Night School (19 page)

30

W
e race up the windy castle stairs, Mom leading the way. It’s two minutes ’til midnight now and we’ve got to get to the church on time.

“Hurry!” I cry, though I know everyone’s going as fast as they can.

“It’s just beyond this door,” Mom says, stopping before an ornate, stained-glass entryway. She leans over, hands on her knees, attempting to catch her breath. Magnus pushes past her and steps through the doors without hesitation. Francis and I are right behind him.

I draw in a breath as my eyes become accustomed to the bright lights after being underground so long. To say the chapel is gorgeous would be like saying the
Mona Lisa
is a pretty decent painting or that
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
was kind of a cool show. The place is a living, breathing work of art, with huge stained-glass windows, depicting well-known fairy tales, cut into gold-plated walls. Pews of rich, dark wood and crimson velvet cushions line the main aisle. The altar on stage is bedecked with sparkling jewels and crystal chandeliers hanging from high ceilings flood the room with light.

Toto, I don’t think we’re in Disney anymore ...

But it’s the attendees that give me the most pause. Fairy-tale creatures from my childhood, come to life in the pews, just like Mom was talking about. I see Cinderella with a large pumpkin in her lap. (Her ride home, perhaps?) Hansel and Gretel, snacking on a bag full of candy. Rapunzel sitting alone, her long blond braids taking up an entire row. Rumpelstiltskin with straw sticking out of his clothes. You name a fairy-tale creature, it’s probably here, in the room, eyes fixed to the front, where the not-so-happily-ever-after wedding is taking place.

I pull my eyes away from the guests and focus on the stage at the front of the room. An impeccably dressed fairy priest stands above two fairy figures—a man and a woman—who are kneeling in front of him. I can only see their backs, but I immediately recognize the sparkly, luminous wings belonging to my sister. She’s wearing a simple but elegant medieval-style white tunic, and her blond hair falls past her shoulders in thick, glossy ringlets. On any other occasion, I’d be super jealous that she looks so good.

I grab Magnus’s arm and point with a shaky finger. He nods.

“If anyone here has any reason why these two should not be wed,” the fairy priest is saying.

“I do!” Magnus cries in a loud, choked voice. “I object!”

The audience lets out a collective gasp and suddenly all of fairyland’s eyes are on us. A big, bad wolf snarls from the groom’s side of the church, and at least six dwarves give us the stink eye. (Sleepy’s eyes remain closed.) Chicken Little even starts running up and down the aisle, insisting the sky is falling, until he’s tripped by one of the three Billy Goats Gruff.

Amidst the chaos, a tall, dark-suited fairy rises from his front row seat and turns to address us. The room falls silent as he opens his mouth to speak. Obviously some sort of VIP.

“On what terms, may I ask, do you object?” he demands.

Magnus steps forward, his chin high and his face fierce. “Because this young lady belongs to me. And I will take her home today. By force if necessary.” He raises his iron bar and the wedding party gasps in horror.

“Now, now,” the black-suited fairy says in a calm voice. He steps into the aisle, approaching Magnus cautiously, as if dealing with a dangerous beast. Which, in a way, I guess, he is. “There’s no need to threaten violence, now is there?” He shakes his head. “We are a peaceful people. And would never think to take what is not ours.” He turns to my sister, who’s watching us with frightened eyes. “If Princess Sunshine agrees that she is yours, then, by all means, she should go with you. But I think you may be mistaken.”

I swallow hard. If Sunny’s still under that fairy spell, she may not know who she is, never mind what she wants. Which, of course, is probably what this guy is counting on to begin with.

“Sunshine, Princess?” the man says, addressing my sister. “This man here says you belong to him. Is that true?”

Sunny takes a step back, huddling against her prospective groom. Apple Blossom’s son, I guess—I see a smarmy resemblance. He grips her arm protectively and whispers something in her ear and she cuddles closer to him.

“Sunny!” Magnus cries, his voice no longer sounding as sure. “I’ve come to save you, baby.”

“Wh-who are you?” she asks in a squeaky, shaky voice. “And why would you interrupt my happy day?”

Magnus staggers backward, as if he’s been punched in the face. “Don’t you know me?” he cries. “It’s me. Magnus. Your boyfriend. I’ve come to rescue you.”

“But why would I need rescuing?” Sunny asks, her overly made-up face crinkling with confusion. “I belong here. In fairyland. The people need me.”

Magnus looks back at me, his face distraught. Behind him, I can see Apple Blossom Junior hiding a small smile.

“I think she’s under some kind of spell,” I hiss.

My sister turns to entreat the suited man. “Prime Minister,” she says pleadingly. “Please, can’t you get these horrible creatures out of our sacred chapel? They are destroying my happy day!”

The prime minister nods. “Of course, my darling,” he says. Then he turns to Magnus. “I’m sorry,” he says. “But as you have heard, our princess has spoken. We must, by all rights, do as she commands.” He waves to the guards at the front of the room. They step forward. The vampires grip their iron bars, not ready to give up without a fight.

“What are we going to do?” Francis asks hoarsely. “There’s too many of them. Not to mention we’re weakened from being in a holy church setting.”

“There’s got to be a way to break the spell,” I whisper back. I wrack my brain, trying to remember something—anything—about my fairy research that could be helpful. Some kind of weakness or some kind of rule ...

That’s it! Just like wishing upon a star, here, fairy-tale rules apply. And since Sunny’s a princess, under an evil spell, there’s only one way to save her.

“You’ve got to kiss her!” I cry to Magnus. “It’ll break the spell!”

Magnus doesn’t need to be told twice. He takes off down the aisle, pushing the prime minister out of the way and waking Sleeping Beauty in the process. The whole chapel erupts in chaos, but no one seems to know quite what to do. Magnus drops his weapon and grabs Sunny, pulling her into his arms and giving her a sound kiss on the lips. One that would make any fairy-tale prince proud.

“No!” The prime minister cries, rushing toward Magnus, but he trips over Rapunzel’s long blond braid and goes crashing to the ground instead. “Stop!” he cries as tries to scramble to his feet.

Magnus pulls back and studies Sunny’s face, his eyes filled with bloody tears. The crowd goes so silent you could hear a pin drop. (Which, actually, we do, thanks to the Brave Little Tailor at the back of the room.) It’s as if everyone’s holding their breath, waiting to see what my sister will do.

Sunny looks up at Magnus, her cloudy eyes clearing and her face lighting up in recognition. Yes! “Magnus?” she cries. Then she scans the room, her eyes widening in shock. “Where am I? What’s going on here?” She scrunches her face in confusion. “The last thing I remember is being out in the woods, attacked by ...” She trails off, catching sight of all the wings in the room. “Oh my God!” she cries. “Are we in fairyland?”

“Baby, it’s okay,” Magnus assures her, squeezing her tight. “You’re back and I’ve got you and everything’s going to be okay.”

“What is the meaning of this?” demands the prime minister, who’s recovered from his fall and is approaching the altar, an angry look on his face. He turns to the groom, his face stormy. “Apple Junior? Do you care to explain?”

The bridegroom shrugs his shoulders, looking more than a little guilty. “I’m sure I have no idea,” he says sulkily.

“Well, I do.”

Everyone gasps as they turn to see my mother walking into the room, shoulders back and head held high.

“Princess Shrinking Violet!” the prime minister exclaims. “Where did you come from?”

“Your prison,” she replies smoothly. “Where I and my husband have been held captive by Apple Blossom and his men for nearly a month.”

The prime minister’s face reveals genuine shock. I guess he’s not the one who ordered her imprisonment after all. “What?” he cries. “Why would he do something like that? And why wasn’t I informed?”

“Simple,” Mom says. “Apple Blossom had been hungering over the court’s power for years. He thought he had a chance to become king by marrying me, but I chose to run away instead, leaving him stuck in the military without any real power. Now that his son is of marrying age, he thought he’d try again. Marry him to my daughter and install him as a puppet king, while keeping all the power to himself, of course.”

“Actually, it’s even worse than that!” interrupts a familiar voice at the back of the room. We turn to look and my eyes widen as none other than our stepmom, Heather, herself enters the chapel. Where the hell has she been? I hope she’s not mixed up in the bad Slayer Inc. stuff ...

She approaches the stage, bowing low to the prime minister before speaking. “I’ve journeyed to the Dark Court and back,” she says. “And I have proof they were not involved at all in Queen Tatiana’s murder.”

“What?” the Prime Minister cries. “But if not them, then who?”

“Apple Blossom,” Heather pronounces, looking scornfully at the groom. “He had her killed and blamed the Dark Court. That way, he could not only gain the power he sought through his son becoming king, but also gain support for the fairy war he’s been itching to start for years.”

The prime minister stares at Heather in horror. “This can’t be!” he cries. He turns to Apple Seed. “Is this true?” he demands. “Did your father do all of this?”

“You should know your father is dead,” Mom adds. “So don’t go thinking he’s going to save you from any of this.”

Baby Apple hangs his head in shame. “I didn’t want to go along with it.” He sniffles. “But my dad ... he’s really strict. And he doesn’t exactly take no for an answer.” He sounds so dejected I almost feel bad for the kid.

“Guards, take him away!” the prime minister commands, evidently having heard enough. Two burly fairy guards approach and grab the boy’s arms, dragging him offstage. The prime minister watches him go, shaking his head sorrowfully. Then he turns back to us.

“Princess Violet,” he says, bowing low to my mother. “Please forgive me. I had no idea any of this was going on. They told me that your daughter had willingly come to fairyland. I didn’t know she was under a spell.” He lets out a slow breath. “And your mother. Nectar help us, we loved her so. It’s such a tragic loss—especially to know it was by the hands of our own people ...”

Mom lays a hand on his arm. “It’s okay,” she says. “We’ve all made our mistakes. Mine was running from fairyland to begin with. If I hadn’t, none of this would have happened.”

“And now we have no queen at all,” the prime minister says dejectedly. “I don’t know what will become of us.”

Mom gives him a slow smile. “Actually, that’s not true,” she says.

He looks up in surprise. “Are you saying you’ll let Sunshine stay?”

“I’m saying I will stay myself.”

I stare at her in disbelief. Wait, what? Did she just say—

“Technically, I am still next in line for the throne, am I not?” she asks. “And I was hand trained by my mother from birth so I’m more than qualified to wear the crown. Of course, I hope it’s okay I don’t have my wings anymore ...”

The prime minister’s face brightens and he smiles widely. “Of course! We’ll make you a pair of prosthetic ones—not a problem at all! This is such great news! The crown is yours. As it always should have been.” He turns to the crowd. “Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Queen Shrinking Violet!” he cries. The crowd cheers.

Except for me. “Mom!” I cry, horrified. “You can’t—”

She turns to me, her eyes filled with affection. “Sweetie, I don’t have a choice,” she says. “These people need me and it is my duty to help them. I can do good here—much more so than back home. I can bring peace to the courts, end the corruption, punish those who betray us—all the things I should have done a long time ago, instead of running away.” She reaches over and touches my arm with her hand. “I’m sorry. I wish there was another way.”

“But you’ll live here?” Sunny cries, looking as upset as I feel. “Not with us?”

She nods. “Heather will take care of you until you’re eighteen and go off to college. It’s something we talked about a while ago and she’s agreed to help.”

“You planned this all along,” I realize. “Before the fairies even showed up.”

Mom nods. “When your father came to Massachusetts and told me what had been going on, I realized what had to be done. We’d started making the arrangements, but were interrupted by Apple Blossom’s attack.”

“Wow. I had no idea ...” I’m pretty much blown away at this point. My life and Sunny’s—completely turned upside down.

“In any case, that doesn’t mean I won’t be around. We can Skype every night and you can come visit me every summer. And I want copies of all your report cards faxed directly to me. No slacking off just ’cause I’m not around to ground you.” She looks at us, tears in her eyes. “I know it’s hard. And I feel terrible for having to leave you. But I hope you understand this is for a greater good. It’s my destiny. And I’ve learned you can’t run away from your destiny.”

Looking at her, standing tall and proud and noble, I realize she’s right. These people need her and I can’t be selfish. Just like Sunny and I want to live our lives the way we do, Mom should have the same right.

“Oh, Mom,” I cry, throwing myself in her arms. “I’m going to miss you so much.”

“No more than I’ll miss you. My girls.” She squeezes me back. “My precious, lovely girls.”

We hug for what seems an eternity and then finally break free. Sunny steps forward, pulling the golden crown from her head and placing it reverentially on my mother’s. I draw in a breath. She looks so beautiful. Like a real fairy queen. A swirl of pride sweeps through me as she turns to the people of fairyland. They all get on their knees, bowing respectfully. Then they rise and let out a great cheer.