Spell Bound - Chapters 21 & 22
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Magic was their defense...until it betrayed them.
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Now, the next two chapters of Spell Bound: An Enchanted Fairytale 2.
Chapter 21
As they walked back to meet Nora, Felicia thought about the faerie dust in the jar. Was it possible that Harris could be a faerie? It was the only thing that made sense.
She looked over at Hob. “Are faeries good with gardens?”
“What do you mean?” Hob asked.
“I have an idea who might have placed that tracer on my dress,” Felicia replied. “I think it was Harris.”
“No way.” Hob shook his head. “I know Harris, and he has even less love for the faeries than we do.”
“So, he’s not a faerie…but he knows about them?” Felicia hesitated. “Is he a pixie?”
“Not exactly,” Hob said.
“There you are!” Nora exclaimed, hurrying over and handing the jar to Hob. “I don’t want to be responsible for this thing any longer.”
Hob shook his head and smiled. “It’s just a little faerie residue.”
“Well, it’s yours now,” Nora said, grimacing. She glanced over at Felicia and lifted an eyebrow. “What’s going on?”
“I thought I knew who…” Felicia began.
“We’ll talk about it later,” Hob interrupted as a guard walked up.
“The queen has sent a message,” the guard said, bowing. “The meeting is taking longer than expected, but she’ll be back before evenfall.”
At Felicia’s look, Nora whispered, “Dusk.”
“Maybe, we should wait for the queen in the guest quarters,” Hob suggested.
“Good idea,” Nora agreed.
“I don’t suppose we could get something to eat?” Felicia asked.
“An even better idea.” Nora smiled. “Follow me.”
Felicia expected them to go back down to the great hall to eat, but Nora had other ideas. As they walked out to what Felicia thought of as the elevator, Nora took her hand. “Do you like thimbleberries?”
“I’ve never tried them,” Felicia admitted. “They sound good.”
“They are,” Nora agreed. “Let’s go get some right now!”
“Oh no,” Hob replied, rolling his eyes. “This never ends well.”
“What do you mean?” Felicia asked.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Hob said as he and Nora lifted Felicia off the ramp and into the air.
She gasped as they dropped down and flew a few inches above the ground. When she caught her breath, she looked around and smiled. “This is amazing!”
Nora laughed. “I knew you’d like it.” She glanced over at Hob. “Let’s go to the next meadow.”
“There are thimbleberries in this one,” Hob reminded her.
“True, but not as many,” Nora replied, “and the queen won’t be back for hours. We might as well have some fun!”
They flew towards the creek, then turned and followed it through the meadow. “I’ve missed this,” Hob admitted as they skimmed above the water.
“So, have I,” Nora agreed. “I have to say, I prefer being a pixie over a cat.”
Felicia giggled. “I can see why, but you were a very nice cat.”
“Thank you,” Nora replied. “At least, I could go outside…” She paused as a fish jumped up in front of them. “Maybe we should move a little higher.”
“Just what I was thinking,” Hob replied.
As they flew higher, Felicia could see the trees along one side of the meadow and in front of them were large shrubs. “Are those berries?” she asked.
“Some of them.” Nora smiled. “The best ones are just past that row of birches.”
“That’s another creek in the early spring,” Hob explained, “and it divides this meadow from the next.”
“And there they are,” Nora announced, pointing with the hand that wasn’t holding Felicia’s. “Just past that next bend by the large fir trees.”
Felicia saw the forest was getting bigger and seemed more mysterious with the trees growing closer together. “Where do the faeries live?” she asked.
“On the other side of those woods,” Hob replied, “but they don’t use this meadow. They prefer the ones on the other side.”
“It’s so beautiful here,” Felicia said as they slowed down and landed softly on the grass. “If I were a pixie, I don’t believe I’d ever want to leave.”
Nora glanced at Hob. “What do you think?”
Hob shrugged. “Now is as good a time as any.”
“If you could stay,” Nora asked, turning to Felicia, “would you want to?”
Felicia’s eyes grew huge. “Is that even possible?”
“It might be,” Nora replied, “but if you stayed, you wouldn’t be able to go through the portal until someone on the other side opened it.”
Felicia didn’t say anything for a moment, then asked, “Do you think that’s what happened to the apprentice? Could he be trapped here?”
“Not as a pixie,” Nora replied. “The queen would have said something.”
“But what about as a faerie?” Felicia wondered. She looked at Hob. “Could that be possible?”
“I suppose.” Hob considered for a moment. “And it might explain a few things.” He looked at Nora. “The berries are going to have to wait. We need to see the queen even if it means interrupting her meeting.”
“Why?” Nora asked.
“Because if Felicia is right,” Hob replied, “the apprentice was never the problem. The faeries may have been working with someone on the other side all this time, and the queen could be in danger.”
“Let’s hurry!” Nora exclaimed. “It will almost be evenfall by the time we get back.”
“And that’s when faeries are most powerful,” Felicia whispered as they each took one of her hands.
Chapter 22
“If we cut across the woods, we’ll get home more quickly,” Nora said as they flew high into the sky.
“But it will be more dangerous,” Hob replied. "Faeries don't like open spaces in the daytime, and trees would offer plenty of cover."
“You’re right,” Nora agreed. “We’d better go back the way we came.”
This time Felicia didn’t enjoy the view. She was too busy wondering who could be working with the faeries. If it wasn’t Harris, then who could it be?
She thought back to all the people at the chateau who could have put the tracer on her dress. She couldn’t think of anyone who had obviously touched her neck, but she guessed there had been plenty of opportunities is someone had wanted to…especially if they were working with the faeries. Did that mean they had magic?
“Why do you think the queen is in trouble?” she asked Hob, hoping more information might help.
“The faeries have been upset since the last dispute we had with them,” Hob explained. “Let’s just say they’re very poor losers.”
“That’s putting it mildly,” Nora said. “The queen went to the Council and offered to let bygones be bygones. She even allowed them to keep their equal ranking in the council. All she asked was their assurance not to take matters into their own hands again.”
“But the faeries would not accept that,” Hob added. “Ever since, we’ve been wondering if they planned to start more trouble.”
“What did you fight over?” Felicia asked, then gasped as they dove lower.
“Sorry about that,” Hob said. “These air currents can be tricky.”
“The dispute was over the portals,” Nora replied. “The faeries were the ones who insisted on the time differential and most of the council agreed.”
“We’re almost there,” Hob said.
“If you don’t mind, there’s one other thing I’d like to know.” Felicia hesitated for a moment. “Who exactly is this council? I thought it was a group of pixies, but from you’ve just said, it sounds more complicated.”
“You’ll find out soon enough,” Nora replied. She looked over at Hob. “We’re going to be interrupting a council meeting. Are you sure this is a good idea?”
“I’ll do it,” Hob said. “I don’t have as much to lose.”
“That’s not what I meant…” Nora stopped, and Felicia glanced over and saw her grimace. “We’ll do this together.”
They landed by the tree and Felicia glanced down at her outfit, brushing off her skirt. “Do we need to change?”
“No time,” Hob said, walking over to the opening to the grand chamber. “I must see the queen at once!”
“She is occupied with the council,” the guard replied, moving slightly to block Hob’s way.
“We must see her,” Nora said, stepping up next to Hob and bringing Felicia with her. “At once!”
The guard glanced back at the entrance. “I’m not supposed to interrupt them…” When he looked back at Nora, she raised an eyebrow. “At once,” she repeated.
“As you wish, Mistress Nora,” the guard replied, bowing slightly.
“Mistress Nora,” Felicia repeated as they started down the tunnel.
“Her Royal Mistress Nora,” Hob replied, smiling.
Nora glanced over at Hob. “You know I prefer Nora. Sometimes, you can be so annoying.”
“That’s why I do it.” Hob smiled at Felicia. “One of the benefits of being related to royalty. I get to tease her.”
Felicia smiled back. Hob was funny, charming, handsome, smart…everything she’d ever looked for in a man. Did it really matter if he was a pixie?
As Felicia thought about it, she almost ran into Nora, who had suddenly stopped.
“There’s no going back once we turn this corner,” Nora said, looking at Hob.
Hob nodded, then bowed as they entered the grand hall. “Your Majesty, please forgive this interruption, but we must speak with you at once.”
Read another two chapters next Thursday!