A Magical Betrayal - arabian (book club reads .TXT) 📗

had a shocking head of tomato red hair then there was a girl with platinum blonde hair. Then the last girl was the most peculiar. She had gold-blonde hair but her skin was black and no not the black you expect in Africans but she was black like the night and black as pitch.
Then at the very back of the cave I saw a small opening just large enough for me to fit through. I squeezed through it into a very large cavern that was lit in the middle by something on a pedestal that was pulsing and glowing blue. I advanced slowly stopping every few steps to scan the cavern for guards or other wanderers like me.
When I was right beside the pedestal I was able to see what it was. It was a flower. It was long and slender with a bud that opened and showed an image of something I couldn’t make out and when I looked at it I felt my birthmark writhe. Then all of a sudden the image became clear and I saw myself in it but, I was talking to someone and I had wings then a rush of memories hit me.
Betrayal. Death. Sadness. Rebirth. Princess. Free will. I was no servant I am Aleca Alexandria Freheart, princess of the island of Abisondus and former princess of the Wood Sprite Fairy Court. I reached out and plucked the flower off the pedestal.
It started moving then it became a dress that was identical to my own but was blue. It seemed to be telling me that I should wear it. So I stripped off my white dress and put on the blue one. The flower dress slid across my skin like water over stones and was lighter than air. My anger at Derric for kidnapping me made my skin glow red and illuminate the whole cave with a shimmering light.
I decided to find out what I could before the sun rose and they came for me. I started to feel along the wall then to my surprise opposite of where I entered there was small flap. I opened it but then decided to stay in the cave I was in for a minute more.
I created an identical version of the flower and placed it on the pedestal. Then I charmed it to look the way I saw it first.
I returned to the flap and opened it. It took all of my strength not to start sobbing. Sitting there in the back of a small room was a pallet and curled up on it were two emaciated children. I recognized them as the little girls who I would sometimes read stories to.
Then one of the brunette heads looked up at me. She looked afraid but when she recognized me she turned and roused her sister. “Enna, Enna wake up its Ally.” said Hailee as she shook Enna awake. When she sat up and looked at me she jumped to her feet and ran to me.
“Ally,” she cried weeping into my magical dress,” Ally, I knew you’d come to save us.”
“Hush,” I admonished,” the goblin spawn don’t know I still have a memory and if they find out they will kill me for sure so keep it a secret that we know each other all right?” They nodded mutely. “Let’s get some food into your little tummies.” And with that I turned my back so they wouldn’t see and willed roast sparrow, fruits, piping hot mashed potatoes and gravy, and spiced cider into being.
When I turned back to them with my arms full of delicious smelling foods the girls didn’t ask where I got it from they just piled heaping helpings onto the plates I produced from a bag I willed into being on my back. Then they started eating like ravenous wolves and it made my heart sink to think of what their rations were.
After the children had polished off the last of the spiced cider; I created some warm honey-cakes and ice cold milk to finish the meal. They ate these and after every crumb was gone and the last drops of their milk consumed; Enna and Hailee dropped off into a deep sleep.
After I had charmed a blanket to give off enough heat to keep the girls warm according to however cold it got I tiptoed out into the cavern. I walked as quickly and as quietly as I could to the small crevice I had first entered.
I went over to where I was deposited by whoever that was and created a little cubbyhole that would only open if my skin touched it. Just as I was snuffing out the fire I had conjured, the first rays of light started to stretch across the sky.
I quickly lay down in the exact place where I was left and in the same position I closed my eyes and tried to drift off to sleep.


I awoke quickly but kept my eyes closed and my breathing even. I heard people whispering, I couldn’t quite understand them so I listened harder.
“Who is she?” someone said with a strange accent.
I heard someone gasp. Then I decided to get up.
“Hello.” I said and smiled. Then something occurred to me they don’t have memories.
“Hello.” They all said simultaneously.
“My name is Aleca Alexandria Freheart. What’re yours?”
“My name is Cecilia,” said the red haired girl.
“Emily,” said the white skinned blonde.
“Olicia,” said the blonde girl whose skin was black like pitch.
Before we could become more acquainted I heard footsteps outside the entrance to the cave. A couple of seconds later the rest of the girls heard and silenced their chatter. I saw a shadow before I saw anything else, then a tall form stepped through cave entrance and stared at us all with a calculating look. As he met the eyes of each of the girls they instantly looked down as if they were suddenly very interested in the patterns on their skirts. When his penetrating gaze reached me I returned his look with a stony glare. At this he raised an eyebrow but I continued to stare back refusing to be intimidated by those cold, dead eyes. He smiled at me, or more likely bared his white teeth; in response my glare became as cold, and reptilian as a snake.
Then he did something I did not expect; he started to laugh. I grunted annoyance and started to plait my hair. The silence in the cavern stretched on for what seemed like an eternity. Then he spoke, “Miss Freheart, you would do well to understand that you are the servant here.”
“I know, sir.” I replied to him. I rolled my eyes and went back to making graceful spirals out of my hair.
“Miss Freheart, today you are to cook for a great feast that is to take place at noon,” Said the reptilian man. I nodded at the man then realizing something I asked, “Sir what’s your name?”
That seemed to catch him off guard. “My name is none of your concern.”
“You don’t remember do you?” I asked. His looked shocked. I smirked and went back to plaiting my hair and said, “Sir, could you show me where the kitchen and the pantry are.” He gave me a hard look and then motioned for me to follow him.
We stepped out of the dimness of the cave into brilliant sunshine and I had to blink until my eyes adjusted. When I could see I looked down and saw a deep ravine. I sucked in a quick breath of air and looked around for the man I needed to follow. He was staring at me looking smug so I tossed my plaited hair behind my shoulder; in doing so all of the plaits came undone and my hair whipped around me like living creatures. To throw him off I tilted my chin down and looked up from under lashes.
The man’s eyes became huge and he took a step back. In response I looked back up and smirked, saying, “You were showing me to the kitchen?” The pitch of my voice tilted up at the end of what I was saying so it sounded like a question. He shook himself and set off down the narrow little trail running along the side of the wall of the ravine then I had more time to study him. He was broad shouldered and seemed to be about six and a half feet tall. He actually was quite handsome when he wasn’t sneering, all reptilian like.
He stopped outside of a large open cave; it was about one hundred feet tall and had a few small wholes where chimneys exited out into the open air. His voice startled me out of my quiet reverie. “The pantry is through that opening at the far end of the kitchen. No one is allowed to help you because this is a test to see if you’re worth keeping… or not.” This time it was his turn to smirk.
I blew my bangs out of my face and got to work.


It turns out that I had to serve the food as well. Jeesh, talk about exhausting. The second that I had everything cleaned up I was just about to run back to the small cave I shared with the other maids when I heard the butler who helped me serve the food and told me that the Great Duke Deric wanted to see me. (Great Duke, ugh)
I walked briskly into the room refusing to show how tired I am and held my head high. “You called my liege?” I asked in clipped tones. He raised one blonde brow at me. I stifled the action of rolling my eyes at him.
“Walk with me,” he commanded. I so wanted say hell no and flip him off but I held my tongue and fisted my hands at my sides. When we in the hall away from everyone else he asked, “Will you accompany me to my room?” I heard a question but I knew it was a command that he wanted an answer to.
“I will walk you to your room,” I said carefully that way he didn’t know I knew what he was doing. We walked up a winding staircase and met an ornate door with a sign over the top dubbing it the “Room of Stars”. (Gag, barf)
He opened the door for me and mustering all of the puzzlement I could I said, “I thought you just wanted me to walk you to your room.” And for maximum effect I deflated like a balloon and showed him how utterly exhausted I was. He noticed how tired I looked. This caused his face to brighten. Great, just what I needed. 1: I have been kidnapped by evil beings which have no name. 2: The guy who kidnapped me wants more than for me just to clean his room. 3: I am absolutely exhausted and he thinks because I am he can take advantage of me.
“Please come inside,” he said and pouted. Seriously he was actually pouting. Grrrrrr.
“No,” I said firmly, “I need to get some sleep so if you wouldn’t mind I am going to go back to the cave with the girls. Thank you it was nice walking and talking with you but I have no intention of entering your room right now so, later,” so with that I turned my back and strode back down, the stairs through the hall, out into the night, and back to the cave.
Before I lay down to sleep I went through the hole in the wall and found Enna and Hailee. They were sitting their room leaning against the wall staring at the ceiling. I went into the middle of