Strike at Midnight(54)

“Absolutely,” I said, looking at her with wary eyes. If she was going to go all sea witch on me, I would agree with anything she said.

“Good,” she said, letting out a deep breath. Within a matter of seconds, she was back to bouncy, excited Melody again. “I’ll just hang these up and then we can discuss other essentials we need to take with us.”

She hung up the gowns and put them on the outside of my closet before turning towards me.

“Isn’t this going to be exciting?” she practically screeched, but I was still stuck in the same position and looking at her like she was a crazy person.

“Very,” I said, and then I crashed down on the bed. Kill me now.





CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Off to the Castle we Go





The witch who sat opposite me in the carriage was a far cry from the hag I had expected to turn up at my door.

The go-ahead had come through from Briar, who had also confirmed that the witch had agreed to help, and she would meet us at the inn before we set off on Friday morning.

Everything had pretty much happened quickly after that, and now we were all packed up and on our way to the Royal Castle.

Rapunzel had made a point of sitting next to me in the beautiful carriage Sir Raymond had sent for us, so that had left Melody sitting next to the witch and me right in her firing line.

The witch had an attractive appearance, as her black hair had been tucked into a net of gold, and she was dressed more lavishly than the rest of us—including me, who had been forced into wearing the red velvet for the day.

According to the note that Sir Raymond had sent over, the day’s activities would include a series of light events while people arrived and settled in their rooms. Then there would be a banquet this evening, and tomorrow there would be a ladies’ picnic and a hunting bout for the men.

It had pissed me off when I saw the itinerary, and I hated the fact that I was being coerced into spending two days of doing pretentious crap with pretentious people.

Prince Andrew and his father were good rulers compared to some. They were fair in their taxes and they weren’t harsh dictators like a lot of royalty could be. The segregation of the lands had been a transgression of their forefathers, so they couldn’t be put to blame for all of it, I supposed. But it still pissed me off that they would take money from their people and use it on stupid things like this. Especially when their coin could go to things with a greater purpose in righting the wrongs of the past.

Their ignorance was eye-opening, and it made me feel better about being in the vicinity of the prince. I just needed to keep it in perspective how different we were, and that would be like having a cold bucket of water splashed in my face.

“I’ve never been to the Royal Castle before,” the witch said, and that was when I realized I hadn’t even asked her name.

“Please forgive me,” I said, showing my manners so as not to piss off a witch in such close quarters. “But what is your name? Briar never mentioned it.”

“My name is Narmia. But you may call me ‘Mia,’” she said with a knowing smile on her face. This woman was no fool.

She looked to be a woman in her early forties who carried her age well, but there was a powerful air about her that told you she didn’t play games. Not unless she was the instigator.

“Nice to meet you, Mia,” I said. “I’m Rella, and these are Melody and Rapunzel.”

“Rapunzel?” she asked, looking over in Rapunzel’s direction. “I have heard of you.”

Rapunzel stiffened in her seat beside me. “I wouldn’t know why,” Rapunzel said, looking out of the window.

“You’re a private detective, aren’t you?” Mia asked, and the look on her face told me she knew exactly what she was doing. “You closed a case for the son of a friend of mine. Jonas Fairyweather.”

Rapunzel relaxed slightly and turned to face Mia. “I did. But that was over a year ago. Is he well?”

“So I believe.” She turned to address me. “Rapunzel was very effective in finding Jonas when he got caught up in some troll business. Foolish lad. He should learn that trolls are not to be trifled with.”

Trolls were stinky, bullish, and ignorant creatures who liked to deal in opium and fairy essence. Due to the banishment law, they weren’t allowed near the kingdom, but that didn’t stop them from using the waterways and rivers to find desperate people to deal the stuff for them. They were a pain in the ass, and I’d had the luxury of hunting down a few in my time. Not my finest hour when tracking them down to their dens of mud and shit. And I did mean shit. They didn’t mind the smell like we humans did.

Mia was still talking, and I tried to get back to the conversation.

“His mother found him a job in the city, so he’s a little bit more distracted nowadays. He got himself wed a few months back. Thanks to you.”

Rapunzel blushed, and Melody and I looked at one another as the exchange happened. It wasn’t a comfortable setting to be in right about now, even if Mia was playing nice. Her words—as kind as they were—felt as if they were trying to evoke something out of Rapunzel, and I didn’t like it.

“Did Briar fill you in on what we need you to do?” I asked, and Mia settled her attention back on me.

“She had to, otherwise I wouldn’t have agreed to it. I’m rather looking forward to this weekend.”