The Cursed Wish

Ch 16: The Trial of Fairies

Her feet carried her to the ballroom faster than she expected. Whatever magic the evil fairy had done to connect them certainly took no time to do its job.

There was no shortage of guests packed into the massive room. Estefania had half-expected most guests to stay home because of the fairy's threat, but she supposed they wanted front-row seats at the show.

Even the royal family sat on their thrones, waiting for the spectacle to begin. The king laughed at a woman sitting by his side who was not his wife while the queen stared out at her people with her nose in the air. Avangelique gripped Lorenzo's hand so hard that both her hand and his were white.

Only Fletcher stood leaning against his cane. Estefania couldn't imagine the pain he was in just to be present for his people. She admired his strength and dedication.

"Good to see the Cyrans are taking this seriously," Elowen said. "Though the king is rather publicly caressing Dowager Duchess de Ryne."

She'd nearly forgotten Elowen was by her side. The girl seemed practically fearless. She'd even tried to offer Estefania her crown, but the princess declined. Jewels wouldn't help her defeat a fairy.

Her gaze caught on the king again. It was so strange that he looked as young as his sons. Even the woman in his arms looked decades his senior. The Dowager Duchess de Ryne was Nathaniel's mother, after all.

"Fletcher and Nathaniel wouldn't let them treat the fairy's threats like a joke," Estefania said. "They both care too much."

Their father, though... Estefania liked to think there was good in everyone, but she was seriously doubting the King of Cyra. He'd let his own sons suffer so he could stay young.

"You sense it too then," the voice from her head curled around the hall like a snake.

"See how rotten they are. Vain and entitled, thinking everything is theirs. The king who strikes deals rather than sacrifices. The queen more obsessed with her looks than granting pardons. A prince who hides or parades like a show pony. His brother who knows nothing of real problems. These are no rulers. They are little more than jesters in a palace exercising power."

The air crackled like ozone before a storm. Elowen gasped as, once again, the fairy emerged from a shower of gold. Tonight, the fairy wore iridescent blue silks that caught the light like sapphires, and her hair was braided and coiled around her head.

"She's in fine form tonight," Elowen said. "But you can't let Mona get under your skin."

Estefania would never get used to having a face or a name for the woman who'd ruined her childhood: Countess Monique de Nene or Mona, as Rillian called her. It was easier to see her as a monster rather than a woman who'd made a life for herself so great that she'd managed to marry an earl.

"Welcome," Fletcher addressed the crowd and the fairy. "Thank you for coming tonight."

"Quiet prince," Mona said. "I'm not here for you. Tonight is all about Estefania."

"Any quarrel you have with my future bride, you also have with me," Fletcher descended the dais.

"Keep him back," Estefania whispered to Elowen. "He cannot interfere."

"I'll do my best," Elowen said. "And don't take your eyes off her. And don't let her manipulate you with words."

Estefania didn't have time to process that statement because Mona clapped her hands together and spread them apart. An ancient-looking book appeared between them.

"The laws of magic," Mona said. "Plain and simple, but we need a judge who can enforce the laws of the fairy queen. That is why we must call forth the last fairy in the lands."