Reign (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale, #4)(45)

“Going s-s-somewhere?” He sneered cruelly.

“Yes, anywhere that’s not here,” she answered. Her frankness only elicited a raucous laugh from the troll, startling the mice. That caused them to dance into the carriage in front of them, jostling it around.

Ever’s head popped out and she tried to soothe her horses. She shot an annoyed glance—utterly and oddly familiar—at Mina and the troll whose laugh had started it all.

“You’re funny,” the troll acquiesced.

“And you’re funny smelling,” Mina said. He laughed again, but he refused to budge from her door.

“Nice try. Sit.” He pushed her in her chest with one of his ginormous fingers. The force of the impact sent her crashing backwards into the opposite door and causing it to open. As the carriage rocked, she held tight to the doorframe. The door swung open, smacked the side of the coach, and then swung back inward to nail her on the behind.

“Yeouch!” Mina yelped. She grabbed the door, slammed it shut behind her, and ducked to the ground, as if she could hide from her own stupidity. Every eye there—including the Fates’—must be on her at the moment. She peeked through the parted curtain and saw that—though the royal couple didn’t seem to be looking her way—a frowning Teague seemed to have noticed the commotion with her coach.

More girls entered the castle, and it was almost time for Mina’s coach to pull up. What would happen? Would they open the doors and immediately arrest her for trespassing? Would she be fed to the trolls under the bridge?

She quickly ran her hands through her hair to pull out the stray leaves and tried her best to brush off her skirt. The coach dipped as a footman stepped up and asked for her name.

What in the world was she supposed to say? She couldn’t very well tell them she was from another dimension. Or give them her real name. She bit her lip and tried to think of something, anything. Then it came to her.

The Story was pushing her this way. She might as well play her part in it. “Cin—uh…I mean Elle Cinder.”

“From—?”

What would Mei Wong tell her to do? She’d probably say stick as close to the truth as she could. Immediately, an image of a where she used to live popped into her head. The small apartment above the Wong’s Golden Palace Restaurant.

“Elle Cinder from the lands of the Golden Palace.”

He leaned closer and whispered back at her harshly, “There is no such place.”

“Where I come from there is.” She tried to make her voice drip with arrogance.

Frustrated, the coachman poked his head through the curtain and gave her a glare. His long pointed ears were turning red at the tips. “Do you expect me to lie to the Fates?”

“No, but who’s to say that I’m lying?”

He shook his head and gave her a long look. “Your neck, not mine.” He leapt nimbly down and stood in front of the coach as another footman opened the door. He cleared his throat and seemed to rethink the announcement, but finally raised his voice loudly. “Miss Elle Cinder from the Lands of the Golden Palace.”

Mina took the offered hand of a third footman and let him help her down the steps. Her nerves got the better of her and she almost tripped, but she recovered before anyone noticed. Her body moved on its own, and she found herself standing in front of Queen Maeve and King Lucian. She could feel the moment Teague recognized her, because his gaze bored a hole through her.

He continued staring, and she was afraid to look, afraid to make eye contact. She curtsied before the Fates and was about to rise when King Lucian stopped her.

“Elle Cinder,” his strong self-assured voice repeated. There was no question in his voice. He seemed to be repeating it so he could remember.

“Yes, your—” What was she supposed to call him? Majesty? Highness. Her mouth went dry and she finally spit out, “Royalness.”

Lucian smiled and slowly rubbed his beard. Queen Maeve gawked at her, judging her. Mina noticed the moment when the Queen dismissed her, because her gaze moved past her and beyond.

Mina’s legs began to quiver from staying low in the curtsey.

She was doing great so far at not making eye contact with Teague. His black leather boots had not a single spot of dirt on them. Suddenly that black boot started to tap impatiently, as if trying to draw her attention upward. Was this it? Had the giants brought her all this way so Teague could send her to prison?

Knowing the moment was at hand, and it was no longer avoidable, Mina looked up and her breath caught in her throat.

He was frowning, but then the corner of his mouth lifted in the hint of a smile that he was trying to hide. Her eyes traced a line from his lips and his angular jaw up past his nose to make contact with his deep blue eyes. Which were alit with—relief?

He bowed. “Elle,” the name rolled off his tongue, and she shivered.

She was certainly thankful he wasn’t furious at her, but she could tell he wanted to say more. He held her gaze and flicked his eyes to the right. She glanced in that direction. There wasn’t anything over there.

He did the motion again, and she realized she was supposed to head up the steps and follow the other girls inside. She was standing there like a goof staring at the prince.

“Oh yeah, that’s right.” She lifted her skirt and proceeded up the steps. When she got to the top, she hesitated again. There were two options. She started to go left.