“I still remember the first time I met Zeke,” Nora continued. “As I was on my way to the reception room in the royal castle for a tea party, I slipped on the stairs. Then he appeared and gallantly saved me. That was the moment we fell in love with one another.”
Nora spoke with a dreamy tone of voice, recalling her own love story. It was a sincere tale that the younger Cecily would have listened to in rapt attention.
I trampled all over Nora and Zeke’s love...
If she apologized again, then she would bear the brunt of Nora’s rage. Knowing this, Cecily could only bite her lip in silence.
Perhaps she was satisfied at having explained herself, for Nora continued speaking in a cruel tone.
“Let me tell you something, Cecily Ramps. After all, I doubt an uneducated home-wrecker such as yourself would be aware of this.”
Cecily remained silent.
“Stories reach their happy ending when the witch is killed.”
Cecily did know this. She probably knew this far better than Nora did.
She had been enchanted by all the picture books and fairy tales she had read as a child. And she had wished for a love the likes of which she’d seen in those books to one day be hers.
“If you kill me...then the effects of the love potion will wear off.”
“Exactly.” Nora nodded.
It was as Nora had said—the witches that appeared in stories were always wicked. They used their nefarious potions to cause harm to the princesses and princes, but in the end, justice was always doled out to them.
“Don’t think badly of me. This is a necessary step for me to make Zeke’s heart mine once again.”
Nora lifted her foot off Cecily’s head, and gave some orders to her men.
Cecily’s body felt oddly light, probably due to the blood that was trickling out from the wound on her head. One of the men lifted Cecily onto his shoulder.
The group left the shack and began to walk towards the forest. The pace that the men set had no trace of hesitation. It was obvious that this kidnapping hadn’t been conducted on the spur of the moment, but was premeditated.
“Have you read The Princess Who Turned into a Pig?” Nora asked, walking beside the man who carried Cecily.
“I have,” Cecily said. She hadn’t wanted to answer, but she had no energy left to refuse.
“I see. How about The Black Rose Queen? Or The Two Love Potions? Or The Prince Cursed by the Witch?”
“I know...them all.”
“Oh my, you’re more well read than I imagined. If we had met under different circumstances, we might have become friends,” Nora said, clearly insincere.
Charlotte had said something similar to Cecily before. But unlike back then, this time, Cecily felt nothing.
No matter the story, the witch always met the same end. It seemed that Nora had simply wanted Cecily to understand this, and to feel the fear that should accompany such a realization.
After walking for a while, they came to a break in the trees. The man roughly threw Cecily to the ground. Cecily groaned and slowly opened up her eyes to find Nora staring down at her.
“Do you know where we are?”
“By the side of a cliff.”
“Exactly! The perfect cliff from which to throw a witch!”
Nora cackled with satisfaction.
From where she lay, Cecily could see the rocky edge of the cliff. The wind howling from below filled her ears. Fear trickled down the back of her neck.
Nora intended to throw Cecily off this cliff. Head over heels, all the way down to a place she couldn’t even see properly from this height.
But this is the only option.
She had never managed to work out how to undo the effects of the love potion. So this was the only option.
Her only path forward was to fall from this cliff.
The rational part of her said this—and yet...
“Can I at least see Zeke one last time?”
She wanted to apologize to him properly. She wanted to admit her feelings for him, just once.
What would Zeke’s face look like if she said those three words?
Cecily hadn’t even finished making that request of Nora when she felt the push come. Suddenly, she felt as though her body was floating. It was hard to keep her eyes closed against the rushing wind, so she squeezed them tightly shut.
She would hit the rocks in mere seconds. Or maybe she would land instead on a small outcrop on the way, and eventually die from the cold.
As these thoughts entered her mind, Cecily let out a cry. She was so, so scared. Scared that she would never meet him again, which was why she couldn’t help but cry out.
“Zeke!”
She knew this shout wouldn’t be answered.
“Cecily!”
At first, she thought this was her imagination. But in the next moment, her body jolted. She slowly opened her eyes, and he filled her sight.
“Ze...Zeke?!”
“Yeah. It’s me.”
He wore a broad grin before her. Cecily couldn’t believe her eyes.
The wind was still cutting into her, but now her body was safe and stable. Zeke had one arm around her, holding her against him.
She could see the large wings of a wyvern from over Zeke’s shoulder. The sight of those white wings stained by the setting sun was like a dream.
Cecily was still in shock from the fall, but Zeke deftly removed his cloak and wrapped it around her shoulders.
“Cecily, I’m going to untie your arms and legs. Can you hold on for just a little longer?”
Cecily nodded.
Zeke unsheathed a dagger from his belt and quickly sliced through the ropes. Finally, as if he’d been holding back, he hugged Cecily. He was warm, and Cecily’s eyes glimmered as she took in the fragrance of his cologne.
“Are we riding Snow?”
“We are.”
On Zeke’s skilled command, Snow had dived from the sky to save Cecily.
Zeke let out a sigh so deep, it seemed he had emptied his lungs.
“I’m so glad I made it in time. If I’d lost you... I would’ve destroyed the whole world in my unbridled sadness.”
“No, no, Zeke. I...” Cecily shook her head as she spoke. She couldn’t hide the truth from him any longer. “I made you drink a love potion.”
Zeke’s eyes flew wide in surprise.
“And because I did, I put you under the illusion that you were in love with me, and not Nora, your lover. I’m so sorry for having done this awful thing to you...”