Cursed Beauty (A Fairy Retelling #1) (10 page)

* * * * *

Though the noon bells were ringing, Julian did not feel the slightest bit hungry for lunch. His thoughts were still centered on Adelaide and Merelyn. He couldn’t help but wonder if he could have saved the girl. If he had moved faster - left Adelaide at the castle and borrowed a steed to get to Merelyn - perhaps she would still be...

“Pardon, Your Highness,” his footman said, walking into the prince’s chambers. “A young girl is here to see you. I believe she is the late court physician’s daughter.”

“Thank you, James. I’ll be right down.”

The prince walked down to the foyer. Adelaide was waiting for him, pacing back and forth, biting ferociously on a lone, unfortunate fingernail as she muttered to herself. Julian had expected her to be morose, crying perhaps. Instead, the girl was a bundle of energy, clipping along the length of the foyer before whipping around and tracing her steps again. She never was quite what he expected. He liked it.

Adelaide noticed the prince walking slowly down the stairs, stopped her pacing, and met him at the foot of the staircase. “Your Majesty,” she said, curtseying low.

“Miss Adelaide,” Julian said, bowing.

“I’m so sorry…”

“I need your…”

Both began speaking at once.

“Please, Your Highness,” Adelaide started again, “after you.”

Julian paused, gathering his thoughts before he spoke again.

“Miss Adelaide, I am so very sorry for what happened last night,” he began.

“Your Lordship, if I may,” Adelaide interrupted. Again, she surprised him.

“I know you’re sorry. I’m sorry. Even Celeste is sorry, I think, as much as her condition will allow her to be. But I need to put that aside for now. There is a more pressing matter at hand, and I need your help,” she said.

“Certainly, Adelaide,” he said, and blushed at speaking to her so informally. He pulled her hand into both of his own. “Whatever you need, it’s yours.”

“Good,” she replied, “because I need you to help me catch a witch.” She smiled. “I have a plan.”

CHAPTER 10

“What do you know about witches?” Adelaide asked.

He considered her question for a moment. “Not much,” he answered, “but I know someone who might.”

“Who?”

“My brother.”

The Elder Prince’s face showed his surprise to see Adelaide, but this time, his shock did not give way to repulsion, and he began to apologize.

“My lady, please forgive my behavior last night. It was irreproachable, and I am truly ashamed at how rudely I behaved. Please accept my sincerest apology.”

“My Lord Prince,” Adelaide began, “I will be happy to forgive you, if you’ll but help us with a brief, educational lesson.”

“Certainly, what is it you would like to know?”

“Tell us everything you know about defeating witches.”

“Witches? Why in the world would you need to know something like that?” the Elder Prince asked.

Adelaide looked to Prince Julian, and he spoke. “Adelaide is being haunted by one who seems hell bent on destroying her.”

Adelaide’s eyes filled with tears, and she struggled to keep her voice even. “My friend was cursed by the witch, and now she is no longer the kind and loving person she once was. The witch has stolen all traces of love from my friend’s heart. She is in danger of never loving anyone every again if we don’t figure out a way to defeat the witch.”

The Elder Prince put his fingers to his chin, and stood silent for a moment, a pensive look softening the features of his face. “I have to admit, I do not know as much as I should. To my knowledge, witches were forced from our land generations ago. There are some books we can look through in the library, though. That might help.”

Adelaide hastily pushed a tear away and looked Prince Leon in the eyes. “My Lord Prince, there is more you should know. My friend is an acquaintance of yours as well. You met her last night at your birthday celebration. You danced with her all night long.”

Color drained from the Elder Prince’s face, leaving it ashy and gray. “Merelyn?” he asked. “Do you mean Merelyn?”

Adelaide nodded.

“And you say some witch took away her capability to love?” he asked.

“Yes. In time, she will grow bitter and hateful. She will never be able to love anyone ever again if we don’t save her.”

Prince Leon took a shuddering breath, and leaned heavily against a chair for support. Julian clapped his hand on his brother’s shoulder and spoke. “You see how urgent our task is, then. We must hurry. Tonight the witch will be coming back to claim Adelaide as well. We must find a way to stop her, and save Merelyn.”

Celeste, too, if that’s even possible after this much time.
Adelaide worried that even if the did find a way to stop the witch, and save Merelyn, too much time may have passed to save her stepmother as well. In fact, she didn’t truly know if they would be able to save Merelyn at all.
Once the witch claimed a person’s love, would it even be possible to retrieve it?
Adelaide decided to grasp tightly onto the hope that she could do something to help save her friend.

Prince Leon quickly led the way through the castle to the library. Adelaide cursed her damaged foot for not allowing her to run through the halls. Though midnight was still hours away, every second counted. Her ankle began to throb again, the pain causing her to limp. Julian noticed and said nothing, but put his arm around her waist, helping to support her as she walked. Adelaide’s skin awoke with flames of awareness in Julian’s embrace.

Though the situation was dire, she couldn’t help but enjoy this moment of being held by him again. Immediately, shame and guilt flared in her heart as well. It felt wrong to enjoy Julian’s touch when her friend was hurting. Adelaide tried to push the conflicting emotions aside and concentrate solely on the task ahead.
Besides,
she told herself,
he’s simply being helpful. Don’t read more into his touch than is really there.

The Elder Prince pushed open the massive doors to library. Julian and Adelaide followed him inside. Adelaide looked up in awe. Shelves lined every wall from the floor up to the vaulted ceiling. Three levels of scaffolding and balconies were ensconced throughout the room with spiral staircases leading up to their great heights. Adelaide sighed. She could live forever in this room.

An immense fireplace sat at the far end of the room, with several chairs and loungers scattered nearby. In one of the chairs sat a man with a book in his hands, staring at the three of them.

The king.

“What the blazes are you doing here?” he bellowed from across the room.

* * * * *

The wind was blowing more forcefully the third night of the Elder Prince’s ball. The chill was considerably more pronounced as well. The dress Adelaide was wearing, a thin, white gossamer, was not heavy enough to keep her from shivering.

Adelaide was beautiful with her hair piled high on her head, except for a few graceful tendrils spiraling down to frame her face. She stood under the swaying branches of a tall weeping willow, and listened to its soft susurrus as the wind played with the leaves. It was a strange juxtaposition to the revelry of the guests enjoying the party just inside. Adelaide longed to be there, dancing with Prince Julian. She was definitely dressed to fit in tonight, and wouldn’t look at all out of place on the end of the prince’s arm. But, she was destined to spend the last night of the ball outside, waiting for the witch to arrive.

Though the glass slippers could take her home in an instant, Adelaide wanted to be there, just outside the celebration. It was her desire to be a part of the ball that had caused so much trouble. It was fitting to end the whole ordeal here, just beyond the stairs leading up to the party.

The bells of the clock began to chime.

“Child, why are you still here?” a familiar voice said behind her.

Adelaide turned and stared at the old woman. Bent with age, the old woman did not seem to be powerful enough to be frightening, but Adelaide’s pulse raced like wild horses inside her breast. She wondered if the old woman could hear it.

“The magic of the slippers ends in just a few seconds. You should have returned home,” the old woman chided.

“I...I know,” Adelaide said haltingly.
You have to do better than that. Stop shaking, and do what you need to do.
She took a deep breath.

“I want to be here, near the prince. I love him. Even if I’m no longer able to fit in here, I still want to be near him, at least until the ball ends.”

The corners of the old woman’s mouth turned up and she grinned a big, fleshy smile at the girl. “Are you certain that you love him?” she asked.

“Yes,” Adelaide breathed, her confidence growing.

“And do you believe he loves you?”

“I don’t know. Does it matter?”

“Well, I suppose not, really. It just seems that young women fall even more deeply in love when they know someone else loves them back.”

“I don’t know how the prince feels about me, but I love Prince Julian, regardless.”

“Oh, so you’ve fallen for the younger prince, then,” the old woman commented. Adelaide felt as if she’d made a mistake. Did it matter if the witch believed her to love Leon, instead of Julian? “Funny, how fickle love can be, how utterly slippery it is. Like liquid, changing back and forth with pull of the moon.”

“I never said I wanted to meet the Elder Prince, nor that I was in love with him. You made that assumption yourself.”

“It makes little difference, as long as the feelings are real and run deep.”

“They are,” Adelaide confessed, “and they do. And you’ll not take them away from me.”

The old woman lifted her head. “What did you say?”

The last peal of the midnight bells echoed through the air. Thick ropes flung from behind two nearby trees and lassoed the old woman around her middle. The two princes walked out from behind the trees, holding the ropes securely in their hands.

“Fools!” she spat, barely pulling against the ropes. “You think this can stop me? I can steal the most succulent parts of her soul whenever I wish, and there is nothing you can do about it. The glass slippers will do my bidding, as long as they’re on her feet.”

“Good thing they’re not, then,” Celeste said, walking in from the shadows. She tossed the glass slippers from her hands and onto the ground. The shoes did not break, but landed safely in front of the witch. The old woman looked from the slippers to Adelaide and noticed that her gown had not changed back to rags when the midnight bells ended. Looking closer at Adelaide’s face in the shadows, she could see the outline of the girl’s birthmark as well. Nothing about the girl’s dress that evening was magical.

“You will not feast here tonight, witch,” Celeste said. “And you will not terrorize any more young girls in this kingdom.”

The old woman began to laugh. A hoarse, cackling gurgle of a laugh. “I know you, don’t I?” the witch asked. “I remember you were in love with the king, long ago. Ah yes, I remember that. The taste of your love for him is still on my lips.” Celeste held the old woman’s gaze. “How interesting,” the witch said, regarding both Celeste and Adelaide, standing side-by-side. “She’s your mother?”

“Stepmother,” both Celeste and Adelaide replied.

“Ha!” the witch laughed. “Small world, isn’t it?”

“Enough with your talk, old woman,” Prince Leon said, attempting to take control of the situation. “Release your hold on those who have fallen to the fate of your cursed glass slippers, and we will show you mercy.”

“Mercy?” the old woman cackled. “You think you are in some sort of position to offer
me
mercy? You are mistaken, boy!”

The ropes encircling the witch’s body burst into flames, and fire quickly licked its way from her body up to the ends of the rope. The princes dropped them in haste, and watched as the burned cords disintegrated into blackened ashes, and were captured by a gust of wind. The witch thrust out her arms towards the two young men, and a powerful, invisible force knocked them down. Leon hit his head upon a rock, and did not stir. Julian was knocked hard against a tree, and lay on the ground, unmoving.

“No!” screamed Adelaide. She took a step towards the princes, but stopped cold when the witch turned to face her.

“It is you who will be asking for mercy,” the witch said, glaring at Celeste and Adelaide with sheer loathing. “But, even if you do,” the old woman held her arm out towards them, “you’ll find that I have none.”

Celeste’s body flew through the air. The witch caught her by the throat, and held her high above her head. Celeste’s feet kicked in midair as the old woman began to choke her life breath out of her. “Now, my dear,” the old woman said, her eyes gleaming red at Adelaide, “it’s time for you to put on my magic slippers.”

Laying askew on the ground, the two glass slippers flipped up into the air and landed perfectly, right at Adelaide’s feet.