Love Spell: Book 2 of The Grimm Laws (35 page)

Loreena leaned forward. “What are you babbling on about, old man? Cease that incessant, nonsensical chattering and give us a verdict!”

Merek dismissed her comment with a flick of his hand. She might’ve been an insignificant fly to be brushed away and forgotten. Then he did something Aalexander had only seen him do on rare occasions. He smiled at Rushton. A bright, genuine smile that gave hope for a better world.

Irritation clouded over Aalexander. How Merek could be so impressed with this scoundrel … traitor … was beyond him. And to think, he was comparing Rushton to him? Unbelievable! The boy was nothing like him! “Thy verdict, Merek,” he prompted.

Merek looked at Aalexander. There seemed to be a hint of amusement mingled with a world of disappointment in his eyes. “I would hate to keep the lovely queen and this patient crowd waiting.” He looked at Rushton. “Out of the lad’s own mouth, so must the verdict stand. Guilty.”

Aalexander spoke with a feigned solemnity that he did not feel. What he felt was anticipation of the most frenzied degree. It was all coming to a head. Only a few more moments to go. “The council and my most trusted advisor have found Squire Rushton Porter and his mother Wisteria Avalonia Porter de Florin guilty of casting a love spell over the Princess Cinderella. The responsibility for pronouncing judgment hereby falls on my shoulders.”

Rushton stepped forward. “But my mother … I told thee that my mother had nothing to do with the spell. She is innocent.”

Wisteria put a hand on his arm. “Save your breath, Son. This is all just a ruse to execute me.” Her eyes glittered with malice as she looked first at Queen Loreena and then at Aalexander.

Aalexander turned to the council. “What is thy ruling in regard to Wisteria?”

They spoke furiously amongst themselves until the portly man in the center stood. “Guilty.”

“Merek?” Aalexander didn’t dare look him in the eye as he spoke, for fear of Merek’s disapproval.

“Guilty,” Merek said.

Wisteria faced Aalexander, her eyes blazing. “Aalexander, the judgment falls to thee. What will you do?”

He’d known this was coming, and he knew it was all a necessary part of the plan, but standing here, looking down at Wisteria, who in that moment was both terrible and beautiful, he started to second-guess himself. What if it all went wrong? What if he ended up losing her after all? He tore his eyes from Wisteria and looked at Loreena, who had a smug smile on her face. Then there was Edward, sitting on the edge of his seat, clenching and unclenching his hands. He felt for his son. He really did.

The tension in the hall was mounting. They wanted blood. Wisteria’s blood. Everyone was looking to him for the answer. Here’s where it could all come together or all fall apart. At this point, it could go either way. He looked at Merek’s fathomless eyes. As usual, he was sitting patiently, waiting to see how it would all play out. He seemed to be saying,
You started this, and now ‘tis up to thee to finish it.

A tremor started running through his hands, and he clenched them to keep from shaking. He’d miscalculated. He’d thought Cinderella would come forward the moment she saw Rushton. He’d been wrong. He closed his eyes and then reopened them. There would be no going back from this decision. “It seems that I am left with no other choice but than to find the two of you …” His voice failed him. He couldn’t find the words. He began again. “I am left with no other choice but to find the two of you—”

“Stop!”

Aalexander turned. Weak relief rushed over him when he saw Cinderella stand.
Saved in the knick of time.
Seraphina had her by the arm and was whispering furiously in her ear, but Cinderella was shaking her head and pulling away. Tears were streaming down her face. “I want to change my testimony.”

Edward jumped to his feet. “Cinderella, do not do this!”

She looked at him, pleadingly. “I am so sorry, Edward. I am sorry I could not be the bride you wanted.”

“Do not speak such words,” he urged. “You know not what you are doing. If you do this, I cannot protect thee.”

She gave him a long, sad look. In that moment, dreams of the castle, dreams of Edward, all faded away. It had only been a dream, after all. “I know,” she said quietly. “I know.”

“I do not love you!” Rushton shouted. “You silly, insignificant fool. I do not even love you!”

Cinderella turned to him. “I know what you are attempting to do, and it will not work.”

“Shut thy mouth!” Rushton hissed. “Do you want to die? Is that what you want?” The words came out ragged and pitiful.

She gave him a sad smile. “Your threats will not work this time, Rushton, for I am going to do what I should have done from the beginning. I am going to tell the truth.” Her eyes met Wisteria’s, and for one brief moment, she thought she saw a measure of respect in them.

She looked at the king, and the weight of what she was about to do settled around her like a millstone, dragging her down deeper and deeper, past the deepest and blackest part of the moat. Where she was going, there would be no light. “Squire Rushton Porter did not put a spell on me.” She let out a half-laugh and then covered it with the back of her hand. “The truth is that I love him. I have always loved him.” Tears were brimming in her eyes. She looked at Rushton and saw in his eyes the thing she’d been craving—the thing she’d dreamed about.

“I love you back,” he said, a single tear rolling down his cheek. “I have always loved you.”

“Enough of this dribble,” Queen Loreena growled. “Sentence them and be done with it.”

Aalexander looked at Loreena in surprise. “But dear, did you not hear Cinderella? There was no love spell.”

She twisted her mouth into a sneer. “Surely, you cannot be serious.”

His jaw hardened. “I have never been more serious.” He turned and declared in a loud voice, “Wisteria Avalonia Porter de Florin, in light of these testimonies, the charges against thee are hereby dismissed. You are free to go.”

Boos came from the crowd.

Loreena jumped to her feet. “Nay!” She clenched her fists and stomped her feet. “Nay!”

“Princess Cinderella and Squire Rushton Porter, you are by thine own admission, guilty of entering into a secret liaison. Cinderella, thy guilt is further compounded due to the fact that we, the citizens of this kingdom, accepted thee as our princess. We wrote thine engagement into The Grimm Laws, our most sacred form of law. Not only have you betrayed Prince Edward, but you have also betrayed each one of us. You have betrayed our sacred law, our very way of life.” He paused. “The two of you are hereby sentenced to death. Immediately upon the commencement of these proceedings, you will be taken to Mount Folet where you will be offered up to the dragon.” He pounded his scepter on the floor. “Court is hereby dismissed.”

Cinderella gasped and collapsed to the ground. Rushton went to her side. Wisteria turned and faced Aalexander. “I warned you!” she seethed. “I warned you, but you would not listen.”

“The law is the law,” Aalexander said, wearily. He motioned for the guards. “Escort the Lady Wisteria home.”

The guards moved to take her arms, but she turned on them and raised her hands, thrusting them at the guards. They fell motionless to the floor.

“What have you done?” Aalexander demanded.

“Magic!” Loreena yelled. “She is using magic!”

Wisteria turned to Aalexander, her hands forming claws. Using all of her might, she thrust them at him. He fell to his knees, clutching his neck. His face went red, as if invisible hands were choking the life out of him.

“Someone do something,” Loreena screamed. “She is killing him.” She rushed to Aalexander’s side in an attempt to help him, but with a flick of her hands, Wisteria sent Loreena spiraling backwards. Aalexander was writhing on the floor, choking, his face turning purple.

Hysteria broke out across the hall as people ran for the doors. Before they could exit, Wisteria cast her hands in that direction, bolting the heavy doors shut. She raised her hands high above her head, as if summoning the very air to obey her command. A furious wind rushed through the halls, toppling over tables and knocking people to the ground. Another flick and Wisteria snuffed out the candles in the monstrous chandeliers on the ceiling and in the torches on the walls. Panicked cries sounded throughout the hall, as the walls started to crack.

Merek stepped forward, the calm in the midst of the storm. As he raised his hands in the air, he started glowing, faintly at first and then brighter. He thrust out his hands, and a blinding white light shot out of them, knocking Wisteria to the ground. She tried to get up, but Merek was too powerful. He kept her bound to the ground by some invisible force that was as real as the walls around them. Her hands were withering up so that her veins were pronounced. It was as though her bones could no longer find a place in her body and were violently stretching out of her skin. Merek spoke unknown words into the calamitous air, and it immediately stilled. With a flick of his fingers, he relit the candles in a loud whoosh.

Aalexander sat up and gasped, inhaling the blessed air into his starved lungs. His hands went to his throat. He stood and looked around as if in a daze. Then he saw Wisteria, still bound to the floor. Her eyes were bulging, and her skin was stretched and running loose like melting wax. He’d witnessed this phenomenon once before. It had been the only time he’d ever seen Merek take another life.

He rushed to Wisteria’s side and put his arms around her. “Merek, stop! You are killing her. Stop!”

Merek shot him a look of pity. “She has lost all reason. She even tried to take thy life, Aalexander.”

“She had good cause,” he said hoarsely. “Let her live,” Aalexander pled. “Please, Merek, let her live.” He buried his head in her hair. “Please!”

Merek gave a resolute sigh. “Very well, but it is imperative that the two of you resolve this vendetta … before the entire kingdom falls to ruin.” With a slight blink of his eyes, she was released. Her bones calmed, allowing her skin to resume its vitality as she lay gasping for breath.

Merek turned to the crowd that was left cowering. “I command thee to leave this hall immediately. You will no longer have any recollection of the events of this day.” He motioned for the doors to open. “Go, now,” he ordered.

“I am sorry,” Aalexander breathed into Wisteria’s hair, his arms clasped tightly around her. “I am so sorry.”

Wisteria merely nodded and clung to his tunic. Her eyelids fluttered softly against her skin as she attempted to fully open her eyes. He looked into them, and his heart clutched when he saw tenderness and warmth reflecting back at him. He caught a glimpse of the woman that loved him as fiercely as he loved her, but in the time it took for his heart to take another beat, her expression grew cold. When Wisteria could move, she sat up and pushed Aalexander away from her. He reached out to touch her arm, but she slapped him away. “I hate you!”

Aalexander scooted back and ran his hands through his hair. “This was a mistake. I should have told thee the plan.”

Her eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about?”

Aalexander only shook his head. Then he remembered Loreena. He looked over to where she had fallen and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her stand and brush herself off. At least she was all right. Loreena walked over to Aalexander and held out her hands to him. Not sure how to react, he took her hands in his and allowed her to help him to his feet. “I am sorry, dear, that you had to witness that. It was all a misunderstanding …” He stopped short when he saw the look of contempt on her face. Then she slapped him hard, turned on her heel, and stomped out of the hall.

Edward was next. He stood, hands clenched, glowering at Aalexander.

“Edward,” he said and then dribbled into silence, for there were no words that could offer balm to his son. No words that could undo the scene that Edward had witnessed. For so long he’d tried to keep his feelings for Wisteria in check, especially around Edward, but now his treachery was laid bare and exposed to the one person whose opinion still mattered to Aalexander, his son. “Edward, if you will allow me to explain,” he said futilely. Edward shook his head and turned away. He only paused long enough to cast a scathing look at Cinderella and Rushton who were huddled together on the floor. Then he walked briskly away.

Merek took charge of the situation. He eyed Aalexander and Wisteria. “The two of you in the Royal chamber.” He snapped his fingers. “Immediately!”

S
era was
the first to hear the news about Rush’s confession. When Elle came down the stairs, she gleefully explained that the police station had called, telling them that it was no longer necessary for Elle to come in. They would, however, be sending an officer by the house in the next day or so to find out why she lied about the accident. Then Sera insisted that she go to school like normal. “You’ve put this family through enough turmoil as it is. I won’t have you causing anymore stress. Also, I can’t stand the sight of you!”

Well, the feeling was certainly mutual! Sera was the last person Elle wanted to see; however, she didn’t relish the idea of going to school while everyone else was gone. Rae was at the hospital with Jack, and she didn’t know where Rush was, but he was not at school. Neither was Mrs. Porter. She had to practically push Edward and Lynessa out of the way of her locker so that she could get to her books. Surely there was another locker—somewhere—that she could use. She made a mental note to check into it after things settled down. The day dragged by slowly, and by the time her last period rolled around, she found herself watching the clock in anticipation of the ringing of the dismissal bell.

She’d sent several texts to Rush throughout the day but had gotten no response. Had they arrested him on the spot? Dread was weaving knots into her stomach to the point where she was feeling nauseous.

As soon as she got home, she ran to her room and threw down her backpack. Then, before Sera or Josselyn could dream up some chore or other task to detain her, she hurriedly went next door. She jabbed the doorbell and waited. Her heart nearly jumped into her throat when Wisteria answered the door. Elle was shocked at her appearance. The faint winkles around her eyes and mouth seemed more pronounced, and she had a worried look in her eyes.

The question that had been eating her alive all day stumbled to her lips. “How’s Rush?”

Wisteria’s eyes misted. “Not good, I’m afraid.”

Elle nodded mechanically, a cold gloom settling over her.

Wisteria motioned. “Come in.”

For a second, Elle thought she’s misheard her. She swallowed. “I’m sorry, but did you just invite me in?”

“Yes, do you want to come in or not?” Wisteria huffed.

“Of course,” Elle said, stepping in quickly before Wisteria could change her mind. It struck her then that this was the first recollection she had of being inside Rush’s home. The furnishings were streamlined and modern, and the walls were a bright white. Large paintings added splashes of color to the otherwise monochromatic scheme. An awkward silence passed as she stood in the foyer, unsure what to do. “Um … is Rush upstairs?”

Wisteria pushed back both sides of her hair. “Yes, he’s in his room. He’s been there all day. I haven’t even been able to get him to come out to eat.” She spread her hands in defeat. “Maybe you can talk some sense into him, as I certainly haven’t had any luck.”

Was this Wisteria’s covert way of asking for her help without coming right out and saying it? If Elle didn’t know better, she’d think that Wisteria was almost pleased that she was here. Weird! Wisteria hated her guts! Why the change of heart?

Elle had only seen Rush’s bedroom from her roof. She knew it was on the left side of the house and upstairs. Other than that, she had no clue. “Could you tell me which room is Rush’s?” She bit her lip, waiting for an answer. Wisteria just kept standing there, studying her with those penetrating eyes. Finally, not being able to stand it any longer, she looked directly at her. “Is everything okay? Was there something you wanted to talk about?” Her voice trailed off.

Wisteria cocked her head, looking thoughtful. “Adele told me what you did for Rush.”

Elle shook her head. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand … you’ve been talking to my aunt Adele? Why?”

She waved her hand. “That’s not important. What’s important is that when push came to shove, you stood by my son.” Her mouth started working, and she seemed to be fighting some inner battle as she tried to find the words to express what she was thinking. Her eyes locked with Elle’s. “I misjudged you, and for that I’m truly sorry.”

“Thank you,” came the automatic reply. All the while, Elle was trying to figure out the hidden message behind the words. There was something significant taking place here, but she couldn’t quite get a handle on exactly what it was.

“Rush loves you,” Wisteria continued. “He needs you now more than ever. You are the only one that can help.”

Elle leaned forward in an attempt to catch the meaning of the words. “Help what?”

Wisteria looked like she might say more, but she finally forced a smile and shook her head. “I was only going to say that his room is the second one on the left, once you get to the top of the stairs.”

T
he more Aalexander talked
, the angrier Wisteria grew. “Am I to understand that you are telling me that this trial was some elaborate hoax to force Cinderella to tell the truth, so that you can open the door to another realm?”

“Aye, a realm that can help us to correct the mistakes we have made.” Hope was shining in his eyes. “We will have another chance to make things right.”

She gave him a look of contempt. “We obviously failed miserably here, what makes you think another realm will make any difference?”

Merek cut in. “’Tis not only about you and Aalexander, but also about Edward, Rushton, and Cinderella. There were certain unfortunate circumstances which altered events, thereby bringing us to the point in which we are at present.” His eyes stabbed into hers. “Do we need to expound on those unfortunate circumstances?”

She lifted her chin in the air. “’Twill not be necessary.”

Merek gave her a vindicated look. “Very well then.”

“Perhaps we should expound on these unfortunate circumstances,” Aalexander countered looking back and forth between Wisteria and Merek. “As king, I demand that you enlighten me on the subject.”

Wisteria let out a scornful laugh. “With pleasure, oh great and powerful king.” She raised her hands. “Allow me to enlighten thee.”

“Enough,” Merek said in a calm voice, but there was no mistaking the warning.

Wisteria reluctantly lowered her hands.

“Cinderella is the crucial element of the plan,” Merek continued. “She is the bridge that connects all of you. It is upon her shoulders that the fate of all will rest. You will go to a new realm, having no memory of this realm. Not only will Cinderella have the opportunity to choose whom she truly loves, but also more importantly, through her experiences, she will be given the quest of obtaining three crucial keys—keys that will benefit all. These keys will provide a solid foundation on which to build a lasting kingdom.”

“A new realm … three keys … and it all rests on the shoulders of that dreadful girl! Exactly what do these keys represent?”

“I will only divulge the first key at present. To divulge more would mean putting the plan at risk,” Merek said solemnly. He held up a finger. “The first key is this … Cinderella must learn to accept who she is, without fear, and she must come to terms with her past, thereby accepting full responsibility for her actions.”

Wisteria blew out a breath. “You really are losing touch with reality.” She let out a humorless laugh. “You might as well ask Cinderella to walk on water. The girl is weak. She will never be able to accomplish any of those tasks. ‘Tis a futile undertaking.” Anger flashed in her eyes. “I will not be a part of it.” She gave Aalexander a scathing look. “Furthermore, I refuse to join my powers or anything else with thee. We are finished!”

Merek gave her a thoughtful look. “I suspected that you might feel this way. Have you no loyalty to the kingdom? There was a time when you were as devoted to the cause of good as was Aalexander. The two of you were a force so united that no evil could stand against thee. You defeated Ruben and his band of robbers, banishing them from the kingdom. You exercised thy powers to create the protective shield, ensuring that no harm could come to the citizens of Aandover Peaks. Wisteria, there was a time when thy potential for good was as brilliant as a shining star in the heavens. Have you forgotten all that you once were?”

Her mouth drew into a hard line. “I was a foolish, naïve maiden who gave her heart to the wrong man. I now live only for myself and for my son.”

Merek sat back in his chair, stroking his beard. “Bitterness has diseased thy stem and branches, but has it yet tainted the root? I wonder,” he mused. He sat up in his seat. “Very well, as I have failed in my attempt to appeal to thy sense of moral integrity, let me now appeal to thy sense of self preservation … or rather, to thine only son’s preservation.”

Her face paled.

Merek formed a ball with his hands, causing a clear bubble to appear. He lifted his hands and blew, and the bubble lifted into the air, growing larger. Then it became luminescent so that they could see into it. A large mountain appeared inside the bubble.

Wisteria let out a ragged gasp when she saw Rushton and Cinderella, huddled together, and being forced to the edge of a pit. The ear-splitting screech of a dragon rent the air as fiery flames burst up from the pit. She jumped to her feet. “This was a ruse! A ruse meant to distract me while my son is being killed!” Rage boiled over her face.

“Nay,” Merek said in a mild tone. “’Tis no ruse, but rather, an opportunity to save thy son.” He made a motion, and the bubble popped, disappearing.

“I will destroy this castle, and every living soul in it,” she thundered. Her fingers drew into claws as she readied herself to thrust them in Aalexander’s direction.

Merek made a swiping motion that caused her hands to fall down to her sides. She tried to lift them, but they were tightly bound. Tears of rage gathered in her eyes. “How could you?” she screamed at Aalexander. “I loved you … trusted you!”

“Please, Wisteria, open thine ears and heart. We are being given a great opportunity. Join with me. Join with me so that Rushton will live,” Aalexander pleaded.

Everything hung in the balance as she locked eyes with Merek. “Give me thy word that my son’s life will be spared.”

“If you join with Aalexander and open the door to the new realm, I give thee my word … thy son’s life will be spared.”

“So be it! I will comply with thy demands.” Venom dripped from her voice as she looked at Aalexander. “I would join with the devil himself if necessary to save my son!”

Aalexander clasped his hands together. “Splendid!” he said jubilantly. “Let us now enact the plan!”