Midor watched silently as Catherine taught Vivian the locating spell. Henry, who was seldom away from Catherine’s side, watched also. Midor attempted to talk to Henry, but Henry did not respond. Clearly, the boy was not himself.
Rakthar, Larza, Trata, and Clozar were all in the forest, but it appeared that in the time since they had been last seen, they had all gone in separate directions. Rakthar was several days into the forest to the North. Larza was several days deep into the forest to the South. Trata was heading East, and Midor noticed with concern that if he kept going in that direction, eventually he would reach the edges of the forest and emerge at the human kingdom of Mora. Only Clozar had stayed in their area of the forest, and was only a few kilometers away from the castle.
“We shall take Clozar first, then,” said Catherine. “You have the magic sword that Graten gave you?”
“I do,” said Vivian.
“Excellent. Hold it tightly. We shall use levitation spells to fly there. Midor, I’m afraid you’ll have to stay here. You’d only be a burden to us.”
“Stay safe,” Midor said, looking at Vivian.
“I’ll be fine,” said Vivian.
And off they flew.
No sooner had they gone, then Midor realized this was probably his chance to break Henry’s enchantment.
Midor had, of course, several days ago told Robert and Grace about his plans to meet Alicia and Amanda, but then he hadn’t had a chance to follow through on those plans. The arrival of more monsters, and the resulting chaos that had ensued, had thrown all the pre-existing plans into disarray. But Midor realized that now that Catherine was temporarily out of the castle, this was probably his best chance to try to correct things.
Midor encountered Penelope in the garden, and he asked her to see her daughters. “What about?” Penelope asked, somewhat suspiciously.
“It’s about Henry,” Midor said.
“Henry? That boy has caused those girls enough trouble,” said Penelope. “If you are coming on Henry’s business, then I must ask you to leave my girls alone.”
“No, it’s…” Midor paused. “You must have heard about Henry becoming enchanted,” Midor continued.
“I heard some sort of rumor like that in the castle,” said Penelope. “But what has that to do with my girls?”
“There’s a chance that they can break the enchantment. I don’t know how great the chance is, but it’s worth a try.”
“Let him stay enchanted,” said Penelope. “It will keep him out of trouble.”
“Look,” said Midor, “I know that the boy has caused your family a lot of trouble. And I don’t blame you for being resentful. But we can’t abandon him to this enchantment. The punishment is not equal to the crime. Besides which, he is young and foolish, and his mistakes are to be pardoned as such. It’s not that he meant to lead your girls into heartbreak, it’s that the poor lad falls in love too easily himself, and he genuinely believes that the love he has found is true love each time. Yes, his heart is fickle, but it is not malicious.”
Penelope, who had been on her knees in the gardening cultivating some flowers, stood up. She dusted the dirt off of her hands on her trousers. “It is a fault you men are more eager to forgive than us women,” she said. “I don’t think Catherine will keep him enchanted forever. But if she keeps him enchanted for a few months or a year, perhaps it is all for the better. That will give my girls some time to grow up and become wise to the ways of the world.”
“Perhaps,” said Midor, “But I dare not trust this to Catherine’s good judgement or moderation. Our best course is to do what we can to free the boy, rather than waiting for things to sort itself out. You remember what chaos Catherine caused the last time she was ruler of this castle. Henry has made many mistakes because he is young, and there has been no one here whose place it was to guide him. But allow me, and I will become the guide that the boy so desperately needs.”
“And what do you mean by that?”
“Precisely what I say. I will act as a guarantor of the boy's good behavior. I will act as the father he never had.”
“It’s too late for that, Midor. He’s grown now. You can’t hope to control him.”
“If he were a rebellious sort, who resisted guidance, then I would agree. But the boy is good at heart. He wants to be noble and brave, but he’s impulsive. General Graten had already been making good progress with the boy before his enchantment, but I will make the boy my personal responsibility.”
“You don’t have the time for it,” Penelope said skeptically.
“I’ll make time for it,” said Midor.
“Very well,” said Penelope. “I’ll hold you to that. What do you want with my girls.”
“There’s a chance, and it may be a very slight chance,” Midor said, “that the boy can be disenchanted by one of their kisses.”
“This is one of those enchantments that is broken by a true love’s kiss?”
“I see you’re familiar with this sort of thing.”
“It is, after all, a magic castle,” said Penelope. “Enchantments and spells are part of the castle’s history. We grew up reading about these things. I’m surprised Vivian didn’t tell you.”
“Vivian has told me a lot, but it’s hard to keep it all straight sometimes,” Midor admitted.
“Well, if you think it will help, you’re welcome to talk to the girls,” said Penelope. “But you know as well as I do, Midor, that the boy was only flirting with them.”
“I think you do him a discredit,” said Midor. “He wasn’t intending to flirt. It’s true that his heart was fickle, but he thought that it was genuine love each time.”
“Very well,” said Penelope. “Maybe it was some sort of puppy love. That’s the most that I’ll grant it. But if true love is what is required to break the enchantment, you won’t find it from my girls.”
“Possibly,” said Midor. “But I have to try.”
“They’re up in their rooms,” Penelop said. She pointed up to the second floor of the castle. “Up there. You know where to find them.”
And so, Midor found himself going up to Alicia’s and Amanda’s chambers.
On the stairway up, Midor debated with himself whether to talk to both of the girls at once, or one at a time. By the time he reached the top of the stairs, he had decided to talk to them individually. By all reports, it was Alicia who Henry had started out spending most of his time with. Later on, it is true, his time had shifted to Amanda, but Midor thought it was more likely that she was distracting him from Alicia rather than the other way around.
Midor went to Alicia’s room first. He knocked on the door, and waited for a reply. The door opened soon enough, but Alicia was obviously surprised to see Midor standing in front of her. She took a step back. “Oh, Sir Midor, forgive me, I did not expect to see…”
“There’s no ‘Sir’”, said Midor gently. “I am just a humble forest ranger. As I’m sure your grandfather must have made clear to you many times.”
Alicia smiled graciously enough, aware that Midor was trying to use humor to put her at ease. “Indeed, he has, Sir Midor. And yet, such is my upbringing, that I am taught to refer to all great personages by a title. And you are very much respected in this forest.”
“I have never before taken on a title, and I don’t intend to start now,” said Midor. “Just Midor is fine. But I must state my business. It’s Henry that I want to talk about.” A shadow fell over Alicia’s face. “What is wrong?” Midor asked (even though he thought he had some presentiment about what might be wrong). “I thought you were quite fond of Henry.”
“He never talks to me anymore,” said Alicia. “He is only interested in my grand-aunt, Catherine. She’s even older than my grandfather, you know. But she has used her magic to take on the form of a younger woman, and Henry has become enchanted by her charms.”
“You speak truer than you know,” said Midor. “For it is indeed an enchantment. And not just a figurative one, but a literal magical enchantment.”
“You mean to say…” Alicia began.
“Yes,” said Midor. “He is under a spell that Catherine has cruelly cast upon him.”
“But why would Catherine do such a thing?” asked Alicia.
“She is still fearful about her security here in this castle,” said Midor. “I don’t know how much you remember about her history, but she was once betrayed in this very castle itself. She has vowed never to be caught off-guard again, and she has used a love spell to make Henry her devoted slave. But it is not the boy’s true emotions that he is showing. Rather, he is just a slave to Catherine’s spell.”
“How awful!”
“But that is why I have come to see you. Because you can help us break the spell. The spell can only break with true love’s kiss.”
“You mean to ask me to kiss Henry?”
“Alicia, you know that I was no great intimate neither of yourself nor of Henry. I do not know what emotions or sentiments passed between the two of you. And so I come only as an inquirer. I know it is a sensitive subject for a man like me to ask a young girl like you, but do you think that your kiss could break Henry’s spell?”
Tears sprung up at Alicia’s eyes. “I loved him so dearly,” she said. “And for a while, I thought that he loved me. But he started spending time with my sister Amanda. Then he came back to me, and promised he loved only me. But then I saw him making eyes at Catherine after she had completed her transformation.”
“Would you be willing to kiss him regardless,” asked Midor. “We have to try.”
“I would. I will,” said Alicia.
“Thank you,” said Midor. “Come, follow me. We must hurry. We have a limited time. Once Catherine returns, she will not allow you to come close enough to Henry to try to kiss him.”
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