| |
Two days ago, Arabella was a bored barmaid at the Moose. Now she was on an adventure with Braylen and the king of Aurelia.
“So why are you traveling to the Golden City, Graham?” Arabella asked as their horses trotted along.
“My grandmother is sick,” Graham said. “I’m going to see a potion-maker, Nelari, who is rumored to be able to cure anything. I’m hoping she’ll be able to make a potion for my grandmother.”
“I’m sorry.” She hadn’t expected Graham to be in Alacarcany for such an awful reason. And now he was under a siren spell to boot.
“Thank you.”
“Are you very close to her?” Arabella asked.
“Yes. Gigi raised my brother, Sawyer, and I after our parents died. That’s what we call her, short for Grandmother Gracelyn,” Graham explained. “She had to be both parents, because my grandfather died when I was a baby. She took care of us and the kingdom all by herself. She’s pretty amazing.” His voice broke on the last word.
Arabella and Braylen kindly pretended not to notice.
She recalled the tragedy that had befallen Graham’s parents. Seven years ago, King Robert and Queen Esme had sailed to Alacarcany to visit the royal family. When their ship didn’t return to Aurelia, rescue ships were sent out to locate it. Tragically, wreckage from the royal ship was found near the border of the Sea of Discord. A few brave ships ventured into the Sea of Discord to look for survivors, but none were found. Arabella couldn’t imagine how awful it must have been for Graham.
“I hope it works out, for you, Graham,” she said. He’d obviously had more than his share of heartache in his short life. She thought about Grandma Emmelyn, and a lump formed in her throat. Not now, she told herself fiercely.
“So what’s Sawyer like?” Arabella tried to steer the conversation into happier territory.
Graham smiled. “He’s twelve. When he was little, he used to make me read him half a dozen storybooks a day. Now he always wants me to practice sword-fighting with him.”
“Are you any good at that?” Arabella winked. She was relieved when he laughed.
“I think he might be better than me soon,” Graham admitted. “Do you have siblings, Arabella?”
“I have three older sisters. Viviana is the oldest, then Gabriella, Corinna, and me.”
“That must have been fun, having so many sisters to play with when you were little,” Graham remarked. “Sawyer wasn’t born until I was nine. It was pretty lonely being an only child before that.”
“You’re both lucky to have siblings,” Braylen said wistfully.
“Poor Bray is an only child,” Arabella said. “But we’re like family to each other.” She and Braylen smiled at each other.
“Why are you two going to the Golden City?” Graham asked.
“Braylen has a business opportunity there,” Arabella lied. “I came to keep him company and I wanted to see something new. It’s been boring at home since Corinna got married this summer. What’s it like in Aurelia?” she asked, changing the subject.
Graham smiled. “It’s beautiful. The country is ringed by mountains. In the fall, we have the pumpkin harvest, and there’s a week-long festival with food and entertainment. The last night of the festival there’s a ball at the palace. Everyone in the kingdom is invited.”
“It sounds like fun.”
“I’d love for you to come to the festival and the ball,” Graham said, his eyes shining.
Arabella knew his invitation was prompted by the spell, but she couldn’t help imagining what it would be like to go to the ball with Graham.
***
They slept outside that night. They wouldn’t reach the next town, Briarwood, until tomorrow night. Arabella was surprised to feel slightly homesick as she burrowed under her blanket. Braylen was a few feet away, and Graham was on the other side of their small campfire. She missed her parents and Corinna. She missed Murray and the other animals. She enjoyed Graham’s attention, but it wasn’t the same as if it were real. She wondered if Noah had tried to win Haydia back. She told herself that she wouldn’t want to date someone who had such poor taste that he liked Haydia, anyway.
***
Day 4
Graham woke the next morning beside the cooling embers of last night’s fire. He looked at Arabella and Braylen, who were still sleeping. Why had he invited them to travel with him? He was in a terrible hurry. It was nice to have companionship, though, he admitted to himself. Conversing with them had helped him keep his mind off Gigi.
Arabella opened her eyes. She sat up and stretched. “Good morning, Graham,” she mumbled. Her shiny brown hair spilled over her blanket and her huge brown eyes blinked sleepily.
Graham’s heart began to pound. Of course he had invited her to accompany him to the Golden City. She was beautiful and even more adorable when she was half-asleep.
“Good morning, Arabella,” he returned.
He was rewarded with a drowsy smile that made his heart do somersaults.
***
Day 5
On their third day together, Graham looked at the woman riding next to him. His heart swelled in his chest. It almost hurt to look at Arabella, she was so lovely. It was like looking into the face of the sun. He wished they were alone, even though that Braylen fellow was quite affable. “You must be tired of wearing that same dress,” he said.
Arabella looked down at her dress. “I guess it’s to be expected, traveling like this.”
“Not when you’re traveling with me, it isn’t,” Graham said gallantly. “We’ll stop in the next town and get you something new.” One little stop wouldn’t slow them down that much, he reasoned.
“It’s really not necessary,” Arabella protested. “I know you’re in a hurry to get to the Golden City.”
As are we, Braylen thought. But Arabella didn’t know that the siren spell was going to progress if they didn’t reach Nelari soon.
“I insist,” Graham said. “We can stop to eat there, anyway.”
Arabella smiled. “I can see you’re not going to take no for an answer.”
Graham grinned. “Absolutely not.”
***
When they arrived in Sugarwood, Arabella picked out a pretty aqua colored dress in a little store called Ella’s Dress Boutique. She came out of the fitting room with a smile and floated over to Graham and Braylen.
“What do you think?” she asked, twirling in a little circle.
The corner of Graham’s mouth twitched up. “Gorgeous,” he declared.
Arabella tingled at his praise. She knew that once she drank the antidote, Graham might never look at her the same way again. But she could enjoy his attention for now, couldn’t she?
“It still needs something,” Graham declared.
Arabella looked at Braylen, who shrugged.
Graham strode over to the jewelry counter. After peering inside for a moment, he pointed to a necklace with a silver star pendant. “I’d like to see the star,” he said to the girl behind the counter. The clerk took the necklace out of the case, and Graham clasped it around Arabella’s neck.
She looked in the mirror on the counter. She couldn’t help but smile. The necklace complimented the dress perfectly, and she’d never owned anything so lovely. “It’s perfect, Graham,” she said, pleased.
“I’m glad you like it, Arabella,” Graham said.
While Graham paid for the dress and necklace, Braylen whispered, “Kings should buy you dresses more often. You deserve the best, Aira.”
“Thanks, Bray,” she said, giving him a hug.
As she stepped back, she noticed Graham giving them a funny look. She hoped he wasn’t going to become jealous of Bray the way he had with Noah. That was the last thing they needed.
***
They had dinner at Sugarwood’s tavern, The Singing Squirrel, where a barmaid took their order. Arabella kept her voice low and spoke as little as possible during the meal to avoid affecting any other patrons with her voice. When the three of them were back on the road, she breathed a sigh of relief.
***
Day 6
The next day they came upon the small rural community of Candlewood. As they passed fields of crops, Arabella noticed the plants looked yellow and withered.
“Must be a drought,” Braylen remarked.
They stopped at the local tavern for lunch. “I don’t know what I’m going to do if it doesn’t rain soon,” a man was saying as they walked in.
“Me, either,” his friend responded. “I can’t afford another bad harvest after last year. I’m worried about having enough food for Lila and the kids.”
Braylen nudged Arabella. “Seems like a job for you,” he whispered.
Arabella smiled. This definitely was something she could do. She’d helped her parents often with distressed crops on their farm.
Unfortunately, they had a barman serving them this time. Braylen ordered for Arabella, with Graham observing them curiously. When the barman walked away, Arabella said lightly, “We’ve been friends so long; Bray knows what I want without my even having to say it!”
“I hope to know you that well someday, too,” he said, gazing into her eyes.
Arabella smiled brightly, relieved that Graham didn’t seem to suspect anything was amiss.
***
After lunch, they rode down the road a little way, stopping in front of the distressed crops. They all dismounted. Arabella approached the crops and began to sing. For a moment, everything was fine. Her voice was fluid and beautiful. It filled the air around them. Braylen thought the leaves on the crops nearest him lifted in response.
Graham looked starry-eyed. “I didn’t know you could sing. Your voice is exquisite.”
Without warning, a strange croak came from Arabella. Braylen glanced worriedly at her. Arabella flushed and cleared her throat. She tried again. “AaaaaAKKK,” she squawked. A look of panic crossed her features. “I can’t sing!” She grabbed her throat.
Braylen stepped closer to the crops, not believing what he was seeing. The crops closest to the road had shriveled up and died, as if Arabella’s voice was toxic. He stepped backward in horror. Ebstene had told him that Arabella’s voice would begin to agitate men. What Ebstene couldn’t have predicted was the effect the siren spell would have on Aira’s unusual growing ability.
Graham stood a few feet away from them, his expression puzzled.
Was the spell going to start adversely affecting Graham soon? Braylen worried. A knot of anxiety bloomed in his stomach. When would Arabella lose her voice? Part of him wanted to tell Arabella now to warn her, but he might be worrying her unnecessarily. Hopefully, they would reach Nelari before that ever happened.
Instead, Braylen whispered, “It might be a side effect of the spell. Don’t worry too much about it. You’ll have the antidote soon.” He squeezed her hand.
***
Arabella forced a smile for Braylen. She hoped that the antidote would indeed fix her voice. Even aside from her growing ability, she loved to sing. She couldn’t imagine going through the rest of her life unable to.
“Don’t worry about it, Arabella,” Graham reassured her loyally. “I still think you’re amazing.” His eyes shone. Arabella’s heart warmed at his words, even though she knew it was probably just the spell talking.
***
Day 7
Arabella was concerned about what had happened yesterday when she’d tried to heal the crops. She felt like Bray was keeping something from her. Maybe he knew more about the spell than he was letting on. Did she really want to know, though? It was bad enough she couldn’t speak in front of any men except Bray and Graham, and that she couldn’t sing. She decided to set aside her worries for the time being. They’d reach the Golden City in a week, and hopefully Nelari could fix everything. Worrying wasn’t going to change anything.
Graham kept her distracted with stories of Aurelia and the pranks Sawyer loved to play on him. Arabella told him about her family’s farm, her father’s animal sanctuary, and Corinna’s cookies. “I’d love to have one right now,” she said.
“Me too,” Braylen agreed.
“I guess I’ll have to stop at her bakery and get some cookies for the trip home,” Graham said.
“Definitely!” Arabella and Braylen said together.
***
Day 8
Arabella awoke feeling happy, despite the loss of her singing ability. She realized she was excited to spend the day with Graham. He made her laugh and she enjoyed hearing his stories about his family and Aurelia. She knew it was dangerous to have feelings for him when he was under a spell, but she couldn’t help it. Might as well enjoy it while it lasts, she told herself.
***
Braylen watched Graham and Arabella as they rode next to each other, laughing and smiling. Arabella seemed to genuinely like Graham. But would Graham like Arabella once he was no longer under the influence of the siren spell?