Crystal Heart Page 20

  “There is no need to worry about Hogan. Mellissa is too short for his liking. He likes the tall ones, and not all witches are snooty.”

  “I guess that would explain why he kept drooling at my legs. All the witches I have met here are snooty, especially the one that claimed to be the son of a lord. I don’t care who his father is; he’s still twice my age and stuck up.”

  “You must be referring to Lee. I will have to agree with you about him. However, I don’t think Mellissa will encounter the same problems as you. She has a status you don’t. I’m not saying it’s right but her title will force them to be more respectful toward her.”

  “I want to smack you for that status remark, but I’m afraid you’re right. This room is full of privileged snobs, but still there must be someone decent about for her.” Victoria raised her eyebrows and looked him up and down. I’m not sure if Greg noticed, but I did.

  “Will you two stop?” I pushed my way in between them. “Do you not understand what no means? I’m not dancing with anyone.” My words were aimed more at Victoria. Once again, I was ignored.

  Victoria took my hand. “You know what? None of these snobs are good enough for your first dance of the ball, so you will dance with me.”

  “What?”

  I was pulled onto the dance floor before I could make any more objections. Victoria threw me into a spin. Just as I was about to fall over, she took hold of both my hands. We stepped from side to side, and Victoria spun me again. She took hold of one of my hands and walked around me. With a hand on either side of me, she shimmied down, shaping my body with her hands. Slowly, people began to stare. I felt flushed. I wanted the ground to swallow me whole. Victoria twirled us around the dance floor, ending the dance by dipping me and lifting one of my legs over her shoulder. There was a round of applause.

  Victoria curtsied. “That should get us some attention.”

  “I didn’t want any attention,” I said through gritted teeth. Victoria shrugged as I marched off the dance floor. I slipped behind a pillar, hoping to hide from any unwanted attention Victoria’s actions may have brought.

  “Lady Mellissa.” I jumped at the sound of my name.

  A man in a purple dinner jacket bowed to me. “I am Master Lee, son of Lord Grayson.” He had pale skin and dark hair. His eyes were brown and looked like they were trying to bore into me.

  “You’re a witch,” I said. The one Victoria had mentioned not liking.

  He nodded. “That was quite an interesting dance there between you and your guardian. You two aren’t involved, are you?”

  “What? No, of course not.”

  “Oh good, good. I was wondering then—”

  Oh God no. He was going to ask me to dance. This was all Victoria’s fault. She knew I had two left feet. That dance had basically been her throwing me around. She also knew how awkward I was with strangers. I needed a way out of this situation. “Well, I was just about to get a drink. Dancing is thirsty work.” I was going to have to have a serious talk about boundaries with my guardian.

  His lips curled into what I think was meant to be a smile. “That it is.”

  I shuddered, taking a step back.

  “Mellissa.” I turned at the sound of Greg’s voice. “Here’s that drink you asked for,” he said, handing me a glass.

  I could have hugged him. “Thanks,” I said.

  Lee’s eyes narrowed on Greg. “Gregory.”

  “Lee,” Greg said. “How are things? It’s been a while.”

  “Things are fantastic. Our city is prospering. Anyway, I was about to ask Lady Mellissa here something before you interrupted.”

  Greg feigned surprise. “I didn’t realise. How rude of me to fulfil the lady’s request of a drink.”

  Lee scowled. Turning to me, he forced a smile. My eyes widened. He still planned to ask. I downed my drink and grabbed Greg’s arm. “Greg, dance with me.” They both looked shocked.

  I pushed my glass at Lee and pulled Greg toward the dance floor. “I thought you didn’t dance,” Greg said.

  “I don’t, but I also don’t know how to say no. Better you than him, and at least you know you have a useless dance partner.”

  He spun me around, positioning my hands the same way Victoria had in our lesson earlier. “I wouldn’t say useless, just untrained. I taught you magic, and I will teach you this.”

  “Okay, but you can’t complain if I step on your feet.”

  “I promise you, I won’t be complaining.”

  With a gentle push, we began to move. He kept to his word. I lost count of how many times I stepped on his toes, but he didn’t complain once. Just like Victoria, he kept telling me to stop looking at my feet and not to be so stiff. It was no surprise to see Victoria on the dance floor, her partner changing regularly. I didn’t leave Greg’s side, in fear of Lee or someone else approaching me.

  Victoria winked at me over the shoulder of one of her dance partners. Matt didn’t seem to notice me or his sister on the dance floor. He danced with girl after girl, not giving them a second glance once their turn was over. How could they be okay with the way he was treating them? He didn’t show any of them any real attention, yet they still kept flocking to him.

  Greg went to get us drinks while I went outside for some fresh air. I found myself back at the fountain I discovered after freaking out and getting lost. Glittering lights floated in the water. There was a nice, refreshing breeze. The pressure that had been holding me down over the last few days drifted away on the wind. I looked at my reflection in the water. My dress was amazing. It really did make me look royal.

  The click-clack of footsteps sounded behind me. I turned, expecting to see Greg but saw his father approaching me instead. There really wasn’t much of a family resemblance. His eyes were brown, not emerald green like Greg’s. He was at least four inches shorter than his son. I suppose his white hair could have been red once upon a time. I tilted my head. Samson actually looked more like him. They must be related on his father’s side.

  “Hello, Lady Mellissa,” Lord Steffen said, bowing his head to me.

  “Just Mellissa is fine,” I said, wrapping one arm round myself.

  “Mellissa it is, then. I understand that you plan on heading back to the human world tomorrow.”

  “Yes, that is the plan. I promised my dad I would be back for Christmas Eve.”

  “Yes, Gregory explained that Christmas is some sort of important celebration to the humans. Do you have any plans for when you will return?”

  Returning? I thought this was a one-time trip. Coming back hadn’t seemed like an option. I had planned to go back home and carry on like before.

  Could I carry on like before?

  “I’m sorry, I haven’t really got any plans. I hadn’t thought past coming here and sealing Kadon. I guess if I’m needed, I will come back.”

  “Lady Mellissa, you are the heir to the elf throne. You will always be needed here.”

  “I know I’m the heir to the throne, but I don’t really think I’m queen material.”

  “Gregory did mention your lack of confidence. You’ve achieved so much already. I think with a little more training—as suggested by my son—you will be a wonderful queen.”

  “Greg said I lack confidence? What else did he say?”

  “The council has decided that you are not ready to take the throne yet and need more training. You also need your confidence boosting and to be taught proper etiquette. Gregory agreed with this ruling. He has already been training with you, so we think it best he continue. I hope to see you back here again soon.” Lord Steffen gave me a nod and wished me a good night before walking back inside.

  I tugged at my loose curls and stared down at my reflection in the fountain. My face painted in makeup and a ridiculously beautiful dress didn’t hide the truth. I didn’t belong here, and they all knew it. I was not one of them. Greg was always telling me how he believed in me, but that didn’t seem to be the case after what his father just told me. How could he
agree with that ruling? I had managed to pull off magic that he hadn’t even taught me when sealing Kadon. He had some nerve pretending to be my friend, when really I was just a tool for him to further his political profile.

  Matt had warned me about this. He had said not to trust Greg. I had known all he really wanted to do was impress his father, but I somehow lost sight of that. Who exactly did the council members think they were, discussing my future? They thought I could be trained to be something I wasn’t, but I couldn’t—no, I wouldn’t—change myself for them. They had no say in my life. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to be queen, and it was not a decision someone else would make for me, especially not a group of people who hardly knew me. I wanted to go home, but I knew I would be repulsed back again. I cursed the limited distance I could teleport.

  “Mellissa, are you all right?” asked Greg, two drinks in hand. I almost fell forward as I hadn’t heard his footsteps on the stone. “Was that my father I just saw?”

  I flung my arm at him, almost knocking a drink out of his hand. “What do you care if I’m all right? You act like you’re concerned, but really, it’s all an act. I am just a little project for you to impress your father with. You know what? I don’t even want to talk to you anymore. In fact, I’m done for tonight.”

  “What are you talking about?” he asked, but I didn’t answer. I teleported myself back to my room upstairs.

  I slumped face-first onto the bed. Why was I so mad? It wasn’t like I had known Greg for long but I had trusted him. It was nice for a moment to think I could have more than just Matt as a friend. I had liked the little new friendship group the four of us had made. But that was all falling apart. Matt was acting weird and giving me the cold shoulder. As nice as it was to be getting along with Victoria, I didn’t think it would last after returning home. And Greg—I didn’t know what Greg was to me.

  I couldn’t wait to go home and for everything to go back to normal. Matt would go back to being my best friend. Victoria would go back to just about acknowledging my existence, and Greg would not be there. He would stay here. As future queen, did I not have some sort of power to fire him as my magic teacher? I could refuse to let him teach me.

  I stuck my head up as I heard a knock at the door. I instinctively went to answer it but stopped as I put my hand on the handle. I wasn’t in the mood for company. Hopefully if I ignored them, they would go away. There was another knock. I started to walk back to bed. They knocked again.

  “Mellissa, I know you’re in there.” I froze on the spot. It was Greg. “I don’t know what my father said to you, but I can explain.”

  “I don’t want to talk to you,” I shouted back at the door. There went my plan to ignore him and pretend I wasn’t in. I heard the door handle go, and Greg walked in.

  “Does that thing not lock?” I yelled.

  “Well, yes, but you didn’t lock it.”

  “I will make sure I remember to lock it just as soon as you leave.” I tried to push him back out of the room.

  He darted round me. “What are you doing?”

  “Trying to get rid of you.” I pulled at his arm, but he didn’t budge. I threw my arms down beside me and stormed over to the other side of the room. “Well, you can forget about coming back to the human world with us. I don’t care if the council has approved it.”

  “But you were happy about me returning with you earlier.”

  “That was before, but then your dad said—”

  Greg stepped forward, pointing at me. “You cannot listen to anything he says. He’s just mad I didn’t agree with his plans.”

  “Well, that’s not what he said,” I shouted. “He told me about the council’s ruling and how you agreed with them. You know, how my skills are lacking and I have no confidence. What sort of friend does that?”

  “What council ruling?” Greg asked. “Mellissa, I really don’t know what you are talking about.”

  I pointed at him. “You expect me to believe you don’t know? Your father said because of what you told him, he doesn’t think I am ready and wants you to continue training me. The real reason you are returning to the human world is because your father ordered it, not because you wanted to.”

  “Well, my father sure changed his tune. He didn’t want to let you go home before.”

  “Wait, what? Since when wasn’t I going home?”

  Greg ran his hand through his hair. “Forget I said that.”

  I grabbed hold of his arm. “Tell me, or I will teleport you to—I don’t know—the middle of a volcano.”

  “You do realise you will also end up in said volcano.”

  “Fine, to like, the edge, and I will push you in.”

  Greg laughed. “Do you need me to go get one of your guardians, so they can threaten me for you?”

  “Don’t laugh at me.” I stomped my foot and folded my arms. “Just tell me, please.”

  “It’s not fair when you pout at me like that,” he said, sitting on the end of the bed. My arms fell beside me. I hadn’t realised I was pouting. “I will tell you, but you can’t tell anyone about this, because I am not meant to know.”

  “I won’t even tell my guardians.” I crossed my heart with my finger, skipping across the room to sit next to him.

  “There were certain council members that wanted you to stay here and become queen. Lady Gabrielle thought it was better you go home and make up your own mind. She asked me to put in a request and make out that your ability was worse than it was to sway the members that were on the fence to her view. I didn’t mean any of what I wrote.”

  “Really?” He nodded. I found myself pouting again. “That council has some cheek, making decisions about me like that.” Although, it was nice to know Lady Gabrielle had rigged the situation to give me a choice in the matter. I was terrified of her, but she was definitely nicer than I’d thought.

  “Well, it is what they do. Sometimes, it is like they forget the decisions they make actually affect real-life people.”

  “I do not envy you having to work for them.”

  “I don’t actually work for them. I just have to live with one of them. I work at the infirmary in Novosvillas. Although, I will eventually be expected to take my father’s place. Hence why he is so strict about me knowing the council’s ways. If you become queen, you will also have a place on the council.”

  “Really? I don’t want to be on the council. I don’t really like being around the council members as it is.”

  “To be honest, I don’t know if I really want to either, but it’s not something I need to worry about for a long time.”

  “Won’t you miss your home if you come back with me? I mean, you only just got back after being gone for months, and you’re just going to leave again.”

  “I did miss this place at first, but I have come to realise there is a lot for me to learn in the human world. There is still so much I have yet to discover. I was so busy searching for you, and then training you, that I didn’t really take notice of how amazing that place was.”

  “You sound like me when I was thinking about coming to this place.”

  “Well, what is normal for you is completely bizarre to me, and it probably works the other way around.”

  “You are pretty odd.”

  “Well, shall we go back to the party? It would be rude for you to just disappear.” He got up and held his hand out to me.

  “I will go back for a little while, but then I’m coming back here soon. I’m getting tired.” I took his hand, and he pulled me up.

  “How can you be tired after sleeping for a whole day?”

  “Hey, spending all day in bed is exhausting. I’m sorry for getting so mad at you. I should’ve just asked you about it.”

  “It’s all right. My father has a way of leaving out key bits of information,” he replied. “Shall we go then, my lady?”

  I felt myself blush. I nodded in response and teleported us back to the party, where no one had noticed our absence.

  Mellissa
>
  My mother wraps her arms round me. “Thank goodness you are here, Freya.”

  “How is he?” I ask, my voice nothing but a whisper.

  “Not good. Come, dear. He has been asking for you.”

  She takes my hand and takes me up to my father’s chambers. Pausing at the door, she clasps both my hands to her chest. “I warn you, he has deteriorated a lot since you left on your tour of the country.”

  I nod. “Understood.”

  She opens the door and gestures for me to go in. I look to see if she will come too, but she shakes her head. I walk across the room to my father’s bedside. My heart feels like it has shattered. There lies a pale, gaunt man. His eyes are sunken, and his bones jut out. I hardly recognise my own father.

  “Freya,” he croaks, reaching out to me.

  I take his hand. “Yes, Father, it’s me.”

  “There is something I must give you.” He tries to get out of bed.

  I shoot forward, putting my hand on his chest. “Father, don’t stress yourself. This can wait. You need to rest.”

  He takes both my hands. “My sweet girl, I believe my time is coming to an end.”

  Tears threaten to fall, but I don’t let them. “That can’t be. The elves are the creators of healing magic. There must be a healer somewhere that can do something.”

  “All magic has its limits, and all life must come to an end.”

  “No, I won’t believe it. You are the king and the keeper of the Heart Crystal. You are the strongest person I know.”

  My father wipes away the tears I can no longer hold back. “And you are the strongest person I know. I wanted to do this properly, but I have become too weak.” He pulls the Heart Crystal from around his neck. “Heart Crystal, I release you from our bind and place you with a new keeper.”

  The room fills with light. He takes my hand and places the crystal in it. “No,” I whisper.

  “You must. I believe in you, Freya. You can continue my work to make this world a better place.” He rests back on his pillows, taking staggered breaths. “Now, you must bind with it. If you are worthy, the words will come.”