Box of Frogs by Helen Harper

Author:Helen Harper [Harper, Helen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-07-04T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

‘So,’ Morgan drawled, once we were sitting on chairs in a more civilised manner than when he’d been trying to force me to talk on the floor. ‘When you say you tried to be a villain today, what actually did you do?’

I glanced at him archly. ‘Is that one of your three questions?’

‘No. I’m simply trying to establish how much time I need to spend cleaning up whatever other disasters you’ve created.’

I folded my arms. ‘There were no disasters. No one was hurt.’ I sniffed pointedly. ‘Apart from me. So you have nothing to worry about. Let’s stay focused on the here and now, shall we? How the gasbudlikin hell do I get back to my normal body?’

He rubbed his chin. ‘It would help if I knew how you ended up like this. Did you choose that particular body based on someone you saw?’

‘No.’ I shrugged. ‘It was an unconscious deed. I didn’t plan on looking like this. I just had a passing thought that a certain situation would be easier to deal with if I were a burly man. When I looked in the mirror, I was.’

Morgan didn’t even twitch. ‘You didn’t have to concentrate to make the change?’

‘Nope.’

‘You didn’t feel any pain or alteration in your physiognomy when it happened?’

‘Nope.’ I paused. ‘Physio-what-omy?’

He rolled his eyes. ‘Never mind.’

‘So what’s the magic word?’

Morgan looked me up and down. ‘Magic word?’

‘You know. To transform me back. There must be a special word or something so I can return to normal.’

He let out a bark. ‘The last thing you’ll ever be is normal, Maddy.’

I beamed at him. ‘Thank you. But, really, come on. What do I say?’

Exasperated, he muttered something under his breath. ‘There’s no abracadabra. We’re not wizards, Maddy. We’re Fey.’

‘So you keep saying, but I don’t really understand what that means. I don’t know what I’m capable of or how being Fey makes me different from everyone else on this planet. And if Fey Land is so amazing, why on earth did we all leave it in the first place?’

Morgan ran a hand through his hair. ‘The history is complicated. And it’s not Fey Land – we don’t come from a theme park. The name of our homeland is Mag Mell. It’s not even a separate place, it’s a mirror image of here. Just more…’ he cast around as if searching for the right word ‘…natural.’

That made no sense. ‘Pardon?’

‘In essence, Mag Mell – and us by extension – are more attune with nature. Both there and here.’ He flicked a hand at me. ‘Your name is Madrona.’

‘So I’m told. It’s a stupid name. Everyone from Fey Land, I mean Mag Mell, has stupid names. Apart from you. At least Morgan is vaguely sensible.’

‘It’s Morganus actually.’

Oh. I’d already known that. ‘So Morgan for short? Can I call you Mo?’

He tutted. ‘A madrona is a type of flowering tree. Viburna, who you just met, is named after a type of hedgerow. Opulus’s namesake is a rose.’

Cravat Man? He certainly hadn’t been sweet enough to be named after a flower, even if it did have sharp thorns.

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