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“LA DAH DAH DAH DEE... dah dah dah dah dah dum...”
Lyric had been humming for twenty minutes—and they’d been adrift for twenty hours. He must have been determined to drive her crazy with his garbled tune.
“Dah dah doodle-y doo, dah doodle-y doo, de do.”
She tried clapping her hands over her ears, but that didn’t drown him out.
“Hmm mmm hmm... hmm...”
“LYRIC!”
She rattled him from his restful state. “Good God, what? Why are you shouting at me?”
“Will you stop making so much noise?”
“Stop singing, you mean?”
“If you can call that singing!”
Lyric sat up and ran an irritated hand across his sunburned scalp. “There’s nothing else to do, is there? I’m trying to keep myself sane!”
“And you’re driving me insane in the process!”
For a few seconds, Lyric grumbled inaudibly, and she was glad she couldn’t hear him. She wouldn’t have wanted to know what terrible curse he might have directed at her.
“Lyric...I’m sorry if I’m being rude, but—”
“You are being rude.”
“But when you’re stuck with someone as long as we’ve been stuck together, you start to lose it.”
“And it’s starting to look like we’re going to be stuck together until we starve to death.
“Okay... I hope that’s not the case! Besides, in another day or so, the wayspinner will probably start working again, and we can use it to get out of here.”
“Great. That’ll be great. You turn that thing, and it can whisk us away to... what’s next, do you think? The fiery pits of Hell? The tip of a small glacier?” Lyric snatched the wayspinner from her pocket and held it in front of his face. “How did you come across something like this, anyway?” He banged the wayspinner against the floor of the boat, as if to test its sturdiness.
“Don’t break it!” Aurora shrieked. She pried it from his fingers and returned it to her pocket. “Anyway, it’s... a long story.”
“If you haven’t noticed, a long story won’t be a problem. I’ve got all the time in the world right now.”
“I don’t know where to start.”
“Start at the beginning. That’s usually a good place to start a story.”
Aurora poked him with her elbow. “Do you have to be a smart ass about everything?!”
“Yes, actually, I do!”
“I don’t even know if I want to tell you anything about myself!”
“Oh, come on! Do tell! I promise to behave myself!” Lyric rested his feet, which were now bare, on Aurora’s lap.
“Well, well... make yourself comfortable.”
“I will, thank you. It’s always good to get comfortable during story time.”
Aurora clenched a fist, trying her best to tolerate him. “Okay, the beginning? Well, I live with my three aunts.”
“Three aunts. Okay. Good.”
“They’re not related to me by blood, but they raised me, and I call them my aunts.”
Lyric wiggled his toes. “This is getting boring fast.”
“Then I’ll be sure to make it brief so your attention span can handle it. A few days ago, I met Charmaine in the woods. He’s a prince.”
“Charmaine’s your fiancé, right?”
“Yep.”
“Your fiancé is a prince?”
“Yep.”
“Riiiiight.” Lyric made no secret of his disbelief. His eyes rolled so far back into his head, they disappeared for a few seconds.
“I’m not lying! A few days ago, on my birthday, my aunts told me that I’m a princess. My father sent me away when I was born because my real aunt, Medea, wants to kill me.”
Lyric blinked several times. “I was asking for the true story of your life, not some fairy tale.”
“But it’s not a fairy tale. It’s true! You can choose not to believe me if you want. I really don’t care what you think!” Aurora crossed her arms and continued. “Apparently, I’ve been betrothed to Prince Charmaine since the day I was born, but I only recently found out.”
Lyric’s mouth tilted skeptically. “Why would your father send you away? If your aunt wants to kill you, wouldn’t it be easier to protect you under his own roof, with an army at his command?”
“I don’t understand it myself, but... I think it’s my aunts’ magic that protected me this long.”
“Oh.”
“Medea hasn’t been able to find me until now.”
“Oh, sure... yeah, yeah.” He nodded along as she spoke.
“You don’t believe me.”
“Oh, sure I do. And I believe that this boat will turn into a magical ferry that will whisk us away to the land of Yorn, where pink dragons fly in the sky.”
“You’re a real jerk, Lyric.”
The finality in her voice must have struck a cord, because his face softened a bit. “I’m sorry... go on,” he encouraged her.
“Why should I?”
“Because I’m interested!”
Aurora sighed. She didn’t have anything better to do, and it felt good to talk about her troubles, even if he was the worst person to talk to. “Well, something bad happened on my birthday.”
“Three days ago?”
“About three days ago, yeah. Maybe four. I've kind of lost track.”
“Well... happy belated birthday. And you are how old?”
“Eighteen.”
“Ah, very young. And I’m closer to twenty-five than thirty, thank you very much.” Lyric moved his feet from her lap and sat up. “So, you said something bad happened on your birthday?”
“Well... yeah. I’m not sure what it was, though. My cottage was on fire... I think my aunts might’ve gotten attacked.”
“Attacked by Medea?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m sorry. That’s terrible.”
He sounded genuine, so Aurora decided it was safe to discuss her feelings on the matter. “I’m really worried about them. Something really awful might have happened, but I have no way of knowing.”
Lyric laid a hand on Aurora’s knee. It was meant to be encouraging, but her entire body leapt on contact. “I’m sure they’re alright. I’m sure everything will turn out just fine.”
He was actually trying to be nice? Aurora couldn’t believe her ears. “I hope so.”
“I’ll see to it that you get back to them. I’ll be your personal escort.”
She stared at him for a few seconds, stunned. “You really mean that?”
“Yeah, sure!” He winked at her. “We’ve come a long way from the stockade, haven’t we?”
***
IT WAS A CLASSIC CASE of good witch, bad witch. In the top of the tower, evil had all but triumphed. The witch’s austere features were marred by a ferocious scowl, and she pressed her thin lips together with scorn.
The other witch’s arms and legs were bound in shackles—magic shackles from which there was no escape, except by the mercy of the spellcaster herself. She had been tortured for many hours: stretched, pressed, and had her insides wrenched by various forms of magic. Usually a fragile woman, she could not cry for herself anymore. She had already cried enough.
The dark witch Medea stood over her adversary, her spindly hands clenched at her sides. “So... tell me, Mary,” she began, “Tell me where Aurora is hiding.”
Mary closed her eyes. She was weary from the pain she’d endured; she could hardly stand much more. “I already told you! I don’t know.”
“Liar!” When Medea jabbed a finger in Mary’s direction, tiny flames appeared at her feet, momentarily singing the toes of her captive. Mary didn’t even bat an eye; however, as she had already been through worse than this.
“I’m not lying! I really don’t know!”
“For eighteen years, the three of you were all that stood between me and my niece. You formed a barrier that even I could not cross. Even now, when my magic should be able to track her, I cannot. Tell me why!”
“I... don’t know...”
“Yes, yes... it’s possible that you might not know. It seems I captured the wrong witch. I should have taken Molly.”
“But you killed her!” Mary shrieked. “You killed her!”
“Silence!” Another wave of Medea’s hand sent ripples of pain through her captive’s ribs. “Talk back to me again, and I won’t hesitate to kill you too!”
“Go ahead and kill me! See what I care!”
Before Medea could deliver on her promise, three dark figures swooped in through the tower window. They brought someone with them: a girl, whose panic was written all over her tear-stained face.
One of the dark servants bowed in fealty to his master. “My lady, we have returned,” he spoke in a raspy voice that would make grown men shiver. “And we have brought the princess, just as you ordered.”
Medea grabbed the girl by the chin and lifted her head forward. She might have uttered a word of praise, but their failure was all-too-obvious. “This isn’t her.”
The dark servants shuffled nervously where they stood, fearful of Medea's wrath.
“THIS ISN’T HER!” she shouted again. In her fury, Medea clutched the girl’s neck and threw her to the ground. “You idiots! Can’t you do anything right?!”
“We’re sorry, my lady.”
“Yessss, yessss....” another one hissed. “We prostrate ourselves before you and offer our infinite apologies...”
“Apologies don’t even begin to appease me! You’re gone for three days, and the only thing you can find is an imposter? I’m tempted to cast all three of you into a pit of poison, and it would serve you right! However... I’m feeling generous today.” Medea raked a hand along her pointed chin. “I’ll have Adlai sever a finger from each of you. That should be enough to teach you not to return unless you successfully complete the task I set before you!”
Her minions said nothing in protest. They were prepared to accept any punishment thrown their way.
“What should we do with the girl, Master?”
“I don’t care what you do with her. Lock her up. Use her for ransom or some such nonsense. Just get her out of my sight!”
Following their mistress’ orders, they scooped the sobbing princess off the ground and carried her away,
“Now...” Medea turned back to Mary. “Where were we? Oh... I think I said something about killing you, didn’t I?”
Mary closed her eyes. She, too, was ready to accept her fate.
“Well, I changed my mind. I’m not going to kill you,” she said. “Why would I kill you when torturing you is so much fun?”