Chapter 8
One week later, Cyn's knights and the people who had been invited to the wedding arrived. By then both Cyn and Will had forgiven me, and I was back to being my usual happy self-except on the occasions when Cyn felt the need to tell me how much he cared about Annabelle, which drove me insane with jealousy. I was ready to tell Annabelle what the enchantress had directed me to. I decided to wait until the day after the guests arrived to tell Annabelle. When the day came, I asked one of her ladies-in-waiting if they could tell Annabelle I needed to talk to her about something important. Annabelle agreed to meet me in the library after our noon meal.
I arrived there slightly after she did, and sat down in the squishy armchair across from her. She sat delicately, sipping her tea. Finally she told me I could begin.
"Do you remember the night that the enchantress put the spell on this castle?"
"Of course. Everybody does." She glanced up at me, giving me a pitying look. She thought I was an idiot.
"Do you remember what she told you would break the curse?"
"Yes. If somebody loved me and asked me to marry them then everything would be better again."
"Actually, no. It was vice versa."
"I think you're wrong. That was thirty years ago, and I doubt you'd remember. Besides, how do I know you're not just trying to get me to break off the engagement between Cynric and me?"
"I really don't think you're going to believe me, but the enchantress visited me a week ago. She came to me in my chambers a while ago, and we had a talk. She sent me to you to tell you that you ought to break off the wedding."
Annabelle glared at me. "That's the biggest lie I've ever heard."
"No, it's not. I looked you in the eye when I said that. . . By the way, the enchantress knows that you don't love Cynric."
Annabelle put her teacup down, and her ladies-in-waiting glared at me viciously.
"How dare you say such a falsehood!" she said, straining to keep control.
"How dare you marry a man you know you don't love!" I retorted. "I know you don't care about him as much as everyone believes. Cancel the wedding before both of you get hurt." I stood, curtsied to her, and left.
Later that day Cyn and Annabelle went to talk to each of their guests. I was cleaning the guests' rooms, and occasionally I'd see the two of them talking to people in the hallways. Each time, Cyn glared at me. Annabelle had told him about the meeting in the library. Wonderful. That evening I knocked on his door and went inside to talk to him.
He looked up at me from his chair by the fire, scowled, and looked back down at the flames. "What do you want?" he mumbled.
"To talk to you about what happened today."
"Yes, of course. Thank you for telling my future wife what little faith you have in our relationship. Look, I know you don't like it, but you're going to have to learn to deal with it." I sighed. I wanted to be calm, but it was difficult.
"Look, Cyn. I know that right now it really seems like I'm just trying to screw up your life, but I'm not. I'm doing all this to protect you."
"Protect me? How are you 'protecting' me by messing up my life? You know what? How about you just stop trying to protect me? How about you just leave me alone?"
I opened my mouth to speak, but couldn't talk. He truly loved Annabelle. He was going to be really hurt when he found out that she didn't love him too. What was I doing? He was just getting more upset with me, and when all of this was over, he'd probably blame me. What use was it to try to defend myself?
"You know what? That sounds like a good idea. I'll stop. I'm sorry, Cyn, I really am." I squeezed his hand and smiled, then left his room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next day Will came up to me. "What do you think you're doing, Summer? What are you trying to accomplish by messing up Cyn's life?" This was the fierce Will.
"Will, let's go for a walk. I really need to talk to you." I led him out of the castle and into an orchard. Nobody was there, so this was the perfect place to talk to him. Will was my last chance at staying in Cyn's life. Will was a great guy, and I didn't want to lose both him AND Cyn. There was only one thing to do I could think of that would make Will understand why I'd done everything I had.
"Will, this might be a long talk. I need to tell you some very important information, but you must swear to me that you won't tell a soul."
Will, who had been tense and angry this whole time, relaxed somewhat when I said that. "I swear," he said to me.
I briefly explained to him about the curse on the castle, how everybody here had been like this for thirty years, how the only way the curse would be broken was by Annabelle falling in love with a stranger, and how I was in love with Cyn. Will was calm about all of it, and listened until I was done. He had difficulty believing some parts, but when he saw that I wasn't joking he turned serious.
"So that's why you've sabotaged Cyn's relationship."
"Yes. . . I can't tell Cyn. Annabelle would never forgive me and Cyn would never believe me. I'm never going to tell him I love him. He's never going to love me like that." He looked at me for a moment when I said that last bit, and shook his head with a smile.
"You'd be surprised," he said. "The chances of him loving you aren't that slim."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Well, Cyn used to talk to me about this place, and Annabelle and you, often. He truly did want to come back. But he didn't want to come back to see Annabelle."
"What are you saying?" I said, feeling a little twist in my stomach. Will looked up at me again, smiling.
"He wanted to come back to see you," he said. "He was in love with you, not Annabelle."
"Then why did he come back here to ask Annabelle to marry him?"
"He didn't start loving her until a little while before we came here. . . You know how at the ball, the one you ran away from, he found out that you were Lady Elaine? Well, when he found that out, he planned on telling you---that night---that he loved you. When you ran away, he assumed that you didn't care about him, and his feelings changed. Annabelle was the only other woman he'd felt close to in his life, and when you 'rejected' him, he made himself try to stop loving you, and start loving Annabelle."
That was a lot to take in. Cyn, in love with me? Well, he used to be anyway. How was that possible? Wow. Oh, wait. He'd gotten over me pretty quickly, so it couldn't have been real love. Or could it?
"He didn't really love me, if he managed to get over me so quickly," I said to Will.
"What if I told you he still wasn't over you?"
"I'd say that you need help."
"I'm serious. A man is allowed to love two women. He didn't stop loving you any less, he just started loving Annabelle a little more."
"Oh." Smart answer, I know. I didn't feel like talking about this anymore. I'd think about this a little later.
"While we're on the topic of love, what about you? Do you have any lucky lass waiting back home?" I asked.
"Yes, actually. She's in the castle back home right now. We're supposed to be married this spring."
"Why didn't I know this before?"
"You never asked."
"Well, congratulations," I said, smiling happily.
"Thank you. Let's go inside now."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
That evening was awkward for me. I wandered around the palace and its grounds, stopping occasionally to think, but I couldn't stay still. The idea of Cyn loving me was something that would take me a while to absorb. After the evening meal I went under a weeping willow to seek some privacy for meditation.
He still loved me. He still loved me, but now he just loved Annabelle a little bit more, and that's why he'd asked her to marry him. I gazed happily up into the tree and just lay there for a while, basking in the glory of it all. After about half an hour I suddenly came back to earth, when I remembered the wedding. True, the enchantress had promised it would be broken off, but how? Why would Annabelle break it off? She seemed to have lost all her sense, and she would never do it. Cynric wouldn't be the one to do it either, for reasons obvious to all. What if it was up to me? It couldn't be. The enchantress had promised she'd take care of it. I'd just have to wait and see what happened. If indeed I was supposed to be the one to break it off, then I would wait for my cue. Until then the enchantress would be in charge.
Once I was relaxed enough I went back inside to talk to Mirra and Scarlett.
One week later, Cyn's knights and the people who had been invited to the wedding arrived. By then both Cyn and Will had forgiven me, and I was back to being my usual happy self-except on the occasions when Cyn felt the need to tell me how much he cared about Annabelle, which drove me insane with jealousy. I was ready to tell Annabelle what the enchantress had directed me to. I decided to wait until the day after the guests arrived to tell Annabelle. When the day came, I asked one of her ladies-in-waiting if they could tell Annabelle I needed to talk to her about something important. Annabelle agreed to meet me in the library after our noon meal.
I arrived there slightly after she did, and sat down in the squishy armchair across from her. She sat delicately, sipping her tea. Finally she told me I could begin.
"Do you remember the night that the enchantress put the spell on this castle?"
"Of course. Everybody does." She glanced up at me, giving me a pitying look. She thought I was an idiot.
"Do you remember what she told you would break the curse?"
"Yes. If somebody loved me and asked me to marry them then everything would be better again."
"Actually, no. It was vice versa."
"I think you're wrong. That was thirty years ago, and I doubt you'd remember. Besides, how do I know you're not just trying to get me to break off the engagement between Cynric and me?"
"I really don't think you're going to believe me, but the enchantress visited me a week ago. She came to me in my chambers a while ago, and we had a talk. She sent me to you to tell you that you ought to break off the wedding."
Annabelle glared at me. "That's the biggest lie I've ever heard."
"No, it's not. I looked you in the eye when I said that. . . By the way, the enchantress knows that you don't love Cynric."
Annabelle put her teacup down, and her ladies-in-waiting glared at me viciously.
"How dare you say such a falsehood!" she said, straining to keep control.
"How dare you marry a man you know you don't love!" I retorted. "I know you don't care about him as much as everyone believes. Cancel the wedding before both of you get hurt." I stood, curtsied to her, and left.
Later that day Cyn and Annabelle went to talk to each of their guests. I was cleaning the guests' rooms, and occasionally I'd see the two of them talking to people in the hallways. Each time, Cyn glared at me. Annabelle had told him about the meeting in the library. Wonderful. That evening I knocked on his door and went inside to talk to him.
He looked up at me from his chair by the fire, scowled, and looked back down at the flames. "What do you want?" he mumbled.
"To talk to you about what happened today."
"Yes, of course. Thank you for telling my future wife what little faith you have in our relationship. Look, I know you don't like it, but you're going to have to learn to deal with it." I sighed. I wanted to be calm, but it was difficult.
"Look, Cyn. I know that right now it really seems like I'm just trying to screw up your life, but I'm not. I'm doing all this to protect you."
"Protect me? How are you 'protecting' me by messing up my life? You know what? How about you just stop trying to protect me? How about you just leave me alone?"
I opened my mouth to speak, but couldn't talk. He truly loved Annabelle. He was going to be really hurt when he found out that she didn't love him too. What was I doing? He was just getting more upset with me, and when all of this was over, he'd probably blame me. What use was it to try to defend myself?
"You know what? That sounds like a good idea. I'll stop. I'm sorry, Cyn, I really am." I squeezed his hand and smiled, then left his room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next day Will came up to me. "What do you think you're doing, Summer? What are you trying to accomplish by messing up Cyn's life?" This was the fierce Will.
"Will, let's go for a walk. I really need to talk to you." I led him out of the castle and into an orchard. Nobody was there, so this was the perfect place to talk to him. Will was my last chance at staying in Cyn's life. Will was a great guy, and I didn't want to lose both him AND Cyn. There was only one thing to do I could think of that would make Will understand why I'd done everything I had.
"Will, this might be a long talk. I need to tell you some very important information, but you must swear to me that you won't tell a soul."
Will, who had been tense and angry this whole time, relaxed somewhat when I said that. "I swear," he said to me.
I briefly explained to him about the curse on the castle, how everybody here had been like this for thirty years, how the only way the curse would be broken was by Annabelle falling in love with a stranger, and how I was in love with Cyn. Will was calm about all of it, and listened until I was done. He had difficulty believing some parts, but when he saw that I wasn't joking he turned serious.
"So that's why you've sabotaged Cyn's relationship."
"Yes. . . I can't tell Cyn. Annabelle would never forgive me and Cyn would never believe me. I'm never going to tell him I love him. He's never going to love me like that." He looked at me for a moment when I said that last bit, and shook his head with a smile.
"You'd be surprised," he said. "The chances of him loving you aren't that slim."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Well, Cyn used to talk to me about this place, and Annabelle and you, often. He truly did want to come back. But he didn't want to come back to see Annabelle."
"What are you saying?" I said, feeling a little twist in my stomach. Will looked up at me again, smiling.
"He wanted to come back to see you," he said. "He was in love with you, not Annabelle."
"Then why did he come back here to ask Annabelle to marry him?"
"He didn't start loving her until a little while before we came here. . . You know how at the ball, the one you ran away from, he found out that you were Lady Elaine? Well, when he found that out, he planned on telling you---that night---that he loved you. When you ran away, he assumed that you didn't care about him, and his feelings changed. Annabelle was the only other woman he'd felt close to in his life, and when you 'rejected' him, he made himself try to stop loving you, and start loving Annabelle."
That was a lot to take in. Cyn, in love with me? Well, he used to be anyway. How was that possible? Wow. Oh, wait. He'd gotten over me pretty quickly, so it couldn't have been real love. Or could it?
"He didn't really love me, if he managed to get over me so quickly," I said to Will.
"What if I told you he still wasn't over you?"
"I'd say that you need help."
"I'm serious. A man is allowed to love two women. He didn't stop loving you any less, he just started loving Annabelle a little more."
"Oh." Smart answer, I know. I didn't feel like talking about this anymore. I'd think about this a little later.
"While we're on the topic of love, what about you? Do you have any lucky lass waiting back home?" I asked.
"Yes, actually. She's in the castle back home right now. We're supposed to be married this spring."
"Why didn't I know this before?"
"You never asked."
"Well, congratulations," I said, smiling happily.
"Thank you. Let's go inside now."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
That evening was awkward for me. I wandered around the palace and its grounds, stopping occasionally to think, but I couldn't stay still. The idea of Cyn loving me was something that would take me a while to absorb. After the evening meal I went under a weeping willow to seek some privacy for meditation.
He still loved me. He still loved me, but now he just loved Annabelle a little bit more, and that's why he'd asked her to marry him. I gazed happily up into the tree and just lay there for a while, basking in the glory of it all. After about half an hour I suddenly came back to earth, when I remembered the wedding. True, the enchantress had promised it would be broken off, but how? Why would Annabelle break it off? She seemed to have lost all her sense, and she would never do it. Cynric wouldn't be the one to do it either, for reasons obvious to all. What if it was up to me? It couldn't be. The enchantress had promised she'd take care of it. I'd just have to wait and see what happened. If indeed I was supposed to be the one to break it off, then I would wait for my cue. Until then the enchantress would be in charge.
Once I was relaxed enough I went back inside to talk to Mirra and Scarlett.