6. Evangeline
Evangeline
“Oh, how delightful,” LaLa chimed. “I haven’t seen them do that in…
” She trailed off. “I actually don’t suppose I’ve ever seen that.
Although…” Her voice faded again as she watched the curious sign flicker and shimmer before dispersing and turning into an uneven row of lights that lined a path made of stones and creeping thyme.
Evangeline was still slightly annoyed that this Emporium had tacked its Grand Opening sign onto her Grand Reopening sign, but she could already feel herself being charmed as she and LaLa started along the glowing path.
The entry to the Emporium of Else was just ahead, and it was so tangled up in the trees and undergrowth that Evangeline couldn’t tell if the forest had given birth to the Emporium, or if the forest was consuming it.
Violet, pink, and indigo flowers, matching the shades of the postcard, grew out of windows, spilling down to the ground and then wrapping around the stone walls, which were covered in wild ivy.
The roof was a checkerboard of white and green moss, with hints of a cobbled fireplace that had branches peeking out through the cracks.
This wasn’t the whimsical magic of the Hollow. But it felt like magic nonetheless—old magic, the magic of fairytales before they were cursed and forests before they were tamed.
Evangeline felt as if the steps underneath her feet might crumble as she approached the front door.
It was arched, with three teardrop windows at the top and a carving in the center of a tree hung with stars.
The stars were a little lopsided, with uneven points that added to the Emporium’s strange beauty.
It was a place too feral to be considered pretty.
Evangeline thought of the old fairytales her mother used to tell at night, full of magic mirrors hanging on walls, stands packed with dancing slippers, and harps that could sing songs.
The doorknob to the Emporium felt surprisingly warm and heavy as she turned it.
In fact, she was rather surprised she could turn it.
There was something about this place that made her feel as if it should have been secret, a place only found on long-lost maps or whispered about in the dark corners of old pubs.
She dared to think it was the sort of place even Jacks would like.
He’d probably say it was too pretty. But the Emporium was more than that.
On the other side of the door, the air was sugar and salt on the tip of her tongue.
The Emporium’s interior appeared to be all sugar and salt as well.
One part fairytale wood, one part palace glitter.
The labyrinthine shop was formed of speckled stone and wooden branches growing out of walls and curving overhead.
The loveliest things hung from the branches—white velvet ribbons lined with lace, crystal chandeliers that sparkled with rose-gold shards of light and made gentle tinkling music as little dragons landed on them.
They were unlike any dragons that Evangeline had ever seen, with tufts of speckled fur on their ears and the tips of their tails, almost as if they could be part kitten.
One flew toward LaLa, going straight for the sparkle of the golden bracelets on her arms. Within seconds, the rest followed.
Dragons loved treasure, and from the way LaLa responded to the attention—petting and cooing—she clearly loved these little dragons. “I told you this place would be intriguing,” she said.
Evangeline couldn’t argue. Despite herself, she was enchanted. And yet there was an uncanniness to this place that she couldn’t put her finger on.
There were no other visitors inside. The only other person Evangeline saw was a bored-looking young man just beyond the entry.
His leather boots were propped on a wooden table that might have been growing out of the ground.
Dirt and emerald leaves crawled up its legs, and vines and leaves also clung to the young man’s leather boots, giving the impression that he was part of the Emporium, too.
His face had a knife-sharp quality like Jacks’s, but it was the tips of his ears that drew Evangeline’s attention.
She could see sharp points peeking out of his black hair.
Evangeline could hardly believe it.
“LaLa,” she whispered, and she might have been a little too loud, a little too excited, because the young man turned her way.
“What is it?” LaLa asked.
Evangeline leaned in closer. “I think that’s a fairy.”
LaLa laughed. “I don’t know what kind of stories Jacks has been telling you, but fairies aren’t real.”
“Yes, they are. I was reading about them today.” Evangeline paused, expecting the story curse to stop her, but she was able to speak with ease. “They have pointed ears, but they can glamour them except for the first time you lay eyes on them.”
LaLa’s pretty mouth wrinkled. “I’ve never heard that before.”
“Maybe you’ve just forgotten,” Evangeline said. “My book also said something about memories of them being erased.”
“Perhaps,” LaLa murmured, frown deepening as she and Evangeline took another covert look at the young man in question, but of course the points at the tips of his ears were gone. He was just sitting there, bored and beautiful, and his eyes were on LaLa now.
“Do I know you?” he asked, his voice earthy and low.
LaLa smiled brilliantly. “You’ve probably seen me in the scandal sheets.”
“I don’t think so.”
“I was supposed to marry Robin Slaughterwood. It was a great scandal.”
“No. That’s not it.” The young man who-might-have-been-a-fairy narrowed his eyes.
It was the first time in a while that Evangeline wasn’t the one under scrutiny. This young man hadn’t even spared her a glance. Until suddenly, as if the thought had summoned him, his head snapped in her direction. “No outside dragons allowed.”
“I don’t have—” Evangeline’s protest ended as Bruce flew out from behind her back. His slate-blue wings flapped excitedly, as if to say, “Hello!”
How had Evangeline not noticed him trailing her? She knew that Jacks was always saying dragons were not pets, but she felt rather responsible for the ones that lived in the Hollow. “What are you doing so far from home?”
Bruce shot out two puffs of sparks followed by a tiny squeak of smoke.
Which could have meant anything.
Evangeline was always asking her dragons questions, convinced that one day she would be able to decipher their puffs and squeaks, but today was sadly not that day. Bruce was probably simply trailing her in the hopes of eating more pie.
“You poor sweet thing.” This part of the forest was so dark, she hated to leave the little fellow out there alone.
There were forest dragons who loved caves and dark, but the dragons of the Hollow loved light.
If Evangeline forgot to leave a lantern on in the tavern before she went to bed, she’d wake the next morning to find a whole delight of tiny dragons sleeping at the bottom of her door, singeing it with their snores.
“Is it all right if he just stays close to me?” she asked the young man who-might-have-been-a-fairy.
“Either you leave or it leaves.” He shrugged as if it made no difference to him.
“Do you know your way home?” Evangeline asked Bruce gently.
Bruce snorted more indecipherable sparks, but this time she took them to mean yes.
“Fly back to Jacks,” Evangeline told him. “He needs your company more than I do.” She let Bruce out and watched him flutter off before she stepped back inside.
She snuck another covert look at the young man who-might-have-been-a-fairy. There were still no pointed ears, but Evangeline swore his appearance had once again shifted. He looked a little more handsome than before.
Other than the vines trailing up his boots, he was dressed very fashionably, in tall brown leather boots, oak-brown trousers, and a green velvet doublet with golden buttons.
His jaw was still sharp, but his green eyes were warmer.
Perhaps it was just that he was smiling now.
Everyone looked better with a smile. His was very nice, and yet there was something just a little bit off about it.
There were flutters of a second when his mouth looked cruel and flat.
But then Evangeline blinked, and he was smiling again as he unwrapped a caramel from the jar on his table.
He made her think of Jacks before he was her Jacks. She continued to wonder if maybe this young man was a fairy, or if she just really wanted him to be.
Her book had warned her about fairies, and Jacks had as well, but the part of her that was forever curious about magic and mysteries was thrilled by the idea of meeting a fairy.
And Jacks had only warned her about fairy bargains, and Evangeline had no plans to enter into one of those.
She just wanted to look around. LaLa had said it was a wise idea to spy on the competition.
Beyond the desk, growing in the center of the room, was a lovely sort of tree, a kind Evangeline had never seen before.
It had burnished gold and pale green branches that appeared to be sprouting trinkets as if they were flowers—lockets, charms, rings with small stones.
The trinkets didn’t appear to be anything that special, but there was a sign popping out of the ground next to the tree with the words Wonderly Whatnots.
Evangeline had no idea what the words meant, but they made her feel as if she needed more signs around her Hollowfest tents. She turned to ask LaLa her thoughts. But LaLa appeared to have wandered off.
Evangeline felt a bit abandoned, though she could hardly blame her friend.
This place was designed to encourage wandering.
Everywhere Evangeline looked, she saw dazzling bits and bobs, little hooks meant to draw a person’s attention—particularly someone like LaLa, who was always looking for the next shiny new thing.
Then there were all the crooked signs, tacked here and there and everywhere:
This way!
That way!
The Other Way!
Don't look away!
Don't ignore this room!
Don't go there—go here!
Evangeline definitely needed more signs.
Each sign pointed to a different corridor that led off the large main room.
At a glance, the number of rooms looked endless.
Some were quite small, merely containing one item, like a white spinning wheel in a room full of straw.
Other rooms were sprawling, like the one with all the slippers.
There were glass slippers, gold slippers, ruby slippers, slippers covered in sugary gumdrops.
And all had little labels attached that said things like Put on before sleep to wear in your dreams or These will lead you to the love of your life.
It was almost exactly what she had imagined before entering: fairytale magic.
Evangeline stopped in a room full of ribbons. Spools and spools of ribbons. Some were patterned, some were lace, some were velvet, some were gossamer-light, some changed color before her eyes. And they were all strangely tempting.
But she didn’t need any fairy ribbons. She and LaLa probably needed to leave and get back to the Hollow. As much as Evangeline liked fairytale magic, there was an intoxicating quality to this magic that made her feel as if it would not be wise to drink in too much of it.
“LaLa,” she cried, just as she felt a tug on her belt. One of the furry little dragons from the entrance had followed her in.
“Oh hello,” she said.
The dragon snuffled, and then it snapped up her coin purse with its tiny sharp teeth.
“Give that back!” Evangeline tried to sound commanding, but the furry little dragon flapped its wings and fluttered off. For such a small creature, it was incredibly fast. Evangeline tried to snatch her coin purse back, but within seconds the dragon was out of reach and snorting sparks of laughter.
Evangeline chased it down the hall, past curious doors and peculiar rooms, until the air turned from late-summer-fruit sweet to earthy damp and fresh-cut wood, as if she were reaching the end of the Emporium and the start of the forest.
She slowed her steps as the stretches between the doors grew longer.
Perhaps she needed to forget the coin purse.
But the dragon was only a few feet away now, hovering in the middle of the hallway.
Evangeline sprung forward.
The dragon darted through the closest door, coins jangling loudly in Evangeline’s purse. She followed quickly, but she didn’t see the tricksy little creature anywhere.
The room was all fog and mist. It covered the floor, so thick it went up to her calves, concealing her slippers and the ribbons tied around her ankles.
A chill shivered through her. There was nothing in the room save for the fog and a mirror, which the fog was pouring out of.
Clearly, this was fairy magic. As she took another step, her skin prickled with gooseflesh and the tips of her hair turned damp from the fog, and Evangeline felt a thrill that she hadn’t felt in a while.