Fairy Tale: Winter's Bite

Chapter 18: Bedtime Story (Part 2)

Scott left the table without answering and went through the bedroom curtain. He moved the bookshelf aside. The object he sought wasn't on it; it was in a secret nook underneath it. Even that wasn't the best spot for it now that he was exposing its existence.

With a hand sweep, he removed the added magical layer of defense and returned to the dining area. He set the blue hardcover book on the table. It had tattered edges and a loose binding that made the browning pages jut out on different planes. For its age and what it had been through, he still considered it in good condition.

They all glanced at the title and looked up, waiting for an explanation. The gold block letters on the cover, faded with time, said MAGICAL MECHANICS. 

Chris's face was the first to contort, and it wasn't favorably. "That's what this is all about? A book? Everyone is fighting for, dying for this dusty piece of—"

"This is not just any book," Scott interrupted before Chris's anger had a chance to escalate. "Consider it Polaris's magical bible." 

"It sounds like a physics book," Joe added, his intellectual curiosity rerouting things in a more promising direction. "Just like 'classical mechanics' or 'quantum mechanics.'"

"In a way, it is. It describes how to manipulate the motion of objects and magical energy. And what makes it special? You can defy the physics established by the human masters. As far as I know, it's the only way you can."

Cassiopeia's expression then flushed with what looked like full awareness. She was quick and astute, a little too much for his tastes, and probably knew better than anyone how deceitful and manipulative her family could be. "Am I safe to assume that tricking you into marrying my mother was the only way my grandfather could have gotten access to this book? And that once the book was in his possession, he would have held the secrets of your society's defenses and power that could have changed the course of the known world?"

"Yes. That pretty much sums it up. There were about a dozen other magical guidebooks in my trunk as well. But Pyxis's Royal Library held tens of thousands of books, so I didn't grasp the power or the rarity of this particular one."

"Why did they go through so much trouble, though? Why didn't they just take the trunk and the key? Or kill you?" Chris asked.

"I suspect they wanted to plan a secret attack on Polaris. The Aerial Palace is leakier than Swiss cheese, attributable, no doubt, to the staff they underpay. So, if word escaped that I was dead or mistreated, then Polaris may have found out beforehand, in which case all bets were off. Since there was no guarantee the Royals would ever be able to harness this magic, they needed time to understand it. Does that make sense? Do you have any better theories?"

Chris shrugged but didn't answer. Joe stayed silent as well, so Scott picked up the story where he had left off.

"Months went by, and Andromeda's visits became longer and more frequent. There were moments I thought she was genuinely fond of me. Or attracted to me at the very least, despite my imperfections. And one night she had a servant bring us a nice dinner and a bottle of wine. It was allegedly to celebrate some trivial milestone. I remember becoming tired all of a sudden, and then I don't remember anything else. I woke up the next day feeling weak and nauseous. I foolishly blamed it on the wine.

"Day after solitary day passed. Andromeda never returned. I was starting to go crazy, from boredom and hunger, too. They stopped feeding me regularly. I wasn't supposed to leave my room, let alone the castle, but I stopped obeying their rules. Strangely enough, no one seemed to care where I was or what I was doing. It was as if they considered me dead already.