Page 76 of The Mirror and the Curse

Terrifying loneliness pressed into the back of her mind even as her thoughts whirled. Thesahir? Who would that be? The Gamekeeper? Geoff Bryant?

She sent a query toward White, a cry for help, but she couldn’t sense him at all. He must be asleep like the other horses. Unless Raquel had somehow slipped him a cursed apple too.

The familiar stinks of a stable were decidedly unpleasant at point-blank range. That person . . . thing? . . . who’d caught her head might at least have rolled her to her back instead of leaving her in this uncomfortable position.

But Kai was coming. The brownies would tell him, and he would come. If he was able. What if Raquel poisoned him too? But Raquel didn’t know about the apples. Someone had been making potions for her—the sleeping potion, and whatever had been on the saddle band’s buckle. Maybe that someone knew about the apples?

Being immobilized was the worst. Too much time to think of all the worst things that could happen. Her mouth still tasted a bitter tang that must be the paralyzing potion.

Kai! Please come, Kai!

It might have been only minutes, but to Eddi it felt like hours before she heard running footsteps and the skid of boots on bricks. She knew it was Kai before he spoke—even after a long day, he smelled so good. “Eddi!” He dropped to his knees beside her, one hand feeling for her pulse at her throat. He hovered over her, and she heard his quick, shallow breaths. “Oh, thank God you’re alive,” he breathed into her ear.

Eddi wasn’t complaining—this moment was nearly dream-come-true wonderful. If only she could make a sound or move a finger!

Then she felt a change, a new presence. “Ah! Our lovely heroine.” Eddi recognized Geoff Bryant’s voice. “Face down on the stable floor. Nice.”

“I’m afraid to move her.” Kai sounded defensive.

“You can safely lift your princess out of the muck.” Eddi saw Geoff’s legs and boots approach. “Ah, here it is. An apple. With a bite from it. Interesting. Hmm. I sense magic other than the sleeping potion. Is this from that tree you talk about?”

Kai had been carefully rolling Eddi over, so she saw his pale, set face as Geoff displayed the tainted fruit. “Yes. Oh, Eddi, I’m so sorry.” Kai’s voice cracked. She would have loved to reach her hand up to cup his cheek and tell him he wasn’t at fault here.

“I picked three apples from the magic tree a few days ago and stored them in my parents’ refrigerator, saving them for, maybe, an after-race celebration.” Kai slid his arms beneath Eddi’s shoulders and thighs, lifted her to the bench, and gently laid her down. Her feet dangled over the end, but she was comfortable enough. Until her right arm slid off and her knuckles hit the floor. “I’m sorry,” Kai repeated, his face out of her view. He tucked that hand under her other arm, positioned himself at the end of the bench near her head, and asked, “How did the apple get poisoned? You obviously know how to wake her. Stop playing around and fix this.”

“It can be fixed, but I can’t fix it.”

“Then who can? And how? Tell me what’s going on.” Kai’s callused fingers smoothed Eddi’s hair off her forehead, which totally melted her.

“Nope. We need all the players assembled before I tell the full story. No detective explains the brilliant deductions he made to solve the mystery until everyone involved is assembled. Repetition spoils a revelation.”

Geoff’s casual tone began to irk Eddi. Did he think this was a game or a joke? He stepped close to the bench, and Eddi felt a thumb gently open her eye wide. She met his gaze as he regarded her with a blend of chagrin and amusement she found even more annoying. “We’ll get you set right presently, Eddi,” he told her directly. “Relax if you can. Bane blames himself for not watching you closely enough, but I should have set another guard in the stable or at least warned the brownies. Our potion maker is sneakier than expected. Never mind; we’ll have you back to normal soon.”

When Geoff closed her eye, Eddi wanted to kick him. But since she couldn’t blink, it was probably just as well. Her other eye still had a tiny slit to see through.

“Can she hear us?” Kai asked.

“Oh yes. She’s aware. She can see, hear, smell, feel, and probably taste—but otherwise her body is in a sort of stasis.”

After a brief pause, Kai asked, “Is that normal for sleeping potions?”

“It’s a first in my experience. But this is magic; it doesn’t have to make sense.”

“Convenient for you.” Kai’s voice was more of a growl.

“Quite the reverse,” Geoff observed. “Magic delights in being problematic just when you most want it to be predictable. Subduing that perversity is one of an enchanter’s greatest challenges.”

“Okay, so subdue it. Bring Eddi back.”

“That’s why we’re here. And, despite your appalling lack of faith in me, I’ll divulge that the magic in the apple has diluted the sleeping spell. If we did not have the remedy on hand, the situation would be even worse for the princess—a lifetime of physical sensation without the ability to participate in any way. Ugh!”

“Then stop dragging things out! What is this remedy?” Kai demanded.

Geoff would not be hurried. “After her arrest, Miss Cambout let slip that she had one last surprise in store for her rival, then laughed like a stereotypical villainess. Eventually she divulged that Princess Eddi was doomed to sleep forever since she and her True Love had already kissed. At which point I realized I might possibly have overlooked something, so I dropped in here.”

“Her True Love . . . he kissed her?” Kai’s voice flattened.

“If Miss Cambout’s word can be believed.”

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