weren’t sure if they would get back in time, but really their job was over already. They had protected and educated a future queen, just as requested. If they involved themselves in the actual deposing of the king, it wouldn't make the other countries very happy. Essentially, their part was done.
For now.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve told you everything of importance that’s happened around here.”
Snow snorted. “Not about the rebellion. I’m talking about you and Captain Craftis.”
I froze. “Dallin? What about him?”
Her brows shot up. “Dallin is it? Well, well. Just what have you been up to, young lady?”
The expression she had was priceless and I couldn’t help but laugh. “Nothing, I swear. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a married woman. It wouldn’t be right to start anything under those circumstances.”
She blinked. “Oh. I hadn’t thought about it that way. I see the issue. But if you weren’t married…?”
“I wouldn’t have to think about it. He’s the most amazing man I’ve ever met and I’m quite sure that my heart would become his with very little effort. But that isn’t how life has worked out for me, so there’s no point in worrying about it. Now, tell me about you and James. I know something happened. You were much too close for two people who were ready to kill each other only a month ago.”
Snow blushed becomingly and smiled at me. “Well, we resolved a lot of our issues. It turns out all it took for him to see me differently was a few dead rabbits and a small argument. Then, when we were in the kitchen a few weeks back, I confronted him about his feelings–”
“Oh, little light, you didn’t! No, of course you did. You never could wait once you decided something.” I chuckled a bit but let her continue.
“Well, we decided to see what was between us and I may or may not have kissed him. Then, of course, I died, so that made things a bit more difficult.” That really made me laugh and she joined in this time. “But, well, we decided about a week ago, maybe a week-and-a-half, that we should get married. So… we’re engaged?”
She seemed a bit worried about my reaction, but I’m not quite sure what my face was showing. Personally, all I felt was shock. Okay, a bit of sadness too, but I expect that is perfectly normal when you find out your little girl is all grown up and engaged.
“Golden skies and cavern depths! Congratulations!” I threw my arms around her and hugged her tightly. “But why so fast?”
She shrugged. “We figure we’ve seen each other at our worst, and I’m pretty sure that James is scared I’ll meet someone else when I’m crowned. I just know that he makes me feel safe. I’m not worried about what I say around him anymore. He listens and he has gone out of his way to protect me and, oh Mama, you should have seen him when I woke up after being poisoned. He was holding me so tightly and crying! And we hadn’t done more than kiss once! I knew he was attracted to me, but it kind of proved that he felt more for me than I’d expected.”
I smiled at her. “It sounds like a good match. Just remember, you need to talk to him about what both of you expect from the relationship. That’s what my parents and grandparents told me that they did. Well, do. Your great grandmother always told me that the biggest problems in her marriage happened because of unstated expectations. She expected something that never happened and it wasn’t ’til later that she realized she’d never told her husband what she expected. Men are wonderfully frustrating creatures but they can’t read minds. Generally anyway. I’m sure one or two out there can, but then they would probably do their best not to read your mind, so it would still be a problem.”
She nodded, knowing I was right. Snow had met both my parents and grandparents, so she knew just how wonderful both of those marriages were. “Well, we have plenty of time. James suggested a longer engagement. Well, it is probably pretty typical to be engaged for a few years, at least for royalty, but it’s longer than either of us really want. But I’m probably going to be very busy for a while and he doesn’t want to cause any problems with setting things up correctly.”
I nodded, recognizing the truth in his words. Snow could be terribly snippy when something pulled her off focus. It was one of her more entertaining and frustrating traits.
As soon as the dishes were done, we rejoined the men in the library, where they’d been speaking with the Spinner.
“Everything going well in here?” I asked as we walked in.
“Swimmingly, my dear.” Spinner smiled at me, but I could see the worry in his sharp eyes. “I think everything is ready. I’ve examined the spell backwards and forwards and I think that a simple switch in the person opening the door should nullify any draining spell. Really, the door only marks the person who opens it. It doesn’t do anything nefarious, as such. And the self-protections should have been passed down by blood, so really, there isn’t a difficulty.”
I nodded, knowingly. “Then let’s get started. Oh, and James?” He looked up at me, clearly nervous. Or maybe it was only clear to me. Really, the only indication was a slight tightening around his eyes. Huh, I’ve gotten much better at reading people. “Congratulations on the engagement.”
He smiled and pulled Snow close. “Thank you, ma�
�am. I look forward to getting to know you and introducing the two of you to my family.”
Both Snow and I blinked, suddenly realizing that our little family was growing by much more than just one member. We were getting a whole group!
I wonder if they’ll like me… I so rarely interact with normal humans, I’ll probably make some huge gaff and accidentally insult someone!
But it really wasn’t time to think about that. There was no need to borrow trouble, not when we had more important things to do. Like opening a door.
Much sooner than I was expecting, we found ourselves standing in front of an unassuming door under the stairs. The spells that had been used to make it more noisy and impressive looking had been drained already and it was back to looking like an ordinary door. The boys quickly moved the little table that was blocking access to the lock and handle.
I took a deep breath in and let it out before pulling the key out of my pocket. “I guess it’s time.”
Then I handed the key to Snow White.
She took it and cautiously unlocked the door then waited. When nothing happened immediately, she continued.
Ever so slowly, she grasped the handle and turned it. When the latch was out of the way, Snow carefully opened the door and…
Once again, nothing happened.
“Well that was anticlimactic.”
James snorted at her comment and pulled her back into his arms. “I think I’m fine with that.”
I nodded. “Let’s close it again and head back to the mirror. See what Spinner has to say.”
CHAPTER 12: HURRY UP AND WAIT
SNOW WHITE
“So?” Mama demanded of the man in the mirror. I have to say, it felt odd to rely so heavily on the very object that had been used to drive her crazy. It felt wrong to me. The mirror had taken away the only person who’d loved me. Still, it was a valuable resource now that it was fixed. Mama would have said that I needed to practice forgiving, so I decided not to say anything. The mirror would either prove itself to be useful or detrimental, but there were enough people keeping an eye on it to keep us safe.
Spinner looked me over carefully, his eyes snagging on the hand I’d used to open the door. “It looks like she’s been marked. Not very visible, so if you two are close when he shows up, it should disguise just who opened the door. Actually, I doubt he can see magic at all, but he probably has a spell for that too. Blue Beard was never very talented. In fact, if he hadn’t figured out a way to steal other people’s powers I would have thought that he didn’t have any magic.”
I blinked. “Wait, you know him? Personally?”
Spinner began laughing. “Dear girl, when you are as long lived as my family, you tend to have met most other people like you. Those of us who are functionally immortal tend to travel quite a bit to stave off boredom. I’ve visited your kingdom several times. Actually, my father was the one who enchanted that mirror you have. If I’d known what he was up to, I would have done something a long time ago. Unfortunately, that lovely spell of his kept your country quiet for so long that no one had a clue.”
Sighing, I acknowledged that he was right. No one was going to get involved with an isolationist country that didn’t seem to have any unrest. The neighboring countries didn’t exactly push the point either. While Alenia had a troubled past, the mountains that separated the two countries were an effective barrier. Lettelach just never cared to be aggressive. They had enough trouble just keeping their own land to care about conquest or interfering with someone else.
“Now, what I know of the man isn’t much. He tried to avoid attention, in his own way,” Spinner continued. “Knowing now that he was involved with Charlotte from the start… well, it makes sense.”
I frowned. “Who’s Charlotte?”
“Charlotte was the first queen of Alenia and a nastier person I’ve never had the occasion to meet. Your mother found out she was the one who gave him the spell all those years ago. She probably set it up for him too.”
James stiffened behind me before growling out a name that sounded rather familiar. “Rancune.”
“Wait.” I held up my hand and looked between James and Spinner. “Rancune? As in the woman he’s been selling people to?”
Mama drew in a sharp breath behind me. “I didn’t connect the two. He just started talking about a Rancune in his journals… but that was about the time he stopped mentioning Charlotte”
Spinner’s expression darkened significantly, making his burn scars all the more obvious. And ominous. Definitely ominous.
“She always seems to be at the center of every disgusting thing on this continent. I know she isn’t, but it seems like it. Probably because she’s been alive long enough to get rid of or employ the competition.”
“Wait, what else has she been involved in?” I felt like I was missing some pretty big pieces to the puzzle and it was annoying me.
“She was involved in the Prince Regent of Shessat attempting to get rid of his nephews before one of them could take the throne,” James offered, reverting to a bored tone that showed how uncomfortable he was. “And she was best friend’s with my sister-in-law’s step-grandmother. And yes, I am aware of how difficult that was to understand.”
Captain Craftis sighed. “No, it made enough sense. And she was also the one who gave the Wraith Queen the curse she used on King Tiertanal. Well, the last queen. The new one broke the curse for us and let us know where her cousin got it in the first place. Oh, and Rancune also cursed our last king with madness. Eavan Oran only took the throne because he had to kill his own father in self-defense. The Fey Nation has an active and very large bounty on her head.”
“I should hope so!” James shook his head. “If she’s been involved from the start, a lot more about this situation makes sense. The woman is meticulous but unstable. She’s allied herself with like-minded individuals from almost every country. It seems her plans fall apart near the end though, which is surprising. If she’s so careful about everything, why the lack of follow-through?”
The Spinner nodded. “Yes. It’s something that has me worried as well. What are the odds that four of her schemes would fail so miserably and manage to draw attention to her? She’s lived in the shadows successfully for years. There’s no reason for her to fail and I worry that this is all a part of some sort of long game. I’m looking into it but I haven’t found anything yet.”
“Just keep us informed,” Mama ordered. “Once we’re done with this, I’m sure that everyone here would be interested in helping you track the woman down. She has a lot to answer for.”
“Absolutely. I believe it’s time for me to go, however. My wife doesn’t like it when I miss dinner. You understand?”
Mama laughed. “Go! And give her my best.” The mirror rippled once and once more reflected the room at large and the silence was only broken by Mama’s amused mutterings. “It must be earlier where he lives. Interesting. Well, mirror, show me my husband please. We need to know how far away he is.”
The mirror rippled again before showing Father riding his horse quickly through the outskirts of the capital. Then the image shifted once more, making me blink in surprise.
“Oh, you clever thing! A map of the country with a marker showing his movements? How did you come up with that?” Mama was practically petting the mirror now and even the good captain was looking impressed.
“That was a neat bit of magic,” he told the room. Or perhaps just the mirror. It was difficult to tell. “Rather fancy actually. I’ve heard that most mirrors have to be taught how to do that. None of the others have picked it up on their own.”
“That’s because he’s had more magic than the other, I’d wager. Well, that and the Spinner is constantly talking to him.”
“Him?” The captain lifted his brows and looked at my mama with more than a little amusement. “It’s a him now, is it?”
She nodded. “He is. I believe Spinner told me that the gender was determined by the magic absorbed. No one is quite sure w
hy or how though. He also mentioned something about the gender of crocodiles, but it didn’t make much sense to me.”
I cleared my throat to gain their attention. “Not to distract you from the new baby, but should we investigate the basement tonight?”
“No, in the morning. You’ve been traveling quite a bit and I have a feeling that none of us will enjoy the process. There’s no telling what we’ll find, but I doubt it’ll be chests full of gold or anything so pleasant. No, ghosts are far easier to deal with in the light of day.”
~
Waking up in my own bed for the first time in two years was lovely. And odd. My room hadn’t changed since long before I’d left, about the time I got tired of scavenging for ‘new’ furnishings in the other rooms of the castle. It was always too grown up for me, and that hadn’t changed. Everything still looked too stuffy and rich for my tastes, but it was made more pleasant because of nostalgia.
I didn’t really want to think about my bedroom decor though. Actually, I didn’t want to think about anything at that moment, but the mystery of the basement kept creeping in. Mama had taught me not to wonder about closed doors but we both knew that once the door was open, all bets were off. My curiosity was getting the better of me, but my imagination was filling in some gruesome holes.
“No use putting it off any longer,” I muttered to myself. Groaning, I sat up and got ready for the day before slipping down to help my mama prepare breakfast.
Surprisingly, Earyn was still there. I’d thought my guards had left already. “Morning,” she grunted at me. “We’re staying a little longer. You might need help with the basement.”
I nodded, having worried about the same thing. When I looked at the stove, I saw a large kettle on top but nothing else.
“No breakfast?”
Mama shook her head. “No. If we find what I think we’ll find, none of us will want to eat. And if we don’t, I can make something up quickly.”
