Charmed

  My face burns. I can’t believe Jax knows what I said. I’m mortified but also angry. Now my friends—some former, I guess—are talking about me behind my back? “Princess Rose requested me specifically,” I say heatedly. “I can’t help it if I’m the only new pick they made this term. Princess Rose thinks I have real leader potential. Who knows what I can accomplish if I follow her lead? If she likes Father’s work as much as she says she does, maybe she’ll let Cobbler Shoes even expand to new kingdoms,” I say wistfully. “My family could have vacation boots to live in! For so long I’ve been judged for doing the wrong thing. Can I help it if I like the attention that comes from doing something right?”

  Jax puts a hand on my shoulder and I notice the other girls watching us. “Thief, Princess Rose only helps herself. Rapunzel told Father that Rose hasn’t been at one princess meeting this week about the ogres. She claims she’s too busy here, and yet we all see her in HEAS scrolls getting her hair done at Rapunzel’s Coiffures and having tea with Little Bo Peep. I don’t know what’s going on with her lately, but watch yourself. Your true friends would never turn their backs on you.” He pauses. “And the old you would never turn your back on them either.”

  “Good morning, ladies!” Princess Rose waltzes into the room in a bright-pink gown and a giant tiara. She spots me with Jax and falters. “I see we have a visitor.”

  Jax bows again. “Princess, it’s an honor to be in your presence.” The RLWs erupt into giggles that can’t be hidden behind handkerchiefs. “Excuse the interruption. I was looking for Miss Gillian.”

  The princess actually blushes. “Such manners! Ladies, this is a young man who knows how to be an RLW, not that we have any young men in the club.”

  “Why is that, Your Highness?” Jax asks, and I can tell he’s up to no good. “A young man can be just as accommodating to a princess as a young maiden. Maybe even more so. We could be of use when strength is needed, like now when you are carrying such a large box.” He walks over and takes it from her.

  “I’ve never considered a male RLW, but you make a valid point,” Rose says as he places the box on a table. “Thank you for bringing the matter to my attention, Mr…?”

  “Mr. Jax Porter.” He bows again and a few girls sigh.

  “You look sort of familiar,” Rose says, looking at him curiously.

  “My father is a farmer in the kingdom, Your Highness, but we have never had the pleasure of visiting Royal Manor. I hear it is quite lovely. Have you been back recently? I know you’ve had many meetings up there this week.”

  Stinker.

  “No, I’ve been quite busy, but I must get back soon,” Rose says, quickly changing the subject. “Ladies? Please gather round before you escort your families here. I have presents!” Princess Rose opens the box and takes out a stack of electric-pink sashes. The words Royal Ladies-in-Waiting are written in glittery, silver calligraphy that actually glows. “They’re rose scented. A wondrous touch if I do say so myself. And they’re enchanted,” says Princess Rose. More applause all around. We all get in line to take one. “Make sure the bottom of the sash hangs to your left, just like we princesses wear them when visiting the kingdom.”

  Jax clears his throat. “I apologize, Your Highness, but don’t you mean to the right? That’s how I’ve seen it when you’ve graced us with your presence in the village.”

  She frowns. “Silly me! You’re right, Mr. Jax. How perceptive of you.” She peers at him again. “Are you sure we haven’t met before?”

  “No, sadly, and I’m afraid my father is working today and cannot visit so I will be with my friends Ollie’s and Maxine’s families.”

  “Aren’t they ogres?” Olivia shivers. “I thought the ogres work with Alva now.”

  “Not all ogres,” Jax corrects her, and I can’t help thinking about the fact that their families are meeting and no one invited me. They must know what I said about Maxine. My stomach churns and I try to push away that funny feeling I’m having.

  “Well, I bid you farewell. Ladies.” Jax bows to the room again and slips out.

  Raza sighs. “I do hope we’ll see him again.”

  “Perhaps we will have to invite Mr. Jax and some other gentleman to a future tea,” says Princess Rose. “As for today’s, I have some disappointing news. I am disheartened to say that Princess Ella and the rest of the royal court declined my invitation to join us.” The girls collectively gasp, and Princess Rose wipes away a single tear. Her face becomes defiant.

  “Rapunzel says they find it too risky to visit FTRS during these trying times, but I disagree. Now is when we must show a united front. There is power in numbers, as I keep telling you. Sometimes I wonder if Alva could be right in wanting to change how Enchantasia is run.” Surprisingly, some of the girls around me nod, and I try to remember their faces. I could follow them later to see where they go and if they talk to anyone suspicious. “But I fear I’m crazy to think such things.”

  The bells chime, signaling the end of this period. “That is all. Please bring your families back so I may greet them. And remember your curtsies!”

  I step into the hallway, hoping to see Jax and explain my behavior, but the hallways are too crowded for me to find anyone. Fairies are hitching rides on the backs of trolls, and goblins are walking hand in hand with gnomes. Everyone is smiling like Madame Cleo taught us in the Charming the World: Learning How to Put Your Best Magical Self Forward seminar we had yesterday. My new sash is glowing so brightly that students keep turning around to stare.

  “Help! I’ve been blinded by a sash! Help!” Ollie walks toward me, and I smile with relief. At least he’s still talking to me. He’s dressed like a pirate complete with a skull and crossbones belt. He covers his eyes. “I can’t have a conversation with you when I can’t even see you.”

  I jab at the sash to turn it off, but it’s no use. “Just look straight ahead and I’ll talk.” Ronald Gertrude waves to me as he rushes by. I don’t wave back. “You’re not mad at me?”

  “I don’t want to be mad at you,” Ollie says easily as we head to the FTRS foyer where we can hear the band playing. I see the FTRS cheer squad performing with magical pom-poms and some of the Magic Carpet Racing Club zooming around the foyer and sprinkling confetti, which the elves try desperately to clean up just as fast. Our teachers are greeting families as they enter through the large wooden doors. “What happened with Maxine doesn’t sound like the Gilly I know.”

  There’s that weird feeling in my stomach again. “I…”

  Ollie cuts me off. “Oh look! There are my parents!”

  His parents are tinier than I expected. Ollie brings them over and I notice his mom smells like biscuits. She has on a simple dress that reminds me of something Mother would wear. I remember Ollie telling me his parents are bakers who provide meals to docking ships at the Enchantasia seaport.

  “Mother, this is Gilly Cobbler,” Ollie says, making introductions.

  She smiles warmly and clasps my hand. “Ollie has told us what a help you were during the attacks here. I’m glad he had you to help him rescue the royals.”

  Um, have they read their HEAS scrolls?

  “I couldn’t have saved FTRS without her,” Ollie says without looking at me.

  “So where is this Professor Blackbeard you wrote about?” Ollie’s father asks. “You say he knows the pirate whose ship you were a stowaway on. If so, I’d like to have some words with him.”

  “Father, he carries a sword,” Ollie reminds him. “At. All. Times. Oh look! That must be Maxine’s family! Wow, her dad is so huge that his head hits the ceiling!”

  I jump slightly at the towering sight of Maxine’s family, especially after what I said about Maxine. They make Maxine look like a mini ogre. I have to remind myself that ogres don’t eat people. That’s a big, fat, ol’ myth. Are there bad ogres out there who stomp on villages? Sure. But there are also bad humans who train gargoyles to destroy schools. Maxine sees me standing with Ollie, and I smile tentatively. She looks away a
s Jax walks over and shakes hands with Ollie’s parents.

  “You must be Gillian! You’re just as Maxine described you,” Maxine’s mom says, and I try not to stare at her sharp teeth or the warts on her chin. “Maxine has written us about your friendship.”

  I think I might throw up. Maxine’s such a good friend that she didn’t even tell them what I said about her. “I care about Maxine a lot,” I say awkwardly.

  “Mother, these are my good friends Ollie and Jax,” Maxine says to her parents and everyone shakes hands. “We’ll find my friends Kayla and Jocelyn later.”

  Wait. Jocelyn? What?

  “Look at your sash,” Maxine’s mom gushes, drool spilling from her mouth. “You’re a Royal Lady-in-Waiting? Maxine has wanted to be one forever.” I’m so embarrassed I wish I could reach up, grab a magic carpet, and disappear.

  “Mother, we should really get to our tea,” Maxine says. “I’m sure Gilly has to get her parents and escort them to the exclusive RLW tea.”

  “FTRS has been the best thing to ever happen to Maxine,” her father interrupts, scratching the horn on his head. I wonder if Maxine will eventually grow one. She’s pretty cute in comparison to her parents, who she once told me are one hundred fifty-two and one hundred fifty-three years old. “So much safer here than out there with all those manifestos popping up in the villages.”

  “We had one show up in the seaport the other day,” Ollie’s father says, looking way, way up at Maxine’s dad. “I wouldn’t let myself read it. What if it’s magically bewitched to make a person follow Alva’s orders?”

  “That’s what I think happened to all our ogre friends in Tailsmen,” says Maxine’s mom sadly. “And we were so close to signing a peace treaty for all ogres too.”

  We grow quiet at talk about the ogres teaming up with Alva. As if I wasn’t depressed already about how awkward things are between me and Maxine or how distant I’ve felt from my friends the last few days. And that’s when I hear it. A faint voice that makes me feel like I’m home.

  “Excuse me,” I say politely. I walk swiftly toward the sound of my name.

  “Gilly! Gilly!” Trixie yells. “Father, I see her!” She rushes toward me with Felix on her tail. They hug me so hard that I almost fall backward.

  I look up just in time to see Father and Mother walking toward me too. I feel like my heart might explode. Anna is with them.

  CHAPTER 12

  Be Careful What You Wish For

  I want to run to my parents and throw my arms around them, but Princess Rose says a lady never runs. (Exception: if they are in mortal danger.)

  “Mother, Father, Anna,” I say demurely and curtsy. Everyone looks at me. Trixie and Felix burst out laughing. Father clears his throat and my siblings stop.

  “What a lady you’ve become.” Mother hugs me. “Madame Cleo was just telling us about the etiquette class you’re in. It sounds like you’ll be practically royal when you leave Fairy Tale Reform School.”

  “Gilly?” Felix sputters with laughter. Even Anna shoots him a nasty look, but I can’t stop staring at them. They’re in beautiful new clothes that look like they were made by a tailor rather than on Mother’s old sewing machine. They all have proper haircuts, and Father is wearing a spiffy hat that looks like a Mad Hatter original. Business really must be good!

  “Why don’t we head to the Royal Ladies-in-Waiting tea?” I look at Anna hopefully. “Princess Rose is looking forward to meeting you all.”

  “Can we see the wicked fairy scroll?” Felix asks, and families around us gasp. “I hear there’s one in the castle too. I’ve never seen one.”

  “And you should never look for one,” I insist, holding him by his shoulders. “Stay away from those manifestos. The one in the castle is closed off.”

  “That’s exactly what I said,” Father tells me, and we share a rare smile.

  Trixie takes my hand, and Mother puts an arm around me as Felix talks a mile a minute about what has been going on at home. Cobbler glass slipper sales are through the roof. Han and Hamish are at Mother Goose Pre-K today. (“It’s the golden egg party, and they really want to win,” Trixie says.) I expected Anna to be silent, but Father is equally so. We shared a moment last time he was here, and yet today he looks worried and is wiping his forehead with a handkerchief.

  “I can’t believe you’re a Royal Lady-in-Waiting,” Trixie coos. “Can you, Anna?” She nudges my sister, then touches my glowing sash. “You’ve wanted to be one forever!”

  “Yes, well, thanks to Gilly, I’m one step closer since her tricks in the village got me a warning.” Anna gives me a nasty look.

  I forgot they knew about my breakout. Father must be furious with me. “I’m so sorry about that. You see—”

  “Anna is old enough to take care of herself,” Mother says stiffly. “If she wants to be foolish enough to aid you and your friends when you’re sneaking out of school, then she must pay the consequences. We already know you have two weeks of detention. Headmistress Flora sent a Pegasus Post.”

  “Yes,” I say, failing to mention how Princess Rose sweet-talked Madame Cleo into letting me serve my time with extra RLW sessions. “It’s been very trying.”

  “Trying? Curtsies?” Anna asks. “Who are you kidding?” She storms off, but I see the hallway in front of her waffling.

  “Wait!” I put an arm out to stop her, and the hallway seals up in front of her. Anna is stunned.

  “That. Is. So. Cool!” Trixie squeals when a new hallway opens in its place.

  “The hallways are magical,” I explain. “You need a map to get around this place.”

  “Do you get a wand?” Trixie says eagerly.

  “Now, Trixie, you know you can’t have one of those ’til you’re twenty-one and have taken Wand 101,” Father reminds her.

  “We have training wands,” I say, hoping this will impress Anna. She’s always wanted her own wand. “We were allowed to take them out for a test run a few weeks ago. They have a number of spells programmed in them but they only worked for an hour.”

  “Is that why you now have some purple hair and a weird hairdo?” Felix asks.

  “No, my hair was cursed, but it’s fine,” I say quickly when Mother raises an eyebrow. Anna glances at me, intrigued, then looks away. “My friend did my hair today and I like it.”

  Felix frowns. “It’s not very you.”

  We’re almost at the RLW tea when a new hallway takes us in a different direction and I get completely turned around. I’ve been so overwhelmed with all my new RLW duties and this fight with my friends that it takes me a minute to get my bearings. When we find a new hallway, I practically throw my family through the opening. We land in front of the observatory where light music is playing and Raza and Tessa are at the door handing out roses to guests on their way in. The way Mother gasps at the gift when she’s handed one makes me feel guilty. I can only imagine how Maxine’s mom would have reacted. Trixie and Felix race in after Mother, but Father hesitates.

  “Anna, your sister is waiting to take us inside,” I hear him tell my sister.

  My sister folds her arms across her chest stubbornly, looking a lot like…well, the old me. “I’m not going. Not until you tell her about the note you received this morning.”

  “Anna!” Father scolds, sounding a lot like…well, how he sounded when he used to yell at me. “I told you we are not bothering your sister about this.”

  “Why not?” Anna demands. “It’s her fault we’re even getting scrolls!”

  “Show me,” I insist to Father, feeling nervous. “I want to know what’s going on.”

  Father sighs and pulls out a piece of parchment. The handwriting in this note is different from the one Kayla received, and the message is menacing.

  YOU have riches and a famous daughter, but I can take it all away. If you care about your family, tell Gillian to be a charming girl and do what she’s told.

  I feel ill. My biggest fear is there on paper taunting me. I peer closer at the parchment
, noticing an extremely long, golden hair. A clue! I pluck it and place it in my pocket.

  “I found the note tucked into our morning scroll,” Father tells me quietly. “Your mother doesn’t know. A clipping of the story on your breakout was with it.” He gives me a look.

  I ignore that part. “Why didn’t you call the Dwarf Police Squad? They can protect our boot!”

  Father shakes his head. “We’re obviously being watched.” He pats my hand. “I don’t want you to worry about this.”

  “What? If Gilly just stays out of things, they’ll leave us alone,” Anna rants. She looks at me. “Let someone else fight Alva.”

  “But I’m getting closer. I can feel it,” I protest. “I can do this on my own. Imagine the reward the royal court will give us then. Princess Rose really likes me! If I could find the mole in the castle, they might be so amazed by me that they’ll give us a bigger boot or land or—”

  “Do you hear yourself?” Anna throws her hands up. “Since when do you care about a bigger boot or more money? You sound just like the wicked stepsisters!” I gasp. “Can’t you be happy with what you already have? Family and friends who like you? This note obviously means you’re supposed to do your time here quietly and get out.” I try to talk over her. “Oh, I forgot! You never listen, do you? You always have to be the hero.”

  My stomach is sloshing so much that I can barely stand. I feel suddenly very ill. “Anna!” I go to grab her hand, but she pulls away and storms off.

  “Anna’s right,” Father says quietly. “This is a fight you can’t win alone, Gillian.”

  “But I work just fine alone,” I protest. “Why do I need help? Sometimes you have to do your own thing so others don’t get hurt.”

  “Working alone is how you do get hurt,” he reminds me. “You beat Alva last time because you had a team. Sometimes being a hero means being brave. Other times it means knowing when you need help.”

  “You’re right,” I say, and Father looks as surprised as I feel that we’re agreeing. I think of what Jocelyn said. I have been selfish, and I haven’t been a very good friend. I can’t screw things up for my family, but I can’t let the kingdom just fall apart either. I feel completely stuck. For a moment, all I want is to be small and on my father’s shoulders. “I’m sorry. I guess I haven’t been thinking straight,” I admit. “But if me being part of all this hurts your business, I couldn’t bear it. Everyone looks happier than I’ve seen them in ages.”