Page 24 of The Beauty and the Griffin

“True, but there was no press here for their wedding. It was attended only by close friends and family. The media will lose their minds when word gets out.” Jeralee chuckled. “But there’s more! You tell her, Ben.”

“It was a double wedding,” he announced. “Prince Briar married Rosa Bravo, the head gardener.”

I sat blinking in surprise until facts clicked into place. “Well, that makes sense. The romance between him—I mean, him in his Geoff Bryant disguise—and Rosa was no secret.” How lovely that the royal twins could marry on the same day, and at Faraway Castle, where they fell in love! “Do their parents know yet?"

“They all showed up for the ceremony and put on happy faces, at least for the photographs,” Ben told me.

“I have a lot of respect for both couples, but especially Princess Marielle and Prince Omar,” Jeralee stated. “They’ve waited patiently for almost three years, spending most of that time apart and the rest under heavy chaperonage.”

“They gave Ellie a harder time of it since she’s heir to the throne. Briar just informed his parents of his intentions.” Ben sounded amused. “Respectfully, of course. And ultimately the royal parents gave their blessings to both couples.”

“It was a simple ceremony in the chapel. But the flowers!” Jeralee sounded dreamy. “They arranged themselves into gorgeous wreaths and bowers, and animated shrubs were Rosa’s attendants.”

As we drove up to the lobby doors, Ben listed several notable people who’d attended the ceremony. Among them I heard an unexpected name: “Lady Beneventi came with her grandson—”

“The bazillionaire,” Jeralee inserted.

“And his wife, Lady Gillian,” Ben continued without missing a beat. “Remember her? They got married last summer. She’s changed a lot.”

“For the better,” Jeralee added before I could say something regrettable. “So has Lady Beneventi, or that’s what I’ve heard. She still seems cranky to me.” Jeralee stopped the cart at the main doors. “And here we are! Welcome back to Faraway Castle.”

While Ben consigned my mystery luggage to three young pages, Jeralee kept chatting. “Oh, and Kamoana the siren and her husband came for the reception tonight. You should hurry and join the fun. Pretty much everyone who’s anyone will be here all weekend.”

They adamantly refused my tip, reminding me that we’d practically grown up together, so I gave Jeralee a hug and thanked them both for my ride. I didn’t recognize any guests when I entered the lobby, but Sten greeted me at the front desk with a beaming smile, and several brownies waved to me, their sober faces briefly brightening.

As soon as the lift doors opened to reveal the eagle-lion statue, I knew Auntie had reserved the suite we stayed in during our first adventure together. Sure enough, a beautiful set of luggage awaited me in my old room. Curious, I opened one bag and found top-of-the-line clothing in my size and colors.

I had to laugh. My sneaky great-great-grandaunt (a scary amount of greatness) had obviously planned this trip in advance.

But my smile quickly faded. Gorgeous wardrobe notwithstanding, something still wasn’t right. I’d had no time to recognize the problem when I first arrived, but as soon as I focused, my heart sank. The Gamekeeper’s magic, which I had always sensed as soon as I entered the gates, felt . . .weak. And he was nowhere nearby.

Arabella

Instant travel requires concentration and a great deal of energy. Sending Beatrice across the continent was tiring enough, but her luggage too? I should have had it delivered and waiting in our suite ahead of time, but who could have guessed things would so suddenly become urgent?

By the time I arrived at the planning center deep beneath Faraway Castle, I needed a hot bath and a long nap. But no such luck. The cave was humming with activity. Its secret chambers were designed to accommodate most magical beings smaller than a giant, although the centaurs, griffins, and yetis frequently complained about the low ceilings.

“Someone tell me what’s happened,” I immediately demanded.

Of all creatures, a goblin girl at a nearby table rose to greet me. “Hello! Who are you?” she demanded gruffly.

“I’m Arabella—”

Her ugly face lit up. “Oh, I’ve heard of you. You’re the fairy godmother who moonlights as a hedge witch,” she completed my introduction. “Briar and Kai told us about you. I’m Xiretta, a friend of Princess Eddi and Kai. I usually live right outside the resort’s boundary, but this morning Prince Briar asked me and my friend Olis to come and help out here during the wizard attack, since we know more about our unfriendly neighbors—you know, trolls, goblins, harpies, griffins, kobolds, and suchlike—than most humans do. Welcome to the party! So far, we’ve got mostly dwarves and magical beasts on our side, and their side got most of the Magic Council, plus those neighbors I mentioned, and a fay mirror on their side. But that’s okay—we all need a challenge now and then. I’m glad to make a new friend. Your skin doesn’t look human though. Do you have some hag in your bloodlines?”

I maintained a smile, but my voice possibly held an edge. “No hag blood. This is what a mostly human fairy godmother looks like after she’s been on the job for well over a century.”

Xiretta looked puzzled but said only, “Want to come downstairs with me to meet Olis and the others?”

“Sure, why not?” Hanging out with a goblin who did her best to smile sweetly (with terrifying results) was an entirely new experience. “So, could you catch me up on the latest news, Xiretta? I received an urgent message from Sten that the Gamekeeper is . . . Oh, never mind. Just tell me what’s been happening here, please.”

“Sure thing!” Despite her offer to introduce me around, Xiretta sat back down and kept talking. “Olis overheard the dwarves and brownies talking about how, right after the wedding ceremonies, the Gamekeeper slipped away. He does that all the time without warning, you know.”

“Yes, but does anyone know where he went?”

“I don’t think so. Everything here still seemed normal, but then the brownies sensed a drop in the Gamekeeper’s magic—you know, the magic that defends the resort’s borders? And I heard something about griffins and mirrors and reversing magic? Now they say the Gamekeeper is trapped in his home, wherever that is. If the enemy can’t break through his barriers to get in, it seems like he can’t break through to get out. Faraway Castle’s borders might be the weakest they’ve ever been.”

The Mirror could reverse magic?

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