Chapter 41 (1/2)

“How long does this curse last?” Tafel asked as she poke Yella’s belly with her feather.

Yella stuck her tongue out. “Not telling,” she said as she crossed her arms. Rella and Bella stared at her.

“Three months?” Tafel asked, “I’m going to have a headache.” She sighed.

“Serves you right!” Bella said while pouting. She turned to Yella. “Your curse is terrible. You made her a mind reader.”

Yella laughed. “Don’t worry,” she said, “she’s a princess right? Everyone’s probably spouting nonsense praise for things she doesn’t deserve. Just wait til she hears what they really think.” Yella nodded. “I bet she’ll break down and cry.”

“Oh. That’s evil,” Rella said while covering her mouth with her hand. She grinned. “I like it. Too bad I can’t redo my curse. I should’ve made something better.” She sighed.

Tafel tickled her with the feather.

“No more, no more. Please,” Rella said as she wriggled on the bananerry bush. “I’m sorry!”

“Yeah, it’s too bad you can only curse me once,” Tafel said as she moved the feather faster.

“You and your stupid curse!” Rella shouted at Yella with tears streaming down her cheeks.

Vur yawned and stretched. “I’m running out of mana,” he said towards Tafel.

The fairies cheered. “Even freaks run out of mana, huh?” Bella said.

Tafel rummaged through her sweater and pulled out a bottle with blue liquid in it.

“Mana potion?” she asked as she offered it to Vur. The fairies wailed.

Vur shook his head. “Tastes bad,” he said.

“Yeah! It’s disgusting,” Bella said and clasped her hands together, “don’t drink it.”

“Maybe we should trap them in a cage…” Tafel muttered.

The fairies eyes grew wide. “You can’t do that!” Rella said as she tried to squirm away from the feather.

“We’re bad luck, you wouldn’t want us,” Bella said. Tears sprang to her eyes.

“Yeah,” Yella said and nodded, “we’ve met you twice now! That’s worse than getting struck by lightning seven times. Think of what’ll happen if you take us with you.”

Tafel frowned and her body shook. She stopped tickling Rella.

“I’m sorry,” she said and shifted her eyes away from the fairies. She faced Vur, “you should let them go.”

Vur nodded and his eyes stopped glowing. The fairies tilted their eyebrows and looked at each other. They shrugged and flew into the branches of a nearby tree.

“Why’d she let us go?” Bella asked as the trio stared at Tafel and Vur.

Rella shrugged.

“It was probably my curse,” Yella said and nodded. Bella nudged her off the branch.

“Rude!” Yella said as she flit back up, “don’t be jealous you couldn’t think of a better one.”

“Ssshh,” Rella said and put her finger to her lips, “they’re talking.”

Tafel sat next to Vur and held his arm. “Are demons evil?” she asked. She turned her head towards his face. “Am I evil?”

Vur tilted his head. “You’re not a bad person,” he said. Tafel squeezed his hand and leaned her head against his shoulder.

Tafel sniffed. “But demons imprisoned the fairy queen and took the fairies’ home away from them,” she said, “when I said ‘cage,’ they became so scared. I, I feel so bad for them.” Tafel’s eyes grew wet.

Vur frowned. Tafel shook her head. “They were terrified of me,” she said, “their thoughts felt like mine after you left for a year. A lot worse than mine.” Her body shook and she buried her face into Vur’s shoulder.

“Wow,” Rella said and turned to Yella, “your curse really does work.”

Bella nodded. “I almost feel bad for her. You made a little girl cry.”

“Don’t look at me like that!” Yella said as she stared back at her two sisters, “you cursed her too!”

“Yeah, but our curses only annoy her.”

“Uh huh, your curse is going to destroy her mentally.”

Yella pouted. “Serves her right. You two seem to have forgotten she made us cry for two hours.”

“Monster,” Rella said. “She’s just a kid.”

“Heartless,” Bella said and nodded while crossing her arms.

Yella sighed and lowered her head. “Fine,” she said, “I’ll go apologize.” She flew down from the tree and hovered in front of Tafel’s face.

She reached forward and flicked Tafel’s forehead. “Stop moping,” Yella said, “it’s not your fault the demons took our home and trapped our mother. I definitely don’t blame you or anything.”

Tafel blinked her eyes and stared at Yella.

“What?” Yella asked. “If you really feel bad, then go and free our mother.”

“It’s just…” Tafel said, “really weird. Your mouth opens, but the wrong words come out and they’re out of sync.”

Yella puffed her chest out. “Of course,” she said, “I’m good at cursing.”

Tafel smiled and wiped her tears with her sleeves. She turned towards Vur.