Spell Bound - Chapters 23 & 24
Happy Friday! We’re a little late this week, but we do have an update on our secret project. We’ve been working on a Lavender Cottage Library that’s easy to access to read the stories…some for FREE and others for a low monthly rate.
We’ve been looking at different platforms, and after a few false starts, it looks like Patreon is going to work best. Their new Collections section lets us post entire books a few chapters at a time. We’ve only posted fairytales so far, and you can see them HERE.
These include our Enchanted Fairytales, Elemental Fairytale…and a new Work in Progress, our first Adventure Fairytale. (You can see the Collections tab underlined below at the bottom of the image.)
We’re also happy to share that our Elemental Fairytale campaign just ended on Kickstarter…but we have LATE Pledges open through July 3. You can still pledge to any tier until then, so please take a look if you’d like SIGNED paperbacks or hardcovers.
And now, the next two chapters of Spell Bound: An Enchanted Fairytale 2.
Chapter 23
As the queen slowly stood up, Felicia saw there was another woman next to her and some men across from them.
“Please excuse me,” the queen said, bowing slightly to the others. Felicia could not see them clearly, but she didn't think they were pixies. Maybe they were faeries, but she doubted it since the woman didn't have any wings. At least one of the men seemed to be wingless as well.
As the queen glided over to them, she arched an eyebrow. “I assume this is important enough to cause such an interruption?”
Nora nodded, and they followed the queen into one of the smaller chambers.
“What is it?” the queen asked, turning as Hob closed the door behind them.
“I’m sorry,” Nora replied, “but this couldn’t wait.”
“We have reason to believe there is someone working with the faeries on the other side of the portal,” Hob said. “And we have proof that the faeries are involved. The residue from the tracer on Felicia’s dress is silver.”
The queen’s eyes widened slightly. “I see. Is that everything?”
“We thought you should know…” Nora began, but stopped at the queen’s look.
“I must return to the others.” The queen glanced at Felicia, then back to the pixies. “We already suspected the faeries might be involved. I’m guessing there’s another reason you would interrupt me with the Council?”
“Felicia wondered if the apprentice could be trapped here.” Hob hesitated. “Have the faeries said anything about him?”
The queen held his gaze for a moment, then her eyes softened slightly. “Actually, I was told in confidence earlier today that the apprentice might be a pawn in all this.” She hesitated. “I do appreciate your concern, but right now, I need to get back to the council.”
As she reached the door, the queen looked back. “And you’d better get Felicia ready for her first party. We’re having a royal ball tomorrow night.”
When the door closed, Felicia looked at Nora. “A royal ball? Is that a common occurrence?”
“No,” Hob replied. “And it doesn’t give us much time to figure out what’s really going on.”
“What do you mean?” Felicia asked.
“If your theory about the apprentice is correct,” Nora replied, “this might be our only chance to contact him.” She smiled. “This royal ball will be held in the faerie court. It’s their turn, which will make this much easier.”
“And also, much more dangerous,” Hob warned. “We’re going to need some help.”
“Who do you have in mind?” Nora asked.
“Our contact on the other side of the portal,” Hob said. He glanced over at Felicia. “Care to make a guess?”
“Harris,” Felicia replied, her eyes sparkling. “That’s why you said he couldn’t be working with the faeries.”
“Of course, he wouldn’t be,” Nora said, shaking her head. “He’s a gnome.”
“A gnome?” Felicia repeated. “How can he be a gnome…I mean, he doesn’t look like a…” She stopped. “Okay, I’ve been wrong about a lot of things, but wouldn’t a gnome look like something other than a human? Maybe shorter…or something???”
Nora covered a smile. “I know this is a lot to take in, and we haven’t actually explained everything to you.”
“Gnomes don’t have wings,” Hob said, “which means they can pass as human much more easily than pixies or faeries. Of course, trolls are another story.”
“Trolls?” Felicia felt the room starting to spin a bit. “There are trolls?”
“Well, they are having a council meeting,” Hob replied. “You just saw one…”
“Hob, you’re scaring her,” Nora said. “Come on, Felicia. Let’s go up to my quarters, and we’ll explain everything. I promise, you’re in no danger here.”
Felicia nodded and took Hob’s arm as they walked back through the tunnel. Rather than climb the stairs, Hob and Nora flew her up to the tree bridges.
“It’s just on the other side,” Nora said. “I’ll make us something to eat, then we’ll tell you everything.”
Chapter 24
After dinner, Nora turned to Felicia. “Let’s start with Harris.”
“All right.” Felicia hesitated. “Does this mean Tim is a gnome, too?”
“He is,” Nora agreed. “They’ve known Oliver for quite a while, so when the queen asked for a volunteer…” She paused and looked at Hob. “We’d better start from the beginning.”
Hob nodded. “The queen has known Oliver for a very long time. Well, long from your side of the portal.” He smiled at Felicia. “Oliver is a candlemaker and an herbalist, a historian, a lover of books, and a keeper of knowledge. And I’m not entirely sure he’s actually human, but he has always been a friend to the pixies.”
“When the queen asked us to guard the portal six weeks ago, Hob and I were happy to do it,” Nora explained. “We didn’t know we’d end up on your side for three years.”
“We thought the apprentice had lured us over by pretending to be Oliver,” Hob explained, “but if he is a pawn in all this…” He stopped and looked at Nora. “Do you suppose it was no accident that we were the ones on duty when the apprentice opened the portal?”
“Let’s save the speculations for later,” Nora replied, “and stick with what we know. She turned to Felicia. “Pixies and faeries have more restrictions on how we can interact with humans than gnomes or elves.” She smiled slightly. “Or trolls.”
“After the last truce between the faeries and pixies,” Hob continued, “it was agreed that we would not assume human size on the other side. If we did, we would lose the ability to use our wings forever.”
Felicia’s eyes grew large. “So, that’s why you were stuck as a cat and a parrot…rather than posing as humans like Harris and Tim.”
“Of course, if I’d known it would be three years, I might have chosen to be a human,” Hob admitted. “Luckily, we thought we’d be getting back any day, so we never considered it.”
“Being a cat wasn’t so bad,” Nora said, smiling slightly. “I did have fun running past Mrs. Havermale.”
They all laughed, and Felicia realized she felt much better, but there was still one thing she wanted to know. “Can you tell me about the trolls?”
“Trolls, elves, and gnomes are the other three groups in our council,” Hob replied. “The woman who was sitting next to the queen tonight is a gnome. The man on her right is a faerie and the one next to him is an elf.”
“So, the man I saw was the troll?” Felicia asked in surprise. “But he looked so…normal.”
“What did you expect him to look like?” Hob asked.
“Well, you know, big and hairy. Long arms, short legs…” Felicia stopped and shook her head. “Like in the books.”
Nora giggled. “Those are ogres, not trolls.”
“Do you have those here?” Felicia asked, glancing around before she could stop herself.
“No,” Hob assured her. “As far as I know, those are only in stories.”
“That’s a relief,” Felicia said, more to herself than the others. “So, gnomes and elves…and trolls can go through the portal, but you cannot?”
“They still need someone to open the other side,” Hob said. “Usually, Oliver does that. As far as I know, he’s never asked elves or trolls to visit, but the gnomes help him quite a bit with his gardens.”
“Like the flowers under the glass pergola!” Felicia stood up in excitement. “Now, that makes sense. I wondered how all those flowers could be blooming so early with the snow on the ground.”
“Actually, that was Oliver,” Nora replied. “I don’t know how it works, but he has a lot of information in those books.” She paused. “I hope you don’t regret coming through the portal. You could be learning so much right now.”
“I don’t regret anything,” Felicia assured her. “In fact, I’m going to read through the Apprentice’s Handbook one more time to see if I can find anything that might help us.” She stood up. “Thank you for dinner…and everything.”
Nora took her arm. “Let me walk you back to the guest quarters. And don’t forget, tomorrow is going to be a busy day. We’ve got to get you ready for the ball.”
“I have my own fairy godmother…” Felicia stopped and smiled. “I mean, pixie godmother. Thank you, Nora.”
Hob watched them walk out and wondered if he should tell them. Oliver had sworn him to secrecy, but now he wasn’t so sure. What if Oliver was wrong? He tried to put it out of his mind as he cleared the table. Maybe doing the dishes would make him feel less guilty.
Read another two chapters on Thursday!