Fire Rises

Spreading the Word

Maverick had explained that there were ten main kingdoms. One of those was his own and one of those was Prince Charming’s. We would also need to stop by the boarding school. After a brief discussion, we decided for the sake of the children we would need to go to the boarding school first. 

By the time we arrived, neither Prince Charming or Autumn had come to talk to Genie and Amari. We quickly explained everything and I held my breath in anticipation of their reaction. 

“So, you expect us to believe that Prince Charming would hurt these children after he has brought them to us for a chance at a better life?” Amari’s eyebrows were raised and her arms were folded across her chest. 

“Uh, yeah. That’s what’s happening. I’m sorry? Were you not listening? Guys they aren’t listening.” Lucian was not feeling patient. He wasn’t used to anyone other than our mother or Hades questioning us. 

“Lucian, take a lap. I’ve got this.” Lucian tossed his hands in the air, but did as Clara asked. “Genie, Amari, please trust us. I know that Lucian caused a scene last night, but his bark is much worse than his bite. It’s Prince Charming that has foul intentions here. Well, actually it’s his sister, but she has the prince under her spell so at this point it’s one in the same. All that Eve has said is true. They are trying to gain control over her to use her powers for evil.”

Genie had been quiet since our arrival. Amari glanced in his direction in efforts to confer with him, but his expression remained stoic. She must have seen something on his face that the rest of us couldn’t, because she sighed in acceptance before turning back to us.

“Well, I hope that you all are wrong. In anycase, our concern and responsibility lies with these children. They’ve only been here for a day and already they are doing so well. I will make sure no one unauthorized can enter the academy. Since everything is so uncertain at the moment we will limit entry to students and teachers only. That means you all will not be able to come and go as you please either. Ari, you will be the exception. If more information makes itself available you will be able to come alone to share that with us.”

Ari stood a little taller. “I will not take that responsibility lightly… but how will I be able to get here if no one can bring me in or out?”

Genie was the one to answer her question. “I will grant you the same spatial manipulation power that the royal families have.”

“What’s tha-” before she could finish her thought Genie had folded his arms and nodded his head.

“It’s done. All you need to do is think of a person or a place with the intention of being there. Then you will be. Try it out. Go to Lucian.” Lucian’s ‘lap’ had only gotten him across the room. It seemed like a good first try, except Ari was still more than a little terrified of him. He gave her what he intended to be a reassuring smile, but his teeth seemed to do anything but offer her comfort. 

“It’s okay, Ari. We’re friends. I won’t hurt you. Promise.” Ari nervously chewed at her lip and tried to hide behind her curtain of dreads. “Besides, if I did hurt you, Clara would kill me.” Lucian shrugged hoping his words would instill a little confidence. Ari looked to Clara who nodded in confirmation of Lucian’s words.

That was enough encouragement. Ari straightened her shoulders and closed her eyes. Her body started to fade before she totally disappeared. As quickly as she had left us she appeared beside Lucian. 

“Holy s**t you guys!! Did you see that?! That was so cool! I was over there but now I’m over here!!” She was bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. Lucian patted her shoulder approvingly which earned him a warning glare from Clara. Ari’s gentle nature had quickly won my tall friend over and she was now very protective over the young witch. Instead of recoiling away from Lucian’s touch, though, Ari gave him an appreciative smile. She surprised us all further by reaching for Lucian’s hand and bringing them both back to where the rest of us were gathered. 

Once they had materialized in front of us, Ari wrapped her small arms around Genie’s waist. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! I was feeling so helpless with all of this! I promise I will be back to help with the children as soon as we have everything sorted on the outside!”

Genie patted her head. “No need to thank me, little one. You are going to do great things for more than just these children. You’re going to change the world.” The way he said it made it clear it wasn’t just a prediction; it was a fact.

“Well, I suppose we should be heading on to our next stop. We have a lot more convincing to do today. Genie, Amari, thank you for this.” Maverick gave a slight bow to Genie and Amari.

Maverick made a move to gather us, but Genie's gaze remained thoughtfully passing between Lucian and I.

What is this man thinking? As if hearing my thoughts, Genie's eyes snapped back to mine full of answers, but the playful tug at the corner of his mouth told me I wasn't going to get to know any of them.

“You don't know who you are. Neither of you do.” Genie's words were, again, not a question, but fact.

“Well, Lucian, obviously, was able to shift into his dragon last night but I still haven’t…”

“That is not what I’m referring to. Dragon is only half of what you are.” 

Half? Yeah... the other half is human. Genie's eyes still curiously appraised my brother and I, but offered no further explanation. Unless... The second the word entered my brain, Genie's eyebrows lifted. 

"Our... fathers?" My head tilted to the side as the foreign word slithered from my tongue. I often forgot a man was involved in my creation. I'd seen Maeve use her sexuality to advance her status and, worse, her pleasure, but the thought of a father was not something I had much reason to consider. Lucian and I would never have fathers, anyway; we only had sperm donors. We had never talked about the possibility of having different lineage, though it seemed obvious from our vastly distinct physical appearances. Discussing our pedigree seemed wildly unnecessary. Until now.

Genie's face had reverted back to it's signature stoic expression, but his indifference was confirmation enough.

“Neither of us know our fathers. I was only four when Eve was born and I don’t remember any of my mother’s slam pieces specifically. Maeve’s a total whor-”

“Lucian!” Clara slapped him in his stomach before he could finish his thought.

“What? It’s true…”

“King Richard may be able to shed some light on the powers that come from your mother. The rest..." Genie paused. I'd never seen someone so contained, yet so conflicted. However he was planning to finish his thought had clearly been derailed. "Well. In due time, then." A million questions clattered in my mind so quickly I couldn't land on one before he continued speaking. "You must move along now. Be safe, friends. Stay together. You’ll need each other if you want to make everything right, again.” Genie’s face looked somber as he gave his fortune cookie like advice.

Oh good, another cryptic hot guy.

His eyes shot to mine, a smile playing on his lips. He winked at me right as the colors around us blurred and we were transported to our next destination. 

****

Queen Arabella and King Kian had been easy to convince.

“I always knew that prince was up to no good. Everyone assumes ‘charming’ means good, but a pretty face does not a good guy make.” Kian truly did have a unique understanding of royal deception. The stories I had heard from one brute in the Dark Place always made me question how Kian had escaped imprisonment like the rest of us. Looking at him now, I couldn’t picture him as anything besides a handsome king.

Legend has it, Kian was pompous as a child, but when he took throne, he turned into a tyrant only concerned with his own selfish agenda. As a leader, he became a symbol of violence and neglect, killing without second thought, casting those in need to the side every single day. His horrible deeds led him to be cursed- by his own townsfolk, at that!- to be seen outwardly as a manifestation of the growing evil within him. Initially, the curse backfired on the civilians. Every full moon the king would leave his royal limestone prison and claim a maiden; taking her away never to be seen again. Every full moon his physical appearance would become more and more foul, until finally just the sight of him sent witnesses into an irreversible state of shock.

Luckily for everyone involved, many years after the curse had been placed and many years prior to the roundup, one day Arabella stumbled into his castle and just stayed. She helped him find the good within and restored him to his natural physical appearance. Ever since, he'd been a vision of perfect leadership. I'd always wondered if she had been intrigued by the challenge, or if she was just a masochist. Looking at her betrothed now, I was sure it was the former. Primarily- at least.

“Sooo… how bad is his face?” Arabella’s eyes were wide as she asked the question.

“Oh, Sis fuckkkked him up.” Clara elbowed Lucian in the ribs. “What?! They’ll see soon enough. I’m surprised Prince Crispy and his bratty little sister haven’t already shown up. He’s probably perfecting his song and dance number about how the evil dragons from the Dark Place ruined his plans of peace.”

“Prince Crispy, huh? I was thinking Prince Charrrr-ming… because his face is charred. Get it?” Ari’s confidence had grown ten-fold in the short span of a few hours which evidently meant she now had jokes. Kian’s lips pressed together in a firm line, but he couldn’t stop the laugh that exploded from within.

“Team, please, focus. We can discuss nicknames over dinner. We need to keep moving!”

Kian was still fighting his fits of laughter as they waved us off to the next stop on our journey.

***

We stopped at two more kingdoms, the Fourth Kingdom and the Imperial Kingdom, before Maverick announced we needed to go to the Seaside Kingdom. Ari asked to be excused from the visit, but everyone insisted it would be good for her to be present. The king and queen needed a chance to see how good she was.

When we landed in the Seaside Kingdom, I momentarily let all of my worries fall by the wayside. I had never seen anything remotely as awe-inspiring. Water stretched clear beyond the horizon. Ari and Lucian were equally enthralled in what Maverick called 'the ocean.' It was so big and so blue and so mesmerizing. The sun danced across the top of the water in a way that I couldn’t bring myself to look away from. 

Must. Touch. IT. I mindlessly began moving towards the small sandy area where the water stopped. 

Maverick lightly put his arm around my waist and brought my mind back to the mission. “Love, I promise I will bring you back to the beach and to all of the other beautiful places around the world, but we’re kind of on a time crunch right now.”

I reluctantly followed him away from the water and into the castle. The other three wallowed in shared disappointment at Maverick’s impeccable ability to attend to the task at hand, but still sulked forward behind us.

King Steven met us in the grand hall of the castle. With round, sparkling eyes I gratefully discovered the entirety of the Western wall to be lined with enormous windows, allowing us to see out onto the magnificent ocean. Most of us were having a hard time focusing, but luckily Maverick seemed unphased by the natural beauty that laid just beyond the castle walls.

Much to Ari's relief, Queen Maya was conveniently visiting her father’s kingdom upon our arrival. This ultimately saved us another stop, because Steven was able to get word to her and share the news with the Aquatic Kingdom. I silently thanked the gods; as beautiful and alluring as the ocean was, I wasn't a great swimmer.

The king was wary at first. Ari’s mother had really done a number on his trust. After Maverick pleaded our case he finally seemed to be coming around.

“You… you don’t seem like your mother at all.” He looked Ari up and down skeptically. We all stiffened in response. No one enjoyed that our nicest friend was being held under such scrutiny.

She didn’t need our protection though. A smile of gratitude spread across her face. “Thanks! That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me!” She gave a little bounce on her toes, her dreads swaying across her back. King Steven chuckled warmly at her. She had that effect on people.

“Well, if what you’re saying is true, we have quite the battle ahead of us. Informing everyone is a great start, but ultimately, Charming is the only person who has access to the prisoners in the Dark Place. He could easily form an army and proceed with his sister's plans without you two…”

Oh.

“Ha! He’d be even dumber than he looks to do that! Even if he convinced all of the monsters in the Realm of Darkness to fight for him, they’d ultimately betray him and attempt their own uprising.” Lucian had a very good point, but it was a point I wasn’t sure Charming or Autumn would consider until the opportunity for reason had long passed. 

Everyone was silent for a moment, thinking through the possibilities. Finally Maverick broke the silence. “I think we should go north, next. We need to talk to the Ice Queen. Up until this point we haven’t even thought about needing to form our own army but…” He took a deep inhale before proceeding. “We should be as transparent as possible with everyone about the potential need for defenses. The Ice Queen is a great place to start.”

King Steven whole heartedly agreed. He expressed his gratitude for our vigilance and invited all of us back for a sunset cruise around the harbor once this mess was nothing more than a meager, laughable memory. We said our goodbyes before finding ourselves in a much smaller, much colder kingdom.

****

I had met most of the kingdoms' rulers in the days leading up to my would-be wedding, but the Ice Queen was not among them. In fact, I hadn't heard much about her at all. She was never mentioned in the Dark Place. Not once. Everyone was mentioned in the Dark Place. Especially royalty. But not her. Never her. I'd only first heard of her and her powers through gossiping whispers between the other nobles during those final meals I'd spent in Far, Far Away. Now, here we stood in her home.

The Ice Queen effortlessly lived up to her name. I'd simultaneously lived with an actual demon and the self-proclaimed Queen of the Dark Place, but they had nothing on the intensity and coldness of Queen Eira. 

 The sight of her alone had the bristles on Lucian's neck standing at attention. Clara- loudmouthed, sassy Clara- had shrunken back into a silent, mousy state. Before we'd even arrived, upon the mere mention of her name poor Ari had been reduced to a stuttering mess.

And, okay, fine, yeah me, too. But aren't we all?

When we assembled in the throne room she took her time sizing each of us up individually. She was limited in stature, rather lean, and her skin was so pale it bordered translucent, but everything about this woman was equal parts breathtaking, designed, and intimidating. Her long, stark white hair cascaded down her back, billowing with each exaggerated motion of her heart shaped head. Her massive gray eyes were striking, though any comfort their beauty might have inspired was quickly diminished by their glacial rigidness. She lingered a little longer when she reached Ari, but Ari’s shoulder remained squared, though her eyes stayed glued to the stone floor. After a moment too long of witnessing Ari struggle to preserver through yet another unwarranted test, I culled the courage to interject.

With a raised chin and my best attempt at a steady voice, I dared to introduce myself. “I don’t believe we met. I’m Eve.”

“I know who you are. I don't know why it surprises you we didn't meet; I wasn’t in Far, Far Away.”

Ice Queen, indeed. Damn. I looked her up and down trying to figure out if she was even good.

She must have picked up on my apprehensions, because she added, “Sorry, what I mean is that I don’t leave my kingdom often. Or ever, actually.” As she was speaking a bouncing brunette clone of the queen came bounding into the room.

“Eira!! You didn’t tell me we were having guests! Hi! How are you all? Are you staying for a long time? Do you guys want to play in the snow? We can build snowmen and have a snowball fight and eat snow cones, but I’m not sure if you’ll really want snow cones since it's kind of cold out there-” A burly man came in after her; he had clearly been running to try and keep up with this ball of energy.

“Hon, take a breath! You don’t want to scare them off!”

She adorably turned to him placed balled fists on either side of her flushed cheeks. “Ohhh!! You’re right!" As quickly as they'd found her face her fists made their way to her sides. She turned us with an apologetic smile and an effortful attempt to reign in her energy. "I’m sorry. I am Serenity. Welcome to our home.” She dipped her freckled face and she curtseyed to us.

“We’re actually here to share some important news.” Maverick launched into his well rehearsed tale of the i***t prince turned evil by his adopted sister.

The story seemed to knock some of the wind out of Serenity's sails. “Oh no, no, no, no, no, no! This is not good!”

The Ice Queen looked to her little sister. “It will be okay. We are tucked away up here. We have given no one any reason to attack us. Besides,” she chuckled humorlessly, “I think I can give them a run for their money.” Her eyes seemed to unconsciously move back to Ari... again. I felt my back stiffen in reaction.

Back off you icy bitch... I felt Lucian shift slightly closer to Ari, clearly uncomfortable with the prolonged stare, as well.

“That’s actually a big part of why we have come to you. I know you don’t like to dabble in foreign affairs, but this seems like it could potentially turn into a global crisis fairly quickly. In the event that Charming releases an army from the Dark Place we will all need to be ready. Our best fighting chance will be to face them together.” Maverick’s head was held high, but I could hear the plea in his voice. King Steven’s words had terrified him. They had terrified us all.

“Hmmm. I see." Queen Eira gave thoughtful nod, but I doubted she was genuinely considering helping us. As she pondered she twirled her hand-  seemingly absentmindedly, but everything about this woman was intentional- creating a small formation of icicles in the air around her. "I don't see how this con-” The Ice Queen's presumable rejection was cut off by her sister who seemed to have a sudden realization.

“WAIT! You all are from the Dark Place? Do you know my ex boyfriend? He’s a massive asshole.”

Lucian tossed his head back and let a booming laugh break the tension that had clouded the room since our arrival. “Ha! That could be literally anyone in the Dark Place.”

“Well, he’s like stupid hot and he’s manipulative and he’s-”

“Again, that could be so many people...” I looked to Ari in surprise at her words. There were a few people that may have been considered attractive before their imprisonment, but I hadn’t ever given much thought to physical appearances in the Dark Place. Everyone’s insides were far too ugly to give the chance to consider their outsides.

“No, no, no. He was only put there like five years ago... sheesh how old do you think I am? There's only- I'm 28 by the way- been a handful of people that have been sent there since the initial roundup! His name is Felix.” Now it was Ari’s turn to laugh.

“Ohhhhh, yeah. I know him. He’s the reason I date women now. Well, not the reason… but definitely the catalyst to figuring out men aren’t for me.” Ari was full of surprises today. I was really enjoying seeing her loosen up around us. Her revelation was news to us all, but no one seemed phased by it.

“Ha! Yeah he’s the worst! He tried to kill me! Well really he tried to kill my sister first but-”

“Ladies, if you’re done gossiping about shitty exes can we please focus on the conversation at hand. Your Majesty, please, will you fight with us?” Maverick was becoming frustrated by all the distractions from the day.

The Ice Queen looked at Maverick briefly, but her eyes were flitting between her sister and Ari when she answered. “I can’t say that I will fight with you all, should it come to it. But I can guarantee under no circumstances will I join the other side. Should things take a… less than desirable turn, you will always have a safe place to stay here in my kingdom. Good luck to you all.”

Maverick attempted to reason with her, but a gust of icy air pushed us all from the throne room and into the hall. 

Lucian shrugged his shoulders. “Well, that could have gone worse.”

My stomach began to rumble. “I think we should call it a day.”

“Okay, let’s just go to the final two kingdoms, the Lakeside Kingdom and the Desert Kingdom, before we head back.” I admired how driven Maverick was, but I was in no condition to meet any new people. Ari once again felt bold enough to speak up. Unfortunately this time, it was to throw me under the bus.

“Um, I really don’t think we should push her.” She said it quietly, but the urgency in her voice was enough to momentarily stop Maverick in his tracks.

“Yeah, yeah, I know: she’ll eat someone. You guys really are so dramatic. She’ll be fine.” He tugged on our intertwined hands towards the others in efforts to gather everyone for teleportation. When no one moved to join him he looked around, finally noticing the sincerity on everyone's faces.

I looked up at him shyly. Lucian chuckled. “HA! Tell that to all those evil creatures down a finger or two in the Dark Place. We aren’t the dramatic ones… no, that would be my lovely sister.”

I could feel Maverick’s eyes fall on me, but I didn’t dare return his gaze. I had worried he thought all prior references to my more animalistic tendencies equated to no more than jokes. Now that the truth was out in the open I was sure that it would be the line to his previously limitless understanding.

Goodbye happiness, goodbye beautiful prince, goodbye golden bedroom fit for a dragon…

I dared to look up, meeting his gaze. Instead of finding anything negative in his eyes, I was surprised to find only love. Well, love and a whole lot of questions. But no anger or fear or disgust or judgement. 

“Come on, Love. We need to talk to my parents, anyway. Let’s go home.” He kissed my cheek before taking us all back to his palace. 

No, our palace. I smiled inwardly at the thought.