She wondered why they always came to see off the bride. Were they here to make sure that she boarded the carriage? Would they try to stop her if she ran? Or were they just curious? Did they want to see her tears?
Whatever had drawn them here, Lily decided she wouldn’t give them any satisfaction. Keeping her head down to avoid recognition, she reached the carriage in quick steps and boarded it without another glance at the silent group of peasants. She shut the door behind her and scooped into a dark corner. The carriage set off.
It wasn’t far to the castle. Soon, they reached an even, cobbled road leading straight there. No one used it nowadays because villagers lived in perpetual fear of their demonic ruler.
And on the other side of the castle was a city inhabited by the magic folk. Humans feared it like fire and whispered horrid tales about it. It was supposed to be full of dark magic and strange creatures who reveled in human blood and kidnapped human babies.
Whenever someone started talking about it, Lily asked them whether they knew of any kidnapped babies or slaughtered farmers, and no one could answer her. But they kept gossiping and fearing magic creatures.
So, the road was empty, but Lily kept the veil on her face. Until she reached the castle, she wouldn’t risk revealing herself. And human fear of monsters was now to her advantage. In the castle, they only knew to expect a young virgin for the king. No one from the village would come to give them more details about the chosen bride.
An hour passed, maybe a bit longer. Finally, the carriage slowed down, then it got briefly darker when it passed under a portcullis. They were inside.
Lily waited for someone to come and fetch her. Her heart hammered in her chest and beads of nervous sweat trickled down her face like tears. She clenched and unclenched her hands, wishing to be anywhere but there.
Chapter III
The carriage door opened. A small, wrinkled face peered up.
“Hello, miss,” said a girly voice, incongruous with how old the speaker looked. “I’m your maiden servant, Goula. I am a goblin but I don’t eat children.”
The goblin servant let out a peal of sweet, girlish laughter. Lily blinked down at her, too astonished to speak. Goula stopped giggling and gave her a broad smile, revealing two rows of white, pointy teeth.
“I find that a joke sometimes helps young brides relax. But it must have not been very funny, yes? I apologize. Will you please follow me, young bride?”
Lily got out of the carriage and looked around. They were standing in a small courtyard, completely alone apart from the cloaked driver, who soon disappeared in one of the multiple doors leading inside the castle.
The doors intrigued Lily: some of them were tall, much too tall for humans; others reached only about two feet up from the ground. Lily’s curiosity was now stronger than her fear andcaution, so she threw her veil back to see better. Goula looked at her, nodded once with satisfaction, and walked with tiny steps toward the tallest door. Lily followed.
The doors opened as if by magic. Maybe it was magic, for all Lily knew. Or maybe someone invisible stood behind the doors, just waiting to open them for visitors.Invisible. That would be magic, too, wouldn’t it? She giggled. Then she stopped, angry at herself for letting her nerves have the upper hand. She shouldn’t titter like a silly girl.
The cool, wide corridor they entered was lit by torches in sconces high up on the walls. It seemed to be built for giants. Lily was too short to reach any of the torches, or even the doorknobs in the doors they passed.
“This is the main part of the castle. It’s the master’s dwelling,” chirped Goula.
Lily shivered. That would explain the size of everything. No master should be expected to bend in his own castle only to reach a doorknob.
“How tall is he?” she asked, after having let the question sit shyly on her tongue.
“Tall enough,” said Goula. “You’ll see soon. But not today.”
“No?” asked Lily, surprised. She thought she would be spending most of her time here with the monster trying to conceive a monster child. “What will I be doing today, then?”
Goula gave her a level look.
“Bathing.”
She led Lily to a huge room with a stone floor and walls covered in dark wood. Windows, high up on the walls and out of her reach, had panes of colorful, frosted glass. The light they letinside stained the bath blue, green, red, yellow. A deep pool in the middle of the room was filled almost to the brim with water. Apart from that, Lily could see tubs of various sizes, some filled with steaming water, others empty.
“Undress,” Goula said and left the room.
Lily gnashed her teeth, holding back an undisciplined sob. With precise movements, she slipped her dress over her head and stood naked, still alone in the vast room.
She didn’t know what to do. Should she just enter one of the tubs? But soon, she heard voices coming from the corridor. Female voices, which was a comfort, but still… She covered herself with her dress. The door opened and three women, who couldn’t possibly be human, walked inside.
Lily knew right away who they were. Previous brides couldn’t stop talking about them. Half-human, half-fairy. Too uncannily beautiful to ever fit in the human world. Too human to rise above the rank of a common servant in the monster world. But the King valued them and gave them a purpose.
They were fairy godmothers to every new bride. They helped, assisted, taught them everything they should know for their meeting with the king.
