Reign (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale 4)

Her attention was fully on Mina, and she grinned when she realized that she had her in the palm of her hand. “What? Do you want this?” She held the slipper high in the air, just out of Mina’s reach. Mina swiped for the shoe, but with the other still on, her balance was less than stellar.

Annalora laughed at Mina’s attempt to get the shoe back. “Ah, ah, ah. If you want it back you need to get on your knees and beg.”

Mina felt hampered by her beautiful feathered dress and a single shoe. Annalora tossed the glass slipper Tawny, who threw it to Fuchsia. Then Annalora got it back and smirked at her. It was a triangle of insanity.

“Stop it, Annalora. Just give her the shoe back,” Dinah said.

“Oh hush up, you nymph. I’m just teaching her a lesson.”

Mina didn’t have time for games. She slipped off her other shoe, gathered it in the folds of her dress and snuck up behind Annalora. She tapped her on the shoulder just after she caught another toss from Tawny. The gnome turned to look over her shoulder, and her cocky expression fell mere seconds before Mina’s fist made contact with her face.

“Sorry, but school’s out,” Mina sneered.

Annalora fell backward into a cushioned footstool and slid to the ground in an ungainly heap. She was too shocked to say anything but put a hand over her eye.

Mina picked up the slipper from the floor and hurried away from the now-recovering drama queen. Any minute she would either wreak havoc here or call for the guards.

Mina quickly checked the slipper for damage, inwardly chewing herself out when she saw a small crack along the heel. Did the timer still work? She wasn’t sure.

Part of her wanted to break down and cry, the other part wanted to get back up and give Annalora a second black eye.

Annalora had gotten up and was red in the face with fury. Tawny ran forward, her sympathy making her sound like an injured bird.

The others whispered quietly and gave Mina a wide berth.

But Ever started laughing and came over to sit by her. “That was phenomenal. I’ve wanted to do that to her forever. Only now, I don’t know if I want to be in your shoes. She’s going to have it out for you. There’s no way you’ll make it to the end. She’ll make sure of that now.”

“It doesn’t matter. I won’t be chosen anyway. It’s not in my cards.”

“Why do you say that? Is that one of your gifts? Can you see the future?”

“Sort of,” Mina grumbled. She slipped the un-cracked slipper on her foot.

“Did it break?” Ever asked, pointing to the shoe. “They’re beautiful. I would love to have a pair like that. If I owned those I’d never take them off. These ones I’m wearing are killing me.”

Mina had to stifle a laugh, because in the future, Ever preferred black army boots. It seemed she would eventually choose comfort over fashion.

“You’re laughing at me? You’re the one who was hobbling around on one shoe while you took on Annalora. You looked like a gimp, by the way.”

“What did you say?” Mina snapped. “Why would you say that?’

“Relax, I’m a pixie. I call it like I see it. And speaking of ‘see it,’ will you tell me my future?”

“No.”

“Oh please, puh-lease,” she begged. “At least tell me if I’m going to end up with Teague or not. I know it’s a silly request, but play along with me.” Ever leaned forward with a huge, eager smile on her face.

She didn’t want to break her heart, but the last thing she wanted to do was lie to Ever. Mina took a deep breath. “Ever, you will grow closer to the prince and spend more time with him in future than any of us ever will.”

She sat as still as a statue and then her wings went crazy, blowing Mina’s hair all over the place. “Oh, that’s a good one.” She laughed and then settled down a bit. “But wait, you didn’t say marry him. If you’re going to make up a lie, you could have at least made it a good one.”

Mina didn’t laugh or continue the banter, which only made Ever more suspicious. Her brows furrowed and she gave Mina a curious glare. “You’re serious about this, aren’t you? You’re not joking.”

Mina felt horrible. She just shrugged her shoulders and didn’t make eye contact.

Ever cleared her throat and pretended to straighten her dress, but she was really moving farther away from Mina. As if she were already severing the physical and emotional connection with her.