Once Upon a Curse

  "I was seeing to something important," I said.

  "I hope this important matter doesn't prevent you from having your fittings tomorrow! You've wasted too much time already. Luckily for you, you missed your aunt's mischief making. Your father went hunting today. The hounds flushed a hare from the underbrush right away. Your father said that it led him a merry chase until the hounds finally ran it to ground. Then what do you suppose the hare did?"

  "Got eaten by some half-wild dogs?"

  Mother's eyes snapped. "It turned into a monstrous lizard that chased them. The horses were terrified and the dogs.... Well, see for yourself," she said, pointing to the corner of the room.

  During meals, Father's hounds normally waited under the tables watching for dropped food or the occasional handout, so I was surprised to see them cowering in the corner with fearful eyes.

  "Grassina did that?" I asked.

  "And thought it was very funny when I confronted her. Your father is furious."

  A squire who had come into the hall slipped behind the tables until he reached my father. They spoke for a moment, before Father turned to me. "It seems your prince Eadric has returned earlier than expected, Emeralda. He's in the stable with his horse."

  I hopped to my feet, nearly knocking a platter from a page's hands. "May I be excused?" I asked.

  "Of course my dear," said Father.

  Mother started tapping her fingers on the tabletop, a sure sign that she wasn't pleased. "He wasn't supposed to be back for another week. I hope his parents' plans haven't changed."

  "I'll find out," I said and dashed from the room before she could think of a reason that I should stay. Once I was out of my parents' sight, I hiked up my long skirts higher than was probably modest and ran as fast as I could.

  The animals had been fed, and the comfortable sound of horses munching their grain filled the stable. I peeked over the door of Bright Country's usual stall and saw Eadric brushing his horse until the stallion's white coat shone. Ferdy, Eadric's singing sword, hung from a nail on the wall, close to Eadric. Since the day when Eadric had been unprepared for the battle between Greater Greensward's army and the army of East Aridia, he'd always kept his sword nearby.

  Eadric looked wonderful standing in the stall, his sleeves rolled up and his clothes muddy from a hard day of riding.

  "Eadric," I said, and then the door was open and I was in his arms, which was exactly where I wanted to be.

  Four

  It was nearly an hour before I returned to my original errand. Eadric and I had spent a few wonderful minutes while Bright Country eyed us with disgust. When he finally snorted and said, "Get a stall," we stopped kissing and grinned at each other. Eadric looked different from when I'd seen him last, and I was surprised by how much he'd changed in a few months. He'd grown another inch or so and was now nearly as tall as me. His chin and upper lip were rough from stubble, and his curly, brown hair was longer than he used to wear it. What really surprised me, however, was that his paunch was almost gone and the muscles in his arms and across his chest had gotten bigger.

  "How have you been?" Eadric asked, his voice a bit deeper than I remembered it.

  "Miserable while you were gone. Wonderful now that you're back. And you?"

  "So lonely that I couldn't stay away any longer. My parents are coming next week. They wanted me to travel with them, but I told them I had to help a lady in distress."

  "Oh, really? And who was the lady?"

  "You. You did say you were miserable."

  "Devastated."

  "Good. I'd hate to think I lied to my parents."

  "What else did you tell them?"

  "That you're beautiful and exciting and the only woman with whom I could live happily ever after. That they'll like your parents, but your aunt Grassina is a little unusual."

  "Aunt Grassina! I was on my way to see her when my mother stopped me. I have so much to tell you! I met Oculura's sister, Dyspepsia, who told me how we can learn about the curse, and now Grandmother is coming to the tournament where some magic is going to go wrong."

  Eadric held up his hand and laughed. "Slow down! One thing at a time, please."

  I started over again and told him about seeing Oculura, the witch we'd met at the magic marketplace, and her sister who used to be an expert on curses. He nodded and said, "How nice," but I could tell he wasn't very interested until I told him that I'd have to travel back in time to learn the actual words of the family curse.

  "Really?" he said. "You can do that?"

  "According to Dyspepsia I can. All I need is something that came from that time and something to make my power stronger. I already have the vial of dragon's breath, which has the strongest magic you can get."

  Eadric rubbed his chin. "What time are we talking about?"

  "The Dark Ages. That's why I need to see Grassina. Maybe she knows of something old."

  "If you really think she'll help us, she must have changed since I was here last."

  "She's gotten worse, if anything, but it's worth a try," I said.

  "Wow," said Eadric, his eyes lit with excitement. "Going back in time! I never thought I'd do that."

  "Eadric, you aren't going. It isn't safe. I have no idea what I'll find or even if it will work."

  "Of course I'm going. You don't think I came back early to visit with your parents, do you? And I've heard what knights used to be like in the Dark Ages. One of them could kidnap you, drag you back to his castle and force you to marry him. You're not going without me."

  "Are you threatening to drag me off to your castle?"

  "If I have to," he said, trying out a wicked leer.

  I knew there was no arguing with Eadric. I started to tell him about everything else that had happened to me since he left. I was still talking when we headed for the dungeon, and I had to cut short my description of Oculura's eyes as we reached my aunt's room. Grassina didn't answer when I knocked, although we could hear someone banging around. Curious, I opened the door a crack and peeked inside. A lizard once again, my aunt was chasing a hamster, her nails scraping the floor, her scaly tail slamming into the bench and knocking over the chair. The hamster squeaked and tried to run up the wall, falling flat on its back with a tiny thump. Grassina pounced on the helpless creature and snapped it up in an instant.

  "Aunt Grassina!" I said, shoving the door open all the way. "Stop that right now! How can you eat those hamsters?"

  "Oh, bother!" rasped Grassina in her lizardy voice. "Don't you have anything better to do than to spy on me? Hold on, I'm going to—Brap!" She burped, gave me a toothy grin and turned back into a human. "What are you doing here? How can I get any work done if you keep popping in?" She peered at Eadric in the dim light. "Who's that with you? It's not that dunderhead Eadric is it?"

  "Hello, Grassina," said Eadric. "How have you been?",

  "When?" she barked. "Be specific, boy."

  "I wanted to ask you some questions," I began, "but if you're too busy—"

  "Don't be silly. Of course I'm too busy. Go away and bother someone else."

  "You sound like Grandmother. She didn't want to talk, either."

  Sticking a grimy finger in her mouth, my aunt probed her teeth with her fingernail. "You went to see my mother? What about?"

  "I had some questions about our family's history," I said. "Grandmother seemed to think she knew more about it than you did, but I thought I'd ask you, anyway."

  "Huh," grunted my aunt. After examining her fingernail, she flicked something off it onto the floor. "Don't believe a word she says. That old bat can't remember her middle name, let alone family history. Besides, I know more than she ever did."

  "Then you must know all about Hazel, the first Green Witch. Was her father King Grunwald the third or the fourth?"

  "The third," she said, running her fingers through her hair until it stood out around her head like a squirrel's nest. "But his wife was a commoner. Don't stand there like an old stump—fetch me that bowl of powdered nightshad
e. You might as well make yourself useful while you're here." Going to her workbench, Grassina lifted the lid off a cold, iron cauldron and reached for a wooden spoon. "Now where was I? Oh, yes, Hazel. She liked plants. Had a real green thumb. What else did you want to know?"

  "Would there be anything of Hazel's here in the castle? Or something that belonged to one of her parents?" I went to the shelf where my aunt stored most of her dried plants and took the containers down one at a time.

  "Never seen anything like that. Why do you want to know?" Grassina glanced in my direction and pointed. "The nightshade is in the cracked bowl on the end."

  "Just wondered." I took the bowl down and shook it. "You're almost out."

  "Don't tell me that! I need five spoonfuls for the next step!"

  "I don't think you have more than two here," I said, handing her the bowl. "What are you making?" Grassina caught me peeking into the cauldron and slammed the lid back on, but not before I'd seen that it was half filled with sparkly, lavender dust.

  "None of your business! Now get out! I need more nightshade if I'm going to do this right, and I don't want you in here while I'm gone. You don't have any nightshade upstairs, do you?" she asked, squinting at me.

  "No, sorry, I don't keep—"

  Grassina snorted. "Well, you should. Never know when you're going to need it." Grabbing an empty sack, she hustled Eadric and me out of the room and waved her hand over her door to lock it. "And keep out!" she said, glaring at me before turning on her heel and steaming off down the corridor.

  Grassina hadn't told me anything very useful, but I still wasn't ready to give up. Pointing my finger to light the torches on the wall, I gathered my skirts around me and sat down on the dungeon steps, leaving room so Eadric could sit beside me. "Maybe I could use a chip from one of the original stone walls as my focus,"! said. "I could take it from one of the older sections and...."

  A blue mist seeped through a door at the end of the hall, thickening until it took the form of an elderly man with long white hair and a regal posture. He drifted down the hall toward us, his refined features becoming more apparent as he approached. When he finally reached my side, he seemed to loom over me.

  "Is something wrong, my dearest Emma?" asked the ghost.

  I drew my cloak more tightly around my shoulders since the air was chilled by his presence. "Hello, Grandfather. I have a puzzle to solve, that's all. By the way, this is Eadric. I believe I told you about him. Eadric, this is my grandfather King Aldrid."

  "I remember. I've seen him around the castle," said Grandfather, "although we've never officially met."

  "Hello, sir," said Eadric. For someone who was talking to a ghost for the first time, he did very well. His voice was only slightly shaky and his cheeks only a little pale. My grandfather was charming even as a ghost— he'd chosen to live in the dungeon when my grandmother had fallen victim to the curse, and he had stayed on as a ghost even after he'd died.

  "It's a pleasure to meet you, young man. Emma, you said you have a puzzle? How delightful. Perhaps I can help you."

  "I hope so," I said. He already knew about my desire to find an end for the curse, so I told him what I'd learned from Dyspepsia. "I have something to make my power stronger, but I still need an object from Hazel's time. Grandmother said that my mother had all the old things thrown away. Hazel's father was King Grunwald the third. I don't suppose you know of an object from his reign that I could use?"

  Grandfather rubbed his chin and frowned. "Grunwald the third, hmm. I don't know of anything from that time-—"

  I sighed. "Then I suppose I'll have to use a chip from a wall he had built."

  "Oh my, no!" said Grandfather. "That might take you back years before the day you need to arrive. It should be from something that happened closer to that party, I suppose. I know someone who should be able to help you. Come back in the morning, and I'll try to have him here."

  We left Grandfather with the promise that we'd meet him first thing in the morning. Eadric was yawning broadly when we left the dungeon, so we said good night, and he stumbled off to the bedroom he'd used before.

  When I passed through the Great Hall, the room was empty except for the hounds still cowering in the corner, startling at every sound. Upstairs in my chamber, I crawled into my bed grateful for its comforting warmth, but I couldn't stop worrying about what I planned to do. Who was Grandfather bringing, and how could this person help me? What if the spell didn't work, and I didn't go anywhere or ended up in the wrong time? And even if the spell was successful and I reached Hazel's time, who knew what I would face?

  Sleep was impossible as I thought about why I should go. If I couldn't find a way to end the curse and it changed me before I found someone to replace me as Green Witch, Greater Greensward would be without magical protection. Even if the curse never changed me, I'd have to spend the rest of my days trying to protect everyone I cared about from my crazy aunt and worrying that I still might be the curse's next victim. When I finally fell asleep, I dreamed of sharp-clawed monsters with teeth like daggers chewing up the trestle tables in the Great Hall where my entire family sat, waiting to be devoured.

  I was up early the next morning collecting everything I thought might be useful on my trip: a piece of string, a candle stub, a vial of protective salve my dragon friend Ralf had given me and, the most important, the bottle of dragon's breath that I'd put in my hip pouch the day before. The string could always become rope; the candle, an ever-useful light; the salve, a great protector; and the dragon's breath, a way to get me there and back. I hung my smallest farseeing ball on a chain around my neck, dressed in a comfortable gown and warm cloak, fed my canary, then went to check on Li'l. My mother wouldn't need to know, as I figured on returning the same day.

  "Where are you going?" asked the little bat from her favorite rafter.

  "Into the dungeon for now. If everything works out, I'll be going to find the cure for the curse."

  "Can I come with you?" she asked, fluttering to my shoulder.

  "You can come as far as the dungeon, if you'd like, but after that I'll need to be on my own. I'm going to try to travel back in time, and I'm not sure what I'll find. I don't dare take anyone with me."

  This time when I went to the dungeon, I took a witches' light tethered to me by magic. Lighting my way with a warm glow, it kept pace like a well-trained hawk, staying a few feet above my head. Eadric was waiting for me in the Great Hall, taking bites from a hefty chunk of cheese. He offered me some, but my nervous stomach gurgled and I decided not to take it.

  Grandfather was already waiting for us in the dungeon with two ghosts I'd never seen before. Wary of strangers, Li'l hunched down on my shoulder, gripping my cloak with her claws. The room was so cold from the presence of three ghosts that I could see each puff of our breath. Even with the cloak wrapped around me, my teeth chattered and I had to listen hard to hear my grandfather.

  After nodding to Eadric, Grandfather drew me to his side so that we faced the other ghosts together. "Emma, I'd like you to meet Sir Jarvis," Grandfather told me. The ghost wore a peaked cap, over-tunic and leggings that had long been out of fashion. His noble bearing would have been the same in any time period. "And this is his friend, Hubert. Hubert tells me that he worked in the stables of Grunwald the third." The ghost was stooped with age, his long hair straggled almost to his knees, his tunic was little more than a rag and his legs and feet were bare. The finely wrought chain that he wore around his neck seemed very much out of place.

  "King Grunwald to you, youngster. You need to learn respect for your betters," said Hubert.

  Sir Jarvis looked appalled. "Sorry, Your Majesty! Hubert hasn't been the same since guards came down a few months back and opened the trapdoor to the oubliette." The oubliette was little more than a hole in the cellar of the castle covered by a rusty, metal grate. It was where the old kings put prisoners who they wanted to forget. "Hubert was sure that they'd finally remembered him and had come to let him out. A bit late, if yo
u ask me, but he has trouble with his memory even on the best of days. He forgets that only his bones are left in that pit, and the guards weren't interested in those. Hubert," he said, turning to his friend, "this is King Aldrid. You've met him before!"

  "He's not the king!" grumbled the stooped ghost. "King Grunwald the third is the king and has been for as long as I can remember. I've worked in his stables since I was just a lad."

  Sir Jarvis shook his head. "That was many years ago, Hubert! Limelyn is king now. This is his father-in-law, King Aldrid. He wants to ask you some questions."

  "What kind of questions?"

  "Actually," I said, "I'm the one who wants to talk to you, Hubert. I'm Princess Emeralda and I'm interested in King Grunwald the third. Can you tell me anything about him or his daughter Princess Hazel?"

  "That I can. Princess Hazel is lovely, much prettier than you. She has the most beautiful golden hair, with eyes the color of robins' eggs and skin as smooth as cream. She has a green thumb and can grow anything she has a mind to. Why, I've seen her grow a potato vine up the stable wall that sprouted potatoes in less than a day. Lots of talent our princess has; you can be sure of that! It was the little princess who gave me this medallion just before the big party," Hubert said, pulling the chain out from under his tunic. A silver disk spun on the end of the chain. "Said it was for bravery. I never took it off. Had to hide it or many's the time they would have taken it from me." Eyeing me as if I might try to grab his ghostly medallion, Hubert tucked it back under his filthy tunic.

  "It was a lovely medallion," I said. "And it was very kind of the princess to give it to you. What about King Grunwald? What was he like?"

  The aged ghost's shape wavered, his form growing faint, then more distinct. "Why are you asking all these questions? You aren't a spy, are you? The king doesn't take kindly to spies! I'll call the castle guards; that's what I'll do. They'll throw you in the oubliette, and you'll never get out!"

  "That's all right, Hubert," said Sir Jarvis, patting the older ghost's arm. "Calm down now, old fellow. There are no spies here!" Hubert muttered to himself while his friend turned to Grandfather and me. "Hubert spent his last days in the oubliette. Grunwald the fourth had him tossed down there when something went missing. I think Hubert was caught someplace he shouldn't have been, but he certainly paid the price. The oubliette was a terrible place to die."