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insect!” the Princess hissed. “Well, it won’t matter. I already have Will and the King. Nothing more is needed. The wedding is scheduled for a week from today, and after that I shall be queen.”
    â€œThy plotting will not work to bringeth thy desires to thee, Mistress. Thou art still under the curse of thy own wish.”
    Princess Gwendolyn held the ball before her face and laughed hysterically. “You still believe in the power of your impotent curse? Did your curse keep me trapped in that tower, or prevent me from capturing William Pickett or the King? Your curse is broken, it has no power over me anymore.”
    â€œIf thou sayst so, Mistress.”
    â€œI do.” Then quietly she said, “But how to ensure that there are no complications . . .” Putting the ball in her pocket, Gwendolyn rose from her seat and ascended to the great hall above. She took her place on one of the high seats there, arranged her garments, and rang the bell. A footman appeared and made a low bow. “Fetch me the Captain of the Royal Guard.”
    â€œAt once, Princess Gwendolyn,” he said, and bowed his way backward out of the room.
    As soon as the door closed, she pulled the ball once more from its hiding place. “Now, little firefly, let us set your ‘half-­truth’ to the right.”
    The shadows at her side stared down at the ball and whispered dark secrets, full of black magic and malice. Gwendolyn shuddered. For a moment she wavered, and then the shadows parted and she saw Rosslyn—­sculpted from patterns of light and dark. Gwendolyn felt her heart turn to ice, and she reached out for her sister. “Rosslyn?”
    The vision held out its hands; in them was a golden circlet. Tears of flickering light fell from blank eyes. “Return what is mine,” it moaned, and then dissolved as though smoke dispersed by a strong wind. Gwendolyn scrambled backward off the chair to cower against the wall—­shaking in fear—­tears stinging her eyes. “What is happening to me, fairy? What are these visions?”
    The light in the globe shrank to a glowing ember. “ It is a warning, Mistress. This power is beyond thee. In the end thou willst not be able to control the visions , and they will drive thee mad. Free me now, and I can still put things to right. I swear it can be done.”
    Gwendolyn raised her hand as though to dash the orb to the ground, but one of the shadows reminded her about another of the fairy’s promises made long ago. Hatred burned fresh inside her, and fear transformed back to resolve.
    â€œNo.” She rose to her feet. “I have heard your promises before. You promised to make my wishes come true. You promised me true love. You promised the dragon a life of glory. Your promises are empty and cruel.” She resumed her seat on the high chair, the ball resting in her lap.
    â€œThen thou art doomed, Mistress.”
    â€œPerhaps, but this time the doom will be of my own making.”

 
    Chapter 4
    Beastly Luck
    CHARMING WAS LOST. The last few days he had wandered aimlessly—­until now, when he found himself staggering along an overgrown cart path through the dark forest in the Northern Waste. The branches of ancient black-­trunked trees formed a dense roof that kept out most, but not all, of the steady, driving rain that he could hear pelting the canopy. At his feet, a spider web of roots reached like grasping hands across the road, making his footing slippery and treacherous. He hadn’t slept nor eaten more than a few handfuls of nuts and some wild berries since he’d left the Cooked Goose. He was tired and hungry but did not care—­he couldn’t escape that last look of loathing on the face of his father, the King.
    With a deep sigh, he left the path and rested against a hard tree trunk. He leaned his head back and tried to see something of the sky through the dense branches. “Is