Page 76 of The Abandoned Princess

“I should have known the two of you were still in league with each other,” she spat out.

“Yes, you should have.” I finally recovered my voice and struggled to my knees. From there I made it to my feet, glaring defiantly at her. “I certainly was never your ally. You didn’t own me then, and you don’t own me now.”

She threw her head back and laughed. “You think you’re all grown up and so very clever.” Her words dripped with poison.

Xander took a step toward her, his face dark.

Eulalie’s eyes flashed, first with fear and then with something else. She drew herself up. “I can’t afford to stay and play right now, prince, but I can assure you I won’t allow you to have something that belongs to me.”

She thrust out the hand with the ring toward us, and Xander gave an outraged shout.

I turned to look at him, worried she had hurt him somehow. But while he looked horrified, he didn’t appear to be in pain. In fact, he was looking at me as if I was the one in—

My thoughts froze, cold creeping over me.

He was looking at me as if I wasn’t here.

“What have you done to Daisy?” he shouted, trying to reach for me and not even seeming to notice when his hand swerved away at the last second.

When he couldn’t find any sign of me, he leaped for Eulalie instead, his anger overpowering his good sense. But he was back inside her enchantment now, and when she lifted her ring hand, he was driven back.

She stood there regarding him with a satisfied expression, her skin once again leathery and unnatural.

“Nononononononononononono!” I couldn’t seem to make my mind work well enough to form proper words. She had put the enchantment back in place. How had she done that without touching me?

Obviously she had refined the method of enchantment in more ways than one. This must have been why she had thought she could remove the previous enchantment without physical contact. But in the end the original one had been bound by the original rules—just like with my ability to see children.

Another terrible thought washed over me. I was enchanted again, but this time without Xander and without children. Even Lori was excluded this time. I was truly cut off from everyone.

“Daisy’s right there,” said Lori, sounding confused.

I looked toward her, desperate hope filling me. “You can see me?”

“Of course I can. Xander, she’s right there.”

Xander froze, but he didn’t look happy. He looked like he’d suddenly understood what was happening and was about to be sick.

“An enchantment to hide one person from only one other person shouldn’t drain too much power.” Eulalie glanced at her ring. “I got back more than I expected.”

For a moment I felt relief until I realized what she had done. I might not be back under the full enchantment, but Eulalie had cut me off from the one person who I most wanted to see me—the one who had come looking for me and included me from the moment we met.

With one spiteful gesture, she had torn Xander and me apart forever.

When Eulalie slipped out the door, Xander was still frozen with shock. Lori glanced at the retreating woman and then hurried to my side instead.

“Are you all right?” she said. “Let me see your neck.”

“My neck isn’t the problem,” I said in a quivering voice, and she gathered me into a hug.

My tears poured onto her shoulder, sobs shaking my body. We had been so close to being free and then everything had been ruined.

“I assume you’re not hugging the air right now,” Xander said in a shaky voice.

“I’m hugging Daisy, poor lamb,” Lori said. “Can you really not see or hear her? Just like the old enchantment?”

He shook his head silently, staring at the space in front of Lori, although I could tell from his unfocused look that he couldn’t see me.

“I’m sorry Daisy,” he said. “I should have—” He faltered, obviously unable to think of what he should have done.

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