In the beautiful French Alps of modern day Europe, there is a village. Village is a rather quaint and dainty term for its up to date nature but its façade has been strictly maintained as though it belongs in the previous century and so the town of Bertrand is still called a village, nestled between two of the alps, a redirected river running through its streets with picturesque stone bridges, paved roads and many a café with ‘la vien a rose’ playing softly overhead.
It sits in the shadow of its primary source of commerce, the Chateau De St Croix. It is one of the most illustrious and exclusive chateaus of the alps, its clientele including film stars, royalty, musicians of the delicate temperament and those with more money than sense. A steady parade of cars which, if sold, would end hunger in more than one third world nation, line up and around the circle driveway. They pass by its front doors which open up into a beautifully furnished, deceptively rustic foyer and reception.
In the foyer there is a quiet hustle of bellboys bringing and taking luggage, well spoken clerks taking bookings and the concierge keeping a watchful eye on the well ordered sprawl of his domain. Behind the reception desk there are lounges, arranged into little groups so that the privileged guests could recline and have a drink from the bar before moving on to dinner at the chateau restaurant.
Gathered in one of these semi private nooks, were six people.
There was Lila Thomson, an athletic, no nonsense young woman with short, textured dark hair around her high cheekbones and sharp eyes. She wore what she always wore, running slacks, her sketchers and a white tank covered with a firm fitting jacket and hood. She had put a vague distance between herself and the group by standing rather than sitting, her arms folded and her eyes sceptical.
There was Chaz Armstrong, ruddy haired, freckled faced techno geek whose clothes never seemed to fit properly and who hadn’t let go of his precious tablet since regaining it after a sojourn into Poland two days ago. If he hadn’t had twenty/twenty vision, the addition of thick, black rimmed glasses would have completed his nerd persona perfectly. He sat on the arm of one of the lounges regardless of whether it was polite to do so or not.
Sitting on the lounge that Chaz was perched upon was Makoto Obi and Penelope Kirk. Mak was of Japanese descent and his blue/black hair had been flattened beneath his beanie so that his fringe almost gave him a veranda over his fine eyes and sharp eyebrows. He was trendily dressed, his clothes organised into outfits in his suitcase so that he didn’t have to think when choosing something for the day. His hand was holding on to the hand of the young woman next to him.
Penny Kirk, nose scattered with delicate freckles and her mouse brown hair scraped into two permanent pigtails, sat beside Mak with her hand warmly encompassed in his. She was dressed in an oversized white fluffy jumper over black leggings and red boots. It was possibly her least outlandish outfit since they had started on their ‘gap year’ month long trek.
It had meant to be a break from their studies before their lives took them in the different directions that adulthood would inevitably do to them. Because of the timing of it all, they had chosen a bus tour of Greece which, while exciting for those who had never travelled out of their country before, had meant a great deal of sitting on seats, peering through windows and smiling at old ladies who admired their late teen energy and enthusiasm. They had been in great need of physical exercise and had agreed that climbing Mount Olympus was not to be missed. They had no idea that, nearing the top of the mountain of the gods, they would come across three stranded travellers who would end up causing them to abandon their regulated tour of modulated stops, travel far across Europe to end up staying in the Chateau De St Croix, all expenses paid.
The three travellers were represented in the two other people sitting on the second lounge in their little gathering.
The man answered to Evander and, if the late Countess was to have been believed, he was a Prince no less. In his thirties he had an established figure, broad shoulders and a lean, muscular body. His jaw was strong and covered in appealing rugged stubble that was dark blond to match his shoulder length hair, styled in a manner that would have suited a member of royalty or a knight…two hundred odd years ago that is. His eyes were blue and had been, for the past two and a half days, moody and troubled with the recent upheavals to his life. He had believed that he could tackle anything if he could only win the trust of a woman he had loved since he met her.
But everything had changed and he was unsure whether he was capable of adapting to this new world…and this new woman.
She was a remarkable beauty, lovely features in a porcelain skin face, rose coloured lips and pale green eyes surrounded by a halo of dark brown curls. The curls hid her pointed elf ears far better than her straight, pale blond hair had done and she was dressed in an angora sweater over leggings and boots. She kept looking around herself as if seeing things for the first time…or the second time, perhaps third…or simply from a brand new perspective. Within her head were the memories of two lifetimes over a period of four hundred odd years and they were still jostling around, settling down. She was never quite sure if she liked something or hated it or if those feelings would change from one moment to the next. She wasn’t in turmoil about it. It was simply a process…to rediscover herself.
The one thing she was sure of was that in her heart she felt the love of two women for Evander. She wanted to fling her arms around his neck and reassure him over and over that the woman he loved was still there. In fact, the women he had come to care for were both there. She was not two people. She was herself and she had always loved him.
But words were useless in the light of her transformation and she could only wait to see, when the dust settled, if anything remained of his love for her…or if it was all too much to ask a man who had gone above and beyond for her.
There were no words spoken as they all stared at what was in Evander’s hand. A single, iron key, burnished with the De St Croix emblem.
“The late Countess De St Croix left you a key in her safety deposit box?” Chaz said in a flat tone.
“She did.” Evander said firmly.
“Pity it isn’t the deed to the chateau.” Mak remarked. “I mean, what good is a single key?”
“It has the De St Croix crest on it.” Jé Kinah/Meredith looked around. “The door has to be in the chateau. You said you know what it opens Evan?”
He winced slightly at her shortened version of his name and she looked away. Meredith called him Evan. Jé Kinah never did. Jé Kinah didn’t use contractions or shorten names. Meredith’s manner of affection meant she did that with everyone. He just couldn’t believe that she was both women, the way she was always meant to be.
“I know the door it opens.” He looked at Jé Kinah/Meredith. “You know it too.”
“But I do not recognise the key.” She replied.
“Because De St Croix would never have let you near it.” He stood up. “The door is this way.” Without waiting to see if he was being followed Evander strode off to the back of the foyer, Jé Kinah/Meredith right on his heels.
Chaz looked at his three friends shrugged, got up and hurried after them. Penny smiled at Mak and did the same. Mak stood up and Lila snorted.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m following Prince Evander on a noble and heroic quest.” Mak said lightly as if it was all highly amusing.
“Not you too?” Lila demanded.
“Lila, nothing I tell you will change what you think.”
“Tell me what?”
“That Jé Kinah and Meredith both exist in that one body. That Jé Kinah was a full blood elf. That there were dragons and dwarves and fairy tales and Meredith was the Snow Queen,” he looked at her, “that we are part of something extraordinary.”
Lila was aghast. “No Mak, we are four teenagers on a gap year hiatus before we go on to lead normal lives. This isn’t what we were meant to be doing!” He grinned at her, which made her blood boil and as he turned to leave she blurted, “You’re just doing this because you’re mad over Penny. You can’t believe in fairies and magic Mak. It’s not real.”
“You coming or not?”
Lila made a frustrated noise, turned around on the spot then dashed after them all.
The chateau had changed a great deal in the two hundred years Evander had been absent. Anything temporary had been demolished or altered to reflect the changing times of its surroundings. But the stone structure, the original building, could not be altered easily. With a general idea in mind of where he was going, Evander found a door that had some red lettering on it and passed through without hesitation.
Lila read the sign on the door. “It says ‘Staff Only’.”
“What are they going to do?” Mak asked. “Arrest us?”
“Been there!” Penny called back. “Done that!”
“What?”
“Poland. It’s a long story.” Mak grabbed her hand and pulled her in. “Come on!”
The corridors in the bowels of the chateau were utilitarian and painted in a blue colour that verged on being grey. There were no expensive paintings on the walls or vases of fresh cut flowers on pedestals. Evander had to ignore his surroundings and just go on instinct as he turned down one corridor, met with a dead end then came back the other way and tried to get further down.
“What are you looking for?” Chaz asked as they all backed up behind him, Evander looking around in confusion.
“There should be a staircase down.” He murmured.
“We are down.” Lila muttered from the back. “This is ground floor.”
“Surely a place as big as this has a basement.” Mak said, walking forwards.
“Not just a basement.” Evander looked at Jé Kinah/Meredith whose eyes grew round.
“Oh,” she breathed, “that door!”
Jé Kinah/Meredith darted off in front of them and they followed at speed until she stopped in front of an alcove that was roped off. There was an old tapestry hanging up in the alcove like a display piece and the sign on the cord that kept them out said, ‘keep out’.
“This is it.” She said. “This is the entrance. But…”
“Where is the door?” Evander went to step over the rope when Lila grabbed his arm.
“You can’t keep doing this!” She snapped. “Rules are meant to be obeyed.”
Evander blinked, staring at her. “The Countess gave me this key to open a door. Without crossing this line, I cannot fulfil her final wish. I would rather suffer the consequences of a broken rule than let her last wish fall vacant.”
“But there’s nothing there!” Lila was furious at the way no one seemed to be able to comprehend the illegal nature of what they were doing.
“There was…a long time ago.” He stepped over the rope and gently touched the old tapestry. It was primitive by the modern standards of recreating faces and shading…but even still he could make out the face of Dominique De St Croix staring out at them, Giselle reclined on a chair, Dominique’s hand on her shoulder and a gathering of children around them.
“Beauty.” He said, touching Giselle. “Beast…” He gripped the tapestry and drew it aside. Behind it was a door.
Everyone but Chaz held their breath. “Is that the door the key opens?” He asked in a hallowed tone.
“No.” Evander put his hand on the latch. “This door leads to the dungeons.”
It opened, protesting the action with a mighty groan. It was pitch black on the other side but Evander stepped through immediately, Jé Kinah/Meredith following and then Chaz, Penny and Mak. Lila stared at the black void beyond the roped off alcove, common sense telling her not to be foolhardy and to go get security. But even those these people were crazed, wildly out of control and utterly irrational, three of them were her friends and she reminded herself that, when the disappointment of reality finally revealed itself, she needed to be there to pick up the pieces and herd them home. So she took a deep breath, stepped over the rope and slipped past the tapestry, the ancient canvas falling into place behind her, enveloping them all in darkness.
Evander held firm, knowing they were standing at the top of stairs. “We need a torch.” He said, inwardly reprimanding himself that he had not thought of that.
Suddenly four beams of light shone forth and he turned and stared in astonishment as the four friends held up their strange phone devices, light pouring out of them.
“If you ask, you shall receive.” Chaz chuckled.
“I could use one of those.” Evander said enviously.
“I’ll set you up once we leave this charming place.” Chaz shone his light around. “So…dungeons huh?”
“The De St Croix line was charged with keeping the peace by the King of France in this particular region.” Evander said, leading the way down the stairs to the cell floor. “By the time Dominique was the head of the family, there was no call for it…”
“Until me.” Jé Kinah/Meredith moved forward with ease, her eyes able to see in the dark.
“You were down here?” Penny asked, cringing away from the slightly damp and green in places, stone wall. “It’s so…ugh…”
“Probably rats down here.”
“Rats!” Penny recoiled, gripping Mak tightly to which he did not complain.
Evander reached the bottom of the stairs and looked down the row of cells. Most of the doors had been removed and those that remained were broken or hanging dejectedly from their hinges. Only one door was closed tightly, the cell as impenetrable as it had been many years before.
“This was it.” Jé Kinah/Meredith said quietly, touching the wood. “Where I was kept.”
Evander held up the key. “And this was why you were never allowed to have the key.” He explained and slid it into the lock. It ground and creaked, turning after a stiff battle and the door gave a little jolt, dirt sprinkling down as if the natural build up of grit and moisture had become the seal which had just been broken. Evander had to throw his entire weight against the door to get it to shift, little by little until suddenly it gave way and he nearly fell in.
Unsurprisingly it was small, as most cells were designed to be. There were no features to the cell’s bland appearance. The window that was there had been covered up on the outside by stone and dirt. The floor was a little damp and the room was chilly, the air stale from years of neglect and silence. While the first five went in to look at the only piece of furniture in the room, Lila hung back at the door, waiting for the inevitable reality of their situation to dawn.
The small, round table in the middle of the room had once been of excellent quality. Over the years it had fallen into disrepair and one of its four feet coming from the single leg, had splintered, causing the table to slip precariously onto an angle. Apart from its pathetic appearance, there was nothing else that drew attention to it. Chaz looked at it in confusion.
“Maybe someone already took what was in here?” He offered vaguely.
“Maybe there was never anything in here to begin with.” Lila muttered.
“Maybe, since the table has toppled over, whatever it is that was there…has fallen onto the ground?” Penny pointed out and, despite her fear of rats, poked about in the direction that the table was pointed. She grimaced and picked at some dead creeper vine twigs before spotting a rock that was a little too perfect. “That could be something…but I’m not brave enough to find out.”
Evander scooped it up. It was a small box which fit in the palm of his hand easily, a hinged lid begging to be opened. He could almost hear everyone take a breath as he pried it open…and gasped.
“What is it!” Chaz cried, nearly bursting out of his skin.
“I don’t…” Evander looked at Jé Kinah/Meredith, for once without the question in his eyes as to her true nature for he was overwhelmed at what was in the box. “It can’t be.”
“What is it?” Jé Kinah/Meredith came up beside him and looked at it. “How is that…”
“We’re dying here!” Chaz begged.
Evander took the small object out of the box and held it up. It was a ring. A silver ring with a vibrant red stone in a claw setting.
“A ring?” Mak asked.
“Not just any ring.” Evander put it on. “I hope he’s still in here.” He breathed out and gave the ring the smallest rub. The stone glowed and suddenly red smoke began to pour out of it, filling up an invisible mould that was about two feet high. Chaz, Mak and Penny all instinctively pressed back against the walls while Lila could feel her body tensing to run. They watched in astonishment as a person, with vaguely Asian features, formed out of smoke before their eyes, his colours rippling into more realistic hues than just plain red once he was completed. With a little hop he bounced into the air, crossed his legs in a zen-like pose and simply levitated to eye height with Evander who looked at him without fear.
“Master Evander!” The jinni declared. “It is my pleasure to once again serve you.”
“Most excellent and wise jinni…what the hell are you doing here?” Evander chuckled.
“It’s a genie…” Chaz grabbed Penny and shook her. “It’s a genie!”
The jinni looked at them curiously. “Master, would it be helpful if all understood what we were saying?”
“I would be most grateful for your assistance in the language barrier.” Evander remarked and the jinni simply nodded. Evander looked at the four friends. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”
The four friends stared at him. “He’s speaking French.” Chaz blurted. “He’s speaking French and I can understand him!”
“Chaz, you’re hurting me!” Penny tore herself away and tugged her jumper down. “I know.”
“Wow…” Mak walked around the jinni, his hand waving around it, looking for the projection point. “That’s…like…wow…He’s really there!”
The jinni looked at Evander who shrugged. “The world has changed jinni.”
“I am able to sense the length of time I have been dormant when I am awakened.” The jinni explained. “Not my longest hibernation but very close to it.”
“Jinni, what are you doing here? I assume, by your presence, that the plan worked?”
“Plan?” Jé Kinah/Meredith asked. The jinni looked at her.
“She-elf…or is it the ice witch?”
Jé Kinah/Meredith shrugged good naturedly. “A little of both.”
“Then everything is as it should be.” The jinni bowed. “Forgive the tangent master, but the plan did indeed work.”
Evander looked at the crowd, anticipating explanation. “I wished the jinni away so that Merry...”
“Oh yes, I remember.” Jé Kinah/Meredith nodded.
Evander tried not to flinch. “Yes, well…I didn’t even say who I was wishing it to. Just the last person I spoke to…in case Merry…”
“You mean me?” She raised her eyebrows at him.
“I mean…in case I was overheard.” Evander cleared his throat and looked to the jinni. “Sir Philip looked after you?”
“He was a kind and gracious master and kept me hidden from all temptation.” The jinni explained. “When he was nearing his end he had a special box made and entrusted his goddaughter, Belle, with the key to the door it was hidden behind.”
“Goddaughter?”
Jé Kinah/Meredith put her hand on Evander’s shoulder. “Giselle…” She said quietly.
Evander winced and closed his eyes. “Of course. The infection and the fire…” He sighed. “Jinni, I have a question for you.”
“I am ready master.”
“How did you manage to put those passport things and currency from this age into satchels that we carried over two hundred years ago?”
The jinni paused. “I have pondered this a long time and my conclusion is…”
“Time travel.” Chaz said firmly. Everyone looked at him. “Oh come on, we’ve all watched sci-fi at some point. The jinni gets money and the passports from this era and then sends them into the past for you to bring here so you’re not arrested as illegal immigrants. It’s only logical.”
Evander glanced at the jinni who nodded. “Humans have grown in their understanding of the world considerably.”
“But how…” Penny stammered to a halt when the jinni looked at her.
“How did you send it back to where you were before?” Mak understood what she was saying. “Can you turn back time?”
“Alas I am only a lesser jinni and not much better than a flying carpet.” The jinni said forlornly.
“Nonsense.” Jé Kinah/Meredith said sharply. “Without you we would not have been able to rescue…well…me…or have resources in this new age. You are a wonderful jinni.”
Evander wondered if it was just an afterglow of the ring’s powers or if the jinni really blushed.
“She is much kinder in this form.” The jinni said a little bashfully. “But it is true, my lady, I cannot turn back time. That would require a force greater than I.”
“Like…a greater jinni?” Evander looked at Jé Kinah/Meredith. “Like…the jinni from the lamp?” He looked back to the jinni. “Is the lamp jinni still hidden in this world?”
The lesser jinni concentrated. “Yes. It is safe.”
“Please bring it to us.”
Evander held out his hand and in the blink of an eye, a plain, bronze, lamp appeared in his hand. It had a fat round body and a handle, like an urn.
“Wow…that’s a letdown.” Chaz chuckled.
“Let us see if he is awake.” Evander rubbed the lamp.
Immediately green smoke so dark it was close to black billowed out of the narrow opening. It poured out endlessly, filling up the room in great, almost opaque, clouds, becoming emerald in hue as it did so. They all swiped at it instinctively but it didn’t cause them to cough as normal smoke did. The cell began to quake and groan as the smoke pressed against the walls, pushing those in the cell into a hard huddle.
“What’s it doing!” Mak roared.
“I am afraid it is not very bright.” The lesser jinni confessed. “Master, command it to reduce!”
“I command the greater jinni of the lamp to reduce in size to that of an ordinary man.” Evander choked out.
Abruptly they could breathe again as the smoke sucked away from them, doing much like the first jinni had done and filled up an invisible mould to create a man with a bare, muscular chest, folded arms and baggy pants. When it opened its eyes they blazed gold for a moment before dimming and he breathed in and out.
“Still thinks he’s human and needs to breathe.” The lesser jinni explained.
“Master of the lamp!” The greater jinni bellowed and they clapped their hands over their ears. “What is thy…”
“Lower your voice!” Evander yelled.
“…command.” It finished in a much more reasonable tone.
Before anyone had a chance to answer they heard a whimpering over at the doorway. Lila’s face was white and she looked like she was on the verge of running away, fainting or being sick. Up until this point her logical mind had managed to explain away everything. The cosmetically altered ears and hair of Jé Kinah, the elaborate ruse of Prince Evander to swindle Countess De St Croix…even the ring jinni she had put down to a simulation projecting into the room somehow. But the presence of the greater jinni had taken her logic and torn it to pieces, scattering her security to the wind and terrifying her to the endless possibilities beyond.
“It’s real. It’s all real…” She wobbled dangerously and Penny lunged forward to catch her. “It’s really real…”
“Head down. Sssh…it’s going to be alright.” Penny looked up. “Go on, I’m listening. She just needs…”
“Time.” Evander looked to the greater jinni. “Can you turn back time?”
“Alas master, I cannot turn the earth. That is too great even for one as powerful as I.” The greater jinni said with a hint of humiliation. It’s first summoning in hundreds of years and it was unable to fulfil his new master’s impossible request.
Jé Kinah/Meredith was puzzled. “But there must be a way. The money and the passports have already gone back in time. We have done this…before…somehow.”
“Maybe effect precedes cause in this case?” Chaz said unhelpfully.
“Or maybe the lesser jinni has an idea.” Evander looked at the little figure levitating beside him.
“Master, may I have permission to speak with the greater jinni?”
“Go right ahead.”
“Jinni of the lamp, while you cannot turn back the earth, you could tear a hole in the fabric of reality.”
“Like a TARDIS.” Chaz blurted before being punched in the arm by Mak.
“I could?” The greater jinni asked in a stupefied voice.
“You can. You would look through all the moments in time that exist in that hole and be able to hold it open long enough for the master to pass through.”
Evander looked at the lesser jinni. “He does not look confident. What if we are sent back to the wrong time?”
“I will be able to instruct the jinni when to lock the hole in place,” the lesser jinni said firmly, “then you simply walk through it.”
Evander looked at Jé Kinah/Meredith. “So, we go back to the chateau before Merry and I leave the chateau…” His words were forced as he tried to wrap his head around the concept.
“…that way the jinni of the ring can transport your passports and money into the satchels that you, of the past, will carry into the future.” Chaz said as if it were the easiest thing in the world.
Evander nodded. “Yes…yes?”
“We are leaving?” Jé Kinah/Meredith said quietly.
Evander faltered. “Well…we don’t have to go anywhere. But I do. I need to return so I can send the passports and money to where they need to go. The jinni cannot do it without my command and,” he cleared his throat, “let us be honest. I do not really…fit in here. I would not know how to begin a life in this new world. But if you wish to stay…”
Jé Kinah/Meredith grabbed his hand and held it tight, her eyes locked onto his. “Where you go, I go.”
“Jé…”
“Evander, I love you.” She said warmly. “Where you go, I go.”
“There is a cost.” The lesser jinni interrupted.
“Cost?” Mak asked. “It’ll tear a hole in the space time continuum?”
Chaz and the lesser jinni looked at each other and Chaz rolled his eyes. “Amateur.” He said.
“You know the risk of using up all of one’s unnatural power?”
Jé Kinah/Meredith nodded. “You die. Meredith came close several times. Tying your life to power means if it is exhausted, the body dies.”
“What the greater jinni will do, will destroy it.”
All eyes turned to the greater jinni who stood in the corner of the room, his arms still folded and his vague features unreadable. Evander clucked his tongue while Jé Kinah/Meredith was distraught.
“Well…we cannot ask him to do that.”
“If you command it, I obey.” The greater jinni said strongly.
“It would mean your death.” She insisted.
“If you command it, I obey.”
“Tell him Evander.”
Evander paused. He was a warrior and he had been trained as a leader when he was a prince. He knew that sometimes soldiers had to be asked to do precarious and dangerous things that would more than likely result in their deaths.
“Jinni of the lamp,” he said slowly, “knowing the risks involved, knowing that you will more than likely perish, I command you to choose whether or not to obey my next command which will be to open the hole in time. Do you understand?”
Everyone held their breath and stared at the greater jinni. At first it seemed as though he did not have the wits about him to understand the question and the responsibility therein. But then he raised his head and sighed so deep it felt like the earth rumbled in sympathy.
“I am old…” He said quietly. “So old…I wanted to be the greatest warrior on the earth and indeed, my power seemed limitless and I ruled a mighty kingdom. Then a young warrior from my own army rose up and defeated me. I ran, dejected into the desert and cried out for a power that could decimate the earth. I wanted to be the greatest of them all…and my cry was granted,” he looked at the lamp with a bittersweet expression on his tired features, “and it tied me to this lamp, powerful and strong…but bound to my master’s wishes and not my own. I have seen hundreds…thousands of years pass by, only able to watch and never be. It has been torture and I have deserved it. I would choose differently if I could but that is impossible. And so I choose to obey your command, master. By my sacrifice, you will return home.”
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
There wasn’t a dry eye in the little cell as Evander nodded and looked to the lesser jinni. “What do we need before we go?”
“All your luggage.” Mak said, immediately practical.
“Passports and money.” Chaz added.
“They have those.” Mak pointed out.
“They need to stay in this age or it won’t work. It’ll be a loop that can’t be broken…” Chaz waved his hand. “Trust me. I’m a nerd. They’ll need the passports that they’ll get in the past to bring into the future.”
“My head.” Mak moaned.
“Jinni?” Evander asked.
“Done.” Jinni said and their luggage appeared on the cell floor along with the money and passports.
“Oh…what about Giselle?” Penny piped up. She had helped Lila to stand who was swaying on her feet, frightened to look at anyone. “The woman who was sick…”
“Are you allowed to mess with time like that?” Mak asked.
“I am not wasting the chance to try.” Evander said. “Jinni?”
The jinni frowned. “I do not know her malady so I cannot…” He spied Chaz hugging his tablet to his chest. “Does that have wifi?”
“Yeah…”
“May I?”
The jinni disappeared with the tablet and they all looked around in shock.
“What is it about you people and nicking other people’s tablets?” Chaz demanded.
“Seriously, don’t you have theft in your age?” Mak added.
The jinni reappeared and handed the tablet to Chaz who snatched it protectively. “Forgive my departure. Not enough bars down here.” He looked at Evander. “I researched the history of the De St Croix family and the possible causes and cures for Giselle De St Croix. I can bring you medicine that will cure her.”
“Do it.” Evander accepted the parcel which appeared and went to put it in his satchel. He pulled out the wallet still crammed with money. “Here.” He said, handing it to Mak.
“Seriously?”
“Where we are going, it will just be paper.”
“Wow…thank you.”
Evander put his hand on Mak’s shoulder and looked him firm in the eyes. “No. Thank you. If I had a sword I would knight both you and Chaz, for you have done a warrior’s duty.”
“Wow…honourary knights huh…” Chaz grinned.
“There is not a title I could bestow upon you both,” Evander said, turning to Lila and Penny, “but I consider you to be women of great courage and valour, as fine as any knight.”
Penny gave a lopsided curtsey and Lila trembled, unable to take her eyes off the greater jinni.
Jé Kinah/Meredith put her hand on Evander’s arm. “We need to go.”
“Yeah, but not in this room. Not unless you want to be sharing it with the Snow Queen.” Chaz remarked.
“What would we do without you?” Evander asked.
“I don’t know.”
They all helped to move the luggage out of that cell and into one closer to the stairs. As they stood outside the cell, it suddenly dawned on them that it was time to say goodbye. Penny threw her arms around Jé Kinah/Meredith and hugged her tight.
“Will you be alright?” She asked tenderly.
“Time will tell.” Jé Kinah/Meredith winked.
“No, really.” Penny grasped her hands. “I do not want to abandon you.”
Jé Kinah/Meredith gave her hands a reassuring squeeze. “You did not. Which is why we have come this far. But this is a journey we must make on our own. I will never forget you.” She turned to Lila who almost seemed frightened. “Goodbye Lila.”
“I…I’m sorry I didn’t believe.” She blubbered, tears breaking free. Jé Kinah/Meredith held her as she cried. “I’m sorry. I didn’t…I thought…”
“You believe now, yes?” Lila nodded and Jé Kinah/Meredith felt it against her shoulder. She pushed Lila back and tilted up her chin. “Then you have not missed out at all. Besides, these three need your strength and guidance. I believe that it is because of you, that you are all friends.”
Lila gave a smile and nodded once more. Jé Kinah/Meredith brushed away a tear from her cheek and stepped back.
“I am not sure if this is going to be dangerous or not,” Evander warned them, “and I do not want the concierge to blame you in case there is a cave in.”
“What!” Mak exclaimed.
“He means time to go.” Lila sniffed and herded her friends to the stairs. “If it does not work, I am sure we’ll see them shortly.”
“Oh, don’t talk to yourself in the past!” Chaz called out desperately.
Evander looked up, confused. “Why not?”
“Because it never ends well!” Chaz gave a sloppy salute and they headed up the stairs.
“Hey!” Evander called. “Want to take a short cut?” He held up the ring of the lesser jinni and rubbed it. “Please deposit them in their hire car with all their luggage on the road leading out of Bertrand.”
Jé Kinah/Meredith blew them a kiss to their startled faces just before they disappeared. Breathless they seemed to land in their car, Mak in the driver’s seat, Penny beside him, Chaz and Lila in the middle and all their luggage piled on the back seat. They were pulled over on a little side drive on a road. In front of them was a sign that said, ‘Bertrand dit au revoir’. The light was blinding and it took them a minute to regain their senses. Penny twisted to look behind her, only just able to make out the chateau far behind them, tucked into the mountains beyond the village.
“That was awesome!” Chaz crowed then his phone beeped. He checked it. “Oh…and we’re being pinged on our tour app.”
Lila picked up her phone. “Back to reality I suppose.” She said softly.
“I thought that’s what you wanted.” Penny said gently.
Lila sighed. “I did. I still do, to be honest. I’m a little over crazy people and their wild adventures…but I guess I’m stuck with you.”
Chaz and Penny chuckled. “So, where to?” Chaz asked.
“We rendezvous with the tour bus I guess.” Penny shrugged.
Mak looked down at the bag between him and Penny. It was full of cash. “You know…” He said. “We are in France. It’d be a shame to come all this way and not see Paris, yeah?”
Penny looked at him, her eyes wide. “Seriously? Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower…”
“French women!” Chaz laughed.
“I hear they have some very pretty walks,” Lila added, “and Noel did give me his number and offer to be our guide. Think he’d mind?”
“Nope.” Chaz chuckled.
“And maybe we can find that bridge with the padlocks all over it and toss a key into the seine, sealing up our secret friends?” Penny bit her bottom lip. Mak looked at her and nodded.
“Yeah. Let’s do that. Chaz, give me directions. We’re going to Paris!” Chaz whooped and Lila got out her phone to call Noel. While they were both busy Mak grasped Penny’s hand and leaned over to whisper warmly in her ear. “And Penny, when we get home, would you like to meet my parents?”
Penny gazed at him with rosy cheeks and the biggest smile her pretty face could break into.
“I’d love to.”
Lila caught their exchanged from the corner of her eye. She looked over at Chaz and winked. Chaz chuckled.
“Great gap year.”
Evander stacked the luggage up in the cell he hoped would be suitably abandoned in the past. He brushed his hands off and looked at Jé Kinah/Meredith who held the lamp, the greater jinni invisibly bound to go no more than a few feet from it.
“Are we ready?” He asked.
“I believe so.” Jé Kinah/Meredith said.
“Right.” Evander breathed out. “Jinni of the lamp, I wish for you to open a hole in time under the instruction of the jinni of the ring.”
“Yes master.” The heavyset man with vague features stood in the middle of the room…and for a moment he did nothing at all. He simply stood like a statue. Evander looked at the jinni of the ring who gave him a reassuring nod from his levitating position. Jé Kinah/Meredith picked up on the surging power first, a hum so quiet it was impossible for human ears to detect. But as it grew in power it grew in volume. Louder and louder it became and suddenly it had a presence. Wisps of sparking power rippled through the room, all flying towards the greater jinni who had begun to glow, bright green at first and then, as the power intensified, white hot. He seemed to be breathing, as though needing to regulate his jinni body to channel the terrifying power. He lifted his hands up and pressed the backs of them together, as though he was about to open a curtain they could not see. Abruptly all the power streaked from his body into his hands and he gripped something invisible tightly and pulled it apart.
Wind gushed around them and Jé Kinah/Meredith clung on to Evander as they peered at the hole which simply showed another cell beyond, exactly the same as the one they were standing in. The edges of the tear were white and little cracks could be seen in the air around it, like the surface of a frozen lake had been peeled open in its centre.
“Let me see!” The jinni of the ring cried and Evander thrust his hand forward so the jinni could peer in. “Too far in the past…must come forward. Concentrate jinni!”
The jinni of the lamp moaned, his arms beginning to shake. The ring jinni peered in again. “Looks good…just another few dozen years…”
Evander caught sight of the greater jinni’s face. “He’s not going to make it!”
“Hold…” The ring jinni ordered. “You can do it!”
The greater jinni’s moan became a groan and suddenly the ring jinni jiggled wildly.
“That’s it! That’s it! Stop there!”
Like pulling up a herd of wild horses, the greater jinni leaned back and roared, his voice shaking dust down from the walls and ceiling. Jé Kinah/Meredith put her hands over her ears while Evander flinched away. When they looked back, the greater jinni was still holding the tear open…but the white hot power in his hands had begun to dim.
“Go through!” The ring jinni cried.
“Are you sure?” Jé Kinah/Meredith asked a little fearfully.
“Yes!”
“Put the lamp down and go through!” Evander yelled above the dim.
Jé Kinah/Meredith did so, taking two bags with her. She had to step over the threshold and, for a moment…there was silence as though she was in a place where there was no sound. Only light and colour. And then she stumbled out onto the other side and whirled around, signalling for Evander to hand her their bags. He gave her an incredulous look, after if her request was unreasonable and Jé Kinah/Meredith put her hands on her hips. Defeated in a wordless argument Evander grabbed their luggage and without any finesse simply threw them through the tear in time, Jé Kinah/Meredith catching and setting them aside.
“Hurry master!” The jinni of the lamp cried, the light almost gone from his body and his hands unable to keep the tear as wide as it had been before. “Hurry!”
Evander was about to sprint through when the lesser jinni sprung into his face. “The lamp!” Evander turned and picked up the lamp from the floor. When he looked back, the tear was half its original size, the greater jinni shaking as he tried to keep it open.
Evander ran for the opening, leapt and twisted, slipping through, going into a roll and crashing into Jé Kinah/Meredith. They both looked up to see the silvery white cracks and the tear in time, rejoining themselves, sealing themselves and the howling wind that rippled through the tear, until there was nothing left to be seen.
Evander finally let out the breath he was holding and clambered off of Jé Kinah/Meredith. He reached out and stroked his hands through the air in front of them.
“Nothing…” He whispered. “It’s like it was never there…” He looked down at the urn in his hands. “Jinni of the ring…”
“The jinni of the lamp is no more.”
They bowed their heads in silence. Evander looked around at the scattered luggage. “Why did we need the luggage?”
“I liked the clothes I bought in the future.” Jé Kinah/Meredith retorted.
“Did you hear that?”
“Sounded like voices.”
Evander and Jé Kinah/Meredith both dashed to the wall where the door to the cell was located. Evander peered out and saw a guard walking down. He ducked back and pressed his finger to his lips.
“Anyone down here?”
“Only me you buffoon!”
Jé Kinah/Meredith’s eyes grew round and she pointed at herself. Evander nodded.
“Sounded like you.” He whispered. “The Merry you anyway.”
“Knock it off witch. Your time will come!”
“You impudent little fools! I will rise to power again and wreck my revenge on you all!”
Jé Kinah/Meredith cringed. “I sound awful.”
“We’d better search the cells in case there’s someone down here trying to kill her.”
“Really?”
“Yeah well…I wouldn’t blame them…but the Count’s orders were strict. She is to be kept safe. Come on. Let’s start down that end.”
Footsteps echoed down the hall and Evander and Jé Kinah/Meredith could hear them opening unlocked cell doors and looking in.
“Jinni of the ring.” Evander whispered. “We need to get out of here.”
The jinni pressed his hands together. “You only need to say where master and I will transport you there.”
“Somewhere in the chateau.” Jé Kinah/Meredith whispered.
“Dominique’s den?” Evander suggested.
“If he is in there we will frighten him to death!”
“Did you hear that?”
“It came from the cell at the end.”
Evander glared at Jé Kinah/Meredith who shrugged and mouthed ‘sorry’.
“Fine…oh, I have chambers and I did not go into them for hours. They are…oh…”
The footsteps came closer.
“Evander…” Jé Kinah/Meredith hissed.
“East wing…on the outside. It had a fireplace!”
“Got it!” The jinni nodded.
“Do not forget the luggage!”
A split second later the cell door opened…and the cell was empty.
Evander and Jé Kinah/Meredith gasped for air, the short trip leaving them breathless. Evander shook his head.
“I am never going to get used to that.” He swallowed and looked around. “Yes, this is the right room.” He had only spent a little time it but it looked right. The four poster bed with the plush, neatly arranged covers, the fireplace dull and dark and the two chairs in front of it. The mantelpiece was bare and above it were two swords crossed over a wooden crest.
Abruptly the door opened and Evander and Jé Kinah/Meredith looked up in shock as a young man entered with a basket of kindling in one arm and a few larger logs in the other.
“Jack!” Evander cried and Jé Kinah/Meredith turned away, pretending to fuss with the curtains.
“Sir Janus!” Jack looked around, his ruddy hair and freckled face the same as the last time Evander had seen him. “Sorry…I thought…De St Croix asked if I would join his household staff in helping prepare rooms for all his guests. I thought this was Prince Niccolo and Princess Maria’s room.”
Evander hesitated. “Yes. I mean…no…I mean…” He took a breath. “It was going to be but it’s changed to be mine.”
“Oh…yes sir,” Jack eyed Jé Kinah/Meredith who kept her back to him, “and you have a servant already?” Evander saw Jack staring and turned to look at Jé Kinah/Meredith. He understood Jack’s fascination. Jé Kinah/Meredith wore rather firm fitting jeans and a soft sweater that was far more…expressive of a woman’s form than perhaps billowy gowns and tunics were prone to be. “Hi. I’m Jack…”
“She is mute…” Evander blundered and put his hands on Jack’s shoulders, wrenching his attention away from Jé Kinah/Meredith. “It is good to see you Jack.”
Jack blinked. “Thank you sir.” He looked around. “Is that all yours sir?” He asked, looking at the pile of luggage in the middle of the room.
“Yes…it is…just a few things…I needed…” Evander cringed.
“Well…I suppose I should take this to the right room…” Jack looked at the kindling and logs in his arms.
“When you have done so, I would be grateful if you could stoke a fire up in this fireplace too.” Evander added.
“Of course Sir Janus.” Jack bowed and, after a lingering look at Jé Kinah/Meredith, headed out the door. Evander barred it after him, turned and breathed out.
“First thing first, you need to change or put a coat on.” He said.
“Unless we want the staff to notice two Evanders running around the chateau, you need something with a hood. And we need to hide the luggage.” She giggled.
Evander looked at her, mixed emotions running through his heart. Sometimes, if he wasn’t looking at her and she spoke, he could hear Jé Kinah. Or if he looked into her eyes he could almost see her looking back at him. But Jé Kinah never giggled and she would never have worried about all her clothes in the luggage. Those were traits particular to Merry. He was frightened there was not enough left of the woman he loved for him to fall back in love with.
Once they had both found coats with hoods they shoved the luggage beneath the bed and Evander stepped back, noting that the cases could still be seen.
“What should we do with the greater jinni’s urn?” Jé Kinah/Meredith asked. He looked at her holding it. “I feel like it needs a burial or some kind of ceremony to honour his sacrifice.”
“We will do so tomorrow.” Evander promised.
She nodded and shifted the urn. There was a tinkling inside of it. Jé Kinah/Meredith raised her eyebrows and reached inside, her hand clasping something in the dark. She drew it out and opened her fingers. A smooth, round emerald lay on her palm, about the size of the stone in the lesser jinni’s ring. And despite the lack of light of the room, it sparkled.
Evander touched his ring and the jinni appeared. “What do you make of this, jinni?” He asked.
“The greater jinni’s heart.” He whispered. “Well...is that not astonishing?”
“What should we do with it?” Jé Kinah/Meredith asked quietly.
“Is it warm?”
She held it against her cheek. “Yes.”
“Then he did not fully die. There is life left in him.”
“Can we do something to help him?”
“There is nothing you can do. When the time is right, it will know what to do.”
“Very well.” Evander frowned. “Jinni, do I try to convince the Count to let Meredith go…or do I tell them to do as they did before?”
“We are in uncharted waters now.” The lesser jinni replied solemnly. “And for once I do not have an answer for you. One would postulate that what you are about to do, you have already done so you could not go wrong…but I would tread carefully…and follow your heart. And perhaps leave me out of it.”
“You are part of the story and a testament to its validity.”
“I do understand. Only if necessary then. Too many people, not enough restraint.”
Evander nodded and the jinni whisked away into the ring. Jé Kinah/Meredith tucked the emerald into her pocket and Evander looked back to the bed. He tugged at the bedclothes until they hung down over the cases. It left the bed a little messy but it would have to do. He turned back and saw Jé Kinah/Meredith putting the urn on the mantelpiece. He felt a prickle run down his spine then turned back to the messy bed.
“Well…I’ll be…” He looked back to Jé Kinah/Meredith who raised her eyebrows. “Nothing…just…odd.”
“Yes,” she smiled, “you are being very odd.” She flicked up her hood. “We should hurry to speak with Dominique and give him the medicine for Giselle.”
“Agreed.” Evander said and unbarred the door. As Jé Kinah/Meredith passed by him he looked around the room and saw he hadn’t put his jumper from the future away. He picked it up and felt something hard in the pocket. He pulled out the key to the cell. “It could come in useful.” He mused and then, after putting the key in his pocket, laid the jumper over one of the chairs in front of the fire. He felt a devious grin on his face and hurried out after Jé Kinah/Meredith. Almost immediately they ran into a female servant carrying a silver tray with a bottle of liquor and two glasses on it.
“Where is that going?” Evander asked.
“Prince Niccolo’s chambers.” She replied.
“Oh well that has…” Jé Kinah/Meredith began but Evander interrupted her.
“Right in there.” He pointed at the room they had just left. At Jé Kinah/Meredith glance he shrugged. “I am just trying to keep things as they should be. De St Croix’s study is that way.”
Trying not to look conspicuous, they made their way through the chateau. Fortunately for them the army had only just returned from its campaign and there were people everywhere. No one paid any attention to two extras. Evander led the way to the study and, after a quick knock on the door, heard the Count call out for him to enter.
In his plum velvet coat with gold trim, De St Croix looked exactly as the last time Evander had laid eyes on him. It felt like a lifetime ago. Next to him was Prince Niccolo, his clothes worn with the usual disdain he had for his title. They looked up at their entrance, the desk and their bodies framed by the large window with the pretty snow landscape beyond.
“Got lost did you?” The Count remarked as they pulled back their hoods. When their eyes took in Jé Kinah/Meredith the Count stood to his feet, banging against his desk in his haste, horror on his features and Niccolo breathed in sharply. “You let her out!”
Evander looked at Jé Kinah/Meredith and knew De St Croix and Niccolo couldn’t see the change in Meredith. “You’ve just sent me down to the dungeon.” He snapped his fingers.
“You told him she was here!” Niccolo barked sharply.
“Yes but I ‘ave the key!” He gaped at him. “I let you speak to ‘er in good faith and this is ‘ow you repay me!”
Evander faltered. “Count…wait…she isn’t who you think she is.”
Niccolo scraped the letter opener, which was basically a dull knife, and advanced on Jé Kinah/Meredith, hands shaking. “I will not let her go free!”
“Count!” Evander put himself between the Prince and Jé Kinah/Meredith. “This isn’t Meredith. I mean…this isn’t the Snow Queen!”
“Gu…” Evander clapped his hand over Niccolo’s mouth, forcing him to drop the letter opener and eyed him hard.
“I’ll prove it. The Count will still have the key on him. How could I have let her out without it? The Snow Queen is still in her cell. This woman, well, she is and she isn’t the Snow Queen.”
Evander caused Niccolo to turn in his grip, his arm twisted behind his back, so he could look at De St Croix whose hand reached down and slid into his pocket. He pulled out the cell key and stared at it. “This is the correct key. But ‘ow…”
“Evan!” Jé Kinah/Meredith cried.
Evander jolted upright, the pinch of metal in his back. “Let go of the prince, Evander.” Sir Philip said darkly.
“I…I cannot…” Evander swallowed. “Sir Philip, I know what this looks like…”
“Like you freed the Snow Queen.”
“Greetings Prince Philip.”
Evander couldn’t see the exchange between Jé Kinah/Meredith and Philip. He could only see the back of Niccolo’s head and the Count’s confused expression.
“You…but you’re… This is a trick!” Philip gasped. “Not another test…not again.”
“I know Wischard used to play tricks on you, changed things in your sleep so that you were never sure what was real and what was not…but I am not one of his games. You were freed a long time ago Philip. Do not return to the doubt you once lived in.” Jé Kinah/Meredith said gently.
Evander held completely still until he felt the blade pull away from his back. As a show of good faith he looked at Niccolo. “I am going to let go now. Please…let her speak.” Evander pried his fingers away and the Prince fumed at him.
Jé Kinah/Meredith breathed out slowly and walked forward to where De St Croix remained, behind his desk. “Greetings Beast.” She said firmly. “It is good to see you again also.”
He flinched, a tiny hint of recognition before shaking it away. “Do I…know you?”
She nodded. “And you know the manner of my transformation too. You are one of very few who saw it.”
He gasped and stepped back. “Jé Kinah?”
Niccolo recoiled while Jé Kinah/Meredith looked at Evander.
“It is true Count. She is both Jé Kinah and Meredith. She-elf and Snow Queen.”
Niccolo swore. “Jé Kinah is dead.” He looked at the Count. “He is delusional. Tell him Jé Kinah is dead. And even if she weren’t, how is it possible that she and the Snow Queen share the same body?”
De St Croix licked his lips. “This is not…”
“Possible?” Jé Kinah/Meredith closed her eyes. “Giselle, when everyone knew her as Beauty, used to bring you a rose every night and you would read to her. When she left, she gave you the rose but it was only a matter of time before the foulness inside caused you to tear the bloom to pieces.”
The Count had gone quite white. “But you…you’re…”
“Count, we do not have much time,” Evander walked forward, Niccolo moving beside him, taking up a position behind the desk next to the Count, “and it is important that you hear what I say. I am not the Evander you just spoke to. I am from the future and have come back to set things right. The young Evander is already on his way down to the dungeon to speak with the Snow Queen. She will confirm his hope, that Jé Kinah is alive and he will return here and beg for her release.” Evander leaned on the desk. “He needs to be allowed to do so.”
De St Croix frowned.
“Before you say anything Count,” Sir Philip broke his silence, “this missive just arrived for you.”
De St Croix took the wax sealed parchment and, after Niccolo retrieved his letter opener, broke the seal and opened the letter. Evander was nearly beside himself with how long it was taking the Count to read it. Jé Kinah/Meredith reached out and took his hand, quieting his nerves. He could see Sir Philip’s eyes on her, his usually confident expression somewhat rattled.
“It seems you are too late.” De St Croix said at long last. “This missive contains orders regarding ze Snow Queen’s trial.”
“Even though the trial is to be held here with all the representatives of the countries that went to war against the Snow Queen, it is still in your hands Count.” Evander argued.
“‘ow the…” De St Croix composed himself. “‘ow is it possible that you know what is in this letter?”
“Because you already told me about it.”
“I only just received the letter!”
“Not now. In the future.”
“Please!” Niccolo snorted. “This is ludicrous!” Niccolo saw the Count’s expression. “You have ignored orders and done your own thing too many times in the past to do so again.”
“But if it meant rescuing Jé Kinah…” Sir Philip said quietly.
“Jé Kinah, if you could possibly believe this fantastic story, is standing before us, alive!”
“Then I am not the Snow Queen?” She asked cheekily. Niccolo faltered and Evander leapt into the pause in the conversation.
“Count, by allowing my younger self to leave with the Snow Queen, you will be triggering a series of events you could not possibly imagine.”
“Indeed?” De St Croix remarked.
“Like the healing of your wife.” The Count blanched. Evander put his hand into his coat. “She is dying. There is an infection within her that will kill her.” He put the silver packet that the jinni had given him, onto the desk. “That came from the future where this sort of infection is cured every day. Please…before it is too late.”
“This is nonsense!” Niccolo watched De St Croix pick up the packet. “You are not to believe these lies!” He glared at Evander and Jé Kinah/Meredith. “That witch is going to die for her crimes!”
Jé Kinah/Meredith opened her mouth to say she already did but Evander touched her shoulder and shook his head. There was too much to say now and not enough time. De St Croix was deep in thought, wrestling with the strands of this conversation.
“Count, please…”
Suddenly someone banged on the door. Evander spun around as Niccolo demanded, “Who could that be at this hour?”
Evander looked for somewhere to hide but there wasn’t anywhere. No nook, no cranny…not even a decent sized chair for them to hide behind. Finally he spied the only cupboard in the room and knew that something else which never made sense to him before was going to happen again. Jé Kinah/Meredith gasped as Evander grabbed her hand and dragged her down the room and flung open the cupboard door to the left of the fireplace. “What are you…” He pushed her in and dashed in after her, closing the door behind them and soaking them in darkness.
It was pitch black in the awkward space. Evander could hear two sets of hearts pounding strongly and their breathing was rapid.
“Why are we…” He put his hand over her mouth gently and made a shushing noise.
They could hear the door to the study being flung open and someone stormed in.
“Prince Evander!” Niccolo said loudly. “You are here?”
The older Evander in the cupboard shivered. Jé Kinah/Meredith shifted his fingers and whispered, “That is you.”
He nodded and they listened. The conversation was difficult to make out but they strained to hear every word.
“Where else would I be?”
“Where indeed? What can we do for you Prince and Knight?”
“I was right. Jé Kinah lives.”
“Yes…”
“You are not going to argue the point?”
“Let us say, for argument’s sake, that I believe you. What of it?”
“Meredith, the Snow Queen, knows where she is.”
“She does.”
“Yes, she does. I know you are going to move her but before you do, I must be given some leeway to question her.”
“You already have. She told you what you needed to know.”
“She told me Jé Kinah lives. But not where she is or how I am to find her.”
“What are her terms?”
“She said only the first answer was free.”
“I would wager that the cost of the rest of the answers might have something to do with clemency? Leniency? Heaven forbid, freedom!”
“What if she does ask for leniency in her sentence? You cannot execute her for every life she has taken. She only has one to give. Why not have some good come out of her capture?”
“You are very persuasive.” Jé Kinah/Meredith whispered.
“Niccolo does not sound convinced.” Evander said quietly back.
“I knew it was a mistake to have her here. She should have been taken somewhere else. This is not going to end well De St Croix.”
“But it is going to end. I ‘ave received word from the ‘eads of the countries ‘o committed themselves to this war. ‘er day of judgment is at ‘and.”
“Then tell me where she is to be taken and I will plead my case with them. Surely they will have the sense to realise that in all the lives she has ruined, she has the power to save a life.”
“You ‘ave made your case. And I reject it. The task of judgment falls to me and the council of war leaders in this very chateau. All countries are represented and their ambassadors are to ‘ear ‘er case and make their decision.”
They could hear De St Croix and Evander walking down the length of the room, heading towards them, the Count’s walking stick thudding on the carpet.
“You have the authority to grant her leniency and save Jé Kinah.”
Suddenly the shelf the elder Evander was clinging on to in the cupboard to keep himself from completely crushing Jé Kinah/Meredith, cracked and released a box of oddments down onto them, creating an awful clatter.
“What is going on here?” Came the younger Evander’s furious demand.
The older Evander swore and pressed further in to the cupboard, grasping Jé Kinah/Meredith to him and burying his face into her neck in a lover’s embrace just as the door was flung open. Jé Kinah/Meredith gave a startled gasp, her eyes spying a face she knew very well glaring in at them before she grabbed Evander’s collar and pressed her face against his chest. He twisted to shield her from his glare, his free arm stretching out behind him a little.
“What the…”
“Passions are running ‘igh at the moment.” De St Croix moved forward and pressed the door closed, shrouding the supposedly romantic couple in darkness. And in the dark, they could both hear their hearts pounding and their ragged breathing. They didn’t trust their voices as the group of three were just outside the door.
“Count…please…have mercy…”
“You cannot seriously be considering his request! It is all a trick. An illusion. All that we have been told, the chance of any of it being true…”
“Prince Niccolo, please summon the rest of the council to the war room so that we can put this claim to rest.” The Count said in a dark tone. “Now.” There was a pause and then someone stomped away like a scolded child. “Sir Philip.”
“Yes Count.”
“The security of my ‘ome and all those in it are in your ‘ands.”
“I will check on all guard posts immediately.” There was a length of quiet as Sir Philip left the room, leaving only De St Croix and Evander to speak.
“Then you understand me, De St Croix. You are on my side.”
“I am nothing of the sort. But there is more at stake ‘ere than you know. You may question the Snow Queen further but she will receive no clemency for ‘er crimes. She will pay the price for ‘er actions.”
“She will be executed and all hope of saving Jé Kinah will die with her.”
“‘ope never dies. It just…changes…It is up to us to recognise its new form. I am not against you Evander… but my wife is dying and I ‘ave little thought for anything else.”
“Jé Kinah nearly died so that you could have your own happily ever after. I cannot believe you could be so heartless as to turn your back on her now.”
Then the door slammed with vehemence and the couple in the cupboard jumped out of their skin. Then the pounding began. Over and over again, the elder Evander ashamed of his younger self’s tantrum. He didn’t dare speak and Jé Kinah/Meredith offered no commentary on what was happening. After a moment he felt her shift but put his hand on her shoulder, lent down and whispered right next to her ear. “I am still in the room.”
She gave a tiny nod and held onto him all the tighter, stealing a forbidden moment with the man she loved. And she did. She loved him like Jé Kinah had loved him. She loved him like Meredith had loved him. In her heart was the power of two passions regarding this man. When she had seen him in the corridor of the hospital, reeling from the re-emergence of her two forms into one, suddenly it had all become clear. While nothing else made sense in that moment, he made perfect sense. He was her focus and she couldn’t help but throw herself at him, declaring all the mixed up joy and nervous elation in a gush that he had been unable to comprehend, let alone accept.
His smell…his rough cheek next to hers…how close he was and yet how far his heart was removed from her sent tiny daggers through her heart. But she had the long suffering patience of the elves to bear it out and the sheer stubbornness of Meredith fuelling her on. She was not two minds combined. She was her own person and she would win his love again if it took her a lifetime to do so.
The sound of glass shattering could be heard and, after a long moment, hasty footsteps down the room and out the door. The elder Evander breathed out.
“I am gone.”
“It is almost a shame.” Jé Kinah/Meredith said coyly.
“Maybe for you, I am half bent over.” He muttered and pushed the door open. The study was, thankfully, empty and they stretched out in the light.
Jé Kinah/Meredith looked at him. “What do we do now?”
“I really do not know.” He admitted. “Trust in the fact that what has been, will be again?”
“What of your younger self?”
“I may have sounded convinced to the Count but I still had doubts.” Evander admitted. “You…the Snow Queen…began a war. I knew she had to be held accountable to that. And I didn’t trust her.”
“Me. You did not trust me.” Jé Kinah/Meredith urged him gently.
Evander shook his head and walked away. Jé Kinah/Meredith did not entertain the stab of hurt she felt at his obtuse manner. He had walked to the edge of the world and jumped off for her. She would not abandon him in his moment of doubt.
Jé Kinah had run all too often, convinced of her own damning guilt.
Meredith had not run enough, oblivious to the ripples that her actions created.
She watched Evander walk to the window and look out at the night sky. She wanted to run to him and declare her love but this was not the time or the place. He had enough on his broad shoulders. She would not distract him from the task at hand.
Instead she reassured him, without words, that she would support him by going to the desk, sitting on it and simply being quiet with him. Snow was falling. The last snow of the longest winter the earth had known. She blinked, changing her focus from the snow beyond and saw, instead, her face in the reflection of the glass. Her hand reached up to stroke through her curls, feeling a tingle of joy at the motion. Her fingers traced the outline of her ears and she bit her rose coloured bottom lip, sliding off the desk to walk to the window, peering closer at her alter image.
Evander couldn’t help but watch her. Here he was, at the brink of starting something that had already happened with the possibility of the death of the Count’s wife and the burning down of the chateau…and all he could think about was her.
Her hips swayed as she walked to the window, studying her reflection curiously. Jé Kinah’s body had been restrained, tensed as though always prepared for battle. Meredith had hips that arrested his attention, her body soft and her manner so girly and light. He closed his eyes and swallowed, knowing that he was continually comparing the two of them, trying to find where the line was drawn.
Could he be honest with himself? Could he admit that there were times around Meredith that he could not see straight? That she made his heart pound and his mouth dry? Could he acknowledge that his love for Jé Kinah had been true and noble, pure and ethereal while there was something tangible and passionate about Meredith? Had there been a choice, there would have been no choice for he had never wavered in his love for Jé Kinah. But he had grown fond of Meredith and her winning, daring ways. Had there not been a Jé Kinah, he might have fallen in love with the Snow Queen, becoming Meredith’s Luka, just like she thought he would.
What was he to do? Could he trust her? Could he trust his own heart?
“It is the strangest thing to die,” she said quietly, gazing at her reflection, “and to watch yourself die in the same moment.” Evander blinked, unable to offer comment. Jé Kinah/Meredith looked at him with a strange sadness on her face. “I held Meredith as she died…and I was being held by Jé Kinah when I felt my life ebb away.”
“Did she suffer?” Evander asked cautiously. “Was Meredith afraid?”
“No.” Jé Kinah/Meredith said firmly. “Not afraid and it happened so fast there was no acknowledgement of pain. She was strangely…content.”
“Content?” Evander snorted. “Meredith was hardly ever content.”
“That is very true.” Jé Kinah/Meredith smiled, almost amused by the remark. She could feel Evander’s eyes studying her and allowed him to do so, knowing he was searching for answers.
“What is it like?” He asked at long last. “Being as you were…the same turmoil…”
Jé Kinah/Meredith shook her head. “Jé Kinah and Meredith reconciled. So many hurts, misunderstandings and tensions gone in a simple acknowledgement of respect.” She pressed her hand to her heart. “I feel the tension between what I want to do and what I feel I should not…but there is not a battle like there was before. I do not hate myself as I once did.” She looked up, her green eyes arresting his blue ones like Meredith’s swaying hips could do. “I know you want answers, Evander but until I know the question, I would not know which to give.”
Evander felt his heart twist and his jaw trembled. “I want to know your name.”
“You know my name.”
“No, I do not.”
Jé Kinah/Meredith took his hand and held it warmly. “Yes you do. I asked you to call me it the first day we met. It was easier to say.”
Evander could feel his hands shaking and his throat tried to close over as he swallowed.
“Second day.” He croaked out. She looked at him curiously. “It was the second day we met.”
Her rosebud lips curled up a little and her smile reached her eyes. “Forgive me. I have two rather long lifetimes of memories to sort through.”
“It happens…” He blundered, his heart racing as her fingers stroked his hand.
“Evander…say my name.”
Evander tore his eyes away from her face and looked down at her hands caressing his. He felt a great deal of dark grey fear mixed with hope that sparkled gold. He raised her hands up and kissed the top of them, whispering her name tentatively.
“Jé…”
She drew one hand out and lifted his chin so that he had to look in her eyes. “Say it again.” She commanded gently.
“Jé.” He felt tears ripping past his eyelashes and start to stream down his cheeks.
“And again.”
“Jé.” He could hardly see for the blur of tears now and he wrapped his arms around her, burying his head into her neck. “Jé…I thought I lost you.”
Jé held onto him firmly. “I am here.” She whispered. “I am here.”
Evander pulled back and smiled at her through his tears. She licked her lips, immediately drawing his eyes downwards. His rough hands cupped her face and he lent forward to kiss her…
“Prince Evander?”
Their kiss was halted before it began and Evander sighed loudly while Jé giggled.
“Cannot, how was it said in the future…catch a break?”
Evander grunted and looked up. “Yes?”
The servant looked heartily embarrassed, realising he had just intruded upon an almost intimate moment. “Forgive me, sir, but Count De St Croix ‘as requested yours and your lady friend’s presence in the council room.”
It was the same room Evander had walked in to when he had been known as Sir Janus, summoned to attend the council of war that would explain who the Snow Queen was and ultimately his and Jé Kinah’s role. Jé paused at the doors and touched Evander’s arm. “This is…”
“I feel it too.” He looked at her. “It is same doorway as the one that led us into the apartment of the chateau De St Croix.”
“How strange it is to be in this place in two separate times.” Jé mused.
“Three for me.” Evander added and put his hand on the latch, opening the doors.
Before him was the long polished dark wood table, flanked on either side with high backed chairs. A fire burned in the hearth, keeping the chill that frosted the large windows which looked out onto the courtyard of the chateau across a wide balcony. Sitting in the high backed chairs were the faces of many people Jé and Evander knew. The chair at the far end, the only one with arms, was empty. To its left sat Sir Philip. Philip’s hazel eyes watched them carefully out of a face that was creased from age. However, it didn’t detract from his handsome demeanour. If anything, it added to it.
Next to him was an empty chair. The next two chairs were taken up with Snow White and Marjellan. Snow White’s once black crown was laced with silver yet her lips were ever red as a blood rose in her snow white face. Marjellan looked quite battle weary, having fought against his own kind in the war. But his eyes were still sharp and his mining axe leaned against his chair, never far from his grasp.
Jack sat next to them, looking a little bemused as if he wasn’t sure why he was there. He was also a little nervous for next to him was a man with dark skin, dark eyes and dressed in wonderful shades of orange and gold. He had a turban wrapped around his head and a gold ring on his hand. He looked at them as they entered, fascinated more than any other emotion.
On the other side sat Prince Niccolo and Maria. Niccolo looked like he was grinding his teeth, anger and fear running through his heart. He glared at them, his wife’s usually calming presence doing little to stem the tide of anger he was feeling. Maria gazed at them as they entered, her dark eyes searching for truth…or lies…possibly both.
Next to them were Abigail and Krista, Maja’s daughters. While Niccolo fought between anger and fear, Maja’s daughters wrestled between anger and sorrow. Their mother lay on a cold stone slab below, cut down in battle against that which had once imprisoned her. She was free but her daughters remained, mourning her passing. Their faces were hard and their eyes were sharp as daggers.
Lastly, next to them, sat former King Frederik and his former mermaid wife, Xanthe. Frederik lifted his chin, his eyes his only weapon as both of his arms had been injured and lay almost useless on the table. Xanthe, choosing to wear colours of the ocean in greens, teals and blues, let her rich red hair lay over her shoulders, soft and rippling like water itself. Hanging from her neck was a shell necklace, the source of her voice and a precious reminder of her past.
Evander bowed to the guests sitting at the table then looked around.
“Count?”
De St Croix came in behind them. “Forgive my tardiness.” He apologised. “I was looking in on my wife.” No one could rebuke him for his lateness now. They all knew how much he loved Giselle. The Count tried to fake confidence but it was almost unavoidable to see the anxiety in him as he strode to the end of the table.
“Is she well Count?” Snow White asked.
“She is…” The Count swallowed, fear flashing across his countenance. “The fever refuses to break.” He looked up and saw Evander’s expression. “But I ‘ave confidence in the administrations of your wife, Sir Philip.”
“Perhaps we should postpone this meeting.” Xanthe said gently.
“No. We will not be delayed.” Niccolo snapped immediately. “This ludicrous situation will be dealt with immediately.”
“It is up to the Count.” Philip responded firmly and Niccolo clamped his mouth shut. Philip had a presence about him that could rarely be argued with.
“We will address this matter tonight,” De St Croix said, “for there is much to be told and many questions must be answered.” He looked up and cleared his throat. “The woman I ‘ave been told is both the she-elf Jé Kinah and the Snow Queen called Meredith. You stand before all nations represented at the war of ice and snow to make plain ‘ow this transformation came to be and ‘ow you came from when you claim to be. Prince Evander, also known as Sir Janus, will offer testimony to this fact. Will you submit yourself to our judgment?”
Jé stepped forward, taut and firm. “Before these witnesses here I submit myself.”
“As do I.” Evander answered, standing beside her.
The Count breathed in and out. “Very well.” He said and sat down. “Let us begin.”