I jump up, dragging Maxine and the others with me toward the ballroom doors. They’re so close that I can almost touch them. I am not being cursed again. None of us will be.
“Run all you want, child. You’ll never escape this room!” The doors to the ballroom seal shut. “Splendid!” Alva’s smile falters. She gestures to a gargoyle. “Seize them!”
“Stop right there, you wicked fairy!”
Holy gingerbread! Is that Jax and Rapunzel?
The secret siblings rappel off the second-level balcony and race toward Alva’s army of gargoyles, cutting the beasties off from our path.
“We’re saved!” Ollie marvels. “Jax is all princely and his sis is a good princess after all!”
Maxine punches him in the arm.
“Did I say ‘sister’? I mean, s…s…sassy friend!” Ollie corrects himself.
We watch in awe as Rapunzel and Jax drop to the floor and pull gold swords out of their scabbards. Jax looks dashing as he begins slashing the air and pushing gargoyles back, while Rapunzel pulls radishes out of the pleats of her ball gown and hurls them at the beasties. She looks surprisingly fierce for a princess. I’ve never seen the royals act so royally! I’m amazed as gargoyles begin dropping like flies, and Jax and Rapunzel soon surround Alva.
“Make a move toward Gilly and my friends, and you’ll regret it,” Jax tells Alva, holding his sword to her chin.
“And what do we have here? A princess taking orders from a delinquent?” Alva laughs coldly. “Why, this evening just gets more and more interesting!” She zaps two of her sleeping gargoyles and they instantly awaken. “But we can’t let the merriment go on forever.” The gargoyles hiss and move closer to Rapunzel and Jax, who back into each other with their swords still raised.
“Alva, if you leave now and promise not to touch the other princesses—including foolish Rose—or our guests, we will not harm you,” Rapunzel tells her, “but if not, I am afraid you have given us no choice but to fight.”
Alva tsks. “Darling, fight all you want. Can’t you see I’ve already won?” She motions to her gargoyles, which are in motion once more. “Take Rose and Gillian away ’til I need them,” Alva orders.
“You won’t get past us!” Jax tells her.
I don’t hesitate. I take off toward the ropes Rapunzel and Jax have left behind and start climbing to the balcony. A gargoyle pulls at my dress, but I kick it off. Maxine, Ollie, and Kayla are right behind me, while Jax and Rapunzel try to fight off gargoyles below.
“No!” Rose cries as a gargoyle swoops down to grab her. “I won’t allow you to get away with this! Alva, you owe me!” Rose screams as the gargoyle lifts her up. “You owe me!” She points to the RLWs. “Royal Ladies-in-Waiting. You have been charmed!”
The word sounds strange on Princess Rose’s lips, but I soon know why. Maxine’s sash flashes and her eyes go slack. RLWs rise, marching toward Alva. The other RLWs fall in line around them, looking straight ahead and standing at attention.
“What the gingerbread is going on?” I hear Ollie yell as Maxine drops from the rope and heads toward the RLWs.
“Those sashes aren’t just trackers,” I realize. Kayla flies over to Maxine and jumps on her back, but Maxine throws her off. “They’ve got a spell to make the wearers do Rose’s bidding!” Now I understand why Rose wanted the princesses to wear honorary RLW sashes. I spot Ella and Snow joining the ranks of the others. Rapunzel is the only one not wearing a sash, and I’m sure that’s because Jax filled her in on our suspicions.
Alva laughs as her gargoyles fly to her side. “So you have an army of pink princesses and wicked little girls, have you? Why would I be afraid of them when I can do this?” Alva begins to conjure a spell right in front of us.
Rose holds up my bag of gingerroot triumphantly. “No dragon morphing for you today, Alva!” She dumps the contents of the bag into her hand and a single petal falls out. “What? No! It can’t be gone!”
And that is why Wolfington told us to save it for a good use. Looks like Rose and I both failed tonight.
“Darling, I’m way beyond dragons these days. See for yourself!” Alva’s body begins to stretch and spin, her laughter disintegrating into screeches. Fire engulfs her completely. Through the flames I see one leathery green wing, then another, and a spike-covered tail that whips around so fast that it knocks one gargoyle into a wall and squeezes another ’til it shrieks. Scales take over her growing body, and a long, scaly head with gnashing teeth and diamond-shaped yellow eyes pops out. From her mouth comes a plume of fire that toasts the table and several beasties. We drop down from our ropes and rush to a corner to get away.