Chapter Thirty-One

When Mable pulled into the parking lot for the wooded hiking path, the sun had only just risen, casting the world in an eerie, pale glow. Her breath hung in the air as she proceeded to get out of the car, the chill creeping down her neck under her coat. She shivered as she reached back inside and grabbed the knapsack, pulling the mirror out of the front pocket.

"Show me the castle." She ordered it, and wasn't surprised to see the fog curl up the corners of frame but nothing else. The gnawing feeling that something was wrong hadn't disappeared on the drive up here—in fact, it had gotten worse, to where it felt as if a rock sat in the pit of her stomach. She was on edge, adrenaline racing through her bloodstream as she narrowed her focus on the dark entrance to the woods.

Shoving the mirror back in the knapsack, she flung it over her shoulders and struck out on the same trail she had before. She couldn't remember exactly where she had fallen last time, but surely, she would be able to sense it. She would feel some change in the air.

Hopefully she wouldn't knock herself out this time.

Mable walked on. She focused hard on putting one boot in front of the other, instead of speculating what could be filling her with so much dread. In contrast to her anxiety, the forest was coming alive as the sun rose higher in the sky. Wildlife called out in the quiet of the snow-laden trees. Mable kept walking, gazing around and searching for landmarks that might be familiar.

Did she curve down the path, or continue straight? There hadn't been as much snow as there was now, she recalled, so she had probably gone further into the woods. She straightened her route, cursing the snow on the ground. It made it difficult for her to judge how long she had walked that first day.

Mable was just wondering if she should try to loop back when she felt a burning sensation around her neck. Swearing loudly, she reached under her various layers and pulled off her necklace. The sun had come up enough for Mable to see the necklace was glowing, bright against her glove-covered palm.

Excitement raced through her. She had to be close, there was no other explanation. She stuffed the necklace in her pocket and took a few tentative steps forward.

If she hadn't been looking for it, she might have missed the way the ground seemed to shift under her feet, causing her to stumble. She managed to remain upright this time, but as soon as she was balanced, she took off at a jog. It couldn't be much farther, she thought. The storm had warped her sense of time, and she was fairly certain that the castle was only a few yards through the woods.

Jogging through snow that came up to her knees was difficult, and it wasn't long before she was gasping for breath. But she hurried on, fighting through drifts, eyes locked on the trees that were slowly thinning out ahead of her. The sun was up now, so that she could see a break in the tree line, but she wasn't close enough to see past them onto the castle grounds.

She had just stopped to catch her breath when she heard a noise behind her.

"You see? I told you she had returned."

Mable spun around and stared as the Fairy woman from her first disastrous trip into the woods coalesced from the shadows. She leaned up against a tree trunk, crossing her arms over her chest, as though bored. Like before, she was dressed in the completely wrong attire for the harsh cold; a sleeveless dress that floated down just above the snow and bare feet. Her eyes raked over Mable's bedraggled form; her rumpled coat and sodden jeans, her face, chapped from the harsh wind.

Distantly, Mable put her hand in her knapsack and pulled out the mirror. She wasn't really sure what she wanted it for—as a weapon, or a bartering tool—but the Fairy's eyes lit on it before jumping back to Mable's face.

For a moment, Mable could have sworn she saw triumph in those blue eyes before the Fairy's expression smoothed into a bland mask.

"It appears she has." said a male voice from Mable's left. Mable turned, and found that she was surrounded, men and women flowing out of the woods to circle her little piece of clearing. There were six of them, three men and three women. Each had the same pointed ears as the Fairy in front of her, the same unnatural resistance to the frozen temperature, and the same expression of bored indifference.

"W-what's going on?" she panted. Instinctively, her hand gripping the mirror tightened. "Who are you?"

"She doesn't catch on very quickly." said the owner of the male voice. He blocked her path, disapproval etched on his angular features. "From what Rianon said, I rather thought she would be smarter." He had gold eyes much like Theo's but without the warmth, making them as hard and unforgiving as gemstones.

"It did take a long time for her to return." agreed another Fairy, this one a woman on Mable's right. Her hair was an arresting shade of red that eclipsed Mable's modest red-gold locks. She pushed it back over her pointed ears as she frowned at Mable thoughtfully. "But then, we didn't expect her to return in the first place."

"I thought she wanted to leave?" said yet another Fairy from somewhere behind her.

Mable was tired of being spoken about as if she wasn't there. "I don't have time for this." She said sharply. Her voice was thunderous among the silence of the frozen trees. "I came back because something has gone wrong at the castle. Let me pass."

The male Fairy raised a brow. "And how would you know that?"

Mable held up the mirror defiantly, and heard a soft murmur thread among the crowd surrounding her. "I've been trying for days to see what is going on, but it just fogs up. I can't see anything." She explained. "That's not exactly what I would call a good omen."

The male Fairy sniffed. "Did you ever stop to think it is perhaps to old, and may have stopped functioning properly?"

Mable blinked. She didn't know how to tell him that she had briefly wondered that last night, had almost dismissed it. It was the anxiety, her deepest instincts shouting at her that Theo and the others were in trouble that made her pack up and return.

"Hmph." The male Fairy eyed her cynically. "When Rianon came to tell us that The One had appeared, I had expected someone more…impressive. This was a waste. You'll never break the curse."

Mable's temper flared. "I don't care about the stupid curse! I just want to know that Theo is all right. He's in trouble, I just know it." She threw the mirror on the ground. "I don't need some mirror to tell me that, not when I can feel it in here." She put a hand over her heart. "I just want to make sure he's all right. Now will you please let me go?"

The male Fairy crossed his arms over his chest, and Mable wanted to scream her frustration. "What makes you so sure they will welcome you back?" he demanded. "We may live outside the castle walls, but that does not mean we do not hear rumors. You have wanted to leave since the day you arrived. You have spent the last few days enjoying freedom, the kind of freedom most here would give anything to have, and yet you return, throwing that freedom away as if it were nothing. What makes you so certain that they even want you back?"

The Fairies around her muttered in agreement.

For an agonizing moment, Mable faltered, her retort dying in her throat. The words cut her, but worse was the notion that they may be right. The past few days she had been free to go where she wished, had been able to venture outside of her home. She could have travelled wherever she wanted, could have done whatever she wanted with her life. Meanwhile, the people here were eternally trapped, unable to move their lives forward even an inch. They might be angry with her, or disappointed that she hadn't gone out and lived as generously as they desired to do. They might resent her, hate her for getting to do what they had desired for so many years.

It would be easy to leave. No one except the Fairies had seen her arrive, and she bet that if she turned back, they wouldn't bother to stop her. She could go back to Jeanne's house, claim to have had a psychotic episode, and spend the rest of winter snug within the family home of her sister. Just as simple as that, she would slip back into her old life and pretend this never happened.

But she thought of Theo. He was possibly hurt, or sick, or whatever was causing this burning anguish in her chest. She thought of how much she loved him, how she had ached to have him near even when she was back in her old life. She remembered how it had felt to make him laugh, to know she was the one who could make him shrug off the pain of old regret.

And just like that, she didn't want to take the easy way anymore.

The male Fairy took a step back, startled, when she gave him a beaming smile. "I don't care. I really don't." she said breathlessly. "I don't care if they're furious with me for coming back. I'm not going to run away again. I'm back to stay, and they are just going to have to deal with it."

She pointed at the Fairy leaning against the tree. "Try and drown me again, I dare you. You won't chase me away, no matter how hard you try, Rianon." The challenge rang over the woods, and for a moment Mable actually felt powerful. She had walked through a brutal storm that first night, had knocked on the door of a castle. She had met so many strange and wonderful people, had spent months in a castle that was as magical as it was inexplicable. She had met a man turned into a beast. She had fallen in love with that same man. What could possibly be more frightening than that?

But her triumph was short lived. All the Fairies circled around her laughed, as if her outburst was the ranting of a precocious toddler.

"You truly think she is Rianon?" The male Fairy boomed. "Do you hear her, Fauve?"

"I heard, Alfric." The Fairy woman replied quietly. She stepped away from the tree, pity in her eyes as she surveyed Mable. "I am afraid you are mistaken, my Lady. Up until you arrived, we had not seen Rianon for many years."

"That disgrace wouldn't dare show herself in these woods," scoffed Alfric. "She defied our rules, went against her mentor, Fauve, the oldest and most powerful of us all."

Mable gaped at the Fairy woman. "You were Rianon's mentor?"

Fauve's cool smile held a hint of sadness. "That I was. I cautioned her against casting that spell. I told her that such magic is difficult, and could have unexpected, and severe, consequences. But she was eager to prove herself, anxious to step out of my shadow into her own powers." Fauve's eyes flicked over towards Alfric. "She paid the price for it."

"After she ran from her own failure, she attempted to return to the woods." Alfric clearly wasn't as sympathetic towards Rianon's plight. "We cast her out immediately. She was a traitor, and a failure. She didn't belong here."

"She summoned me not too long after you arrived." Fauve told her. "She said that the one who would break this curse had arrived, and that soon balance would be restored to the castle and its occupants."

"Balance?"

"The continued suspension of time and the shrouding of the castle have been taking its toll." Fauve said. She gestured to the woods around them. "It is unnatural for land to be untouched by time's hand. Life is meant to move, to change; not to be trapped in this constant stillness. Eventually, the castle and these woods will start to break down." Fauve pinned her with her gaze. "Rianon was certain you were The One who would restore everything to it's proper place. With your acceptance and love, the castle, its people and its lands would settle back into the world they had been so inexpertly taken away from."

"She expected us to believe her." Alfric sounded affronted by Rianon's nerve. "To just take her word for it, after all that had happened. Fauve may be sympathetic enough to believe her, but the rest of us weren't nearly as certain."

Mable could tell from his tone that sympathy was considered a weakness among the Fairies. She wondered if it had always been that way, or if that too, could be blamed on the curse.

Fauve shifted so that she stood between Mable and the male Fairy. "It was Alfric's apprentice who broke the ice in the pond that day." She told Mable flatly. She acted as if she wasn't bothered by it, but from the stiffness in her shoulders, Mable thought she might have been irritated by Alfric's blatant disbelief in her and her former student.

Then what the Fairy told her sunk in. "Wait, that was you?" she glared at the male Fairy in fury.

"It was my apprentice." He replied loftily. "For weeks, Rianon had been inundating us with how noble, how selfless you were. I wanted to see for myself if this was true, or just another one of her failures."

"You threatened a young girl's life just to make a point?" Mable thought her growl was pretty good, though not quite as good as Theo's.

"The girl was never in any real danger." Alfric waved his hand dismissively. He narrowed his eyes at her, as if reassessing her value. "I'll admit, you managed to surprise me. I would have thought you too cowardly to jump in after her." He didn't bat an eye when Mable proceeded to curse at him. "As I said, I wanted to see if Rianon had spoken true. But while your unexpected bravery was refreshing, I have still not seen proper evidence that you are truly this 'One' Rianon kept going on about."

Mable grit her teeth. "I'm tired of this." She snapped. "I'm so tired of being judged. You've never taken the time to get to know me, but you have the gall to tell me that I haven't shown myself to be special enough to be The One?"

She spun in a slow circle, taking care to meet each Fairy in the eye. "When I first got here, it felt like I didn't belong. Like this was all a big mistake. That's why I fought so hard to leave. Because I felt like I couldn't be the Lady that everyone wanted me to be." She turned back and stared defiantly at Alfric and Fauve. "But you know what? I don't care anymore. Maybe I am not as beautiful, or as brave, or as smart as the past Ladies who had lived here." She pointed in the direction of the castle behind them. "But I know I will always fight for the people I care about, and that means I need to get to the castle. Now."

Breathing hard, she glared as Alfric and Fauve exchanged glances. The rest of the Fairies shifted restlessly around her.

"If she fails, it may be the end of us." Alfric directed his statement to the group surrounding her. "The land cannot take the strain, not for much longer." He tried to hide it, but his voice shook with the emotions he was trying to hold back.

Mable's scathing reply died in her throat. It occurred to her that this whole set-up wasn't done out of anger or disdain, but fear. This was their home, and if the curse didn't break, they would lose everything. Even with their power, it was impossible for them to know what would happen if she failed, so they blocked her path in a misguided attempt to prevent it.

"I can't promise you I will succeed," she replied slowly. Instantly, all eyes were on her. "Because, honestly, I really have no clue if I will. But there were a lot of times in my life where I was too scared to even consider trying. Most of the time, I just gave up before I could find out one way or the other." She smiled ruefully at the Fairies around her. "I don't know what will happen, but this is the first time I'm not afraid to find out. That has to count for something." She straightened her shoulders. "I can promise that I will do everything I can to help keep the land intact. I will fight for you, just as I fight for Theo."

The Fairies were quiet, weighing their fears against her sincerity. The ones circling her looked towards Alfric and Fauve, their leaders.

To her shock, Alfric stepped aside, allowing her to pass. "Fauve will escort you to the castle." He told her. He still didn't seem altogether happy about it. "But breaking the curse is up to you." He reminded her as she passed him.

No pressure, she thought as she followed Fauve to the edge of the clearing. When she could just see the tops of the turrets peeking over the horizon, she glanced back.

The Fairies had all disappeared.

"Come, Lady." Fauve sounded almost cheerful as she led her through the hilly woodlands. "I will bring you to the gates."

When she got closer, Fauve murmured, "Quite impressive, Lady. Not even my own student could sway the minds of the Court when they all made up their minds about something."

"The Court?"

Fauve nodded her head behind them. "The Court rules the Fairies of these woods. Our best, our strongest, and our most powerful. Your sincerity must have touched them, because they would not have allowed you to return, otherwise." Fauve picked up her pace, forcing Mable to stumble along behind her. "Come. We must hurry."

For a moment, the weight of Fauve's words—that the most powerful Fairies would put so much faith in her—settled on her shoulders like a blanket. But it didn't feel uncomfortable this time, as it had so many times before. This time it felt right.

Mable followed Fauve, her heart fluttering in anticipation as the castle rose up over the hills. Even the dread that had been following her all day couldn't compete with the excited thrill she felt when she saw it in the distance. It was as if her body finally understood what her heart had been saying all along. Here was where she belonged; she was home.

Fauve waited patiently for Mable at the bottom of the hill. "You should know that the castle may not look the same as when you left." She warned her. Her bland expression was gone, replaced with almost friendly concern. "The strain on the land is beginning, starting with the castle itself."

"What do you mean?" Mable asked, but found out for herself when they reached the gate.

Before she had left, the bars had been a gleaming, brilliant copper. Now they were starting to disintegrate, sparkling flakes of metal falling gently into the snow, like a rain of ash after the eruption of a volcano.

"What happened?" she asked Fauve.

The Fairy's mouth thinned grimly. "The land is starting to crack apart. It is only affecting the castle—for now. Soon it will spread to the surrounding woods, and our homes will decay much like the gate."

Mable's throat went dry with fear. What could she possibly do that would fix this?

Fauve studied her face. Then, abruptly, she said, "I would like to request a favor from you, if it pleases my Lady."

Mable licked her lips nervously. "Sure. Name it."

"If you can, seek out my errant student. I wish to know that she is well." Fauve gazed past the gate to the castle wistfully. "I'd also like to speak with her, when this is all over."

Mable frowned. "I can try to find her, I guess, but I don't know what she looks like."

Fauve's smile turned mysterious. "Trust me, you'll know her when you see her. You best hurry now." She pushed open the gate for Mable.

"You're not coming with me?" Even going in with an aloof Fairy would be better than going in alone.

Fauve shook her head. "This is your quest, Lady. Go, and find the person you seek. The rest will fall into place." She closed the gate, the metal clanking with a finiteness that made the hairs on Mable's neck stand up.

When Mable turned to look at the castle, the dread came back in force, almost sending her to her knees. The castle had started to cave in on itself, marble crumbling to the ground, making loud thumps as it fell into the snow. She heard a distant crack from higher up, and gazed upwards to see one of the turrets just detach itself from the castle and plummet towards the earth with a boom.

Mable hurried through the outer courtyard to the front doors, noting the formerly trimmed hedges that were drooping to the ground, and the statues that were cracked, some completely in half.

When she reached the fountain, she thought that it might have survived the slow deterioration that was taking over the castle She tried to wipe away the snow and get a better look, but as she did, a large chunk of granite fell off the rim. Mable picked it up, and was horrified when the hard granite crumbled in her hands.

Pain ripped through her body as one thought flashed through her mind. Theo was inside.

She bolted up the front stairs, sliding a little on the ice, but otherwise managing to make it to the front doors. She tugged at the door knocker, and it came off in her hand. Furiously she whipped it away, and yanked on the door handle.

A soft creak was the only warning she had; she threw herself out of the way as the rotting wood fell to the ground. She peeped through her lashes and saw with relief that the doors had fallen the other way, splintering into little pieces as it hit the inside of the foyer.

Mable gaped into the dark recess of the castle foyer. She heard the distant echoing of falling marble and wood beams as the castle caved in upon itself. All of this, she thought grimly, happened while she had been gone. She had to find Theo, and get the others out of here, before it was too late.

Determination fueling her body, Mable steeled herself and forced her way through the door and into the cold, decaying castle.