They hadn’t brought a dress because they were creating one just for me, faster than a dozen skilled seamstresses.
“Couldn’t I just wear boots like everyone else?” The shining heeled shoes the fairies had materialized around my feet cramped my toes.
“Everyone else. Pah! Looking like everyone else is hardly the way to catch a prince’s eye.” The mistress of fairies, who had apparently been outside twiddling her thumbs during our preparations, was giving me her assessment.
She made a rotating motion with her hand, and I twirled yet again. The tiers of my skirt rippled around my waist, draped into elegant gathers punctuated with pearly buttons. Thankfully, the skirt flared wide enough to hide the handful of tools I’d strapped to my leg in case the carriage needed repairs en route.
“Yes, this will do quite nicely. Well done, ladies.” She nodded to the cluster of fairies hovering at my side. “Now, for transportation . . .”
“That I have covered.” At least I’d get to show off my motorized carriage after all. Good thing I never had a chance to put it away. I hurried to it as fast as my uncomfortable shoes and layers of skirts would allow.
Her nose puckered. “But you’ve no horse or groomsman.”
“It drives by itself.” I couldn’t let her take the conversation in the same direction as my stepmother and stepsisters. “And I really should be going if I want an opportunity to dance. But—” I looked to the sweet little fairies. Can I help them in some way? Maybe I could find out more from a smaller group separated from their mistress. “Could I bring a few fairies along with me? Enough to fix my hair if it goes awry? I’m not sure I could do it myself. Six or eight, perhaps?”
Louvaine clicked her tongue. “Considering the state of your hair when we found you, I can well believe that.” A snap of her fingers brought eight fairies to her side. “But they must travel inside the carriage. I don’t want anyone claiming I play favorites.” She addressed the fairies as they whisked through the carriage window. “I shall return to my chamber at midnight. I expect to see you there.”
With a set of bows, they disappeared into the carriage. Time to go, before she changes her mind. I pulled a lever, and the carriage rumbled to life.
Louvaine coughed her distaste before vanishing into the night air.
“How does she do that?” My question went unanswered as the carriage hurtled us forward.
Halfway to the palace, we reached a sparse neighborhood whose streetlamp had burned out. Only a few lights glimmered from beneath the sloping roofs and turreted chimneys of the houses. Perfect. I slowed the carriage to its lowest setting, then eased it to a stop at the side of the road. Keeping my movements slow, I swiveled the door’s curved handle and climbed into the section for passengers.
The fairies flickered around me. “Sorry for the delay, friends. I hope you don’t mind, but I wanted to ask you a few more questions before we arrive.”
The lights collected in front of me.
“Thank you. Can you tell me any more about your mistress? Is she kind to you?”
Not a single bow. Presumably no to the second question, then. Their lights formed a tall, stately woman with something radiating from her. I’d barely registered the image when it was replaced by what appeared to be drooping fairies.
“I’m not sure I understand. She’s gained power from you? Your lives weren’t always like this?”
The pictures came faster now. A thriving hillside garden. A set of people lying on beds. Elaborate carvings on a tree. Drops of water swirling on a pond surface.
I blinked, my head spinning. “Wait, please, slow down. These are all things you used to do?”
Their frantic movements stilled, and as a unit, they bent at the waist.
“But now . . .”
They formed an image of a woman in a dress curling her hair.
“So, fairies like to do lots of things, like gardening, and art, and healing. But your mistress forces you all to attend to noblewomen instead?”
Two brave fairies bowed emphatically, the others turned away.
“I’m sorry. I’m not trying to get you into trouble. I won’t breathe a word of this to your mistress. I just want to help. How—how does she control you?”
A faceted green stone gleamed before me.
Power over all the fairies contained in a fancy gem. Typical, but rather absurd. “Do you know where she keeps it?”
Their lights blazed into a replica of the palace, high battlements and all. Then a room with windows on two sides, looking out on a garden from a high vantage point.
“Hmm. That’s where she lives?”
The same two brave fairies bowed.
“And what happened to your former mistress?”
The nearest fairy frowned before joining the formation. A downcast woman with bindings around her wrists being led through trees. A log cabin, then a path with a mossy rock.
Trapped somewhere in the forest?
My mind spun with all their revelations. I closed my eyes for two breaths. “I suppose we’d best be going, but thank you for sharing so much information. I’ll see what I can do to help.” I tugged at the lace cuff of my gown as guilt nagged my chest. “And I’m sorry you had to get me all gussied up for the ball.”
A series of fluttering wings brushed against my cheeks.
My pursed lips relaxed into a smile. I said I would help, and I at least had to try.
I joggled the extra brake into place, then stretched my tense fingers. Driving that far, in an impractical dress and slippers, had been much more challenging than my little jaunt around the block. But we’d made it. The castle stretched high above, small gas lamps illuminating each of the hundred or so windows. Such a feat must have taken the servants all day. Not the most economical use of their time, but the effect was quite pretty. I glanced toward the grand staircase leading to the ornately carved front doors. Did I have to go to the dance? Or could I spend the time searching for the mistress of fairies’ chambers instead?
I poked my head into the back portion of the carriage. “You’re all welcome to roam the gardens. I’ll look for you there if I need you.” Each light winked and floated out the far window. I waved, chuckling. “Goodbye.”
Now, to find a back entrance and sneak in . Perhaps I should follow them to the gardens, then—
A low whistle interrupted my thoughts. I spun around. A man in a collared shirt and striped vest approached.
“Is this the carriage I just saw driving by itself? Does it belong to you?”
I swallowed. So much for sneaking in. “Yes, it belongs to me. And yes, it drives by itself.”
“Remarkable. Does it run on a steam engine?”
“A variation. To work in such a confined space, the heating element had to be adapted to a smaller scale. And the pistons have a limited range of movement, which greatly reduces the power.”
“Carriages never were built for speed.”
“True. Though it would be such fun if it could tear through the streets like a locomotive.” What a thrill, to talk with someone who could appreciate the efforts that had gone into my creation. I stepped closer, to where he was illuminated by a shaft of light from the palace. His black hair was cropped close, revealing a strong forehead and eyes a deep brown. Even more thrilling when that someone happened to be quite handsome. “If the ratios were tweaked just right, perhaps someday—”