Joyce stared in shock at Jackie.
Should she blow her cover? Should she keep lying? Joyce wasn't sure.
Jackie laughed.
"So now you believe that I can actually tell the future!" She said.
Joyce was silent.
"Don't worry my pretty, I won't hurt you. I want the curse to be broken too. Even though I didn't have any men in my life before, I still want them back. I used to be accepted as Dungannon's professional fortune teller. People would travel far and wide to see me. Then they forgot about me in the woods. All the hub bub about the curse drove business away and no one has seen me in years. My visions went cloudy and almost never came. But then I saw the vision of you running in the woods..."
"Do you know my future? If I'll break the curse?"
"No... I'm afraid I don't. I haven't seen anything past you running in the woods."
Joyce was disappointed.
"But, I do have some interesting information that you'll like." Jackie smiled.
***
Queen Phoebe closed her book. Yet another time she was left feeling unsure and sad about the curse. She put her face in her hands.
Several minutes passed and she started to cry.
"Benedict!" She said, "I miss you so much!"
"Mother?"
Phoebe looked up and saw her son, Merek, walking towards her. He was used to finding her in the library, crying. He walked to her chair and embraced her.
"I wish I could break the curse for you, Mother. All I can do is send guards out to look for the woman in red."
Phoebe nodded. He had told her this a million times before. But this time felt different. Maybe it was because the woman in red had actually been seen in Dungannon. Phoebe was ecstatic to hear the news. But she was scared that Jeana would find her before Merek could.
Queen Phoebe had commanded her son to be stationed at the castle, and never go out of the grounds until the curse was broken. It was hard for her to make that decision, but she needed to make sure her son, who was also king, was safe. Phoebe knew Jeana had been plotting to get rid of Merek, and Phoebe was not going to let that happen. Even if it meant fighting Jeana, herself.
Phoebe and Merek held each other and didn't say another word.
***
YOU ARE READING
What If?
FantasyJoyce has been broken up with again. However, fate takes an interesting twist when she dreams she's in a kingdom run only by women. All the men have disappeared... But she learns she can save the kingdom and bring back the men! Joyce meets Mirabelle...
