Chapter Eleven

Kira should have been riding, as hard and as fast as she could push her horse to go.

Instead, she did what? Waited just outside the town, where she would have a spectacular view of Seth and Rosamund when they entered and proclaimed to all that the curse was over and their wedding would be forthcoming.

The cheers would be deafening.

She picked up a rock and threw it hard against the trunk of the tree across from her. The thunk was hardly satisfying, and she looked around for a bigger one.

Then vibrations began under her feet, and within moments it went from a low buzz to throwing her around like a ragdoll and knocking her into the tree. She wrapped her arms around the trunk to stabilize herself just as the last vibration hit, and the ground stilled once again.

What was that? And then came the answer as a roar bellowed over the land, long and loud and terrifying.

Dragon? It couldn’t be. It couldn’t. The curse was broken. Seth had saved the day. Nothing was going to stop the fairy tale story of the prince who saved the princess.

“I’m afraid that’s not quite how it happens, child.”

She knew that voice. From her left… “Sara?”

Sara from the tavern, as grandmotherly as ever, her face marked with generous laugh lines and eyes that gleamed with merriment. “Don’t mind me. I’m just here to give you a little support. You’ve got quite the job ahead of you.”

As Sara talked, Kira’s birthmark began to warm, similar to when she’d fought the fey the night she and Seth had left the kingdom. But instead of the stab of a red-hot burn, this time the warming was soothing and gentle, the way it felt when she sank into a hot bath the end of a long day. She held up her wrist to show Sara her mark. “What part do you play in this? You said I was fairy-marked.”

“I did? Well, then you are. I’m usually right about these things.” Sara sat down on a fallen log, folded her hands in her lap, and kept her gaze on Kira, her whole attitude one of patient and good-humored expectation.

The birthmark burned hotter and the whisper of memory tickled the back of her mind. Something was here, something that happened before. She knew this woman from before their meeting at the tavern— long, long before. There was a…question? —No, not a question, it was more—purpose. Something to do with purpose.

Her mind churned and uprooted, but there was no image to grasp, no word to enlighten. Whatever she and this woman shared, her mind would not give her the answer, so she asked the source. “The tavern wasn’t the first time we met, was it?”

“No, not at all. We met a very long time ago.” But when Kira parted her mouth to speak again, Sara waved her question away. “We’ll discuss that later. Right now, we have a curse to break and a prince to save.”

Seth. The dragon. Kira crouched down so she was eye level with Sara. “Where is Seth? That was the dragon I heard, wasn’t it? Why is there a dragon loose when Seth is with Rosamund?”

Sara reached out and patted Kira’s hand in support. “Because I’m sorry to say, the curse was fulfilled.”

“No.” Sara didn’t know Seth. Sara couldn’t know that he’d never allow that to happen. “Not possible. I saw him leave to go to Rosamund. He would never break his promise.”

“No, no he never would.” Sara’s voice gentled and filled with respect. “And he didn’t. He kept his word. Rosamund isn’t asleep.”

“You said the curse was fulfilled! You’re making no sense.” Panic snaked through Kira but she pushed it back, because what she was thinking – what she was thinking was not possible and didn’t happen. Couldn’t have happened. Seth was fine. “You said the curse was fulfilled, so that means Rosamund is asleep.”

Sara’s eyes weren’t merry now, and her laugh lines were greatly diminished. “He promised that little girl he would not let the curse take her, and he didn’t. Instead he took the curse upon himself.”

Kira grabbed the old woman by the shoulders and gave a hard shake. “You’re lying! He went to her to break the curse. Seth is fine. It can’t touch them now!”

Sara made no move to break free. Instead, she placed her weathered hands over Kira’s and held them. “Do you believe that man could make love to you but still marry another woman? Is that who you think he is?”

It was meant to be one night, just one night, for her to carry in her heart the rest of her life. It wasn’t meant to change anything. It wasn’t meant…

No.

Is that who you think he is?

No.

It had been her victory over Rosamund, hadn’t it? No, that wasn’t what Seth was. With their loving, she had won, hadn’t she? Over the curse, over Rosamund, over the circumstances that had defined her life since the moment she realized she loved Seth, the same moment she’d realized she could never have him.

Her knees buckled, rocks and branches bit into flesh and muscle as she sank into the muddy ground. Her fault. She cursed Seth. In her determination to have him, to win, she left him vulnerable to the curse.

The gentle touch of Sara’s hand on her cheek caught her attention. “Enough of that, child. You’re not evil, you’re human, and you’re in love. So is he, and if anything, you are two of the most admirable people I’ve ever met. So enough self-flagellation. What’s done is done, and we move on.”

We move on, we move on . “Yes, we move on,” Kira agreed. She drew a deep breath, pushing away the doubt and self-pity with it. There would be time in the future to revisit this, time to reflect on her failings then. Now, she had work to do. She rose, her posture ramrod straight. “What needs to happen to save Seth and Rosamund?”

Sara rose as well, the smile coming back to her face. “We need two things. We need you, and we need a fairy godmother.”

The persistent burn of the birthmark flared in response to the words and Sara stood there, straight and tall, her eyes filled with a knowledge and a power no human could possibly have, knowledge and strength even that evil creature she fought hadn’t projected. This woman… well, she wasn’t a woman, was she?

The burn intensified.

Yes, yes, I understand the symbolism. Kira motioned between the two of them. “So we have both of those things. Now what?”

Sara’s smile widened, as if in approval of Kira’s acceptance. She clapped her hands three times in quick succession. “Now we get to the fun part.”

***

“This Elf King sounds like a real jerk.”

Sara gave a great, loud, long-suffering sigh. “I know he’s made your life particularly difficult and I truly sympathize, but try living in the same land as the royal oaf the last several millennia.”

That little piece of info caught Kira’s attention. “Just how old are you?”

There was a tsk , then, “Never ask a woman’s age. What is it with young people? No sense.”

“Apologies, madam.” They were trailing through the forest on foot. Sara had been very firm that they needed to walk to the castle, and what use was having a fairy godmother around if you weren’t going to listen to them? The only thing to do was trust and move. Speaking of… “We’re getting near.”

“Yes, which means soon I’ll have to leave.”

Kira stopped walking. “You said I needed a fairy godmother. You said you would help.”

“And I am, by what I’ve told you so far and what I’m going to tell you now. But I can’t go into battle with you.” Sara reached out and gave Kira’s hand a firm squeeze. “In the end, we all battle alone.”

Except she wasn’t alone. She carried Seth within her, the power of his love and friendship as strong as if he were beside her. And she carried purpose, the pure will to save Seth. He was counting on her.

He had never failed her. Damned if she would fail him now.

Sara’s smile turned impish and knowing. Could fairy godmothers read minds? Then Sara started to speak, and all of Kira’s attention was on her words. “First, you must realize the dragon is not real. Someone is guarding Seth, but the dragon is nothing but an illusion.”

“Am I going to be going up against the Elf King?” Somehow, the thought of facing the being who started all this twisted her stomach in a way the roars she heard earlier couldn’t touch.

“The Elf King doesn’t cross over to this side, but you will face his servant.”

The echo of malevolent tones skittered over her skin. Her dread must have shown on her face, because Sara said, “You can defeat him. He is powerful, not invincible. But you fear the wrong battle. This will not be a battle of swords, but of wills. The Elf King couldn’t care less about a mortal life won or lost. What he wants your misery, your despair. That is the fight you fight.”

Kira had grown up with a sword in her hand. Blade and sharpened edge she understood and respected. What Sara was talking about was outside anything in her experience, and more terrifying than the slice of steel against skin. “Just what am I facing?”

“He can see into your heart and drag your weaknesses out to parade in front of you. If you give any quarter, he’ll have you, and Seth is doomed.”