A Happily Ever After of Her Own (7 page)

This was worse than Edward had ever seen her. "What have you done?"

His aunt abruptly calmed again. "Oh, nothing your mother wouldn't do, if she would stop being no priggish."

She waved her hands. A black velvet hanging on the right side of the room went up. Edward saw Beauty kneeling, gagged and bound, a blindfold covering her eyes. She was shaking. The executioner from the morning stood behind her with a sword ready. Time seemed to freeze, and small details jumped out. The executioner's knee had been repaired. Beauty's hair was up off her neck.

"Now isn't that a lovely tableau?" his aunt said. "I heard this morning that this was how Queen Anne was executed, and I thought Beauty might like a queen's death, even if she never got to marry you."

Edward's hands clenched into fists. He felt sick with anger. "Aunt, you go too far!"

She batted her eyelashes. "Do I?"

"Leave her out of this. Your quarrel is with me. You're still upset I called you Auntie Beet."

"Oh, is that what you think?" The Evil Witch's shrill laugh scraped over his nerves like sandpaper. "I'm not
upset,
my darling. I'm
livid.
Beets are the most
grotesque, objectionable
vegetables in the world. They're more reviled than mushy, overcooked brussel sprouts. You weren't just mocking a bad dye job. You were calling me smelly and disgusting!"

"By all the gods, I was nine! This is no longer funny."

"For once you're perfectly correct. It is most definitely not funny. So we're going to make it serious." She snapped her fingers, and the hood Melinda had made for him flew up into her hand. "Now you look more like a real prince on a quest."

"Return that!" He took a step forward, then stopped as his aunt pointed an imperious finger directly at him.

"I wouldn't move if I were you! My executioner will chop Beauty's head off if you leave the white of the Tudor Rose." She gestured at another curtain on the opposite side of the room, which also went up.

Edward's heart skipped a beat. "Melinda!"

Another executioner pushed her down, and she knelt, also bound, blindfolded and gagged. Her head rested on a chopping block and the executioner stood with his ax ready.

"Catherine -- Henry's fifth wife Catherine, not that dull first one from Spain -- was executed in this manner." His aunt wrinkled her nose. "Lightfoot is no royalty either, but I thought I would be generous. Without her, I wouldn't have this chance to strike at my dear sister."

"What do you want?" Edward said.

"What do I want, my dear? Isn't it obvious by now? I want you to
choose."

His insides clenched and he had to remind himself to breathe. "There will be no choosing."

"Oh, but there will. I'm going to give you just enough time to save one, but not the other."

"No!"

"You can choose your happy ending and save Beauty. Ah, but if you do you won't be able to return to your story since Lightfoot will be dead. But then if you save Lightfoot, you can't break your curse." The Evil Witch pursed her lips. "I do so love a good dilemma."

Edward had always known his aunt to be wicked, but now he could see that she had passed into dementia. It was as if this vile world had corrupted her further, and nothing was left inside except some twisted desire to see people suffer. The fact that Melinda managed to remain untouched by her negative world -- a place that didn't believe in happy endings -- made her so much the more special.

And that put him in a horrible quandary.

He wanted his happy ending with so much force it made him ache. The only thing that could stop him from reverting back to his bestial form forever was Beauty's love. But how could he ever respect himself if he let Melinda die? Somehow her spirit and intelligence fascinated him more than any fairy tale princess's charms.

Melinda had been struggling and now she managed to spit out the cloth in her mouth. "Edward, get Beauty and leave. Please!" she yelled. She was shaking with fear and shock, but her voice sounded strong.

Edward made his choice.

As he started to move he saw his aunt nod and retreat back into a hidden room. The executioners began to get into position. Edward ran to his left, grabbed a curtain and swarmed up it. The ax mannequin raised his arms high.

Edward slammed his good shoulder into the executioner. He fell, the blade of his ax burying itself in the block an inch away from Melinda's head. Edward pulled her up and held her as if she was the most precious treasure in the world. He untied her and tore the blindfold from her eyes.

"Oh, Edward, what have you done? You should've helped Beauty," she said, sobbing. "Now you'll never have your happy ending."

"Shhh." He wiped away her tears. "Dearest Melinda, I had to," he murmured. "How can I be happy if you are killed?"

"But..." Suddenly she stiffened. "Oh my God," she whispered, but her gaze wasn't on him. She was looking at something on the other side.

Beauty.

"Melinda, don't." He blocked her view with his body, unwilling to let her see the horror of the Evil Witch's deeds.

"Wait, Edward, look!"

He turned around, dreading what he would find.

There was no blood, no head rolling on the scaffold. The executioner had cut the rope around Beauty's wrists, and she was standing, her blindfold gone. She stared at Edward and Melinda, her mouth slightly parted.

Somewhere, a grandfather clock began to chime.

Beauty's vivid blue gaze pierced Melinda like a crucifixion nail. For once, Edward seemed frozen and indecisive as well.

You cannot allow Beauty to see your true form while you are in Miss Lightfoot's world. If she does, the Evil Witch can change the conditions required to break her curse.

The chime rang exactly twelve times, and then a deafening silence stretched throughout the room. Melinda put her hand on Edward's arm as fairy dust gathered and glowed around him.

Seismic changes started to take place under her palm. His skin rippled and erupted as fur burst out of it. The beautiful golden curls on his head lengthened and became a mane. His shirt stretched, then ripped completely apart as Edward's shoulders and back expanded. The bones of his face, so noble and fine, buckled and elongated into something more feral. He made an agonized keening sound as the metamorphosis gripped him and threw him back to what he used to be.

Beauty pointed at him and shrieked, "Monster!" She began to scream.

Oh for God's sake! "Be quiet!" Melinda yelled. It was a pity the executioner hadn't left the fairy tale heroine gagged.

Beauty kept screaming. Melinda tried to block it out and put a hand on Edward's hunched back. It was vibrating like an engine. "Edward, can you hear me?"

Nodding, he groaned. "I had forgotten how much the change hurt." His voice had become guttural and it was harder to understand him.

"Can you move at all? We have to find the Evil Witch. She's got to be somewhere around here."

"She retreated off the balcony." He rose to his feet, his breathing a labored pant. "Let us go."

"What should we do about her?" Melinda said, pointing at Beauty.

"We have to bring her. She must be in the room when you tap your time device."

"Okay."

Edward took Melinda's hand, beastly claws as hard as ivory but the pads below them soft, and they started to move along the railed path, past the second-level balcony. The heavy velvet hangings behind Beauty fluttered, and a petite woman appeared with her arms spread out dramatically.

"Tada!" She grabbed Beauty by the hair and yanked her backward hard.

Melinda was stunned. She'd been unable to see the Evil Witch before because of the blindfold. In all the illustrations, the Evil Witch was shown as a disgusting old hag. It was the farthest thing from reality. Glossy black hair framed a delicate heart-shaped face, and a pair of wide green eyes shone bright under the yellowish lights. A Tudor-style dress with a tight corset and ornate petticoats accentuated her slim body. If Melinda hadn't known better, she would've thought the Evil Witch perfect for playing the role of an ingénue in old Hollywood films.

"You're
the Evil Witch?"

"If you insist on using such a vulgar epithet."

"You're really...gorgeous."

The Evil Witch beamed. "Why, thank you, my dear. You are too kind." She preened, then peered at Melinda through her eyelashes, her manners almost coquettish. "I believe I like you."

"If you like me, would you mind letting Beauty go?"

"I don't like you
that
much, my dear." Then the Evil Witch smiled. "If I let her go, what will you give me? Freedom from Fairy Godmother?"

Oh Lord. Melinda had almost forgotten about the watch. She raised her hand to tap her wrist, and...realized the watch was gone.

The Evil Watch wagged a finger. "How silly you are." She made a quick gesture and the watch appeared in her hand. She dangled it as if it were a dead rat. "Looking for this?"

Edward growled beside Melinda, and the Evil Witch laughed merrily.

"I could sense Fairy Godmother's snooty magic all over it. Truly, my dear, you should've guarded it with more care."

Edward said, "I knew she would steal it."

"Sorry."

"Now, children. I didn't steal it. I just took it."

That had to be some kind of family motto.

Beauty began to struggle. "Please let me go. I didn't do anything."

The Evil Witch twisted her around so she could look Beauty in the face, then backhanded her. The air cracked with the sound of flesh striking flesh, and Beauty fell, whimpering like a wounded bird.

Melinda sucked in a breath. "We have to do something, Edward."

Edward straightened himself painfully. "It's me that you want, Aunt. She's just an innocent girl."

"An innocent girl?" The Evil Witch opened and closed the hand she'd used on Beauty. They could hear her knuckles crack from across the second-storey divide. "I will never understand how all you Fairy Court sycophants can tolerate such simpering spinelessness." She pointed at Melinda.
"She
wasn't like this when my underlings caught her. A woman needs more gumption!

"Anyway, Nephew, I was right. You haven't changed at all. Still choosing your own self-interest over what is proper. And look where it's gotten you. You can't go home, and you can't have Beauty's love. Rather ironic, don't you think? Whereas I can now change everything. Truly, my sister should've read the Seventeenth Neverland Magical Accord with more care. Then she would know I can change the conditions of my curse whenever she meddled directly."

That sounded ominous. Melinda felt every beat of her heart with clarity. Edward was tense to the point that energy was radiating off of him like a heat wave.

"Your curse, as you can no doubt see, is restored. And I shall impose a further condition to break it.

"In addition to finding a woman who will love you in your beastly form, you will remain as you are until you can make an honorable,
unselfish
choice, one contrary to your self-interest. It took decades before you found Beauty, but of course she will never fall in love with you now. You'll have to find another. And now it will be doubly difficult, for I shall ensure that everyone knows of your action tonight." The Evil Witch got a beatific expression on her face, as though she were smelling freshly baked cookies. "Oh, that's so
good.
Misery is simply oozing out of you like molasses, Edward, and I like it. It's so thick it's almost
tangible.
And for no better reason than to add insult to injury, I'm going to use that emotion to anchor my beacon between this world and ours. No one will be able to cross into either without
my
permission. Including you, my dear," she said to Melinda.

The Evil Witch dropped the watch on the floor and stomped on it. The display cracked. "But really, you should thank me." Another stomp, and the crystal shattered. "Who else is going to--" another stomp "--teach you better manners and humility?"

Was that a cloud of fairy dust gathering around her foot? Melinda had imagined a more triumphant and heroic return to the Fairy Tale world, but she wasn't one to waste an opportunity.

"Happily ever after," she whispered, and crossed her fingers.

The light in the Tudor House vanished as though being sucked down a very long tunnel, and Melinda found herself falling.

There was a pinprick of light at the end of the tunnel. It expanded with breathtaking rapidity, and then the floor rose up and smashed into Melinda.

It took her a moment before she could think again. Beauty was beside her, mewling and cowering. Blood seeped from a scrape on her arm. The Evil Witch was sprawled amid her skirts. Edward in his beastly form was the only one who seemed to be sanguine about things. But then he had a thick hide and had somehow managed to land on his feet.

They were back in the Fairy Courtroom. The crowd was milling around in panic, and the judge had jumped to his feet.

"Order!" he shouted, banging with his gavel. "Guards!"

A squad of porcupines rushed in with their swagger sticks and shields, their quills quivering with tension. The Evil Witch rose and hissed at them. They stopped immediately, and one of the young ones squealed.

"What is this, this
circus?"
She gestured at the guards. "Why hasn't my sister upgraded to something more dignified? Like trolls?"

"We couldn't agree on pension benefits," Fairy Godmother said from her seat on the judge's right. A spotlight shone over her. "After Snow White unionized those dwarves, the trolls followed suit and, well..."

"Fairy Godmother!" Melinda said. She got up and curtsied. "Sorry for crashing into your court like this."

"It's all right, my dear. I just wish you'd remembered my instructions so Beauty wouldn't have been injured. I told you to tap, not stomp."

Melinda nodded. "I apologize."

"Stop sniveling!" The Evil Witch turned to Fairy Godmother. "I was hoping never to see you again."