Prince Charming Must Die

39. The Room Where it Happens

"Sure. With no visible exits," Derek said. "We'll either die of asphyxiation or survive long enough to die when Marveloni returns. Either way, we die."

"Maybe there's a secret trapdoor to a dungeon of unimaginable horrors," Layyin said brightly.

"As opposed to this magician's lair of mirth?" Tressa said, pushing aside a curtain of cobwebs.

Finally free from her post, Ashley traversed the stone floor as if in a trance, making her way to the children. They looked to range in age from about seven to twelve, dressed in rags, gaunt, and still as the dead. Their faces were pale, dark circles beneath their eyes, translucent skin revealing a spiderweb of delicate veins beneath the surface.

Clear tubes ran between their blue lips to glass bottles beside their mats, filling drop by drop with a pale liquid.

"What is all that?" Sadira said, pointing to the shelves.

Kai ran a finger down a line of bottles. "Some have red fluid and are labeled Sang de dragon, with a date and breed, and the others have clear liquid and are marked Essence d'enfant with a name."

"'Dragon blood' and 'Essence of child,'" Derek translated. "Marveloni's potions. He's harvesting the children's energy for his youth spell, and the dragon's blood for glamours."

Acid rose in Ashley's throat, and she covered her mouth to prevent the bile from escaping. She swallowed past a lump in her throat. "Oh, my god."

"Shhhh," Derek said. "You're scaring Derek Junior. Don't worry, son; we won't let the bad people anywhere near your veins. Can we please wake the ankle-biters and get out of here before anyone exsanguinates my child?"

Ashley didn't point out that Derek Junior couldn't understand English. Instead, she knelt beside a girl. Tears clouding her vision, Ashley placed a hand on the child's damp forehead. Despite being unconscious, with the impish curve of the girl's mouth and jumbled splay of freckles over her nose, Ashley could sense intelligence and cunning.

"Is she alive?" Sadira gulped.

"Barely. She's freezing and clammy." Ashley's knee knocked over the bottle next to the girl. She righted it and read the label—"Essence d'enfant – Hilda Mae." Why did that name sound familiar? Ashley nudged the girl's thin shoulder. She didn't so much as flinch. "Tressa, Kai, Sadira, see if you can wake the others," she said.

The princesses tried, but none of the children showed any sign of consciousness. "This can't be an ordinary sleep," Sadira said, voice warbling. "I recognize magical slumber from personal experience."

"Wasn't the cure for your ... uh ... magical slumber 'true love's kiss?'" Tressa said.

"I thought so," Sadira said. "But now we know, Charming isn't capable of true love unless it's for himself."

"Then how did you awaken from the cursed sleep?" Kai said.

"Not sure. Maybe Charming and Marveloni were behind the curse. Since we know they're hundreds of years old, it's possible Marveloni supplied the magic used by my stepmother, the evil queen, then got rid of her when she was no longer necessary. And if it was dark magic to begin with, it was probably magic that reversed it when the time was right."

"But why wait a hundred years?" Derek said. "Wouldn't Charming want your kingdom right away? You know, start pillaging the coffers as soon as possible? Add to his kingdom acquisition scorecard?"

"No idea."

"So, if we need magic to wake them, what do we do?" Tressa said.

Sadira brushed a lock of dark hair behind a boy's ear. "We'll have to rescue them asleep and figure out the waking up part later. Get them to safety."