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Marilla nodded her head as though a matter had been settled. “Now to answer your question, you are in the night garden of the king of the elves. As to why you are here, I can only suppose it is because you are now officially an unmarried princess of a country within the borders defined by the curse.”
“Curse?” I had never heard of any curse. But then, until a month ago, I hadn’t even known I was related to the king of Solderland. That hadn’t stopped my brother from becoming the king after the distant cousin’s untimely death, or that event from making me a princess. The title fit me like my brother’s boots: clunky, more of a problem than a help, and at times dangerous.
Marilla grunted. “I am uncertain whether it is the king or the land that is cursed, but someone or something is holding this land and the people of the court in its grip. It prevents them from speaking to us, and it drags all of us from our beds every night.” She grimaced. “I am old. I need my sleep. Traipsing all over a fancy garden every night is not my preferred nightly occupation.”
“How many princesses appear every night?” I had seen more figures than the five I had met so far, but some of them had been elves.
“Twelve, now that you are here.” She thumped along the gravel path with her cane. “The four you already met, a three-year-old, twin terrors who relish playing pranks on everyone and exploring the garden until dawn, and three flighty fools who aren’t much older than you. They fancy themselves enamored with the same elf. The poor elf works so hard to evade them, to no success.” She snorted. “If they knew the trouble that marriage brings, they wouldn’t be so eager to sign up for it. Elves live so long that a bad matching would quickly degrade into a nightmare.”
“You speak as though you have experience.”
She laughed weakly. “Married thrice and buried them all. Not by my choice, mind you.”
“But I thought…” I stopped myself. “No, you said nothing about the princesses being married before.”
“The curse doesn’t seem to be too discerning on that front. Ivy and Mable are both widows. Ivy birthed a slew of daughters and married them off before they could get into any trouble. Not a happy marriage in the batch.” She flashed me a sly grin. “Don’t judge marriage too harshly, though. A good match will make you wish it would never end.”
“Were your husbands—”
“Now, you can’t expect me to disclose all of my secrets.” She winked. “There should be a bench around the corner here. Settle me there and then you can go looking for answers on your own.”
“Surely you can tell me more.”
Marilla hmphed. “I know very little beyond what I have told you. Here we are and here we appear every evening the moment we fall asleep. So it has been for a year, and so it will continue until that elf king works out how to break the curse. For victims of a curse, our circumstances aren’t severe. He attempts to be a suitable host for the first few hours of every night. Some sleep loss, good food, and a bit of entertainment isn’t a horrible lot. At least we still have our tongues.”
We turned the corner in the hedge and, just as she predicted, there stood a bench. “At last!” She released my arm and tottered over to settle wearily onto the cushioned wooden seat.
“What do you mean? Have the elves lost their tongues?”
She snorted in a very unladylike manner. “I haven’t inspected any of the elves’ mouths, but the attendants in the garden every night don’t speak a word. Now shoo. You have questions, I have no more answers, and I wish to rest. Curiosity is exhausting.” She leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes.
Not wishing to return to the dance floor, I turned onto the next unexplored path in the hedge maze and set off at a slow pace. Within only a few steps, the world beyond the hedge faded from my senses. The music disappeared. Only a breeze rustling the leaves in the hedge and the distant hooting of an owl reached my ears. The night closed in, held back by a few fairy lights in the bushes.
Then I turned a corner. The path widened into a broad square space covered by a carpet of thick grass. The gravel surface beneath my feet petered out into lush softness. In the center of the square stood a statue of a male figure, long-limbed and tastefully clothed. The glow of a light source embedded in the pedestal’s base threw shadows over the surface and enticed me to approach and survey the figure more closely.
He was handsome in a cold, regal way. Standing tall, with his face turned toward the castle looming far above the tops of the hedges, his gaze appeared fixed on the tallest tower of the fortress. Something about him made me want to see his expression. I peered up at the statue’s features, but I couldn’t make out much from the ground. Backing up, I stumbled and caught myself.
Tearing my attention away from his face, I searched the base of the statue for an indication of who he might have been. Finally, I found an inscription in flowing Elvish, a language I could not speak or read. As I stood trying to memorize the swoops and flourishes so I could try to have them translated later, a rustle behind me made my hair stand on end. I wasn’t alone.
“You are trespassing.”
Chapter Two
Emrys
She turned around. Wide-eyed, she searched the shadows where I stood, offering me the perfect opportunity to examine her without her knowledge. Barefoot and bundled in a worn velvet robe the color of emerald moss, her form was obscured by the plenteous fabric. She was a tiny thing, even for a human. Was she even full-grown? Mentally measuring her against the adult princesses infesting my palace grounds, I knew for certain she wasn’t nearly as tall. Had I gained yet another child princess to care for?
“My apologies. I was told I could explore. Was that incorrect?” Her dark eyes watched the hedge a little to my left. A slight frown pulled at her generous mouth. She peered into the wispy shadows that I had gathered around me when she had first intruded on my haven. Not a hint of fear flickered among the interest in her inquisitive gaze.
“That depends,” I answered.
Her eyebrows, slender wings of darkness against her pale skin, rose. “On what?”
“Who you are.”
She considered this for a moment, tilting her head slightly to the side. Her eyes glinted beneath dark lashes. I couldn’t discern their true color, but they were alight with intelligence and a flicker of amusement. “There is something exceptionally odd about introducing oneself to a hedge. Might I see your face?”
I let my shadow form to slip slightly, allowing her to see the outline of my figure against the backdrop of leaves.
