The Lady-in-Waiting

Chapter 15

Lucinda

I decide to visit Adventurous again. I miss him. I'm glad he was with us when we "defeated" Baba Yaga, but now I feel as if every day that I'm Zora is a day wasted. I wish I never took her on the trip to Lopegin. Why had Father hired her? She's evil after all and a witch. And the spell she cast proves that.

"Lucinda, are you still worried about your powers?" Adventurous asks me.

"Sometimes," I admit. "But I think they're more under control."

"I wonder what would happen if I had used my powers often as you did," says Adventurous

"Why did you have powers?" I ask. "You never told me. You have a royal gem, but you're not a royal, as much as I wish you were."

"I don't know," says Adventurous. "Maybe I'm descended from royals or fairies. Honestly, I wish I knew who my parents were. I just have my adoptive parents. They're nice and loving, but it's not the same."

"Your birth family isn't necessarily your only one," I say. "I had Kara and now I have Brigitta and David. They're all my family in a way. You're kind of like family. Who knows? Maybe you'll be my brother-in-law."

I laugh.

"There's no way I'll ever go out with Milicent if I'm a horse," says Adventurous. "Stupid Zora."

"I wonder what she's planning right now."

"Maybe she's not planning anything."

"I know, but she's Zora. She planned to turn people into animals. She planned to switch our bodies. Who knows? Maybe she's working with Baba Yaga."

"That isn't always how things work, Lulu. Maybe she's not evil. Maybe she's just someone who's been through a lot and is mentally hurt. This isn't good versus evil. It's Lucinda versus a magical situation. So, as much as I don't like Zora, she could be just living life."

"My life," I protest, standing up. "I have an idea. I have to go find Colette."

_______

I find Colette in the palace. She's walking down the hallway, scrolling through her phone.

"Colette!" I exclaim. "We have to talk! I have an idea of how to find the spell I need!"

"Quite!" says Colette. "Zora's close by. She could hear!"

"I want her to hear!" I say. "At least right now. I know a way to defeat her. Let's find a sitting room."

We find an enclosed sitting room and sit down on the comfy chairs. Colette turns off her phone.

"What is it?" she asks. "Why did you want her to hear ?"

"You know how Zora and I switch bodies for an hour?" I ask. "She can go wherever she wants in that hour. And if you can suggest something to her, maybe she can lead me somewhere."

"Where?" asks Colette. "Maybe I know where it is."

"Probably not," I say. "After we switched bodies over the holidays, I found that I had spellbooks I had never seen before. I asked Felicity about them and she said that they could have come from our palace's spellbook room, which is closed off. I barely know anything about it, but Felicity told me that it has a big selection of rare and old spellbooks. Every Solisian palace has one. Maybe if Zora could find the Norillian one, with a suggestion from her fairy godmother, she could find the one in the Lopegin palace. Then, I can transform and look for spells."

"Good idea!" exclaims Colette. "I never thought of that! I'll remind her of the spellbook room. If I can convince her to go, I'll call you tomorrow when you get there."

My phone buzzes and I check it. My eyes widen as I read it. Dinner Date with Eli: 6 pm.

_______

After getting ready, I go to the restaurant written on my calendar below the notification for the dreaded date. I have no romantic interest in Eli. How am I supposed to go on a date with him? I enter the restaurant alone. If only this were a date with George. If that were the case, I'd be more excited. I find Eli and sit across from him.

"You look beautiful!" he exclaims.

I look at the long-sleeved blue dress I chose. I guess I look pretty. It's nice to get a compliment. But I know he meant it for Zora.

"Thank you," I say. "So, have you been to this restaurant before?"

"Often," Eli answers. "But just for family stuff. My family liked to come here. Kind of like how you liked to go to the cafe near the palace. I told you the other day, remember?"

"Yeah," I say, lying. "The other day when we were..."

"...In the field after we went to that new lunch place," Eli finishes. "Don't worry. I have a good memory. If you forget something, just ask me."

I can't lie to him anymore. I can't pretend I'm Zora anymore. I try to keep from revealing anything, but I tell him the truth.

"Eli, it's not that I'm forgetting this," I say. "It's that I wasn't there. You probably won't believe this, but I'm not the Zora you've been dating. A month ago, Zora, who used to be my lady-in-waiting, switched our bodies to the trip to Lopegin. I mean, it could have been an accident. She could regret it. But anyway, I took her wand before she could finish the spell, so one hour of the day, twelve to one, our lunch break, is when we're in our bodies. That's why I always blow away your hat then. That's why we always go on lunch dates. That's why I have my wind gem. I'm Lucinda, heir to the throne of Norillia."

I take off my wind gem and Eli examines it. He looks angry, which means he probably believes me

"Lucinda, why did you lie to me?!" Eli protests. "You could have told me when we met. You could have at least told me before we started dating."

"I thought I could break the curse first!" I protest. "Then you could date the real Zora as you have been."

"I don't know if I want to!" he protests, getting up and walking away. "You both lied. Neither of you told me."

He leaves and I leave as soon as I can't see him anymore.

_______

The next day, Eli won't talk to me. I wonder if he confronted Zora. Right now, I'm looking at a large library, every book with its magical name. My plan worked and Zora found the Lopegin spellbook room. It's alphabetized. I find a section of transformation books. There are so many. I grab one and open it up. I skim the whole book and find nothing that I think I could do. I check an easier book and find nothing that could break the spell. The time flies as I search the library. I'm sure I'll leave it way less organized than I found it. After skimming all the transformation books, I look through the spell reversal books. After that, I don't know what else to do, so I find a book on wind gems.

Finally, I find something interesting. The ultimate form. The most powerful a royal can be. If a royal has mastered the powers of their gem and gained control of them, they can unlock a form using strong determination. That form turns the royal into a creature of magic. In my case, I'd be made of wind magic. If royal gems have any connection to a spell, they can be used to break one. I've realized that my royal gem teleports with myself, or rather my soul at noon. My royal gem is connected to me in a way. That means that I can use the ultimate form to reverse the spell Zora cast. And I think I even have an idea of when I can defeat her. I hear there's a party coming up and I'm invited.