Curses!

by Clayton Overstreet 2

Due to an overly enthusiastic fairy godmother a kingdom has a lot more princesses than it needs. To help the king hires a novice wicked sorceress to solve the problem.

Curses!

"Hey before I go can you turn one of these mice into a decent date? I'd hate to look like I couldn't get a man or end up dancing with some weirdo or some guy who keeps stepping on these glass slippers."

-Cinderella

Desdemona Nightshade, a young enchantress, was suspicious when she received a deliberately insulting letter specifically forbidding her from coming to an exclusive party for the royal family. She was right to be because when she arrived it became clear that someone was trying to goad her into putting a curse on somebody. And she might have, if she was a little better at magic and not just a beginner.

Thinking their plan had merely failed and the savvy sorceress had seen through it instead, the royals admitted that they had a surplus of princesses. Seven to be exact. All of whom have become inconvenient in one way or another and whom they cannot get rid of in the more mundane ways. They offer Desdemona a proposition. If she can conveniently dispose of the princesses via a few well placed curses they will pay the enchantress a tidy sum. Enough to fix up her magical castle, hire a decent magic tutor, and maybe start the condor breeding farm she's been dreaming of.

Provided of course she can pull it off. A daunting prospect since she is self taught, basically a squatter in the isolated castle she calls home, and most of her spells barely last a day at most. Gold coins dancing in her head, she readily agrees to take the princesses off their hands, at least for the duration of a hundred year sleep spell or so. She is sure she can do it, given a little time and effort.

Only there are a few problems that the royals did not mention. Like that each princess has her own magical abilities that interfere with other spells and have the neighboring kingdoms ready to declare war if at least one of them isn't taken care of permanently. Or their overprotective fairy godmother. The herds of rampaging unicorns and the occasional dragon sniffing around looking to snatch them away. Not to mention the princesses themselves who all have their own ideas on how Desdemona should do her job. Escape efforts. Backseat spell casting. Attempts at revolution and usurping of thrones. In addition to would-be heroes showing up to "rescue" the princesses and jealous magic users who want to snatch the job away from Desdemona.

Pretty soon Desdemona begins to wonder if she is the one who has been cursed.

Curses!

By, Clayton Overstreet

I do own these characters and profit from them.

Buy a copy of this novel online on Amazon.

Or my other books.

Chapter One

Sometimes people try too hard.

Once upon a time there was a fairly wicked enchantress just starting out to find her place in the world. A bit young as these things go it's true, but everyone has to start somewhere and in this case she was going to be given a chance. It all began with a letter. Well a letter and some people who wanted things from her. If they could get it for free that was just fine, but you will be gratified to know that despite her young age our enchantress was not a fool. But let us not skip ahead too soon. You will want the whole story and your faithful narrator is going to give it to you.

Desdemona Nightshade (born Ethel Drake in the little village of Frog Hump) knew something was up when she found the letter to begin with. She lived in an ancient castle on top of a mile tall plateau a thousand feet tall and thirty miles from the nearest city. Unless you could fly the only ways to the castle were either an extremely hazardous spiral carriage path that circled the outside of the plateau five times its height and led to the castle gates, or a maze of monster infested tunnels starting at the base of the mountain that made the first option seem like an easy stroll and ended in the dungeons. Mail service was not great to put it mildly. So merely having a letter appear on the desk in her room was unlikely and suspicious.

Then there were the contents.

Dear Enchantress,

It has come to our attention that you have taken up residence in the domicile known as Castle Dread on top of Suicide Rock in the area known as the Rocky Wastes at the Northwest corner of the Kingdom of Paradise River.

We at Sunset Castle the home of the Moonstar royal family have contacted you to let you know that we are having a celebration for the princesses to which the nobles and miracle workers of the kingdom have been invited. It will be held at the castle on the first full moon of this month. Anyone who is anyone has been invited and will be there. You however have been blacklisted from attending and the royal family would appreciate it if you were to remain far away during the festivities. We feel that your appearance would be disruptive and that your common origins would preclude you from fitting in amongst your betters.

Sincerely, King Harold "Troll Slayer" Moonstar

The envelope had been held shut with red wax and a royal seal.

Desdemona had been a resident of Castle Dread for two years and had never had visitors before. She did not particularly care for politics and while she knew the Moonstar family ruled the kingdom, she had not even known the name of the king, let alone introduced herself to him. So why had he contacted her, a stranger, specifically to tell her that she was not invited to a party she had never even heard of before?

She was not a particularly important person even if she was an enchantress. She had not received any formal training. In fact her family had done their level best to suppress her abilities. Her powers had started to develop only a year before her family had kicked her out. They had not been happy with their twelve-year-old suddenly having magical powers at all. Her sister was simultaneously jealous and scared.

Then one day she had turned Riana into a giant newt and that was it. Her parents had immediately shown her the door.

A tad cruel, but in the cast of enchantress magic it was not exactly a bad idea. Enchanters had popped up in the family from time to time. Some people said it was in the blood. Others that it was some kind of curse. Her parents had put up with it longer than most of the family had in the past and kicking her out was the soft option.

Witches had to learn to cast spells. Sorcerers made deals with otherworldly beings while demonologists enslaved them and necromancers trafficked with the dead, though more often they ended up enslaved to those powers. Wizards sang their magic, chanting and sometimes combining other magical abilities as well. Psychics had mental abilities. Alchemists could sense certain energies in things and combined them. Priests and shamans served gods. Even normal people could learn to use common folk magic.

The point was that most of them had to learn to use it, like fire or a knife. Even if they had a natural talent.

Enchanters on the other hand were born with the power to change reality around them. It developed at certain ages. The person gaining the power just had to want something bad enough and it happened.

The downside was that it still required knowledge. At least if you wanted to do anything permanent. If they wanted to fly or set something on fire, that was easy enough. Though there were downsides if you did it the wrong way. A spell to make a small explosion in your hand was fairly harmless unless you closed your hand around it. Then you could lose fingers just like if you closed them around a firework.

Not only did the magic of enchanters build up and get more powerful, often too powerful to really control, if they did not use it regularly, but it was almost too obedient to the owner. For example any enchanter could turn something to gold… on the outside. But unless you knew the proper weight, flexibility, and so on it would act like whatever it originally was be it rock or lead or wood. And anything like that usually reverted back in a day or so without the enchanter to keep the spell going. Much like fairy gold.

Enchanters often died in several terrible ways. If they died early it was usually from losing control of their powers or over controlling it, letting it build up until even their slightest wish was immediately their reality. Get cold, wish it was hot, and burst into flames. A properly trained magician could light their hand on fire and it would not burn them, but would burn other things. Most poorly trained could give the illusion of being on fire, but it would not actually burn anything. Getting that sort of thing wrong was too easy and extremely fatal.

The ones that lived a long time often went crazy, losing their grip on reality as their every whim was immediately granted. They locked themselves away and eventually just disappeared into their own little world. At least three had died of starvation while having a never ending chain orgasm. Nobody knew for sure if they all died or just vanished from the mortal plane of existence, but the results were basically the same.

There was a happy medium for those that controlled their power well. A proper enchantress often lived quite a long time and in luxury once they mastered their powers, but again it was usually only surface. The magic user could, for example, keep them selves alive, and youthful, but the effect was only skin deep. The same for healing spells which could close a wound or mend a bone, but could miss an infection or cancer. On the outside she would be beautiful and thin with a perfect complexion no matter what she ate or illnesses she caught while inside an enchantress not understanding things like body chemistry and the like would still be say sixty or fifty years old with clogged arteries from eating all the most unhealthy things without getting visibly fat or being eaten alive by bacteria and tumors. When they died and the magic went away, usually from a heart attack or breaking something important because of weak bones, the beautiful seductress would be immediately replaced with a fat wrinkled rotten old hag.

Their other spells also tended to be limited. You could turn someone into a frog, but not understanding how bodies worked, the frog would still be able to talk and think like a human and would likely turn back in a few hours or days at most. They could conjure up food, but it would not be nutritious so you might as well eat sand. They could make clothes but without understanding sewing unless they used magic the threads would likely unwind and fall apart after a short time. (A reason so many enchantresses preferred to dress in tight leather.)

Of course magic could take care of that, if you took the time to study. Some enchantresses lived nearly forever, youthful and healthy, if they knew how. Up until she was slain by some hero or other the wicked enchantress Bloody Laurel (Desdemona's aunt on her grandfather's side) had reigned over the southern forest for three hundred years. Something Desdemona wanted to do. Thankfully her family knew that much and she was still young, barely fifteen.

She had been working on controlling her powers and learning al she needed to use them effectively. Sure her sister had reverted back after a day, but turning her into a newt even for a day out of anger did prick her guilt. So Desdemona understood why her family kicked her out. It was still better than was happened to her second cousin's grandmother's brother. His father had actually burned him at the stake.

She immediately headed for Castle Dread. Everyone knew about it and that it had been abandoned since the last owner, the ancient vampire lord, had been slain. Again. Seemed like an appropriate place and she knew a lot of magicians of various kinds had lived there over the centuries since the plateau had been raised from the Earth in ancient times. Not particularly nice ones, but if any place in the area was going to have books on using magic lying around it was there, if only because most people avoided it. Magic users and the undead were notorious for not always being as dead as people would like and everyone knew that monsters dwelled in the tunnels under the castle.

As a general rule even when heroes invaded to stop whatever fiend currently called it home they left as soon as the job was done rather than pillaging the place. The paths down were not great for carrying large loads and anything could be cursed and when new magic users showed up they either wanted nothing to do with the dark magic left behind or they just moved in.

Desdemona, as she renamed herself with the typical thinking of a thirteen year old girl, thought it sounded like a great place for an enchantress to set up shop. Isolated and great for practicing magic and chock full of artifacts, books, and monsters. Not to mention within easy flying distance of the local villages if not great for walking.

She was young after all and while she was working on teaching herself magic she was still inexperienced and most of what she did was temporary. So she needed things like money, food, and clothing that did not disappear after half a day. The dry desert lands around the castle were not exactly good for farming.

To earn it she would travel around (flying was great advertising) and do a few spells for people in exchange for pretty heft fees. The whole "turned her sister into a newt" thing got out and while it made people nervous, a lot of them liked the idea of hiring a "wicked" enchantress to do things for them. She could use love spells (though she tended to cast them on both parties, so the one asking would be too smitten to take advantage of the other one), she could remove trees and rocks for farmers, take care of local bullies, assist in removing rodents, and the like. Even grant wishes, provided they were not too challenging. This provided her plenty of money to get by on and soon she hoped to have enough saved up to hire a real staff for the castle.

In between she was studying the dark library, which did indeed have many useful magical tomes among other information. Mostly written and collected by the type of people who had apparently thought glowing green skulls with flames for eyes (and stripped of their flesh with teeth) made for good lighting. Desdemona was not really into the whole evil thing as much as some of the previous residents, but she had no problem taking advantage of what they left behind.

All in all over the last two years she had developed a pretty sketchy reputation. Most people were rightly afraid of even good magicians. Desdemona was the first to admit she did not qualify as a genuinely good person. Not evil exactly but certainly not a saint. One time some kids had thrown rocks at her and yelled about evil witches. They had ended up hopping home.

Given all of that the letter made less than no sense. It was surprising that the palace would write her at all. She had not caused any major problems that she knew of and if they were afraid of her, well it was more likely they would send the castle's wizard or an army or something to destroy her or at least give her a warning. She knew enough about the royal family to know they had a wizard on staff and had for hundreds of years. They also had a fairy godmother.

As for crashing the party they probably would have been better off just not telling her anything. If they knew enough about her to write her like that, addressing her as an enchantress, then they knew she had no real connection to the other magic users in the area. If they had not specifically written about it she never would have known about this celebration or whatever it was.

Growing up she had been taught to read and remembered several stories in which some evil fairy or witch was forgotten in the invitations to some shindig. If she was intentionally not invited it was because they did not want to offend her by not having a proper place setting and all. Naturally she took offense when she found out.

This however, seemed almost like a taunt. Why would someone give the details of the party, including when and where it was happening, only to tell someone undesirable not to show up? Like she would just be wandering past the palace that specific day and just happen to notice? Why contact her just to insult her?

Something strange was going on.

Well she was a wicked enchantress. She waved her hand over the letter and watched as the writing changed.

Dear Enchantress,

It has come to our attention that you have not yet been invited to the celebration for the princesses at Sunset Castle on the first full moon of this month. Forgive us for this terrible oversight. The Moonstar family welcomes you with open arms and we would be grateful that you accepted our invitation. Present this letter to anyone at the castle and they will show you in. Thank you in advance for not turning them into anything too terrible should they show you the slightest rudeness.

Sincerely, King Harold "Troll Slayer" Moonstar

Smiling she placed the letter back in its envelope, while deciding what exactly to wear on her first trip to the royal palace.

The servants outside Sunset Castle swallowed nervously in unison as a black carriage rolled through the castle gates into the courtyard without any driver or indeed any horses. They had seen magical vehicles before, but for the most part there had been something cheery about each of them. There had been a floating pink cloud pulled by winged kittens. A giant clam led by a pair of equally large sea horses. Even a carriage molded out of glass.

The ebony self-propelled carriage carved with ravens and gargoyles at the corners trailing black smoke however was not exactly screaming whimsy. In fact the screeching axel sounded like the screaming of damned souls. The door opened and the interior was so dark, even though the sun was still shining, that looking inside would give anyone vertigo as if they were standing at the edge of a bottomless crevice so deep that even if a person somehow survived the fall no mortal could ever hope to climb high enough to see sunlight again before they died.

Stepping out, the darkness floating off of her like mist was a tall young woman with sharp features and luminous emerald eyes. Hair the color of blood flowed down like a waterfall and made her seem pale. Her nails which looked to have been carved from amethyst curved like claws and glistened at the edges much like the blade of a razor. Her lipstick was dark purple and matched a purple dress that had black spider-web designs that glittered when the light hit it just right and looked to have been woven directly onto her body by the spiders themselves. Not unbelievable since if an onlooker stared long enough they would see black widows literally crawling over her in brief flashes only to disappear before they could get a good look. A thin came with a collar like a pair of batwings fluttered behind her like a banshee's shroud even though there was no wind. Judging her age was impossible, but it was clear she was beautiful.

Desdemona changed shape like most people changed shirts. Sometimes easier, her form changing to match her mood rather than her desires. She barely remembered the chubby girl she had been when she left home and her own family certainly never would have recognized her. She tried to keep it under control. There were many stories of magic users becoming terrible things out of their own nightmares usually because they did horrible things. Some said it was a curse, others the result of a conscience using magic to make the outside match what they believed was the inside.

Personally she had no desire to find out.

Her feet not quite touching the ground as she stepped out of the carriage she literally glided forward past the stable hands as they stared dumbfounded. Her carriage shut behind her and rolled forward where it would park itself near the stables with the others. There were large steps leading up with a half dozen guards lining the way, their knuckled going white as they tried not to stare at her and gripped their halberds. At the top of the stared before the doorway into the grand ballroom and dining hall was a small little man in formal regalia and a white wig. A herald. She had heard about them, though her little village never had anyone who even held the position let alone had one of their own.

As she approached he asked, "M-may I have your invitation and name?"

She was tempted to shout "boo" and see if he and the guards wet themselves. She heard at least one shivering in his armor so hard it rattled. Instead she lifted her nose haughtily and handed over the king's letter. She watched the little man read it and saw him hesitate. Did he know what the original said? If he did would he call her on it? "You may address me as Enchantress Nightshade."

It seemed not. Gathering his courage he straightened up. He was after all used to dealing with people who could easily order his head cut off. "Follow me, if you please." He turned on his heel and the two guards by the door opened it to let them through.

The hallway inside was lined with a great number of paintings. Mostly of men, women, and children wearing crows, tiaras, clothes worth more than most people's houses, and a lot of jewelry. The most recent portrait showed an old man with a graying beard surrounded by more than a dozen girls of varying ages. No, thirteen. First she noticed that one of the girls had strangely dark skin, brown, like nothing she had ever seen and rainbow colored hair that rose from behind a veiled face. Even hidden behind lace she radiated beauty and charm and in another situation Desdemona would have happily changed herself to match and still might later. Another girl had her face literally cut from the canvas in a ragged way. Slashed rather than gently removed.

They were led through another couple of doors to a room with a long table, literally another hall only wide as a street. In it was a table long enough to serve fifty. At the far end she could see the man from the portrait, presumably the king judging by the grown and ermine robes. Lined up on either side were eight of the girls in the painting, all recognizable and stunning. The other five were conspicuously absent, though there was another woman a bit older than the oldest who was quite pretty and wore a golden dress nearly as tight as Desdemona's and the queen's coronet. She sat next to the king and did not look old enough to be the girls' mother.

At her end were about sixteen more people who, if she was to guess, were magicians. Men in dark robes, one of whom appeared to have a bear's head. Women in pointy hats. A couple in dresses like flowers and a smaller table set up in one place where tiny pixies in literal flower petals sat like dolls at a child's tea party. Many of them had wands or staffs by their plates or leaning against their seats. In front of each was a line of food and each place had a plate made out of polished gold sitting at it with matching dinnerware. Except one empty spot near the end which had a regular plate on it. Everyone had been chatting quietly until she entered the room behind the herald.

In the sudden silence as all eyes fell on her the herald's voice echoed off the high ceiling, "Presenting her magnificence, Enchantress Nightshade."

"Please, call me Desdemona," she said with a little smile. She floated over and purposely stood at the non-gold plate, even though there were several places that had them. While she did the herald scurried the length of the table and to the king, handing over the letter.

The king looked at it and she saw his mouth open as confusion crossed his features. He started to say something, hesitated, and then stood. Everyone else followed suit. "Well met Enchantress. Please, have a seat. I'm afraid we've run out of golden plates for you…"

"Oh that's fine," she said loftily and reached out. A moment later the plate and knives and forks in front of her changed, turning to gold. She knew they would change back by dawn… she was not really good at turning things to gold permanently and frankly was not in the mood to offer it as a real gift… but it was impressive looking if nothing else. Around her she heard a few snickers from the other guests. "See, problem solved?"

"Well then," he said a bit flustered. "Um, you are of course invited to have a seat."

She did and a servant came forward, asking what she would like. She pointed to various things on the plates around her and he placed them. She looked up as everyone else sat down and all kept their eyes glued on her as she waited for permission to ea. 'Are there many more guests coming?"

"They should be here shortly," the king said.

True enough. The herald came back three more times introducing Lucinda, the swamp witch, Violet Beast Tamer, and Eric the Black son of Eric the Yellow. Once Eric was seated the king gave a nod and everyone began eating. Nobody mentioned that he was dressed in furs and Violet had a live mink curled against her neck.

The food was wonderful and Desdemona tried to take in the tableau. The princesses each wore a different colored dress. They were a little older than they had appeared in the painting ranging from mid twenties down to a girl of seven or eight. All were pretty, though the one who still wore her veil radiated sexuality that was odd on a girl of roughly the enchantress's own age and made her both envious and to her surprise a little attracted. She had two spinster aunts (well one aunt named Stella and the nice lady she lived with who they called Aunt Janine everyone pretended lived together merely to save on costs) so Desdemona was not unaware that such things happened, but she was still young and had not felt that way about a woman before.

It was certainly something to think about.

Several of the other women at the table and even one of the men who appeared very feminine and had pointed ears were just as beautiful, but it was the inhuman beauty of fairy blood. The shadows were never quite right and there were never as many flaws as there should have been. To understand think of a CGI character in a movie. Somehow no matter how they try or how beautiful they make it there's always something not quite right about it. At least not enough to pass for human. You can just tell.

Naturally everyone at the table looked pretty or handsome. Magic users and those that had access to them usually did. Beauty may only be skin deep, but ask anyone who had pox scars or massive warts what they would do first if they had magic powers. Barring a curse or magical side effects or disguising themselves to test the kindness of others it was the rare witch who did not polish the old mirror, as the saying went. Fairies meanwhile usually at least appeared in extremes, be it beauty or hideousness and tended towards the first when being polite.

After eating a bit Desdemona smiled at Violet who sat across from her and was feeding her pet a bit of meat. "What a lovely animal you have there. I'm an avid bird watcher myself."

Violet smiled and pretended to look her over, like the entire table had not been staring at Nightshade since she walked in. Still she knew animals and was on firm ground with this so she said, "I do have some fine hunting falcons."

"Brilliant. I'd love to see them some time. Feel free to come by Castle Dread any time. There is not much hunting in the wastes, but I'm certain you could find something for them. I've been reading about the green condor. Apparently they used to be plentiful around these parts before they were hunted out. I was thinking of ordering some if I can find the money and repopulating them. Or just transforming some of the local brigands into some. I could use the help of an expert falconer."

The way she casually dropped the idea of turning people into birds seemed to momentarily fluster the woman. Desdemona knew abut Violet of course. She had been a minor adventurer for a few years before her ability to speak to and understand the language of animals had led to her becoming the king's gamekeeper.

King Harold was watching them closely and when he thought Desdemona was not looking he nodded to one of his daughters. She was a pretty young thing nearly as pale as Desdemona, though more naturally. She had black nail polish, black lipstick, more a black dress, and had black circles around her eyes that looked to have been drawn with charcoal, albeit excellently. She looked like someone had taken a marble statue and brought it to life. Silver hair in a tight braid caught the light of the room, reflecting the nearest candle like a mirror. When she spoke it looked like she still had food in her mouth because even from a distance Desdemona saw something fall from her lips when she spoke.

Hesitating only a moment she said, "Excuse me, but I believe we specifically forbid any ugly evil witches from attending our banquet." Around her the other daughters, except for the eldest, gave half-hearted cries of support and a few mumbled insults. The king cleared his throat surreptitiously and they repeated them, word for word, in louder tones.

Turning to look at them she feigned anger and hurt. "How date you?" Then she looked at violet. "I don't know what their problem is with you, but…"

"Oh for crying out loud," a wizard sitting closest to the royals said, standing up. He wore brown robed with a floppy pointed hat. He was maybe upper forties of mid fifties with a distinguished beard streaked with black and gray. Neatly trimmed though she suspected the bushy black eyebrows were a choice. "She is clearly onto us. Sire I suggest you abandon the pretext."

The guests all looked between the king and Desdemona. She shrugged and took a sip of wine. "Well the letter was a bit much. Also I note that aside from the immediate royal family none of the other nobility showed up. I may be from the sticks, but I am not a fool."

The king slumped in his chair and sighed. "Yes, I suppose it was a bit much to hope." "So would somebody like to explain exactly what it is you want me to do? Nobody goes through all of this trouble without wanting something from a magician." There were some low mumbles from around the table.

The king nodded and waved at the wizard. Desdemona knew his name too. She may not be hugely up on the royal family but she knew a few things about the court of King Harold. He had a lot of daughters. The number varied on which peasant you asked… and had remarried a trophy queen who used to be a local duchess half his age about two years after his first wife died. Some said in childbirth, others said poison, and a few said he had her executed.

Mostly the fifteen year old enchantress had just ignored them. She was just too young to care about gossip, except where the people she grew up were concerned or among the local peasants who might be clients. The king had his own wizard and connections to a lot of reputable magic users, so she had not paid much attention. The official royal wizard, Edmund of the Southern Islands was known to be loyal and competent to the extreme. He had started out as a part of an adventuring team with a prince some seventy-five years earlier and when he retired from treasure hunting had taken up the position he had held for nearly sixty years through several generations of the family.

Edmund, the most powerful wizard of the realm, looked at Desdemona and said, "We need you to curse the princesses."

Chapter Two

The other guests were dismissed and the table cleared. Desdemona took a seat nearer the king and the wizard as the king sat silent and gloomy and the wizard explained what they needed. "We apologize for the deception, but we worried… well just coming out and asking…"

She waved it off. "I'm not bothered by that. I'm more curious why you're asking me at all." She looked at the king. "I understand that royal families have their issues, but if you want to get rid of your daughters you seem to have a lot better reasons than goading me into something. To tell the truth it seems like you're looking for an excuse to kill me."

"That's—!"

The king raised a hand silencing Edmund. "I don't want to get rid of my daughters. I have to. If not then I fear that our kingdom will be destroyed." He sighed. "Things have recently come to a head and it is rapidly getting worse. As you said there should be several other members of my court here, if only for appearances sake, but as you can see my position as king is becoming notably… uncertain."

"Are you aware of the political situation?" Edmund asked.

"Not really. Uh, political means to do with the government, right? Not the weather or something?"

Both men shared a look. Edmund said, "Sire, let me explain things."

"Very well. I'll leave you to it." He got up, bowed to Desdemona, and then walked off.

The wizard now had the enchantress's undivided attention. "Were you aware that there was an attempted uprising here about six months ago?"

"No," she said, feeling like he was about to accuse her.

"Well we did. It's not the sole reason for our problems, but it's pushed things past the breaking point." He tapped his fingers on his staff. "You know that a kingdom can only have one ruler. Or pair of rulers. One king and one king."

"Yes."

"The current heir to the throne, in the event that the king steps down or dies, is of course his eldest daughter princess Melinda. She has been engaged to prince Wendell of Land Lock, the kingdom to our immediate west. A land much larger than ours that, on their marriage, will triple the size of this kingdom among other things."

"Is there some problem with her?"

"Not at all. In fact we do not want you to curse Princess Melinda at all. She's happy to be marrying the prince and the two get along splendidly. What's more the prince's lands, while vast, are mostly mountains and they look forward to merging with us so they can gain access to the Eastern Sea to ease trading and such. It's quite the match and we believe Melinda will make an excellent queen and the prince a fine king. No, the problem is the other claimants to the throne. You are aware that the king has thirteen daughters?"

"Well I was not sure about the girl with the dark skin…"

"No, she's one of ours as well. Born and bred as they say. Anyway that means aside from the crown princess we have a dozen other people who, in the event of her death or other unforeseeable events, have a legitimate claim to the throne and who, for the most part, have nothing else to do with their time."

"Aren't there ways to handle that?"

"Oh certainly and they have. Well, up to a point. The second princess Josephine was sent to the small kingdom to the south. They're a small place, not very powerful but they do control a valley pass that is outside the bounds of our kingdom and that of the prince. They do not wish to join us, but we've always been on good terms and so on. Fourth in line Brianna was kidnapped by a dragon a couple years ago and was subsequently rescued by a foreign prince looking for a dragon heart to cure his father of a rare illness and taken off to his lands."

"Really? I thought our kingdom was under some sort of enchantment."

"True. No malicious magical beings can enter our borders. At least not for the next seventy years. We'll discuss that later. The fifth in line Princess Corrine took a bit longer, but after many inquiries we managed to make an agreement with a distant land for her marriage rights and she is currently on a ship bound for that land as we speak."

"Okay." Desdemona wondered how her own sister was doing. She was sixteen. Marriageable age. More or less. And it was not like she was still a newt.

"We were working on princess Sapphire when she launched a coup. It's not recent. Apparently she has been planning it for a while and took the moment when everyone was busy to try and overthrow the king and of course her sister. She had some help with nobles and some peasants and it was a good try, but we prevailed and those not executed have been banished to the wastes."

"I haven't seen them."

"Well there's hardly any reason they would go near your castle."

Desdemona liked that statement. She had always been mildly worried that the king or somebody might come by to clean her out of there. She had no official papers and had never paid taxes, but it seemed like they had no intention of contesting ownership of what amounted to a big rock. At least not yet.

"Anyway some people were killed on both sides including a few prominent nobles who either thought they would do better under her or who planned to betray her eventually." She waved it off, not particularly caring about the details. They had not come to ask her help after all. "Long story short, Sapphire and the top revolutionaries were executed. It's hit the family hard, but…"

"I understand. I have a sister too." She had been kicked out of her own home and all. It had hurt, but on the other hand if someone had even accidentally turned her into an amphibian out of anger, she would have held a grudge and been a little scared too. She and Orchid had fought plenty even before that. That was without their parents declaring one of them their heir and shipping the less important sister off. Desdemona had once had a rather nasty scar from the time they had fought over a doll. Change "doll" to "kingdom" and it upped the stakes. Considering how bad she had still felt about turning her into an underwater lizard and forcing her to sleep in the bathtub for a day she could imagine how the family must have felt having to have Sapphire's head cut off, even if she had deserved it.

"Before we were able to drag it out. You know, wait until each princess reached marriageable age and marry her off. Something that's becoming more difficult. Eligible princes aren't exactly easy to come by. We had a close run thing with Brianna, but thankfully the princess she left with had no interest in taking part of our kingdom as dowry. Standard fare for defeating a dragon."

"For the heir, I thought."

"Uh, just any princess really. Princes are generally self sufficient. Most kingdoms don't have as many princesses as we do."

"I see… wait. What about princess number three? You skipped her."

"Ah yes, Francis. Well she took care of that herself. She eloped."

"Married outside the royal circle?"

"Oh no. She married quite well. Um, you see they met while she was on a family trip to the seaside. It was quite secret, but they met among the tide pools and really hit it off, but decided to just take care of matters themselves. She is now married to the ruler of the Eastern Sea. Quite happily. A little unorthodox, but seeing as how she was the third in line and there were so many others the king did not make much of a deal out of it."

"Oh that's nice. I like seeing a woman make her own way—" She paused and Edmund raised his eyes to the ceiling. "Wait, I thought the eastern Sea was ruled by Queen Black Pearl, the mermaid. There was a war or something like ten years and a bunch of treaties so we could keep sailing in her waters. My uncle was on the Terminus, that navy ship that was sucked into that whirlpool."

"Indeed. Sorry to hear about your uncle. Terrible business."

There was silence as he let her figure out the details. "Doesn't' she live under water?"

"The princess had a magical gift. She can stay under water indefinitely. It's why she was allowed so much leeway on the beach for the length of the vacation. The guards were watching the other princesses. Not the only one that cannot actually drown."

Revolutionaries, flirting with the mermaid queen… she supposed it was hard for the average family to keep track of all the kids. With twelve it was much more difficult even with a lot of guards and a wizard on the payroll. Underwater? Well it sounded like they had wanted a little privacy anyway. She supposed it only solidified relations with the mermaid kingdom and there was little anyone could do about it.

"Well good for her. And for you."

"Yes, well it'd be a strange world if we were all the same," the wizard huffed. "And frankly while we've still been searching we've come up a bit dry on potential suitors for the remaining seven. We were considering lesser nobles, though it would mean a drop in stature. Part of why Sapphire launched her revolution now I am sure. One she was officially a duchess or baroness rather than a princess she would be out of the immediate line of succession. She had to act quickly.

"Unfortunately that leaves us with a lot of problems. Seven to be exact."

"I think I follow." No matter how sorry she was afterwards she had still turned Orchid into a newt. She could do it again. If she had another sister with the same powers, her parents would have to assume she would do the same thing some day. When one of your siblings tried to overthrow the throne and either kill or banish you, trust was gone and she ruined it for everyone.

Sisters two through six were out of the running, but everyone knew they had seven more waiting in the wings. There were still unhappy people out there who would happily take either a leader or a figurehead. Given sibling rivalry or a lot of other factors it was likely only a matter of time before someone else got mad and tried it. Or maybe the crown princess had a legitimate accident and even if one of them was not blamed, at this point every one of the remaining princesses had about the same claim to the throne and age was an iffy way to choose. There would be a competition or, potentially, a war. Melinda was not even married yet, let alone producing an heir of her own.

"So what, you wanted me to show up, get insulted, and take care of the problem for you?"

"Essentially. The last really evil sorcerer in the kingdom was killed decades ago and with the protection spell on the land for the next few decades ago. We literally can't get any more."

"Well I'd say kill them all, but I can see how the family might oppose that."

He nodded. "And the nobles. I mean they are innocent, though we suspect a few might have been aware of her sister's plan. Even if they won't admit it." Desdemona nodded. You might rat out a sister in the spur of the moment, but you didn't really sell her out if you thought about it. Also once you saw her head drop you weren't about to admit to being in on it. "We need a way to get the other heirs out of the way, preferably so they don't actually die, but so that they aren't a threat to the kingdom any more."

"So why me? You're a wizard. Turn them all into frogs and toss them into a swamp somewhere."

"I can't. No other witch or wizard or fairy in the kingdom can. It's about… reputation." She raised an eyebrow. "Because of the spell we haven't had any truly evil magicians in this kingdom in a while. A few have risen up and been put down quickly by the rest of us.

"The thing is the royal magician can't just start using magic to get rid of heirs. Even if it's not fatal. In fact no magic user in this kingdom wants the stigma. A lot have moral problems with the idea. Many aren't powerful enough to really do it. You're the first enchanter born here in decades. And you already have a bit of a reputation for being… morally flexible. Not evil per se, but certainly a bit… dark."

"You've been watching."

"We were concerned, especially when news reached us of what happened with your sister, but so far you've managed to walk a fine line. Wicked perhaps, but most of the negative things that have happened to those involved with you seem to be self inflicted. Often through stupidity."

"I'm big on life lessons."

"Indeed." He tapped his staff again. "And you seem to do decent business despite… or even because of your reputation for being scary and a bit nasty. In fact you could even say that cursing a princess or two would be a boon to you."

She frowned. Unsaid was that maybe this whole curse thing was not a completely new idea. You heard about them all the time. Stories mostly, but every kingdom had one. Mostly because they either did something to anger a powerful magician or, at least from the storyteller's side of thing, the magician was a nutcase with too much power for anybody's good and maybe some debts to dark powers that needed to be paid in blood and souls.

"I don't like being used."

"We didn't mean…"

"Sorry, let me rephrase that. I don't like being used for free. I see how it is. You want me to do something for you, but instead of asking you send me a un-invitation, then when I don't storm in shooting lightning out of my hands, you made those poor girls sit there and insult me so I'd go off the wall and zap them right there. For free. Let me guess, all the other magicians were there to what, alter the spell if I went too far/ Or were you planning to just wait until it was done and strike me down so you all could feel guilt free about the whole thing and get the credit for killing the evil witch?" She got up from the table and turned to walk away. "Do your own dirty work."

"We'll pay!"

She hesitated a moment, but then kept going. "Not worth it."

"A million gold a piece." Desdemona froze in place like she had been hit with a spell. She might as well have been put into a block of ice or gazed into the eyes of a basilisk. "With a bonus when we confirm that you've completed it."

Slowly she turned and looked back, greed warring with pride in her chest. "There's no way you have that much money."

"We do. I swear it."

She bit her lip. "How can I trust you? Or you me? I mean even I'll admit anyone who would curse some innocent girls isn't really trustworthy. That's why you won't do it."

"We can write up a magical contract. Fairy bonded. Signed in the temple of the god of justice and witnessed by the high priest."

That was pretty water tight. Most people would not even make that last offer. The last people who broke a contract signed in that god's name had been… well killed would have been a step up. Some of them were still walking the world. Well if you had a weird definition of "walking". More slithering. Or whatever it was snails and slugs and centipedes did. Plus according to the priests they had it even worse in the afterlife when they died. And of course fairies were known to be scrupulously honest and if anything less forgiving when their names were dragged through the mud. Tricky and devious and scary as any demon from the pit and the most evil sorcerers, but honorable to a fault.

Seven princesses. Seven million gold coins. It was a ludicrous sum. Far more than the entire kingdom and the surrounding lands were worth. Almost impossible. And that was just what they were willing to pay. Indicating they had a lot more. "It is real money right? Not the kind that turns to dust or wood by sunrise?"

Reaching into his robe Edmund pulled out a small leather sack. He threw it to her and she caught it. Eyes on him she undid the draw string and looked inside. Gold coins. Gemstones that looked remarkably flawless and about the side of her thumb. Pearls like marbles. More money than she had ever seen in her life. Well unless you counted the times she turned a lot of rocks into a treasure for a few hours and pretended.

"That is for ignoring our little play acting and coming back to the table and hearing me out. You can still leave after you've heard my offer."

Mouth suddenly dry she closed the bag and tucked it firmly into her cleavage. Taking a centering breath she sauntered back over and took her seat. "I'm listening."

The contract, when it was done, was iron clad. Desdemona read it several times and even hired a couple of lawyers to go over it. Not letting them know it was with the royal family, since it was unsigned at the time. They went over it with a fine toothed comb and explained it all in detail. Not just her questions but everything else she never thought to ask and it seemed pretty fair.

Essentially it said that she, the Wicked Enchantress, agreed to perform a service for the primary (the king) in which his daughters would be placed under curses. They were not to be killed or unduly tortured, but the curses were meant to last for at least one generation. They were meant to prevent the princesses from falling into the hands of anyone else who might wish the kingdom harm, or having them produce another generation of potential heirs who might return to claim the throne within the next fifty years to a century.

Except for one particular princess who was considered a specific threat and needed to be permanently eliminated through "whatever means necessary" for the good of the kingdom.

Desdemona was not sure she liked that. She had never killed anyone before and this seemed awfully close if not saying so in so many words. What had the girl done? Helped her sister in the coup? Was she meant as an example? She tried asking about that, but it was a sticking point. "It's not negotiable." They tripled the price though. That helped her get over her ambiguity on the whole thing. She pictured swimming in a sea of gold as her pen touched the contract.

So much for the good wizards and their so called morals. Then again she supposed if it was that important they would get somebody else to do it. Like with any executioner. It was the king's word that was sentencing them. Not her. Maybe she could find a way around it. They did not actually say they were killing the girl. Just like they were not officially setting Desdemona up to die.

There was a clause about no retaliations or punishment for performing the task. She would be under the king's protection and anyone who messed with her would have to deal with the full force of the throne, if she did not get to them first. And if the king failed in his duty… well when they signed it at the temple the god's symbol had appeared singed into the velum of the contract right next to their signatures. If either side failed to hold up their end of the agreement they would be smitten and damned.

It all seemed pretty much on the up and up, right down to the fine print.

It was only later that she learned an important lesson known to demons and the finest lawyers. It's not always the fine print that gets you. it's the stuff that the contract does not cover that really screws you over. Admittedly she had intentionally avoided anything about a time limit or the fact that pulling this off was a bit beyond her current skills, but she was sure she could manage with a little effort and study. She was not certain, but they signed the contract so she figured she had plenty of time.

Ancient wisdom states: you may be sneaky, but there is always someone sneakier than you. In this case, it was Edmund and King Harold.

The first moment Desdemona thought she might have made a mistake was about a week into the deal. She was in her library studying curses. She was intent that she do a good job on this. It was dawning on her that a magician's reputation was important and she wanted to build hers on these curses. Too many of them in recent years had involved "dad humor". Using magic to enact puns or stupid jokes. There were magical creatures running around like ant lions and door mice where they were part ant and part lion or had actual doors in their chests or something.

If she wanted to be taken seriously as a wicked Enchantress she could not do something that turned her victims and thus herself into a stupid joke.

Likewise she did not want to just rip off the classics. Putting someone to sleep for a thousand years or turning them into frogs. She wanted something that would spread her name, not lose her in the crowd. Mother Gothel, Lilith, Mab, Baba Yaga, Morgan, Saint Peter, Circe, Anansi, Zeus, Loki… cursing was an art. Just saying the name of the right perpetrator could conjure up something specific with their names.

She did not want to be the supernatural equivalent of whoever painted the pictures they hung up in inns to cover a hole in the wall or a stain. Do a general uninspired curse and you went down in the history books as "wicked witch" and they started saying your story was based on some older myths and legends and gave all your credit to some ancient goddess or trickster with a real reputation.

Desdemona had an edge. Most magicians only cursed one person or town. Seven princesses? Well it had been done, but usually in bulk. Twelve dancing princesses. Princes turned into a flock of crows. Whole kingdoms put to sleep. A bunch of elder sisters who got cursed while their smarter youngest sister got rewarded for outsmarting them and the monster. A whole family forced to fill a lake with leaking sieves or turned into a constellation of stars.

Her plan was to make each princess's fate both unique and memorable. The key seemed to tailor it to them and employ either justice or at least irony for some fault or flaw in their character or some trespass they had committed. Often turning their deepest desires against them.

At least if you were trying to go nonfatal. Killing an entire kingdom was always a good way to make an impression. It just did not make for a good reputation. Also there was nobody left to pay you and looting bodies was hard work. Not to mention leading to manhunts and executions.

No, if she wanted to make a career out of this she needed to be precise. Surgical. With luck she could spend years blowing the king's fortune like a madwoman and then get similar jobs later. No need to invest if you were the best. She was only fifteen after all.

Desdemona had spaced out on daydreams of money and power and fancy parties that were not elaborate plans to use and kill her when she was jolted back to reality by fanfare. Literally. The sound of trumpets echoed through the castle. She fell out of her chair and looked around trying to pinpoint the noise. It came again, from outside.

Frowning she snapped her fingers and appeared on the castle's battlements on the outer wall. The portcullis had rusted off long ago, lying on the ground outside the entryway, but her visitors still waited patiently outside. All three dozen of them.

The trumpeters were just about to give their horns another blow when they, the trumpets not the trumpeters, transformed into snakes. Nothing poisonous, but when they dropped them hurriedly and screamed one was kind of slow and from the way he was running around screaming with the reptile trailing behind his hand like a comet's tail, it was clear they did not know that.

Her voice echoing unnaturally loudly across the plateau Desdemona shouted, "Who dares intrude upon my castle!"

A man in a uniform stepped forward. She peered down at him as he raised a scroll and she recognized the herald from the castle. He nervously held up the parchment and shouted back. It was not as loud of course, but she could hear him. "In accordance with the agreement between the Enchantress Desdemona nightshade and his majesty King Harold of Paradise River, it has been decreed that until such time as the accords between the two parties is completed, the principals shall dwell with said Enchantress until the contract is complete."

Desdemona appeared in front of him. "What was that?"

He sighed and lowered the scroll. "The princesses are your problem now." He lowered his voice. "I was told to inform you by the royal wizard that things have escalated. The king is under a lot of pressure to do something about his potential heirs. If he could just leave them sitting around the castle he would, but then if he could do that, he wouldn't need you.

"So until such time as they are properly enchanted, as you agreed, they are to be banished to the wastes. The king will send supplies and retainers to care for their needs, but until such time as you have laid your curses they are to live here. With you." He cleared his throat. "In lieu of taxes." He pulled another scroll from his coat. "And you will receive this deed to the area of the kingdom known as the Wastelands along with the title of Land Lord."

Breathing through clenched teeth she considered her options. Well, it seemed fair, she supposed. "Very well. But don't just rush in there." Snapping her fingers she teleported the paper to her room. Then she snapped her fingers again. A new scroll appeared in her hand. "This place is not exactly fit for royalty and I would not recommend just wandering around."

"Some of the retainers are prepared to affect repairs."

"Good but it's not that simple." She handed him the rolled up parchment. "Here's a map of the castle. At least the parts I've explored. The red areas are off limits, even for repairs. Examples include the dungeon, there is a room this the northwest tower that has something that scratches against it and roars if you get too close, I'm pretty sure another room is actively cursed, but I didn't go inside when I saw the blood stained runes glowing inside, and all that's a cakewalk compared to what happens if anyone goes into either my private rooms or the library without my permission and to be clear nobody has my permission. Understood?"

He took it and bowed. "I shall inform the retainers and princesses."

As he headed back to where the others, some actively cowering, waited a figure detached itself from the group. She was tall and swayed hypnotically as she walked forward. She wore leather riding gear rather than a ball gown, but Desdemona would have recognized her mahogany skin anywhere, what with everyone else she had ever met having skin that ranged from pink to white with a lot of tans thrown in. And this was not a color you got from standing in the sun.

From behind her veil the rainbow haired princess said, "So, my father finally conned some magician into helping get rid of us rather than dirtying his own hands."

"If it helps he's paying me an obscene amount of money."

"Yes, that's how he snagged our stepmother."

Unless she was mistaken, Desdemona was pretty sure she had just been backhandedly called a whore. "You might benefit from being slightly more polite to me. I may be under contract to curse you, but there are all kinds of things I could do with you first." She paused, unsure if she had phrased that as a threat… or if she was flirting. It was mildly unsettling to realize that she was not clear herself.

The girl crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Try it."

Deciding that while not permanent, a few hours as a toad in the desert would do wonders for this girl's manners. In a way it was even helpful. If she talked this way to magic users on a regular basis, they might not be as nice. Desdemona snapped her fingers, prepared to send the girl somewhere wet after she got suitably dried out to regret her words.

Only when she snapped, nothing happened.

Blinking she tried again. Then she turned and turned a stone into a toad. It looked up and blinked, surprised. She turned it back. Then she tried the princess again.

Nothing.

Smiling behind the black lace she said, "Ha! I knew it. They didn't tell you, did they?"

"Tell me what?"

The veil shook back and forth. "What did he say? That he was doing this just for political reasons? Please. It doesn't cost that much to load us on a ship and send us to parts unknown. With or without enough money to live on. We're a seaside port. You think if daddy wanted to get rid of us without killing us that he could not just set us up on an island somewhere?"

She might be hot, but Desdemona did not like her tone. "So why hire me?"

"Let me give you an example." She turned over her shoulder. Diadem, come here for a moment dear."

The dark clad silver haired girl came out of the crowd. She was still dressed like a princess going to a ball, this time in a shade of red that was almost black. She carried a red parasol and a fan. Her makeup was still black on pale skin. She looked silently at her older sister.

"Explain to our hostess why we're a little more difficult to deal with than the average princess."

Lowering her fan Diadem said, "What do you want me to say?"

As she spoke something fell out of her mouth and landed at her feet. It was clearly visible in the desert sun. A ruby, glistening as if it glowed and remarkably similar to the ones in the bag Edmund had given Desdemona at their meeting. The enchantress held out her hand and it floated up, smacking into her palm. Turning it over and checking she realized it was real.

This was powerful magic. And the girl was not an enchanter. She could tell. No magic words. No potions or gestures. Still she had just manifested a fully formed and very real ruby. One of many if everything in that bag was an example.

No wonder her father could afford so much. And no wonder a simple transformation failed. Power like that woven into a person to produce a specific result… that was impressive to say the least and no so easy to alter.

"Why would he want me to kill…?" She did not finish the sentence.

She did not have to. Diadem met her eyes and said, "He told you to kill me, didn't he?"

"Not… exactly." Desdemona watched to see how she would react.

Her eyes were sad already, devoid of hope or happiness. It looked like they had been that way for a long time. "I knew he'd never give me a chance. The others… they have hope. Foolish as that may be. For me life is nothing but an empty bleak darkness from which there is no escape. I was born dead and without a future." With every word a gemstone or a coin or a pearl landed at their feet. Yet not a tear was shed. She was beyond sadness. Beyond despair. She was resigned.

"I don't understand. You… this is amazing. Most people would kill to be able to do this. You're wealthy beyond the wildest dreams. You can do anything."

"If I were just a girl, maybe. But I am part of the royal family. Tell me sweet enchantress, have you ever heard the phrase 'devaluing the currency'?" Desdemona shook her head. Reaching out Diadem took the hand with the ruby in it. "One of these is worth much. A house. A farm." She let go and waved her hand at the desert around them. "Here? A glass of water.

"Fill a kingdom with them. Fill this desert with them up to the top of this mountain you call home. Let the peasants come and fill their pockets knowing that they can grab the pretty pebbles any time." She kicked the growing pile of stones at her feet. A fortune. Scattering them about. "In a month how many would it take to buy a single loaf of bread?"

Desdemona got the point. Gold. Gems. They were valuable because they were rare. This girl was a limitless supply. She could provide anyone with wealth, but if she kept going, then they would eventually become paupers. If everyone was an enchanter, Desdemona would no longer be special.

And if the king was rich enough that he could pay an enchantress to get rid of his daughters, then as a resource his daughter had likely outlived her usefulness as a source of income long ago. Assuming she had been doing this her whole life… yikes. Logically she should have been killed when she was four… five years old?

Only she was his daughter. He could never, ever risk her falling into anyone else's hands, but at the same time killing his daughter likely was not easy. What was it like to know that however long he put it off, it was something that would happen? Almost inevitably. Like finding out you had some disease that would kill you. No wonder the girl's outlook was so bleak.

"Wait, can all of you do this?"

The veiled one said, "We can all do something. Our fairy godmother made sure of that."

"What fairy—?"

Even before she finished the question a voice, louder even than the one Desdemona had used, boomed across the desert like thunder.

"What are you doing to my babies!?"

Chapter Three

Not many people ever see a fairy coming at them at sixty miles per hour in a kamikaze dive bombing run. A four foot high ballistic pixie dropping straight at you like a peregrine falcon, wing buzzing so fast they were practically invisible. Granny-like face twisted with anger as her light blue dress flapped in the wind so hard it sounded like gunshots. Pixie dust trailing behind her.

Desdemona had to admit she flinched before the tiny fairy stopped in front of her literally less than a foot away, going from shooting star to floating old woman with a bun in her hair in the blink of an eye. "You! You're the one! You're going to hurt my babies!" She raised a thin silver wand. The pink crystal star on the tip flared bright as the sun, shooting fire into the air.

A nicer person likely would have stood there and been incinerated. It took a lot to come up with something to do in the face of an adorable old woman who is apparently about to turn the spot you are standing into molten glass. There was enough magic coming off the little lady to vaporize the entire plateau if she wanted and it was aimed right at Desdemona. As powerful as she was there was not a thing the enchantress could do to stop it. In a century or two she might have attempted it, but anything she tried would be like trying to block an avalanche with a piece off gauze.

Desdemona however was wicked and knew exactly what to do. In the blink of an eye she reached over and grabbed the veiled girl by the shoulders, pulling the girl into the fairy's path. Either as a human shield or so she would not die alone.

"Isabelle, move out of the way darling," the fairy screeched.

"Try anything and I'll throw her off the cliff," Desdemona said before the princess could respond. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

The fairy growled, a disconcerting sound coming from her and not say, an angry bear. But she lowered her wand. "I am Esmeralda, you fiend. And I will not allow you or anyone else to harm a hair on a ingle head of the royal family. my dear sweet babies."

Desdemona frowned. She had not seen this one at the castle. Then again, it did not seem like she was exactly enjoying part of the plan. "Then you should back off."

"Or what? You'll hurt them? If you so much as scratch…!"

"I'm supposed to be saving their lives, you firefly from Hell!"

The fairy blinked. "What?"

"The king hired me!" The fairy looked unconvinced. "Ask them."

Diadem sighed and twirled her parasol. "It's true godmother Essie. Father has chosen this woman to be the one to lay down our final doom upon us and the offer us that final gasp of hope before our inevitable plummet to the bottomless pit of ultimate crushing darkness that all men ultimately aspire to."

The fairy was temporarily distracted from her anger. "Now Die, what have I told you about talk like that sort of talk? You need to cheer up dear and stop moping. You're always so pretty when you smile." The princess just sighed again and looked away.

"Can somebody please tell me what is going on here?" Desdemona asked.

The enchantress let the servants get on with their tasks and took the princesses and the fairy to the kitchen. Esmeralda sneered at the place, which was pretty unsanitary to say the least, but allowed her to conjure them up some tea and coax her into explaining who she was and why she was there.

It seemed that about twenty-four years earlier the old queen Ursula was on her way to Paradise River to marry the then prince when her caravan was attacked by trolls. They killed most of the guards and took everyone else captive. The future queen and a single courtier, who eventually became the herald, were saved for last, because they were the smallest. The prince, a great hunter, eventually found his way there with the help of a young woman who had been living in the forest among the beasts and fairies, who had the mystical ability to communicate with animals. He, the palace guards, and the court wizard killed the trolls and rescued the two survivors.

The princess however while being held captive at the back of the cave, came across a strange ancient metal box. With nothing else to do she spent a lot of time trying to open the lock using bits of bone and things. It became sort of an obsession and when they returned to the kingdom she hired a locksmith to open the box.

It turned out to contain the fairy godmother. "Well actually I was a fertility goddess, back before I was sealed away for five hundred years. Very popular in these parts. I was known for blessing marriages with an abundance of children and bestowing them with gifts. When the queen opened the box and saw me she mistook me for a fairy and I was so weak I took that form.

"Since then I have graciously watched over the royal family, blessing them with fertility and giving them great powers." Around the table the princesses made various faces. Only the youngest was actually smiling. "The queen was very grateful when I told her she would have a dozen children."

"We're pretty sure only half of us are actually daddy's kids."

"And her dying words were 'I never want a man to touch me again.'"

Esmeralda sniffed. "I gave her what she wanted. Anyway I granted you all perfectly good christening gifts."

"What gifts exactly?" Desdemona asked before any of the princesses, who looked ready to fight, could say anything.

"Oh dear, let me think. I granted them all beauty and health of course. Well Melinda I gave the gift to heal any injury or disease. It's traditional you know, for real royalty to be able to do that and take care of the pox or dandruff and the like." Desdemona had not heard that the princess could do that. Then again, she'd be a fool to say so. The court would probably be filled with every peasant or noble with any minor ailment not to mention foreigners. "Um, let's see. Josephine I gave skill at fortune telling. She was especially good with cards."

"Francis can breathe under water, I was told about her." And now she wondered if the princess was really in love with the mermaid queen, or just anxious to get out before their fairy godmother had her popping out another litter.

The fairy blushed. "Yes, well that turned out quite satisfactorily, didn't it?"

"For her," said another princess with a "why couldn't I have gotten that?" tone of voice. Desdemona could hardly fault the sentiment.

"Brianna could control the weather. I believe that was how her nice young man located the dragon's cave. It was the only one with a snowstorm over it in the middle of summer. Oh and Corrine can turn into animals at will. The girls used to love to play with her." She beamed at the princesses.

"Up until the kitten incident," Diadem said. "She never was interested in being small and cute after that."

"She was scary sometimes," the youngest princess said.

"Then there was Sapphire…" The whole room fell silent. "She could make the best illusions. I rather thought she would be an artist. I mean it was not real. Who knew she could use them to fight?"

"How about the rest of you?" Desdemona quickly interrupted. It was clear their sister's betrayal was a sore spot. "I suppose I should know your names and gifts. Oldest to youngest please."

The princess in the ball gown raised a hand. She was the better endowed of all of them with long ebony hair and lightly tanned skin. She wore a bit of makeup she didn't need and a pair of earrings, one sapphire and one emerald. Her eyes were the same, one green and one blue, matching the earrings. Later when she looked it up Desdemona found out her sister's were the same, but the other way around. "Um, I'm Joan. Sapphire was my twin sister. I'm fifteen though I'll be sixteen in a few months. My… gift is um, I can control shadows and travel through them and stuff."

"I thought it a nice duality," Esmeralda said. "Light and shadow and all that. With twins and everything it seemed appropriate."

The rainbow haired one placed a dark hand on the table, "My name is Isabelle. I am fourteen. My gift was unsurpassed charisma and beauty." She cleared her throat. "My sister Josephine fortunately predicted what would happen when I hit puberty. Anyone who looks upon my face, she said, would fall at my feet as my slave. So they gave me this enchanted veil when I turned eleven. It's meant to stay on until I am married. My family is immune of course."

Well no wonder Desdemona had been unable to turn her into a toad. Christening gifts were serious magic. Tied up with fate and destiny. Even those that cast them could not undo them once they were set. One had to work within the bounds of the spell itself. Like that story about the princess who was cursed by the wicked fairy to die, only a young fairy who had not yet given the princess a gift had altered it to a death-like sleep. Thankfully after eleven other fairies she had probably been stumped on exactly what to give the girl. The way Desdemona heard it number ten had been something like fresh breath forever and the last fairy had been considering something like "she will always find good deals at the market" when the evil one had shown up.

Frogs and other amphibians did not even have a concept of beauty. Their eyesight was based on movement and mating on other considerations. So naturally it was not a spell that would work on any of the princesses. Certainly not the most beautiful woman on Earth. Still Desdemona decided then and there that whatever curse she laid on Isabelle was going to involve her turning the girl into something.

"Diadem," the next one said. "I'm unlucky thirteen and I guess I'm not getting any older. You know my power. When I speak treasure falls from my lips. Cut my hair and it turns into real silver. When I use the outhouse I produce golden goose eggs."

"I admit I was running a bit low of ideas by then," Esmeralda said. "I read some fairy tale books for inspiration. Everyone appreciated it at the time." She pouted. "I mean she was number nine. I promised the queen twelve children so I was afraid she might be ignored if she did not have a great gift and even I could see turning everything she touched to gold would just be stupid."

Stupid probably started when you gave the ruler of the country a dozen kids, Desdemona thought but did not say out loud.

A sullen looking girl with gold hair was next. She wore a sort of toga-like outfit that was sort of revealing for a young girl. It hung over her left shoulder leaving her right arm and side bare to the hip. "I'm Melody and I am twelve. I can do this…" She raised her bare arm and when she did strings made of light appeared between her arm and side, like she was a living harp. Reaching out with the other hand she began plucking out a tune. The music was beautiful, almost hypnotic…

Desdemona was half asleep when she heard the young princess shout, "Run for it!" The enchantress looked up and sort of smiled, still dazed. Next to her the fairy's head fell forward, thumping into the table top. The princesses were still wide awake, apparently immune to this ability too. She saw Melody push away from the table and head for the door. She hesitated when she saw that the others had not followed her. "Why are you idiots just sitting there?"

"Where are we supposed to go?" Diadem asked.

"Uh, away from the creepy witch who wants to curse us?"

"And then what? We can't go back to the castle. Dad sent us here. If we made it to the other kingdoms they would just send us back or lock us away and use us," Isabelle said. "Even if we killed this lady, dad would just hire somebody else to do it or cut off out heads."

The second to eldest looked appalled. "Daddy wouldn't really!" Tears streamed down into her tea cup.

The youngest smiled. "Of course not. Daddy's been doing his very best for us. That's why he sent us here. He told me. He doesn't want any of us hurt, but if we don't take a nap for a few centuries or so then everybody else will suffer."

Melody glared at them. "Excuse me if I don't feel that attached to the guy who wants us all turned into statues or something It was bad enough when he started marrying our sisters off to strangers. Maybe Sapphire was right. I bet if we head out into the wastes we can find those guys who worked with her and…" The kitchen door slammed shut and Melody squealed as she floated up into the air, only to land back in her seat hard enough to bruise her buttocks. "Ouch!"

Shaking off the trance Desdemona snapped her fingers and a gag appeared on the girl's mouth. A moment later manacles locked on her wrists, the chains attached to the chair to keep her from raising her hands. "You aren't going anywhere! I made a deal and not least of all a god will be very upset if I don't curse you all. Your sisters are right. You're screwed, get used to it." Melody glared at her. Desdemona glared back, only her eyes changed into tiny skulls as she did, blue fire shooting out of their eye sockets hot enough that they knew it was real.

Everyone else at the table flinched back, turning pale and in some cases screaming or whimpering. Except Esmeralda who was snoring into the table. From the smell at least one had wet herself. None of them tried to run though. That was mildly impressive. That or they were too scared.

Once she saw they were suitably cowed she nodded her head and a plate with a slice of cake appeared before each one. "Now, where were we?"

The next one was a girl with brown hair and wearing tiny spectacles balanced on the end of her nose. She wore a peach dress and was carrying a book in one hand, eating with another. She seemed fairly calm. When she spoke it was like listening to an adult. "I am Clarity and I am eleven years old. I like reading and my ability is that I can read people's minds, though I have of course picked up some skills along the way. Basically everything anyone at the palace knows. I rather suspect that I would have been driven mad if not for the gift of health, which of course includes my mental state.

"Sadly I have yet to figure out the gifts of magic myself since magicians such as witches protect themselves from magical intrusion and you personally know very little on the subject, your gifts having come naturally to you and thus are not something I can learn any more than I could learn to fly by watching birds. If however you could use a competent assistant while I am here and need help with alchemy I may be willing to lend my aid." Her words were cold and logical.

"I'll consider it." The girl was slightly scary and Desdemona could see why she was there. Sure dear old dad might be able to use her as a spy, but keeping her on his side when she could see all of his deep dark secrets would be difficult and he of course would know he was using her. Any one of these girls would have made a terrific queen for their little land of magic and adventure. As extras however they were all rather dangerous. Especially if the neighbors knew what they were capable of.

"Exactly," the girl said.

"I didn't say…"

"You get used to that," Isabelle said. "That one works on everybody. She learned to talk when she was three weeks old. It took us years to get her to wait until we actually said anything to answer."

"Why are you helping her?" The crying girl asked. "I bet if we went back home we could talk daddy into another plan. We could leave on a ship and go to an island or something."

"We can't," Joan said. "Sapphire ruined that for us. Now everybody thinks we're going to eventually come back with an army or something and take the kingdom."

"Daddy doesn't think so," she insisted. "And Melinda loves us."

It was clear from their faces that the girls were not all convinced of that, but Clarity spoke up. "He doesn't really, but the other nobles do. Some of them are afraid of us and think we'll use our gifts to overthrow Melinda. Some of them want us to if only to get Daddy and Melinda out of the way so they can take over. A few were just too cautious or cowardly to join Sapphire because she was a young girl. Others see us as a threat just by existing." She looked at Diadem. "They aren't wrong."

"We wouldn't do that…" Even she sounded uncertain now.

"Maybe not now, but who knows what the future holds."

"Josephine," the youngest said as she popped a cake into her mouth.

"And she got out," Isabelle said.

Desdemona clapped her hands. "Back on topic ladies. You are?"

The girl sighed. "I'm Ester. I can make a corn cup."

"A what?"

"Cornucopia," Clarity clarified.

"A magic food horn," Ester said irritably. She held out her hand and a carved horn appeared in it. "Like this." She brought the pointy end up to her lips and blew. The sound was deafening.

Esmeralda snorted and sat up. She farted as she did so. Then a bunch of grapes flew out of the horn's end and hit her in the face, scattering across the table. The fairy jumped and looked around blearily as the princesses laughed. "What happened?"

Desdemona picked up one of the grapes and tasted it. It was perfect, jut like the gems from Diadem. "You can make any food Ester."

She looked down. The horn vanished. "Yes."

"She's upset because she thinks she's dull."

Desdemona could see that. Being able to make food was actually pretty impressive and much more useful than a lot of the gifts the other girls had. It was easy to see why she would get along better with her father and sister. Potentially she could feed the whole kingdom in the event of a drought or famine. However she would not be great for trade any more than her older sister was for commerce. Her sisters' gifts also seemed more spectacular. It did not help that clearly by the time they got to twelve they were clearly having trouble coming out with names.

Stage whispering Desdemona told the girl, "My name was Ethel when I was a kid. My parents weren't expecting twins and they already named my sister Orchid. Then they kicked me out for turning her into a big old salamander for a day."

"Really?"

"Uh huh." She turned to the youngest. "Okay what's your story kid?"

"I'm Helen," she said happily. "I'm seven and I was kind of an accident." Well the fairy had said the queen was only supposed to have twelve kids. Since she was three years younger than the others Desdemona assumed that both she and her husband had gotten drunk one night or her majesty had a fling with a butler or something. "I can do stuff with plants." She picked up a grape from the table. A moment later it sprouted into a vine, growing down her sleeve. She giggled. "That tickles." Looking up at Desdemona she said, "So what are you going to do? Turn us into mice? Oh, do I get to sleep in a glass coffin? Or will you make us into statues?"

"Is she always like this?"

"Yes," Diadem said, looking a little exasperated. "She is incurably cheerful. Trying to make her see that the world is a relentless weight pressing down on us is like trying to blot out the sun."

"Aw Die's just cranky," Helen said. "You should have some of the witch lady's magic cake." She might have some insight into thee dour elder princess because instead of arguing Diadem did pick up her fork and take a bite of cake. She looked at Desdemona again. "How come your boobies are hanging out?"

Desdemona looked down. She was wearing a green dress and her breasts were pushed up and slightly restrained, showing off a lot of cleavage. A couple of the girls laughed. She smiled and said, "Because they're pretty and perky and when you can turn people into lizards and mice, they don't tell you what you can do with them."

"Neat!" She went back to eating her cake.

Looking at Melody she made the gag and cuffs vanish. "Are you ready to behave?"

The girl did not answer or look down at the cake. Instead she asked, "How old are you anyway?"

"Three hundred and eleven," she lied brazenly. Clarity snorted a little laugh.

Trying to control the conversation Melody ignored her sister and went on, "What exactly do you plan to do with us?"

"Anything I damn well please."

"You will not harm…"

The enchantress waved the fairy down. "Yeah-yeah. I won't kill them or anything. I have a contract. Ask the king's pet wizard. Look lady, I know you can't undo your spells on them. If you could they'd be better off. So either I curse them, something their father made sure I have to do at this point, or daddy is going to send them to see their sister, you understand?"

Pressing her lips the godmother nodded. "I understand. But I want to approve these curses of yours. I don't want my girls being stuck forever, even if they aren't dead or worse."

"She doesn't actually know what to do with us," Clarity said. "She's still working on it."

Desdemona glared at the girl, her eyes flashing red, but did not say anything. She was right after all. "This is my first big job."

"Well just know I'm watching you. And if I don't approve I will show you a curse you won't soon forget," the godmother said. "I consider myself as much their mother as the queen thank you and I won't have my little girls under some unbreakable mind destroying torture."

Desdemona pointedly held her tongue on her opinion of the fairy's own sanity after being trapped for five hundred years. She obviously had rage issues, not to mention a poor understanding of human nature, if anything she had cursed the girls at least as well as Desdemona could. Still goddesses, even former goddesses, were not known for taking criticism well. So instead she said, "I'm not an idiot. Everyone knows you always include a way to break a curse."

"Why?" Helen asked.

Clarity apparently liked to be the smartest person in the room, even if she was using other people's knowledge. She answered, "Because if you don't and it gets turned around on you, you could be trapped in it yourself. It happened to a bunch of gods back in the old days before they made people. Eternity is a long time to be cursed."

Desdemona sighed. "Look girls, I have nothing against you or your family." She glanced at Melody and Isabelle. "Well not much anything. I was about your age when I left home and since then I haven't really paid much attention to what the king, let alone his extended family and the neighboring kingdoms, has been up to. I don't know if he's good or bad. I don't know anything about any of you except what I was told in this room. I usually do not go around cursing people. In my experience people do enough to themselves and each other that I don't need to do anything but give them what they want and whether it's a blessing or a curse is up to them. Even when I do act out of anger I try not to be a monster personally and try to make it a teaching experience.

"So as long as we all get along I'll try my best to give you fates you can live with. I have no intention of rushing things, but I also am not adopting you either. We'll all get through this and maybe I'll see you again when your curses are broken and we can all sit down and laugh about it later."

Obviously suspicious Esmeralda glared at her, pointing two fingers at her eyes and then at Desdemona. "I'll be watching you just to be sure. At the moment I am going to go have a chat with their father."' It was clear she still had a bit of anger to vent over the plan to curse her beloved children. At least she seemed willing to turn it on the king instead of her for now. Desdemona would take what she could get.

The fairy suddenly exploded into glittering blue dust that filled the air. The younger kids all giggled. The older ones, who had clearly seen this many times before, just brushed it off. Desdemona followed suit and glared at the kids. "You wouldn't think this was as interesting a trick if you all knew what fairy dust was actually made of." She shuddered in revulsion when she saw someone take a bite of a dust covered cake. "I'm going to go take a bath." A glowing ball appeared above each of them. "When you leave here follow the balls. They will lead you to some rooms you may occupy. Choose among yourself. If the ball turns red turn back or you will seriously regret what you find." She floated out of her seat and glided towards the door.

Behind her a voice hissed, "What is fairy dust made of?"

"I don't know," someone else hissed back. "I'm not sure I want to…"

"You really don't," Clarity said, sounded almost as grossed out as Desdemona. "Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts…"

Chapter Four

A few days later the castle was looking better than Desdemona had ever seen it. She suspected it had been good at times in the past. Evil wizards, mad scientists, and the undead did not take slacking from their minions or live in anything less than luxury. As a former peasant Desdemona suspected she was somewhat more laid back than some of the previous residents. Now the place was cleaned everything broken (outside the off limits areas) had been fixed, and the place bustled with activity as several dozen servants kept it that way.

Not that things went too smoothly. Their first night in the place Ester, Melody, and Helen tried to escape through the tunnel entrance in the dungeon. Fortunately they did not make it far enough to get lost before whatever lived down there chased them back out. They were warded to stay in the tunnels and never left from the lower entrance during the day, so she never checked on it, but when everyone heard them running through the castle screaming about the monsters in the dark Melody had asked what (expletive) they were.

"If you ever find out, be sure to tell me. I expect they were people once, before whoever used to own this place did something to them down in the dungeon. Maybe I'll turn you into one so you can go down and investigate."

"You-you can't," she said.

Desdemona patted her on the head. "Try to run away again and we'll find out." She looked at the other two. "Whose idea was this?" Neither said anything, though she saw them glance at their big sister. "You do know you'd die in the…" She stopped. "No, you wouldn't, would you?" She turned her glare back on Melody. "Did you only invite your younger sisters with you so they could keep you alive out in the desert? Or because they're the only ones you could talk into going?" Melody did not answer, still mildly terrified and turning it into anger.

"We want to go home!" Ester cried suddenly. "I hate it here! I want my daddy!" Helen tried to comfort her but Ester slapped her hand away.

Since they were not her kids Desdemona just shrugged and walked away. Either a servant or her family would handle the tantrum. She doubted any of the pampered princesses would make the walk down the mountain, let alone across the desert. If they tried it would be easy enough to bring them back. Hopefully they would figure that out before it became much of a problem.

Then there was the other little problem that cropped up. She had gotten a great idea for her first curse, trapping Joan inside a mirror. Every mirror. Able to go anywhere, living until someone freed her. A twin. The way she normally tried to blend into the shadows and if she was noticed would just disappear if anyone looked at her too long. Desdemona felt the girl was uncomfortable with scrutiny and embarrassed rather than shy. It seemed perfect to force her into a situation where she could hide but loneliness would likely force her to reveal herself and should be allowable despite the fairy's magic. She was studying how to do it while sunbathing on top of one of the towers when a bird landed nearby.

Bird watching was one of her hobbies and there were plenty of books on animals down in the library. They had been collected by Gruesome Godfrey, a madman who had a lot of insight into anatomy, both human and animal. He liked to dissect things. The ways he killed his subjects and what he did with the pieces afterwards were even more disturbing than him butting up and minutely examining every piece, but she had burned those parts of the books. The actual dissections were very scientific and had helped Desdemona in learning how exactly to turn someone into a real frog or other animal. She was learning all the bits so those she changed neither died or just turned back. Very helpful.

Given her love of birds and how inoffensive and beautiful the tiny animal seemed the average onlooker would have thus been surprised at her reaction. She let out a startled curse and stared at the little thing in horror.

It was a small bird, barely the size of a cardinal. After the dark blue tail the feathers were mostly purple, turning into a shimmering red where they caught the light except for the head which was orange shading to gold at the top. The beak white. It was like a little flame such as one might see if swamp gas were set alight. The beak was pointed and the overall shape was of a pudgy crow.

The actual name of the bird was the Lesser Phoenix. It was of course not related to the regenerating fire bird of legend, but in its way it was far more dangerous. A sign of death and destruction.

Abandoning her books Desdemona vanished and reappeared in her lab. Picking up a crystal ball she cast a scrying spell and stared. "Oh my…" A wave of her hand and Edmund appeared in the crystal. He looked up, staring into a mirror in his own lab. "Yes, what can I do for you?"

"I thought you should know, there is a dragon in the area."

She expected surprise. Instead he said, "Two of them actually."

"What?"

"I said there are two of them. One near your area and another in Blue Bay just south of the city of the same name. Thankfully the water dragon Marine is rather neutral and the one near you, I believe it's known as Scourge, cannot enter the kingdom proper."

"You knew?"

"Oh they've been sniffing around for a while," Edmund said turning away to get back to an alchemy experiment he was working on. "Marine has been a bit of a hit to the fishing in the area. We'd do something about it but keeping Scourge in check is a full time job. He… is not nice." He looked over his shoulder. "How did you find out?"

"A lesser phoenix landed on my tower."

"Ah."

The lesser phoenix was not a danger in and of itself. The sole magical characteristic was that they produced fireproof oil in their feathers often coveted by alchemists and stage illusionists so that they could handle flames without being burnt. It was the equivalent of the kinds of birds that ate ticks of rhinoceroses and cleaned the teeth of crocodiles. Only they did it for the more dangerous magical creatures. It was a symbiotic relationship for the most part. In many legends a knight would hear a bird call as he approached a dragon's lair and hear a bird call, even remarking on the beautiful creature. Unaware that the bird was actually warning the dragon of an upcoming attack.

Too small to be a threat or even a snack they ate parasites from the dragon's scales, cleaned their teeth, and often nested in their caves or other lairs. They also tended to scavenge from their kills. Worse when a dragon moved into an area only a handful would leave the net and go with them and until they had time to repopulate. They rarely left the new nest. This meant for one to fly away from them into the waste the dragon had to be there for a while. If you saw one and did not see the monster they were attached to that meant it had been around for a couple years at least.

"Surely you know that princesses, magical and virginal ones in particular, attract dragons," Edmund told her. "Brianna was taken."

"I've heard the stories. I never understood why. I mean what's the difference?"

"Truthfully the answer lies in the bloodlines. Were you aware that many royal lines trace their ancestry back and find at least one dragon among them? The drac, the lung, the long, and many more. Actually there have been very few things in this world that some human somewhere has not attempted to breed with and in the case of magical creatures they tend to succeed."

It was not something she thought much of, but she supposed it happened. Her own lineage suggested it. Many stories told of centaurs, gods, demons, fairies, monsters, and the like snatching woman and marrying them. Sometimes just animals or even the undead. Princess number three… she couldn't remember the girl's name… had married a mermaid, hadn't she?

"Often those of the line of dragons tend to attract them. Once they hit puberty they have a scent or aura that attracts dragons. Usually only one. It gets stronger if they have a lot of magical ability— like say if a fairy gives them a gift. Even then it is rare, but then you get say, a dozen or so in one kingdom and it becomes more likely. It tends to disrupt trading and it's why Melinda is not married yet and Josephine's little kingdom is still separate from ours."

Two dragons sniffing around. One to the west and one to the south. If Melinda married her prince and merged the lands or Josephine let her kingdom join up, the spell protecting the land from outside evil would spread to them to and since the dragons were already there, they would no longer be kept out. Like how a wicked enchantress was walking around the kingdom.

"Do the princesses know this?"

"The older ones do. We didn't want to scare the children. Especially since the prince is getting anxious and insists they marry by next year. In about five months. He was giving it three months… the boy's getting blue balls… but the revolt bought us a bit of time. We're not too worried. I've kept Scourge from most of the trading routes and they've got their armies protecting the villages. Thankfully the beast isn't too interested in them with all these princesses. The effect wears off when they lose their virginity. It's different than with unicorns. Speaking of which have they shown up yet?"

"They? They who?"

He smiled and said, "I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise. Naturally you are invited to the wedding." He chanted under his breath and the connection cut off.

"Son of a…" It took a lot of effort not to throw the crystal into the wall. "So much for there not being a time limit."

Dragons were not easy to kill. Even the dumber ones could be nigh immortal and if it had a name this Scourge (and wasn't that nicely descriptive?) was probably smart. Maybe even a magician in its own right. Otherwise Edmund probably would have slain it already or the army or an adventurer would have. Marine sounded fairly passive, but there. And it sounded like some more would be showing up at any time. Like as soon as Melody or Clarity got a little older.

"This sneaky sons of…" The king had not sent the princesses to live with Desdemona just so she would have easy access to them. He was turning her castle into a target. If by the time Melinda married her prince at least one pissed off or at least horny dragon was going to head right for her. Good or evil did not really enter into it. It was a giant apex predator. Even nice dragons considered humans in general to be snacks.

And what was the other thing he had mentioned?

She scryed again and to her surprise the view was from above her plateau. From high above she could see things crawling all around it and even on it like ants. Only they were white. What was that? Setting the crystal down she reappeared outside, up in the sky and saw them herself. Flying down she got a closer look.

Unicorns. Dozens and dozens of unicorns. Maybe hundreds.

They did not look exactly like horses. Most like deer combined with goats and stretched a bit to be closer to equines. Their horned glowed in the desert sun. Their fur was a bit matted and layers like elk. They also did not seem too happy with being in the heat. In the stories unicorns lived near lipid pools in mossy forest glades or windswept mountain peaks. Then being in the desert was like finding a crocodile in a pine forest.

Unfortunately the mystical fairy creatures were known for two things. Being attracted to virgins and killing everyone else as violently as possible. This probably explained why there were no stories about human-unicorn hybrids.

As she got closer a few reared up to meet her. She was briefly afraid that they would try to attack. She had not had a boyfriend yet, but she had done a little uh, solo exploration and had conjured up a guy or two to experiment with. Not real guys, the kind who disappeared by sunrise. Still did it count?

To her relief they whinnied happily and pranced as she approached and even let her pet their shaggy ivory tipped heads. "Huh, guess not." She frowned as she noticed between them the ground looked different. Green things were sprouting out of the dry desert floor. A place that had not seen more than cactus and sagebrush, possibly ever. Though local legend said that was because centuries go someone had killed some monster out there and poisoned the land. Regardless it seemed to be making a comeback. As she watched a crack formed by one unicorn's hoof and a spring began to flow.

An hour later she was back at the castle. There were unicorns there having walked up the path while most of them milled around on the desert floor. She called the princesses over and asked, "Uh did any of you know about the unicorns? I didn't see any at the castle."

"We see them on trips sometimes," Helen said. "I love them. But they don't like daddy or the guards or the maids." She giggled. "Remember when we found out that the chambermaid had been naughty?"

"She almost got skewered," Isabelle said. The castle servants were all staying well behind the gate. "Edmund usually casts wards to hold them in the southern forest. I guess he's given up on that."

"He probably wants to focus on the dragons," Desdemona said.

Six faces looked up in alarm. "What dragons?"

Clarity said, "Daddy asked me not to mention it."

Desdemona looked at the startled and scared girls. She sighed and said, "I don't suppose you can all do something to keep the unicorns under control? I need to concentrate."

"They like to play with us," Helen said.

"I can't, they don't like me," Joan said. Desdemona looked at her in surprise. "There are… reasons."

"It's okay Joan, we love you," Helen said hugging her big sister's leg. A few others patted her on the back. She looked at Desdemona as if daring her to say anything. "Joan wasn't naughty."

"That's fine. Actually I was going to ask Joan to come help me with something in my lab." There was a chill in the girl's eyes. Suddenly they huddled together to hug their sister.

"Are you going to make Joan go away?"

Clarity hugged Helen now. "We'll see her again."

Joan smiled and bent down, pulling them and Ester into a tight hug. Ester was crying again. "I'll be fine guys. I didn't want to play with those smelly old unicorns anyway." She stood up and smiled at her older sisters. "None of you are allowed to use my makeup while I'm gone."

"Stingy," Isabelle teased, smiling sadly. Joan giggled and stepped away from them. Desdemona waved her hand and the two of them vanished. They saw Ester try to run after them only to be held back by her sisters.

Reappearing in the lab Joan asked, "What was that about dragons? As in, more than one?"

"Two I know of."

Joan cursed. "Dad… he never told us. And he made Clarity keep it a secret."

"I believe you. Just stand there a minute. I'm pretty sure how to do this, but I wanted a little more time. I just… I need to get to work. I can't take the time I'd like to. We have to finish this up."

"What's the rush?"

"Your sister is getting married." She told Joan what was happening.

Joan sighed. "They have been engaged for three years… oh gods, is that why they never got married before? She and Wendell were always so affectionate…" "Wait, if they get married then Land Lock…"

"Becomes part of Paradise River. Or the other way around. Either way it means the red fire breathing lizard living about twenty miles from here gets to enter the kingdom. Gee, I wonder what his first stop will be."

"He probably won't want me."

Desdemona frowned. "You said something about unicorns before. Is there something I should know about? Another blessing or something?"

"Well… not exactly. I mean I do have a couple things my sister's don't," she admitted.

"Tell me everything."

"Uh, I did get a visit from the boob fairy last year."

Desdemona snorted. "Yeah, so did I when I was your age. Though I have to admit, if a prince did come to rescue you, one wrong turn and he could get lost in there for days."

"No, I mean literally. It was sort of an apology. My sister Sapphire she was a little jealous when Esmeralda arranged it for me and not her or any of my other sisters."

"Wait; there really is a boob fairy?"

She nodded. "She's related to the tooth fairy I think. They were both at the party you were not invited to. Remember that little table with the pixies? There's usually a ceremony you have to perform, but like I said our fairy godmother called in a favor. She thought she owed me something special. And the next day I woke up… um, like this." She tapped her chest making it jiggle a bit. "I mean I know I'm not Isabelle, but… I appreciated it. Will it mess with whatever it is you are doing?"

"Let me check." She held out her hand and closed her eyes extending her senses. "Hmm, I don't' think so. It seems to be a basic transformation. Your boobs aren't magic."

"Hey."

"Well no more than anyone else's. They may have been made bigger, but magic isn't keeping them that way. But that doesn't explain why the unicorns and dragons wouldn't like you. Is your sister wrong? Have you been… naughty?"

"I wish," she said rolling her eyes. "Actually there's a good chance I'll never get the chance."

"Why is that? Another curse?"

"Sort of." She looked nervous and then reached down and grabbed her skirts, pulling them up.

Desdemona stared. Under the petticoats was a noticeable bulge. It moved when the beautiful enchantress stared at it. Joan quickly lowered her dress and blushed. "You['re a b—?"

"No, I'm not. I mean yes I have the boy parts, but I have the girl parts too and I much prefer to be a girl." She fidgeted, straightening her dress. "According to Esmeralda it happens sometimes with the seventh child of a fertility spell. And I guess I just sort of stayed with my sisters on the whole thing. You know to fit in. I feel like a girl. I like being one." She was blushing bright red now. "I'm gross, I know."

"Actually I find it quite attractive," Desdemona said.

The girl looked up. "You do?"

"Quite a bit. Which is something I intend to investigate when I'm a little older and not with someone I'm about to curse. Sorry honey. You're cute and all but I need you gone." She waved her hand and a tall mirror appeared next to them. "Are you ready?"

"No."

"Doesn't matter." She focused, extending her hand towards Joan. Next to them the floating mirror began to spin, going faster and faster. She began to speak. Technically the chanting was not necessary like it was for wizards, but it helped her focus on what she wanted and she had been working on the rhyme for a while now. if she got this wrong she could very easily kill the girl and bring down godly wrath upon herself, so she did not want to take chances.

"Princess young and bright and fair,

Go where you will have no cares.

Looking back at all the stares,

Among the twins that we all share."

Desdemona was glowing. Joan had to look away. When she did she looked at the mirror and gasped. The enchantress had no reflection in the mirror, which was spinning so fast now it looked almost like an egg instead of a framed oval. The frame itself having disappeared. And her reflection, it was moving differently from her.

"Sapphire? Sapphire is that you? I… I'm so sorry! I'm sorry I told. I didn't mean for you to— Aaaaiiiiiieeee!" Suddenly her reflection opened its arms and the mirror which had been fanning the room seemed instead to draw in air. Sucking at her with wind. Looking don at herself Joan saw bits of her flying off, as if she was made of dust, heading towards the spinning mirror which, as fast as it was going should have torn her apart anyway. She struggled and fought, but it was too strong and suddenly Joan was yanked off her feet flying into the twirling hunk of wood and glass and silver.

She hit a cold wall, hard. "Ow…" A moment later she fell back.

Taking a deep breath she let the pain fade. The princesses always healed fast. Part of the magic. No scars. No marks. None of them ever caught so much as a cold.

Standing up she looked over at Desdemona, who looked normal. "Did something go wrong?" The other girl did not seem to see her. Instead she walked past her and looked at the mirror floating in the air, no longer spinning. "Hey I…"

Joan stopped and looked around. The room was different. Everything was the same, except it was not the other way around. She looked at a nearby book and saw that the words were backwards. "No way…" Turning she followed Desdemona… or what looked like her… to the mirror. The reflection looked at her and smiled, while the one next to her looked out at a room devoid of Joan.

A muffled voice, like someone speaking through a thick door, said, "Ah good, it worked." The Desdemona next to her was completely silent

"What did you do?" Joan breathed. Desdemona… the real one… put a hand to her ear. The one she could touch ignored her. Joan looked around and found a pen and paper. Thankfully she could move it, though it did not affect the other side. She wrote down the question and held it up.

"I trapped you in the mirror. All mirrors, at least in this kingdom," Desdemona shouted. "It'll be just like the real world. Nothing you do is permanent, like my magic, but you'll be able to eat and sleep and do anything you could do out here in there. But if you say killed my reflection it wouldn't harm me and everything would go back to matching the real world by the next day. The same goes for you. You can't harm yourself either. But you can watch the real world through reflections and the like. Think of it as being in a play. You can show people anything you want and even use your powers in there."

It was a prison, Joan realized. A prison the size of the kingdom. She scribbled on the paper. "How do I get out?"

"Sorry dear, can't tell you that. Would sort of defeat the purpose. Don't worry though, if a mirror breaks you should be fine." Desdemona grabbed the mirror and moved it to the wall, where it stuck.

Joan felt a crushing weight as her situation sank in. She wrote on the paper again. "Can I get out?"

"Oh certainly. There's a way to break the spell. I'm just not telling what it is. Not at the moment. For now I need to keep that a secret. You can try to get someone else to break it if you want, but that's up to you. Give me fifty or sixty years to think about it and I might decide to help. In the meantime enjoy yourself Joan of the Looking Glass." She looked at her own reflection and waved a hand changing her hair to dark blue and her makeup to match before blowing Joan a kiss. "Not bad for my first major effort, don't you think?" Without waiting for an answer she turned and flounced out of the room, a skip in her step.

It probably was not a good idea to tell Joan there had been a small but significant chance of the girl being torn to shreds by the spinning mirror or shattering into shards of glass. Of course there was a way to break her out. Only a reflection could hold the girl now. So if someone managed to stop every reflective surface in the kingdom from reflecting, like say banishing all light, she would be free.

Naturally the princess's powers were perfect for that. Not only would they allow her to pop from mirror to mirror by traveling through shadows, she would have to think of it first. Given her level of self pity over the whole thing it might be years before she even thought about it and longer before she built up the confidence to try. Not that the enchantress could blame her. The girl had been keeping a pretty big secret her whole life and one that had obviously caused her a lot of embarrassment, guilt, worry and grief. She needed to work through that and accept herself. Well actually she could just use magic and become whatever she wanted, but that would not be much of a curse.

It was not a great set up. People had been trapped in mirrors before. However the fact that Joan had the key to her prison the whole time added a little something. Maybe it was a little sexist, but the girl having the potential (and equipment) to be her own prince struck her as adding just the right twist to the whole thing even before she found out about her being partly male. Something about him/her screamed mirrors and for a first effort she was fairly satisfied.

Desdemona doubted Joan would escape any time soon though. The princess was in a perfect position to hide and if she was that confident she would have run away long ago. The girl could travel anywhere in the world and had powers over darkness. She could have gone anywhere and escaped at any time. She was beautiful, busty, and her condition, at least to Desdemona, made her somewhat exotic so prince or no she could have found somebody to marry if that was a requirement or at least she had the perfect excuse to go out on her own. Instead she had played second fiddle to her revolutionary sister and possibly been the reason said revolt failed. Judging from what she had said during the spell there was a lot of guilt there, even if she had foiled a plot against the rest of the family. Guilt or just self flagellation. She had chosen afterwards to stick around and let Desdemona shove her into a mirror. No, it seemed like a little time with literally everyone staring at her and watching the world go by with no consequences for her actions would teach the girl a thing or two about self confidence. In other words, she needed to reflect on things. Ha!

"That's not a pun," Desdemona assured herself. "Not really. It's artistic. With a tad of irony thrown in. A metaphor. Not a stupid dad joke."

Of course Joan might figure it out sooner than expected and escape.

If she did, well Desdemona had done her job and she had six other curses to work on now and less time to do it in. She already knew the princesses could not be driven mad, thank you Clarity, so it should work out quite fine once Joan got used to it. A little time alone should be just what she needed and if not maybe someone else would figure it out and rescue her. Or maybe Desdemona herself could take pity on the poor girl. She really was quite beautiful and the wicked enchantress truly had found her quite attractive. They were the same age after all and nothing in the contract said she was forbidden from breaking her own curses.

Plenty of time for that later though. Next she needed to work in Isabelle and if she did it right, she hoped she could at least buy herself a bit more time for the others. Provided nothing else went wrong in the meantime.

Chapter Five

People do not know a lot about dragons. Everyone has their theories. Ask any fan of fantasy literature and you'll find a thousand different kinds ranging from vicious animals similar to dinosaurs to beings on par with the gods. This is largely due to the fact that it usually takes major magic or an army to survive let alone kill one and quite often people die in the process over the course of hundreds of years. It's the rare dragon whose lair is not littered with the bones of those who tried and failed to slay the beast.

Desdemona knew she was getting distracted, but then again as distractions went dragons pretty much topped the list of the most effective. And in the case of Scourge he probably got bonus points for effort and style.

She would have felt better upon arriving to see the beast randomly attacking the protective barrier, trying to figure it out. Instead when she arrived he was just lying there, eyes far too alert for an animal. He noticed her. She could see the slit pupils following her as she examined him right back. Some people might have missed the charred and cracked bones around him. They were pulverized but she could see part of a hand or a skull here and there and while most of them were animals some human bones were easily identifiable.

The dragon itself was, well big was the first thing that came to mind. Maybe sixty feet from hind legs to snout and that did not include the wings and tail. His scales were bright red and the eyes a luminous golden color. This was not an ambush hunter. Natural had designed everything about this creature to tell the world to run for their lives. She had of course heard of bigger dragons, but this was the first one she had ever seen in person so it was hard to tell what was read and hyperbole. Nine hundred and ninety-nine times out of a thousand if a person were close enough to a dragon to get a good look at it, they were generally about to die.

Claws and fangs like swords. A hide bristling with horns and spikes and human weapons that had been stabbed into it. Enough swords to make a dozen men king of some country if anyone dared try pulling them out along with the busted shafts of spears and arrows. All about as threatening to the dragon as a pierced ear.

Desdemona did not come just to get a look at him. She could have done that from a nice safe distance. She had come to see if she could get her hands on a piece of the beast. A claw, a scale, a chipped tooth… but looking at him she decided that was just not going to happen. The look in Scourge's eyes was not that of a cat watching a mouse hole or a chained dog looking at a piece of meat just out of reach.

It was the look of someone who noticed one last piece of soggy cereal floating in their milk and was debating whether it even worth trying to scoop it out or to just drink the milk down. Either way the floating bit of grain would be swallowed. Even though she knew he could not get at her there was certainty in his gaze. Like when someone drops a stone and it falls. No surprise. Barring the rock miraculously falling upwards, the result was inevitable and that was how Scourge looked at her. As something he could kill and eat with no other possible outcome.

"I don't suppose you'd just consider leaving?"

"No." The voice was deep and rumbling and shook the ground even if it was just a bare whisper.

Things that ate people were not supposed to actually be able to talk. Some part of you felt that there should be room for negotiation. That as two sentient life forms there should be a mutual connection. Damn it that barring a real reason for conflict something that could talk and reason should have at least a modicum of respect for other things that could do the same. Desdemona had grown up on a farm where they ate veil, but even the most jaded farmer would hesitate if a calf looked up and actually introduced themselves or just screamed.

If you could kill it and not feel anything, especially after having a conversation… there was only one word to describe that: monster.

Not evil exactly. Though there might be some of that. More that there were two of them in the world and that in the long run that could not be allowed to continue. Desdemona had hated, despised, and been disgusted by people and things. This was anathema. Instant understanding that one of them needed to die. She did not rush forward to do that because she was sure she would lose. He did not kill her because he would look silly scrabbling at an invisible barrier. That was the only reason she was alive.

Yeah, he needed to go. No wonder they had delayed uniting the kingdoms.

Unfortunately a conflict was inevitable. That much was obvious. It was a good thing she had a plan for that. Using Scourge in any way to enact that plan was just not an option. As long as the dragon lived he was nothing but a threat to anything human. So she would have to see about the other dragon.

Snapping her fingers she reappeared back at her castle and sent out a mental call for everyone to meet her in the courtyard. It took a few minutes but they gathered and she cleared her throat, speaking softly but using her magic so everyone could hear her. "Okay everyone, listen up, I have to head off for a few days."

"Why?" Clarity asked. She had been full of questions sine Desdemona had figured out how to block her mind reading. She tended to ask relevant questions so it was not too annoying yet. "Can't you just make things appear or make yourself appear anywhere?"

"Because I never spent much time at the seashore. My parents were farmers. Not only that but what I am going to look for moves around under water, so even if I felt like trying to just appear in a place I'm not familiar with, I'm still going to have to search. I hope I'll be back within a week." Provided Marine did not kill her. Of course if that happened, her problems would mostly be over. At least in this world. "If only so I can come up with something else."

"Something else? For what?" Ester asked.

"One of you girls is going to help me save this kingdom. Or at least your sisters' lives."

"You can't kill us," Melody said.

"Me? Kill you? Don't be ridiculous. I'm not the problem here ladies. You know if you all had accepted that you were dangerous threats to the kingdom we would not be in this situation. You all have power. You all could have gone off or stayed at home and taken over. Instead you chose to sit around being princesses. You didn't ask questions, you lounged around the castle. Letting your father and eldest sister decide if they were going to kill you or banish you, or find some other option. Not one of you lifted a finger to do anything about it yourselves and let other people make decisions about your lives for you even when you were teetering on the verge of death.

"Now it's too late and you're my responsibility. Maybe you should think about that before blaming me for your situation. Or just do what you always do and just sit around until I get back. It's all the same at this point. Your servants can handle anything really challenging." She sniffed dismissively at them and turned to walk out of the room.

As she flew away from the castle she got a look around. The unicorns had turned the place practically into a meadow… certainly an oasis… in the middle of the desert. Nice to look at and even their dung smelled of nectar and flowers, but if this kept up people would want to start moving in there and evil magicians did not live in desert wastelands so they could deal with neighbors and traffic.

Dealing with dragons would have to come first. Overcrowding was a cakewalk compared to having your castle torn apart by a giant lizard so he could get to the tasty chewy people inside. It was possible the court wizard could handle it. Then again it was possible that they might wait until after the tragic loss of the princesses and the wicked enchantress to do anything. Desdemona would like to think otherwise, but as said enchantress she felt it was her job to be at least a little suspicious of the motives behind those who hired her.

Part of her also questioned whether the wizard could actually take on Scourge, let alone if it turned out Marine was not as passive as they hoped. Normally she would let Edmund get on with it, but then normally her home was not dragon bait central. Even if the first two went away with so many princesses it was likely more would show up eventually. That was one of the reasons why the king needed them gone too.

"Honestly I'm tempted to just have the older princesses bonked by the stable hands," she muttered. It was their puberty and virginity that was the problem after all. It would be a temporary solution, at least until the others grew up. A bit distasteful perhaps, but certainly better than being eaten. It was one of the traditional paths to being saved from a dragon. One showed up and the local population of virgins could drop over night, if only because people tended to try sacrificing them to appease the beasts.

Sadly that probably would not drive off the two that were here already. Scourge especially seemed to have found sustenance and once he was able to actually enter the kingdom he would either feast or set up a permanent home. And if he was halfway intelligent he would kill anyone who was a threat like the local army or say the magic users. She certainly would.

Besides, it felt like cheating. She could handle the girls without resorting to something as distasteful as all that. At least for now. If a third dragon showed up she would do it herself if that was what it took. Properly cursed and hidden away for a few hundred years it was not like anyone would find out she had half the royal family deflowered. For now though she would call that Plan B. Not least of all because they did not need more little princesses running around afterwards.

She finally arrived at the sea, looking out across the water. There were a few boats darting the horizon and in the distance there was the Isle of Blood, the prison that bordered the kingdom. The magical protection on the land passed through the first quarter of it, leaving the back half unprotected. There also was not any land near it for miles. Once past the border no criminal could come back.

The magical protection had its drawbacks. While not everyone who lived in the kingdom was inherently good, only people who were at least marginally honest could pass in and out of the kingdom. It made trade with the neighbors tricky. The kingdom lost out on a lot of good deals because the people they sent on negotiations could not overly swindle anyone for example and barring talking on the border a lot of foreigners could not get in either. The inability to enter the kingdom unless you were trustworthy was also a bit sticky and a lot of ambassadors and the like considered it a personal insult, even and sometimes especially if they could not get in. Or if the people they were negotiating with refused to step out. Nor could they trade in dangerous and illegal goods.

Not knowingly anyway. There were ways around it, particularly if the honest captains and merchants were unaware that they were smuggling anything, but it certainly complicated matters for the government. In a lot of cases the ships had to meet at the border and transfer even legitimate cargo across the magical barrier with ropes and pulleys. In the distance she could see a few trading vessels doing just that. Most of those closer to land were fishing boats.

Most. She saw a few that looked like war ships. An odd sight since they had no need to fear war. Desdemona enhanced her vision by giving herself the eyes of an eagle. "Ah, that explains that." A dragon shaped figurehead one ach ship, armored hulls, and large harpoons attached to chains. Not to mention rowing crews chained in place, clearly prisoners forced to work in exchange for not being seen to the island. Three or five years rowing was considered better than banishment, imprisonment, or execution. Usually.

This was a dragon hunting vessel. Interesting. And possibly the solution to her problem.

Dropping like a stone she fell to the ground with her clothes whipping around her until she stopped an inch above the ground. Around her a few people stopped and stared, but most were hardened sailors and had seen magic users before. A few leered at her, but did not say anything or make any comments. Politeness to someone who could potentially turn you into something slimy was only common sense after all.

Ignoring them she walked towards where the boat was loading up. A large muscular man in armor was watching some men in manacles carry cargo onboard. The man wore a vest and a wide brimmed hate. He was tanned almost as dark as Isabelle by time in the sun, though his hair had been bleached blond. He looked up as she approached and smiled at her, showing off surprisingly perfect teeth.

"How can I assist you today, my lady?"

"I judge by your ship that you are a dragon slayer."

He bowed. "Indeed I am. Jonathan of Sea Breeze. Invited by the crown to come and assist you in your time of need, although I am but one of many."

"I was given to understand that the sea dragon was of little danger."

"True he does not attack ships, but he has devastated the local fish schools. We have been ordered to drive the beast off. Most of my compatriots are established on the island's far side, enlisting the criminal's there as aid in exchange for an early release. I am the one sent to pick up supplies."

"Well I'm working for the king on the dragon problem as well. Tell me sir, have you managed to wound the beast? Do you have any scales or meat or blood? A claw perhaps?"

"I'm sorry ma'am, but we're mostly just harassing the beast. Weapons bounce off his hide and of course while he must come to the surface occasionally, he can easily dive again to avoid us. So far I'm afraid we've been a minor annoyance."

"Shouldn't you try for the other dragon then?"

"Scourge? He makes his home too close to the mountains and the wastes. I'm afraid that barring an army to assist us we'll have to leave him to the magic users for now. The sea dragon is more easily accessible for now."

"Than can you tell me where to find the dragon? I'm afraid I'm not much of a mariner. Away from shore and I'd be totally lost."

He blinked. "You wish to find the dragon?"

"I want to try negotiating." She smiled. "I believe I might be able to get rid of both of them."

"Miss, I'm sorry, but we generally sail the border until we sight the beast. He rarely goes far from there and the waters near the shore are shallower than they would be out at sea, meaning he rises to the surface more from a lack of space."

Desdemona frowned. She knew that between the island and shore the seas were something like three hundred feet deep...she never had been able to understand twains and fathoms… and it just got deeper the further out you went. How big did the dragon have to be that it ran out of room to move about between surface and seabed?

She slumped. "I suppose I will simply have to search for myself. I tried divining its location but under water one lump of sea just looks the same as any other and he does keep moving around." She looked at him. "I hope I won't be inconveniencing you too much."

"Not at all. There is always another dragon miss, somewhere up and down the coastline. I've slain three and survived five."

"That's quite impressive. And you have no pieces lying about? A tooth or claw?"

"I fear not. Such prizes are valued and in my travels I often find that any trophies I acquire must eventually be traded for room and board while away from my homeland. One can only carry so much gold and dragon hunting costs quite a bit in supplies. It's only when you catch the beast that rewards come in and some kings can be awfully stingy when it comes time to pay up."

Once the dragon was dead? Oh yes, that was easy enough to see. Also something to think about. It might not be a terrible idea to get some sort of insurance in place. Maybe the king could afford to pay her, but he could also afford to get rid of her for much less. Would he do such a thing? Maybe not, but taking the chance would be foolish.

It was disturbing to realize she was constantly plotting things since her solitude had been interrupted by the king's own machinations. Was this how bad guys got their real start? No. There was a key element she intended to skip out on. She did not intend to lose.

Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a silver coin and tossed it to Jonathan. "Thank you for the information sir. I suppose I will have to deal with this the hard way."

A moment later she rose into the air again, floating out to sea like a feather. She was actually going to have to look for the dragon. If Scourge was an example he might just be hanging out near the magical border. Looking for some flaw or way inside.

"I'd feel a lot better if the dragon could get inside," she said. "But I suppose I can't expect a creature like that to feel benevolent towards humans in general especially if he's only here because he was ensnared by his urges."

She peered down at the water as she went, mostly because there was nothing else to see. Her uncle had told tales of distant places where you could see the bottom of the sea through clear water, but all she could see was blue-green that got progressively darker. Not so much as a fish in sight let alone a dragon. She shuddered imagining a huge pair of jaws bigger than her castle gates suddenly breaking the surface and surrounding her with a snap like a mayfly on a fish pond.

As if reading her mind the surface of the water suddenly broke with what at first looked like fish leaping from the surface. She barely had time to realize that the silvery things in the air were not fish, but chains before they wrapped around her, pinning her arms to her sides. Desdemona barely had time to scream before she was suddenly yanked down and below the surface leaving behind a stream of bubbles.

A minute later there was not even a ripple to show she had been there.

Sitting in a bubble at the bottom of the sea was not as fun as one would think. Especially with a bunch of mermaids swimming around trying to get a good look at her through the concave surface. She had seen mirrors like this at fairs when she was younger and considering how bulgy the mermaids looked she could only imagine what she looked like to them.

Then again maybe not. Their eyes were… strange. As if they were too big to be set in human shaped skulls. They did not have fish tales, but they were bigger than humans and as pretty as any of the princesses. Webbed hands. Greenish-blue skin. Long hair in shades of green that floated like seaweed. Otherwise hairless bodies. The sharp teeth and claws were less sexy and more frightening. Needless to say they were all nude.

They all seemed to be about fifteen feet tall or so except one, who sat on a throne made out of rock. She was twice the size of the others and held a gold spear in her hand and a spiky gold crown on her head like a shipwreck peeking out of a kelp bed. Sitting on her lap was a pretty human woman. She had short red hair and freckles with luminous green eyes. The rest of her skin was shark-belly white from lack of direct sunlight and she almost looked like an albino. Not that any of the princesses really tan.

"Francis I presume."

She frowned. "How did you know?" The voice came through the water normally.

"Well you sure as hell aren't Isabelle," Desdemona said. "But maybe I'm wrong and you're the other water breathing princess who ran off and married a mermaid queen. It's so easy to get you all confused."

Around her the mermaids all giggled while the queen pet Francis on the head. Before the princess could respond her seep almost hypnotic voice said. "Don't mind my wife. I didn't marry her for her brains."

"Don't feel bad. I've met the rest of her family. You wouldn't have been any better off with any of the others. At least not the seven I have really met. In fact you probably got one of the smart ones since she had the brains to run off." Flexing at the chains holding her Desdemona tried to slip free but was held tight and she already knew her magic was not working. "Is there some reason you tied me up? I've heard my uncle tell stories of people who enjoy being tied up in bed when he thought my sister and I were asleep but…"

"What stories?" One mermaid asked curiously from behind her.

"Like those pictures you see sometimes on drowned sailors," another one said haughtily.

"Don't act like a know-it all. We didn't even know girls liked other girls until the princess found Queen Black Pearl in that tide pool and started playing with her—!"

"Silence," the queen barked. The mermaids grew silent. "Sorry about that. We're a race spawned directly from a god's fling with water nymphs. We have much to learn and are quite curious. Most of you mortals do not do very well sown here." She smiled and kissed Francis on the head, making the princess grin and nuzzle against her. Then she glared at Desdemona. "And just recently we received two notes from the princess Josephine."

"That was the fortune teller, right?"

"Yes! And Jo said that today we'd get a visit from an evil witch who was trying to curse the princesses of Paradise River!" Francis looked at her with a semi-pout, sort of angry and a lot like a little girl who thinks she's standing up to an adult.

"And?" Desdemona asked.

She looked confused. "And what?"

"And did she say I meant you any harm?" The princess blinked. "You aren't even a princess of Paradise River any more. You're a co-queen of the sea or whatever. Why would I be here for you?"

"Why else would you come to my realm?" The queen asked.

"I was looking for a dragon actually."

"Why?"

"Because I was hired to curse the remaining princesses. Not the ones they managed to marry off."

"So you are planning to curse my sisters!" Francis said, aghast.

Jingling her chains Desdemona shrugged. "It's what your father wanted. I suppose he could have just cut off their heads. And he probably will have to if I don't come back."

Francis looked confused again. Definitely not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Maybe she had spent too much time under water and was suffering lack of air or something. The queen said, "Explain."

Desdemona told them about the un-invitation and the deal she had struck with the king. "Apparently I'm the only professionally wicked magician in the kingdom and they can't just let the princesses wander around."

"Why not?"

"You mean besides the fact that you all are used to being taken care of to the point that your sisters went along with this plan? Well gee let me think. Your sister Sapphire already tried to overthrow the kingdom. Joan could have easily assassinated just about anyone or plunged the kingdom into years of darkness. People would fight wars over Isabelle who could easily talk anyone into doing her bidding. Diadem is already close to bankrupting the kingdom by making gold worthless as can Ester and Helen render farm work and fishing obsolete. And Clarity's ability to read minds if possibly the most dangerous of all except maybe Melody who can make people sit still while she is slitting their throats. Half the kingdom is being buried in unicorn crap and we've got two dragons on our doorsteps."

"They would never do that!"

"One of them already did and it doesn't matter anyway because they could," Desdemona snapped. "The nobles do not like having knives at their throats and the kingdom is about to expand and let Scourge in anyway. Something I don't think anyone is going to appreciate, least of all your sisters."

Black Pearl said, "It is true, fishing has gotten scarce since the dragon arrived in our waters."

"But Marine is so nice! He taught us how to make those raw fish dishes… um, sushi or whatever it is called," one of the mermaids said.

"Only he had been swallowing whole schools," the queen told them. "Normally sea dragons move around. Following migration patterns."

"I doubt he wants to be here," Desdemona told them. "That's why I came to negotiate with him."

"I don't think dragons negotiate."

"They might if you have something they want," the enchantress said. "And I do. His freedom for a start." She looked at the queen. "You said there were two notes?"

"The notes were delivered in sealed bottles. The first one said to give you the second one when we'd captured you."

Desdemona shuddered. She hated that kind of fortune telling. Mostly because of the whole "enchanters always go mad" family lore. Prophets always made mistakes eventually and people tended to change fate all the time, but it was being in one of the correct prophecies that sucked. The other princesses' abilities all worked, so it was a good bet that Josephine's was just as effective.

The queen pointed with her spear and the chains fell away and through the bottom of the bubble. Desdemona stretched and resisted the urge to turn them all into slugs and watch them sizzle away in the salt water. Reaching behind the throne the queen handed a green wine bottle off to one of the mermaids who swam it over and pushed it through the bubble. Taking it Desdemona noticed that their skin was sort of slick, but not scaly at all.

Snapping her fingers she shattered the green glass and let it fall away from the parchment inside, which had been rubbed with candle wax to make it water proof. She scanned the letter and frowned. "Great, it's in rhyme. Oracles…" Clearing her throat she read it aloud.

"Enchantress beware machinations abound,

Enemies appear from all around.

But worry not your plans are sound.

A way for each princess can be found.

Ask for help when you need.

Begin with speaking to the queen of the lagoon.

Or you will be eaten by a dragon.

And if you need some advice, you can come to the border and talk to me."

Desdemona frowned. "Humph. I suppose she's suggesting I need you to help. Lagoon and dragon though… not great alliteration."

Francis said, "Josephine never was very good at writing songs. She tried but… well personally I always preferred camping. I still take some driftwood and sea food up on the beach and cook it up for the girls."

Queen Black Pearl said, "What do you want from us? I can tell your right now that we are not prepared to fight a dragon, particularly on behalf of the human kingdom. No offense sweetheart."

"None taken," Francis said. "I always felt a little guilty for running off like I did. I never regretted it for a moment, but now I know I made the right choice. To think father would do this to my sisters."

"It could me worse. I had a sister a few centuries ago who traded her tongue to a sorceress so she could be turned into a human because she fell in love with a prince. Honestly I think I got the better deal all around." They leaned in and rubbed noses before kissing.

"Oh yeah, you are definitely Helen's sister," Desdemona said, mildly disgusted (and admittedly a little warm and flustered) at the cutesy display of affection. "Don't worry your highnesses, I don't need anyone to fight Marine and I think he'll agree to my terms. If this works out our kingdom will be dragon-free for a while at least and you should get your part of the oceans back."

"What about my sisters?" Francis said. "Are you still going to curse them?"

"I made a deal." Desdemona told the princess who clearly hated the idea.

The queen hugged Francis to her chest with one arm. "Relax my dear. Those who taste of mermaid flesh become immortal. You'll be here when they are set free." Around them the other mermaids giggled. "Lady Enchantress, would you consider joining us in a meal? The dragon you wished us to speak to has recently taught us a delightful recipe called a kelp wrap."

Desdemona was not all that eager to eat raw fish, no matter how fresh it was. On the other hand insulting a queen whose power rivaled hers and whom she had just asked for a very large (dragon sized) favor seemed like a bad idea. "I would be delighted your majesty." If nothing else she could always do what she did back home and change anything she did not like into something else as she put it into her mouth.

Chapter Six

Sushi was actually not bad. At least not all of it. A few of the dishes she found repulsive and others she could have just done without, but a lot of what Desdemona tried had been quite tasty. The mermaids had a cache of rice in another magic bubble they had traded with the humans for and it was amazing what they could do with that.

It was night by the time they finished eating and Desdemona elected to spend the night sleeping in her bubble. It was quite peaceful under the sea and she considered at some point building a nice isolated castle down there at some point. Especially if anyone ever tried dumping another half dozen princesses on her again. She got a rude awakening when a rather large shark drifted by in the morning and it brought up some questions about mermaids and chamber pots, but the mermaids could not have been nicer as they sent her on her way, promising to contact her when they had spoken to Marine and got his answering message.

Flying home she had to magically change her dress as it dried out in the air. Salt and sand had gotten into a lot of very uncomfortable places. Still for the little annoyances things had gone fairly well. She had saved potentially as much as weeks of searching for the dragon and received a prophecy from a reliable source that she could succeed, though the implication that Marine likely would have eaten her made her doubly certain she needed to tread carefully. Even with an oracle, sometimes especially, one needed to beware the future. Just because one routinely traveled through the mountains safely did not mean avalanches did not happen and the poorly constructed rhyme had warned of danger from all sides.

As she flew Desdemona recognized the landscape below her and realized she was quite close to her home village. After hearing Francis worry about her sister not to mention apparently having more than a few brushes with destiny and death in the form of giant lizards and busty demigods and something that was apparently made out of eel meat and sea urchin eggs, she felt her first bit of homesickness in nearly three years.

"As long as I am here I could visit the family I suppose," she mumbled. "Maybe it'll help me stop talking to myself."

It was different seeing it from above. She had walked the paths below through trees and houses and the town square most of her life. Now she was nearly sixteen, the age most girls she knew would have been getting married or having their first child. She took her bearings and finally recognized the path leading up to her farm. She even saw the divot in the road her father always complained about when he took the wagon into town. Jake Drake always swore he would fix it and never got around to it, always too busy around the farm to drag the tools down there.

Waving a hand Desdemona smiled as the dirt and gravel filled itself in when her shadow passed over it. She also enchanted the path, using a ward she had learned. Anyone who intended harm to the family or farm would find themselves turning back towards town when they passed the former bump in the road and would be back in town before they realized what happened.

Ad the farmhouse came into view she paused, remembering what she looked like now. Beautiful, tall, poised… not much like the little farm girl who had walked away a few years ago. She had no idea what she looked like back then really and certainly not what she should look like now. Probably a lot like her elder sister or her mother.

She did however remember how she felt about Isabelle. Jealousy and uncomfortable sexual feeling she was still working through. Feelings that had not been cleared up by spending most of the last day watching princess Francis cuddle up to her mermaid love like a doll while the rest of the sea nymphs circled and flirted like wolves in heat. Judging by the way they had looked at her the male sailors were out of luck. Too bad Jonathan had been fairly handsome with a nicely muscular body.

In any event showing up looking like a wealthy woman of nearly impeccable beauty probably was not the way to go. Not right away. She did not want to have the same effect on her family or scare them too much.

Landing a little bit away she thought about how best to appear. Not young. She did not want them treating her like a kid. Not as some crone either. She thought back to the castle and remembered… what was her name? Clara, Helen's nanny who had been sent with the other servants to care for the princesses. She was well fed, having spent twenty years maid and woman taking care of princesses in the palace. Round faced and just beginning to get seriously wrinkled. Her brow hair peppered with silver and her nose a bit bulbous in a funny way people liked.

Knock off ten years and maybe ten pounds; darken up the hair a little, add a few extra inches and change her velvet dress to something a high class maid would wear. Not bad, she decided manifesting a small hand mirror. As she checked herself over she saw a familiar face peek out of the shadow of the tree behind her. Desdemona did not turn, knowing nobody would be there in real life and instead puckered her lips and blew Joan a kiss before snapping the mirror shut and letting it vanish into smoke.

Ten minutes later she arrived at the fence that circled the farm house, the familiar scents of pigs and chickens and milking cows filling her nose. She looked in the coop and saw that a new black cock, much bigger than old Henry the old red rooster, was mixed in with the hens. Had he just gotten old or had they just gotten sick of him attacking every time they went out for eggs? As a small child she had been terrified of the old rooster and even had nightmares of him chasing her around the yard. Her dad sometimes entered him in the cockfighting championships at the local fair.

Not that the new bigger one looked any less dangerous.

She was mildly surprised when a young man, maybe eighteen years old, came out of the house with an ax over his shoulder. He was not handsome but well built the way people were from hard work rather than training like the knights and guards she had seen. He wore a rough looking tunic and pants that looked about the same as the material used for potato sacks. She remembered wearing something similar back then and it made having sand in your crevices a picnic by comparison.

He looked up from under a floppy hat sewn from the same material and saw her. Desdemona recognized him. Fred Perks. His father owned another farm a few miles down the road. He was the second or third son. Desdemona never knew which. He and his brother Joe had been some minor bullies, usually reined in by their eldest brother Walter and their parents. They had once gotten a pretty severe whooping for peeking on Ethel and Orchid and some of the other girls when they had been swimming in a nearby pond.

Smiling Fred set the ax down and walked over to her. It took some time. "Well hello there ma'am. What brings you out here?"

"I'm a relative of Ted and Martha Drake. Orchid too if she's around."

Frank nodded. "Of course she is. Its Orchid Perks now. Come on up to the house. You an aunt or a cousin or something? I didn't see you at the wedding."

Desdemona smirked. "I am not surprised. It takes a bit of work to get a letter up to my place." Just ask the royal wizard, she thought. "My name is Ethel."

"Heck Orchid's got a sister by that name. Did they name her after you?"

"More or less."

"What do you do?"

"Oh, this and that. It varies. At the moment I'm doing a few odd jobs for the king. Helping rid them of a few extras that were cluttering up the castle and finding a proper place for them."

"Got any spare clothes or blankets? My wife's a dab hand with a sewing needle and we could use them."

Desdemona snorted. "Last time I saw her Orchid's stitches looked like a line of ants. You only gave her a sock if you wanted your toes to have some breathing room and you checked them beforehand to make sure she hadn't left a needle stuck in it." Fred laughed and opened the door for her.

Martha was inside by the sink washing the lunch dishes. She looked up and was confused until her eyes locked with Desdemona's. She dropped the wooden plate she had been cleaning. "Ethel?"

Smiling and feeling tears in her eyes as she realized how much it meant that her mother knew who she was she nodded and to Fred's confusion said, "Hello mama."

They sat at the table drinking some home brewed tea. Fred had rushed out to the field to get Ted while Orchid had merely been upstairs dusting. Now they sat around the kitchen table staring at their long lost family member. Not least of all because there had only been four chairs and rather than getting out a fifth from the shed Desdemona had simply made one appear.

Martha looked happy to see her but a little awkward, possibly because her daughter appeared her own age if not a little older. Orchid's face was carefully blank while Ted was a little stiff, possibly expecting retribution. Fred was smiling hugely because he had not actually been told why Ethel had become mysteriously absent and had just learned he was related to a magician.

"I don't suppose you could make a donkey that spits out gold coins or something," Fred said.

Desdemona smiled with her new motherly face and patted his shoulder. "Sorry Fred, but the king frowns on that sort of thing. Besides you know how that'd turn out. People hear about a bunch of gold and next thing you know they're cutting up your livestock to see how it works and digging up your fields to find where you buried it."

Nodding like a well informed man instead of a country hick Fred said, "My dad told us stories about that one." He laughed. "We were being lazy a while back and he told us his granddad buried a back of silver coins out in this old field and lost track of it. Me and my brothers cleared and tilled the whole thing every day for a week looking for it before we realized he was pulling our legs. You know your sister learned a few tricks from a witch a while back." Someone kicked him under the table. "Ouch! What was that for?"

She looked at Orchid and raised an eyebrow. Orchid looked down and blushed. "I… I learned a few things. She was moistly a shaman really and she taught me a bit of folk magic. Just… you know… defensive stuff. Charms mostly to protect me against…"

"So what have you been doing?" Martha interrupted.

"Studying mostly. Getting my abilities under control," she said, not mentioning that she was pretty sure the charms were to keep her from turning Orchid into anything else. It would probably work at least for accidental things. "I no longer do things by accident I can assure you." She saw them relax a bit. Probably because that had not realized that she could still do the same thing on purpose, nastier and for longer. "I took over Castle Dr… uh, Dream. A beautiful place with lots of unicorns. Currently I'm letting out some rooms to the royal family and some of their retainers."

"Really?"

"I even got an invitation to the royal wedding in a few months. Nothing official. Honestly it's more of an obligation for them. I'll get lost in the crowd and be lucky to make it to the table before the food is all gone if then." She looked at Orchid. So are you doing alright? I know I left under less than ideal circumstances."

"Boy you sure do use a lot of big words," Fred said.

"I read a lot," she admitted.

Orchid hesitated and then reached out to touch her sister's hand. "I'm doing great. We all are. She smiled. "I do miss you of course. A little." Ted nodded, unsure what else to say and Martha smiled broadly. Then she sat back and pressed her dress down on her belly. She was a big round girl, so it was not showing much but she said, "We're even expecting a baby."

"Maybe you can bless the baby with a gift or something like in the fairy stories," Martha said.

"Uh, that's not really a good idea. I do however know a nanny from the castle who will shortly be out of work. The youngest princess is not going to need her soon and I've got enough money I could send her over to help you out around the place. If you've kept my room well enough."

"Stay for a few days and see," Ted said gruffly.

Smiling at her father she nodded. "I think I'd like that."

She did not grant any big wishes, but there were a lot of little things a decent enchantress could do around the house. Cleaner clothes. Turning the contents of the outhouse into earthworms. Sharpening tools and helping give the mule a rest day by plowing a field and removing a few tree stumps. Her dad had no truck with magically grown vegetables, so no giant beanstalks or anything popped up over night, but one of his hogs had been suffering a bit of illness and she cleared that up in a hurry.

Orchid was the only one she told the truth about her work for the king, carefully explaining that it was nonviolent and why it needed to be done. To her surprise Orchid got it right away.

"You need to be careful Ethel… I mean Desdemona Nightshade." She could not help smiling at her sister's convoluted choice of names. "Mistress Raven warned me that whatever one sends out into the world with magic they get back three times. I have no idea how that works in your situation. On one side you seem to be saving lives. On the other you're cursing people rather spectacularly. It makes being turned into a newt seem like nothing."

"Let's just say it might be a good idea if you don't mention to anyone that you are the sister of the Wicked Enchantress of Caste Dread. Including to our family and your husband. At least not until we see how this whole thing shakes out. I still have six more princesses to put into storage and if I don't I get divine wrath and this kingdom will either be destroyed or half a dozen girls will be executed. I think we can guess which way the king will lead."

"Honestly, this is why we pay taxes?"

"Actually I'm pretty sure you pay taxes so the king will not order his men to burn this farm to the ground before imprisoning you and signing the land over to someone who does pay up in a timely fashion."

Orchid glared at her. "Okay that's all the sisterly snark I can take. See you in three more years, sis. Or you know, come by on some of the holydays or any time else you want."

Desdemona smiled and hugged her. "Thank you. I may do that. If I can avert wars, executions, dragon attacks, and get those damn unicorns off my property." Orchid smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Oh don't even go there sister. Yes, I can still ride a unicorn. So what?" Sniffing she returned to her sexy enchantress form letting Orchid get a good look. Then she vanished in a cloud of purple smoke.

Appearing again in the courtyard of her castle she felt mostly relief. She loved her family but even as a middle aged woman they had made her feel like she was ten again. Now here she was bold, beautiful, and mistress of her own fortress. It made breathing seem easier. Or maybe it was the fact that her castle did not smell of pig manure and chicken feathers. She had really missed that desert air with its whiff of sun baked dust and lizards.

Now she could get back to work and—

"Mistress Desdemona!" A man came running up to her. A guard. "So glad you're back. We have a problem."

Sighing she replied. "Of course we do. What is it?"

"It's Princess Melody. She went missing shortly after you left."

"Of course she did. I assume you sent out a search party?"

"Those who could get past the unicorns."

"Okay. First, I'm going to take a bath and get some sleep and then I'll do something about that."

"But your wickedness…" Desdemona decided not to reprimand him for that title until she decided whether she liked it or not. She was leaning to enjoying it. "What if something should happen to her while you wait?"

"It's been days. More than likely she's fine or dead already. With all the unicorns around here they probably followed her so she'll have plenty to eat and drink even in the desert. If she's dead then I suppose either I'll have to learn some necromancy or curse one of the other princesses." Her contract had neither said the princesses had to be alive when they were cursed or that it had to be the seven youngest she had been presented with. Hopefully the god would understand since the princess's escape attempt was in no way her fault.

Not that deities were known to be super forgiving.

"Either way I'm taking some time for myself. Then I'll look for the little brat and decide what to do with her then. She had better pray she's dead somewhere in the desert because I am officially taking out some of my frustrations on her if I find her alive and well." She saw a small smirk on the guard's face. Considering guards were usually blamed when someone escaped she could understand why.

"As you say mistress," he said, bowing to her. He backed away and she dismissed him from her mind.

If they knew where their sister went, the other princesses were not talking Diadem, Clarity, and Ester were giving Helen a makeover, doing her makeup up like Diadem's so that the youngest princess would have looked exactly like a miniature of her elder sister, except she smiled. When they were unable to answer her questions Desdemona turned the black makeup pink on both of them, delighting Helen and horrifying Diadem.

Isabelle was reading in her room and was unimpressed when Desdemona tried to get her to talk. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you are our keeper, are you not?"

"Except I don't want to keep any of you."

Oh well, back to divination. It took a little effort to find her. She was indeed in the desert it turned out. Only she was neither near the castle nor, sadly, wandering the sands pleading for water. She was in a camp of tents some miles away. Night was coming, but Desdemona decided to just go get her rather than wait. She had taken enough time off. Before she left she told the servants, "Open up the east tower room and prepare it. Melody will be spending a lot of time there." They had quickly rushed off to obey her orders.

Meanwhile in an oasis out in the desert Melody herself was leaning against a small tree and looking up into the eyes of a handsome young man of about sixteen who was smiling back at her. Someone had providing some of the former revolutionaries with supplies. Something that normally the royal wizard would have interfered with had he not been more focused on stopping two dragons from interrupting trade routes and attacking the local towns.

"Oh Roland, I'm so grateful to be here with you and not still trapped in that dreadful ruin."

"I am just amazed you made it. When we sent the letter with the map to our camp we were not sure you could escape that evil witch's clutches, let alone make it across the desert. I nearly cried when I saw you come over the dunes. You looked more beautiful than the sun."

Tittering as he leaned over her Melody said, "Knowing you were waiting here for me, I had every reason to try."

"You flatter me princess." He reached up and touched her chin, lifting her head a bit. "Or should I call you, my queen?"

"Soon enough." She grinned up at him, steel in her eyes. "My sister kept me in the background when she made her attempt for the throne. I was promised to you as a duchess. Now that she's dead I see no reason why I shouldn't be the next ruler. My magic is stronger than Sapphire's was. She was all illusions. With me they will just sit there and not so much as lift a finger to stop us."

"You aren't upset about your sisters?"

"My father has set their fates. We can wait until that sorceress curses them. When she fails to curse me she'll be taken care of and we'll be safe to move against the kingdom. Melinda will have to go of course. She might accept banishment like you did, but since she gave the order for Sapphire's execution she only gets one chance to turn us down."

"My father and the men say that we can attack during her wedding. Claim it and the kingdom. The guards and wizard will be at the border here, preparing for the assault on the dragon, unaware that Melinda's marriage to the prince will never happen and the kingdoms will not be united. At least not yet. By the time they know something has gone on we will be in control." He took her hand and kissed her knuckles. "King and queen of Paradise River."

He started to lean in to kiss her on the lips when they were interrupted by slow clapping. They turned and stared in horror as they saw Desdemona standing nearby watching them. "Bravo! Wonderful! The romance. The plot. True love conquers all."

Stepping in front of Melody the young deposed duke reached for a knife on his belt. "Back witch!"

Desdemona raised an eyebrow and the knife suddenly changed in his hands, becoming a bouquet of flowers. "For me? You shouldn't have."

Throwing them aside Roland put up his fists. "I will not let you imprison this fair beauty one minute longer or let you touch one hair on her head with your dark magic."

Eyes glowing in the fading twilight Desdemona said, "Oh yes you will little boy. Or she'll get to watch what I do to you first."

He looked ready to fight her anyway. But Melody reached up and grabbed his arm. "No Roland. You can't. She's not bluffing." Glaring around her boy the twelve year old princess pulled him back and moved in front of him. "Don't hurt him."

"Princess I don't want to. I just need you to come back with me." She looked at Roland. "As for you, you're perfectly free to come after her. If you love her that is."

"I do," he said boldly. Melody looked ready to swoon despite everything.

Desdemona had her doubts. Four years was not much of an age difference, but a twelve year old girl and a sixteen year old boy… it was entirely possible he was just using her. His own shot at kingship. A figurehead for the rebellion. Legitimacy for their rule. Then again the girl was pretty and fairly courageous. At least she had tried to make a run for it.

"I'll tell you what. I'm going to stick our little runaway here in the easternmost tower of my castle. The door will be locked, but I'll stand down the guards. You make it up the mountain and to the tower to rescue her and they'll let you walk in and out. Really the only things you'll have to get past are the unicorns." If he was a virgin that would be easy enough. They did not like boys enough to follow them, but they did not attack them either.

He seemed suspicious. "Why would you do this? Will you have her under some terrible curse? Will she be transformed or asleep or turned to stone?"

"Not at all," Desdemona said. "In fact if you play your cards right and your heart is indeed as pure as you claim, what I have planned for her will actually help your little rebellion."

"It will?"

"I was hired to curse the princesses. I'll do my job and I will get paid whether from Melinda, the king, or your girl here. Whoever controls the coffers makes no difference to me. Like I said, come and get her and she's all yours."

"Why would you help me?" Melody asked.

Desdemona sneered at her. "Help you? I was planning on cursing Isabelle next. Oldest to youngest. You just jumped to the head of the line princess. I applaud your ambition, but you are turning out to be an annoyance and I want you gone as soon as possible." She gestured and the girl was yanked of her feet and through the air where Desdemona grabbed her. "Don't worry. You won't be alone in the tower. You are going to have company." She winked at Roland. "So long lover boy." They both vanished, fading into the night.

Locking Melody up in the tower was quite satisfying and Desdemona could see why so many evil magicians did it. It was tempting to keep one on hand in the future. As a conversation piece maybe. Preferably one that was less trouble. Maybe under a sleep spell so all she had to do was have her dusted every now and then.

Not one of these princesses. That was a little trite for her at the moment, but it was an idea.

At least the whole thing had given her a dandy idea for Melody's curse. Like Josephine's letter said though, she might need a little help. So she returned to her room and began writing a letter to the king, asking if he could loan her his best hunter.

Chapter Seven

Violet Beast Tamer looked nervously over at Desdemona as they rode through the southern forest. The enchantress was aching, not having ridden a horse in years and then barely at all. On her farm horses were an extravagance. They had a mule for a couple of years which was later replaced by an ox and both had been used to either plow or pull a cart, not for riding. She had learned at a neighbor's farm, but when one could fly it hardly ever came up.

"I am still not certain why you needed me. Can't you just magic up an animal?"

"I need an ordinary animal At least one that's not magical. Like I said I need to find the smartest and best available and I'd like to get its permission before I do anything to it. I can talk to animals if I want, but I was raised on a farm and not out in the woods. I can tell you everything there is to know about chickens and pigs, but wild animals that came around my father handled with a bow and arrow.

"It's like I told you before I need something capable and intelligent, but not under any other spells. I have enough problems trying to enchant those princesses with their little fairy gifts. I would just feel much better if I can do this without layering spells on top of each other if I can avoid it. At least this time."

"This time?"

"I've got Isabelle marked down for something useful as soon as I get some help. She's the eldest and Diadem is going to be… well let's just say in order to get what I want out of this deal I need her for something specific. I don't feel right about being too mean to the youngest three, so this is my only chance to do something really nasty and tortuous to any of them." She smiled menacingly at Violet.

"Come on, they're just kids."

"Don't think that way. I heard the little brat plotting against her whole family. Personally I don't really care what happens to any of them in the long run, but if I am going to do this job I intend to do it right and proper and part of any decent curse is giving brats like her their comeuppance. Treating me as if I was curing her sisters for her benefit? Running away like she could just hide in the desert and avoid her own curse? Ha! I'll show her and her little band of revolutionaries."

"What are you going to do to them?"

Desdemona chuckled wickedly. "That's the best part. When I'm done it's what they will do to each other that is going to make her punishment legendary. Now I ask you again, what is the cleverest animal in the forest and the all around best survivor? Not just the type either, but one that's really made a show of it?"

Still nervous about taking part in this the royal huntsman gave it some thought. "Well that really depends." Violet looked at the trees and bushes around the riding path. "Wolves and wild pigs can be nearly as smart as people or dumber than dirt. It can be different for each animal, not just by their type. It' part of what makes the king's foxhunts such a challenge. Sometimes the hunters and dogs find them right away and sometimes they escape."

"Oh, I know that. My family owns a farm and we've had a few raids by foxes or other animals. We've lost chickens and had a wild boar break down the fence when the sows went into heat. Deer in the fields. Rabbits. Like you say sometimes my father could handle them easily while other times they seemed to know what he would do before he did." She giggled. "We actually had a goat that was like that too. She'd wait until the milk bucket was full before kicking it over. Then she kept getting up on the roof. Chewing the thatch and putting her hooves through it."

Violet laughed. "What did you do?"

"Ate her. We needed the milk but since she kept knocking it over dad decided on her being better to have a party and invite the neighbors. We got a new goat later so we could keep making cheese." She looked at Violet. "I noticed at the castle you had no problem eating meat. Does it bother you eating your woodland friends?"

"Not really. Animals eat each other too. Most of them aren't exactly great conversationalists. If most people knew what birdsong really meant for example, they would be horrified. Sex, challenges to fight over territory, in between calls for meals and screaming about predators. Even when I can talk to them they do not always listen. Some are quite nasty. There is a reason I'm the king's huntsman."

"I understand." She had experimented with talking to animals and had run into similar problems. "I can also use my magic to force them to do what I want. That helps. Sadly unicorns seem immune."

"Oh believe me, I know." While Desdemona had been inundated by the herd of unicorns, Violet had been on hand as it had grown originally. "The princesses threw a fit if we tried to kill them and they were so much like horses that after a while even with how dangerous and violent they get it was hard to do anything about them. The wizard also warned us that killing unicorns could cause terrible luck and curses because they are magical creatures and I could hear them talking. They are quite intelligent for demonic death ponies."

"They're annoying but I wouldn't call them death ponies."

Violet grinned. "Still a virgin?"

The huntsman was at least twenty-five. Even with her birthday a month away Desdemona was a good fifteen years younger than her. Maybe more. So she felt no real embarrassment about that. "When I feel like it I'll do it. I'm thinking I'll wait a while. Until those so called demonic murder ponies aren't everywhere I look."

"Got your eye on anyone in particular?"

"Joan seemed nice. Until I stuck her in a mirror." She giggled. "She's still hanging around the castle though. I've caught her peeping on me from around the edge of the frame a few times when I was getting ready for bed."

You know she's…"

"I'm aware and I can't say it's a problem," she replied haughtily. "The other princesses are quite attractive too and I ran into a muscular and quite handsome dragon hunter at the docks a while back."

"Well couldn't you just make anyone you want fall in love with you?"

"Certainly I could," Desdemona said. "But why would I bother? I'm gorgeous, powerful, and shortly I will be quite rich. I don't need to control people to have my pick. Besides I've sold enough love potions to know how well magical love works out in the long run. It's why I have a policy of making sure both parties take it so they don't abuse each other until it wears off."

"You have love potions?"

Desdemona smirked. "Got someone in mind? Or has it just been a dry spell?"

Unsure how her teasing had been turned on her Violet blushed. "It's just… a lot of people are wary of someone with a magical gift. We could all be witches in disguise. In addition I have a manly job and am a bit less than demure. Add in being compared to the princesses and I've found myself less than confident." Desdemona looked her over. She wore a pair of leather leggings and a thick tunic. She was fairly muscular for a woman, but not much different than her mother and sisters and most women who lived on farms. It was only nobility that had callous free hands and skinny little bird arms. Well them and magicians. "I hold the title of knight and mostly mix with nobility and the like too."

"But you've had a man before?"

She blushed deeper. "Uh, when I was out drinking. Oh and when I was younger and living out in the woods there was this woodsman. Nothing solid."

"Well as I told you magic isn't the way to go. When it's one sided it is not much better than rape. Besides most people regret it and then they have someone they are not in love with who is magically lovesick for them. They rarely take no for an answer then."

"Then why do people do it?"

"Because they're stupid and can pay me," Desdemona said happily. "I think the type who like that sort of thing is generally popular among amoral people with relationship issues. I cannot say the idea of having a dozen girls or men magically bound to forgive anything and do whatever you want doesn't have some appeal." They shared a smile. "I'm just not sure how great an idea it is once you start aging and becoming less attractive.

"I do know men aren't that complicated. If you just want sex you don't need to be the best looking or most appealing wife. If you are looking for a relationship you should probably get out and get to know people." She grinned. "Your other options are to have the king find some random guy and arrange a marriage for you or I could put you to sleep until someone wakes you with a kiss, though personally I'm a bit busy at the moment and am not sure that is really the basis of a decent relationship. I wouldn't want to be with someone who thinks it is alright to kiss someone apparently dead and lying in a coffin. I've heard stories…"

"No thanks. I suppose I'm just getting tired of the jokes I hear around the castle sometimes. Old maid. Spinster. Some think I like women and a few think I molest the horses or other animals about the castle."

"Well I don't know how helpful I could be. I don't think kissing frogs would help with those rumors even if it turned into a handsome prince. Besides I'd need a prince first and I'm fresh out. You could rescue a princess or two if you like."

"No, thank you," she said "I never got along with the princesses very well. They were not fond of animals besides horses, unicorns, and cats, not even their father's hounds. The new queen even less so. Besides as I said I am not attracted to women."

"Ah, you're breaking my heart," Desdemona teased, feigning disappointment. "I am sure you'll work it out eventually. I'll ask my sister if there is a barn raising or dance planned in the farmlands. All you have to do is wear a decent dress and decide how handsy you want the boys to get. I'm sure there's many a farmer or farmer's son who would find you quite the catch. Your gift would be quite useful.

"Or once the prince and princess get married you can try heading into the mountains. There are a lot of options and I would not recommend magic as your first choice. You just need confidence and maybe to flash a bit of leg at the right man. Let me know and I can magic up something nice in silk for you." Violet looked at the clingy cleavage displaying leather and satin outfit Desdemona was wearing.

Eventually they got to the deep woods. A place most peasants let alone the nobility rarely saw, even when they got there because the trees were so close together and so tall there was no room for sunlight. Normally there was only the dim green glow you got from some moss and mushrooms and the occasional glowworm or firefly swarm.

Unless of course you had a magician with you. A blue moon-like orb floated over Desdemona's shoulder, lighting up the area and sending animals scattering in different directions. Trees and plants and rocks moved or bent out of their way like someone parting wheat in a field to let them through, trunks creaking.

"I love the dark wood," Violet confided. "A lot of people find it scary, but it's so amazing to be in the dark like this and knowing that not every place in the world falls under the rule of humans. Wolves and big cats do not even usually come down here. This is where bears really thrive. They have the best sense of smell and can climb, so they really rule here."

"Are they smart?"

"Not really. Just tough and big which, as I'm sure you know, usually beats intellect."

"Often literally," Desdemona said. Something ran past the horse and she gasped, holding hard on the reins. "What was that?"

"Looked like a weasel to me you get a lot of the around here. They are more flexible than cats or wolves and can run up and down trees like the squirrels. They usually eat rodents and things or scavenge from bear leftovers when the bears catch a deer or other large animals that get lost and caught in here."

"You should write books about animals. I thought weasels mostly lived in fields and under logs near farms."

"When they leave the forest they do prefer places they can still hide. Fields only because they go after rodents and birds, but they do not like staying there when they rest. It's too much like the ocean."

Desdemona had thought as much when flying above the kingdoms. You could look out over a sea of grass and suddenly see a wolf or lion or something pop out of the long grass to pounce on something that thought it was equally well hidden. Birds were good in such places because they could fly, but while deer ate the grasses, having to suddenly run through them because a predator had sniffed out your hiding spot rarely worked out well. Even when they were in herds it was likely somebody was going down. Weasels and their ilk did not really work together in packs or whatever you called them.

"I just know they're a pain around the farm. My father hates when one gets at the chickens. Even when eh builds a fence or cage they always find a way in. If they have to dig or even undoing a latch."

"Sounds pretty clever to me," Violet said.

Desdemona considered it. She normally thought of weasels as pests, barely better than rats. She had been to a few pits where they trained dogs to hunt them by dropping a captured weasel in with them. They never seemed bright so much ad vicious, but then if they were that stupid people would not need to put so much effort into hunting them. "Do you think you can get it back here to talk to us?"

"Can't you?"

"I can talk to them. I'm not so sure about talking them into anything. That's why I wanted you to help out. You know how they think."

Nodding Violet pulled a piece of dried meat from her saddle pouch and started making screeching calls into the dark trees. Desdemona flinched and used her magic to translate. "Weasel. Food. Safety." Animals used verbs and adjectives, but they usually required body language in addition to sounds. There were whole villages of humans where the average man knew maybe eight hundred words. Paradise River was a little better since they had fewer worries, but animals required little conversation. Especially the more solitary creatures. Wolves and flocking birds could have nearly human talks, for those who understood them, like those who ate dragon hearts, but for most it was all about mating and posturing or shrieking in fear. Silence and suspicion was their life's blood.

Repeating it a few times it took a moment, but carnivores did tend to be smarter and more curious than plant eaters. Eventually they heard an answering chirp. "Food? Food? Hurt. Eat weasel."

"No hurt. Feed. Give food." Violet tossed the meat down. The weasel came forward slowly then darted out and grabbed it, hurrying back to the dark.

"More," Desdemona cut in quickly. "Much more. Weasel never hungry again." She waited. They could hear the little beast chewing on what it already had. Eventually she heard it stop and repeated herself.

The furry little critter stepped back into the light. Just at the edge. "More food?"

"All food. All the time. Never hungry."

"Pet?"

Desdemona was surprised at both the concept and the distain the little animal put into the word. "No. Master. Give you pet. Feed you all the time. Yours. Make you smarter. Stronger. Never die."

"Never die? Never hungry?"

"Never hurt."

"What want?"

"Come with me."

The animal hesitated only a moment, obviously weighing its options. Then it stepped forward. Desdemona reached out and gently levitated it up to curl on her shoulder. Then she nodded to Violet who handed over another piece of meat. Carefully. Weasels, particularly in the wild, were not pets and he just might take her thumb if she was not careful. This particular weasel was large and a little grey along the edges of his brown fur, clearly old. You got bigger versions of some animals, if they were magic or had been eating human flesh or something, but he was about as large as she had ever seen and was several years old at least.

"What are you going to do with him?" Violet asked.

Desdemona smiled and scratched the creature. It looked at her as if it might abandon the meat it had and bite her, but then it saw her eyes. Animal instinct warned it not to push its luck. Good call. "He's going to become my next curse."

Melody was doing some embroidery. She had already read all the books Desdemona had given her and there was little to do until someone brought her next meal. She had considered making herself a rope out of the material she had been given, but not only did a look out of the tower window make her dizzy, she was sure that should she merely escape Desdemona would just bring her back again. So she kept busy.

There was a knock at the tower door. She put her half finished scarf down and said, "Enter." To her surprise instead of a servant it was the enchantress who opened the door. Narrowing her eyes Melody said, "What do you want?"

"It's time."

The princess paled slightly if that was possible. "What are you going to do to me?"

"To you? Nothing. In fact I'm here to give you something." She stepped aside and something followed her through the door.

Pulling her feet up onto the chair as if she had seen a mouse Melody shrieked. "Ah! What is that thing?"

One would think even a princess would recognize a common weasel, but then again things were different now. For one thing it was much bigger. About the size of a wolf. For another it was transparent, a glowing blue figure rather than brown. Third the tail was no longer long and fluffy, but zigzag shaped and sharp as the blade of a sickle.

"How rude," the animal said in perfectly understandable human. "I thought you said this was a princess. You would think she might ask my name first."

"It talks."

"He does indeed," Desdemona said. "Princess, this is Truth. He will be your constant companion and guardian from now on."

"Guardian?"

"Oh yes. He's going to protect you. First from lies. Nobody in his presence can speak anything but the truth. They cannot write anything that is false either. Illusions will dissipate. Secrets will be told. He eats them all.

"Which is why he will protect you. Animals always are very protective of the source of their food."

"I'd say it is a pleasure to meet you princess, but so far you've been less than welcoming," Truth said.

"But it's a… what is it? Some sort of monster?"

"A spirit beast I transformed from a weasel. Don't worry princess, he cannot hurt you, but will protect you from anyone else who tries. Physically he is little more than a wind elemental and provided you are not in physical danger he will do nothing. I've made him quite clever. In addition you are the only one who can see him."

The weasel jumped up and landed on the princess's shoulder, making her shriek again. Only after a moment she said, "I… I can't even feel him." She looked at the glowing creature which perched on her as easily as a bird on a twig, even though he should have weighed her down. She looked at Desdemona. "What if I want him to go away?"

"Sorry, not an option. It would not be much of a curse if he did. But like I said nobody else can see him. For someone who wants to rule a kingdom and take over I would think this would be quite useful. Nobody will ever be able to fool you again or lie to you or cheat you. Surely you can find a use for that."

The princess nervously reached up to touch the weasel, her finger sinking into it like it was a ghost. "I suppose it is okay."

"Think of him as a very long and skinny cat. Also you do not have a choice, so get used to him." She looked at Truth. "I hope you will do your job well."

The weasel winked. "Gladly enchantress. I am already enjoying being smarter than I was. As for the food, you did promise I'd have all the lies I can eat?"

"And then some I imagine," she said. "You of course must still stay up here princess, until your hero arrives to save you. At least now you'll have some company to talk to."

"I suppose," she said. "I'm sure Roland will come soon." She looked at Desdemona. "Are you certain you have no intention of stopping him or harming him?"

"Now that you are cursed, I'll happily hand you over princess. In fact if he doesn't get here in a week I'll probably kick you out myself."

"And that's the truth?"

"Try it yourself. What do you really think of me?"

"I think… you're very scary and at the same time I'm jealous of all the power you have. If I had half of it I would have been ruling the kingdom by the time I was six." She blinked. "That wasn't what I wanted to say."

Smiling Desdemona turned and headed for the door. "I'll just leave you two to get acquainted." She left and the door slammed shut behind her.

Back down in the courtyard Violet had come along to see how things went. When Desdemona came back she said, "I still don't understand why you thought this was such a terrible curse."

"That's because you spend most of your time with animals and your superiors. You don't tell lies as much as most people. A husband who cannot tell his wife she's beautiful or that she is the loveliest to him is going to be in trouble. Tell the king or myself something unflattering and we'll do horrible things to you. Not only that but Truth an see whatever you are keeping secret and can tell those to everyone around him at his discretion."

"Will he really protect her though? You sad he was a guardian, but he's made of wind."

"Do you doubt me? It's an ability mystical weasels sometimes gain over seas, though they usually work in threes. I turned him into a wind elemental. Nothing devastating, but they have a way of cutting people with a void. They whip their tails so fast it makes a hole in the air and cuts like a knife, even if he can't touch them. If anyone attacks his food source, he'll defend it. It's only natural." She cackled a bit. "The fun part will be when the princess realizes that she can't lie either. And the more lies she tells the bigger the area affected gets. I'd love to see how her little revolution goes when her so called followers can't hide their true intentions.

"They might all be honest and intend to overthrow the country for the good of the people, but I doubt it."

"What if they are and she succeeds?"

Desdemona shrugged. "Not my problem. Most likely though she'll be driven out. I doubt you even need to tell the king about it."

"I'm not so sure…"

She shrugged. "Do as you see fit. For tonight you can stay here and set out in the morning, once I get you past all those unicorns. In the meantime for your help with the weasel I left you an enchanted outfit in your room and an invitation card that will tell you the time and place of any parties planned within the kingdom."

"Enchanted?"

"Just to stay clean. I think the design itself will help you look fabulous and I included a mask that will conceal your identity incase you run into someone there you do not want to meet again. Everything else if up to you I'm afraid. I could have done more, but I really don't think you can afford me. If the dress isn't good enough I hear good things about the Boob Fairy."

Violet smiled. "Thank you so much."

"Just promise to write and let me know how you do," Desdemona said, giving her a quick hug. They were just finishing when a cry came from above and they both looked up. "Is that a seagull?"

"In the desert?"

The bird circled and it turned out to be an albatross. It landed nearby and held up one leg, where a silvery patch was tied to it. "It's a letter." Desdemona bet down and almost lost a finger when the bird snapped its beak at her. She narrowed her eyes and almost turned it into something else, but was in such a good mood instead she made a small fish appear in the air. When the bird grabbed it she bent down and retrieved the letter, which was written in octopus ink on a patch of sharkskin.

Violet peered over the enchantress's shoulder and read aloud, "It's a deal." There was a date too, about a week in the future. "What's that about?"

"I needed a little more help with the next curse. A few ingredients I couldn't get elsewhere. Not to mention it will take care of a few side problems."

"Like what?"

"I'd rather not say. I am fairly certain a lot of people would not approve." She waved her hand at the albatross and sent it flying away. It flapped off happy to be headed back to the sea.

It was three days later when the exiles finally made their move to rescue their princess. Desdemona was slipping into a sexy nightgown making sure to take time so Joan, whom she could see once again peeping in the reflection, got a good look. She was just about to climb into bed when she heard a noise outside, sort of metallic.

A wave of her hand and an image appeared in the air in front of her. It showed that a hook with a long rope had been catapulted from below up to the roof of the tower in which Melody was imprisoned. Adjusting it she could see that Roland, surrounded by many of the nobles, was getting ready to climb up the rope to Melody who was waiting eagerly above for his arrival. They had brought an actual catapult and he and those with him were walking up the path so he could take the climb near the top, but without climbing up the entire mile of rock face even if it meant walking five miles around it.

"Huh, guess somebody wasn't sure he could slip past the unicorns," Desdemona muttered.

It was romantic the way he was climbing the tower to rescue the girl, she had to admit. It just would have been easier to walk up the path and take the stairs. For a virgin. She wondered if Melody, young and smitten as she was, would even think to ask why her paramour was taking the harder route that. As usual the spiral topped animals were snoozing the night away looking like a field of weird glowing weeds outside the castle gates, their horns softly glowing and swaying as they snored. Unicorns snored loudly.

Melody would just have to learn the truth about boys and unicorns on the street, just as Desdemona and so many other girls had before her.

She watched for a while as Roland got to the rope and while some of his men held it steady, started to climb. It was tempting to summon up a strong wind or other things to harass the boy, but she saw no point. Then she remembered that he was there to take Melody away.

"Maybe I should help him." Nah. No need to emasculate the boy. Let him be a hero is he wanted. Yawning she banished the image and went to bed.

In the morning Melody was gone along with Truth.

A week later they tried to return her. It was not exactly a surprise. Since she had arrived at the rebel camp the whole place had been in an uproar. People were blurting out uncomfortable truths and opinions left and right while anything they did not think of or tried to hide via silence Truth blurted out for them at the worst possible time. There had been three duels so far. Much more of this and they would run out of people.

Honestly watching the goings-on in the exile camp was better than a dramatic play.

Naturally Desdemona refused to take the princess back, but she did remind them that they had other options. They could kill her, in which case the king would likely execute them. Or they could try leaving with Scourge guarding the border. If melody died not only was it no real concern of Desdemona's, but even Truth would be fine. The weasel would merely latch onto someone else. He was essentially immortal now. She kept that part to herself just in case so she could watch the fun as they figured it out.

In the end, unable to take any more truth, they finally turned the princess out of the camp with supplies and sent her out of the wastes and back into the kingdom. Desdemona did not need Josephine's gift to know the girl would likely be living that way for some time to come. Truth's curse would spread the more people tried to lie about him and only shrink when they intentionally told the truth. In time it could quickly come to cover the entire kingdom. It would only be a matter of time before, dragon or no, she was driven out, forced to keep traveling until she found a place without lies or until she died. Then of course the curse would pass to someone else.

There was a way to break it. Someone would have to tell the princess a lie, but believe he was telling her the truth. Not something too difficult under normal circumstances. Foolish people told people things they believed were true and were wrong about all the time. But someone would have to do that while under Melody's influence, which would be distracting to say the least and without knowing what they were doing. It could take a lifetime for those circumstances to line up. Truth would then be driven off, urged to run a great distance before finding a new host.

All in all a fairly elegant little curse, she thought. The downsides were largely self inflicted and at the same time devastating. Particularly to the would-be rebels. When the king heard about it he might even owe Desdemona some sort of medal.

Chapter Eight

There is nothing like watching two dragons fight. No way to compare it to anything else or to express the sheer devastating power as two beasts whose species rivaled the very gods for power gave everything they had in a life or death struggle. It shook the kingdom and Desdemona was privileged to be the only one to see it in person. It was one of the most amazing and terrifying things she would ever see in what was destined to be a long and interesting life.

Desdemona had received a message from the mermaids with a date and time from Marine and she had immediately grabbed Isabelle. The princess barely let out a squeak of surprise before they dissolved into purple smoke and reappeared in the desert. Then she screamed as she caught sight of the ruby bulk of Scourge.

"Aiiiiiiieiieeeeeeeee!"

Desdemona flinched but could not blame the girl. The dragon was terrifying and the barrier that kept him out was invisible. A moment later her scream was drowned out as the dragon in question saw her and immediately through himself at them. The ground shook and they both had to cover their ears to keep from being deafened as he slammed into the magical wall. After a moment though he stopped roaring and just kept pushing like he was suddenly going to get through it today.

Scourge was even more terrifying. His height was tripled and his claws and fangs were in full display with his wings spread and flapping, blowing dust everywhere. The barrier did nothing against inanimate objects. The girls had to cover their faces. Behind him his tail lashed back and forth like an enormous whip, slamming the ground and breaking to rock hard surface into chunks.

Slightly more disturbing was that he was demonstrating that he was definitely a he. Very few people ever got close to a dragon to tell how the males and females differed, but at the moment the monster was apparently very turned on and not only that, but there were two of them. Like he had sprouted a couple of purple trees from a slit in his waist only they were flattened up against the barrier like it were a clear glass window. If he had balls they were probably internal.

"Wow, that's… interesting," Desdemona said

The princess followed her line of sight and blushed. "In my studies I believe our tutor mentioned snakes are built the same way." She was behind the enchantress, peering around her, beginning to realize that while the dragon was trying to force his way towards them, he could not actually do it. "W-why are we here?"

"Because it's time to ditch you princess. And I want to get these dragons out of here too."

"These? There's more than one?" She squeaked.

As if in answer suddenly a shadow covered them, as if a cloud was passing overhead. Only when Desdemona looked up her eyes bulged out and Isabelle looked up to see why and felt her whole body pale as the blood drained from her skin. "Eep."

Nobody had gotten a good look at the sea dragon since it had arrived, even those who had seen it out on the ocean and gone hunting for it. The beast was serpentine and very long and as wide as a road. Much bigger than Scourge. His scales were sapphire blue. His head had no snout and looked more like the kind of deep sea fish with an under-bite and fangs like swords. He flew without wings and writhed through the sky, long claws hanging by his sides so that he almost looked like a snake. Its eyes were sea green and luminous.

Desdemona noticed that while terrifying she did not get the sense of evil off this new beast that she did from Scourge. She, like many children in the kingdom, had seen the king's menagerie, kept in a small area near the capitol city. Full of foreign beasts brought in for the king and offered as presents from visiting dignitaries. She remembered seeing large cats among the animals and even huge apes and knowing they could hurt her, but that aside from being hungry they never would.

Scourge meanwhile always reminded her more of the kind of men you saw in town sometimes, watching women and children as if sizing up whether they could get away with grabbing them or raping them then and there. An urge for violence without a real need. Only Scourge had no need to worry about guards or civilians stopping him and had no problem letting anyone who looked knowing what he wanted. Marine could easily be imagined devouring people in huge mouthfuls too, but you got the sense that he would consider the repercussions a hassle and if he did it, it would only be as food.

Scourge was so focused on the princess that he did not even register his rival's arrival until the blue dragon roared too, its mouth opening like a huge cavern rather then something you would find on a living creature. Even the lust-crazed Scourge could not ignore it and looked up to see the larger beast dropping out of the sky like a blue comet. He jumped back as marine hit the barrier and slithered down it, his body showing exactly where the dome was.

Marine hit the ground where Scourge had been and followed the retreating red dragon. His body left a deep ditch where it moved over the hard ground, before putting down his legs for support. His claws pierced the hard desert turf as if it were soft dirt.

Now aware of the attacking foe Scourge did not have any problem fighting back. He might be smaller but he was faster and more used to fighting. Normally the huge sea dragon just needed to dive under water, where he was king, if he was attacked. Battling on land was a completely different proposition and there was more surface area for Scourge to attack. On the other hand his scales were thicker and his long sinuous body more flexible than his winged counterpart.

The two humans watched in awe as the two monsters came together. It was so hard they could feel the impacts and they saw sparks coming off their bodies as scales and claws scraped together. Scourge whipped his tail at marine's eye, almost taking it out and Marine managed to snag the tip in his mouth. His claws were too far back from his head to help, so he twisted and threw the other dragon instead.

Scourge managed to roll away before the bigger dragon followed up by leaping on him. Then he came up and blinded the other dragon with a blast of flame that sent steam from water still trapped in Marine's scales into the air. Then he just appeared through the steam, slashing at the larger dragon's eyes again. He almost got one when Marine's tail his him like a club and sent him flying.

"This is amazing, Isabelle said, eyes wide.

Desdemona nodded. "They're amazing beings. I read that they were created by the queen goddess Tiamat as part of the horde of monsters to fight the gods who rebelled against her. Of course there were no humans around back then so it's impossible for us to know the truth." She flinched as marine was pushed back into the barrier. It felt like they were going to be crushed by a huge blue tree.

"The nasty looking red one seems to be winning."

This was true and Desdemona frowned. Scourge she had the feeling was not planning to leave even if he got his hands on a princess. Marine meanwhile, according to the mermaids, was only there driven by mating instinct. He was actually part of a sea dwelling royal family from much deeper waters far out in the ocean where few ships ever roamed in some underwater city full of all kinds of intelligent sea monsters. He was part of the royal family and was mildly worried about getting back there sometime in the next few decades.

Something Desdemona hoped to help with.

Unfortunately Scourge was seemingly gaining the upper hand in their titanic fight. It was like a rat attacking a terrier in a fighting pit. The little dog might not be that much bigger than the rodent, but normally the rat would be running rather than fighting back, leaving even the slightly bigger carnivore free to bite it and finish the job.

Scourge however was a seasoned warrior, if only because he enjoyed picking fights and while he was smaller he was also smart and capable. Fighting Marine was not easy, but the red monster knew what he was doing and had the advantage of experience fighting out of the water.

"I wish there was some way to help," Desdemona said.

"We did a lot of research on dragons after Brianna was taken by Earth Shaker. I was part of the delegation three years ago. Thankfully prince Alee was able to defeat the beast. He had come prepared and was able to save my sister. He needed the dragon's heart for a potion to save his father's life. Rescuing my sister was just lucky. We were all worried, but he assured us that dragons do not usually eat captured princesses. Not right away anyway."

Watching the two dragons continue to fight she smiled at marine head butted Scourge. Their horns banging together reminded her of a neighbor's sheep, when mating season came up and the rams would fight each other. Only much louder.

"Did he have some sort of magic sword or something?" Desdemona asked. "Or perhaps some divine blood. I can't imagine an ordinary man lasting long unaided against a dragon, unless this Earth Shaker was very small."

"The dragon was actually bigger than that blue one I believe. He did not have a sword," she said. "Just a bow and arrows and they were not even ensorcelled. His country's religion frowns on magic of all kids. Brianna has to keep her ability to control weather a secret. Only she and the prince know about it and they give all credit for the wonderful weather to the benevolence of the gods."

Good to know, Desdemona said, tucking that little bit of information away incase she ever needed it.

At the moment it did not help. If Scourge won Desdemona was not sure what she would do. "So how did he beat a dragon?"

"I did not see it of course, but when he came back with Brianna and the heart he needed there was a huge feast and he was telling everyone about it. He said there is a soft spot in a dragon's underside. It's only available when the dragon is flying and has a princess available. I don't know why."

Desdemona frowned. That made no sense. How could a spot only be there sometimes? And without magic it would be nearly impossible to pick some tiny place for even the best archer to hit. They had just gotten a full view of Scourge's underbelly and it had all seemed very impressively armored. Certainly she had not seen anything that would be hit with an arrow and so much as inconvenience a dragon. Even the harpoons the dragon hunters had on their ships seemed like toothpicks to these monstrous creatures. Their own claws backed by draconic strength seemed to have trouble finding purchase on one another let alone penetrating their armor.

Unless…

Again looking at Scourge Desdemona was reminded of the men at the marketplace her mother warned her about. The kind who would gladly take her either for their own twisted amusement or who would ship her off into slavery. Naturally once she had gained her powers the enchantress had little if anything to fear from such mere mortals, but a young girl could find herself in trouble. There were tales of local girls and those who were in other villages who had been taken and used.

She remembered an older girl in town who had been somewhat shunned after being raped by a local man. The girl had not been responsible, though some of the local boys said she egged him on by flirting or wearing revealing clothes or something. Regardless the girl's father and a group of his friends had gotten together and hung the man. There had been a bit of a to-do when the royal knights had arrived, but the men had been let off as having pursued justice for his daughter and the rapist's lands had been given to the family since the baby would be the rightful heir.

Desdemona and her sister Orchid had been taken aside by their mother when news had gotten around and given a bit of advice. "There isn't much a little girl can do when fighting a grown man, but if they're trying to grab you, well that means their hands are busy. If that's the case your best defense will be to go for the only unprotected spots you can reach. There's the shin. Kick a man there and it hurts and he might let you go, but there's one more place you can hit him and if you manage it he's sure to let you go long enough to run for help."

Desdemona had never used her mother's advice on a grown man. Most of their neighbors were kind enough and even the nastiest knew that they could never get away with murder let alone take an unwilling child to the ports to trade on the few ships that would take people as cargo. Especially after the hanging. No, kidnapping children was just too much trouble all around for most people.

It had however come in handy when a few of the local boys got grabby, whether it was pulling hair, throwing mud, or chasing the girls with snakes and frogs. Doing it was considered unladylike, but it certainly kept the boys at bay after the first couple of times. Even just pretending to do it without following through could work and send them running.

"The underbelly you say?"

"That's what he said. Only when they asked for details he got a bit red and excused himself Said something about drinking too much wine and having to set out early to get the heart back to his kingdom. He was happy to marry Brianna but we had to send her along afterwards."

The prince's embarrassment was another clue, but she knew she was still guessing. On the other hand, what did she have to lose? Scourge had taken to the air and while Marne could fly, it was more like he floated in air while the other dragon used his wings like a falcon. No, more like when crows worked together to harass a larger carnivore that came too close to their nests. The hawk would be gliding along but the smaller birds could duck in and keep pecking or clawing it. They could not do much damage to the bigger bird, but when they were flying it only took one mistake or one good hit. The bigger the bird, the harder it was to maneuver or get back into the air.

Desdemona gestured and a glowing green arrow tipped with a black head of obsidian appeared in the air. She was not much of a shot, lacking the body strength to pull even a ten pound bow's string and even if she used her magic to increase her strength, she was not much for aiming either. Hunting was, for the most part, for boys and maybe the nobility and she doubted the princesses were much taught in the ways of archery. Fortunately it did not matter because all she needed was her mind to do anything.

With a thought the arrow flew forward, fast as lightning and changing direction to match the target. Scourge was taking another dive at marine, pummeling the larger dragon over and over. He might not be able to get through the other dragon's scales any more than a knife could get through heavy leather, but he did not have to if with enough speed and force he could crack the bones under it.

The red dragon was so intent on attacking his blue counterpart that he barely noticed the small green flash like a bird pass between them and tickle his belly. Something so small could never…

Isabelle and Desdemona and yes Marine all saw Scourge's face change from intent focus to consternation and then cross-eyed pain. The last sound he ever made was similar to an incredibly large mouse just as the trap closed. Marine dived to the side, out of the way. Scourge meanwhile lost all aerodynamic efficiency as he curled up into what amounted to a huge red cannonball while still in the air and plummeting toward the ground. Most things while flying were very focused on not crashing. It took a lot to distract them enough to make them forget that they were dangerously high in the air.

At the moment Scourge was more concerned with experiencing the most intense pain of his life. In fact when he hit the ground and died on impact it was almost a relief. His body hit the hardened desert ground at nearly a hundred miles an hour at a bad angle, snapping his spine in an instant and his lifeless corpse continued on, skidding like a stone tossed across a pond. He was definitely dead because he passed through the barrier, finally skidding to a halt about twenty feet from the princess and the enchantress.

Breathing heavily marine turned to follow his enemy's path, making sure to eye the corpse for a moment for any signs of life. As it lay there in a growing pool of steaming blood however he nodded and turned to look at Desdemona. In a surprisingly cultured if loud voice he said, "I believe I have kept my part of the bargain."

"It talks!" Isabelle squeaked.

Ignoring her Desdemona nodded. "Indeed you have. Just wait a moment and I'll get your reward." Pushing the princess off her she walked over to the dead dragon and looked around until she found one ruby scale scraped off in the ditch behind it. The scale was about the size of a leaf, but it was enough. She had to be careful. All the books agreed dragon blood was poisonous and had been the death of many overconfident heroes who had managed to slay or even just injure them.

Still there was not enough information on dragon anatomy, since very few people survived attacking one let alone being attacked. So for the curse she had been working there was nowhere near enough information to get a feel for transforming someone into a dragon. Thankfully there was a workaround. Take a piece of another creature and use that as a baseline and you could turn someone else into the same animal. It was how even unskilled sorcerers and other magicians could turn themselves into wolves or bears with just a magical pelt from the animal. Werewolves, berserkers, and the like. It was one of the simplest magic spells.

"Isabelle get over here. I need to get you all gussied up for your prince."

"My what?" The princess asked. Desdemona nodded at Marine. Isabelle got it immediately. "You're going to turn me into a dragon."

From the other side of the barrier Marine frowned at that, displaying his jagged fangs. "You do not have to make it sound so distasteful."

Desdemona looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "How would you feel if I turned you into a human?'

The dragon flinched back, looking ill at the very thought. His scales rattled as he shuddered at the revolting concept. "Humph. Point taken."

Turning back to the princess she said, "I've been dying to change you into something else since we met. Thankfully flying creatures like birds and dragons do have a concept of beauty so by all rights you'll make a lovely dragon." She had no problem admitting that at least half her choice in transforming the princess was jealousy, a quarter was annoyance at the princess and her earlier inability to get around the fairy's gift, while the rest was Desdemona's own unease in the girl's presence. Gods she was beautiful and feeling Isabelle pressing against her had been uncomfortably erotic. These princesses were causing her more sexual confusion than any young lady should have to go through and it would be a relief to be rid of the top offender.

Without hesitation she pressed the dragon scale into the middle of Isabelle's face before stepping back. It stuck to her face and the changes started before the princess could even reach up and try to rip it off. Her body flowed like water reforming before Desdemona's eyes.

A moment later there was a new dragon there, maybe thirty feet long. Small and quite young for a dragon, though at that size moist had been alive for centuries. It was the equivalent of a fourteen year old human though. Just on the cusp of young woman… uh… dragon-hood.

Isabelle was a gorgeous dragon of course. Most of her scales were brown and glistened like chocolate diamonds. Her eyes were a deep amethyst and her teeth and claws gleamed in the light. A line of spikes, each one a different color of the rainbow ran down her spine between two large wings that were made of purple scales that looked like feathers. She fell forward onto her forelegs with a thump that shook the ground and shrieked, though instead of sounding like a teenage girl she sounded more like an eagle.

"What… what have you done to me?!" Her voice was deep and rumbling but still feminine sounding. Fire flickered around her fangs as she spoke.

Ignoring her size Desdemona took a moment to walk around her and examine the work she had done, like someone looking at a horse before buying it. Then she glanced at marine. "What do you think?"

The dragons' left eye was swollen and he was a little beat up, but his mouth hung open before saying. "She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

"But…" Isabelle began.

"Don't complain. I found a prince for you." She looked at Marine. "You do realize you'll have to wait until she's a little older, right? She's just becoming a young woman by any standards. No hanky-panky until she's old enough by dragon standards."

"Of course," he said virtuously.

"But how do I… I mean…"

Desdemona waved at the young dragon. "You have plenty of time to figure it out. And don't worry, your curse can eventually be broken and return you to human form, if you wish."

"How?"

"Can't tell you." The former princess glared at her, smoke curling out of her nose in a way that indicated annoyance. "Seriously, if I told you it would not work. That's part of the whole thing." This was true. In order to break her curse and return to human form the princess needed to commit one hundred consecutive good deeds for purely philanthropic purposes. If she committed a bad deed the count got reset and of course if she did good for purely selfish reasons, it did not count. So telling her the details would just make it harder.

Desdemona thought that given those restrictions it would be centuries if not longer for a normal person let alone a dragon to accomplish. Exactly what was supposed to happen. In the meantime she had a perfectly good and apparently available prince who could take her off to his magical underwater kingdom. Not so different from her older sister.

Clapping her hands loudly Desdemona slapped the princess's rump and said, "Alright now, get along."

"But…"

"Uh Isabelle, might I remind you that your father has a whole lot of dragon hunters with nothing to do just hanging out at the docks? There's nobody to complain to and most people will likely just shoot you on sight. You really should leave. Now."

She hesitated again and marine spoke up. "It would be my pleasure to teach you to fly."

Maybe it was his cultured voice or something in the transformation, but looking back at him Isabelle seemed less afraid and more intrigued. "I can fly?" She flexed her wings. "I suppose I can…" She stood up, a bit wobbly, on all four legs. She took a few steps, tripping along the way, until finally she walked past the barrier. She started to fall and fast as lightning marine moved forward and caught her with one large claw.

Isabelle started to scream at the other dragon's closeness and touch, but she reined it in. "Sorry."

He flashed his fangs in a dragon's smile. "Perfectly alright. I doubt I'd be much better walking around on those skinny two legs humans have."

"Yeah-yeah," Desdemona said loudly. "Whatever. Both of you get out of here before the king's wizard decides to hit you with lightning or something. I don't need one of my best curses turned into ashes before anyone here's how awesome and terrifying I am."

Marine sighed. "Enchantresses are always so bossy just because we can't eat them."

"Or have her executed," the princess added.

Desdemona just glared at them until taking one claw in hers marine levitated them and gently flew them up and over the dome, heading back towards the sea and hopefully out of the kingdom for good. Despite herself the enchantress watched until they were out of sight. Seeing dragons fly, at least when they were not diving and breathing fire, was quite a breathtaking sight.

Once they were gone though, she grinned. Desdemona intended to tack on the reward for getting rid of the two dragons onto her reward and actually asking for it early. Preferably before another dragon showed up. Hopefully she would be out of princesses by then. Three princesses down, four to go.

Still as she turned to examine Scourge's remains she could not help but smile as she examined her real price. Dragon parts were great for spell casting. There were all kinds of potions and effects that even an enchantress could not perform with just her magic. Many magicians were lucky to even get their hands on a scale or vial of dragon's blood and here she was with an entire carcass, which was mostly in tact. A prize worth half a kingdom and a princess's hand in marriage.

With a wave of her hand she encased it in ice and then levitated it into the air. Smiling broadly she headed for home with her prize. It would take a little effort to dismember and bottle the pieces for storage, but she had practiced on hogs and chickens as a child with her parents and it would be well worth the effort.

When she got back to the castle many people came out to see the frozen dragon and to her what had become of Princess Isabelle. Desdemona happily bragged about the princess's fate to her remaining sisters.

Ester was properly horrified, as were many of the servants, but the other three princesses were merely intrigued. Helen said, "Are you going to turn us into things too? Because I'd like to be a bird and fly too!"

In a good mood Desdemona tapped her nose with a finger. "Oh believe me, I have plans for all of you. I can't just turn you into anything, but I will do something really amazing with all of you."

"I'm a little jealous," Diadem sighed.

"Are you crazy?" Ester asked. She looked horrified at the enchantress. "How could you do that to our poor sister?"

"What? Marry her off to a prince? Use her to remove the dragons from the country? I expect many people will thank me for that, to say the least." She pursed her lips and looked at Helen. "Actually I think you and your little sister are next. I need some way to get these unicorns out of here and Castle Dread is no place for little girls like yourselves." Ester put her arms protectively around her youngest sister. "If you are good I'll try to arrange things so you two can stay together. Or at least see each other often."

"Yes!" Helen said and hugged Ester. "We'll be good, right Ester?"

"I promise," Ester said, holding Helen tight.

The other two did not even ask if they could stay with the younger two. Instead Clarity said, "Can I help you cast a spell?"

"Actually yes. I'll need a bit of help with some alchemy later. I'd also like you to help me butcher the dragon, once I make sure we can do so safely. Diadem, would you like to help too?"

The dour princess shrugged. "Whatever." Out of all of them Desdemona had figured they would be the ones least likely to be grossed out by such things, though when the time came she was prepared for them to get squeamish.

Turning to the servants she said, "I am going to speak to the king and let him know what I have been doing. Do not let anyone touch the frozen dragon." They nodded their agreement.

With a snap of her fingers she sent a message to the castle, letting them know she was coming in. She could have just appeared there, but it was a nice day and she wanted to be polite. So she gave them plenty of warning. When she arrived at the castle an hour later she was delighted that the guards bowed to her and led her into a small room in one of the towers where the king and queen waited with a small meal. Edmund the wizard sat in a chair a little ways back, watching with interest.

Desdemona gave them a sarcastic little curtsy. "Your majesties."

"Please, sit," the king indicated a small couch and waited as she did. Desdemona spent a moment adjusting her skirts and then picked up some of the food, nibbling on it before the king asked, "I understand you've worked wonders in these last few weeks. What have you to tell us?"

Well your highness, I have managed to thwart a second plot by one of your daughters to overthrow you and your chosen heir." She explained about Melody and the rebels. "I think you will find that after being exposed to your daughter it's unlikely that any of them will be speaking to one another let alone plotting anything together any time soon."

"So Edmund had informed me," King Harold said as the queen, who the princesses had told her was named Courtney and had been a duchess until she (okay her boobs) caught the widowed king's eye. None were too fond of their new stepmother who they barely knew. Still she seemed happy and smug and all around enjoying life.

Desdemona could not blame her. It seemed the princesses only married people of royal birth too. She supposed most of them were just jealous that they could never be queen but a lower born noble had managed it with nothing but breasts and a pretty face. It was clear what the king saw in her and nobody made any attempt to deny it. As someone who could change her shape to suit her moods Desdemona had no room to complain. It was not like she wanted the old man herself.

Somewhat more disconcerting was the realization that the wizard was essentially looking over her shoulder. She was going to have to put up more wards to keep the king and his men from spying on her castle. "Well I hope it meets with your approval."

"I cannot complain," the king said. Obviously he did not like that his children were being cursed, but it needed to be done. "I understand in the mountains there is an abbey where some nuns live who have taken vows of silence. After my eldest is married and the kingdoms are united I feel it might be a good idea to suggest my daughter join them if she likes. Nobody will know of her curse and it might give her the chance to think about her behavior."

"If not she'll likely be driven off eventually," Edmund said. "Quite the nasty bit of spell work you've stuck her with."

"Thank you," Desdemona said with a smile. "As for Joan she's still hanging around the castle, but should be quite capable of visiting you when she gets around to it." She explained trapping the eldest of the princesses she had been given in the mirrors. "I think it will eventually become quite the legend, the princess in the mirror." She saw the way the king looked when she said princess in that certain way. Yes, she knew the "girl's" secret and he now knew that she knew. "Oh and before I go I'd appreciate e it if you would kindly get me the bounty money for the three princesses I've cursed so far and the two dragons who have been harassing your borders."

"Wait, you got rid of both dragons?" Edmund said as the royals goggled at her with wide eyes.

She smiled and nodded. "Oh yes. Scourge is dead and Marine was sent back where he came from." She told them the story. "You may wish to write down that bit of advice in your archives under dragon hunting tips. Though I doubt it would have been as effective if the dragon had not been flying at the time."

Courtney laughed while the king and wizard both flinched and covered their laps simultaneously with looks of sympathy on their faces for the dead beast. Harold frowned and said, "So you have turned my daughter into a dragon?"

"I like to think of it as finding her a prince. She'll be fine and well taken care of. Dragons live practically forever."

Edmund asked, "And how would one go about breaking these curses?"

"Sorry, that's a secret," Desdemona said. He looked annoyed at her rebuff. "But I'll tell you what. I'll write down the way to save three of them in an enchanted book, which will only open at the touch of a true hero with goodness and purity in his heart who truly wish to save them. I'll make a gift of it to your daughter on her wedding day. I can't promise somebody else won't figure out how to rescue them on their own, but it's the best I can do. It would be a waste of perfectly good spells if I just went around telling people how to break them, don't you think?"

"What do you plan to do with the others?" Courtney asked.

"Nothing too terrible," she assured them. "Well not for them. Merely spectacular."

"Well you have certainly earned your money so far," the king said. "I shall speak to the bursar before you go. You've gone above and beyond what we asked and we are very grateful."

"I'd appreciate it if you would be so kind as to pay me in minted coins of the realm," Desdemona said. She saw the king's expression darken. "Sorry, but I'm well aware of where most of the kingdom's treasury has come from for the last thirteen years and while I'll accept most of my pay in gold and jewels that are essentially princess crap, I'd like some official non-magical money around just in case."

"She's got you there honey," Courtney said. "Come on, it's only fair and I believe you have some old coins still somewhere in the vault. It can't hurt to give her a few for what she's done, can it?"

The king glanced at Edmund who nodded back. His shoulder slumped and he said, "Very well."

"Why don't you two go do that while I stay here and entertain out guest?" the queen went on. "We can have a little girl talk and I'll find out how the princesses are doing."

The two men nodded and got up to leave. The queen waited until their footsteps faded down the hallway. "You do realize they plan to…"

Desdemona held a finger up. "No need to warn me. A wicked enchantress in a castle full of treasure? One who has cursed half the royal family? Once I'm no longer of use to them, I expect it will only be a matter of time before they decide to do something about me."

Picking up an appetizer Courtney raised her eyebrow. "I take it you aren't going to sit back and allow that?"

Smirking Desdemona said, "No. I have plans in motion for just such an eventuality. I've been considering it ever since I agreed to this deal, considering they have tried to trick me into working for free and paid me off with gold that literally falls from the ass of one of their princesses. I've talked to the girls and watched the rebels enough to get a feel for how things are done among the nobility.

"However I don't think my problems would be easily solved by cursing the remainder of the royal family even if they were not protected by that wizard and others. I intend to safeguard myself by doing exactly as the king wishes." She looked at the queen. "Why warn me at all though?"

"I have little loyalty to my husband and less to most of his retched daughters," she said. "My brother was one of the rebels, though I personally felt their plan was stupid from the start and the throne took my family's titles away even though I am the official queen. I know my place and when the princess ascends to the throne I will not even officially hold that title any more and cannot pass it on to my relatives. I am actually barren, a selling point when the subject of marriage came up."

"You can hardly blame the man," Desdemona pointed out.

"Indeed. But ultimately what it means is that I have no political aspirations I can claim. Merely the desire to live in luxury. My husband is more than double my age and when he steps down we will spend a few years living in a small place in the country. When he dies I will have a little stipend to live off of and when I do I intend to fill my home with attractive young men and spend my days in hedonistic joy.

"However that does not mean I can abide treachery if I can stop it. Particularly for someone who has served the kingdom as well as you have already. Not merely allowing men to reclaim what was promised. Sets a bad precedent particularly for one in my position, as we both know I am little better than a concubine myself. It seems unfair. But if you say you have it under control…"

She nodded. "I appreciate the attempt and maybe in the future I can do you a favor as well your highness." She lowered her voice. "If for example the princess does not make such a great queen after all, well she will be the last official candidate once the others are accursed. Do not count your family's claim to the throne out yet. At the very least I can assure that even if your stepdaughter or husband ever proves less than grateful you at least will continue to live well. An enchantress looks after her friends."

Smiling the queen nodded. "And a wise woman knows whose side to be friendly with."

A few moments later the king returned with a heavy looking leather bag that jingled as he handed it over. "Your reward kind lady. For the dragons. Your payment for the princesses will be shipped to the castle along with the next batch of supplies. Spend it in good health."

Standing up and grunting a bit under the weight Desdemona said, "Thank you your majesty. Rest assured your daughters are in fine hands." She bowed to him and the queen. "I hope I have not offended the royal wizard."

"He's merely off doing some work for me," the king said dismissively.

Likely researching ways to rescue his daughters, should the need arise, Desdemona thought. Or looking for ways to defeat an enchantress. It occurred to her that removing two magical monsters that the wizard had been unable to get rid of himself may have overshadowed the king's official magician.

Once she finished her work and completed the contract, you could probably count the time she had left in the kingdom and possibly amongst the living in minutes rather than days. She definitely needed to put her safety measures in place before that happened. Keeping a smile on her lips she turned and waked out of the room before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

Chapter Nine

Desdemona decided she wanted to get Ester out of the way first. The girl was clearly having trouble accepting her and her sisters' situation. True she was a comfort for the others, but she cared too much and was poking at Desdemona's guilt. It was time for her to go. Unfortunately things did not go as smoothly as she would have liked.

It was only the night after she had sent Isabelle off with her scaled paramour and she was asleep soundly in her bed when she heard a loud curse that woke her up. Not the kind that would turn her into a toad or anything, but rather the kind a gentleman should not say in front of a lady. She heard what sounded like somebody bumping into her stool.

"Son of a swamp jumper!" A deep male voice snarled, referencing a marsh dwelling monster known for mating with its own parents and offspring until they were more inbred than most nobility.

Desdemona woke up and immediately called a globe of light into the air with a thought. To her surprise it only illuminated about half the room. She could still hear someone moving around, but past the edge of her bed it was a cloud of darkness from which the sound of yelling and footsteps could be heard.

Then she saw Joan in her mirror, hands outstretched as darkness flowed out of the glass, absorbing the light. Huh. Apparently her power was more than Desdemona had thought. The princess looked at her and she nodded. Joan stopped her assault and stepped back into the glass, away from the frame. After a moment the darkness faded revealing a muscular figure.

The man was fast. As soon as he could see he turned and leaped at the bed, knife raised. Not quick enough though as his momentum froze and he was left hanging in the air. That was when his eyes met hers and she shouted, "What are you doing here?"

Jonathan of Sea Breeze floated impotently in the air unable to move any part of his body below the neck. "I was told an evil sorceress had kidnapped the king's daughters and was holding them for ransom. Since the word went out the other day that the dragons had been defeated I needed a way to earn some money, so I came to rescue them."

Desdemona sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "First off I'm an enchantress, not a sorceress. Second I did not kidnap anyone. Jeez we talked not too long ago, when I was at the docks."

"Wait; that was you? This is your castle?" He was confused. "You look completely different. The last time I saw you, you were off to find the dragon."

"Yeah, and I did. I found him and traded him one of the surplus princesses I have around here to go away. I also slew Scourge. Sorry if I cut into your money, but those dragons had to leave."

"You?" He said, unbelieving.

"Don't' sound so surprised while you're hanging three feet in the air," she said haughtily. "Especially when you came here to kill me."

"That's how you deal with evil magicians," he said. "Surprise. If my lantern had not suddenly gone out… but then when I touched it the glass was still hot and I burned myself…" She looked over and saw the still flickering lantern ling on the floor. Then she looked at her mirror where Joan peeked around the edge, smiling nervously. "What are you looking at?"

Looking into his eyes she said, "An idiot. Honestly as far as I know there isn't even a bounty out on me. Did you get this job from any official channels?"

"No, I met this witch down by the docks that told me of the princesses' peril and asked if I would aid in their rescue…"

Before he finished talking another person appeared in the doorway to her room, which was still open. A servant saw the floating armed man and paused, then looked at Desdemona. "Your wickedness, someone has kidnapped princess Ester!"

Sighing she said, "Of course they did." She looked at Jonathan. "How would you like to get out of this alive? And by a live I mean not turned inside out while screaming but still alive, but kept alive and still possessing opposable thumbs, or spending the rest of your days in the king's dungeons for kidnapping his daughter."

Paling the burly man said, "I… I'm open to the idea." Suddenly the knife flew out of his hand, literally, straight at her head.

Desdemona did not even try stopping it with magic. She just ducked and felt the blade slide over her back. Warm blood trickled down her back as she rolled out of bed, leaving a stinging burning trail as she turned and saw it twist in the air to follow her. She flicked her wrist and the bed itself twisted to the side, the headboard moving between her and the knife where it stuck with a thump, the tip sinking into the ancient oak wood. She could hear it creaking and saw it moving as it tried to move its way out.

"Did the witch give you that thing?"

"Yes! I didn't…"

The knife worked its way free and suddenly began spinning like a saw blade at a lumber mill. The sound was a low buzz as it went from a blade to a shiny silver circle in the air. It moved forward and passed through the headboard like a ghost. If ghosts left sawdust in their wake. It started forward again, aiming for her head.

Desdemona did not flinch this time. Mostly because she did not have to. Two stone blocks had detached themselves from either side of the room and slammed into the spinning blade from either side. They clamped it down with a shower of sparked and then held it pinned. The knife tried to escape with loud scraping noises, but the hilt was holding the blade and a moment later the stones holding it began to glow orange. The room heated up quickly and the bed caught on fire, but eventually they melted, turning from hard stone to molten lava, wrapping around the blade and then rapidly cooling back to stone.

The knife tried to float, but the extra weight was too much and it hit the floor with a clatter. Smirking Desdemona then put out the fire and fixed her damaged bed. "I do not like your new friend."

"Me either," the warrior said.

Desdemona tried to decide if she believed he was unaware that the knife was enchanted. He had seemed genuinely surprised when it attacked, so even if he thought it was meant to protect him from her magic, she doubted he realized it was meant to do the killing for him. From how he reacted when he saw her he had been expecting some hideous evil hag in here cooking princesses in a pot.

Looking around she saw that the servant had wisely fled. She looked at Jonathan and said, "Who is this witch that sent you in here to distract me.'

"She didn't… oh…" The truth sank in. "Um, she calls herself Mother Loveless. "

"Do you know where she lives?"

"Yes."

"Good." Desdemona stood up, her nightgown falling off her shoulders. She went to the mirror to take a look at her back and winced. A razor thin line went across her shoulders in a straight line. In the reflection she saw Joan looking concerned and also like she was not trying to stare at Desdemona's naked body.. With a wink she waved her hand and the wound sealed itself without even a scar to show it had been there. "Thank you."

Joan blushed and the man still floating behind her said, "For what?"

She blew the mirror a kiss and then turned back to him. "Never mind." She snapped her fingers and a new dress materialized around her naked body. A moment later the dragon slayer fell face first onto the stone floor and two new bricks, complete with mortar refilled the holes left by the ones used to stop the knife.

Walking over she stood above the man. A normal woman would have been intimidated being that close even with him ass up with his nose in the stones. The guy was dressed in leather and well built. Instead she kicked out and knocked his legs over his head until he lay on the ground staring up at her. "Congratulations, you get to help me rescue the princess. Just like you wanted."

"I don't suppose there's a reward in this for me…"

She smiled. "No, it's more about keeping things. Body parts for instance. I mean you just tried to murder me, twice. Somebody is going to pay for that. You aren't getting out of it, but what happens depends on whether we get someone else to help shoulder the burden and if the princess is alive and well. I mean I can still curse her or her dead body if I need to, but I can't have some other magician stealing my jobs from me."

"I know the feeling," he said. "I was hoping to make a name for myself slaying or driving off the sea dragon…" Desdemona stepped on his forehead digging in her toes. "Hey!"

"Shut up! If you wanted to do that you should have done it months ago. All you were doing was poking at the beast who, by the way, was bigger than that ship I saw you loading up. You were lucky Marine didn't scuttle the whole thing and send you and your rowers to the sea floor with the mermaids. Then you attacked an enchantress in her stronghold on the word of a witch." She dug her nails into his forehead and he squirmed under her toes. "How have you managed to survive this long?"

He blushed and slipped out from under her foot. Sitting up he said, "I come from a long line of monster slayers. My grandfather claimed our family was blessed by the gods with good luck generations ago for services to a temple."

She leaned forward, letting her breasts hang in his face. He looked and then looked up at her smiling face. "Do you think it's still working?" She stood back up and glared at him. "Regardless I'd say you're about out of luck. I'm not exactly a forgiving person and even if you did kill me or tried to sneak away, the king isn't going to be nearly as nice about things as I am. Tell me, do you think he'll execute you, torture you, or turn you over to his wizard?"

Dropping to the floor on his knees Jonathan begged, 'Please, I don't want to die. I'll do anything."

"I said it depends on whether we can get the princess back. Come on, I don't want to wait. Though I'm not too concerned. I got this job for a reason."

"I'm telling you her place was right on this street," the buff but baffled bullyboy said.

Desdemona frowned at him even though she believed him. She had slapped a special enchanted collar around his neck to keep him in line. It was leather with spikes on it and would start choking him if he attacked her or got too far away from her. As for his inability to find the witch's shop which he claimed was on the street in the small town they were in, that was not too much of a surprise. Any halfway decent magician who had kidnapped a princess would make sure it was at least difficult to locate them.

Shooting him a look of distain she said, "You're sure she's a witch right?"

"I think so. You said you're the only enchantress in this kingdom and with the protective spell I don't think you get sorcerers here."

True. Without a demon or some other soul sucking spirit willing to make a pact you did not see too many sorcerers in the kingdom except for some of the older ones who lurked around and even then they were pretty weak. The more dangerous ones had been hunted down years ago and those that were left generally got pretty bad deals and kept their heads down. Even if there were a powerful sorcerer still somewhere in the kingdom hiding out, kidnapping a princess was not a good way to stay discreet.

"Did you see any sign that she had some priestess training? A god's symbol on display or something? Or did she seem unusually beautiful like me or a fairy." Some gods or even household deities would give people power in exchange for pious living, according to their religion. Often priests and sorcerers were not all that different. And there were plenty of magical beings running around who could either disguise themselves as a witch or who might empower one or even have given birth to a half-breed fairy or demigod.

"Not really. She was not young and her clothes did not seem as fancy as yours. When I saw her shop she had a bunch of creepy with stuff around, but nothing really symbolic. The place was kind of run down."

Well that was good. Witches, warlocks, and wizards usually required a lot of expensive training and supplies. The average peasant was not that great at coming up with rhyming couplets on the spur of the moment. Potions, especially the more powerful kind, took a lot of special ingredients that most people, whether they had magic or not, could never afford even if they could find them. A lot of witches ended up foraging in the woods hoping to get lucky and even more died penniless after paying for their training.

You had to be pretty good to even get regular customers. Few people trusted magic users and a lot of them had to be pretty desperate to go to one to solve most problems. Most witches ended up using their skills to keep themselves alive especially when their community shunned them. Paradise River was one of a handful of kingdoms that even allowed magic users to operate openly because of years of good will. Many feared magic and what it could do, with good reason.

In fact like Desdemona the more powerful and experienced magicians tended to live alone and rarely bothered with money. Edmund worked for the king which provided him with resources and protection, in exchange for having to help the royal family, and even he had been afraid of gaining a bad reputation.

Barring this witch suddenly gaining a whole lot of power, this was a grab for attention, Desdemona was sure of it. She was probably pretty weak and made money telling fortunes or doing little spells and cures and potions for the locals. If she not only managed to steal a princess from the enchantress but cursed her effectively it would be good for her reputation and since the king was becoming known for having hired someone to curse his family by now, she probably assumed that as long as the job was done the royal family would not care who did it.

She was probably right. In fact if she somehow kept Desdemona from finishing her job and getting cursed by the gods, then this lady would probably be given the job to finish up the last three too.

"Not a chance," the enchantress said through gritted teeth.

"What?"

Ignoring him she closed her eyes and extended her senses. Ah.. .there it was. A part of the street being hidden. You could walk right through it and miss the whole thing. Well let's see how that worked on this.

A sudden bolt of lightning fell from the sky, striking the area she had senses. There were other people on the street who turned as it hit. There was no crack of thunder, but there was a flash and a loud sizzle. It broke the spell and suddenly there as another shop where two stores had appeared to be side by side a moment ago. There was even a wooden sign that said Loveless Magic dangling over the door.

Desdemona sent another blast of lightning at the door, but this time it fizzled out. The building was protected against magic. Frowning she pointed at the door and said, "Break it down."

"Uh what if it's cursed?"

"Then better you than me," she said coldly. "But don't worry. The building is protected from magic. You can't do that and curse it too. If you could normal people would never be able to defeat magic users. Offense and defense are mutually exclusive."

"Really?"

"Yes. Like you can either throw a fireball or have a shield to prevent the other person from roasting you alive. Of course most of us know that, so we prepare things ahead of tie or learn to switch back and forth quickly."

He nodded. "It's the same with fighters. A man can learn to grapple or fight with swords or staffs or arrows. Unfortunately to get really good he must learn to act without thinking and that means whatever he's best at and more used to is what he'll try first. A man might be good with bows and arrows and have them ready, but if he's charged and trained at the sword, his first move with be to grab at his sheath, even if he doesn't have one on. So the attacker will have the advantage since he's moved first."

"Exactly. If you attack the door physically she would have to remove the spell protecting it from magic, something most witches can't do quickly especially if she put up the barrier before hand with a ritual or spell. I doubt she can though. The spell is to protect against magic because most people who use physical abilities won't charge a witch's door. And even if she does switch it to defend against a physical attack, then I'll be able to use my spells on it."

Jonathan looked at her. "Uh, in that case won't I still be between you and the door when you hit it with lightning or whatever."

Desdemona smiled sweetly at him. "Let's just say the sooner you attack the less likely it is that you will have to find out."

Looking a little blue he nodded. "Right." He turned to the door and taking a deep breath launched his body at the door.

The door shattered. It was old cheap wood and the latch and hinges were not that great. Not that she needed it. most people peasant or noble would be afraid of angering a witch by doing something like this. So the spell to keep magic away was the best choice. Jonathan fell through it like it was a sheet rather than wood, hitting the floor hard.

"Knock-knock! Hey Loveless, come out and play!"

"Y-you stay back!" A woman's voice replied from inside. "You don't want the princess getting hurt, do you? And anyway I-I'll curse you if you step one foot inside. I may not be powerful, but I can give you warts and oozing sores, and all kinds of diseases!" She suddenly sounded a lot whinier as she added, "Besides, what do you care? You have plenty of princesses. I just need one to get my name known."

"Let me go!" Ester's voice came.

"Quiet you little…"

Desdemona cleared her throat. "Excuse me, but what exactly are you planning to do to her?"

"What?"

"Well if you're just going to give he a rash on her naughty bits can we just get it over with? I don't mind and I can clear it up in a minute."

"Oh I get it. You're a powerful enchantress so you don't think I can do a real curse?" Now she sounded angry.

"actually I'm sure with time you can. I can't imagine how much work that knife you gave Jonathan cost you." There was a brief silence and she could imagine the witch wincing in pain. "The thing is, can you cast your spell before I come in there?"

"You wouldn't dare."

"Hey, if I don't get the princess back and properly cursed, I'm going to be doomed. Besides you're making me look bad. So either give back the princess or I'm going to start levitating rocks over your little shop and dropping them and we'll see how well you're protected from that."

"Please, can't you just let me do this? I need this so badly."

"If you thought I'd say yes, you wouldn't have sent the lunkhead here in to try and kill me." Sitting silently in the hall among the splintered door fragments Jonathan glared at her, but didn't say anything. "Look, seriously I'm not going to let you off or anything, but if you want to just do some stupid hex I'll let you. It'll be a great last thing for you to do."

"L-last?" She squeaked back.

"You thought you could steal from me and try to murder me and walk away? That's cute!"

"Y-you can't get me while I'm in here! And don't think that muscle bound moron is going to just stomp his way in here. The princess could get hurt."

"Ha! Well maybe you're right. I mean if you've got enough food in there for two people on a long siege, not to mention a dozen chamber pots or so, I could be in trouble. Hope you don't mind the smell. Or can you turn it into roses?" No response. "So again I ask, what terrible curse are you planning to perform on the little princess there?"

"Why do you care?"

"Professional curiosity. I've been working really hard to come up with some really amazing curses. I mean I could have just done them all at once. Turned the seven of them into a flock of crows or something, but I have been working really hard on artistic and amazing curses people will remember. It's not easy. So far of the three I've managed to trap one of them inside mirrors. The second I practically made into a curse herself since nobody around her can lie. And for the third I had to actually slay a dragon to get a scale to turn her into one.

"The king said he chose me for the job because I am the wickedest magician left in the kingdom. Nobody else wanted the stigma of cursing the royal family. So I was curious what amazing curse you had that would rival any of that. What sort of evil spell are you going to perform on sweet little Ester? Most people I know would balk at doing something truly horrendous to anyone let alone a sweet little girl like her."

"Err, I uh…"

"Come on, tell me. Are you going to turn her into something? Oh maybe you could turn her into an old woman so she'll age and die in a few weeks. Or you could seal her away for a thousand years. How about turning her shadow into a hideous monster that strangles anyone who gets close to her?"

"What kind of sick fiend are you?"

"Hey, the job is to keep the princess alive and make sure she's not in a position to be a threat to the throne. Aside from that it's all about presentation. Not much point in me doing this if I just turned her into a statue and tucked her in a cave somewhere until a suitable prince arrives or making her into a frog and letting her go in a swamp. Last thing I need is to spend the next hundred years making sure she did not get eaten by a snake or something."

"Is that what you intend to do with her then?"

"Maybe. I was still working on it. I mean do you know the hassles I've had to deal with since I took those girls on I've got a herd of unicorns around my home, I've had to deal with not one but two dragons, plus feeding and caring for a bunch of princesses who really don't want to be there. I'd happily hand them over if I could and all that, but I can't and that's the end of it.

"But I'll make you the same deal I promised Mister Monster Slayer out here. If I get the princess back safe and unharmed, I promise to let you live and in a form that won't be in excruciating agony for the next thousand years. You won't get a better deal."

While she was talking a man in old armor came walking up to her. He looked about middle aged with a long moustache and graying hair. His armor looked a little tight, as if he had put on weight since it was made. "What's going on here?"

"who are you?"

"I'm the sheriff of Western Field. Who are you, miss?"

"I am a representative of the king," she said without more than glancing at him. "One of his daughters has run away and is hiding in this shop. Your local witch was kind enough to find her, but at the moment she's afraid that I might be an impersonator and doesn't want to turn the princess over to me."

"That's not—!" Ester's voice began, only to be silenced as if someone put a hand over her mouth.

"I see. Is that right Miriam?"

There was a brief silence before Loveless said, "Maybe…"

The last thing Desdemona wanted was to turn people against magic users for kidnapping children. There were enough stories about witches eating people's babies and things. Some of them were even true. Looking to where Jonathan still sat in the doorway she could see the trouble such rumors could cause. "I admire her attempts to protect the princess, but my guard here isn't taking no for an answer. They don't exactly hire for brains at the castle."

"I see. Well maybe you can repair the door with the reward."

"Oh believe me she's going to get what's coming to her." Raising her voice she added, "However if she drags this out much longer I will be annoyed and things are not going to go well for her if she doesn't BRING OUT THE PRINCESS RIGHT NOW!"

There was a brief pause and then Jonathan got up and stumbled outside in a shower of splinters As he did two others followed him out. One was Ester, looking none the worse for wear. The other was a middle aged woman, sort of plump with a heavy bust and brown hair. She reminded Desdemona of her mother, except she was pouting rather heavily.

"Princess, are you alright?"

Looking nervously up at Loveless and Jonathan she nodded. "I'm alright." She nodded to the sheriff who hesitated, but then turned and walked back the way he came. After a brief moment the witch let her go and she rushed over to Desdemona and grabbed her leg. "Sorry."

Patting her head Desdemona said, "That's okay. It's not like you asked to get kidnapped. I'm sure your sisters are all really worried about you. I know the servants were.' Her head snapped up. "As for you two…" Loveless and Jonathan both took a step back as Desdemona's eyes turned into tiny flaming skulls. "You two are going to come back to the castle with me."

"What for?" The both asked.

Desdemona grinned, her teeth turning to sharp fangs and her tongue flickering out forked like a snake's. "I'm going to give you two exactly what you wanted. You wanted a princess? You wanted to protect her Jonathan? You wanted to be part of cursing her and make a name for yourself Miriam? Well then who am I to stand in your way?" She laughed evilly and felt the princess squeeze her leg.

Chapter Ten

It was a two week long ride out to the middle of the desert. Well it was for Jonathan, Loveless, and princesses Ester and Helen. Desdemona stayed in her nice comfortable castle and watched from the comfort of her own room. The princesses too were not badly off, since the enchantress had been kind enough to set them up with a magical carriage that while small on the outside had a large bedroom complete with chamber pot, two beds, and a cupboard filled with food and fresh water via magic. A little bumpy and no shower but once they got to the piles and miles of salt flats it was smooth going.

The two adults accompanying them had it a bit worse. The magic bag she had given them provided the two with water and jerky and that was it. Oh and a small charm to (barely) protect them from the pissed off army of dozens upon dozens of unicorns that were following in their wake. Every now and then one or the other was screaming like a little girl as the rather intelligent magical animals with the knives on their foreheads tried to surprise them with impalement. Jonathan did not even try to pretend half of it was not him. The only reason they were not still wetting themselves was dehydration.

It was a fairly simple plan. She got revenge on her would-be murderers and finally was able to lure the unicorns away from her house. The land around Castle Dread had become fertile and overgrown with beautiful flowers and edible plants. Great for the look and even the smell of the place, especially with the unicorns gone, but not fantastic when the entire point was to live alone and isolated in a nearly impassable desert. Much longer and there might have been a forest or something and then… ugh… neighbors. That needed to get cut out right quick and in a hurry.

Besides she had to get those kids out of there. Ester was sulky and Helen was way too upbeat. Not to mention both of them were likely to pitch a fit over what Desdemona had decided to do to Diadem. Even if they did not, the results would likely give them terrible nightmares, so she needed them gone more than normal.

Desdemona could not just teleport them where she wanted them to be because the unicorns were pretty magical themselves and if they were that easy to get rid of she would have done it on day one. Unicorns generally traveled between worlds, preferring to appear on the newest ones created by the gods, which were mostly "virgin" territory. It helped make them viable. They passed through other worlds, particularly with magic, and only stuck around when they were either feeling ornery, were breeding, wanted to murder a lot of things, or when they encountered virgins. Seeing so many in once world let alone one kingdom, was actually pretty amazing and had seemed that way to most people until they got really annoying and dangerous.

Normally that many unicorns in one place would have made the dragons seem like nothing by comparison. They were demons on dainty hooves. Quite possibly literally if you considered immortal monsters with horns, cloven hooves, tails, and a tendency to murder indiscriminately… okay they were white pointy demons from the pits of hell. Only the princesses kept them mildly calm and with only a couple left they were getting restless again while still not enough to make them want to leave.

Desdemona could have just hidden the princesses from them, but like with the dragons more would have just come back later. It was better to use a couple as bait. Both for the current unicorns and any in the future. She did still have a couple to get rid of after all and unless the enchantress wanted to remain a spinster for life, she did not need the creatures hanging around her home.

Jonathan and Loveless were learning the downsides the hard way. They and their horses were under constant random attacks from the beasts whose horns only missed them by inches. More than a few times they woke up in a circle of the things, the unicorn's blood crazed eyes only inches from them and the horns even closer, their hooves tearing up the desert turf as they actively tried to murder the witch and dragon hunter. The deadly murder-ponies wanted to gut them and made no secret of it.

The horses though were enchanted not to feel the heat or get thirsty or tired. Desdemona actually liked animals. The carriage itself just rolled along magically without aid.

"God it's hot," Ester said from inside the carriage again. "Helen you stink."

"So do you!"

The witch, burnt a lovely shade of vermillion after days of traveling the desert, pretended not to hear this. The sisters alternated between playing and arguing and trying to boss the two former kidnappers around. They really were starting to stink too.

"You don't suppose that enchantress just sent us out here to die, do you?"

"Us maybe, but not the princesses," Jonathan said back. "Besides she could have killed us already if she wanted to."

"I'm beginning to wish she had."

"We should be near the place she was sending us. Hopefully once we deliver the girls and their murderous pets she will either let us go or finish us."

Sitting in her room Desdemona smiled and banished the image from the air. It was good to be the bad guy. They were getting close. It was almost time for her to work again. She glanced over to the mirror where Joan was watching with interest and a little worry.

"Don't fret, they'll be fine. Well as fine as can be expected anyway."

"That's good to hear." Desdemona turned into surprise, but Joan shook her head and shrugged A moment later in a shower of glitter a third person appeared in the mirror. Esmeralda crossed her arms and glared as Desdemona turned to face her. "What have you done to my babies?"

"Esmeralda, good to see you."

The fairy blinked. "It is?"

"Yes, I was just beginning to wonder how I could contact you." She was lying and had mostly forgotten about the woman, but now that she was here it occurred to her that there was a decent way to get rid of yet another annoyance along with everything else. She reached out and put her arm around the fairy's winged shoulders. "You don't get a lot of respect or appreciation do you?"

"What?"

"Well I mean I'm sure when this whole thing started you were beloved. I mean the kingdom had heirs and daughters to marry off to princes. Everyone thought the twelve princess thing was a great idea. Then they started complaining, right?"

"Uh, yes, I suppose," she said, looking confused.

"And the gifts. I mean coming up with all those special powers and abilities. Believe me, I've been racking my brain trying to curse these kids and I only had to deal with seven of them. You even did Helen who technically wasn't your problem. So much work and nothing, not even thanks for it."

Sniffing a little Esmeralda nodded. "I only try to do my best. I am supposed to help with births and children and everything."

"I know what you mean. You know I heard of someone similar, a few hundred years ago. Some evil who gave a queen five sons, each with magical powers and when they grew up I hear it caused a massive war that tore the kingdom apart and caused untold death and destruction…" She paused and looked at the fairy who blushed and looked away.

"Uh, I was probably sealed away by then. No idea how that could have happened."

"Right…" Desdemona said suspiciously. "Anyway I think maybe you should stay out of politics. Kings can usually find heirs and marriageable people on their own and they don't usually need money or power. They've got it. What you need is to focus on the common people. Orphans and people who really need help."

Esmeralda raised an eyebrow. "What do you have in mind?"

"You need to get out into the country, away from the big cities. Get back to the roots and with some people who really need you. Worthy orphans and mistreated children."

"And you just happen to know where a lot of them are?"

"No, but I do know where a limitless supply of them will be."

Death's Head Canyon was located between the Cliff's of Doom and the Barren Mountains of Despair. The whole place had been blasted free of life in a wizard duel centuries ago. The canyon itself was a scull shaped maze carved deep into the turf, almost fifty feet deep with sheer walls leading to a pair of deep pits for eyes. Desdemona suspected it had been carved in the shape of a skull deliberately, complete with teeth, cracks, and so forth, but only if seen from above. From inside it was dark and scary and stretched for several miles in a labyrinth that turned in on itself and was purportedly crawling with monsters.

To the south were the cliffs which would dump anyone who reached them a hundred feet into crashing waves, deadly tides, and shark infested waters that even the mermaids avoided. Also sea snakes tended to breed there. To the North were mountains from the next kingdom that got enough sea air that the salt had long ago killed most of the plants and trees. Not much lived around there for hundreds of miles, so few people ever went there, even when desperate. Mostly because if the trip didn't kill then, there was nothing to eat, drink, or really anything to go there for.

The skull contained two large open areas, or eyes. In the left one after following a pap Desdemona had provided the princesses, their guards, and the unicorns were waiting when Desdemona and Esmeralda appeared. The fairy said, "I could have teleported us in."

"No thanks. I know what pixie dust is made of."

"But it looks so pretty."

Rolling her eyes Desdemona looked at Loveless, Jonathan, and the princesses who were sitting in the carriage's open door with their feet dangling. Even from a distance they all smelled of sweat enough to overpower even the nearby unicorns milling around the area. The floor of the eye was already ankle deep in freshly grown weeds.

Jonathan stepped forward, his skin baked a dark brown and his hair bleached nearly white. "We brought them here and waited, just like you said."

"Can we go now?" Loveless asked.

She snorted. "Please. I let you guys live. That is the extent of my mercy for murderers and kidnappers who dare cross me and kidnap my princesses."

'They did what?" Esmeralda asked, her eyes flashing with lightning as her wings beat. Below their feet the ground shook. The two adults backed up in fear. Even the nearest unicorns took a few steps back.

Desdemona cleared her throat. "Declarations of doom are bad form for fairies."

The princesses' godmother looked at her. "You think so?"

"Definitely. Allow me. I'm the wicked enchantress in these parts." She snapped her fingers and bolts of black lightning cracked out of the sky and slammed into the two people, sending them flying into the air. Unicorns moved out of the way as they landed, skidding over the fresh green carpet while Helen and Ester screamed. Their forms twisted in the air reshaping themselves as they lay there.

"What have you done?" Ester asked.

Desdemona smiled. "Well princess you two aren't going anywhere for a while and these two did want a princesses. So I'm making them guardians. They'll be here to help protect you two until your curses end." The two forms stood up.

Helen squealed in joy. "Unicorn people!"

The two had changed considerably. From the waste up Jonathan looked the same, except his muscles were covered in a velvety layer of black fur and a black horn sprouted from his forehead. His hair was a white mane that went down his back. At least his front back. From the legs down he was a unicorn. Centaur-like he stood there, examining himself. His unicorn half was bugger than the others, more horse than deer-like with thick golden hooves. His tail was a horse's too long and flowing than lion-like as the regular unicorns were.

Loveless was white as the others and looking particularly young and beautiful with a more unicorn-like body below her hips. Her horn was white, her hair was black, and like Jonathan she was completely naked. She was beautiful and now thin and young looking, without a single wrinkle.

Neither of them spoke and surprisingly they were remarkably calm.

"Why aren't they screaming?" Esmeralda asked. "In my experience even positive changes like this seem to upset mortals, especially when they come by surprise."

"I also altered their minds to make them more like the unicorns too. Less human, more natural animal thinking. Their primary goal is of course protecting the princesses. They have powers in their horns… which I'll leave for a surprise, but let's say it includes being able to shoot lightning bolts when they get really angry and until they turn back, when the princesses are freed of their curses, I thought being stuck here with human minds would have driven them crazy. Century after century."

"Wait, how long are we going to be here?" Ester asked.

She smiled at them. "A while. Come here you smelly little brats. I've got plans for you two." They reluctantly got down and went over to her. "Whew, you two really do stink."

Ester looked at Esmeralda. "Are you going to save us?"

"She's actually staying here to look after you two and the others."

"What others? The unicorns?" Helen asked.

"No, not the unicorns. Though they're your problem now too." Desdemona reached into her robe and pulled out an acorn. "Now watch closely." Drawing back her arm she threw it so it landed in the middle of the eye. A moment later it sank into the ground and a moment after that an enormous oak tree burst out of the ground sending dirty and rocks flying in every direction. A few hit unicorns like cannonballs but after a bit of minor annoyance the immortal beasties got back up and while angry they were fine. An invisible shield protected the people.

"Wow…" Helen said, eyes wide as she looked up at the tree.

It was huge with a blue trunk with large purple leaves. It was the size of a castle tower and reached up into the air. In the middle was a door-sized pit in the middle. They saw roots still growing around it, writhing in the ground like sea serpents.

"Show off," the fairy muttered.

Smirking, the enchantress reached out and put a hand on Helen's shoulder. "You first little one."

"What are you going to do to her?" Ester said.

"So glad you asked," Desdemona said, leading Helen towards the tree. As she did she pulled out a small leather sack and began spreading the contents, a lot of seeds, all over the place. Now these are fruit and vegetable seeds. With the unicorns and Helens power, there'll be plenty of food and water in the area for hundreds of people. Helen, this will not concern you too much."

"It won't?" She asked.

"No, because your body will be asleep. Step up here please and lay back in the tree." Helen did as she was told, getting in the door-sized depression. "Your body will sleep here and age until you're about twenty, then stop. You'll be sealed inside the tree and your spirit will be a dryad, able to come and go and grow plants around here until this place is a lush oasis among this impassable desert full of unicorns."

"Neat!" Desdemona snapped her fingers and Helen fell asleep. Then the tree closed around her. A moment later from what seemed like solid bark a little nude girl stepped out, her skin a gray-brown color and her hair made of vines and leaves, but otherwise looking exactly as she had before.

She looked at the others. "She'll age and then stop just like her body. Frankly if she ever gets out of here I think it'd be a little twisted if she did so as a child."

"If?" Ester asked.

She shrugged. "Not much of a curse if there were no element of risk. Oh by the way nobody here except me can tell anyone where she is or how to free her."

"We don't' know how to free her," Esmeralda pointed out.

"I'm getting to that," Desdemona said with mild irritation. "All anyone would have to do is cut down the tree. They won't harm her and she'll be set free, presumably to someone who came here to rescue her."

The fairy nodded. "Seems simple."

"Seems but isn't. You see this tree will, every year, grow two acorns, one white and one black." She patted the little dryad on the shoulder. "Which she can choose to give to anyone who comes and agrees to leave. The black one will give the person who eats it terrible luck for one year. The white one will give them increasingly good luck. Eat both and nothing happens. Also something none of you will be able to actually tell anyone and giving it up will be totally up to Helen. Especially since destroying the key will break the luck spell on whoever eats it."

"So if Helen can curse them… something she seems unlikely to do…"

"Admittedly, but I think if someone truly wicked shows up she might. Especially when she is older." "Possibly. And anyone who wants the good luck will come here and get it, but if they want to keep it they can't destroy the tree and free the princess."

"There will be a sign near the edge of the labyrinth explaining that part." She looked at Easter. So again, she may be here a while until someone e shows up who is willing to give that up to rescue her. After traveling all this way for it. presumably for good reasons." She looked at Helen. "You won't be able to move far from the tree. Maybe a mile or two Still you should enjoy the unicorns and growing things and all that."

"I suppose," she said, covering herself.

"Don't' worry, you'll have lots of company. Speaking of which… Ester, it's your turn." She reached out and the second-youngest princess flinched back. Desdemona did not care and pressed her thumb to the girl's forehead. It burned for a second and then stopped. "There, that should do it."

"Do what?" Ester looked down at herself. She seemed the same.

"You will see when the sun goes down. You will turn into a terrible monster, a gryphon with gold feathers the size of a dragon. And then you will fly out into the kingdom and you will search for children."

"Children? To what, eat them? That's awful!"

"Not to eat them, you ghoul," Desdemona teased her. "To save them. If you sense a child who is abused, mistreated, abandoned, or alone you will find them and bring them back here."

"For what?"

"To raise them. At least until they're ready to live on their own. You're going to be their mother. Naturally Esmeralda will stay for a few years until you're ready to do it yourself, but like your sister you will not age after a certain point."

Ester looked up at her. "I… I'm supposed to take care of a bunch of kids."

"It's what you do anyway. You worry about everyone. So that'll be your job. At night you find them. During the day you and if she feels like it Helen, can take care of them. Until they're old enough to leave. Which I recommend be about the time they hit puberty before they do something that makes the unicorns murder them. Helen should be able to grow plenty of food and water to take care of them and outfit them for a trip out of here or you can fly them out with you at night, since you won't be able to leave this area in human form."

"I'll be trapped here."

"There's another eye to the skull shape. Plenty of room for privacy from your sister if you want. I'm sure other animals will show up if you want meat and like I said Esmeralda here will help out with the kids. Granting them magical powers and helping you raise them. Maybe even helping them find their way in the world."

"That… doesn't sound too bad,' Ester admitted.

Esmeralda said, "And if she ever grows weary of her curse?"

"Oh that's simple. All she has to do is leave. The curse will be broken. Even if she was in gryphon form.' She looked at Ester and her smile turned cruel. Of course that means abandoning any kids you have here. Abused children with nobody else to care for them abandoned in the desert left to the mercy of whatever foul beasts find this place, brigands, and the like. Not to mention your sister, left here all alone to either care for them or suffer for eternity so far from civilization that nobody else will ever find her again except maybe the greedy who come for her annual magical acorn."

"I could never do that!" Ester said, aghast.

Desdemona patted her on the shoulder. "You know I almost believe that. Though in a few centuries you may feel different. Especially if your sister is rescued first and you're stuck here alone. I'll let you work that one out."

"So really both princesses will be trapped here because of their own desires and needs," Esmeralda said thoughtfully.

"Yes. I have something similar planned for Clarity. Diadem not so much, but that's essentially it."

"You know you're quite good at this cursing thing. That or lazy and making your victims do most of the work for you. It's a thin line."

"Thank you. you know if you do this right this place could be quite interesting, producing heroes and even villains to head out into the world with their own unique powers and abilities. " She smiled at the fairy. "I'd like to see what you could do with a little thought, but please, no more offering anyone more than one kid. Let them get pregnant on their own if they want, but please, no more bakers dozens. It's trying for everyone."

"Fine, she said, almost pouting.

"Wait, what do we do if it rains?" Ester asked as at their feet the fruits and vegetables were already sprouting.

Desdemona rolled her eyes. "Take it up with your fairy godmother. That's why she's here. I'm cursing you. You two are now officially no longer my responsibility. I got you jobs, a place to live, food, water, unicorns, guardians, and a fairy. My job could not be more done. Don't worry though. Helen's curse will be one of the ones I tell people about. So in a few years at most you'll have a steady stream of visitors to do with as you please. Fairy enough?"

"I-I suppose," she admitted. Before she even said it, Desdemona had vanished.

Esmeralda put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Come on darling; let's see if I can't whip you up a decent cottage…" She sniffed. "And a bath."

"Thank you godmother," the girl mumbled, unsure how to think of her new life. She looked around to where Jonathan and Loveless were mixing with the unicorns who were coming over to check out the rapidly growing fruits and vegetables. The two unicorn-centaur things used their hands to pluck up a few things and chew on them while the unicorns grazed.

Back at the castle Desdemona flopped into a comfortable chair and relaxed, enjoying herself. There were only two princesses left to go. As she lay back she saw Diadem pass by in the hallway, like a pale ghost. The princess did not even glance at her.

A shame that. The morose royal was the one Desdemona felt the most comfortable around. Dark. Kept to herself. She would have made an excellent resident of Castle Dread and might still. It was just too bad for her that Desdemona was going to have to kill her first.

Chapter Eleven

Princess Clarity was reading in the library, as usual, when Desdemona touched her on the shoulder startling her. It had been a while since the enchantress had figured out how to keep Clarity from reading her mind and neither Diadem nor the castle's servants were particularly interesting. Meanwhile there was a huge library of admittedly evil spells and magical knowledge just lying around and as long as she was careful Desdemona had no problem with the girl reading it.

"You scared me.'

"Good. Look, you said once you learned alchemy from that know-it-all wizard of your father's. How would you like the chance to use some of that?"

"For what?"

"I was hoping you would help me curse Diadem. I'm going to do something particularly horrifying to her and I could use the help of a capable assistant. I'm not that experienced with potions, but I believe I have come up with something appropriate." She waved a finger and a book floated off a tall shelf to land on the table in front of them. A human face was on the front, screaming, the eyes moving and skin stretched to make up the cover. "Don't mind him. From what I understand this guy more than earned being made into a book." She opened it and the face hit the table, letting out a muffled grunt as it did.

Clarity looked at the contents and gasped. "This… this is hideous."

"I know. I think your sister will like it."

"Oh, she'll love it. But…"

"This isn't the curse. You'll see that when we're done here. Don't worry, this should work out well for everyone. Me in particular."

"What do you mean?"

She smiled. "Let's just say I'm going to be a little bit wicked. Then when we're done here, I'll be able to do your curse and I think you'll like that one even more."

"Really What is it?"

"Look girl, how many times have you ever had an actual surprise? Let me have a little fun with you before…" She trailed off.

Clarity gave her a look equal parts frustration and expectation. "Well it seems to me you like giving people what they always wanted and making that their curse. Maybe I can figure it out first."

"Feel free to try. In the meantime this potion is going to take a few days to concoct and has to be administered on the new moon. You make sure the research pans out and then give me a list of ingredients. You can do the cooking."

Alchemy was an interesting magical practice. Everything in the world had an aura of energy around it. Mostly only visible to magic practitioners and psychics. If you mixed the seemingly random ingredients in certain ways you got spell-like effects. It varied on time of year, where the ingredients were found, how they were combined, and all sorts of other things. Sometimes the very thoughts and actions of the person making them could affect the outcome. Even experienced magicians often lacked the ability to do it properly and often they either got nothing out of the deal. Rumors about turning lead into gold included years of steeping and failure of the whole project if the person stirring thought of a blue rhinoceros.

The effects though were spectacular. Changing elements. Immortality. A basilisk was supposedly born of a rooster's egg set under a toad for seven years. Some even said the gift/curse of being an enchanter could be given with the right potion, properly mixed and stewed for a hundred years. And the best part was that it did not technically require magical ability to begin with, provided you got the proper recipe and followed it. Some were even east and many a witch had passed them down for generations in place of medicines and curses and the like.

Unfortunately the downsides could be equally as devastating as the effects were wondrous and when the potion was made wrongly you might get nothing or you might get a smoldering hole in the ground where a house used to be or an entire kingdom cursed and plagued for a thousand years. So most people who survived the experience rarely experimented too much beyond the very specific instructions they knew worked. Only powerful psychics and magicians ever tried and many of them died in the attempt… if they were lucky. There was a reason the ownership of Castle Dread changed hands so often, either due to accident or people avenging the horrors perpetrated by the residents.

So naturally Desdemona wanted an eleven year old girl to assist her in making something even the previous lords of the castle would have called recklessly dangerous and mind numbingly evil. On the plus side, if they somehow screwed it up it would save Desdemona work as the princess, herself, everyone in the castle, and possibly the entire kingdom would be cursed quite horrifically if they got even one part wrong.

Then again, when was she going to get the chance to do something like that twice?

"I'll need to go to the midnight market," she said, referring to a weekly gathering of hedge witches and lower level magic users or even normal people. They held a sort of farmers market where they sold rare herbs and home made charms and things, usually to each other, peasants, and more powerful magicians who did not want to go tramping out in the woods or making the things themselves.

You certainly did not want to use magic to gather ingredients for alchemy. Sometimes just being touched by a powerful magic user could alter their properties and make them either useless of dangerous. Other had to be gathered at certain times or in certain places, treated, or a million other things that often made alchemy too much of a bother for those with the resources to actually perform the art.

Clarity nodded. "Sounds about right. I'll go with you, so we can make sure nobody is skimping. The death's head mushrooms need to be gathered at midnight under the quarter moon and the trout guts spilled onto a fresh piece of white birch bark…"

Desdemona nodded. "I'll leave it up to you to decide that. I'll buy and intimidate the merchants. You stand to my right and try to look stupid and bored. If it's not what we want or they lie to me tug on your left ear."

"Can't you tell?"

"There are wards up to detect when someone casts a spell to prevent either altering the merchandise or the people. One of Edmund's jobs is monitoring the market for such cheating from either side. Since your ability is natural to you and constantly on, there'll be no sign of a sudden magical surge."

"Surely they would not try to cheat you."

"They might. What we're doing it radically dangerous. True I would bring my wrath upon whoever dared sleight me that way, but if we get blown up or the spell is otherwise altered it hardly matters. Some people just think they are smarter than others and often they cause more harm unintentionally than true villains.

"My grandfather when he was alive told me of a time when part of the kingdom was flooded because some clever fellow found a cheaper way to make dam mortar. It worked and the king paid, but eventually the mortar wore down and the dam broke, flooding farms and killing people."

"My father told us about that too once," the princess said. "My grandfather was dead, but grandmother was still queen and had to deal with that. They put out a bounty on the man's head and had him executed when he was caught. He died in the dungeons. Slowly."

From the way Clarity said it, Desdemona was quite glad that she could not read minds. On all likelihood the girl had seen what had happened in her father's mind when he told the story. Ugh. At the girl's age it would have given Desdemona nightmares for sure. That reminded her.

"Are you afraid of heights?"

"Why?" The princess asked. "Well you can't teleport back with the ingredients and it will take too long to go by carriage or other more mundane means. It's best if I don't touch them myself. So you'll have to fly back."

"I get to fly?" Her eyes widened in awe.

Chuckling the enchantress nodded. "I rather enjoy it myself."

The market opened at midnight and had no stalls. Mostly people had brought out old sacks, baskets, and blankets to display their wares. There were also a few eager looking young people, offering themselves up at apprentices. Traditionally they stayed there in place until dawn or until someone agreed to hire them, whichever came first. Often they waited several times or eventually gave up. There were always plenty more young people who thought they had the potential to be great magicians than actually did or ever got the chance.

More than a few looked enviously at Clarity as she and Desdemona walked by. They did not recognize the princess or Desdemona on sight, but the fine clothes both wore and air of confidence screamed powerful enchanter and why else would a young girl come to the market with an older woman? It was not as if Desdemona was selling her.

"You aren't planning to sell me, right?"

"Smiling the enchantress said, "Oh not to worry princess. You are going to be my finest masterpiece. People around the world are going to talk about what I do to you for a thousand years. I wouldn't sell you at any price."

"Oh. Good," she said uncertainly.

Desdemona had more money than she needed to buy everything in the market, let alone what she needed. True most of it was the bodily secretions of Diadem, but gold was gold, pearls were pearls, etcetera etcetera. She had even brought a patch of dragon hide, a braid of unicorn hair, and a vial of their crap just incase she saw something particularly nice that she would like. Among magicians such items were worth far more than money. Not that her wealth meant she was going to forgo further payment from the king. Business was business after all.

"Come examine the eggs of the rare ruby lizard. A gold coin for each for potions of lust and love."

"Buy a feather from the golden woodpecker to protect your home from wood sprites!"

"Cone weed root. Enter a man's dreams and find out his darkest secrets."

"You sir, a pinch of black cat's placenta. Burn it to ash and it makes a fine ointment for seeing fairies."

"Forget fairies. A wart from a beautiful lady's knuckles and it will increase your stamina in bed!"

The various sellers plied their merchandise to anyone who passed by. Some better than others. Ingredients for anything you could think of. Youth and beauty. Longevity and sexual prowess. Good fortune and terrible revenge. The princess stared around like anyone else would, clearly holding herself back from just buying everything in sight to play around with. Meanwhile others were not quite so circumspect and were indeed frittering away coins on ingredients and charms. If you watched carefully it was easy enough to guess what sort of spells each one was after. At least to the trained eyes of the magicians around them.

By the time they had purchased an eel's intestines and the acid of fire ants and added it to the basket Clarity was carrying the two young women were getting nervous looks from the sellers. Most notably their eyes lingered on the purple capped mushrooms with the white spots that formed the shape of human skulls.

"Is there something wrong?" Desdemona asked when she attempted to buy a dog's skull wrapped in a hanged man's rope.

"It's just…" The old woman selling it began, but fell silent, though she glanced nervously at Clarity, clearly worried about her. Finally she said, "Forgive me miss, but the skull… I meant it for a mere summoning, but if it is combined with what you have, it appears you may be planning to rend the veil."

Desdemona considered trying to justify herself, but really she saw no point. Instead she merely dropped a gold egg onto the counter. The woman's eyes bulged and while she was still hesitant, she reached out and wrapped the skull in leaves before handing it to the princess. Under her breath she whispered to the girl, "Beware."

As they left her the princess said, "The woman thinks you're going to sacrifice me to dark gods and demons."

"No, I have a work around for the blood sacrifice most necromancy requires. A shunt really. Most people wouldn't think of it so they'll be thinking the worst. Still do me a favor and try to remember any spells they think I might be into and write them down. I may have a use for them later or I might want to turn them into your father as dark wizards." Or she might want to blackmail them later, she pointedly did not tell the young princess. No need to bother her pretty little head about that. If only because if she did the girl would likely beat her to it.

Suddenly someone came up on her left and Desdemona raised a hand suddenly encased on black flames. The person jumped back and she saw that it was Edmund. She quickly doused her flaming fingers and glared. "What do you want?"

The wizard frowned haughtily and said, "Sorry to startle you. I was asked to make introductions."

"To whom?"

He pointed off to the side where some young women in white robes stood. "The Sisters of Purity, devotees of the Goddess of Star Light. Technically they are priestesses, but the line between that and being a white witch has always been slim at best. They come here for rare incenses, herbs, and the like used in their rituals.

"I was asked to see if you would deign to speak with them a bit. They have offered a picnic dinner and a tea they assure me will help you stay awake in these long evening hours." He looked at Clarity and bowed. "Your highness. It is good to see you are doing well."

"For the moment," she replied coldly.

Since it was technically his knowledge that they were using for their dark alchemy Desdemona decided there was little value in allowing the princess and the man who had advised her father to curse her and her sisters to continue speaking. "I believe we have what we need. Are you ready to return to the castle princess?"

Still glaring daggers at the wizard she nodded and closed the lid on the basket. It was cleverly woven with a small latch. As she did Desdemona snapped her fingers and a cape of feathers appeared around the girls shoulders, all blue-black like a magpie's. The cape seemed to stick to her as it spread into wings and flapped. Around her people gasped and gawked as the girl lifted up with a startled scream and disappeared into the sky.

"I must wonder what someone who can do that needs here," the wizard said softly.

Desdemona smiled and said, "When one is handling curses one must do them properly you and your master would be displeased if I did not do my best and started cutting corners with the princesses' lives." Likely somebody had at least mentioned a few of the ingredients she had bought to the market's overseer. Or they would. "Nothing less than the best for royalty."

"I see." He led the way over to the women. He gave a brief introduction, mentioning Desdemona by name and the priestesses as a group before bowing and wandering off to look over the market again.

"So, you are the one we've heard so much about," one of them said.

She, like the others, was wearing a diaphanous white robe that concealed little and fluttered in the soft night air. The priestesses of this particular goddess were required to be virgins until their eighteenth birthday, when there was a ceremony that ended that. So unsurprisingly they were not particularly beautiful young women. moiré plain than ugly though. They were purportedly granted beauty when the ritual to give up their virginity was finished and Desdemona remembered one year her family's farm had been experiencing a drought and they had taken a lamb as a sacrifice to the Temple of Light. The older scantily clad priestesses had been uncommonly beautiful, at least to a young farm girl. Her mother had certainly nudged her father a few times when she caught him staring.

Aside from that Desdemona did not know much about the local religious orders. By the time she was the age in which people took notice of the gods, she was beyond the need for miracles from other sources. She had magic and had no problem allowing others to avail themselves on the divine. To do both seemed greedy and if the gods wanted her to do something, well it seemed they could and would find her wherever she was and whatever she was doing. So why worry?

Still it seemed if not the gods then their servants had taken a little interest in her. "How may I help you ladies?"

"We just wanted to meet you. You caused quite the stir in our temple a short time ago."

"Me?"

"Well your work," she went on. "The princess Melody stopped by our temple, seeking a cure for an affliction she told us you were responsible for."

Desdemona smiled. "You could say that. In fact she had to. Did you manage to break the curse?"

She shook her head and tried but failed to hide a grin as the other girls tittered behind her. "I'm afraid not and the princess left somewhat perturbed. Our priestesses had to tell her that the goddess refused to aid her. Normally when a supplicant fails to impress our deity we try to phrase it a bit more delicately, but in this case they found themselves being rather rude to her."

Desdemona chuckled. "I imagine so."

"It did not help that at the time we were having a few arguments about the temple. Honestly I think you came quite close to causing a rift between us all," she went on.

Ignoring the slight downturn in the young woman's mouth Desdemona said, "I was told there was an offer of a meal? I am a bit hungry this evening." She held out her hands and a beautiful cake appeared in them. "I can provide desert."

Ten minutes later she and the girls were a fair distance into the forest, the stars themselves somehow lighting them up like a spotlight. The girls were chatting away, telling her all the gossip of the temple. They were not allowed to tell her anything vouchsafed to them in confessional… and they assured her it was amazing what some people would tell a young woman… but the recent visit of the princess had caused quite the ruckus among the girls. Their goddess had not seen fit to protect them from the effects of Melody's curse and the princess had at least had the decency to wait in line like everyone else. For six hours.

"My guess is she did not feel particularly confident in trying to use her father's name to bully you when she had just attempted to lead a coup against him," Desdemona said, taking a bite from a well seasoned bird leg.

"To say the least," one of the girls said. Desdemona had been introduced to the half dozen of them, but had not really memorized their names. Likely they would not see each other again anytime soon. Gods tended to handle their own cursing in house.

"Wasn't she polite?"

"I believe she was trying," the group's leader said. "She had a prepared speech. Sadly once the priestess she spoke to began questioning her…"

"I was busy with Terry. She had admitted to taking my brush…"

"I only borrowed it…"

"And the head priestess was chastising Clarice and Folia, for coming darn close to breaking their vows. I mean they said technically what they did, did not count and they are still virgins but…"

"Oh don't be silly. She admitted to doing the same thing in her apprentice years."

"Lots of the girls do."

"I know, but I had no idea two girls could even…"

The chatter began to sound like birds to Desdemona. She ate and listened as they talked. At one point she almost coughed a bit of half chewed bread up her nose at one story. Finally she asked, "Aren't any of you nervous abut being around me? I do curse people."

"So do our priestesses," one of them said with a smile We understand. Blasphemers, those who trespass on our goddess's good graces of who ask for boons without offering proper sacrifices or being too selfish…"

"When the visitors get too grabby," one girl said with a sniff. "Some people just don't take divine punishment seriously or they think every priestess wants an orgy with a farm hand like the priestesses at the love goddess's abbey."

"Ah, so you get plenty of practice cursing those who transgress or nonbelievers," Desdemona said.

They nodded. "Some people even come to us for justice."

"But the curse you laid on the princess… that was epic."

"It's art," the enchantress said smugly. "I don't think it would work for you though."

"Why not?" One of them asked.

She shrugged. "I just don't think long term curses are something a priestess should just toss around. I mean if someone came and tried to ransack a temple I could understand your goddess smiting them quite severely. Laying waste tot heir army or turning them into twisted monsters, but it's a matter of degrees. You should spend your time more worshipping your goddess and leave it to minor curses. Warts or lesions or some bad luck. Something that can be cleared up with a little devotion and penance. Nothing really permanent.

"Trust me, coming up with unique and long term curses is a major chore."

"She did say you were working on some others," one girl said. "What else have you done?"

Desdemona shrugged and told them. though she left out a few details, like where exactly she had stuck the two youngest or how to break any of their curses. The priestesses listened intently as Desdemona explained what she had done and why. When she finished they were clearly impressed.

"In a lot of ways I find the best thing to do is give them what they think they want. Joan had privacy and safety and the chance to be seen too. Isabelle got herself a rich and powerful prince. The younger two have their chance to be kids and build a family that cares about them and doesn't just consider them superfluous and Melody never has to wonder who around her is plotting against her, so technically she can trust everyone at their word." She smiled. "Of course now she has to worry about trusting herself. The kids are going to have to grow up fast and learn to take care of other people. Isabelle 's prince is not exactly charming and while he still thinks she's the most beautiful thing ever, her own opinion may not be the same and Joan… well isolation can do funny things to people.

"Thankfully the fairy's gifts mean they can't be driven mad. I'd hate to think what that sort of thing would do to a normal person, so please, don't go trying to copy me. It would be… tacky." She raised an eyebrow. "And I suspect I would have to make an example of anyone who tried it."

"Are you threatening us?"

"No, just giving a warning. I don't know much about your goddess, but I suspect she would not do much to protect someone who knowingly stole my ideas and used them to punish people. The princesses are largely responsible for their own situations. They did nothing to me and in a lot of ways I'm doing what I'm doing to help them." She pursed her lips. "I honestly think the king came to me because in a lot of ways it's easier to trust someone to do something considered wicked than good."

"What do you mean?"

"It's about price," she said. "If someone just came to you and prayed for a pile of gold without offering a sacrifice or doing anything to earn the goddess's favor, they wouldn't be likely to get it right?" There were a lot of nodes. "In fact they might be punished for their greed.

"However, if they went home and found the pile of gold they asked for sitting in their living room…" She grinned, seeing them frown.

"Then maybe the goddess would want something from him," one suggested.

Exactly. Only he would never now what it was until she asked or he found himself in a tough spot. Wondering about it. Worrying. Maybe he would think the gold was a trap. Maybe it would cost his soul or disappear if he tried to spend it or had some curse attached.

"Or maybe when it was present the goddess would appear and tell him he had to fight a dragon or solve an impossible riddle, or that she was going to condemn him in death. Or maybe she thinks he's cute and just wanted to be nice. Only he'd never know. So imagine what the king would fear if he asked your people to help his daughters or curse them. Had I turned him down maybe he would have.

"Me, he just offered money and I believe he asked for curses because at least then the downside is obvious."

"Like when someone makes a deal with a demon for power. At least they do not have to wonder about the price."

Desdemona nodded. "People will pay a lot for certainty. The ways of the gods are mysterious. Others are far more predictable. Particularly when people think they have something we want or other ways to control us."

"You think the king has such a plan for you?"

"Let's say I've got plans of my own," she said. "Whether it works out or not, that will have to wait to be seen. Cake?"

When she returned to the castle she found Clarity waiting for her looking pale and sitting outside the gates in the dark, clutching the basket in her hands. The princess was staring into space as Desdemona summoned light and walked towards her.

"Are you alright, princess?"

Swallowing and still looking as if she was in a trance Clarity said in a raspy voice, "As… as it turns out I am in fact afraid of great heights. I was just unaware of that until I was far in the sky and could not get down until I had flown the way back here."

Desdemona caught the scent of urine wafting off the young girl. At a guess her odd voice had something to do with screaming as she passed through the kingdom. "Ah. Sorry about that."

"I saw my sister, if the dark beast that followed me here was indeed a gryphon. It was hard to tell at night. I only realized it after I was sitting here for a while. I hope I didn't hurt her feelings with all of the screaming."

Putting a comforting arm around her shoulder Desdemona helped the girl up and said, "Why don't we get you inside. I'll make you some soothing tea for your throat, conjure you up a clean dress, and then we'll get you to bed while I start the potion."

"Yes, please."

The potion was pretty complicated. Considering it used dark magic to twist the very laws of nature into an abomination that was probably good for the world, but for Desdemona it was rather annoying. Thankfully Clarity, after a good night's sleep, had far more patience with alchemy than she did.

The cauldron bubbled with neon green liquid, the glow of it throbbing like a heartbeat. If you looked at the surface it almost looked like something was moving around under the sludge, swimming through it and disturbing the surface with a lump, as if it were home to a very tiny lake monster. Clarity stirred it with a large spoon made of ash wood, putting in each ingredient exactly as the book said. Stirring was not easy though as the concoction was thick as mud and smelled awful enough to bring tears to her eyes.

She added a vial of gold mercury and the whole thing suddenly let out a puff of yellow smoke before turning purple. She backed up a moment, coughing with her lungs itching.

Desdemona observed from a distance and said, "See, that right there is why wizards are usually solitary. A few years of breathing in fumes from various potions and their 'wands' just lay there flopping around useless."

Spitting off to the side Clarity said, "Well I suppose it saves them from getting shot in their willies by evil enchantresses. If dragons did that more they would obviously be better off." They both cackled.

Princesses were taught all about sex from an early age, since part of their duties usually involved not only getting betrothed, sometimes from birth, but ensuring there was another generation. You couldn't have them being surprised on their wedding day just because they were virgins or their partner had learned something kinky in foreign lands, whether it happened at twelve, eighteen, or in their later years because eight or nine of their older sisters had already snatched up the eligible men. Royals were even taught about being discreet if they had extramarital affairs. The men were known to go out riding and occasionally take lovers among the peasants, sometimes against said peasants will, and the women often among the palace staff or visiting nobles. Usually when their husband was decades older than them and could not keep up with their young wife's needs.

Publicly they might not admit it, but often it was simpler all around not to make a big deal out of it provided the heir was legitimate. After that it was mostly a business arrangement. Sometimes mistresses and wives even got together to arrange their schedules or chat over tea. Solidarity in the face of a husband who could very well have their heads chopped off.

Honestly the way royalty treated relations would have shocked the average peasant who thought they were all prim and proper. Then again the average peasant mostly learned by observation because either they shared one big room with the whole family and mom and dad were not likely to stop just because the kids were in the room or they simply saw the animals on the local farm when breeding season rolled around.

So Clarity and her sisters had been raised in such a way that they got dirty jokes, but did not make as big of a fuss out of them as the average child. Sex, in all its variations, was simply a fact of life and nothing to get too excited about. It did make for a bit of a giggle fest though when the subject came up.

Desdemona peered in the cauldron, her own eyes shifting through various colors as she examined the magic, which the princess could not actually see. Clarity was the kind of cook who followed instructions and made perfect examples. Desdemona was the kind that could tell what each ingredient was, what it did, and ho to alter it with just a sniff… or in this case, a look. It was a natural talent of enchanters who quite often invented a lot of the spells other magic users got their hands on.

Of course experimenting enchanters were also often responsible for large holes, new mountains, and wastelands appearing in the landscape as well.

"Okay I think it's time to add the main ingredient."

Clarity frowned. "What do you mean? We've used everything." You did not have to be a mind reader to see that Clarity was uncomfortable not following directions exactly. A good trait, but not very useful at the moment.

"Not for what we're doing. I need a catalyst. Wait here while I get it."

"You don't need me to handle it?"

"No, it's inherently magical and really it would be best if mortal hands did not get too close. Should be fun to watch though. Wait here and I'll be back shortly."

Desdemona walked through the castle and found the stairs leading down. Down. Down to the deepest part of the castle to a place even the things inside the plateau never tried to enter. The crypt of one of the previous residents, the ancient vampire lord who terrorized the kingdom centuries earlier.

The thing was roughly coffin shaped and made of heavy marble on a pedestal. Thick and heavy and designed to keep things in, not out. A dozen men would have trouble lifting the lid. Thankfully the last thing and enchantress needed around the house was a man to open stubborn lids.

A flick of her finger and the top of the crypt popped off, hovering in the air overhead. Smiling she walked of the steps and peered inside. There were bones, noticeably human shaped. However they were jumbled up and chained to the bottom of the crypt with heavy iron links nailed through the bones. An arm here. A leg there. A severed head. All the flesh had long ago turned to dust leaving only yellowed bones. The skull's teeth were noticeably long and pointed.

A sack appeared in her hands and Desdemona reached in to rip each one out, snapping the bones as she tore them free of their chains. She even scooped up the splinters and tossed them in too. The bones were not very heavy and even if they were she could make herself stronger. The real annoying part of the whole thing was walking down and back up the stairs.

When she got back to the alchemy lab the princess watched in wide eyed fascination as Desdemona spread the bones out on a counter and then took up a hammer to begin grinding them into dust. Clarity asked, "Are you making bread?"

"That's giants," she replied. "I'm grinding up his bones to make my undead. Go get your sister." As the girl ran from the room she scraped the bone dust into a pile and began dumping it into the cauldron. The liquid turned from purple to blood red and stopped boiling instantly.

Briefly a skull shape rose out of the fluid and a boney arm tried to reach out, claws sprouting from the fingers. Desdemona grabbed the hammer and gave the hand a whack, causing it to fall apart into red drops and return to the cauldron. "Oh no you don't you old blood sucker. You had your chance. Time to give someone else a turn."

A little while later Clarity came in with Diadem close behind. The elder princess looked around at the lab with some interest, but then she feigned a yawn and said, "Clarity told me you wished to see me." Gemstones clattered across the floor when she spoke.

"Yes. Get in the cauldron."

"So, you're finally going to curse me."

"Not just yet. First I have to murder you. Rather horribly actually."

The girl blinked. "What? I thought you weren't allowed to hurt us."

"This won't hurt you. You aren't shuffling off the mortal coil. You see I'm using a very powerful potion and the essence of an ancient vampire to transform you into a hideous monster. An undead beast the likes of which the world has never seen. I call it the Heart Ripper. You will have a thirst for human hearts stained with sin and corruption. The more evil a person is the more you will be drawn to eat them. At least once a month. Only the pure of heart will be safe from you and those are few and far between. It comes with a host of powers, immortality, and you don't even need to fear the sunlight."

"Wait, you're telling me you're essentially turning me into a hideous undead freak…a demon in human form… that will terrorize the countryside for possibly centuries causing terror and horror in the form of a living nightmare for years uncounted…"

"Well yes, until some stalwart hero shows up to defeat you and who knows how long that could take? Your only release from that unholy existence will be the sweet tang of true death, when your damned soul will finally be able to rest in peace. Until then you will feast on the evil in men's hearts. Literally. The more evil I hope will attract you and you will only feed on decent people in the worst of circumstances."

Diadem threw herself at Desdemona with a scream. Well more of a squeal of pure joy that would have sounded less surprising coming from Helen. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Oh thank you so much! I love it! I promise I'll do my best."

Patting her head Desdemona said, "Now be a good girl and climb into the boiling cauldron."

It was a rough process. Diadem jumped in easily enough, but it's hard to get a human to stay under a thick liquid, let alone one that was heated to boiling. Animal instinct took over and Desdemona ended up having to slap a lid on the pot and ignore some brief banging before she settled down. Clarity looked uncertain. The potion was obviously magical and they had followed the instructions, but it was hard watching her sister be drowned.

As for Desdemona she had never actually killed anyone before. Even if she expected the girl to get better, she had ended a human life. Not just transformed her into a rabbit and let her hop off possibly to be eaten later. Desdemona had been wicked, but this was decidedly evil, even if the girl was totally into it.

Of course that led to the next part.

The staff gathered around the courtyard. Rumors spread fast in an isolated castle and that clarity and Desdemona had been cooking something up had been no great secret, if only that they had warned people to stay away. It was nearly moonrise on the night of the new moon and the air was charged with dark magic as the enchantress and the last remaining princess came out into the courtyard. The cauldron floating in the air behind them before it landed softly on the ground.

"Didn't the spell say we needed a blood red moon to quicken it?" Desdemona smirked and snapped her fingers. Up above the moon turned red. Out in the distance they heard a mournful howl/yelp from a very surprised werewolf. "Oh, right."

"Get back into the doorway. She'll be hungry when she wakes up." As Clarity scuttled back to safety and everyone watched Desdemona went forward and pulled the lid off the cauldron.

At first nothing happened, but then the princess rose from the sludge. It had turned black and despite its viscous state it slid off the princess like water off of a waxed rock. It did not even stick in her hair as she rose into the red light of the moon. Her already pale skin had taken on an even lighter tone, as she no longer had running blood in her veins. Her clothes had vanished and two white wings sprung from her back.

Diadem levitated out of the pot and floated in her full glory in the air. Her wings did not beat and were much too small to Desdemona, the bird watcher. They were either decoration or helped with balance. Her fingers had sprouted ruby claws and her eyes glowed with golden light. Clarity noted that her sister did not cast a shadow in the moonlight. Her ears were pointed and elf-like and when she smiled ivory fangs glittered like white diamonds in her mouth.

The princess was nearly seven feet tall now and had the shape of a fully mature woman. Undead like magicians, often appeared as they wanted and Desdemona had no stone to throw there. The girl was of course still magically beautiful and like her sisters was fairly well endowed. Not as much, for her size, as Joan, but her huge proportions took care of that. Then a moment later the night seemed to coalesce around her until she wore a tight black dress that hugged her body like shadow except where the left side slit enough to show one of her legs. On her head a silver tiara studded with rubies appeared too.

She landed on the ground soft as a kiss and her eyes were only for Desdemona. They let out a hypnotic pulse as they left two glowing spots on the enchantress's chest. Like Diadem could see right through the skin and bone to the throbbing heart beneath her bosom. Drool trickled from the corner of her mouth.

"Come to me Desdemona. Feed me." The tones of her voice, as pearls clattered on the flagstones, was hypnotic, thrumming with power. Any ordinary man or woman would have been immediately enthralled. And it seemed that Desdemona was no different as she rose up an inch over the ground and floated towards the accursed princess. As she approached the princess smiled with her mouth full of deadly fangs set in two rows like a shark. A long black forked tongue darted out to lick her lips. "I see your heart and you aren't that evil, though with my murder you carry the most sin of anyone here. You'll just have to do because I am so hungry… I will always remember this fondly. Both as my first meal as one of the walking dead and because you have given me a great gift. Even if you call it a curse."

As she approached Desdemona nodded. "I know you will princess. But there's one thing you should know."

A more experienced monster might have noticed how clear Desdemona's words were. Not slurred or slowed like someone in a trance. Her eyes focused and hard as she approached and the princess extended clawed hands to pull her into a final embrace. "What is that?"

"Making you undead wasn't my curse." Diadem barely registered it as a knife appeared out of Desdemona's sleeve. A small blade of silver with a gold handle etched with symbols that glowed in the moonlight. Up above the red blinked out so briefly the only light were stars and two red points of the heart ripper's eyes. Then those eyes flickered and went out.

After a moment a glowing orb appeared before the two and everyone watching gasped. Desdemona was fine and the princess stood in the courtyard perfectly still and looking exactly as she had in life. A beautiful young woman. Only now her skin and dress were made of gold. A statue looking mournful. The knife Desdemona had held plunged into her left breast.

Standing next to the princess was… the princess. Only this one was see-through, like she was made of glowing mist in the colors of Diadem as she appeared just before jumping into the pot. A ghost. She looked between Desdemona and her gilded body in confusion and shock.

"What… what have you done?" She shrieked like a banshee.

Desdemona shrugged. "I cursed you. I never aid turning you into an undead monstrosity was the curse. That's my insurance policy."

"What do you mean?" Clarity asked, approaching from behind to examine her sister.

Turning Desdemona answered, "It's simple. You see that knife? As long as it remains in the princess's heart Diadem's body will remain turned to gold. A statue. Oh and you see that blood seal on the handle? It's tied to my life force, so that as long as my blood flows it can't be removed by anyone. Ever."

"Why?" Diadem asked, wailing as silver tears fell from her cheeks and vanished before hitting the ground. "I liked it! I felt powerful and in control! I was going to be a dark goddess and wade through seas of blood."

Desdemona laughed. "That's the curse part. I had no intention of releasing a powerful monster on the kingdom in my lifetime. Especially since I'm the wicked enchantress who cursed the king's daughters."

"I get it," Clarity said. "You live and Diadem remains sealed away. If someone kills you, then they unleash Diadem on the kingdom."

"Exactly."

"She's to keep my father from betraying you."

"Him. Any more heroes or witches. I figure anyone who shows up to murder me will qualify as evil enough to attract Diadem's attention. She'll pretty much immediately get revenge on my murderer, provided I don't get them first." She turned back to the crying ghost. "Until then your spirit is trapped here, haunting this castle of evil from now until I die, unable to touch anything but to watch everything as you look out over the world from the towers, haunting and alone as only the damned and dead can be."

Diadem stopped crying and turned thoughtful. "Well... that doesn't sound too bad.' She frowned. "But I was so excited to be a hideous abomination who struck terror into the kingdom."

"You will. Eventually. I mean how long can I live? And look, you can talk without treasure falling everywhere now." The ghost blinked and looked down to see that there were indeed no gemstones lying by her feet.

Clarity said, "What about her body?"

"I'll stick it in one of the towers, looking out over the castle. Bait for any thieves who might sneak in and see her up there. Like cheese in a mouse trap."

"You realize if someone does come here I'll tell them that they can have my hand in marriage if they save me from your wicked spell," Diadem's spirit said. "I always liked you Desdemona, but now I really want you dead as quickly as possible. Maybe when I rise and rule this castle your ghost will haunt it."

Laughing Desdemona nodded enthusiastically. "Maybe. Though who knows, I may never actually die." They both laughed.

"So you're alright?" Clarity asked her sister.

Diadem nodded and smiled at her. "I feel amazing. If I were an ordinary ghost I might even pass on, I feel so good."

Around the courtyard the staff applauded. Desdemona, the ghost, and that last princess looked around and then as one all three of them took a bow.

Chapter Twelve

"My daughters' allowance?" The king asked.

"Well it will be the last time and I want to go full out on this last curse," she said. "I don't need money but I do need a spare castle and I really do not want to pay for it. So I wanted to put it up against all seven daughters' allowance for this last bit. It doesn't have to be a great castle, just whatever you have lying around. Come on, you can't have gotten rid of all the rebels' property. A fort? A keep? A lone tower or a guard post. I really just need a stone building that's been around for at least a century."

Edmund said, "Your highness I believe there's an old castle by the border that used to belong to the Duke of Mount Manticore. It's been used as a guardhouse for Dead Man's Pass for the last fifty years since the pass is too dangerous fro trade, but might be a good way for enemies to sneak across the border. Since we're going to merge the kingdoms soon we'll no longer need to guard it."

"What do you need it for?" Harold asked.

He had not been pleased with the terms of Diadem's enchantment. Though officially he claimed it was because if anything happened to Desdemona, it would unleash the monster on his kingdom. No mention was made of any plans to betray Desdemona once she was no longer needed and Desdemona did not suggest inviting melody to come for a visit so they could discuss what plans the king might or might not have had. Who says wicked magicians were never diplomatic?

Smiling she said, "I have an idea. Since it's the last curse, why don't you join us as I finish the final enchantment? You can see how it all turns out. Bring your daughter. I think she should see for herself what happened to at least one of her sisters. You can all say goodbye and celebrate the end of the threat. Make it a holy day. The Justice God people would probably consider it a good idea. Completion of a high visibility contract and all."

The king thought it over and then nodded. "Very well. When did you plan to do this?"

"If I can have the castle? The full moon in three months. The spell I'm using is going to be pretty intensive. I have to do multiple things."

"Couldn't you do a simpler curse?" Edmund asked.

"I've done six," she replied. "Including several which are the stuff of nightmares. I want the last one to be spectacular." And with that she vanished.

Desdemona would have liked Clarity's help with this final curse. The princess had turned out to be quite the assistant when they were turning her sister into a walking corpse with a thirst for human lives. She had been rigid but at the same time had given Desdemona several ideas while they were working. One day when she herself was more knowledgeable about alchemy and other magical arts she might consider getting a full apprentice, if only for the challenge. Or if she came across a younger enchanter who could use a good role model.

As it was she was going to need some tips from outside sources, so she headed to the southern forest where the fairies lived. What were fairies exactly? It was hard to tell. Some were from a race that preceded humans on the mortal world. Others were from other worlds. Some were former gods or demons. A few may have once been mortal. They all moved to another world between realms, where people went when they dreamed. The effects of that place tended to… change things. Coming back to the mortal plane of existence sometimes stuck them, especially the weaker ones, in specific forms and functions. Elementals. Pixies. Monsters. Royalty. There was even some overlap with the gods.

She stopped at the edge of the forest before entering and looked for a ring of toadstools, noticing a small one in the shade of a tree. She conjured up a rolled scroll in a ribbon and laid it among the mushrooms. After a moment it vanished. About an hour later a small pixie appeared in the same spot, beautiful and standing naked at about five inches tall with iridescent butterfly wings flapping on her back.

In a voice that sounded remarkably deep for something so small the pixie said, "Her majesty Queen Crystal" she pronounced it Kris-stall "will grant you an audience."

Desdemona nodded and bowed at the waist. She did not say thank you. That implied you had received something from a fairy and if you took a gift you were libel to pay it back. If you could not do it immediately with something of equal value they could demand anything. And they had the power to get it regardless of the debtor's willingness to give it up be it a thumb tack or the person's soul, life, enslavement, voice, body parts, and so on.

The pixie vanished and Desdemona floated forward into the forest. She did not know where she was going, but that hardly mattered. A fairy queen would find her.

And that was what happened as she came through densely packed trees upon a castle that could not possibly have been there when she did before. It was huge and silver with pink roofs on the towers and a moat that was crystal clear with a green sea serpent slithering about it in a circle as fish jumped out of the water to get out of its way. Two ogres in armor stood on either side of the drawbridge that stopped at her feet.

"The queen will see you now," the one on the left growled.

Desdemona nodded and floated inside. The Queen's throne was in the courtyard, which instead of stones was floored with moss. Her throne grew out of it made of the branches of a living tree, the seat more moss. Around the place fairies flew through the air. A harpy perched on a nearby battlement and a female centaur sat with her four legs curled under her horse body braiding her tail.

The fairy queen was about three feet tall in a white dress with a silver tiara on purple hair. She was beautiful and at the same time completely inhuman even if fairies did share a lot of the same features. Shadows fell differently on their bodies, presumably because they used glamour to make themselves different than they really were. It was considered rude to look through fairy illusions when you were invited to visit them and some said dangerous. Their true forms varied but some were mind breaking in their hideousness or beauty. The gibbering madmen who had seen it were not great at describing what they had seen.

"I understand you wished to speak to me." Her voice was musical and tickled something in Desdemona's brain.

Curtsying she said, "Yes your majesty. There is a complicated spell I am working on and I have heard that part of it is an ancient spell fairies use. I would do it myself, but I thought I would ask first, rather than risk getting it wrong. I am very young after all and while powerful I would rather not risk getting it wrong."

"You are cursing the king's final daughter."

"Yes."

"Very good. I will of course ask for payment. There are to members of my court who are somewhat troublesome…"

Desdemona winced. "Uh, I'm in the middle of some very delicate magic and another curse might…"

"I do not particularly care how you do it. I merely wish to banish them from my realm for a century or two." She snapped her fingers. Two forms rose up from the ground like it was water. They were about two feet tall with white bears that looked like dreadlocks with bald heads and bloodshot glazed eyes. "Kip and Marcel are gnomes. They've been growing a lot of recreational drugs and giving them out freely, particularly to people I've given jobs."

'Hey they were totally stressing out," one said vaguely.

The queen frowned. "They had important jobs. Until they finished they are supposed to be stressed. Not chewing on mushrooms that have them wandering off in the woods and trying to talk to clouds."

"You're so harsh…' The other complained and then sort of trailed off.

The queen looked at Desdemona. "Take these two off my hands. They used to be my best gardener and medicine maker before they got too into mind altering potions. Now they mostly sit around hallucinating and occasionally growing dangerous plants. I caught them growing a meat eating monster vine last week…"

"Actually I think that would be fine. My castle is surrounded by fertile lands and springs since all of those damned unicorns were staying there. If I don't do something soon I'll probably have people wanting to move into the area. So if they want to grow toxic and man eating plants around the place, I'm all for it. Can they still do their jobs?"

The queen nodded. "More or less."

"Great then I'll let them live around my castle and when I get a moment I might even be able to come up with some sort of detoxifying spell to get them sober again. If not they can just stare at the desert and contemplate the universe or something. Besides if the king decides to tax me I can send him some of whatever they're on and he'll probably forget all about it from the contact high alone."

The queen nodded. "That is fine. So long as they do it far away from me."

The gnomes looked at one another and shrugged. "Works for me."

"Righteous."

"Do they need rooms?"

"Nah, we're like, one with nature like all fairies, you know?"

"We sleep in the ground and grow our own food. We just need like, a place."

Desdemona nodded. "Fine, but if you bother me I'll turn you into cactuses or something and call it a century."

They looked at the queen and nodded. They both said, "Yeah, that's how it usually is."

The queen nodded. "You two, go to her lands and stay there until I send for you." They nodded and sank back into the ground. She then looked at Desdemona. "What spell is it you wish exactly?" The enchantress explained to the fairy queen what she wanted to do. "That is a fairly dangerous spell. It has brought ruin to many and is quite complicated. That's why it is so rarely used."

Desdemona nodded. 'I know. I want to combine it with Meriden's Expanding Archive and a standard eternal binding."

"I see. Well it's worth it to me to find someplace to stick those two. I'd have just cursed them, but gnomes are close knit family wise and I would prefer not to insult or otherwise worry their relatives. Gnomes do a lot of important work both for me personally and for the world."

"I understand. My father is from a long line of farmers and he's always stressing how important it is to take care of the land as well as the things we grow from it."

"Naturally we'd prefer if you people had stayed hunter-gatherers but it is nice when humans take care of more than just their own needs." She stood up, two long wasp-like wings shining like prisms on her back. "Come with me and I will teach you what you need to know."

It took several days for the king and his retainers to arrive at Manticore Mountain. It was a fairly steep hunk of rock and before it had been turned into a defensive castle by the duke, it had claimed the lives of a lot of would be mountain climbers. There was a road carved now, but it was still a long trip through the mountain, especially with guards and servants in tow. Because of that Edmund could not simply have them appear. The fairy godmother probably could have done it, but she had been suspiciously absent for some time and nobody was going to complain about that.

The duke who built it had earned his title in the field of battle as one of the king's grandfather's generals. His retirement plan had involved guarding the border, but the neighboring kingdom never actually invaded and after the spell was in place on the duke's death from old age the family decided to move back into the kingdom proper and away from the cold winters in the mostly barren mountains. The castle had not really fallen into disrepair yet, but with nobody living in it there was no reason to visit. The taxes had mostly been paid using mountain animal meat and mining rather than farming. Most of the ore seams were in the next kingdom though and mining in the mountains was equally hard, especially without a lot of prisoners to work, so aside from a few prospectors mostly working alone Paradise River tended to make most of its money from the fertile farm lands and the ocean and traded for things like that rather than digging for them.

The castle was fairly basic, carved from local stones, front a distance it almost disappeared into the cliff face where it rested. It was more of a fort honestly. Someone had found a decent place, smoothed it out, and built a single building out of stone. No towers or anything, mostly a three story building with battlements and arrow slits. The castle itself contained five bedrooms, a large basement for food and water storage, a small library, den, servants and army quarters.

The most interesting thing about it was a few gargoyles perched on the top. They were native to the area, earth elementals summoned to guard the place in case of an actual attack. Unless an enemy actually did try to take the castle or the pass below without proper clearance they were just stone statues. If enemies did attack they came to life and viciously attacked. They looked sort of like a cross between very small dragons, pigs, and large cats. Ungainly but with large stone claws and teeth. Rumor had it that while in residence the duke would often be up there perched between them and watching the pass himself, wearing a gray cloak so that it was almost impossible to tell him from the statues.

Now all the walls had been magically carved with runes and strange symbols, some of which seemed to move and change and could make a person ill if they looked at them too long. They glowed with gold light and Clarity had been using the symbols as reading lamps.

"So I'm going to be living here?" Clarity asked.

"In the castle at least," Desdemona said. "Don't worry; I think when I explain the rules of your curse you won't be too disappointed." She smiled brightly like a mother teasing her child about a potential birthday present. Clarity for her part was intrigued and curious.

"I wish you had allowed me to help out."

"Don't worry. I've turned out a little alchemy lab for you hidden under the basement via a secret passageway and I talked to your father. He's feeling guilty about all of this curse business so I suggested he could make it up to you by bringing you a lot of books." Clarity did not say anything but from her eyes Desdemona could tell the little bookworm was excited by the prospect. So she added with a wink, "And don't worry, I can promise you that you are going to have plenty of reading material while you are here."

"In that case curse away," the princess said with a grin.

A few of her persona servants had volunteered to stay with her. Only a couple of maids, a cook, a manservant, and a couple of guards. All getting on in years. One explained, "None of us have families and we have served the princesses for years. Without them in residence I doubt the king will need all of us."

A lot of the other servants had volunteered to stay at Castle Dream when the last princess left. Like the others they knew now that the family had been whittled down to a handful they were going to need new jobs anyway. Some asked to stay rather than commute back to the castle, at least until they could apply to work for some of the lesser nobles while others found life in the service of the wicked enchantress to be preferable.

Some of the guards for example felt that after the attack on her it was clear she could use at least a few people around to walk the halls and sound the alarm incase of other intruders. The cooks were happy to serve someone who could just wave her hand and give them any ingredients they needed and they wanted to try some of the recipes they had only heard of or experiment with new ways to cook. Something Desdemona had no problem with. She had already gotten the mermaids to send a list of sushi recipes.

The others mostly did things she had done by magic, but often forgot about. Truthfully she could easily afford to pay them and it was less lonely in the castle and she liked having people to serve her, if only for the look of the thing. They had all given magically bound oaths to her service and pledged loyalty so there would be no problem with betrayals and she told them if they wanted to leave they could whenever. It was not like they were being cursed after all. The king had not asked for them back and she suspected he had not even noticed that they no longer worked for him.

None of them were at the mountain castle except Clarity's special group. They were a little worried about being cursed along with her but Desdemona had quelled their fears by promising them that the curse would have a really easy way to break it and that they would gain eternal youth until then. At their age a few extra years or centuries of life was a pleasant thought, so long as they kept busy. Something Desdemona told them would be no problem.

She stared out at the mountain skyline and wondered, "Were my curses too genial?" She had thought that for all she had tailored them for each girl, maybe they were not terrifying enough if the staff was willing to stick around for it. "Well maybe they will seem scarier as time goes on." Some of the staff was leaving after all and stories would surely spread. The princesses bound to the wastelands. Transformations. Truth telling animal spirits. The servants had just gotten used to her was all.

The spell was all set up when the king arrived and she met him and his entourage at the gate He had brought along Edmund, Princess Melinda, her fiancé from the kingdom to which the mountains were the border Prince Ruther, and a lot of other people. Desdemona pretended not to notice they all wore talismans protecting them from magic. Not that it would do them any good at this point if she decided to wipe them out. Had Clarity been able to read her mind she would have seen Desdemona toying with the idea of wiping them all out with an avalanche or some such.

"Your highness, so good to see you. The final spell preparations will take place on the night of the full moon in two more days, so until then please feel free to tale time to say goodbye to your daughter and enjoy the castle. I find it's a beautiful view and I'm sure you'll enjoy a few days of rest and relaxation."

"I'll say. I've been fielding complaints from several of my people. Unemployed dragon slayers have been causing all kinds of problems. I've gotten several complaints from parents who say their children have been taken by a strange beast and are claiming the dragons aren't actually gone. Others who have sighted a strange ghostly figure in their mirrors." He raised an eyebrow.

"By any chance were these children routinely mistreated?"

"Knowing the parents, most likely. That doesn't mean they don't care for their children sometimes or at least consider them their property. Fortunately aside from a large feather found at one of the homes I officially have no proof of a dragon in the kingdom."

The enchantress nodded. Let them look. There would be no proof of any child stealing monsters in the daylight and any kid taken would be presumed to have run away by anyone who knew they were being mistreated. Nobody was going to search the wastelands after all and even if they did the chances were and somehow found where the children were they would not be coming back. Two enchanted princesses, an overprotective fairy godmother, and a herd of unicorns led by two human hybrids would likely be more than enough to keep their privacy for a few centuries at least and Desdemona had plan s to spread stories about the real reason this so called monster took children away.

With luck the others would work better at being parents if they wanted to keep their children. As for the king it would be easy for him to declare he had no idea what was happening if most of the parents even bothered complaining. But just incase, "If they have a problem with it, you can send them to me and I'll handle it."

He nodded. "That will be satisfactory. My servants will find their way among the castle. You need not bother. Meanwhile Melinda and I would like to see Clarity if you do not mind."

Desdemona smiled and stepped to the side, gesturing for them to enter. "Naturally. It's your land after all. Thanks again for letting me use it." As they passed she saw Edmund stop to stare at some of the glowing symbols.

"This is fairy work," he said. "Not anything I recognize, but I can practically feel the power you've imbued in them humming in my bones."

"I had a little help learning the spell. The fairy queen though was helpful when she heard I wanted to curse a member of the royal family. They aren't huge fans of humans and in exchange she only asked me for a small service. "

"What does it do?"

"See if you can figure it out," she teased. "Everyone will know in a few days.\ I would hate to ruin the surprise." He sniffed and headed inside after the others, but she smiled as she saw him looking around curiously at the off glowing words in inhuman languages carved into the walls. Wizards were like that, always looking for new things to learn. It was a shame Clarity had been born a princess instead of one of them, but then Desdemona was about to make that girl's dreams come true, so there was that.

The prince stayed behind as Melinda and her father went to find Clarity. He really was quite handsome with a soft looking black beard and a great deal of muscle under his silk clothing. His kingdom was quite prosperous and about to grow. "I don't believe we've formally met lady enchantress. I understand my kingdom has much to thank you for. Not only have you protected us from revolution and revolt, you've secured my fiancé's throne and driven off the dragons which long plagued our borders." He cleared his throat. "Also I am given to understand you have taken care of the fairy godmother problem as well, something Melinda and I are both extremely grateful for."

"I don't blame you," she said. Esmeralda meant well, but by the gods if that woman dared trying to make her birth one child let alone a dozen she would shove that wand somewhere that would ruin the woman's day, former goddess or not. "It was a pleasure to be or service your highness. And quite profitable." She had a lot of treasure now. Most of which she probably would not spend. She had piled it among the crypt where the vampire's bones had rested. It was quite a sight and even though she really did not need it, there was something about seeing a room full of gold piled high that would make anyone's heart sing. "I understand your kingdom has many fine artisans famed for their work in jewelry. If you really wish to show your thanks for my help send them by my castle."

She had a lot of "golden eggs" just sitting around the place and seeing as where they came from Desdemona would much rather have it made into jewelry, statues, another things that did not immediately make her think "princess shit". It would be even more fun to look at and in the event that someone did indeed succeed in slaying her or stealing from her, the image of them having to drag heavy statues through the desert was appealing. Not to mention cursing the items themselves. It would be great practice and she could get really creative, not having to worry about living people.

Ruther bowed at the waist and said, "Naturally."

"Oh but let me know you are coming first. I have a bunch of monster plants growing around my castle that will eat anyone who shows up and the guards might shoot you otherwise."

He nodded and looked like a mix of slightly intimidated and mildly curious. "Understood. Now it seems we're alone and a proper gentleman should not be alone with a young lady without a chaperone, so please excuse me." He turned on his heel and followed the rest into the castle.

Despite his words she had caught him looking her over a few times. Just for a heartbeat, but enough that he obviously found her attractive. Still he had Melinda and while Desdemona had power, she did not have a kingdom of her own. Besides even if he had been interested and made an attempt to flirt, she had already had more than enough of royalty to last a lifetime. She was just glad he had not asked her to dispose of any of his relatives.

Then again he had access to a dragon for months. By now she was sure if he had anyone he wanted to get rid of Scourge had picked his teeth with their bones.

If nothing else the king had a flare for parties, at least when he was being less formal. The goodbye party he threw for his daughter the night before her cursing was actually a lot of fun. Delicious food, a few minstrels and dancers, a storyteller, and he had even danced a couple times with Desdemona.

She noticed that his wife had not joined them, either because somebody needed to stay home and run the castle or because she and the princesses had never really been close. It would have been strange if she had really, especially since she was not much older than a few of them. Their respective roles had been rather obvious.

The evening had ended with him presenting her with books, enough that they would have filled one of the smaller bedrooms in the castle and a small closet. They were stacked in the library because the books Clarity had already had overloaded the library shelves and half the floor already. Getting into the room would require moving several hundred out of the way first. The sight of it had put a look on the princess's face that Desdemona felt was probably similar to how she looked when she saw her treasure room. Like she could die happy right there.

Which was convenient for Desdemona to say the least.

The king and his people were slightly more guilt ridden. It was one thing to send your kids off to be cursed by an evil enchantress, it was another to watch it being done. Clarity now only saw their looks but knew what they were thinking and told them, "It's alright father. Sister. I have come to terms with my fate. I do not blame you."

"And even if she did she'll see you all turn to dust before her curse ends, so it is moot," Desdemona could not help putting in.

Still it was a long day and the royals spent a lot of time looking out at the mountains, thinking. It was a lot more somber than the night before. Nobody was talking or anything. Edmund was still examining the runes. An attempt to figure out how to break the curse? Ha! Nice try but it was pointless. If only because Desdemona would tell them all herself.

Finally sun set and the moon was already in the sky. A lot of fairy spells were powered by moonlight and other aspects were just times to match the positions of the moon and stars as a way to set certain aspects in motion. The king and all of his people joined her outside while she had Clarity wait in the doorway with her loyal servants lined up behind her.

"Now just stay behind the threshold," Desdemona said. Edmund watched with interest while everyone else looked worried as she raised her hands and rainbows flowed from her fingers as she began to chant. The fairy words were not meant to be spoken by human tongue and Desdemona had to use magic just to pronounce half of it without splitting her tongue in half and possibly having her vocal chords explode. Some of the listeners actually staggered a few times, the words hitting them almost like physical blows.

Briefly the runes and carvings flared almost as bright as the sun, bathing the surrounding mountains in a flash of gold light that the people who lived among them would speak of for years. The onlookers had to cover their eyes and were still blinking after the light faded back to normal and the symbols pulsed.

Above the door a sign appeared. The symbols changed and briefly in the local language they were able to read it. The Desdemona Nightshade Library.

Clarity raised a hand to her chest. "They… they're pulsing with my heartbeat…"

Lowering her arms Desdemona smiled and said, "That's not all," From inside the castle they could hear the sound of scraping stone on stone.

"What is that?" The king asked.

"Follow me and I'll show you. Princess you lead the way to the library. I think you're going to like it."

They all walked through the castle, following Clarity to the library doors. The servants waited in the hall as Desdemona and thee royals got there and to everyone else's surprise the doorway was free of books. Clarity looked a bit panicked until she stepped inside and gasped. "What have you done?"

The room was considerably bigger. The shelves higher with ladders attached on rails so people could climb them and get to the books. All the books in the castle were there, neatly lined up by subject and author. Just as Clarity kept them at her old home.

Edmund peered over their shoulders from the doorway. "It seems to me that somehow there are even more books than before."

"Oh there are," Desdemona said smugly. "Not only does this library expand to accommodate any book or scroll brought into the castle, but like Clarity it also takes any knowledge from anyone in or nearby and a book containing that knowledge will appear in the library. At a guess I think most if not all of these came out of Clarity's head."

The princess looked ecstatic. The king looked horrified. Not least of all because he saw a little plaque on one shelf reading: Moonstar Family Secrets. "This is…"

"Not a problem sir," Desdemona said quickly. "None of the books or the people who were inside when the spell took effect can leave this building. Anything they want to take someone would have to come here and memorize. The people can't even tell anyone anything, they're just able to act as librarians and show them the information."

"Wont' we starve," Clarity asked.

"No. Not only are you immortal so long as you stay here, but I've arranged for plenty of food and drink to appear in the kitchen. Think of whatever you want and open the doors and there it will be perfectly prepared just how you like it. The same for the wardrobes when you wish for clothes."

"And let me guess, you aren't going to tell us how to leave."

"Sure I am," she said, surprising the know-it-all princess. "You can leave any time you want. And your fellow librarians can join you.

Prince Ruther was looking at the shelves with the Moonstar secrets contemplatively when he saw another one next to it. "By the gods, this one includes all the secrets of my own family!"

"Really?" Melinda and her father said. Ruther tried to stand in front of the shelf.

Desdemona casually scooted over to Edmund and whispered, "You and the other servants here might want to be careful when you get home and make arrangements to make some sort of oath of secrecy or something before the king decides anyone who knows this place exists needs to die. You know provided they don't arrange for your carriages to have an accident on the way home."

"Noted," the wizard muttered back. His eyes were scanning another shelf labeled Occult Knowledge. In a louder voice he said, "Princess clarity I had no idea you were so well versed in magical knowledge."

"I've read the books. Unfortunately I'm not real good on definitions and a lot of it was in languages I could not read."

"Some of it may be information from dreams or even past lives," Desdemona said. "The queen said such things sometimes stick around in the back of the brain. It all sounded very complicated."

"How big will it get?" Melinda asked.

"Over time? Impossible to tell," Desdemona said. "Spells like this have been used on libraries before and in some cases I have heard they can connect to other magical libraries and even other worlds. Some are as good as infinite." She looked at Clarity and said, "You and your servants will know where any book anyone asks for is located. If you want to know what's in it you will have to read it. If it is another language you'll have to figure out how to translate it yourself of course. You've got the time."

"However your servants aren't magically gifted with sanity so every month their memories of everything that happened after I cast the spell will be erased. That should keep them from going mad with the weight of knowledge and time. I hear a lot of immortals go mad by the end of the first century and it can take a while to get over that, if ever, so since I'm not supposed to be cursing them, they won't remember any of this when the curse breaks."

"How does the curse break?" Melinda asked. "You said you would say."

"Simplest thing in the world. All Clarity has to do is declare one of the people who comes here to be the new head librarian. At which point she and all who serve under her will be free to leave."

"That's it?" The king asked. He seemed torn between his daughter's well being and the fact that Desdemona's job was to get her out of the way, not give her a vacation.

"Of course not," Clarity said in a deadpan voice. She looked at the enchantress and raised an eyebrow. "You gave my sisters exactly what they wanted and then turned it on them. What's the catch?" She was trying to sound bored, but her eyes kept darting hungrily to the shelves.

Laughing Desdemona said, "Nothing." They all looked at her. "By which I mean you get nothing. That's the curse. You see, if you ever do leave, the minute you step outside of this building, you will forget everything that happened after I first cast the spell to trap you all in here. Any knowledge. Anything that happens. It'll vanish from your mind. Poof."

"Oh my gods, she's going to be here forever," Melinda gasped, looking at her little sister.

"That's just… so wrong," Clarity said. "I can learn... everything. The secrets of the world. But I can't tell anyone and if I try to take any of it into the world, I'll forget all of it?"

"Don't forget the part where to leave and try to reenter the world, you have to give it away to someone else. Oh and the only way to share any of it with anyone is to sit them down and have them read it. This is not a lending library." Well except her. Desdemona had arranged things so that she could come and go as she pleased and take any book she wanted, but it seemed like a bad idea to let anyone know that.

That was not the only secret of this magical library. Bu if she told everyone everything that would spoil the fun.

She looked at Clarity who looked torn between the prospect of limitless knowledge and books and the fact that it was like trying to hold sand in her hands from a bottomless hourglass. It would pour into her hands for who knew how long, but eventually it would slide through her fingers. Useless. Able to be dolled out to others in small tidbits.

A slow clap came from behind them and they saw Edmund applauding. "Bloody marvelous. Madam you are a genius. I mean I was impressed with the other curses, but this… I wish I had half your inventiveness at your age…or even now. I mean obviously I can't curse anyone, but frankly what you've done with the princesses is awe inspiring."

"It's torture," Clarity wailed.

"It's what you wanted," Desdemona pointed out. "Look, your fairy godmother granted you wishes that backfired in one way or another. In my version you get your wishes granted, it's just the downside isn't an accident." She reached over to a shelf and pulled off a book, showing them all the cover. In gold gilt was written: THE TALE OF DESDEMONA NIGHTSHADE AND THE SEVEN PRINCESSES OF PARADISE RIVER.

She flipped through the pages and smiled as she saw a list.

The Moonstar Sisters

Melinda (23)

The Heir to the throne Melinda is engaged to a bright young prince from the kingdom to the west and will unite the two lands in peace and harmony… if she can clear up one or two (or seven) little problems. She loved her sisters dearly but is a pragmatist and knows that only one head can wear the crown.

Magical Gift: Healing

Josephine (21)

The second in line to the throne. She was married off to the kingdom to the south. A tiny land on the far side of the forest.

Magical Gift: Fortune telling.

Francis (20)

A bit of a tomboy. Fell in love with the local mermaid queen in her underwater kingdom while on a family trip to the sea shore and eloped. The family doesn't talk about it much, but wish her well and are grateful for the connection.

Magical Ability: Can live under water indefinitely.

Brianna (18)

Kidnapped by a dragon when she was fifteen she was subsequently rescued by a knight from foreign lands who needed a dragon's heart to brew a potion to save his father's life. Writes occasionally.

Magical Ability: Weather Control

Corrine (17)

Recently shipped off to very foreign lands after a long and difficult effort to find an unmarried prince. Secured a trade treaty. Unbeknownst to the family she ditched her intended and ran off with a bandit king.

Magical Ability: Shape Shifter

Sapphire (15) (Deceased)

Attempted a secret plot to usurp her eldest sister's throne. Was caught and summarily executed as the followers she managed to gather were banished to the northern wastes. Her skull currently adorns the front gates.

Magical Ability: Illusions

Joan (15)

Sapphire's twin. While presenting as fully female Joan was born with both genders and is very bashful and tries her best to be a perfect lady despite or maybe because of this. She has always kept her head down and tried to blend into the background, despite being abundantly blessed by the literal boob fairy, but has been under a lot of scrutiny since her identical twin sister tried to overthrow the kingdom.

Magical Ability: Able to manipulate and travel through shadows.

Curse: Trapped in a mirror.

Cure: Get rid of every reflection in the kingdom.

Isabelle (14)

Always the center of attention, all the princesses were granted health and beauty, but she is absolutely mesmerizing. Everybody loves her and she is considered an even greater threat to the throne than Sapphire. Her hair comes in a rainbow of colors, her skin is (unlike anyone seen in the lands where she lives) brown, and she must wear a veil to keep people from instantly falling in love with her. Thankfully her family is immune and was prepared for it before she hit puberty hiding her face behind a magical veil.

Magical Ability: Unsurpassed beauty and charisma.

Curse: Turned into a dragon.

Cure: Perform 100 Selfless Good Deeds

Diadem (13)

A rather depressed girl who avoids sunlight and wears dark clothes and makeup and paints her nails black. She spends most of her day writing dark poetry and not caring that her family is trying to get rid of her and her sisters because life is a meaningless void and it makes no difference. Mildly suicidal and cuts herself in private knowing her magical health will heal her, but found herself willing to live due to mild curiosity about what curse she might be placed under.

Magical Ability: Gems, pearls, and gold fall from her lips when she talks and her hair is silver colored and turns to metal when cut off. She also produces golden eggs.

Curse: Doomed to haunt cold dark nights forever lamenting her detachment from all of humanity as her soul is consumed by bottomless pits of darkness. First as a disembodied spirit and eventually as a twisted undead monstrosity cursed to hunt the hearts of the evil. Note: Has never been happier.

Cure: The sweet embrace of true death.

Melody (12)

The only sister who was actually aware of Sapphire's plans and in on it, she managed to keep this hidden from Melinda, but wants to meet up with the banished followers of her sister and take over as the head of their cabal to resume overthrowing the kingdom. Is not pleased with the whole curse scheme and not afraid to say so. Slightly frustrated at her inability to get her own sisters to help her, though they have not mentioned her revolutionary leanings to their eldest sister. Currently in hiding as a temple maiden after her own revolution fell apart.

Magical Ability: When she extends her arm glowing strands appear between it and her ribs that can be played like a harp and entrances all listeners.

Curse: Possessed by a mischievous fox spirit that feeds on lies, forcing her and those around her to speak only the truth. The fox spirit grows stronger and weaker depending on if those around it attempt to tell truth (weakening it) or tries to lie (strengthening it). The more powerful it gets the larger the area of truth telling will become.

Cure: To be told a lie by someone who thinks they are telling the truth will force the fox to flee in confusion and find a new host.

Clarity (11)

A curious child who enjoys learning and wears glasses and is basically an adult in a child's body. She knows exactly why she's being sent away and agrees it is a logical choice. Given her other options she has no problem with being put in some kind of storage and looks forward to being freed from her curse at a later date in which nobody is aware of her supernatural abilities, quite certain that she will be fine. She speaks seven languages, knows hand to hand combat techniques, alchemy, and is eager to learn magic.

Magical Ability: Mind Reading

Curse: Immortal Head Librarian in the Vanishing Library. Note: Anyone who remains in the library when it disappears will become one of her/the library's servants.

Cure: Trade places with someone else and give up all knowledge gained while librarian. It is considered unlikely that she will willingly do this any time soon.

Ester (10)

A fairly normal girl she was extremely nervous about her potential curse and does not really understand why her family is doing this to her and her sisters. She is just as scared for them as for herself and really wants to go home.

Magical Ability: Can manifest a cornucopia and produce limitless supplies of food and beverage.

Curse: Turns into a monster at night and steals abused or neglected children and takes them to a magical land of enchantment to raise them.

Cure: Stop caring for the children she saved.

Helen (7)

Completely oblivious to her situation Helen is perky to a point that borders on psychosis. She wears pink, is obsessed with cuteness and good deeds, and looks up to her fairy godmother and wants to be just like her when she grows up so she can help people and perform good deeds. She was mostly raised by her sisters and servants and said godmother, since her father is quite old and her mother died in child birth and her stepmother was never particularly maternal.

Magical Ability: Can control, magically grow, and speak to plants.

Curse: Guardian of the Wastelands. Dryad.

Cure: Cut down her tree.

Desdemona smiled and put the book back on the shelf. "Looks like we made the library."

Epilogue

After getting over the downside of her curse Clarity was all too happy to get over her future disappointment and dive into her new collection full bore. Not only that, but the king was busy scanning a few as well out of curiosity right alongside her.

"I'd like to stay, but I need a vacation," Desdemona said vaguely.

"And we'll have to come back, but for now we've got a wedding to plan," Melinda said.

Ruther said, "I hope you will be there enchantress. You have saved and help unite both our kingdoms. You are a hero."

"And just to be clear, even though you all no longer need me, my death will release an unstoppable fiend who eats the hearts of the evil, so betraying and murdering me… not a good idea." Desdemona wanted to make sure everyone was clear on that.

Edmund looked up from where he was scanning the shelves. The king looked a bit offended and maybe slightly petulant. That she would accuse him or such or that she had out maneuvered him? Tough call. Though no doubt the wizard might find a way to undo that particular curse. Somewhere in the very library they now occupied might lay the answer. How Desdemona created her probably was.

Well good luck with that, she thought.

"I think I'd like to stay a while," the king said.

"I can teleport us home," Edmund assured them. He pulled a book off the shelf.

Smiling Desdemona snapped her fingers and vanished, returning to her own castle.

Several months later the wedding certainly was a party to put the others she had been to into perspective. There were hundreds of people. It was more like a festival. Complete with stalls and shows. Nobles and representatives from neighboring kingdoms (those with no ill will to the kingdom and its people anyway). Josephine and Francis both made appearances. They brought in a large mirror so Joan could attend too. A lot of children were playing with her, amazed and trying to figure out how the trick worked.

At one point Melinda came over to where Desdemona sat sipping her drink and watching the fun over a plate of cake and casually said, "Excuse me, but I haven't heard from my father since last month. Or Edmund so I have been unable to approach your castle or get you a message. We sent a caravan to the castle, but it seems to have disappeared. I was wondering if you knew what happened?"

"Oh that. Yes, I may have forgotten to mention a small aspect of your sister's curse," she said, sipping her drink. "See every full moon the library, well it disappears. Vanishes from wherever it was and reappears somewhere else in the world where it will fit and not damage anyone or anything. Randomly. Deserts. Mountains. Under the sea. On a cloud. I always felt knowledge should be shared far and wide. Besides it would suck for your sister if the only place she learned anything was here."

Melinda stared for a moment. "And what happens if you're inside when it vanishes?"

"Oh the person becomes an assistant librarian. Like the other servants in the castle. They have to obey the head librarian, work in and protect the library and its contents. Help visitors find books. Until the curse is broken."

"You cursed my father?'

"No, he cursed himself," she said pointedly. "I mean he could have been here helping you plan your wedding, running the kingdom. You know, king stuff. Instead he chose to stick around the library snooping on secrets."

'It's a trap."

"Mm, technically it's a gift. I mean if someone needs to know a specific thing like the location of some mystical relic or the answer to some ancient riddle, the library will be a big help. If they're there to just learn all sorts of things, well they will get the chance. Potentially forever. And of course your sister will figure out what's going on and can warn anyone she wants to get out of the library before time runs out." Of course the mind reader would know whether or not a visitor deserved that information based on what they wanted to know and what they wanted to do with it. There were ways around that, but it might be a while before most people figured that out.

Meanwhile the traveling library with Desdemona's name on the front flashing through various languages would travel all over the place. Spreading its legend, gaining more and more information and value. People would probably find ways to find it. Josephine for example was a fortune teller. Others would find it at random.

"So my father and his magician are not coming back?"

"Probably not. Is that a problem?" She looked up at the king's heir and… the new queen.

Melinda's face froze and then she said, "Well it's a blow, but they brought it on themselves. Shame that, but I suppose we'd better move on in his stead. It's what he would have wanted."

Considering he had spent literally a month combing through a magical library of secrets Desdemona suspected the way he would have wanted it was to come back with a bunch of useful information and become possibly the most powerful ruler in the area. Having that knowledge and being essentially immortal with plenty of time to spend with his daughter was a good second prize, if he was smart enough to see that. If not, welcome to hell.

"Do you want a job? It seems we have an opening for a royal magic user."

"I'm good," Desdemona said. "Like they said when they hired me, someone who would curse a member of the royal family should not be the royal wizard. Trust issues. Besides I think from now on I'm going to curse people because I want to, not because I'm being paid or have a god's wrath hanging over my head. But hey, if you happen to know someone who might deserve it let me know and maybe I can come up with something."

"How do you decide who deserves it?"

Desdemona smirked at the queen. "Let's start with anyone who sends tax collectors in my direction and work up from there."

Taking the hint Melinda nodded politely and left. She probably had a lot to say and it was possible she would eventually decide Desdemona was a threat or just want revenge, but for now it was her wedding day and pissing off the wicked enchantress who had already cursed half her family seemed like a lose-lose proposition.

Having given her the surprising information about the former king Desdemona saw no point in staying around. The book she had promised, explaining three of her curses and how to break them, was on the present pile. She really did not know most of the people there. And she had already eaten her fill.

Time to go home.

An hour later she was on the roof of her castle reading a book and looking up as a green condor flew overhead. Down below in the light of the setting sun she saw Diadem's ghost floating in the courtyard and heard her haunting voice drift on the wind. Around the place a few servants could be glimpsed. Guards. Someone taking down laundry. She could smell dinner cooking.

It was a perfect moment.

Then she blinked and suddenly all of it was gone. Looking around in shock Desdemona found herself sitting on hard ground. The air smelled of dust and the sun was blindingly bright. Someone said something and she said, "What?" A wave of her hand and a cloud appeared in the sky above, blocking some of the light and after she blinked she could make out several figures.

The man in front was a short fellow with a thick beard and what appeared to be a towel wrapped around his head. His skin was nearly as dark as Isabelle's and to her surprise his long hooked nose had a gold ring in it. He wore an outfit that looked like it was made of sheets and he was sitting on a carpet the floated several feet over the hard ground.

Floating over his shoulder was a man… or something man shaped. Its legs disappeared into a trail of smoke that led to a large ruby ring on the first man's finger. His skin was purple and ears pointed. His extremely solid top half was well muscled and wore a red vest. A matching hat that looked like a small red cup with a tassel was perched on a bald head. A sword shaped more like a curved meat cleaver was on both mens' belts or sashes or whatever they were.

She looked around and saw a lot of the other flying rugs behind them. On each one was perched a different woman. Fat, thin, pretty, ugly, tall, short, light and dark skinned…they all varied. The man at the front spoke again and the purple one snapped his fingers. Suddenly she understood his words.

'You are the enchantress?"

Floating to her feet she glared at him. "Who wants to know?"

"I am sultan Habib Al Anza, master of the lands of shifting sands. I asked my slave the genie Ahab to summon with his vast powers the person in the world who can most help me with my problem."

She looked at the genie. Whatever that was. He bowed at his smoky waist and clapped his hands together. "I apologize for the summons but I must obey my master in all things. Thus is my punishment for leading my kind in an unjust war against all of humanity. My powers of divination informed me that you are the best person in the world for dealing with an over abundance of heirs in a kingdom."

Desdemona looked at the women again. She was not great at math, but there looked to be several dozen, maybe even a few hundred of them. It was hard to tell since many appeared to be behind others. "Are these all your daughters?"

The sultan laughed "No, these are my two hundred and thirty-six wives."

She goggled and then looked at the genie who shrugged. Even Esmeralda the former fertility goddess would have thought twice about arranging something like that. She looked at the little man with his thick black beard and wondered if he satisfied them all himself. He seemed to read her mind and smiled back.

"Ahab, summon my children." The genie nodded and clapped his hands together. "I'm afraid that my kingdom is in great peril. You see I have already found my children all the jobs I could. Some are accountants, others are generals, and many have been married off. Yet I still have many more…"

His voice was drowned out as what first seemed like approaching thunder. Over the horizon she saw people coming. A huge crowd. Several thousand people. Their footsteps shaking the ground as they came from what seemed like everywhere. Soon they surrounded the sultan and his women and Desdemona who looked around. On quite a few she could see the resemblance between the sultan and several of them. A few were older than her and others were young and a few more were carrying babies. Either siblings or maybe their own.

Possibly more people than were in the entire kingdom of Paradise River and at least one or two of their neighbors.

"One of my master's first wishes was for me to bring him a harem of the most beautiful women in the world and then grant him the endurance to impregnate them all. It was a busy five years and had continued on and off for the last twenty." The genie shrugged. "Sadly I cannot use my powers to kill anyone and the sultan would prefer not to harm his children. Unfortunately if things continue as they are, it will soon be a civil war and ultimately a blood bath."

The civil war would not even need anyone else, Desdemona thought. Just the family. Though there were probably others involved too. People supporting their chosen prince or princess. Seemed like women probably got the short straw in this kingdom if a man could have more than two hundred wives.

"I'm really not interested…"

The sultan snapped his fingers and the genie gave a sigh before mimicking him. A moment later two golden bracelets attached by a long gold chair appeared in her wrists. "I'm afraid you aren't going anywhere. Do as I order and you will be set free and paid richly for your service. Fail me and… well we have ways of encouraging people to do as I say and punishing those who are slow to learn."

Desdemona tested the chain. It looked thin and weak, but felt surprisingly strong. A brief test showed it was also resistant to her magic. "Very well." She looked around at the sea of faces. "I'll give you my bulk rate. Even still, this is going to take a while."

"Excellent. We will go to the palace where you can begin right away. I will provide you with plenty of luxuries while you work." His thumb rubbed over the ring and Ahab clapped again. As they vanished into a haze of green smoke Desdemona eyed the large ruby and began making plans. One way or another she was sure that she was not leaving this strange land without getting her hands on that ring.

In the meantime she apparently had a lot more people to curse. Hopefully he would let her do them in groups. Unfortunately he seemed the grandiose type and Desdemona worried that he might want each of his children to have some individual and highly amazing spell cast upon every one of them. And it seemed he, or the genie at least, had the power to enforce his wishes.

Sucks to be on the wrong end of that for once, Desdemona thought. Still she was the wicked enchantress. Already her mind danced with potential new curses. Nothing gave inspiration for that like the desire for revenge. As the smoke cleared leaving them in a beautiful garden with her still facing the sultan she imagined all the things she would like to do to him and how she would take those feelings out on his children until the time came when she could inflict something truly memorable on him and find some way to escape. After all it would not be the first time.

This begins the story of DESDEMONA NIGHTSHADE AND THE 1657 CURSES. But that is another and far longer story. For us for now this is…

The End

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