Enchanted Twelve: Mandy and Millay Ch. 02
This is the second chapter in my part of a Chain Story. While it can probably be read on its own, it will make much more sense if read with the Enchanted Twelve chapters and other Enchanted Twelve: Twins chapters. I would highly recommend reading the other authors as well for further misadventures.
The mysterious shadow had to move quickly to keep up with the twins. He had found them late in the middle of the previous night; in time to witness the cruelty of one of their princes. He couldn't believe what he had seen. The larger of the two seemed reasonable. He seemed like a good man. Yet he did nothing in the face of such obvious pain. Tonight the shadow wished to see from the start.
What he saw truly confounded him. The twins, Mandy and Millay, had slipped a few dozen yards into the forest and immediately began to run. What he could not understand was how they could put such energy and obvious concern into running, when the very ground beneath them warped and twisted. It reminded him of the time he spotted a rat trying to run against the direction of a wagon wheel.
If they did this for much of the night, it was no wonder their shoes were worn through by morning. As well as he made them, he had never thought they would need the strength, the endurance, of a common messenger's shoes. But what confused him even more, was why they ran so hard. It was obvious that they did not move, and yet they looked as if the very Devil himself chased them. Not that they looked back, but their eyes were focused forward, with maniacal intensity.
Curious, the shadow slipped cautiously forward, in the direction of their intent gazes. Sure enough, only a few dozen feet farther into the woods was the clearing he had spotted the night before. In it were the two princes. The smaller of the two, the cruel one, draped lazily in his chair, but the shadow knew a large portion of his attention was directed at the princesses. Could he be responsible for their strange condition?
The big man was busy tending the campfire and seemed to be making various pastries and finger foods. Those were lovingly in the twins' best interest. There was no doubt that the gentle giant had no idea of their fate as he busied himself. The two princes' banter was light, but the shadow was hesitant to leave. The spell could be released at any time, and he wanted to be there when it was. He wanted to see what happened, even if he could not stop it.
Unfortunately, there was still the ball to consider. He slipped silently away. The small clearing wasn't that far from the rest of the princesses. It would be little matter to slip back later and keep an eye on them as well as all of the others.
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Jerov used a stick to pick at the fire while Beryl busied himself with tasks better suited to a servant than a prince. He snorted in disgust at the sight of the fragile pastries that the giant fingers meticulously fashioned. Those hands could easily crush bone into powder. Those arms could hack an adult tree in half with a single blow, much less an adult man. Yet the parchment thin dough was completely safe beneath his delicate touch.
"So why do you persist on your foolish celibacy? She would have you in a thrice if you used those fingers for more than making desert." Jerov tossed the stick in the fire and thrust his hips to accent his point. "What is that one, a
bird
!?"
Beryl blushed as he looked up from his work. "It's a crane. I learned how to fold paper like this, and thought it might look nice. I learned it in the east of their world."
Jerov rolled his eyes and snorted in disgust for the hundredth time that evening. "All this time I thought you'd been sent there to learn to fight. Now I discover that you were only trained by some housewife?"
Beryl tensed. "I was sent to learn to control my temper." Jerov's eyes flashed in nervous surprise at the growl in the big man's voice. "The man who taught me to fight, as you so crudely refer to the form, was also a master of origami. The images he folded would be instantly recognizable not just as a bird, but a hawk from an eagle."
Prince Jerov nodded quickly. Rarely had he struck a nerve with his large friend. Every time he did, he carefully avoided any repetition of the slight. He was acutely aware of how easily the man could snap his neck. Fortunately, the training seemed to have worked. Every one of the few times Beryl was upset, he calmed very quickly.
Although Jerov remained tense until tranquility seemed to wash over Beryl's face. It always looked as if someone poured it onto him, like a bucket of water. First his brow, then eyes and cheeks, and finally his jaw and neck would relax. With the last, a pleasant smile returned to Beryl's face and he began to whistle as he returned to the cooking.
Jerov shook his head in bemusement and tried again with his questioning, acutely aware that it could have been the initial question, and not his mocking of the man's hobbies, that had brought about the anger. "So about Millay?"
It was almost embarrassing to watch the big man blush. Jerov sighed in relief that the issue of manliness had been the sore point and not his chastity. "I don't know. I don't want to make her uncomfortable. I mean, I don't want to push her."