Once Upon a Curse (6 page)

Six

T
he air was thickening around me and it was getting harder to breathe. I no longer felt like a wind was whisking me along, but more like something was forcing me through a thick and lumpy, sour-smelling pudding. I could still feel Eadric's arms around me, just as they'd been when he'd pulled me away from the shadow beast. I was frightened, but not nearly as much as I would have been if I'd been alone. Although I hadn't wanted him to come, in a way I was glad he had.

The air grew hotter, and a high-pitched whine filled my ears. I was gasping for breath when something shoved us through a warm, moist layer. Suddenly the air was normal again. We fell—how far I couldn't tell—until we slammed into cold, hard stone, landing on our sides. With the air knocked out of us, we lay sprawled on the ground, too numb to get up.

"What was that?" croaked a voice from somewhere nearby. "Either I'm dreaming or the rats have gotten a lot bigger."

Wherever we were, we weren't alone. I drew in a ragged breath and was nearly overcome by the stench of dung and an unwashed human body. I tested my limbs, afraid that I might have broken something, but I was fine—aside from scrapes and a few tender spots.

Eadric let go of me and sat up, Ferdy's scabbard scraping the floor. "Are you all right?" he whispered.

"I will be," I said as quietly as I could, "as soon as I find out where and
when
we are."

I was stuffing the medallion and the bottle of dragon's breath into my pouch, when something small and bony landed on me with a Whump! It moaned softly, then started to move around, poking me with knobby edges. "Stupid spell," grumbled a familiar voice.

"Li'l, is that you?" I whispered.

"Emma?" she said. "What happened? One minute I was in that oubliette, and the next thing I knew a wind grabbed me, beat me up and spit me out. Where are we? Did we go back in time?"

"I'm not sure," I whispered. "Shh! Someone's in here, and he thinks he's dreaming."

I set Li'l on my shoulder while I peered into the darkness, hoping for some glimmer of light. I couldn't see a thing until I looked up and saw a swirl of color rising above me—either the dragon's breath or some ghostly apparition that had decided to leave. When it disappeared through a checkered shape that could only be a grate, I knew that we were in the oubliette, although I still had no idea
when.

I thought about creating a witches' light or using the candle stub so we could see, but if I did, I might have to use more magic to convince the man that he really was dreaming. The longer I thought about it, the more complicated it seemed. No, I'd have to manage without any light at all.

Something shifted in the dark. "Speak up!" said the voice, sounding more like a man and less like a nightmare. "You're awfully quiet for a dream. Why don't you sing me a song? Last dream I had, a minstrel sang about a great knight. Made me feel like I was there, fighting dragons and all. How about a song like that?"

Eadric spoke up, saying, "I'd like to sing, but I don't know any good songs."

"Then I'll sing one," said the voice. "I made it up myself. It's the story of why I'm down here. Want to hear it?" The voice chuckled. "Listen to me—asking a dream what it wants!" He started to sing, scratchy and so far off tune it made me cringe.

They sent Old Derwin to the pit

Because he dropped a platter. It landed on the good king's crown,

And made an awful clatter.

The king told him to clean it up

As if it didn't matter.

But Princess Hazel threw a fit.

And made the servants scatter.

She said he'd ruined her new gown

Because of what did splatter.

That he was worthless and no good

For anything but chatter.

She sent him down here with no food,

And said he'd get no fatter.

That he was such a clumsy oaf...

"She sent you to the oubliette because you were clumsy? That's horrible!" I said. I'd grown up being ridiculed for my clumsiness, and I thought that had been bad!

"Aye, but the goose gravy made an awful mess. I can't blame the princess for being upset."

"But throwing you into the oubliette—"

"Is that what you call it? I call it the pit."

"And Princess Hazel sent you here?" I asked. If that was true, then the curse must have taken effect already. No one with a shred of kindness in her heart would send anyone to the oubliette. I didn't expect Derwin to have heard the curse firsthand, but nothing stays secret in a castle for long. If people had been discussing it, he might have heard them and....

Derwin sighed. "I should have been more careful," he said. "The princess has been in an awful state what with all those suitors come for her party. Her relatives have come, too, rich and poor alike, and she's trying hard to please them. She's very particular, our princess Hazel, and she deserves the best. Although sending me to the pit does seem a bit harsh, to my way of thinking. I hope they'll let me out when the celebration's over and not just forget about me altogether. It isn't for two more days, though, so I don't expect them anytime soon. Want to hear the rest of my song? Or maybe the one about the milkmaid's dream, since you're part of a dream yourself? It's my longest, so we'll just have to hope that I don't wake up soon."

A milkmaid dreamed that she could be

A princess
for
a day.

She made a crown of buttercups,

A throne of fresh-cut hay.

The party hadn't been held yet, although I was earlier than I'd hoped. Now I'd have to stick around for two more days to find out exactly what the fairy had said. Maybe the little bit of dragon's breath I'd used hadn't been enough. I pursed my lips and tried to think, but it wasn't easy with Derwin's singing grating my ears.

"Can't we go now?" Li'l asked, nudging me with her wing. "I don't like it here."

The little bat was right. It was time to go. I'd have to think of some way to get out of the oubliette and go where I could blend in while waiting for the party.

"Just say a spell," said Li'l, "and take us somewhere else."

Engrossed in his song, Derwin didn't seem to hear us, although it wouldn't have made much difference even if he had. We were talking in Li'l's language, and the chances weren't very good that he could understand Bat. "It isn't that simple," I said. "We can't just appear out of nowhere. There's no telling who might be around."

"Isn't that what we just did?" asked Eadric.

"That was different," I said. "Derwin thinks he's dreaming. We don't want anyone else to see us until we're ready. I have to think of a way to get us out of here, but I can't see a thing, so...."

"I can," said Li'l. "I'll show you the way. Although if you were a bat...."

"That's it!" I whispered. "I'll turn us into bats."

"Bats!" said Eadric. "I don't know about that."

"What's wrong?" asked Li'l. "Do you have something against bats?"

"Not at all," Eadric hurried to say. "Bats are very nice."

I don't know why I'd never turned into a bat before. I'd always admired my little friend's ability to navigate in the dark and hang upside down without getting dizzy. It wouldn't be hard to do, either. After all, it couldn't be much different than turning into a bird, and I'd already done that. Setting Li'l on the floor, I took Eadric's hand and murmured the spell that would get us out of the oubliette, although Derwin was singing so loudly that I doubt he would have noticed even if I'd shouted.

Silky fur

And wings of skin

Change the shape

That we'll be in.

Neither birds,

Nor frogs, nor cats,

We'll now be

A pair of bats.

Although I couldn't see a thing, I knew when the change was finished because I felt so different. I was smaller, and my body and head were covered with soft fur. Bare skin stretched between my fingers, which had grown long and thin, though my thumb was shorter and could still move freely. The skin between my fingers stretched all the way to my feet, forming wings. More skin connected my tiny feet, and my toes were tipped with long, curved claws.

"Good job!" exclaimed Li'l. "You make a pretty bat, Emma."

"What about me?" Eadric asked.

"You're not bad, either," said Li'l with a lot less enthusiasm.

I glanced up, hoping to see in the dark, but it still looked black as pitch. "Why can't I see? I thought bats could see in the dark."

"We can, but not with our eyes. We make a sound, and it makes a picture in our heads. Try it. You'll see what I mean."

I tried making all kinds of sounds, but nothing unusual happened. Frustrated, I finally made a little sound in my throat, surprising myself when the sound came back, smaller yet quite distinct. A picture of the wall in front of me formed in my mind.
That's funny
I thought. Turning my head, I made the sound again. When it came back this time, I could tell that the next wall was farther away.
So That's how Li'l does it.
Keeping my mouth open, I made the sound over and over again, until I had a good idea what the oubliette looked like. In this time, there weren't any bones, and the back wall was sturdy and dry.

I'd located Derwin sitting against the wall on the other side of the room, where he was singing with great gusto. When he gestured with his arms, I could see it with my mind, although I still couldn't see anything with my eyes.

I could see Li'l and Eadric, too. "I know what you mean, Li'l," I said. "This is great! Come on, let's get out of here."

"Finally!" exclaimed the little bat.

I tried to move my wings the way I had when I was a bird. My bat wings were very different, however, and it took me a while to get it right. Even then I didn't fly very well. I had to learn new movements while keeping my mouth open so I could make the sounds to see where I was going. It was a lot to master all at once, and I bumbled around the oubliette for a while before it began to feel right. Eadric seemed to have problems, too, although he caught on sooner than I did.

When we finally reached the grate in the ceiling, I was relieved that we fit through the spaces easily. I crawled through one of the holes, still making my sounds, and found that the oubliette was at the end of a short corridor. As we flew away from the grate, I could hear Derwin singing his song, his scratchy voice growing faint with distance.

We reached another corridor, longer than the first and lined on both sides with cells. From the sounds coming through the doors, I could tell that many of them held prisoners. Eadric and I tried to follow Li'l's example, fluttering down the corridor while staying out of the flickering light cast by the occasional torch. This was just as well, for we passed two guards outside the guardroom door and had to make a wide detour around one who'd stopped to relight a torch.

The door at the top of the stairs was closed. We looked carefully, but we couldn't find even the smallest opening through which we could escape. Since there weren't any other ways out of the dungeon, we had to wait until someone opened the door. Li'l chose a point midway between two torches where the shadows were deepest and showed Eadric and me how to cling to the ceiling with the claws on our toes.

My claws held me firmly in place, and I was surprised at how comfortable hanging upside down by my feet could be. It was so comfortable, in fact, that I began to grow drowsy, and I might have fallen asleep if a guard hadn't opened the door at the top of the stairs, letting in a draft that made the torches gutter and rocked us back and forth. The guard was already shutting the door when we zipped past and found ourselves in a dimly lit corridor.

We needpd to find someplace private where I could turn us back into humans. The corridor led into a large room smelling strongly of old herbs mixed with bits of rotting refuse strewn over the floor. It was the Great Hall, and it looked much the way it would in my day, just messier. A small group of women talked in a corner while two young men playing chess lounged on a bench nearby. Seeing so many people, Li'l darted toward one of the narrow windows set high in the wall. Eadric and I were following her when a woman shrieked, "Eek, it's a bat!"

"There's a flock of them!" shouted someone else.

Hearing other people behind me, I tried to fly faster and had almost reached the window when a pear sailed past, splatting against the wall and showering me with sticky bits of fruit. They were throwing things at me! I veered away, struggling to keep my balance and saw Eadric dodge someone's thrown shoe.

"It's trying to get in my hair!" shrieked a girl, pulling the end of her surcoat over her head. Other female voices cried out in alarm as they tried to cover their hair as well.

A shoe grazed my back, ruffling my fur. Li'l had already reached the window, but I had to veer off, heading back into the Hall. The women shrieked. I wove back and forth, hoping to dodge anything else they might throw at me as I aimed for the other window. Suddenly the dry straw of an old broom came swishing through the air, knocking me across the room. I tried to right myself, but before I could get my wings sorted out, I landed in a tangle of something limp and greasy.