18. Nelle Attempting to Break the Spell
Nelle: Attempting to Break the Spell
After Kit’s stunning revelation, Nelle just wanted to be alone. Well, alone with Kemma. So, after stealing two of the cookies Kit had offered her, she slipped out of the room and wandered the castle, eventually finding herself back in the library.
“Are you sure we should be in here?” Kemma asked, anxiously fluttering outside the door. “I mean, the last time?—”
Nelle hesitated for a moment before throwing back her shoulders and saying, “I will not let my fear keep me out of a room in my home.”
“I don’t know if it’s fear so much as self-preservation,” Kemma muttered as she slowly flew into the room.
“Fair enough,” Nelle said. She began building a fire in the fireplace. “But if there’s a way to break the spell, we need to find it, and the library is one of the few places I can think to look.”
Kemma nodded. “That makes sense. But you didn’t learn spells from books. You learned it from trial and error. So I’m not sure how much help the library is going to be.”
Nelle turned to stare at Kemma. “What do you mean, I didn’t learn it from books?”
Kemma gave a yawn as she landed on the couch and turned in a circle.
“Keep in mind, I didn’t meet you until you were about ten or eleven, when you came to live here.
You couldn’t do much magic at that time, though.
You could create little sparks and make funky smells, but you couldn’t do anything real, if that makes sense.
I mean, you couldn’t perform a lot of magic spells. ”
“Why did I come here in the first place? Do you know?” Nelle wondered as she lit a match and set the tinder in the fireplace ablaze.
“Not really. This was before you turned me into a tressym, so I didn’t pay much attention to the world around me. But from what I could tell, your mom didn’t want you in the royal palace anymore. From what you said, it was too painful for her to have you around.”
Nelle frowned. “Painful? Why?”
“Who knows?” Kemma shrugged. “Well, probably your mom does, but you didn’t. Or, at least, if you did, you didn’t tell me.”
Nelle nodded uncomprehendingly. “So, how did I learn magic?”
“You first started after the Cracked Mirror arrived.” Nelle gave an involuntary shiver, which made Kemma give her a sympathetic look.
“I’d see you enter the mirror room and not come out for hours on end.
And when you came out, you’d go straight to your room, and you’d sleep for days on end.
There were servants here at that time, and they’d try to rouse you, with no success.
Some of them said you were cursed, like your mother. ”
“Like my mother?” Nelle repeated.
“Oh, I forgot. You didn’t know about that. Your mother was the only child of King Kolter and Queen Marissa, but Queen Marissa died in childbirth. After your grandmother’s death, King Kolter married Queen Penelope. Your step-grandmother was…well, she wasn’t a pleasant woman.”
“What do you mean?” Nelle demanded.
“From what I’ve heard—I used to listen to the servants’ gossip, and some of them had met Queen Penelope—she was very vain.
She cared more about her looks than anything else in Afeyra, and she would do anything to keep them, even consort with dark forces.
She was the original owner of the Cracked Mirror, you know. ”
“I didn’t know, but please, continue,” Nelle said as she paced the room.
Kemma nodded and explained, “Well, supposedly, every day, Queen Penelope used to ask the Cracked Mirror if she was the fairest of them all, whatever that meant. And one day, the Cracked Mirror told her that her step-daughter, Snow White, had surpassed her in beauty. So, obviously, instead of realizing that she was a good twenty years older than her step-daughter and letting the issue go, she ordered her huntsman, Sir Marius, to kill the princess.”
“Well, that’s…awful,” Nelle murmured, feeling an unexpected pang of sympathy for her mother.
“It was. But Sir Marius was really close to Snow White, so instead, he helped her escape and promised to come for her when it was safe to go home. He got her set up as a housekeeper for some miners he knew, and that was supposed to be the end. But her step-mother found out and…she was furious. She took it upon herself to hunt the princess down and deal with her permanently.”
Nelle’s eyes widened. “You mean she attempted to kill her own daughter?”
Kemma shook her head. “Step-daughter. And no. The Cracked Mirror warned that if she killed Snow White herself, she’d die too, but she didn’t know who she could trust. So instead, she demanded that it teach her sorcery.
She tried a few spells, and Snow White evaded most of them, but she eventually succumbed to an undying sleep curse, delivered through a poisoned apple. ”
Nelle arched an eyebrow. “A poisoned apple? Isn’t that a bit ridiculous?”
Kemma scoffed. “Don’t complain to me. I’m just telling you what I overheard.”
“Alright, I’ll let that point go, I suppose.” Nelle frowned. “But if she succumbed to an undying sleep, how is she awake now?”
“I was getting to that, if you’d stop interrupting,” Kemma said, rolling her eyes.
“When the miners realized that Queen Penelope had tricked Snow White, they sent word to Sir Marius. Sir Marius came at once, and, somehow—no one knows how, at least from what I heard—he woke her up. A few months later, Queen Penelope disappeared. Again, no one knows what happened or why, but as soon as she vanished, Queen Snow White took the throne. Not long after that, she began using her ice magic.”
Nelle’s eyes widened. “So, she didn’t have any magic when she was on the run from her step-mother?”
“Not that I heard,” Kemma said. “But that doesn’t mean much. From what the servants said, there are a lot of unknowns from when she was in hiding with those miners. She might have been using magic to shield herself from her step-mother, and she just never let the story get around.”
“She must have been very brave,” Nelle murmured, feeling a strange rush of empathy for the voice that had ruled her life for so long.
“Either very brave or very stubborn,” Kemma agreed. “Or maybe both.”
Nelle cocked her head thoughtfully. “What happened to Sir Marius? And the miners?”
“I think Sir Marius disappeared around the same time Queen Penelope did. At least, I heard little about him from the servants. But, from what I heard, the miners are still prominent members of the Coleuran court. You might ask the dragon about them. He’d know for sure.”
Nelle scowled at the mention of Kit. “Maybe,” she said, grabbing a random spell book and plunking it down on one of the nearby tables. She stared at it for a moment, lost in thought.
“What’s wrong?” Kemma asked.
“I just…I don’t know. Maybe I am cursed, like the servants said.” She began flipping to a random page.
“What are you talking about?” Kemma demanded.
“Well, think about it. I’m a screw-up who can’t contain her magic.
And the people I feel closest to—” She stopped, the memory of Will’s disdainful voice and Kai’s admission of being in the queen’s service turning her stomach.
“I told you what they said. They made it clear they didn’t care about me. That I don’t belong.”
“Don’t be silly,” Kemma said, nudging Nelle’s hand with her head. “You’re not cursed. And you belong here. With me and the dragon man.”
“But don’t you see? Kit won’t accept me either. I’m the reason he’s like this. From what the voice said last night, I’m also the reason that his brother’s missing. What’s stopping him from locking me up as soon as I break the spell?”
“I don’t think he’d do that.” Kemma’s voice was full of doubt. “I mean, he didn’t throw you in the dungeon after last night’s debacle.”
“He hasn’t yet,” Nelle murmured. “But then again?—”
“He made you cookies because he saw you were sad,” Kemma pointed out. “That doesn’t sound like he’s going to lock you up once you break the spell.”
“If I break the spell,” Nelle mumbled. “And if I do, what do I do then?”
“Well, and this is just me, but I might suggest restoring your memories. Or maybe figuring out how to get your mother out of your head.” Nelle jumped as Kit entered the room carrying a stack of books. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“Oh, you didn’t startle me,” Nelle lied.
Kit arched an eyebrow, but said nothing. Instead, he put the stack of books down and pulled another one from the shelves, before settling on the couch. After a moment in companionable silence, he murmured, “I wouldn’t, by the way.”
Nelle tore her eyes away from a spell on how to give someone perfect pitch. “Wouldn’t what?”
“I wouldn’t lock you up,” Kit said, not lifting his gaze from the book in front of him.
“I don’t know what your thought process was when you transformed me into this beast, but I’m relatively sure you wouldn’t have done it unless you felt you had no other choice.
Remember, last night? Your mother said she’d had some sort of plan for me, and I doubt it would have been pleasant.
At least in this form, I’m reasonably safe from her grasp. ”
“And your brother?” Nelle couldn’t make her voice go higher than a whisper.
“Robin didn’t…doesn’t need your help to get in trouble.
He started a band of thieves, for Starkind’s sake.
And I can’t say that I think highly of his lieutenants, at least the few I’ve met.
If he hadn’t been searching for answers about me, I’m certain she would have found out or gotten to him another way.
Plus, if and when you get your memories back, you might be able to help me find him.
Your mother did say you could probably figure it out if you had your memories,” Kit pointed out.
He raised his luminescent eyes to meet hers.
“I believe the Maker had a plan, bringing us together. Don’t lose faith yet, snowdrop. ”
Nelle’s heart fluttered. “Snowdrop?”
Kit shrugged and returned his attention to the book in front of him. “You obviously need a nickname that won’t bring up bad memories. And your magic—your magic, not your mother’s—smells like flowers. I thought it was fitting.”
“That’s remarkably sweet of you,” Kemma said. “Quick, say something stupid so we can make fun of you.”
“Not a chance, tressym,” Kit grinned. “I’m not offering myself up for your amusement without a very good reason.”
“What about putting a smile on Nelle’s face? Is that a good enough reason for you?” Kemma shot back.
“I can do that without saying something idiotic,” Kit said, his gaze searing Nelle’s skin.
She shivered and got to her feet. A change of subject was definitely necessary. “So, how much do you know about breaking spells?”
“A bit, but obviously not enough,” Kit admitted. “It largely depends on the method of casting. I’m not sure if the spell was a curse, a hex, a charm, or a ritual. Unfortunately, each type requires a unique method to break it, and if you use the wrong one, it can worsen its effects.”
“Most of your spells are charms,” Kemma said. She flew to a book on one of the far walls. “I think there’s a universal charm breaking spell in here.”
Kit and Nelle shared glances, and he shrugged. “I suppose it can’t hurt too much to try.”
Nelle nodded and retrieved the book. After reading through the spell and making sure she understood it, she murmured the required words, letting the magic build in her hands before, trembling, she pressed them to Kit’s bare chest. He began glowing silver, and for a moment, she thought the spell had worked.
Suddenly, however, both of them were blasted apart. Nelle slammed hard into the bookshelf behind her, sending a series of romance novels toppling down on her head.
“Ow,” she murmured, rubbing her head. She stumbled to her feet and raced to Kit’s side. “Did it—” She stopped when she noted the massive scaley wings that had appeared on his back. “Oh.”
Kit groaned and shook his head. “Well…that didn’t work.”