Every day for the next two weeks, Bill and Marcia ate dinner together. He didn't ask her to marry him again, but he did spend as much time as he could with her. They listened to Charles and Brett play and sing together. They read books in the library hours. Bill pillowed his head on Marcia's lap, and often snored on her legs as she read a book out loud. They picked flowers and fruit in the garden, and he taught her the name of every flower.
Certainly, Charles thought it was a pleasant existence. Gene and Brett taught him about ancient magic from books in the library. He couldn't make a tree move or stop a whole carriage with his hand, but he knew more about how they did it, at least. Richard insisted on showing him how to handle a sword. They worked for hours in the garden, swinging their weapons at each other and a scarecrow in the vegetable patch. The only fly in the ointment was every night, when Charles went to sleep...
He dreamed he found himself in the Summer-Winter Garden...only summer now reigned on both sides. The warm sun tickled his legs, clad in a fine green silk tunic and hose. “Where am I?” He swirled around, almost tripping over the concrete bench. “What am I doing here?”
“Charles?” Richard traded his green woodsman's tunic for the dazzling yellow and orange uniform of the Nerdocrumbesian Army and sounded as shocked as Charles felt. “What are you doing here?”
“I don't know. I don't think I've ever seen the other side of the garden not covered in snow and ice.”
“Boys?” Marcia emerged from behind a rose bush in her golden gown and rose tiara, followed by Brett in fine red brocade. The thinner woman had a similar look of wide-eyed bafflement. “Ok, why are we here? I mean, I'm glad the snow finally stopped. I'm not sure how it's snowing in the first place. It's September. But there has to be a reason for this.”
Brett nodded at the main door. “Gene just told me 'he's coming, round up everyone.' He didn't say who or why. Something about the black magic here, and him only being able to come out at night.”
That was when the rose bushes behind them rustled. “Careful.” Richard pulled out his sword and nudged the others in back of him. “We don't know who – or what – this might be.”
“Owww!” One of the thorny bushes spit out a short, slim figure in a dark blue coat. “I knew I should have been more careful around those...”
“Are you ok?” Marcia helped the little fellow to his feet. “How did you get caught in there?”
“I always come into the garden that way.” A small man, with bright blue eyes, short-cropped brown hair with a balding spot, and a mouth that crinkled when he smiled managed to get to his feet. The ladies dusted off his buttons and straightened his golden crown.
Brett frowned. “Who are you? How come we haven't seen you around? And why do you seem so familiar?”
“Mate, you're not here to smell the flowers.” Richard held his sword on the man, who gulped and threw a hand over his chest. “Talk.”
“You know,” Brett added, “There's black magic all over this. I don't think you have black magic, but the castle and garden reek of it. Malade did this to you. Why? What did you do to her?”
“See,” he began after a very deep breath, “the Summerlands are bordered by Nerdocrumbesia to the west, Malade's domain the Shadowlands to the north, and Columbia Eye to the south. She invaded the castle in order to use it as a pass-through for her trolls and guards. It was a surprise. We didn't have time to react, or even send our own guards. Her trolls slaughtered most of them and turned the rest into more monsters for her army. She cornered m...the prince in his room when he was working on a letter.”
“Prince William! Is that Will?” Marcia squawked as she grabbed him hard by his shoulders. “What happened to him? Did she kill him, too? Do you know? What happened to the letter?”
“No, she didn't kill him. She...she demanded that he marry her and help her track down the Legendary Princesses, wizards, and fairies. Anyone with magic. She wanted to take all the magic. He wouldn't marry her. He was in love with another lady and didn't want to hurt anyone. She...” His voice caught in his throat. “She cursed him...and his servants...changed him...told him he...would never...be loved...”
Marcia gave him a hug as he sobbed noisily on her shoulder. “You poor guy. You know...I swear I've seen your eyes before. Does she have you in the castle somewhere? I didn't see you in the dungeon.”
Charles handed the little fellow a handkerchief. “Thank you!” He blew his nose for at least five minutes before handing it back. “I'm close, Marcia. I'm so close, but you can't see it!”
He pulled her in for a kiss...just as a fierce wind blasted across the garden. It nearly uprooted several trees and knocked everyone off their feet. Charles tumbled head-first into Brett's lap. “That,” he muttered, “was the most humiliating place I could have landed!”
“How do you think I feel?” She shoved him off and smacked his back. “You're no lightweight!”
“Are you all right?” The little man's gaze landed on Marcia, wrapped in his arms.
“I think I am,” Marcia gasped breathlessly. “How are you?”
His smile couldn't have been wider as his eyes focused on her chest. “Oh, me? I'm feeling terrific!”
“Well, I'm not.” Gene clutched his robes around his shoulders. “What's going on here?”
Richard grabbed the concrete bench, before the wind hurled him into the ground. “We have to get out of here, before we're blown back to Nerdocrumbesia!”
Brett shivered, even as her feet remained planted to the spot. “This is my stepmother's doing, no doubt. Trying to get rid of us again.”
The howling winds and blasting snow nearly drowned out Gene's voice. “It is. She's found us.” He'd no sooner spoken than the snow enveloped him and Richard. When it blew away, they were both statues of solid ice.
“Brett,” Charles whined, “can't you do something?”
“I wish I could,” she screamed over the storm, “but my magic is based around nature. The air...the ground...it's all tainted. I can't move!”
“Marcia!” The little man's voice barely pierced the howling wind. “Remember what I said! There's more going on than meets the eye! I'm....I...lo...”
Any other reply vanished in the swirling maelstrom. “Who are you? What's your name?” Marcia waded through the now knee-deep snow, but he was nowhere to be found. “Please talk to me!” Her desperate words blew away in the winds. She could no longer feel her arms or fingers, or see Gene and Richard's frozen forms, or Brett and Charles huddled together. As she passed out in the snow, the wind sounded to her like evil laughter, suffocating her throat and pressing her into numbness...
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