Twisted Tales

A Witch's Brew, and A Fortune Too

I slept for a solid ten hours; and when I finally woke up, I felt as though I'd received a brutal beating sometime in the night.

I guess I sort of had.

I groaned in aching agony, all my muscles strained and bruised and sore, every part of me a miserable mess.

There was a startled little noise in the room, and I sat bot upright with a gasp, suddenly realizing that I'd been woken by the sound of someone moving around.

There was a guilty looking maid standing there, cleaning out the sooty fireplace.

"I'm sorry, madam," she apologized with a deep curtsy, her head bowed low. "I didn't mean to wake you. I'll come back later."

"No, no; it's fine," I assured her quickly. I swung my legs over the bed, wincing with the effort and re-thinking my initial plan to stand up. I wasn't sure they'd hold my weight. "How long have I been asleep? Are my friends awake up? Did the witch come?"

"I don't know anything about any witch," the maid replied uncertainly, "but I know that two of your companions are already up and breaking their fast in the dining hall."

"And no one came to wake me?" I complained, my irritation driving me to jump to my feet.

The maid cowered. "I'm sorry, ma'am, I was told to let you sleep in—"

I waved her words away. "It's not your fault, I'm just being angry near you, not at you. Can you show me the way to the dining hall?"

"Wouldn't you like a change of clothes first? And perhaps a comb for your hair?" she asked timidly.

I glanced down, and remembered I was still in my dress from the fairy godmother. It was a bit dirt-stained now, and very wrinkled. I was pretty sure a few of the darker smears across the sleeves and the front were blood, mine and/or Erik's. I couldn't help but sigh. And it was such a nice dress.

Then my hands went to my hair, and I could feel that my untamable curls had long since begun the process of escaping from the up-do the fairy had given me. It seemed to be well on its way to transforming into some kind of bouffant.

"I'll deal with it later. This is more important."

"As you wish, my lady."

I was about to tell her she didn't have to called me "my lady", but then I remembered that technically, I was a Lady now that I'd been officially knighted by an actual real-life prince.

The memory left me grinning a little stupidly. Sometimes, good deeds do go unpunished.

The maid lead me to the dining hall, where I found Erik and Alfred sitting alone at an enormous table, fifty chairs on each side and a throne at the head, eating breakfast.

"Why didn't you guys wake me?" I demanded sharply the moment I spotted them.

They both started guiltily at the sound of my voice and looked over.

"Master Erikson thought we ought to let you sleep, since last night was so harrowing," Alfred explained.

"You didn't miss anything," Erik added through a mouthful of sausage. "If anything interesting happened, I'd have sent someone to get you at once."

"What about the witch?" I pressed. "Hasn't she arrived yet?"

"A few hours ago. She's off making some potion or something right now."

"Does she think she can fix him?" I asked eagerly.

Erik shrugged. "She thinks it might be possible. Charming told me that she said she thinks the spell might wear off on its own eventually—those kinds of curses usually do, apparently—but I insisted that we needed him fixed as soon as possible."