Fairest by K.S. Trenten

Author:K.S. Trenten
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fairy tale, romance, witches, royalty, magic, enemies to lovers, revenge to romance
Publisher: NineStar Press
Published: 2023-11-08T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Promises Kept

My sixteenth birthday arrived.

I met with my subjects, talked with them, smiled, and laughed. The sun kept distracting me. I continuously glanced at its beams, its position, trying to judge the time. It moved too slowly.

In the afternoon, I finally had a chance to sneak off. I hadn’t been to the tower since my return to the castle. On this day, I expected to be watched constantly.

No one stopped me. I was able to make my way up the stairs to my former sanctuary. She might have had something to do with it. After all, the princess witch needed to get me alone to curse me. It would be a lot more difficult if I was surrounded by people.

She was sitting in the topmost tower room of the castle when I found her.

Most of the treasures were missing except for the magic mirror. It hung on the wall opposite where she sat on a bench.

She was as elderly and wrinkled as she’d been when she’d left me in the Forest of Tears. No longer was she wearing her purple gown with red ribbons. Instead, she was dressed in the peasant’s wool I’d trudged around in while I lived with the dwarfs. It fit her perfectly. In her gnarled hands, she played with some thread, twisting it about a sharp stick.

“You promised me a story.” I hesitated at the door.

Something about her kept me from entering the room. It wasn’t fear or her magic. It was reverence. Part of me was tempted to drop to my knees and bow my head.

No. I couldn’t do that. I had to meet her on equal terms or my plan would fail. Every move I made would have to be made with care.

“I intend to keep that promise.” The princess witch didn’t look at me, but studied the golden strand in her hands instead. “Once upon a time, I lived in this castle. I often came to this room to watch the sunrise. The servants seldom thought to look for me up here.”

She raised her head and met my eyes.

I couldn’t look away.

The darkness in her gaze had nothing to do with its color. It threatened to pull me in.

If it did, I would drown.

I couldn’t turn away from the darkness or avoid it even if I ran the risk of drowning. Not if I wanted to save her. Not if I wanted to save myself.

It took every bit of courage I didn’t know I possessed to cross the threshold and enter the room.

It took even more to take a step closer to her.

“What happened?” My voice came out in a whisper.

I’d wanted to hear this story for as long as I’d guessed it existed. Now, on the verge of hearing it, I feared her answer.

The princess witch nodded in the direction of the mirror.

Green smoke gathered within.

A maiden emerged from the emerald mist, which cleared to reveal the vineyards I recognized from the ride down to the forest. The maiden looked very much like me.

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