Page 124 of Charmless
According to the legends of my people, the time is drawing closer for the true heir to claim the crown. I have allowedmyself to wallow in grief for far too long. Although it will not be easy, I must end my terrible gleaning addiction and head to the secret fairy realm along our northern border. I do not expect to be welcome there. I may even be put on trial for my many failures and transgressions, and it is no more than I deserve. But I need to be there to remind my brethren to keep the pledge the fairy world made so long ago to our good queen, Anthea.
But I repeat my warning to you. Never trust Sidney Greenleaf. He will pretend to be your friend as he once did with me and your father. But he will betray you. He will always put his own interests above those of our kingdom.
I know what a strong, brave young woman you are. It is up to you now to keep yourself and Horatio safe. You must look out for each other until that glorious day when all will be revealed.
I will leave you the contents of my shop to dispose of as you will. Until we meet again.
Your unfortunate, Withypole Fugitate.
The letter filled me with sadness for the fairy’s tormented soul, but I was frustrated with Withypole for leaving Horatio and me without giving us a chance to say goodbye or question him. He had taken my shard away from me after my misadventure in the aura chamber. But out of all those prisms in that burlap bag, how had Withypole known which one was Horatio’s?
The fairy must have some way of reading the crystals. According to Withypole, the prisms held the very essence of a person, every memory one had from the moment of one’s birth. If I had had a chance to speak to Withypole, I could have told him the orb had been destroyed. Could there still be a way of proving Horatio’s identity by using his prism? I sensed that there was still so much more about the past— both mine andHoratio’s —the fairy could have revealed if he had chosen to stay and do so.
With a disgruntled sigh, I handed the letter to Horatio, to see what he would make of it. He took it from me gingerly as though he feared the contents might explode whatever remained of his once well-ordered life. He read it swiftly.
“Blast Fugitate!” He swore and crushed the letter in his fist. Belatedly, he seemed to remember the letter was mine, not his.
“Sorry,” he muttered, trying to smooth out the crumpled paper. “But this letter is a huge disappointment. I was hoping Withypole would provide some clarity.”
Horatio folded the note and gave it back to me. As I tucked it in my pocket, Horatio admitted, “Frankly, I was hoping the letter might have contained information that would put an end to this notion of me being the lost prince. But I can see there is only one course left to me.”
“What is that?” I asked anxiously.
“I told you how I grew up in the Foundling Asylum until I was fortunate enough to be adopted by the Crushingtons. I never wanted to know the circumstances of my birth, always afraid of what I might find. But I confess this strange business with the orb has left me unsettled. I need to discover the truth.”
“How do you plan to do that?”
“I believe the Asylum kept records on every child, how and when they were abandoned, sometimes even clues about who the parents were. I intend to go to the Asylum and see if there is any information left about me.”
“And if you find something that confirms that you are the lost prince? What will you do then?”
“I don’t know. For most of my life, I have always been so certain of what was the right path to take.” Horatio gathered my hands in his, his voice almost pleading. “What do you think, Ella? What would you have me do?”
I drew in a deep breath. This was the moment when Mal would have expected me to employ every persuasion I could muster to convince Horatio to accept his destiny and fight for the throne of Arcady. Mal insisted I was the only one who could make him believe. But even if I did have that power to influence Horatio, it felt wrong to use it.
Even though I knew how disappointed Mal would be with me, I shook my head. “This is not my choice to make. But whatever you decide, you will have all my love and support.”
Horatio regarded me sadly. “But would you love me more if I was this lost prince?”
“No!” I cried. “Horatio Crushington, I hope you would know me better than that by now. If a prince is all I wanted, I could have married Florian, may the fairies help me!”
“I wasn’t thinking of him.” Horatio gave me a troubled look. “But I could not help noticing when we were in the dungeon, a certain tenderness between you and Prince Ryland.”
“On his part, not mine. I was a young girl when I fancied myself desperately in love with him.”
“Of course, you are so ancient now,” Horatio said wryly.
I pulled a face at him. “Certainly, I am older and wiser. I admit that when I saw Ryland singing in the square that day, I fell for him at first sight.”
“And when you first met me, you did your best to avoid me.” Horatio winced.
“I am afraid that is true, but that was before I got to know you.” I reached up to caress his cheek. “And that is the huge difference. What I felt for Ryland was a girlish infatuation. But my love for you has blossomed over time, growing stronger and deeper each day until I am certain you are the only man I will ever want. Not Ryland, not Mal.You.”
I draped my arms around his neck. “If you believe in nothing else, believe that.”
I stood on tiptoe to brush a kiss against his lips. Horatio drew back, searching my eyes. He must have been convinced by what he saw because he clutched me in his arms and kissed the breath from me.
When he allowed me to come up for air, he groaned. “Oh, Ella, I have never wanted anything more in my life than to marry you.”
