Page 172 of Happily Ever Witch
Three…
Power surged. Not exactly Esmeralda’s, but still hers. Green and strong and shared between True Loves. “Ez!” Trevelyan appeared in the throne room, slightly frantic, as he scanned for her.
“Hi, Trev.” Esmeralda wasn’t at all surprised to see him, even though his arrival was magically impossible. She could feel her own powers connecting with his, melding as if they were one.
Grimhilde began to look worried. Anyone with a brain would be worried to see Trevelyan standing against them.
Four…
“You’re cheating!” The Queen of Clubs jumped to her feet. “You’re both cheating! This is against the rules!”
“She hates rules.” Trevelyan headed over to position himself beside her, right where he belonged. There was sand on his clothes and he smelled like smoke, but the man had never looked better.
Esmeralda took hold of his hand, so they stood shoulder-to-shoulder.
“This isn’t really my fight.” Grimhilde told Esmeralda, edging towards the door. She knew her side wasn’t winning. “I’ll just leave you to your work, dear.”
“Shut up, before I melt you.” Esmeralda spared her a quick look. “I have a feeling Good magic can produce a real pretty waterfall, right on your fucking head.”
Five…
“We’rewitches!” Grimhilde protested. “We have a bond of sisterhood and…”
Esmeralda waved a hand and sealed the woman’s mouth shut with the stickiest, most indestructible, goddamn adorable-est taffy ever created by light magic. The President of the Cauldron Society clutched her jaw, desperately trying to pry it open.
Trevelyan’s lips curved, watching her struggle. “Now, who’s the best at being Bad?”
Six…
“Your magic is not the fairest!Mineis!” The Queen of Clubs launched an attack of her own.
The Good energy she unleashed was a textbook example of expert spellcraft. Once, Esmeralda would have been intimidated by the perfection of it. The Queen of Clubs knew exactly what she was doing and she had a lot of Good energy. Every molecule of her spell was planned. It should have struck her opponents like a rainbow missile, blowing them into glittering pieces.
Unfortunately for the Queen of Clubs, her opponents were protected by soap bubbles.
Esmeralda’s powers manifested the translucent orbs with barely a thought. They whooshed around her and Trevelyan, a tornado of protective ferocity and shimmery magic. They deflected the Queen of Clubs attack without a single one popping. Playfully bobbing through the air, unstoppably strong and filled with iridescent layers of power.
Trevelyan watched them float past with a reverent expression. “Beautiful.” He was a control-freak of the highest order, but he wasn’t rushing to take charge. He believed she could win. He wanted her to believe it, too. The man really had learned to be a wonderful True Love.
Seven…
The Queen of Clubs screamed in fury.
The Mad Hatter coughed, back to arguing with his wife. “I told you, Anna. That damn tower was a pointless idea. Chess is a stupid way to keep time.”
“It’s supposed to be counting down tomycoronation as empress. Nothers. I’m not going to let that little nobody take everything away from me! There’s still more I can do! Iknowit.” The Queen of Clubs grasped at her scalp, as if she wanted to forcibly hold onto the three tiaras sitting there.
Her fingers closed on nothing. The fortune in gemstones was no longer on her head.
Eight.
“My God.” Trevelyan whispered, his attention on Esmeralda’s hair.
Esmeralda reached up and felt the crown sitting there. All four tiaras interlocked. The spell that Trevelyan had sealed into her heart burned brightly, forever welding the magic to her body. Badness rushed back into all of them, as the Chess Tower finally stoppedbonging.
It was over. Wonderland had chosen a new empress. Someone who listened to its talking carpets, and created chaos with her weird magic, and appreciated the untamed.
Esmeralda was home.
