Hidden Paths by M.K. Hutchins

Author:M.K. Hutchins [Hutchins, M.K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: M.K. Hutchins
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

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If by fine, he meant Damien would still be whimpering three days after the ball and clutching a shoe Elise left behind—completely undistracted by the new buxom maid—then Renard was right. Undoing your own spell was a simple matter of visualization, but Elise had apparently forgotten about her footwear, or she was wishing Damien had it.

There was more than one long meeting with King Basile, Renard, magicians, and other handlers. In the end, Basile kicked his son out the door to find his bride. Meanwhile, the magicians started work on a reinforced house in the country.

So for two months, I kept watch over Elise. The day of the wedding dawned crisp, cold, and beautiful, with lacy frost over everything. Actually lacy—round and swirling like massive doilies.

I “helped” Elise with her wardrobe, which meant I stood back as she cheerfully produced herself a gown that turned her into a sugar-spun croquembouche. We’d tried to explain to her on several occasions that I wasn’t really a fairy, but after a pair of handsome candlesticks transformed into winged vipers, we stopped trying. Once dressed, she left for an audience with King Basile.

Not long after, I felt a tugging near my sternum. Mild, definitely magic, but not insistent, gently pulling me towards King Basile’s parlor. Worried that something might be wrong with Elise—or that Elise might combust the room—I raced down the hall.

As soon as I knocked, the door flew open, a cherry-cheeked Elise behind it. “Oh! How are fairies so smart? I was just hoping that you’d come by, if it wouldn’t be a bother to you.” She somehow managed to curtsy to me in all those skirts, then turned to King Basile. “You know Adele as merely your servant, but I’d like to reintroduce you to her. If you don’t mind.”

“Of course,” King Basile said. People said that a lot to Elise.

She then started telling her life story—mother dead, Elise herself reduced to drudgery. Knowing her fairy godmother would come to rescue her one day.

As she spoke of our first meeting, the room glowed around me. The fox in the tapestry shone like burnished bronze. The chairs became like mirrors, the walls like molten silver. Soon, everything emanated its own light—perfect, bright, and beautiful. It felt like she’d lifted us up into the very heavens.

My breath caught in my throat. I didn’t know she could create something so beautiful.

She turned to me, concluding her story with, “And so, you see, my fairy godmother is my very best friend.”

I’d always thought Elise silly. And she still was—glass footwear again adorned her feet—but she was also magnificent. “Thank you,” I whispered.

The brilliant lights faded with the end of her story, and she turned to more mundane topics, like how happy she was the cook had been able to procure chocolate, and wasn’t it wonderful that her stepsisters accepted her invitation? They’d been estranged for so long, it was rather pleasant to have them feel like real family again.

I’d seen enough of her stepsisters to know they were practically trolls.

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