Spell Bound - Chapters 17 & 18
It’s Thursday, and we have a surprise. For anyone who missed our one free ebook a week, we decided to make ALL the ebooks in our Memoirs of a Secret Agent series FREE today! They should also be free soon at other retailers, but for now…you can find them all at our Lavender Cottage BookShop, which is linked to BookFunnel. Enjoy the story!
We’re still working on our secret project for this summer, but we did change some of our covers. Trying to find some that reflect the story and show up a little better on Substack.
Here are the next two chapters of our second Enchanted Fairytale, Spell Bound.
Chapter 17
Felicia watched Hob as he casually leaned against the wall and spoke to the guard. If anyone else was watching, it would seem as though Hob had finished eating and wanted to chat. After a moment, he smiled and nodded slightly, then came back to their table.
“It’s bad,” he whispered as he walked behind Felicia.
“How bad?” Nora asked, looking up.
“This afternoon, I told the queen about the faeries chasing us,” Hob replied. “She and her advisors thought it was just luck on their part that they happened to be patrolling as we came though the portal.” He stopped and smiled. “Felicia, do you mind if we switch seats for a moment?”
“Of course,” Felicia said, sliding away from Nora as Hob sat between them.
“Apparently, those pixies were assigned with keeping an eye on the faeries today,” Hob continued, “and they believe the faeries knew we were coming. That’s why they got to the portal so quickly.”
“How could they know?” Nora demanded.
“Keep your voice down, Cousin,” Hob reminded her. “We don’t want to attract any attention.”
Nora nodded. “Any idea how they knew?”
“It seems the pixie talking to the queen has that information,” Hob replied. “We’ll have to wait until she returns.”
“They must have some new magic,” Nora said, looking down at the table. “This is bad.”
“Why?” Felicia asked. She felt like she’d been running behind and trying to catch up, since she got here. “I know I’m new to all this, but why is this bad?”
“Portals don’t work unless they’re activated on both sides at once,” Hob explained, “which means they’re seldom used anymore.”
“They used to be guarded,” Nora continued, “but that stopped before we went through the last time. Speaking of time…” She looked over at Hob. “There’s something else you should know, Felicia.”
“A time differential exists between our two realms,” Hob said. “Time travels more slowly here than it does at the other end of the portal.”
“How much more slowly?” Felicia asked, looking from Hob to Nora.
“We were stuck in your land for three years,” Nora replied, “waiting for someone, for you, to open the portal.”
“But in our land, we were gone for six weeks,” Hob said.
“Six weeks?” Felicia repeated. “Then, our being here for the day…how long has it been on the other side?”
“A couple of weeks at least,” Hob said.
“I have to get back,” Felicia said, standing up. “I need to see my friends and explain where I’ve been.”
“Oliver will take care of that,” Hob assured her.
Nora nodded in agreement. “He knows you’re with us. And he knows you’re the only one who can send the apprentice back.”
“But how am I supposed to do that?” Felicia asked. “I have no idea…” she stopped as the queen came back into the room.
“I have some important business to attend to,” the queen said, walking in front of the table and bowing to her guests, “but I hope you’ll continue to enjoy the dinner.” She smiled. “I will see you all tomorrow morning.”
The others stood and clapped as the queen bowed slightly, then turned to Nora and said, “Come with me.”
Nora and Hob stood up and Felicia joined them as they followed the queen out of the hall and back to the passageway. “I need to know everything about your return through the portal,” she said. “Every detail, no matter how small, could be important.”
Chapter 18
As they came out of the passageway, Felicia noticed how dark it was. The stars were beautiful, but they didn’t provide much light.
The queen looked over at one of the guards by the entrance. He nodded and turned a large switch behind him. Felicia almost gasped as the darkness was now broken up with hundreds of little lights.
“Fairy lights,” she said, slowly turning around to take it all in.
“Pixie lights,” Nora reminded her. “Pretty impressive, aren’t they?”
“How do you do it?” Felicia asked.
“Magic,” Hob replied, glancing over at the queen.
“Not exactly,” the queen said. “It’s a bit of science and a bit of magic.” She smiled. “Most things we do are a combination of the two.”
“It’s very impressive.” Felicia looked at the staircase wrapping around the tree that they’d used earlier, which was now lit up with small lights that twinkled slightly. She realized every tree had a similar staircase…and the bridges between the trees were lit up as well. “It really is magical.”
“Speaking of magic,” the queen said. “We need to figure out how the faeries knew you were coming through the portal.
“Did they find any sign of a new spell?” Hob asked as they started to climb the staircase. “Maybe the faeries have some new kind of magic.”
“Maybe the apprentice gave them some ideas,” Nora speculated. “He did seem to know what he was doing when he opened the portal.” She frowned. “I’d like to turn him into a cat for a few years…see how he likes it.”
Felicia covered her mouth to hide a smile. Finally, she said, “You were a very smart cat. I wondered how you seemed to know what I was saying.”
Nora gave her a look, then giggled. “Easy for you to say…but I have to admit, it wasn’t all bad. I got some great meals in the kitchen.”
“At least, you got to travel around the house,” Hob said. “I was stuck…”
“As interesting as this all is,” interrupted the queen, “we need to focus on finding out what the faeries know.” They’d reached her chambers and she turned to look at Felicia. “I want you to read through the book tonight. See if you can find any reference to the portals.”
Felicia nodded as the queen handed her the book. “I’ll do my best.”
“My dear, I know you can do this.” She put a hand on each of Felicia’s shoulders. “If Oliver chose you, then he has faith in you. That means I have faith in you.”
Felicia smiled. “I won’t let you down.”
“Nora will take you back to the guest quarters,” the queen said, turning to Nora. “Then, come back here. We have much to do tonight.”
The next morning, Felicia woke up with the book next to her. She was still sitting in the chair, but the sunlight was peeking through the leaves around the window. She got up and looked outside. It was only a little past dawn, and she wondered if she’d found the answer.
She flipped through the pages and found the part she’d been reading about tracing. Magical tracing was finding a way to use a small item to track someone, often without their knowledge. She’d been reading about it when she fell asleep, then must have dreamed the rest.
Closing her eyes for a moment, she thought about it again. Harris had helped her with the coat out in the garden. He could have easily slipped something onto her clothes without her noticing. She stood up just as Nora walked in.
“Did you find anything?” Nora asked.
“Maybe,” Felicia replied. “What do you know about tracing?”
“Not much,” Nora admitted. “That’s more Hob’s area of expertise.”
“I think it might be what someone used to track my movements,” Felicia said. “The book warns that any traces have to be carefully removed to avoid any magical repercussions.”
“Let’s go.” Nora smiled. “Knowing Hob, he’s probably still working on the project the queen gave him, which means he's in the main workspace two trees over. Let's take the bridges and bring the clothes you wore through the portal.”
Read another two chapters next Thursday!