by Eric Vall
“Yes,” she said as she gave me a beautiful smile. “Your patience will be rewarded soon, but for now, I’ve almost completed packing. We should be able to get on the road in a matter of minutes.”
We shared a quick breakfast of dried apricots, almonds, and hard cheese. I could have really used some caffeine right about now, but I didn’t see a Starbucks anywhere in the wilderness.
“I wish you owned a pair of hiking boots,” I remarked as I watched Jessamine lace up those sandals again. I felt sorry for her delicate feet in the hot sand, but the beauty just appeared amused.
“Have you seen me stumble yet, Joe?” she asked me with a sly look on her face. “Well, into the snake pit, I suppose. But perhaps I meant to do that.”
I laughed at her joke, and then we were on our way, with packs on our back and flasks and weapons at hand.
“So, are you sure we’re still heading in the right direction?” I questioned Princess Jessamine a little while later. We’d found what appeared to be an old camel route, and we’d followed its path for a few miles now.
“Look at the sun, Joe,” she told me as she gestured to the sky. “It is now behind us, which means we are heading west. If we continue to head west, and slightly to the north, we will reach the town Cienna contacted me from.”
“Yeah, the vegetation seems to be changing a little, too.” I’d noticed that while we were definitely still in the desert, the brush seemed to be getting thicker and greener, with taller trees more frequent. I hoped if we were heading north, the sun wouldn’t be quite as intense as it had been.
We continued to chat cheerfully as we went on our way. While the stop at the oasis had been eventful, we’d been lucky not to encounter any hyenas, or whatever lurked in this desert, or worse, other human beings.
I was relieved when we saw our first residence a few hours later. It was a small white farmhouse with a red roof surrounded by fields of what I thought were olive trees, and as we walked, it became more common to see buildings.
But my good feeling didn’t last for long.
We reached the top of a great hill, and I looked down at the valley that laid spread out before us. I could see the red tile roofs and white walls of a small town, but huge plumes of smoke rose into the sky. It appeared the town was burning, and we began to pass other travelers who were obviously in great distress.
“I wouldn’t head that way!” a man on horseback shouted as he galloped past us. “The troops have taken over the town!”
“This is clearly not a good sign.” Jessamine shook her head and sighed. “This is the last place I heard from Princess Cienna, and now the town is burning. We must hurry along and try to find her as soon as possible.”
“Shit,” I groaned with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. “If it isn’t one thing, it’s another.”
Then the princess took off and started to run down the side of the giant hill, and it seemed like I had no choice but to follow after her.
Chapter 6
As we approached the outskirts of the town, it was clear everything was in total chaos. The closer we got, things became crazier and crazier. Soldiers had taken over and had begun to burn fields and barns, and terrified peasants looked on in horror as their properties were destroyed.
Jessamine and I currently sat behind a large pair of rocks outside the village limits to discuss our next plans, and the princess appeared beyond frustrated.
“I shouldn’t be surprised the troops have taken over this town, since it might explain why I haven’t heard from Cienna.” She frowned and rested her head in her hands for a moment. “I was lucky many of my guards were able to remain loyal to me. Chernabog can possess the brains of human soldiers. The forces that were previously guarding a town may turn against its inhabitants and start fighting on the side of evil, so perhaps we should avoid it.”
“We’re already here,” I responded as my heart pounded in my chest, “and I think we have to see if Cienna is still around.”
I wasn’t excited about the idea of heading directly into the heat of battle again, but there was no way we could go back to the desert, especially with a magic carpet that was out of steam.
“I hope Cienna is still here.” The beautiful woman shuddered. “There is no way we can fight Chernabog without her, but if I were in her situation, I might have turned and fled from this town. Or, god forbid, something worse has happened to her.”
“When you received her letter, did she give you any sense of her location in the town?” I asked. It seemed like a longshot since it had been so many weeks ago, but we had to start somewhere.
“Yes,” my beautiful companion confirmed. “She mentioned she had spent the night in the inn in the center of town, so perhaps we should head in that direction.”
“Princess Jessamine, I think we need to make sure we have a good plan,” I replied. “We can’t just go storming into town in the midst of all these soldiers and expect to survive.”
“I am also getting more afraid I will run into someone who knows me,” Princess Jessamine fretted. “When Jamar first attempted to take over my palace, he managed to use his hypnotic powers to bring some of the guards over to his side. Some of the soldiers here clearly came from my kingdom. I can tell from their uniforms.”
I glanced toward the town and realized she was right. There were some knights in heavier plate armor instead of mail, which included helmeted men on horseback as well as foot soldiers who brandished long, straight, double-sided swords, but there were also soldiers in the garb from Jessamine’s kingdom.
“We’re just going to have to do the best we can,” I responded in a grim tone. “Let’s just stay hidden as much as possible.”
“I know you’re right, Joe,” the princess agreed. “Maybe we should try to disguise ourselves better. If anyone recognized me, it could be total madness.
“I know,” I replied with a wink. “You’re definitely not easy to conceal.”
“There is something I might be able to do to help us,” she said, and she suddenly sounded more serious. “Do you remember what I did with the magic carpet back in the desert?”
“That would be hard to forget,” I snorted. “A rug turned into a scarf. It was really amazing.”
It would have been the most incredible thing I’d ever seen, but things had been pretty crazy since I’d gotten to Fairyland.
“Well, what would you say if I told you I could conceal something more interesting than a rug?” Princess Jessamine’s dark eyes sparkled.
“What exactly do you mean?” I asked her.
“Joe, I think I might have the powers to conceal us,” she told me in a slightly nervous tone.
“What?”
“I have a unique magic power,” she explained as her cheeks began to flush a bit.
“Yeah?” I asked when she seemed too embarrassed to continue.
“I can disguise myself,” she finally said. “I can look like anyone, but--”
“That’s awesome!” I gasped. “So, you can easily get into the city and--”
“But we are going to have to choose the right time to use the magic,” she cut me off. “Remember what happened with the magic carpet? How its magic was limited, and ran out over time? It’s similar to that. My powers aren’t that strong right now, and the illusion only lasts so long. Not to mention, I’m not sure how long it takes to work again. It’s all well and good to use it to get into the town, but we don’t know where Cienna is or how to find her.”
“I’m not sure we have a choice right now, Your Highness,” I sighed. “We have to make it into town, and there’s no way you could pass as anyone but… yourself, really.”
“Okay, fine, I’ll do it,” the princess agreed, and her expression was determined, “but we are going to need to find somewhere more private than these rocks for me to prepare my power.”
We stood to assess the situation, and I spotted a barn across the road that wasn’t yet burning.
“Maybe we could get some space to ourselve
s in there,” I gestured.
We crossed over to the barn, and the princess poked at me while I fumbled to get the gate open.
“Hurry, Joe!” she hissed. “There are troops everywhere! I think I might even see some of Jamar’s men coming!”
“I’m trying!” I groaned, but the latch was slippery in my sweaty palms.
Just when I thought we would never get through, the bolt pulled open in my hands, and Jessamine pushed me through and into the barn. We were in luck, and the structure was deserted.
“Whew.” The princess smiled and wiped at her brow. “That was close.”
I surveyed the barn, but I still didn’t feel quite safe in the wide-open room.
“Quick, behind this wall.” I pulled her into an animal’s stall, but I was a bit too rough with my movement, and I accidentally pulled her on top of me as I fell to the ground.
We both gasped for air as we laid in the cool darkness of the building, and we were temporarily too winded to speak. I could feel the princess’ heartbeat as she laid on top of me, and, for a moment, everything seemed to disappear: the soldiers, the smoke, and even our mission were all gone from my mind as I held the princess and felt her breasts pressed up against me.
The spell was only broken when she leaned up on her elbow and spoke, though I noticed she left the rest of her body intertwined with mine.
“Again, I agree with what you said earlier, Joe,” she said, and she was all business again. “I don’t think there’s a way forward at this point without using the spell. If I am able to transform myself, we can make it into town, head over to the inn, and figure out a way to ask about Princess Cienna.”
It sounded like a plan to me. I hoped she could transform me, too, since I felt a little noticeable in my worn Arabian prince attire and brown, lace-up work boots, even though I was definitely less likely to draw attention than Jessamine, who seemed to look like a supermodel no matter what she wore.
“What should we do about me?” I asked her. “I feel pretty conspicuous myself. I’m not as beautiful as you are, but I’m obviously not from around here. It seems like it would be better if we didn’t attract any attention at all.”
“That’s the hardest thing of all,” she responded as she furrowed her eyebrows thoughtfully. “In general, it is harder to transform the image of a living being than an object like a rug, because a living being emits its own energy that fights off the magic. It’s easy for the rug to stay small indefinitely in our bag right now, but it’s different for people. When I tried to change other peoples’ appearances in the past, it only lasted a few seconds. So, I think I will be able to change our appearances, but only for a short time. It requires a sustained effort on my part, and I am afraid I am especially weak right now from traveling.”
“Yeah, it does sound hard,” I admitted, but then I had an idea. “Jessamine, remember what happened with the rug back in the desert? When we held hands, the magic happened right away. We could try that.”
“Hero!” she gasped. “I think you’re right. We could definitely try that again.”
“Why don’t you give it a try,” I said. “This seems to be as good a place as any, especially if you need space.”
“I think I do,” she agreed. “Do you remember what it looked like when I transformed the rug? It was a bit of a spectacle, plus I really need to concentrate.”
“Well, then this barn seems perfect,” I said as I began to strategize. “But what about time? How long is this going to last?”
“If we combine our powers… half an hour?” Jessamine chewed on her lower lip. “I’m really kind of guessing, though… I don’t even know if this will work…”
Shit, we would have to be fast. I would also have to estimate how long everything was taking, since I didn’t have any kind of clock, of course.
“Okay, so as soon as you cast your spell, the clock will be ticking, and we’ll only have so long to figure things out. Man, I wish we knew where the inn was.”
“Once we are transformed, we can search for the inn,” the princess said. “I was thinking we should just dress up as soldiers.”
“Yeah, that sounds good.” I nodded. “Then hopefully no one will fuck with us, and we’ll still be able to carry our weapons just in case they do.”
“Well, I guess I should try to do this,” Jessamine replied, and her face was tense. “Or, we should try. Let’s hold hands and see what happens.”
The princess and I sat cross-legged on the cool dirt floor, and she took my hand in her own before she rested the other hand, palm up, on her knee. She appeared to take several deep breaths, and then the air that surrounded our bodies began to tremble. She raised her free hand, palm still open, into the air, and the light itself seemed to shift around our bodies and cast shadows where there hadn’t been any before.
“Holy shit,” I gasped as the embroidered brocade of her dress began to change from its vibrant sea-green tone to a drab brown.
“Shh,” the princess gently reprimanded me. “I’m trying to concentrate.”
Within seconds, it looked like a uniform jacket covered her arms in place of the luxurious fabric she had been wearing, and dusty brown boots covered her previously-sandaled feet. I looked down at myself, and my clothes had changed as well, along with a large, plumed helmet that now sat on my head. I ran my fingers down my new uniform, and I was amazed it even felt like rough wool.
“Uhhh, your face still looks… really pretty.” I cleared my throat. As long as her big brown eyes and full red lips were in sight, any guy within fifty yards would want to talk to her. I thought my face could stay the same, since I was a pretty typical-looking dude, but that wasn’t going to work for the princess. “You can transform that, too, right?”
“I’m glad you think I’m pretty,” she laughed. “The answer is I can, though that’s the hardest part. But I’ll do whatever it takes to rescue Cienna.”
“Well,” I joined her in laughing, “We do need to be in disguise.”
“Let me try this.” She squeezed my hand harder and furrowed her brow in concentration, and the air directly in front of her face took on that shimmering effect.
And suddenly, something amazing happened.
It was almost as if I watched the princess age right in front of me. Her laugh lines deepened, and crow’s feet appeared around her eyes. I imagined some of my L.A. clients getting reverse Botox and snickered to myself for a moment, but this was something truly incredible to watch. Her skin got paler, and a gray mustache sprouted on her upper lip along with bushy gray eyebrows. Before my eyes, Princess Jessamine had turned herself into the image of an aging soldier. The only thing that remained the same were her deep brown eyes.
She blushed when she caught me staring at her in disbelief.
“I know it’s not what you’re used to, Joe,” she said as her voice faltered with embarrassment. “But did I do a good job?”
“Jessamine, you did amazing,” I raved. “If I passed you on the street, I wouldn’t recognize you. But remember, we basically need to run at this point if we have any hope of blending in at the inn.”
“The longer we can stay touching, the better,” she told me. “That’s really going to help the illusion last longer.”
“Two soldiers can’t exactly walk down the street holding hands,” I laughed, but the problem was real. “I guess we’re just gonna have to walk as close together as possible, and if you need a boost of power, just grab me. Or we can pretend you’re wounded, and I can sling your arm over my shoulder. We’ll figure it out.”
I felt like I was on some sort of strange game show: beat the clock before the princess turns into a hottie again.
I pulled the princess to her feet, and we quickly made our way to the door of the barn. I peered out through a crack, and everything seemed clear for the time being.
“Okay,” I said, “It’s soldier go time.”
The princess nodded, and we crept out of the barn.
“I wonder how we will be able to fi
nd Cienna,” Jessamine murmured with that mischievous look in her eyes, this time from under gray eyebrows. “Joe, it’s almost like we are on a spy mission.”
I sighed. This woman was amazing, but she sure got me into a lot of trouble.
“Let’s just try to be careful,” I whispered as we walked across the open road and away from the barn. “The last time you got excited like this, we ended up in a snake pit.”
The princess just giggled softly, and then she grabbed my hand and tugged me down the road.
As we entered the town itself, the situation seemed dire. The narrow streets were lined with tightly packed stone buildings, a couple stories tall, and many of the houses and shops were on fire. Various types of soldiers milled about on both foot and horseback, but they didn’t seem to be doing much but randomly shouting orders to sow fear and chaos. It appeared the town’s inhabitants were mainly trying to flee, and they ran around through the streets holding belongings, crying babies, and the odd pet.
“We need to figure out where we’re going,” I murmured to the princess, because I had no idea where to head next.
“Joe, I’m worried,” she whispered back, and I could understand why, even though no one had paid us any attention yet.
The streets were getting thicker with smoke, and the crowds made me feel claustrophobic. Every few seconds, I was jostled by a passerby, and it startled me each time. We were able to inch slowly forward, but it was difficult to make progress.
“Private!” a rough voice suddenly shouted in our direction, and I turned and groaned to see a hulk of a soldier towering over us. “What are you doing here? Commands were to head west.”
Shit. This was exactly what we were trying to avoid.
“Uhhhh, just trying to keep these peasants in line, sir!” I saluted awkwardly.
He stared at me for a long moment, and then he gave Jessamine the once-over. I instinctively put my hand on my sword and hoped we weren’t going to have to fight.
“Get the fuck out of here,” the giant man growled at us. “Head west. Now.”
He stomped away, and I exhaled sharply.
