Miss Landon and Aubranael (Tales of Aylfenhame Book 1) (21 page)

Hidenory smiled slowly. ‘Oh, all curses have conditions. It is a peculiarity of the art: if one wishes to do one’s very
worst
, one is obliged to provide a way out. It does not have to be an achievable way out, however.’

‘Is yours not achievable?’

Hidenory stared hard at Sophy, her eyes tracking every detail of her face, her hair, her body, her clothes. ‘I thought not,’ she said slowly. ‘But I begin to believe otherwise.’

Sophy waited uncomfortably.

‘It has to be a
man
,’ Hidenory said with great disgust. ‘A man! And he must love me in both my forms, night and day. Then I will be restored to myself.’ She smirked, her expression one of bitter mockery. ‘But I ask you,’ she said in a conspiratorial tone, ‘you know men as well as I do, I am sure. Can you imagine the sort of man who could love the hag that I am by day? The very thought! That is the clever thing about curses: one must provide a means of escape, but if the caster can think of something
utterly impossible,
the curse can remain in place forever.’

Sophy sat mute. She longed to be able to reassure Hidenory somehow, but she could not. Had she not been overlooked and unwanted all of her life, she with her youth and her health and her strength? Her features may not be
very
pleasingly arranged, but her skin was smooth, her hair only unruly, not decaying. Her figure was not perfect, or even near it, but she was a vision beside Hidenory-the-hag. If even
she
had not attracted a single proposal of marriage, what hope had Hidenory?

All of a sudden, her qualms about her own appearance seemed absurd. What right had she to repine, because she had not been born a beauty?

But Hidenory’s expression had turned speculative, and there was a light in her eyes that began to disturb Sophy. ‘I have been thinking,’ she said confidingly. ‘Perhaps it is not so impossible. What kind of man could love a hag like me? Why, a damaged one. A man whose own appearance is little better than mine. A man who is lonely, and desperate for companionship. Where would I find such a being, thought I? Such a creature does not exist in Aylfenhame.

‘But Felebre has given me the answer,’ she smiled. ‘Felebre, and you, Miss Landon.’

Sophy’s thoughts rushed to Aubranael, an Ayliri with a ruined face. She had seen the loneliness in him; it had spoken to her own, drawing them rapidly together. Or so she had thought. But weeks had passed since her afternoon with him, and she had heard nothing of him. He had known where she lived; he could have found her, if he had wanted to.

The prospect of his curing Hidenory, however, left her feeling strange. She did not begrudge the poor woman her chance at a cure; how could she? On the contrary, her own feelings of inadequacy and loneliness left her feeling deeply sorry for the beleaguered witch, and eager to help if she could. But Aubranael? She did not begrudge him the companionship either, if he could love Hidenory. So why did the idea leave her feeling so wretched?

‘There is a name that leaps to mind,’ Hidenory said, watching her knowingly. ‘But, unfortunately, he has become distracted. He has gone elsewhere for his bride. A trifling inconvenience.’ She stood up, the conversation apparently over, leaving Sophy to feel confused.
Was
she talking about Aubranael? If so, where had he gone for his bride? Who had he chosen? Her spirits sank even lower at the idea, and she toyed restlessly with her frayed cuffs as she fought to get her emotions under control.

‘Enough of that,’ said Hidenory merrily. ‘Let us return to the problem of Miss Landon and her difficulties. You will want to be on your way, I imagine, as soon as may be?’

Sophy pulled herself together, lifted her chin, and nodded. ‘I am grateful for any assistance you can provide, of course.’

‘I know just the thing,’ Hidenory said with a dazzling smile. She pointed to a door in the far wall—a door which, Sophy would have sworn, had not been there before—and at her gesture, it swung slowly open. It was too dark outside for Sophy to see what lay beyond it.

‘Now then, the one you want is Tut-Gut. He will be very willing to put you to work. Step that way, and when you are quite through the door, call his name. He will soon find you.’

Sophy turned to thank Hidenory, but the words died on her lips. Hidenory had changed again, and it took Sophy a horrified instant to realise what was so wrong with her new image.

Sophy stared, taking in Hidenory’s tumbling blonde hair, messily tucked under a faded straw bonnet; her skin slightly browned from the sun, and dusted with freckles; the laugh lines around her wide mouth; the nose that was the wrong shape for her long face. Hidenory was wearing an old, much-repaired cotton print gown and a green spencer, in good condition except for the fraying cuffs. Scuffed and worn half-boots clad her feet, and a lovingly hand-stitched reticule dangled from her left wrist.

Sophy was looking at
herself.

‘What?’ she gasped. ‘Why would you…?’

Hidenory looked down at herself critically. ‘I can
hardly
imagine,’ she said frankly, ‘but for some reason, our friend has taken a liking to you. If this is what pleases him, who am I to argue?’

Sophy stood speechless as her brain fought to interpret Hidenory’s words and actions. ‘You mean
Aubranael?
’ she said at last.

Hidenory’s smile grew a little bit wider.

‘But he—I do not see how—we hardly—I mean, we met only once! Why should you imagine he is enamoured with me?’

Hidenory shook her head. ‘It will come to you in time, my dear.’

‘But then you intend to—to
trick
him!’ Sophy said with great indignation.

‘Only a little bit,’ Hidenory smiled. ‘And why not? He likes this shape, and I am
very
eager to please.’

Sophy opened her mouth to object, but Hidenory interrupted her. ‘Do not think to object!’ she said sternly. ‘A chance was offered you, and you have passed it up. It is now
my
turn.’ She smiled once more, much more kindly, and added: ‘I will make him happy, fear not. Now, off you go.’

Sophy did
not
intend to go! She had a great deal more to say to Hidenory, and besides that a strong inclination to abandon her errand and find a way to warn Aubranael. But Hidenory smiled kindly at her and delivered a swift, sharp, shocking push to Sophy’s shoulders. Never very graceful on her feet, Sophy’s balance was instantly overset, and she stumbled in the direction of the door. A second push sent her sailing through it.

She landed on her hands and knees in wet grass, panting. Before she could gather herself and turn, the door swung shut behind her and she was alone.

Pulling herself slowly to her feet, she stood for a moment, shaking with shock and confusion and breathing deeply of the crisp night air. Once she had gathered herself, she conducted a thorough search for the door; but she was not surprised to find that it had vanished. A tree stood in its place; it was to all appearances a real tree, with no manner of door in its wide trunk at all.

The moon was full and high in the sky, but she was standing beneath a number of very tall, very leafy trees, and little of the silvery moonlight reached the forest floor. It took her a few minutes to realise that something was wrong with her hands: they did not seem quite as she expected. Holding them close to her face, she was shocked to discover that they had, apparently, aged at least fifty years in the course of a few minutes. They were lined and spotted and shrivelled with age, and as soon as she noticed this she realised that they continued to shake, perhaps not with shock but with a kind of palsy.

A series of other realisations quickly followed, each one equally mortifying. Her cotton-print gown had vanished, in favour of the drab homespun garments that Hidenory had worn in her crone form. Her bonnet was gone, her head crowned only with a bird’s nest of thin, brittle hair. Putting her hands to her face, she felt skin soft and sagging with age, and adorned in several places with warts of princely size.

Hidenory had turned her into a crone.

It was of little comfort to her to realise that the shape she wore was merely external; she did not
feel
old. She was not afflicted with the aches and pains of the elderly, nor did she feel weak or frail. She felt the same as always; only she knew that she
looked
utterly different—and utterly repellent.

Vain it was now to wish for her old body back; hopeless to realise how much beauty she had possessed before. She stared in horror at her twisted, shrivelled hands and, to her shame, a tear crept down her cheek.

What was she to do now? How long would Hidenory’s glamour last? Perhaps forever! Perhaps it would never wear off, never be withdrawn. How could she continue with her plans, in this wretched shape? Who in Aylfenhame would want to go anywhere near her?

And how could she warn Aubranael? Even if she could find him—and without Felebre’s help that seemed impossible—he would have no idea who she was. Her tale sounded ridiculous; how could she convince him of her identity, or of Hidenory’s plan?

Even worse, what if he did not
wish
to be warned? He might welcome Hidenory’s plans for him. He would have the companionship he had wanted—even if it was won through somewhat questionable means—and why would anyone pay any attention to Sophy?

But no, this was not right. Hidenory was wearing Sophy’s image: she would win Aubranael’s attention by impersonating her. Aubranael may well believe he had met the real Sophy Landon again; why would he doubt? But he should not be duped so! Briefly she wondered why Hidenory would want to be loved in such a way—taken for someone else, loved under false pretences. But she was desperate, of course: she would grasp at
anything
if it held the possibility of an escape from the Korrigan’s Curse.

She could not leave Aubranael to fall victim to it, however. She suspected that Hidenory deserved better; she
knew
that Aubranael did.

She had to find him, somehow. But how? She was alone, lost somewhere in Aylfenhame, with no idea where she was and no idea where to go or how to get home. And Aubranael could be anywhere.

Taking a long, deep breath, Sophy stilled the wobbling in her lower lip by biting down upon it—quite hard indeed. Feeling thus strengthened, she began to walk. First she would find a way out of this forest;
then
she could consider the problem of where to go next.

Chapter Thirteen

I did not send Felebre to Sophy! Ye’ll have guessed that much, I imagine. Funny bein’, that cat. I reckon there’s more there than meets the eye, but try as I might, I cannot find out what.

No matter. ‘Twas a full day before I knew that the guide I sent hadn’t found my Sophy, and by then… well, a single day can make a lot o’ difference, can it not?

Two days after Miss Landon’s departure for Grenlowe, a note arrived in the morning’s post.

Mr. Stanton,

I will be attending the Alford Assembly on the evening of the 8th of June. May I hope to see you there?

Miss Sophy Landon

The 8th of June was today—and today was his last day as Mr. Stanton. Thank goodness! He was being given a chance; one last chance to set things right and make everything well with Sophy.

But when he showed the note to Grunewald, his friend conspicuously failed to share his elation. The Goblin King (if that was what he was—he had yet to either confirm or deny it to Aubranael) held the note with the tips of two fingers, as though it was dirty, and curled his lip at it.

‘What is it?’ Aubranael asked anxiously. This was not the reaction he had expected, at all.

Grunewald looked at him as if he was stupid, and said: ‘Miss Landon sent this?’

‘I—well—apparently?’

Grunewald’s eyes narrowed, and then he smiled a smile of pure, malicious glee. It made Aubranael nervous.

‘Is that… bad?’ Aubranael faltered.

‘Bad?’ Grunewald said, blinking at him incredulously. ‘My dear boy, have you learned nothing?’

Aubranael could only blink back at him, mystified.

Grunewald beamed. ‘It is the rules, my dear fellow. A lady and a gentleman may not correspond unless they are married, closely related or engaged to each other. That goes doubly if neither party is married to someone else.’

Aubranael thought that through.

‘Are you engaged to Miss Landon?’ Grunewald prompted.

‘I… no.’

‘Indeed. In which case, Miss Landon knowingly breaks all the conventions of polite society in sending this note to you. In doing so, she runs a great risk; for if it became known that she had sent you a note, her reputation would be considerably tarnished. It is a serious matter for single young ladies, and Miss Landon’s situation is already delicate.’ He grinned widely again and added, ‘I never would have thought it of her.’

Clearly he intended this reflection as a compliment, but Aubranael could hardly view it as such.

‘Perhaps that is why…’ he began weakly.

Grunewald raised a brow.

‘Perhaps she is pushed to desperate measures by… because circumstances…’

‘That will not do as a defence,’ Grunewald said with a malicious twinkle in his eyes. ‘You are suggesting to me that she is desperate enough to go “on the catch”, as I believe the charming phrase goes, and risk everything in order to ‘land’ a rich husband. In this instance, you.’

Aubranael frowned. This did not sound like Miss Landon at all. But that the note came from her, he did not doubt; who else would have sent it, and signed it with Sophy’s name? He could only shrug helplessly, and put the matter from his mind. The more important problem was that he had only a few hours to prepare for the Assembly, since the journey there would take up the rest of the afternoon.

He spent a great deal of time at his looking-glass; it took more than an hour for him to realise that his borrowed good looks would shortly be withdrawn, and therefore what was the use of attempting to please Miss Landon this way? He would only be giving her an example of what she would not, henceforth, be enjoying. A spasm of dread twisted his stomach; he was
not
looking forward to going back to being Aubranael. It had not taken him long to get used to being sought-after instead of avoided. He could relinquish the extreme popularity of a Mr. Stanton, he thought; much of it was based on purely superficial considerations, and he had little value for that. But the universal acceptance he enjoyed was a different matter. He could go anywhere without being ashamed of himself, knowing that the people he met would be pleased to meet him—or at least, that they would not be horrified and uncomfortable as soon as they saw his face.