Princess of the Midnight Ball - Jessica Day George [51]
“I’m a good spirit,” Galen repeated. “I want to help yooooou.”
She bit her lip, tears leaking from the corners of her reddened eyes. Galen’s heart went out to her. This poor child was clearly beyond the edge of her endurance, but he didn’t dare to put his arm around her. For one thing, good spirits did not wear heavy wool suits, and for another, he didn’t want anyone to see Pansy’s shoulders turn invisible.
“Why do you come here?” Galen asked.
Pansy wrinkled her nose. “We have to,” she said in a matter-of-fact voice. She blinked, looking around again for the good spirit.
“But why?”
“Because of Mother, I guess.”
“What did your mother dooooo?” Galen pressed.
“Pansy, get up!” Poppy had appeared in front of them. She had an anxious look on her face. She grabbed her little sister’s hands and pulled Pansy off the chair. Poppy glanced nervously over her shoulder to where her partner stood in conversation with Pansy’s. “You have to dance again!”
“I’m tired,” Pansy whined.
“We’re all tired,” Poppy snapped. “But we still have to dance.”
“But Telinros said—”
“Telinros doesn’t matter,” Poppy said. “Look at the king!” She jerked her head at the king, who was frowning in their direction. “You’ve sat out one dance; that’s the most any of us get. Come along.” And she led the drooping Pansy back to her partner.
From his chair, Galen watched Poppy and Pansy enter the dance once more. Rose whirled by with her suitor, and Galen briefly considered sticking out one of his boots and tripping the dark prince. He decided against it, though, since Rose might fall and hurt herself.
Galen sat back and observed. As the glittering court went around and around the dance floor, his eyes were drawn to the king. The King Under Stone sat even straighter on his throne. His eyes were shining and his white hair and skin had become silvery. As his courtiers and the princesses faded with exhaustion, the king appeared to become stronger, his skin almost glowing.
“He’s feeding off their energy,” Galen murmured, sickened. How had Queen Maude become embroiled in this? Had she been one of the courtiers? And why had her daughters become enslaved to the King Under Stone?
He found that he couldn’t watch the king, or even the dancers, too closely. The whole spectacle sickened him. He let his eyelids slip halfway down and watched the feet of the dancers as they whirled by.
The striking of a great gong woke Galen some time later, and he realized that he had dozed off. Looking around frantically, he spotted Rose, and then quickly counted to make sure that the other princesses were there as well. The king had risen from his throne, rejuvenated, and the courtiers were assembling before him. The princesses with their partners came to stand in a space cleared for them in front of the dais.
“Another night has passed away,” the pale king intoned. “Far above us in the mortal world dawn arrives in the kingdom of Westfalin. Two favors did I grant Queen Maude in return for four and twenty years dancing in my court. She gave me fourteen years before her death, five years and fiftythree days of payment remain. And then, my sons, you shall wed your princesses and keep them here to delight us forever.”
The court clapped their pale hands and laughed their shivery laughs. The king’s dark sons smiled down at the princesses with a proprietary air, but the princesses merely stood, exhausted and silent. Galen edged around the crowd and stood behind Rose. Her head turned slightly, as though she heard him approach, but she said nothing.
The dark suitors led the princesses away then, through the long hallway and out the tall doors, to crunch down the black sand to the golden boats. Once more Galen hopped into the boat after Rose, and once more her suitor lagged behind the others, a disgruntled expression on his face.
At the far shore of the lake, the suitors helped the princesses out of the rowboats but would not take one step farther toward the forest. The princesses continued on alone, without looking back, into