Chapter 17 Not So Happily Ever After #2
I keep my expression neutral, my face unchanged even as my heart sinks. What was I thinking, splattering Heartland all over my dress for everyone here to see? Now I’ve called this evil man’s attention to it.
Hand it over.
My necklaces—he wants them.
No. I refuse—
I take a step back, just as a wicked grin overtakes his face.
Necklaces, hm? Wow. I really thought it would be harder to get that out of you.
But you came into my home, a guest at my masquerade, thinking you could steal the crown off my head.
I suppose I shouldn’t have expected you to be anything other than a fool.
His eyes start to glow red, even with the crown on.
I see the darkness in him, the obsession with power.
I remember how the lion said he and his crown were a deadly combination…
a vision of Lord Evernight piercing the protective mists and invading Heartland makes me shudder.
Nothing has ever gotten through before. Everyone would be unprepared.
They would be taken by surprise. And it would be my fault.
I would have literally handed him the key to hurting everyone I love.
My heart clenches with panic as I stumble back, and he steps forward—
Right through the barrier, the gold scattering around him. It hardens behind his back, leaving me trapped in here. With him. “Now,” he says aloud. “We can do this easily… or not so easily.”
I clench my jaw, even as my teeth tremble in my mouth. I’m not just going to hand over my necklaces.
I back against the wall, hands clutched around the charms. Begging them to awaken with magic. Trying to send a warning to Robin somehow.
But the necklaces remain silent, no vibrations, no pink glow. The magic has been completely snuffed out.
I’m powerless to do anything as Lord Evernight sighs and says, “Fine. The not-so-easy way, then.”
With a rush of power, he rips the necklaces right off my throat, and I gasp in pain. My skin burns where the silver chains snapped. He broke them.
I lunge forward, but it’s no use. My limbs lock under his magic’s control. I fall to the ground, head cracking against the stone, arms limp by my sides.
From the ground, I watch him clutch my most prized possessions. My mother’s and Robin’s necklaces, along with the other charms I’ve gathered since. Everything he needs to descend upon my home… and the other lands I’ve journeyed to.
I’ve doomed them all.
“I’m going to pay your land a little visit.” His white teeth gleam in the darkness. “I’ll bet there are many people there for me to draw power from…”
No. My mind fills with my home, with my friends, with everyone who lives in my world. The thought of me putting them in danger… all of them imprisoned… their accessories stolen.
And Robin’s magic, being siphoned for his evil purposes—
I struggle against his hold, but the magic might as well be iron around my bones. The lord just grins at my useless efforts to escape.
“Did you really think you could go against me?” he says, shaking his head in amusement. “You have no magic. You have nothing.”
He’s right. I don’t.
I’m Fateless. I’m reckless. I’m powerless to even move.
And now my land is in danger. He holds the keys. He has the necklaces. He has everything.
The girl might not have magic here, a voice says from the darkness.
The lion guard.
But we do.
And all at once, the lord’s crown flies off his head and across the cell. My limbs come back to me just in time to catch it.
Lord Evernight bellows, his body twisting painfully as he shifts back into that monstrous being. His red eyes burn through the darkness. He lunges toward me. Toward his crown.
Just as all the golden barriers in the hall vanish. Including the one behind him.
And a wall of enchanted creatures rushes forward, every single one of them freed.
Lord Evernight gasps and turns. “Wait!”
Take the crown far away, a voice says.
And it isn’t the lion.
It’s Bartholomew. He’s leading the charge, alongside another group of winged creatures I saw imprisoned.
Now the reason he helped me from the start becomes clear. The reason he materialized now, on this night, to lead me into the masquerade, after so many years away.
He sends images through my mind. Of him, the king of Everland. Until, determining this place didn’t need a monarchy, he stepped down to let the people and animals rule themselves. But his previous right-hand adviser—Lord Evernight—didn’t want to give up his power.
He tricked Bartholomew and stole his crown, the most powerful relic in this land, and used its ability to create an endless masquerade that he invited all enchanted creatures to, its magical music sending them into a trance so he could draw from their powers.
The masquerade became his own personal continuous influx of strength.
The people continued to live normally in the village, clueless about what was actually going on in the manor. Lord Evernight wasn’t interested in them.
And the enchanted creatures continued to attend, even knowing as they went that they may never return, just to see the friends that remained in the manor.
There wasn’t anything they could do to stop Lord Evernight: When they tried to stand up to him, he threw them into the dungeons.
When they tried to hide from the masquerades, he sent his guards to drag them from their homes in the forest.
Soon the enchanted creatures lost their will to fight. Bartholomew had all but given up on the idea that his friends would one day be freed.
When he saw me, someone from another land, who reminded him of wonder and hope, with keys on a necklace, he decided enough was enough.
I knew there was something special in you, he says, his voice coming into my head crystal clear over the din of the freed creatures. Now, go. Take that crown with you. And these.
I watch my necklaces cartwheel from the lord’s grip and careen toward my neck. The clasps latch back on securely, the chains magically repaired.
Thank you, Bartholomew, I say, strumming the charms with relief as, at last, pink light begins to pour through them, awakened by his magic.
Thank you, Barbie.
The crown in my hand lights up pink in return, and Everland begins to fade away, just as the enchanted creatures overtake Lord Evernight, who is screaming—
And I’m flying up out of the prisons, then careening forward.
Shooting stars rush all around me, falling in shrieking streams like rain. I can see the shadow of the next world closing in. It’s becoming clearer and clearer with every inch.
Dreamland. Finally.
Just before I make it there, a firm hand closes around my wrist, pulling me back.
Lord Evernight—
But when I turn around, it’s not him at all.
It’s Robin.