Tangled Magick Read Online Free PDF Page B

“Must be some reason they’d keep you around. You’re much smaller than the rest of them. Got any special talents?”
    â€œN—no,” Maewyn managed to stutter.
    â€œCan you sew?”
    Maewyn blinked. She couldn’t sew, but she knew a spell for sewing. She nodded.
    â€œMake tea?”
    Maewyn nodded again.
    â€œWhat else can you do?”
    Maewyn bit her lip. “I’m really good at keeping things tidy.”
    â€œYou’ll do.” Huldfrejya nodded and called one of her trolls over. “Folkvarus. The two girls be my new personal maids. Take them to my quarters and kick that old bag of bones out of the castle. She is no longer useful to me.”
    The one named Folkvarus grabbed Mae and Poppy’s arms and pulled them forward. The troll dragged the girls past their friends and up a winding path through the forest. Mae looked back at the drawn faces of the other hapennies and worried about what was going to happen to them. She saw Tory being pushed toward the right. Her escort gave her a tug, and Mae cast her eyes forward and quickened her step.
    Poppy gripped Mae’s arm. “Where are we going?”
    â€œDon’t those furry ears work?” their escort retorted. “The queen’s chamber, like she ordered.”
    â€œBut why are we headed into the forest?” Mae asked.
    â€œYou are no front-door guests,” her escort said.
    Shivers shot down Mae’s spine. Her stomach flip-flopped. She pulled Poppy closer to her. There was a shimmer ahead, making the castle ruins waver and the path appear to be covered in faerie dust.
    â€œDon’t go fainting on me when you pass through the barrier,” Folkvarus said.
    â€œBarrier?” Poppy’s voice trembled.
    Mae’s body tingled, and shocks of energy shot out the ends of her curls. She heard popping and hissing sounds as they stepped through a curtain of magick.
    The forest opened up to reveal not ruins, but a castle looming on a dark hill, the main spire so tall it nearly pierced the clouds. Tangled ivy scaled the walls and strangled the towers.
    Folkvarus pushed the girls forward.
    â€œWhat was that?” Mae asked.
    â€œNever you mind, nosey,” Folkvarus said. “Just keep stepping lively, one foot in front of the other.”
    Mae snorted. “That would be much easier if we didn’t have these shackles on our wrists.”
    Folkvarus rubbed his forearm as if he had chains on too. “They’ll fall off eventually.”
    Poppy hiccupped and sniffled.
    The winding path led to an ancient-looking wooden door set in a hill and half-hidden with dark ivy. The castle loomed tall above. The troll swiped the ivy aside and shoved the door open with his shoulder. “Infernal crawling pestilence,” he muttered. He waved Mae and Poppy on. “Inside, quickly, before it grows back.”
    The girls exchanged an apprehensive glance.
    â€œIn now, I tell you!” the troll barked.
    Mae scurried inside and strained to see past the small circle of light spread by a single torch. The corridor was dim and damp, and she heard water trickling. Large patches of moss clung to the crumbling mortar. The door slammed shut behind them, accompanied by more muttering from her captor as he grabbed the torch from its bracket.
    The fire lit up the troll’s face, and Mae tried to hide her surprise. She hadn’t gotten a good look at their escort when he’d grabbed her arms and started dragging her toward the castle, but he didn’t seem to be like the other trolls. She studied him. His nose was flat and turned up, nostrils flaring open like a hapenny’s, but it wasn’t twitchy. His ears were big too, but nearly bare, with only a few straggly hairs clinging to the pointed ends, and he was taller than most hapennies but short for a troll. His speech was more refined too. The only thingsmore trollish about him than his ears were the color of his skin, which was the