The boy threw up his hands in exasperation. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you: his curse isbroken!”
She relaxed and patted Pegasus’ neck when he bumped her shoulder with his velvet muzzle. “Oh, that is wonderfulnews.”
“Except it’snot, because he doesn’t believe Elle loves him!” the boysaid.
“And this Elle is the lady who broke thecurse?”
When the boy nodded, Angelique’s frown returned. “That doesn’t make any sense. The curse could only have been broken if she lovedhim.”
“Iknow,” the boy said. “But His Highness and none of the other servants believe her because she misled everyone about who she is! You need to come tell His Highness! That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!” The boy’s voice quivered between frustration and sadness, and he inhaled a deep and shakybreath.
Angelique glanced at Pegasus, but the mount was already getting down in response to her unasked question. Satisfied, she turned back to the boy. “I apologize, for although you know who I am, I’m afraid I don’t know yourname.”
“I’m Oliver.” The boy sniffed loudly. “His Highness’ stableboy.”
Angelique slid onto Pegasus’ back. “I see this is a far more complex matter than I thought. Come, Oliver. We can return to the inn where I’m staying, and you can explain the whole ordeal.” She held out a hand, guiding the boy so he sat in front ofher.
When Pegasus rose, the boy whooped with obvious delight, bringing a faint smile to Angelique’slips.
I only hope I’ll be able to help as Oliver seems to think I can. It sounds like a disagreement between the prince and the lady, and magic can do many things, but it can’t help matters of theheart.
* * *
After gettingthe full tale from Oliver, Angelique took Oliver and began traveling back to Loire, taking the occasional side trip to warn local mages about the mountain hag. Between that and being unwilling to let Pegasus ride at full speed while carrying the small boy, it took them over a week to make the returntrip.
She wasn’t entirely certain she understood the full tale of Prince Severin’s woes—mostly because Oliver, as a child, didn’t understand or care for romantic love very much. (He described the prince and his lady love’s meetings with rolled eyes and the occasional fakedgag.)
But what she interpreted was that after spending over two years as a beast, a young lady named Elle fell through the roof of the prince’s chateau. Due to a broken leg, it was decided by Severin’s servants that she couldn’t leave until the bone mended, stranding her—an eligible young lady—with Prince Severin—who needed the love of a woman to break hiscurse.
Apparently the two did fall in love, and Severin’s curse broke…but the lady hadn’t been entirely honest with who she was, and as a result, Severin felt she had lied about her feelings for him aswell.
Frankly, either the prince is so emotional he cannot see straight, or he is an idiot. Both are disturbing possibilities considering he is the commanding general of Loire’s armies,Angelique thought as she followed Oliver through the halls of the Loire royalpalace.
“—And then I ran into amountain hag!” Oliver said, chattering away to another one of Severin’s servants—a male valet. “She had black teeth and looked like a bunch of mice bit her in the face. She would havekilledme, but that’s when the Lady Enchantress foundme!”
Enchantress-in-Training, Angelique mentally sighed.If everyone insists on ignoring my actual rank, I am certain I’m going to hear about it from theCouncil.
The valet held up his hand as he stopped outside a door. (The stable boy instantly silenced himself.) “You did quite well, Oliver. Quite well indeed.” He smiled affectionately at the boy, then raised his eyebrows. “Are you ready to face HisHighness?”
Oliver was almost jumping in place. “Yes! Yes, Lady Enchantress Angelique will handle all ofit!”
“I am a mage, not a match-maker,” Angelique pointed out (and was ignored) as the valet and stable boy exchanged sagenods.
The valet straightened and knocked on the door. He then cracked the door open and poked his head inside. “Someone is here to see you, YourHighness.”
“Show them in,” said a deep, growlingvoice.
The valet swung the door open and stepped aside, moving just in time to avoid Oliver as he leaped through thedoorway.
“I found her, Your Highness! I found her! I couldn’t hardly believe it—she was real hard to track down, but now she’s here, and she’ll fixeverything,” Oliversaid.
Angelique followed the stable boy into the room, but she paused justinside.
She was relieved to see they had been shown to a private study instead of Severin’s bedroom as she had been during her previous visit to the palace, but that wasn’t what made herpause.
The last time she had seen Prince Severin, he was a combination of cat and wolf. Now he had returned to his humanform.
He was a soldier in build and posture—straight back, broad shoulders, and a tidy appearance with his charcoal-black hair pulled back in a ponytail at the base of his neck. His eyes were the same golden amber they had been as a beast—though now the pupils were round and notslitted.
