At first, I thought the feeling was sheer infatuation, and maybe some of it is, but it runs deeper. There is a pull she has on me that I’m not ready to let go of. A pull that I have yet to feel with anyone else I have met in life.
My hand slips out of hers and trails over her elbow and glides up her arm and along her neck until it stops against her cheek. A finger thumbs over her exposed lips and I feel her shudder at the touch. “You don’t have to say anything, but I need you to know that I…that I…I think I’m falling in love with you.”
28
ARIAH
The words “in love with you” hit me harder than anything I’ve ever endured. No one, outside of my parents and sister, has said those words to me, and they certainly didn’t mean it the way he does.
He did say “I think” though, which makes it a little less daunting. These past few weeks have brought a lot of joy and comfort when I’ve been around him. I’ve never known feelings as strong as the ones I’ve developed for Iann, but how am I supposed to know if this is love? What if these heightened emotions are just from the thrill of being here, or maybe it’s all just infatuation because he’s a prince.
Wrapped in my own thoughts, it takes me a minute to realize the musicians have stopped playing. Iann doesn’t move, and everyone around us has ceased dancing, frozen mid-step or twirl.
“Iann?” I wave a hand in front of him and then remove his mask to find a soulless being in his place, unable to blink or move. “Iann!” I shout like the sound of my voice alone can pull him from the trance.
Clap.Clap.Clap.
There is distant clapping from across the ballroom. I step to the side, so Iann is no longer blocking my view. At first, I think it’s a sick, twisted game the Queen conjured, but she stands near us, like she was about to approach, also as still as stone.
“Well done,” someone says from across the room. Rolley steps away from a group of people frozen in mid-conversation. “You, Ariah Tyddel, went from rejecting a notable village boy with rather poor manners, to getting one of the finest princes I’ve ever been in the presence of, to admit his love for you.” He steps onto the dance floor, walking over to me without fear of, or concern for, the unsettling lifelessness around us. “I personally thought you would have gone for Deean had he not foolishly disguised himself. You both have a similar personality and wit. And Marcel, well he was never really an option, was he? But Iann suits you well, I can almost see it being the truest type of love…one day.”
Rolley steps behind a couple who are stone still, and when he comes back into view, he’s no longer himself. His body is completely altered, having shifted into a figure with an abundance of dark curls sweeping low to their waist and bony skin that’s illuminated, as though they smuggle a star in their being. “Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Morrena. I’m the Queen’s fifth Fox and personal enchantress.”
She is also the woman who was waiting in the coach outside my house the day the Queen showed up.
Unable to move, she comes closer to me. Two violet gems rest in her eye sockets and she wears a golden dress lined with fox fur.
When I first arrived, the Queen mentioned a fifth Fox she had sent to Ethmay on assignment. What I didn’t know is that she was an enchantress.
“How old are you?” Is the first question I can summon.
She releases a baleful grin, one filled with secrecy. “Not the politest question but I understand why you’d ask it. Fraya was the second person I was tethered to. All enchanters must be connected with another soul, or our powers remain dormant. I was with her the day she discovered Farella.” She stops a foot away from me. “You see, before we left the island, Fraya had me use every ounce of power I had to so that only her bloodline would be able to see the flowering tree. It drained me so much I was nearly powerless for weeks.”
“Why are you telling me this?” I ask, trying to put together any missing pieces.
“Finders are only allowed to take one flower each. It can either be for yourself or another, but no more than a single blossom. Fraya took it for herself, she was selfish like that, but it also meant I could be tied to her forever. Because we were tethered, my life was hers and it was only her that could release me.” She waves her hand, annoyed at the memory. “She was supposed to come back to Haymel, map out exactly how to get back to Farella, and then return for more flowers that she had promised people, like our shopkeepers’ great-grandfather.
“But Fraya was fickle. She met a man, as a lot of silly women do, and fell in love. To shorten the story let’s just say she ended up pregnant and then found out he was already married. Heartbroken and not the maternal type, she gave the baby to a family by the surname Tyddel. Fredrick is what they named him, he went on to have a son named Isso, and Isso became owner of the apothecary in town. Isso also had a son, Galen Tyddel. By this time Fraya grew depressed and her gambling debts increased as well. She learned of Queen Cayleen’s search for an enchantress, and to relieve herself of her burdens, tied me to the Queen. Fraya then disappeared and I haven’t seen her since.” She leans in addressing me with a conspiratorial whisper, “Are you keeping up, dear?”
“My father is the great-grandson of Fraya Vellen?” I stop as more of her story weaves together. “I can see the tree…”
She claps. “Thank goodness you have a brain. The level of stupidity I have to deal with sometimes is frustrating. Yes, you and your father can see it.”
“Did you know I came up with the idea of the Queen’s Foxes? Was pretty much a matchmaker for your parents. Vera’s parents as well, but that’s a more tragic story that we don’t have time for.”
“Why bring Iann along? He won’t be able to see it?”
“True enough. But finding the island is already a difficult plight. I’ve tried to convince several others to take me there, but no one has been able to make it since Fraya. Your precious prince has a knack for finding things, and I believe he might be able to do what so many have failed at. Plus, he’s needed for other things.” Her grin is wickedly deceitful.
“And Fraya is alive?”
“Unfortunately.” She tosses up a hand in annoyance. “The flower did as many claimed it does, and she’s still somewhere out there. Completely unreachable and probably useless. I’ve searched all over Ladora for her and found nothing. So now you see why I had to move down the line.”
“Why not ask my father? Why me?”
She laughs. “Your father is skilled with poisons but that’s where his discoveries end. And regardless, your father was given a chance.” She walks over to a boy who is mid-dance and plays with the feathers of his mask. “Are we done with all the questions? Time is really running out.”
There are about a million more questions I want to ask her, but there is something about her tone that makes me suddenly feel impatient. “What do you want?”
