A/N: A special thanks to the Lance, who helped to give this story major direction. :)
The very next night, Nancy followed them down again, this time shielded in the Invisible Cloak of the House of Marvin.
She slipped into Prince Chet's boat, figuring no one would notice the extra weight.
They rowed for several minutes - and then a gorgeous palace as bejeweled as the forest appeared in the distance.
The palace was lovely. Sparkling. Magnificent. But they didn't go to the palace.
Instead, they tied the boats and walked into a glorious pavilion. Nancy scrambled out of Prince Chet's boat to follow them.
And as she climbed the steps to the pavilion, she was so stunned that had she been a less-skilled, less-perceiving challengee, she would have gasped.
It was breathtaking. Made of solid gold, decorated in silk bunting and jeweled flowers.
The floors glittered with what looked to be crushed gems imbedded in the marble.
The pavilion was filled with beautifully-dressed gentry, fluttering from sweet table to sweet table. The princes joined in, though Prince Frank threw a look backwards toward where she stood. They mingled with the gentry, laughing, popping candies into their mouths.
It was such a gorgeous scene.
Nancy was a practical girl, but no one could look upon such magic without wonder.
She hid herself by a diamond statue of a blind king before it occurred to her she had the Marvin family cloak and she could walk where she wished.
~NN~
Ned closed his eyes against the glare of the pavilion's shimmering lights. Leaned back on a pillar. He felt it shimmer against his back, unreal and magical.
He bit his cheek.
He knew she was coming.
He knew; she would drain a little more life out of him tonight.
A little more...a little more and Ned would soon be gone.
There was nothing he could do. He couldn't tell anyone about it or they would drain Frank next. They would work down the line.
Well, if so, Frank would make a good king.
Somehow that wasn't overly comforting.
~NN~
She counted the princes, and found Biff slapping Phil on the shoulder, Chet with an overflowing platter at a sweet table, Tony smiling at a girl in a gorgeous gown, Bert and Dave laughing at something an older-looking gentleman was saying, and Frank cooly taking the whole scene in. Joe actually looked nervous, or concerned or the like. And...where was the crown prince, Edward?
Nancy's gaze scanned the pavilion. Ah! There he is, she thought. With more curiosity than alarm she realize he looked ill. Pale, leaning up against a pillar. He didn't look interested in the food at all, unlike his brothers.
She was about to explore the other end of the pavilion when the enormous doors of the palace flung open and...what could only be a fairy glided out, followed by perhaps a hundred others.
~NN~
Ned's stomach roiled. He rubbed a hand over his face.
Joe shot him a concerned, perplexed look, and Ned smiled. It felt dull, but Joe seemed satisfied.
The fairies gracefully swarmed the pavilion, and the queen glided towards him. Her ice-blue eyes glittered with an inhuman coldness and her smile was cruel.
He pushed himself off of the pillar and braced himself. Again.
~NN~
Definitely fairies, Nancy thought. Hannah, the Drews' cook, had told her many stories about fairies when she was younger. "They are unkind creatures," Hannah had said. They were small, delicate; far shorter than the average man, but some were as tall as she. Their wings glimmered like amber and jade and opal. Beautiful. But...unkind. The way Hannah had said it made "unkind" the equivalent of "wicked."
A fairy, so gorgeously dressed she had to be someone of significance, fluttered to Prince Edward. She leaned in to whisper something to him and he bowed, said something back, and held out his hand. Nancy could have imagined it, but the hand seemed to tremble. Just a little.
The fairy took the possibly-shaking hand, and the center of the pavilion cleared.
Music, slow, seeping music, started and then the pair was dancing. Prince Edward was a good dancer, Nancy thought. If he didn't look so painfully numb, and if Hannah's words weren't echoing in her head, it would have been a pretty sight.
Nancy recounted the princes again and realized that they didn't seem to see that their eldest brother was dancing.
Not even the princes Frank and Joe noticed, and they seemed to notice everything.
Something was wrong here.
And...this dance wasn't ending.
~NN~
Ned could feel it, just as he had the other nights. She was killing him. Slowly.
As he spun the fairy queen, he knew. He knew that he had a few days, at the most. Maybe a week.
The fairy queen smiled as he pulled her back from the twirl.
"They cannot see you," she purred.
"I know."
"And you know the only way anyone could..." She cocked her head.
The music pushed and pulled.
"There are other ways."
"Mhmmm. You are bluffing, my dear Prince. I do think you have given up hope. But I admire your loyalty to your brothers. It's sweet."
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