"You haven't exactly ruled out the dungeon." Lyne reminded the queen, wandering along behind her.
"Yes, I'm taking you to get your hand fixed, then I'll open up a tree out on palace grounds and toss you into our very own "Pit of despair"." The queen also appeared to be wandering.
They came to a dead end. "I understand that reference, you know."
"Hold this." The queen piled heavy glittering fabric into Lynes arms and disappeared behind it.
"I have a broken hand."
"I know that, but I need you to hold this so I can get to the door, you irritating child. I understand why my son picked you, he is the most argumentative man I have ever met, and that is saying something. He could have given his father a run." The queen came out from behind the fabric gasping.
"I thought the king didn't pass away until a few years ago?"
Isolda coughed up a dust ball and waved a hand in front of her face. "A decade to be exact. Prince charming didn't really show up until five or so years ago. He moped for so long after his dad passed.
"Everyone copes differently." Lyne almost chided.
"Three years later?" The queen sighed and shook her head. "Throwing a hissy fit because he can't go skiing for two weeks because I needed him here for a hospital opening was not coping." She disappeared back beneath the tapestry. "I don't actually think you're irritating." The queen made several unladylike noises. "Where is that switch, you know ever since modern medicine there really hasn't been a need for this place. Assertive might be a good word for you, button-pusher definitely." There was a muffled scream of delight.
"Your majesty, are you on two different trains of thought?" There was a rush of cold air and Lyne could hear water running.
The queen popped out from behind the tapestry dusting herself off sending mushroom clouds of dirt into the air. "Possibly. Ready?"
The air was thick with a salt smell as Lyne ducked under, following the queen into a hole in the bricks.
Lyne immediately slipped and slid down the short flight of stone stairs to where the Queen was waiting at the bottom.
"Oh they might be a little slick, you should use the railing when we head back up."
Lyne stood up rubbing her sore rear end, "where are we?"
"At the magical lake under the castle." The queen walked a few feet past the end of a stone wall, turned a corner and disappeared.
"You're high, lady," Lyne said, chasing after her. "If you think there is a lake… oh that lake." A shiver ran down her spine and all the hair on her arms stood up. Isolda was standing just beyond the water's reach, her arms crossed over her chest tightly. "You have a magic lake, but you couldn't save the king?" Lyne asked gently.
"Stick your hand in the water." The command came out as a whisper. Lyne knelt in the silty pea gravel and rolled up her sleeve. "Magic isn't something to mess with Lyne. Just look where it's gotten my family. Cuts, scrapes, bruises cost only a little. The king had cancer and the price. Well we don't know what the price would have been."
Lyne pushed her hand in all the way up to her wrist. The frigid temperature took her hand down to normal size. The bruising washed off into the water. She made a fist, opening and closing hand multiple times. "Damn that hurts."
"Small price to pay for a fixed hand."
"Will it hurt forever?"
"Maybe, maybe not, probably just as long as it would take to heal normally. Let's go. We have one more stop."
Lyne and the queen walked down a suspiciously familiar hallway with its oil torches and an arched wooden door and even farther to when the lighting became actual iron and fire fitting on the stone walls. There was a thick mix of dust and soot from the torches on the carpet, so the red threadbare carpet almost didn't show through anymore.
The hall came to a dead end at what looked like a safe. The queen quickly spun the dial, the mechanisms groaning as she turned the large wheel. The door opened up not to an actual safe, but three stairs cut out of the ground as if the ground was there first. Just inside the door was a ledge with a camping lamp.
"Before we go in, I need to tell you who we're meeting. So once upon a time there was a beautiful princess." The queen paused thinking. "No start over… Once upon a time there was a handsome King and his beautiful Queen, who he loved very much, eventually."
"Eventually. That is not the way the media spun it." Lyne cried.
"Hush." Isolda snapped, "I'm telling this story. Before they were king and queen, he was ... well. She was invited to spend a year at the palace in hopes the prince would fall in love with her, along with 11 other women. That would be very difficult, you see, since the prince was already in love."
The queen stopped again, a deep frown creased her brow. Lyne waited there in the silence, for several long moments.
"She, his love, worked in the kitchen," the queen continued, but her eyes were now distant as they moved through the story. "And when all of us, I mean, the women arrived for that year, she was assigned to help. She helped bring food, she was quite handy with a curling iron. The prince had been in love with her probably his entire life. They basically grew up together.
Well then one day, the young woman dropped a tea cup, accidents happen, and his eyes went black. It was the first and only time I have ever seen that switch flipped." Isolda took Lyne's hand and inspected it. "It was a good thing their majesties were there, let's put it that way, because that kind of anger could have hurt somebody.
The queen had the young woman removed from the palace grounds. But you know how it goes with true love, it always seems to find a way back.
At the end of the year, the prince was supposed to pick someone, and Cinderella, well, her fairy godmother must have shown up that night. She came to the ball. They opened the doors at the top of the stairs for her grand entrance. The air in the room changed; there was an echo of twelve hearts shattering simultaneously throughout the ballroom. We just knew. Just before midnight, the prince publicly declared his love for this young woman. The look on the queen's face was absolute horror. If you think my face is bad sometimes, but she knew what was coming.
The clock started chiming midnight. He used to tell me how he thought he'd beaten it, because it was true love, because they made it to midnight. Six, Seven, she dropped to her knees. Her hand was on her chest, clutching at the fabric, eight, nine, panic set in. The room began rushing; people screaming for a doctor. Ten, eleven, twelve.
He sat there for the longest time, even after the ambulance took her away.
So yes, eventually."
Lyne shivered and rubbed her goosebumps covered arms as the story ended.
The queen handed her the camp light. "Shall we go in?"
Bryan knocked on Lyne's door, once and waited. Twice, and then a third time.
"She's not there."
"Jaclyn."
"Princess Jaclyn."
"Forgive me, Princess, of course. What do you mean she's not there?"
She frowned at him and started ticking synonyms on her fingers. "She hasn't been back? She does not exist in that room at this moment? She is somewhere else? Does any of that make sense to you? She's not there." Jaclyn snapped, her right eye twitching. "She had a moment at the dress fitting, peaced out on us and I haven't seen her since." The princess gestured sharply between two points in the air.
"What kind of moment?"
"One that probably has something to do with you."
"You are not helpful."
"You are not helpful Princess." Jaclyn corrected pointedly.
"Why am I the only one using titles?"
"I'm irritated with you."
Bryan paced in front of the door. "That is not helpful. And now I don't even remember why I came here."
Jaclyn shoved a finger in his face stopping him. "I am the plucky sidekick, but I am not your plucky sidekick. I..."
"What is going on here? And Jaclyn, get your finger out of his nose. Who knows where it's been."
They both turned at the same moment. "Lyne."
Jaclyn removed her finger from his face and shook it at Lyne. "I see what you did there, nose, knows."
"Did what?" Lyne grinned at her glaring friend. "Do you mind, actually, finding Emily? I really need to show you two something."
"Just leave?" Jaclyn gestured back and forth between Lyne and Bryan.
Lyne nodded. "Yes, pluck off side-kick."
Jaclyn sucked in air hard making a pinched face, and then tisked at Lyne. "You know at some point this is going to have to get good, because right now it's just a boring aside to the actual plot line."
After Jaclyn had stomped off very unlady-like, Lyne turned back to Bryan who was staring at her.
"You seem different, what happened?" He grabbed her hand. She winced. "This looks healed. How?"
"Slow down or I'm going to get whiplash. Bryan, I just need that book."
"I didn't mean to hurt you, but I don't know what happened." He continued as if he didn't hear her.
"Genetics right? But I need that book and probably a shower." Lyne sniffed the air double checking.
"Here." He pulled it out of his back pocket. "I've been trying to find you to give it to you. Usually, you pull away by now." Lyne snatched her hand back quickly, and turned bright pink. "I'm glad you're ok." He added.
"There was a close call on a beheading." Lyne joked knowing he wouldn't get it.
"What?"
"Just kidding." She chuckled.
He took her sore hand again, this time bringing it up and kissing the back of it. "I won't keep you, since you seem busy."
She blinked at him momentarily caught off guard. She shook her head free of the daze and sighed. "You know, it's your family history. If at some point if you'd like to help, you can."
"Yes of course." He responded too quickly.
"Not now." She threw up her hands in defense. "Not now, because we haven't even started, but if we have any questions, we know who to call."
Lyne hit her head into the wall gently but repeatedly. "What did I just do!"
"What are you doing, crazy?"
"Just having a moment." Lyne stopped and leaned face first into the wall.
"You have those a lot. Mostly to do with a certain prince. You want to tell us where you have been for a day and a half or so." Lyne turned her smooshed face to Emily and Jaclyn, who were harassing her.
Lyne held the book up into their faces. "Finding this."
"Regina's diary?"
"Close. This one is written in code and came out of a private library."
"Give me that. Where is this library?" Emily tried to snatch it from Lyne.
Lyne held it above Emily's head. "Worth the wait?"
"Yes." Lyne handed the book over. If Emily's eyes could have sparkled like an anime characters as she began pouring over the pages they would have.
"No. Why did you peace out of the dress fitting?" Jaclyn was still glaring at her.
"Let's walk and talk. I'll recap it for you."
The afternoon of the ball, Jaclyn burst into Lyne's room dragging a suitcase behind her.
"Moving in?" Lyne asked from the bed not moving to help her. She kept her nose buried in the paperback she was reading.
"No, I thought we could get ready together."
"So you're checking in on me
"We're here!"
Lyne side eyed the door. Emily, Sarah and both twins stood Jessy behind Jaclyn. Their hands thrown up in the air like they were in some pop video.
"Nope," Lyne said finally sitting up. "You two, are your rooms attached?" The twins nodded. "Let's go there, mine's too small." Lyne tossed her book aside and headed for the bathroom.
"You're surprisingly agreeable to this." Jaclyn called after her.
Lyne reappeared wielding her curling iron like a sword at the girls. "I'm guessing there is no chance you'd leave me alone either way."
It was ten till 6 when the queen and staff arrived with the gowns.
"Think they are just reusing my gown from last month?" Lyne asked as the four of them unzipped their garment bags at the same time and stared. She closed her eyes and counted three, two, one.
There was a scream from a different room, then another and another and finally, she heard her name.
"I thought it was supposed to be green." Lyne glared over her shoulder at one of the twins for stating the obvious.
"Where is she!"
"Not here, not here," Lyne whispered back trying to disappear into the bright pink carpet of the twins room.
Moments later the twins' door wrenched open. "It had better be blue." The queen snapped.
Lyne knew better than to make eye contact at least. She couldn't help herself though. "I mean if you put yellow and blue together you get green so technically." Except for the queen, the whole room dissolved into a laughing fit.
Thanks for hanging in there 3