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THIS TIME, THE WAYSPINNER actually did its job. It really did whisk them away from harm’s way. Other than the fact that she landed on top of Lyric, there was nothing too compromising about their new situation.
Aurora rolled off of him and pressed her fingers to her temples, hoping her headache would subside. She would have given anything for a moment of peace, however—
“Rebekka!” Lyric bellowed. “Rebekka, my sweet Rebekka, where are you!?’
“Oh, crap.” Aurora actually winced. He was still under the influence of her magic? How long would it last?
“Rebekkaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh? Nooooooo!”
“Lyric! Snap out of it!”
Lyric glared at Aurora. “You’re not Rebekka. Why should I care what you have to say?”
Aurora buried her face behind her hands and groaned. It was a long, deep groan that made her sound like the bridge troll’s kin. “You’re not going to be like this forever, are you? Is the magic going to wear off?”
Lyric didn’t acknowledge her question; rather, he hopped to his feet and started to walk off. Aurora got up and ran after him, grabbing him by the elbow. He regarded her with disgust.
“Lyric, where are you going?”
“I’m going to find Rebekka!”
“You’re being stupid! You’re under some kind of love spell. Can’t you snap out of it?”
“Snap out of what?”
“The love spell! Snap out of the love spell!”
Lyric shook her off of his elbow and started hollering: “Rebekkaaaaaa!! Rebekkaaaaaaa!! Where are youuuu?”
Aurora chased after him, rolling her eyes every time he hollered Rebekka’s name. “You’re going to feel really silly when the magic wears off... if the magic wears off. And I really hope it does.”
Lyric cupped his hands around his mouth to magnify his voice. “Rebekkaaaaaa!”
“Apparently, you’ve forgotten what this does.” Aurora held the wayspinner in front of his face. “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but she’s nowhere near us. Not even close. We’re in the middle of the woods in... well, as for our location, your guess is as good as mine!”
“Then we should claim this place as our own!”
“We should?”
“Yes!” Lyric’s eyes lit up enigmatically, almost psychotically. He certainly wasn’t acting like himself. “And we can call it Rebekkaville!”
“Riiiiight. I’m sure she’d love that.”
“You think so?”
Aurora rolled her eyes again. She was more than a bit tempted to leave him behind and let him sober up on his own, but she wasn’t too crazy about the idea of being on her own. Lyric could be a pesky companion, was he was the only companion she had. She didn’t want to lose him.
Lyric bent over to pick a wild orchid from the ground. “Ahhh. Do you think she’d like this?”
“No.”
“Do you think I should get her a gift?”
“No.”
“Do you think she’s thinking of me at this very moment?”
Aurora sighed. “Do you really need to ask?”
Lyric threw his arms into the air and gave a victory yell. “That must mean yes!!”
“It means no.”
“Oh.”
“Lyric, do you have any idea what’s going on, or has she totally messed with your brain?” Aurora turned around and waited for his answer, but it didn’t look like she was going to get one. He looked clueless.
“Do you think we’ll be able to find her before the day is out? Do you think she’s looking for me? What do you think she’s doing at this very moment?”
“Lyric, SHH!” Aurora held a finger to his lips. In a whisper, she asked, “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what? Was it Rebekka?”
“No! It’s a strange whistling sound.” Aurora grabbed Lyric’s sleeve and tried to crouch down.
“I don’t hear it. Why are we hiding?”
“Sssshhhhh!!!!” There was, indeed, a low whistling noise in the distance, and it was drawing closer. She remembered where she heard that noise before. “Lyric, do you remember when Princess Rachelle was kidnapped?”
“Who?”
“Princess Rachelle?” He shook his head, having no recollection of anyone other than his beloved siren. “God, Lyric, you’re hopeless. Princess Rachelle. You’re her suitor. She was kidnapped by weirdos in black cloaks. Does that ring a bell?”
Lyric shook his head.
“That noise I’m hearing... those creatures made that noise.” Suddenly, Aurora gasped. She thought she saw movement behind the trees. “Lyric!”
“Is that Rebekka over there?” Lyric started to get up and investigate, but Aurora pulled him back down.
“I wish you weren’t a complete idiot right now, because I could use your help!” She saw movement again—this time, the source of the movement was unmistakable. It was one of the hooded wraiths. “Lyric, we have to get out of here!”
“We do?”
“Yes, right now! Follow me, okay?”
“Follow you?”
“Yes, I’m going to take off running, and you have to follow me!”
“I have to follow you. And... why would I want to do that?”
Aurora slapped a palm against her forehead in frustration. “Just do it, okay? I’ll, uh... I’ll lead you back to Rebekka, okay? I know where she is.”
“You do?”
“Yes!”
Suddenly, the howling noise stopped. The wraith was close to them now; he turned his head in their direction. When she heard the sound of his voice, a chill ran down her spine.
“They’re here...I can smell them.”
“Lyric, now!” Aurora got up and took off running. She checked over her shoulder to see if Lyric was following, but he wasn’t. He was still sitting in the grass, looking stupefied. “LYRIC, COME ON!”
“Oh, yeah!” He hopped up and ran after her.
And so did the wraith.
Aurora soon discovered that Lyric was a surprisingly good sprinter. He passed her in no time at all, and showed no signs of stopping. Instead of asking to him to follow her, she ended up having to ask him to slow down. But he didn’t listen, so she tried her best to keep up with him. She kept looking over her shoulder to see if anyone was following them, but she didn’t see anything.
A few minutes later, they were out of the woods—in more ways than one. The stretch of forest ended, and Aurora was confident that they’d they managed to escape. She was out of danger, and out of breath. “Ly-Lyric!” Panting, she tried to call him back to her. “Lyric, stop!”
To her surprise, he actually heeded her request. He turned around and walked back to her. “Yes? What is it?”
“We... I think we’re safe now.”
“We were unsafe?”
“Yes! Don’t... don’t you re...remember-” Aurora paused to take a deep breath. “Never mind. You’re totally out of it right now. It’s no use trying to talk sense to you.”
“If you couldn’t find the person you loved, you’d be upset too!”
“I don’t love anyone!” Aurora exclaimed. “And neither do you! You’re messed up in the head right now!”
“Are you two alright?”
Aurora nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the unfamiliar voice. She was a bit jumpy—understandably so. She turned her head to see who was addressing them. It was a young girl, dark-haired and diminutive, and perhaps the same age as Aurora.
“I-I’m fine. I’m just a bit out of breath.”
“Yes, I saw you running.” The girl’s voice was so soft and sweet, it could have subdued an angry bear. Or a talking bear. “Was someone chasing you? You look very upset.”
“Yes... someone was chasing us.”
“Oh, that’s terrible!” the young woman’s body shuddered visibly.
“Unless we’re running from the law, right? Then you wouldn’t feel sorry for us.” As soon as she spoke, Aurora regretted her words. The girl looked terrified by the thought of confronting criminals. “I’m just kidding. We’re not running from the law. We’re running from-”
“REBEKKA!” Lyric shouted all of a sudden.
Aurora was speechless for a few seconds. How was she supposed to explain why her traveling companion had less sense than a lobotomized baboon?
“You’re running from someone named Rebekka?”
“No, we’re not running from Rebekka! I would run TO her. I am overcome with anguish! Where do you think she is?!”
Aurora turned to the girl and shook her head. “He’s, uh... he’s a bit cuckoo in the head right now. Don’t pay any attention to him.”
“Oh.”
The poor girl was so demure, she looked like she wouldn’t say boo to a goose. “Like I said, we were running from someone. But it looks like they’re gone now.”
“You were running from a bad person?”
“I think so. I mean... it’s really difficult to explain.” The wraiths didn’t exactly give off a good vibe, that was for sure.
“I can hide you, if you’d like.” She nodded in the direction of a small shack. “I live over there. It’s on my step-mother’s land, but... she doesn’t need to know I’m letting you stay there.”
“Would your step-mother object? I don’t want to intrude.”
“Well, um, she, um... she...” The young girl’s eyelashes fluttered. It looked like she was discussing a sore spot. A very sore spot. “She doesn’t actually... she doesn’t allow... she doesn’t let me have friends over to visit.”
“She doesn’t? Well, that doesn’t seem fair!”
“Rebekka wouldn’t do that.”
“Who’s Rebekka?”
Aurora grimaced. There really wasn’t an easy way to explain why Lyric was the way he was. “Don’t worry about it, um...” Aurora’s voice trailed off. She thought she heard the wraith’s howling in the woods behind them, which prickled the hairs on the back of her neck.
“It would probably be better if you hid in the main house. There’s more room in the attic, and no one ever goes up there.” As the girl headed off, she motioned for them to follow. Lyric showed no signs of moving, so Aurora ended up having to drag him along. “Besides, my step-mother and step-sisters are gone right now. They went to the market. By the way, what’s your name?”
“Oh, I’m so sorry! You’re offering to help us, and I haven’t even introduced myself! I’m Aurora.” She gave Lyric’s shirt a gentle tug, as that was the only way to get his attention. “And this is Lyric.”
“And Lyric is your... brother?”
“Oh, God no!” Aurora exclaimed. “Do we seem like brother and sister?”
“No. Not really. Then he’s your husband?”
“Trust me, that’s an even more outlandish idea than the brother thing. No, Lyric and I are just... temporary traveling companions. We’re sort of stuck together.”
“Oh.”
“And your name is?”
“I’m Cydney,” she said. “Cydney Reyes.”
“It’s really nice to meet you, Cydney. And we really owe you for giving us a place to hide. I’ve been through so much in the last week, so it’ll be nice to sit down and relax for a bit.”
“Well, the attic won’t be the most comfortable place in the world. But I used to live up there before my step-mother decided I should move into the shack, so it’s not that bad.”
They reached the main house, which was nothing short of a mansion, and yet the shack she referred to was more suitable for chickens. It was becoming apparent that something was very wrong with Cydney’s situation. “You don’t get along with your step-mother?”
“No,” Cydney quietly confessed.
“Well, it’s not my place to pry, so I won’t.”
“Rebekka...”
Cydney looked at Lyric with concerned eyes.
“Like I said, pay no attention to Lyric’s psychobabble. He’s going to be pining for Rebekka for... who knows how long? Just try to ignore it.”
“Um, okay.” Cydney opened the door and they followed her inside. The interior was spacious and lavishly decorated, but Aurora tried not to make a fuss over it. After all, Cydney lived in a shack. It seemed her step-mother wasn’t giving her the opportunity to enjoy the luxury, so Aurora didn’t think it would be appropriate to point out the marble staircase, the expensive draperies, or the immodest decorations.
The attic, however, was completely different. Dingy and drab, it was a stark contrast to the rest of the house.
“Well, here we are!” Cydney announced, turning toward them with a tremulous smile. “I know it’s not much to look at, but make yourselves comfortable. You can stay here as long as you’d like.”
“And your step-mother won’t come up here?”
“No. And neither will my step-sisters. They hate it up here. They think there are spiders up here.” Cydney walked to the middle of the room, where a handmade, half-stitched dress was hanging on a mannequin. “I’ve been working on this dress for months, but they haven’t come up here to see it. Not even once.”
Aurora moved to take a closer look at the dress. It was simple in style, but quite pretty, and lovingly crafted. It made Aurora remember that she was wearing the low-cut gown of Blackbeard’s choice. “This is a really nice dress. You made this?”
“Yeah. It’s a work in progress, though. I should be done with it soon. I just have to finish some of the hemming,” Cydney said. She had her eyes trained on Lyric, who was walking around the room and peeking under furniture. “I just hope I have it finished before the ball.”
“Ball?”
“Yeah, but I probably won’t be invited. And even if I am invited, I’m sure my step-mother won’t let me go.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
“I’ve met the prince before... he’s... we’re...” Cydney seemed to be on the verge of a confession. Her face turned bright red.
“Let me guess. You’re dating the prince?”
“Well, sort of.”
“Wow. I wonder what your step-mother would think about that! If you ended up marrying the guy, you could get some revenge on her, that’s for sure.” But Cydney was so meek, she didn’t look like the sort of girl who would be out for revenge.
“Oh, he’d never marry me. We really like each other, but...” Cydney lowered her eyes. “Prince Charmaine is engaged to someone else.”