Page 82 of The Beauty and the Griffin

Niel gripped the older man’s shoulder. “You have done far beyond your duty, my friend.” He then drew me forward and addressed the approaching crowd. “I want all of you to meet the lady who broke the curse. I would like to introduce you to my affianced wife, Miss Beatrice de Callen.”

The butler bowed to me. “My lady, you are the answer to our prayers!” Having no idea what to say, I simply gave him my hand and thanked him for his faithful service.

The chef was next. “Sire, the sight of you blesses my eyes.”

“Romnald!” Niel embraced and thanked him too. “You and your crew kept us all alive, my friend.”

Seeing the throng of waiting staff members, I thought we might spend the entire day on introductions, but Desiderius quickly ordered everyone else back to the palace. “We must organize ourselves and begin to prepare for a royal wedding celebration!”

A cheer went up from the staff members, and the cry of “Long Live the King” rang through the gardens, meadows, and mountains even as everyone scattered, most of them eagerly chatting and exchanging hugs.

“Where have all these people been all this time?” I wondered aloud.

“Most of them slept invisibly in their quarters, in a sort of magical stasis. The core staff members wakened whenever they were needed.”

The realization that many hibernating servants had been sleeping all around the estate gave me the willies. “I’m glad I didn’t know!”

Niel gave me an apologetic look. “Everything about this past century has been weird, frankly. I should have told them that I’m no longer king of anything.”

I laid my head on his shoulder and patted his chest. “They’ll figure it out soon enough. One major revelation at a time. But what’s happening with the battle at Faraway Castle? Shouldn’t we be there to help?”

Arabella

In my relief that reinforcements had arrived in the form of my best-friend merqueen and an entire division of highly trained warrior mermen, I felt so light-headed that I had to drop my face into my hands. Maybe we had a chance after all.

But what good could military victory bring if Beatrice didn’t break Niel’s curse? The girl was beautiful, intelligent, and everything else any king or trollkarl or gamekeeper might desire, but her low view of herself—a foolish form of pride—might ruin everything.

Then I gave my head a quick shake. I had no business thinking ill of Beatrice. After all, she was so much like me at her age, it was almost scary. Okay, fine. She was like me at any age, looking for reasons why I shouldn’t have a happy ending.

I followed the three beautiful young royal mages and the one remarkably self-confident unmagical prince up several spiral staircases before we emerged into a hallway beside the castle kitchens where energized brownies happily cooked for an army and hobgoblins awaited their chance to steal cakes. A tale as old as time, or so it felt to me. I was too old for this sort of thing.

Kapono must be here. Who would Pukai trust more than her greatest military leader in such a situation? He and his late wife had been childless, and he’d never remarried. Did he even remember our friendship? Involuntarily, I touched my wrinkled face and sighed. Kapono undoubtedly looked like a merman in his prime. What would he think of my choice to look old?

But if I were to drop the mask I wore, Pukai would immediately know that her cousin was the reason, and I would never hear the end of it. Would Kapono laugh when she teased me or frown at her the way he used to do?

Arabella!

A strangely familiar voice sounded inside my head, and something between a thrill and a chill ran down my back, almost as if I’d been expecting this. “Yes?” I whispered.

Come to the garden. For Beeetrice. I need you to ride me.

“Ride you?” I asked but received no further reply. Curiously excited, I trotted along the hall to a side door, my mind suggesting and rejecting possibilities as I stepped outside and made my way into a dark garden with the looming gray shapes of pillars, silent fountains, and stone-lined flowerbeds laced with frost.

“Come. Quick.”

At the exact moment I heard her squawk and the rustle of feathers, light caught the corner of my eye. Slowly I turned to see a griffin glowing like burnished gold in firelight. She was utterly magnificent.

Her head tilted to one side as she looked me over. “You are Arabella?”

“Yes,” I said, feeling as if I dreamed. She was the Golden Griffin. For real.

“I’m Chicky. Beeetrice is mine. I fly now to save her from the Mirror. I need you to help.”

“Where is Beatrice?”

“Doing her part to save the world. Ride me. I show you.” Chicky folded her left wing forward and went down on one elbow so that I could climb onto her back.

As if my rickety old body could perform such a feat! I mean,really! “Yes, well. Give me a moment, please.” Closing my eyes, I drew on magic I hadn’t accessed for many years. I’m not sure exactly how long the process took, but when I opened my eyes, I sawtwogleaming griffins observing me with evident curiosity.

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