Rules of a Fairytale
Rule Fifteen: Be Careful of Magical Loopholes

We got a room at a small inn in the nearest town. No one even batted an eye when we walked in with an unconscious girl. The innkeeper simply showed us upstairs and handed Ryder the key to the door. Tate set her on the bed closer to the wall. Other than the two beds, a large wardrobe took up space by the open window and a pitcher of water shared a table with an empty basin and stack of towels.

Tate stayed with her up in the room while Ryder and I went down to the lobby that took up the entire first floor. The back end was littered with tables and a long counter separated the dining room from what looked like the kitchen.

“So,” I asked as we waited for our steaks and potatoes, “do you know how to wake her up?”

He sighed and ran a hand through his blonde hair. “I think I have an idea, but Tate won’t like it.” I waited patiently for him to continue. “In the story, Aurora woke up after the prince kissed her. She was asleep for a hundred years and some prince comes along and fell for the pretty girl. There’s something about this kind of curse that makes royalty able to break them.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Are you saying you want to kiss her?”

Just then, the serving girl behind the counter delivered a tray loaded with food. Ryder quickly picked it up and used our meal as a shield. “I’m just saying it’s an option.”

I snorted. “You’re right, Tate won’t like it. I can see why you’d rather be with me right now than up with those two because my brother wouldn’t be so calm about that suggestion.”

“It was just a thought. Unless, of course, you don’t want her to wake up.”

I stopped dead in my tracks. “How dare you? I had the chance to use the curse on her but I didn’t. And if you still think that wolves are out to get everyone then what are you still doing here?”

“Tasha, that’s not what I meant. Obviously not all wolves are bad.”

“So that’s just your opinion of me?”

He set the try on the closest table and grabbed my shoulders so that I had to look at him. “No. I think that you are fun and smart and brave and yeah, a little scary when you’re mad. Trust me, I don’t have any negative feelings toward you.

“I like Brooke as a friend and I think we need her. I’m just trying to figure out a way to wake her up. I really didn’t mean to hurt your feelings or anything.”

I dropped my chin, refusing to meet his gaze. “You didn’t,” I lied. The truth was that I didn’t really like the idea of his kiss waking up Brooke and I really didn’t want him to think so little of me that I would intentionally keep her sleeping. But what got me the most were his compliments. I squirmed a little from the praise and finally stepped away.

“If you want to try it your way, fine. But you’ll probably have to go through Tate, first.”

As it turned out, my twin wasn’t the prince’s first hurdle to go through before kissing Brooke. We walked through the door and I just stared, not really making sense of what I was seeing. “Um?”

“What happened?”

Tate moaned in distress. “I don’t know! She was just lying there and I turned to get a blanket for her. This was here when I turned back a second later.”

Brooke was still passed out on the bed, but an intricate web of thorns caged her in, making it impossible to get to her. I remembered seeing something like this at Steven’s palace. I’d asked my mom why part of the wall around the castle was thorns and she’d replied that it was left over from the curse. It was meant to keep everyone away from Aurora to make it harder to wake her. Only someone with the truest of intentions could get through.

Ryder lifted his broadsword. Unease settled in my stomach as my mother’s words from long ago echoed in my head. “No, wait.” I reached a hand out to stop him, but it was too late.

The glinting metal hit the thick, brown thorn bush and a screech made me wince. Ryder immediately dropped the weapon and grabbed his stomach like he was in pain. I moved closer to rest my hand on his shoulder while he was doubled over. He groaned.

“I already tried that,” Tate grumbled. “But I don’t know how you got hurt because nothing happened at all when I did it.”

“Your intentions have to be true, whatever that means, to get through the blockade. During that hundred years Sleeping Beauty was knocked out, men died trying to get through the thorns trying to win the girl and glory.”

“So what? You think I’m about to die?”

I crossed my arms. “Well, Tate tried it and nothing happened to him. I think you’re fi-”

My words died on my lips and Tate jumped back in shock. “What?” the prince demanded, but neither of us could speak.

Ryder’s skin had taken on a green tint and his blue eyes were bigger than they usually were. His thick blonde hair was receded and a quick glance at his hands showed them to be slightly webbed. I stared for a few more seconds and the change seemed to go quicker. He was already shorter than me now and the green was more prominent.

“I-I don’t think you’re going to die, but…”

Ryder rolled his unnaturally wide eyes. “But what?”

My hand dug around for the ornate mirror in my bag and I held it up so that he could see firsthand what trying to go through the thorns had done. By then, this clothes were baggy and his face was much more amphibian than human and he was changing fast.

Ryder yelped and jumped back. He brought his hands up to his face. Skinny arms tapered into four long, thin, webbed fingers. A second later, he completely disappeared into a pile of fancy clothes. The fabric rippled and it wasn’t long before a large green frog hopped into view. I felt my eyes widen and a gasp escaped my mouth. Ryder looked at his own hands and the long back legs and yelped. “I’m a...a...”

“Frog,” Tate finished a little too casual. I’m pretty sure that shock had fried all of our brains.

“Messing with the barrier didn’t kill you, but it made it a whole lot harder to get through.”

“Why didn’t this happen to you?” he growled, in as much as a frog could growl.

I twisted a clump of my frizzy hair around my finger, keeping myself somewhat grounded in reality. “For the same reason that the curse wouldn’t have backfired on me if I’d used it in Brooke. We’re descended from Maleficent so her magics don’t work on us the way they do on others.”

“Prince Phillip was able to get through the thorns to rescue Sleeping Beauty. Are you saying he’s related to the evil fairy?”

I shook my head. “No, but he loved Aurora. Love is powerful and it helped him bypass the spell’s security.”

Tate groaned and flopped onto the bed across from where Brooke slept. It looked like the froggy prince and I were going to be getting the floor. I let out a whoosh of air. “Look, this isn’t helping anyone. Let’s eat and then we can try to make a plan moving forward. This has been a long day and we all need some sleep. Okay?”

Both boys grumbled, but neither argued. I was getting really exhausted and my stomach rumbled so I reached to the tray sitting on the small table and grabbed a plate. The smell of meat made my mouth water and the potatoes looked perfectly seasoned. I sighed happily at the first bite and sank back on my rump. Obviously I was done for the day so the boys followed my lead and grabbed their own food. It was one of the best dinners I’d ever had and as soon as it was gone my eyes started to flutter shut. I curled up on the floor and let oblivion take me.

I was in the swamp again, but instead of a nixie, I was surrounded by croaking frogs. Some part of my mind knew I was dreaming, but it was a small part I ignored. I was too busy searching, for what I wasn’t sure.

“Hello?” My voice echoed and only the frogs answered.

A chill raced up my spine and goosebumps broke out along my arms as I walked alone through the humid marsh. The water gurgled and popped, smelling like old eggs. I wrinkled my nose against the stench. I really wanted to get out of there but I had to find… something. Plus, I had no clue where the exit was.

A single whistle made me freeze in my tracks. Even the frogs quieted at the sound. It was a long, low note that fizzled out at the end and left only silence in its wake.

“H-hello?” I called again.

“Well if it isn’t the wolf queen. I’ve been waiting a long time for you, my dear.” The voice was soft as it floated on the wind.

I could feel my heart racing but I absolutely refused to give into fear. I was a wolf, and wolves were hunters, not prey. “And who are you? What do you want?”

A breeze caressed my cheek and I jumped back. The unseen voice laughed. “You can call me The Empress. I’m planning to take over the kingdoms and I need your power to help me do it.”

I lifted my chin stubbornly and my eyes burned with the wolf’s glow. So this was the witch that had my family. “And here I thought the villain only gave away their evil plot in B-list movies.”

She laughed again. “It is not like you are going to tell, child. At least not if you want to see Mommy and Daddy again.”

My whole body went cold. “What do you want?”

“I want you to get up, leave your friends, and come find me. We’re not far and I hear you have the Evil Queen’s magic mirror. I’ll be waiting.”

I sat up quickly, making myself dizzy in the dark room. It only took a second for my eyes to adjust and I realized I was back at the inn. Surprisingly, I was on the extra bed while my brother continued to snore on the floor close to Brooke’s comatose from. All I saw of Ryder was a pile of his drawstring leather pants, pale red shirt, and black boots. Oh yeah, he was a frog now. “Well that explains that,” I muttered.

“Are you okay?”

I gasped and looked down at the foot of my bed. The slimy green amphibian looked up at me with his blue eyes. I let out a soft breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. “Sorry I woke you up.”

“You didn’t,” Ryder said. “I was already awake. You also didn’t answer my question: are you okay?”

I pulled my dark hair over one shoulder and started to braid it in an attempt to keep my hands busy while getting rid of some of the bedhead. It was an avoidance tactic that wasn’t going to work with Ryder still staring at me. I huffed. “Just couldn’t sleep. What’s your excuse?”

“I was turned into a frog and couldn’t get comfortable.”

I tossed the pillow I’d been using onto the floor. It looked like my brother had stolen the spare and half my blankets to make himself a bed while Ryder had been left with the thin cushion from a chair. “See if that helps.”

He nodded up at me. “Thanks. And I’m here if you need to talk about what really woke you up.”

I sighed. The prince was too perceptive. “I think I’d rather just try to go back to sleep now. But thank you.”

He hoped off the bed and settled into the pillow. “Good night, Tasha,” he murmured.

“’Night.”

The room went quiet as his breathing evened out. I waited twenty long minutes until I was sure everyone was sleeping before I crawled out of bed. I grabbed my bag and shoes so that I could sneak out quietly. I paused for just a second at the other bed and the thorn casket. The vines felt brittle under my fingers but they didn’t snap. “You have to wake up. The boys are gonna need you. You need to get them home,” I whispered before making my way to the door and out into the hallway.

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