Good Curses Evil (14 page)

 

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Plot Twists

After an exhausting six days, I had finally completed my Plot. I was shown to a room, where I passed out and didn't wake up until dusk. By that time, all the others were awake and waiting for me. I had a quick meal, then—along with Jez and Wolf Junior—prepared to make the journey back to school.

It was decided that baby Cricket would stay with Ileana's family, with Cappy as her nursemaid. They even agreed to take in the goat as a palace pet.

“The Zâne were right,” Jez said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Do you remember what they told us the night we found the baby? ‘This baby's fate is tied up with yours now. In time, you will see her gifts.' If it hadn't been for Cricket, we might have lost to Padurii.”

“I suppose you're right,” I said. “Thanks, baby.” I could've sworn she winked at me, but I didn't mention it to anybody.

“Good-bye, Runey,” Cappy said as we gathered in front of the palace doors.

He moved in for a hug, then checked himself.

“What's wrong?” I asked.

“Henchmen no give hugs,” he said sadly.

“Oh, just this once, then,” I said with a sigh. He grinned, crushing me in a hug that squeezed the wind out of my lungs. I endured a round of hand shaking from General Bowson and the king too.

Then the queen came forward with Ileana. They were dressed for traveling.

“Are you going somewhere?” I asked.

“Yes, I think we'll take the trip with you, if you don't mind.”

I exchanged looks with Wolf and Jez. Wolf just shrugged as if to say it was okay with him.

Jez didn't look so thrilled to have company. She scowled at the princess, folded her arms, and tapped her toe loudly.

All our packs had been restocked with food—fresh sheep liver for Wolf, cocoa for Jez, and plenty of meat, cheese, and fruit for me.

“Surely you'll take a small guard with you?” General Bowson asked the queen. His eyes flickered to me, Jez, and Wolf.

“We'll be quite safe, General,” the queen said.

“Shall I come, dear?” asked the king.

“You have too much work to do here, darling. We won't be gone long.”

The king seemed satisfied, but the general continued to protest. In the end the queen won out, and General Bowson gave us an armed escort to the city gates. A few minutes later Jez, Wolf, and I were on the road once more, along with our royal company.

As we traveled, we kept our eyes open for Chad, but we never saw him. We did, however, run into some old friends. It happened just before dawn. As we were walking along the road, suddenly three glowing figures appeared from out of the forest. It was the Zâne.

“Hello again,” the white rose lady said. “I see you've had many strange adventures since we parted.” She nodded at Queen Catalina and Princess Ileana, and eyed Wolf in a wise, knowing sort of way. I wondered if we were in trouble.

“Uh, yes,” I said, hoping the beautiful flying ladies would let us pass.

“We cannot let you pass,” the poppy lady said.

Nope. Guess not.

“There's something we need you to see,” the daisy fairy said. “Follow us.”

We didn't really have much of a choice. I was pretty sure in a battle with the powerful Zâne, we'd lose. So we all followed behind the floating ladies as they led us through the forest.

We were about ten minutes in when I started to get very nervous. I mean, I had a deadline! I was just about to risk trying a Quick Getaway spell on the Zâne when I heard a familiar sound. It was a sort of animal chittering followed by laughter and a loud splash.

The Zâne motioned for us to be quiet as we crept up to a familiar hillock. I peered over the edge, and I had to use all my power not to burst out laughing.

Below us, I could see Tibix, the sprites' chief, jumping and clapping. Behind him, several little sprites turned a crank. And hanging over a stream, dangling by their legs, were Gilles DeRay and Erzsebet Bathory.

“We found these vampires wandering in the forest and bound them so they couldn't transform. Then we turned them over to Tibix. Are they friends of yours?” asked the white rose lady. As she spoke, the little sprites let the crank go and Erzsebet and Gilles plummeted into the water.

I looked at the others. Wolf and Jezebel both smiled wickedly.

“Nope. Never saw them before in my life,” I lied.

“In that case, we'll let Tibix have his fun,” the white rose lady said. “We'll show you back to the road now.”

When we reached the road, we said our final good-byes to the Zâne, who invited us to visit again soon. After that, we didn't see anything unusual, except once, near the middle of the forest. I thought I saw green eyes watching us from a tree, but they disappeared when we investigated.

“What do you think that was? Just a forest animal?” Wolf asked.

“I don't know, but it's not the first time I've seen something watching us,” I said.

“Do you think it might be that old mangy cat of Muma Padurii's? It looked kind of like cat eyes,” Jez said.

“I doubt it,” I said, although I spent the rest of the trip through the forest looking over my shoulder.

We spent all morning walking under the canopy of trees. By sunset, we emerged from the oppressing forest and into open air. Although we were all tired, the sight of familiar territory (not to mention our looming deadline) gave us a boost of energy. Wolf and I practically ran the last stretch, dragging Queen Catalina and Ileana with us. Jez took advantage of the darkness and flew as a bat. We reached the doorway to the school early that evening.

Wasting no time, we made our way to Master Dreadthorn's office. Tabs was coming out just as we reached the door. She paused a moment to sniff at the newcomers and flew in excited circles around the queen, but otherwise ignored us. We knocked on the door, which opened by itself.

“Come in,” my father's smooth voice sounded from inside.

“Maybe you should wait here a minute so I can introduce you?” I said to Queen Catalina and Princess Ileana.

The queen smiled and said, “Of course.”

Wolf, Jez, and I found Master Dreadthorn sitting at his desk, pretending to barely notice us.

“Well?” he asked.

I couldn't contain myself.

“I did it! I did it all!”

“Ahem,” Jez said from beside me.

“With help from my Conspirators, of course,” I added.

“What proof do you bring?” he asked.

“Proof?” I asked, looking at Jez and Wolf. “But you never said we needed—”

“Let me get this straight, Rune. You thought you could just vacation in the forest for a few days, return without any proof of your Plot's success, and I'd
believe
you?”

“I … but …”

I looked to Jez and Wolf for help but found none. Wolf looked utterly terrified—his ears drooping, tail tucked—and Jezebel was staring at me like she was about to make me her next snack.

“If you have no proof, then—”

“They do have proof,” Queen Catalina said, stepping inside the room with Ileana close behind.

“Cat!” Master Dreadthorn said, standing so suddenly that he knocked over the skull and its candle, setting the papers on his desk ablaze.

“Veldin. It's been too long!”

Then the queen rushed over to my dad, who had managed to put out the flames with his cloak, and hugged him.

He looked positively stunned.

“I take it you two know each other?” I asked, a little hurt that this had never come up before now.

“We all did,” the queen said. “Veldin, Morgana, Muma Padurii, and me. We were all in school here together. Of course, back then it was Stiltskin's School for Wayward Villains.”

“Wait. You were friends?” Jez asked, eyeing my dad and the queen suspiciously. I got the feeling Jez thought maybe they were more than
just
friends.

“Yes, well, as much as any villains can be, but we had a bit of—”

“A falling-out,” Master Dreadthorn finished.

“Oh!” I said. This explained a lot—like how the queen and Chad's mom seemed to know each other, and why Morgana would be working with Muma Padurii to bring down Queen Catalina's kingdom and my dad's school.

“It doesn't really matter,” Master Dreadthorn said crisply. “It was all long ago and is better forgotten.”

I thought the queen looked hurt for a moment. She drew away from my dad, but she smiled again.

“Anyway, I know your Plot succeeded. You didn't need to drag an entire royal court here,” the Dread Master said. His face revealed no emotion whatsoever.

“But a minute ago you said you didn't believe Rune!” Ileana finally spoke up. Master Dreadthorn looked at her in surprise, as if he just noticed her for the first time.

“May I present Princess Ileana?” the queen said.

Master Dreadthorn nodded stiffly, but he didn't take his eyes off the princess. Like all young villains, she squirmed under his cool gaze.

“How did you know the Plot succeeded?” I asked him boldly. Ileana looked relieved when Master Dreadthorn's eyes slid from her to me.

“I have my ways.”

I glanced behind the Dread Master at the glass case that usually contained his crystal ball. It wasn't there, of course. I cringed as I realized it was still in my backpack.

“What now?” Wolf asked from beside me.

“Now, Mr. Wolf, the three of you will attend a ceremony at ten o'clock in the dining hall, where the entire student body will be gathered. That is all.”

Master Dreadthorn waved us away as if we were servants.

“Oh, and Cat,” he said.

“Yes?”

He looked as if he wanted to say something to her, but then noticed everyone watching and changed his mind.

“Tabs will show you and the princess to the girls' dormitories, where you may stay for the night.”

“I think I can remember the way,” the queen said with a wink and a smile.

“Can you believe him?” I said as the door closed behind us. “He knew. He
knew
our Plot had succeeded, and he still wanted to make us squirm!”

“Don't be too hard on him, Rune,” the queen said. “He's always been like that.”

“Why didn't you tell me you knew my dad in school?” I asked.

“Oh. Well. I wasn't sure how much he'd said to you or how much he wanted you to know.”

This seemed kind of lame, but I didn't dwell on it. After all, I had to get ready. A feeling of anticipation had come over me. In just a couple hours we'd celebrate, and the whole school would know I'd completed a Plot. I'd be a Fiend at last!

Jez and Wolf seemed to be thinking the same thing. They were both smiling.

“I can't wait!” Jez said.

“Let's get ready!” Wolf said. “Meet you in a few!”

We dashed off to our separate dorms.

Back in my room, I took out Eye of Newt. He'd almost gone out, but I managed to scrounge up some more fire ants for him. In no time, he was smoldering happily once more.

The room seemed too quiet. The remains from Chad's last batch of cookies lay stale and untouched. I wondered where Chad had gone and if I'd see him again. Where would he go now? I realized I might never know.

Finally, the hour drew near. I showered and changed clothes, then met Wolf in the hallway. He'd cleaned up, and was wearing a suit that looked totally ridiculous—especially on a dog.

We bumped into Jezebel by the Great Clock, and I almost didn't recognize her. She had traded in her traveling cloak for a black dress with a purple satin lining and a high collar. Her hair was curled and pinned up. She looked amazing.

Wolf let out a little howl and waggled his eyebrows at me, then ran ahead, leaving Jez and me alone.

“Whoa,” I said, taking in her outfit.

“Do you like it?” she asked, twirling. “My dad bought it for me.”

I was reminded of the way she had twirled in her lambs' leaf towel, and suddenly felt like something was stuck in my throat and my cheeks were burning. I loosened my collar, but it didn't help.

“Uh,” I croaked. “You look … beautiful.”

Jez stopped twirling and smiled at me, her violet eyes sparkling. I offered her my arm, and together we made our way to the dining cave, where we caught up with Wolf Junior.

We peeked around the doorway, catching a glimpse of the enormous cavern, which had been decorated for the occasion. Glittering candlelight reflected from the water that glided in smooth, even sheets down the glistening walls. Skulls adorned every table, no doubt donated by Jez's dad.

“This is it!” Wolf said excitedly, drooling a little on his collar. “I can't believe we did it!”

“No more kitchen duties. We're going to be Fiends!”

“Ahem,” Jez said.

“Except for Countess Jezebel, of course, who will be an Apprentice,” I amended.

“Finally!” said Jez. “Daddy will be so proud of me!”

I wondered what my own dad thought. He hadn't seemed very excited that I'd completed my Plot, but had I really expected anything else?

We stood outside, listening to the excited chatter of the entire student body seated within.

When we stepped through the doorway everyone stared at us, and the buzzing chatter grew louder as whispers and gossip flew around the hall. Clearly, a rumor about our Plot had already spread. At the front of the cavernous hall was Master Dreadthorn. He motioned for us to join him on the platform. Here, a table had been set up just for us, and I noticed a few other figures sitting at the table.

One was Wolf's dad, Big Bad Wolf Senior. His tongue lolled, and his tail wagged happily. To his left was Jez's dad, Count Dracula. He nodded his pale face as Jezebel approached, and she beamed up at him, unable to hide her happiness.

Sitting next to my dad were Queen Catalina and Princess Ileana. They both waved and smiled at me. I flashed back a grin, caught my dad watching me, and quickly wiped the smile off my face. Then I noticed someone else.