I've been here two weeks and learned so much. I could now conjure small items, I could fill a goblet with water, and I could set a candle which aflame. I still made things spontaneously combust randomly when I tried anything more meaningful. Defensive and offensive spells still eluded me, and the gardener now gave me dirty looks every time he saw me.
I managed to singe a cats fur when it had wandered into the garden, causing Mizumi to laugh hysterically at me. I had tried to catch the kitty and apologize but it hissed at me and ran. Poor kitty.
I had almost forgotten about the hag witch and her cuff until I saw a young girl wearing it around her wrist. She was on her hands and knees scrubbing an already clean floor, her wheat colored hair in her face and sticking to her cheeks. Her stained and ripped green dress was dirty and sopping wet where it sat in the large puddle of soapy water. Her shoulders shook as she furiously scrubbed at the cracks in the stone. The smooth silver cuff glinted with the light hitting it just right from a window.
Flashes of the two severed heads circled in my mind and I shivered. I hadn't thought about it since my lessons began. Guilt washed over me because of that. I realized how many deaths I blocked out just to keep my own feelings under lock and key.
I hadn't thought about Tudy or Neville in so long, but lately they haunted my dreams. The butler and his relative I hadn't really known, but their faces were branded into my mind as well as any others. They went right up there by my brothers, my father, my uncle, and my best friends. Death was like a shadow and seemed to follow me wherever I went.
If I stole this cuff from this girl, would she die because of me? My fears about Cinn came back. I wanted to run back out to the garden and beg her to go home. To save herself. She was all I had left.
My fancy blue dress felt suffocating. My lungs squeezed and I gasped. One hand going to my ribs and the other holding me up against the wall. The cleaning girl jumped to her feet and hastily wiped away her tears.
"My lady, are you okay." Her voice was sweet and sounded like tinkling bells.
"I-I'm fine...thank you," I responded after catching my breath. I righted myself and smoothed my skirts. What was I doing here? Dressed like an honored guest? Sleeping in until noon and eating fruits and cheese like I was perfectly at home? I had a quest I needed to complete!
Mizumi was teaching me magic, but she always had this look in her eyes. Like she was holding back something. I felt like I was a mouse and scampering right into her trap. Her daughters were nice enough, but they always seemed to show up when I was thinking about leaving. It was like they were my guard dogs, but instead of keeping anyone from getting to me, they were keeping me from going anywhere.
My eyes fell to the cuff again. I had to get it somehow. "Where did you get that," I asked her. The girl turned a bright shade of red and hid the offending arm behind her back.
"I um... I tried it on when I was cleaning The Queens chambers...it wouldn't come off."
Ah, so the girl was a thief.
"I take it she caught you."
The girl nodded. "It wouldn't come off. She said...she said she would cut it off, after she was done with me." The girl started to sob again and encircled her arms around me unexpectedly. I was thrown slightly off balance, but caught myself again.
I stood in awkward silence as the girls tears stained my collar. If she couldn't get it off without cutting off her hand, how was I going to get it? "Let me try," I offered as I pushed her gently away from me.
She sniffles and nods, holding her wrist out to me. It shook so bad and the skin was so raw it was bright pink. It looked like it had been yanked and twisted so much a little blister was forming. I ran my fingers over it and willed it to come free. I squeezed my eyes shut so tight I saw stars. My fingers tingled, but nothing happened.
"What's your name," I ask her.
"Avery," she replies. "Its hopeless," she sighs. "If she takes my hand she might as well take my life. I cannot work without both hands! How will I provide for my family?"
"Its not hopeless. There's one more thing we can try. Meet me outside the gates at midnight," I whisper. Her lips part in curiosity and she nods quietly.
"What do you know?"
"I just think I know someone who can help you." With any luck this would go off without a hitch. I scoffed quietly to myself as I walked away. I spat in lucks face a long time ago.
Later that night I sat at the vanity brushing my hair. I hummed Cinns song while staring off into space. My mind was clutter free for the first time in hours. Things would be okay, I told myself. Everything would work out in the end.
It was peaceful, and I was enjoying my time alone. When Cinn first started sleeping out in the garden I had felt abandoned and hurt. Now I realized she probably just wanted a piece of home. Sleeping on a soft pillow and with a person 1000 times bigger than her had to be a huge mind fuck. I understood now as I sat and enjoyed my solitude.
Suddenly I hears racing footsteps and my door slammed open. I jumped in my seat and saw Avery run in. She slammed the door behind her again and sprinted over to me just as the door opened yet again, to a guard and Mizumi herself. Her face was taut with anger, her eyes blazing. She was still made up in her clothing for the day but she looked frazzled.
Avery trembled behind me, her hands gripping my shoulders.
"Interesting that you'd come here," Mizumi crooned. "Of all the rooms in this castle."
Avery shook like a leaf. "P-p-please mistress! We can get it off of me!"
"Stupid girl, don't you see? It has nothing to do with the cuff coming off. I'll get it; one way or the other."
"Then what's this about," I asked. I was surprised to find my voice had not wavered.
"This is about a thief. In my castle. She needs to be taught a lesson she will never forget."
"The poor girls traumatized! She'll be lucky if she can muster the courage to feed herself," I defended.
"So much the better," Mizumi smiled coldly, then demanded: "get over here, thief."
"P-p-please..," Avery begged. She was crying again. My head began to ache. The guard started forward and I instinctively raised my palms. A blast of violent energy exploded from my palms and barreled right into the guard and Mizumi. They flew in separate directions, hit the wall, and fell to the floor. I took the opportunity to grab onto Avery and flee out the door.
We ran down the halls as fast as we could. We were both in our night gowns and so the dresses billowed around us, sometimes tripping us up. The guard and Mizumi gave chase and they yelled at us. We rounded the corner into the parlor area and I ripped the door open to the outside.
A splash of cold water hit me in the back and shocked my spine strait. It was so cold I got black spots in my vision I had to rapidly blink away. Avery made it out the door and I turned around and threw another blast of energy their way. I didn't stay to see if it hit its mark, instead sprinted towards the gates.
Cinn woke up to see the commotion and flew as fast as her little wings could. "What happened," she asked.
"A lot," I gasped. I threw open the gates and was thrown to the ground. An ice spear had caught the hem of my dress, and I yelled as my leg began to sting. Blood tainted the clear ice spear from where it had nicked me. My dress was torn and I was pinned to the ground. Gritting my teeth, I pulled on the dress skirt and tore it away.
"Nye," Cinn cried as the guard caught up and grabbed me. He roughly forced me to stand up, pressing my back to his chest, a knife to my throat.
"Stop," Avery yelled. She stood some ways away, watching with a wild look in her eye.
Cinn bravely flew over and started pulling on the guards hair, but he grabbed her and threw her hard on the ground. "You bastard," I cursed at him. Cinn sat up but looked like the effort hurt badly.
Mizumi calmly walked forward. She was chuckling darkly, not in the least looking friendly. She stood close to me and brought her long fingers under my chin. It reminded me of when Jareth had done the same and the memory made me hot and cold at the same time.
"You poor naïve child," Mizumi drawls. "I thought I had helped you grow so much. It appears I was wrong."
"What are you talking about? Avery, run!"
Mizumi clicks her tongue and moves away just slightly to beckon the other girl over. "Come here, girl."
I watched in confusion as Avery did as she was told. She tried to hide her face with her long hair, but I could still see the flush to her cheeks. "What did you do," I asked her.
Avery looked up at me with watery brown eyes. "I'm so sorry." Her voice hitched with emotion.
"Oh don't be angry with her," Mizumi interjects right as I felt my anger rise. "She was only doing what she was told." The Queen grabbed Avery's cuffed wrist and presented it to me like it held all the answers in the world. I never felt stupider. "I was testing you. And you failed."
"It doesn't matter," I bite back. "I still have what's important to me."
"What? Your fairy friend? You think I didn't know?" Mizumi laughs a full belly laugh. "You amuse me. I knew she was here right frim the start. She eats all my strawberries."
My breath hitched in my throat. I looked down at her. She was too close to this guards boot. It would be effortless for him to step on her. I swallowed my fear and looked back at the Queen. "I have one more friend."
Her brows furrowed in confusion. I grinned triumphantly on the inside. "Mort!"
My voice boomed among the trees. The leaves rustled and it felt like the air grew chillier. If possible, I saw Mizumis face pale even more than it was. The guard still holding me in place stiffened. I grew more nervous as the minutes ticked by and the witch didn't come.
"Mort!" I tried again. Still, nothing happened. The guard untensed and started to laugh at me. Mizumi visibly relaxed as well. Avery hugged herself and looked around nervously.
Out of nowhere there was a gust of gold air. A tree on the edge of the woods fell and dirt was kicked up into our faces. I shut my eyes in defense of the debris and attempted to turn my head. I felt the razor sharpness of the blade gently cut into my skin and winced.
When I opened my eyes again everyone was standing still as a post. Mort had arrived in all of her ghostly glory. She still wore a white dress and her hair was still a mass of inky blackness. She peered at us menacingly. Her eyes were black as night now and her lips pulled back in a grin, showing off all her too long, too sharp teeth.
"Its the Black Death," the guard yelled and let go of me. It was so sudden I nearly fell as he tried to get away.
"Shut up, you fool! Cant you see her eyes? She's hungry," Mizumi snarled.
Morts eyes took turns scanning each of us. They stayed on me the longest, examining the trickle of blood on my neck, and lower to the cut on my leg. She licked her dark lips with a pink tongue that seemed to be too normal for a woman like her.
"You wanted the cuff," I spoke up. "The maid wears it. It wont come off."
Mort looked at Avery next. She seemed to zero in on the cuff and as if she had turned into a black mist, she dissolved in the air, then reappeared, holding the girls arm in her bony hands. "Yes," her throaty voice hissed. "I see it."
"Lady...Mort...is it?" Mizumi took a brave step forward. Mort looked sideways at her from behind her curtain of hair. "That belongs to me."
"No," Mort snapped and let go of Avery. She was so harsh, so angry, that it made Mizumi take a step back. I saw her hand tremble before Mizumi balled her hand into a fist at her side. "It belongs to me!"
Avery looked so small and frightened from where she stood. I almost felt bad for her. Almost.
Mort came up to me and waved her hand. My fathers dagger appeared in her fist and she held it out for me to see. Where the hilt used to be just a simple silver knob, and the handle wrapped in brown leather, it had changed. Now there were three golden yellow gems in the knob on top. They were small but glinted in the moonlight. A golden thread was also now woven in with the leather strappings.
"As promised," Mort said lowly. She waved and it disappeared again. "The life of the creature this blade pierces will be drained and sent to Oblivion. It is the only way to make sure your king never will harm you."
"Thank you," I breathe.
"I will give you one more gift," she says queerly.
"What? Why? I mean...thank you but why?"
"Well for the snack of course," she grins and then touches her hand to the left side of my chest. "There are other ways of vanquishing your foe, Fairy Princess. But for that you're going to need a strong heart."
Her hand grew warm on my chest and I blinked at her. That's all I could think to do. What did that mean? What was she doing to me? Mort looked amused as if she was shuffling through my thoughts. Which she probably had been.
"We will meet again...Nyvera."
Mort pulled away from me and moved so fast it was hard to see her. She grabbed ahold of Avery, who screamed, and then grabbed ahold of the retreating guard, whom also screamed. The three disappeared with another huge gust of wind.
Mizumi wasn't done. She eventually shook off her shock and grabbed ahold of me. "You petulant insect! Do you know what you've cost me?" She was screaming so loud she might wake the whole country. "I'm going to put you somewhere even the crows wont put their droppings. And that water that's been keeping your mermaid bite from killing you? Gone. I think ill just let it run its course!"
I had forgotten about the bite, again! I was like since coming here everything in my brain was a jumbled mess. Maybe it was for the best if I avoided the water here anyway.
I felt Cinns little hands and feet on my ankle, and the flutter of her wings as she flew up to my shoulder. Mizumi payed her no mind, thank Hades. The Queen dug her fingernails into my wrist as she dragged me along with strength I hadn't known she'd had.
Before I could really catch my baring, I was being thrown into a cold, dark cell. The dirty ground scraped my palms and my knees and Cinn was thrown from my shoulder. She managed to catch herself in the air, but my knees and hands throbbed. My whole body was starting to hurt again.
Mizumi slammed the cell shut, creating a loud clanging noise that hurt my sensitive ears. A guard who had been standing wat h came over quickly and locked the barred door. "We'll see just how strong your heart is after I break you," she snarls.
"You better hope I don't get out of here, Mizumi," I promise. If it wad possible to feel my heart darken, I think it would feel a lot like hatred did. I stared the Queen down feeling myself boil over with anger and hatred, and I realized I wanted her to die.
I realized I didn't care what Mort did with Avery and that guard and I should have. The old me would have never sacrificed another life to get what I wanted. But that's what Id done. My very skin felt like it was vibrating.
Mizumi walked away, obviously not heeding my threat. Guess I would need to start keeping a list, the way things were going.