Happily Ever After, page 21
“Of course I am, my dear Lena,” he said. “But perchance will we have a moment to partake of treats upon our return? It has been far too long!”
She almost dropped him. “What did you just say?” she said, holding him up in shock.
But whatever he said next was drowned out by someone screaming in surprise… and joy. Everyone turned to stare as one of the giant children Lena had never met rapidly grew from human to giant size, shouting triumphantly as he did.
And he wasn’t the only one. As Lena looked all around her in wonder, the residents of the Cursed City, the former giants, and all her friends and family were changing back to their true forms, just as they’d been before the fairy queens had locked away the djinn’s magic. Humpty was back as an egg, whooping loudly as he ran around, only to trip and crack himself. Dr. Horse sighed nearby, then trotted over to him still wearing the Helmet of Wisdom, which probably helped him avoid running into Lil, who was running in circles, clucking with pure joy.
“Lena!” someone shouted from far above, and she turned to find her parents growing as well, both of them openly weeping. “I told you!” her father said. “We really were still giants, just like you always—”
But whatever he said next was lost as the fairy homelands around her shimmered away, replaced by a strange sort of nothingness, as if she were floating in the night sky devoid of stars.
What was going on? Could this be another vision? If so, whose story was this, then? Her father’s, maybe? Or Thomas’s? Maybe even—
“Hey, Lena,” said a voice she hadn’t heard in months.
Lena slowly turned around, not able to believe her ears. There stood a boy genie, grinning almost too widely for his face.
“Jin?” she whispered. She leapt straight at him for a hug, only to pass right through him. “No! You’re not really here? Don’t tell me this is just a vision!”
“Unfortunately, that’s exactly what this is,” he said, his smile turning a bit sad. “There won’t be any other way to talk to you, not after I send all my magic back to your world.”
Wait, what? “That was you?” she said, her mouth dropping open. “You gave us your magic? But that’s… that’s who you are! You’re literally made of magic! You can’t just give it all to us!”
“Eh, it’ll grow back,” he said, then paused, considering this. “At least I hope it will. I don’t know how I can know everything in the universe and not know that, but whatever. It’s the least I could do after you and Shefin saved us.” He winced. “Sorry about Marid, by the way. He’s feeling a bit protective for obvious reasons, but I really hated that we didn’t get to say goodbye.”
“But what will you do with no magic? Will you still… exist?” she asked, still not sure how to take this. She couldn’t imagine how horrible it’d be if Jin took his magic back now, but on the other hand, she wasn’t going to let him suffer for their sake either.
“Oh, I’ll give myself a physical form before I send it on,” he said, waving away her concerns. “I haven’t quite done it yet, as I’m speaking to you in the past, and will tweak a bit of story magic so you’ll see me doing it. I hope it works!”
She smiled, tears falling freely now. “It did, we got it, and I can’t begin to thank you enough.”
The omniscient and omnipotent djinn blushed. “Stop, it’s fine,” he said, waving his hand. “I’m just glad I got to say goodbye and know you’ll hear it. I can’t see you there in the future, but the omniscience confirmed that you’ll get the message, and what you’ll say in response.”
She blinked back tears, not knowing what to say. There were so many things she wanted to tell him, but if she started, she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to say goodbye, especially knowing it was permanent. Instead she went with the one thing she knew he’d enjoy talking about. “So a new physical form, huh?” she said, raising an eyebrow. “Any ideas?”
He grinned, even as the nothingness around them began to shimmer again. “Oh, I don’t know, probably something new. I just think it’s time for a little change, don’t you?”
And then he was gone, and Lena found herself back in the fairy homelands, her face soaked with tears.
CHAPTER 39
You’re going to love Lena,” Emperor Shefin said as his floating chariot, a Lilliputian-sized version of the one the sun giant used, floated at the head of a long train of flying carriages. He squinted forward, trying to make out the gates to the Cursed City through the trees. “We should be arriving any minute now.”
“I can’t wait to meet her finally!” Swiff said, a boy Shefin’s age who he’d met months ago during his coronation. Shefin had instantly taken to the other Lilliputian, and the two had been inseparable ever since, especially after Shefin had realized they didn’t have to be apart if he named Swiff as one of his advisors. “Her and the others you’ve told me about, like that Jill Cloud of Hate woman, Sir Thomas, the Humphrey egg, all of them.”
“You’ll love them,” Shefin assured him, then frowned. “Well, some of them. One of them at least. Just don’t breathe in around her cat.”
Swiff wrinkled his nose. “Tell me about it. What makes those things so smelly?”
“Don’t ask Rufus, or he’ll never shut up about his grooming habits,” Shefin warned him, and Swiff laughed.
They reached the gates a few moments later, and were waved in by the nutcracker guards, who didn’t even need to open the doors, as the floating carriages simply rose up and over the walls instead.
Shefin wasn’t exactly sure what to expect after being gone for a few months, but the vibrant, chaotic city spreading out before him far surpassed anything he could have imagined. Instead of a new, pristine town like the fairy queens had built, the Cursed City was now back to being a beautiful jumble of building styles, shapes, and colors, all built to each resident’s own taste by the former fairies. Even the fairy queens had helped, though without using any magic, something that Shefin knew Gwentell had taken great delight in making happen.
“Shefin!” someone shouted, then immediately sighed. “Sorry, I messed that up. I meant to say, ‘Greetings, Your Imperial Highness!’ ”
Shefin looked down with a grin to find Lena waving up at him, Rufus at her side. Her cat was back to his former giant size, towering over her even while sitting on his hind legs.
The chariot descended gracefully, as Shefin wouldn’t allow anything else, until they hovered at Lena’s eye level. She stuck a hand up to him, and he hugged it closely, just so happy to see her again.
As he pulled away, Rufus blinked at him, a cat sign of affection, which made him roll his eyes. But he blinked back anyway before noticing that Swiff had ducked down behind the chariot’s side, looking anxious. He was probably terrified of the enormous cat, which made sense: too many Lilliputians had close calls with regular-sized animals, let alone giant ones. Shefin mercifully decided to skip introductions for the moment, and turned back to Lena with a grin.
“You grace us with your visit, Your Emperorship,” Lena said with a smile. “And you’re just in time for our storytelling festival!”
“Your what?” Shefin asked, raising an eyebrow.
“It’s just a little something I put together,” Lena said with a shrug, though he could tell she was clearly proud of it. “We’ve got so many different kinds of people living together here that I thought it would help to share our stories with one another. Strictly voluntary, of course. I’ve gotten pretty good at using story magic, so I can show everyone whatever story the storyteller is telling!”
“So you’re not doing any rewriting, then,” Shefin said, and Lena snorted.
“This is our third festival so far, and it’s been so wonderful,” she said, multiple emotions playing over her face at once. She took a deep breath to calm herself, then glanced away for a moment. “You’re not going to believe this, but I’ve even found some giants who were born just like me, at human size. Their parents had Creel fix them, but three of them decided to go back to this size, as they were meant to be.” She swallowed hard, clearly emotional about this. “Once we got the Cauldron of Truth back into one piece, it transformed them all back to their true selves. So I’m not… I’m not the only… It isn’t just me now…”
Shefin jumped in before she lost control completely. “Lena, that’s fantastic!” he shouted, and leapt off the chariot to land on her shoulder, and hugged her neck.
She nodded, wiping her eyes with the back of her arm before noticing they weren’t alone. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you had someone with you,” she said as Shefin glanced back to find Swiff peeking his head above the chariot’s side.
“Oh, uh, hey there,” Swiff said, waving his tiny hand. “I’m a Lilliputian too. See how tiny I am? Because I’m, you know, Lilliputian.”
“This is Swiff,” Shefin said, not bothering to hide his affection. He leaned in close to Lena’s ear and whispered, “I hate to make you jealous, but I think he and I are a lot closer to being true loves than you and I ever were.”
She laughed. “I think I’ll live somehow,” she whispered back, then raised her hand back up to the carriage for Swiff to shake her pinkie finger. “Nice to meet—” she started to say, only to freeze as the Lilliputian made contact with her finger. Her eyes widened, and she stared at Swiff in surprise. “You?!”
“Nice to meet you too, Lena,” Swiff said, giving her a slow smile. “Shefin’s told me so much about you, I feel like I was along on all your adventures too, especially the first two.”
“Yeah, imagine that,” she said, still looking at him suspiciously, though she seemed even happier now than when they’d arrived. “So, uh, how long have you known Shefin, then?”
“Just a few months now,” Swiff said, still smiling. “We’d never met before, as I’d lived on the other side of Lilliput. But for some reason, I decided it was time for a little change, and ended up meeting him during the coronation.”
Her mouth dropped open, and she shook her head as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “I suppose we all can use a—what did you call it?—a little change sometimes,” she said, and Swiff’s smile widened.
“All right, the emperor is tired from his journey and wants to share his story first at this festival!” Shefin declared, clapping his hands. “I’m sure the people will delight in hearing about his heroics!”
“I always do,” Swiff said, even as Lena glared at the boy with a combination of annoyance and joy that almost made Shefin jealous. She leaned back in toward the chariot so Shefin could leap back in, then straightened up as Swiff continued. “My favorite part is how you almost sacrificed your life to save those poor djinn! You truly are a hero, Your Imperial Highness.”
“I truly am,” Shefin said, but he laughed as he said it, and turned back to Lena. “Lead on, storyteller! We’ll need the very best of seats for the festival, after all.”
“And treats!” Rufus added, licking his lips before he sighed. “How can anyone enjoy a story if there are no treats involved?!”
“So true, little man,” Lena said, rubbing his head. “Though, if all you need are treats to be happy, then don’t worry. I’ll make sure you live happily ever after.”
“Happily ever after?” Swiff whispered to Shefin as Lena and Rufus turned to lead them toward the festival. “Who even says that? It felt so forced!”
“Thank you!” Shefin said, happy to not be the only one thinking it. “It’s so clichéd! I blamed Gwentell for it before, since she’d been writing Lena’s story, but now? Maybe some hack got ahold of her Story Book and has been making her say ridiculous things.” He sighed. “Anyway, I know we came to warn Lena about the invasion from that horror dimension with fear magic that May told us about, but let’s do the story festival first. It could be fun, and I can’t wait to hear your story!”
Swiff’s eyes widened, and he coughed suddenly. “Um, that’s okay, I’m boring, Your Emperorship. Let’s save me for the next festival. I’m much more interested in hearing about how you saved the world again, honestly!”
Shefin’s heart just about burst, and he was tempted to kiss Swiff right then and there. But as emperor, there were dignities to uphold, and—
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Swiff said, then leaned in and kissed him as music swelled and fireworks exploded all around them, at least in Shefin’s head. For all he knew, the kiss lasted either a few seconds or an entire lifetime, because by the time Swiff pulled away and the music faded, Shefin could only stare at the other boy in a daze, grinning without a thought in his entire head.
“Not bad, huh?” Swiff said proudly. “That was my first kiss, so you’re welcome!”
“I’m welcome, yes!” Shefin said, not able to stop smiling for some reason.
“Now let’s go tell everyone how big a hero you are,” Swiff said, linking their arms as the chariot pulled off to follow Lena and Rufus, and suddenly that whole happily-ever-after thing seemed a lot less hack.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I like this Swiff guy, he seems fun and new and definitely not anyone we already know! Hopefully things work out with him and Shefin.
This book wraps up a series that began over a dozen years ago, and I can’t thank everyone enough who helped get us here. There wouldn’t even be a series without my agent, Michael Bourret, who puts up with far more from me than he deserves. My editors Kara Sargent and Anna Parsons are constantly making me look much better than I deserve, improving the books immeasurably from first draft to final copy. And it’s not just them: Everyone at Aladdin has been so supportive, working tirelessly to get the best possible book into your hands, from Valerie Garfield, the publisher, Nadia Almahdi in marketing; Mitch Thorpe and Nicole Russo in publicity; Laura DiSiena, the designer of the book; production editor Olivia Ritchie, Michelle Leo and the education/library team; Stephanie Voros and the subrights group; Christina Pecorale and the whole sales team. And of course, special thanks goes to my spectacular cover artist, Vivienne To, who consistently makes us all look good with her beautiful work.
It’s so great to end things on a happy note! I’m sure that invasion from a horror reality won’t be a big deal or anything….
More from this Series
Once Upon Another Time
Book 1
Tall Tales
Book 2
More from the Author
The Chosen One
The Timeless One
The Future King
The Last Dragon
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Author photograph by Maarten De Boer
JAMES RILEY is the New York Times bestselling author of the Half Upon a Time, Story Thieves, Revenge of Magic, and Once Upon Another Time series. Contrary to what his Story Thieves biography suggests, this really is James. Note to future authors: if you pretend you’re not real, you’ll get lots of questions.
* JAMESRILEYAUTHOR.COM *
Aladdin
Simon & Schuster, New York
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ALSO BY JAMES RILEY
The Once Upon Another Time series
Once Upon Another Time
Tall Tales
The Half Upon a Time series
Half Upon a Time
Twice Upon a Time
Once Upon the End
The Story Thieves series
Story Thieves
The Stolen Chapters
Secret Origins
Pick the Plot
Worlds Apart
The Revenge of Magic series
The Revenge of Magic
The Last Dragon
The Future King
The Timeless One
The Chosen One
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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First Aladdin hardcover edition May 2023
Text copyright © 2023 by James Riley
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Designed by Laura Lyn DiSiena
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Riley, James, 1977- author.
Title: Happily ever after / James Riley.
Description: First Aladdin hardcover edition. | New York : Aladdin, 2023. | Series: Once upon another time ; 3 | Audience: Ages 8 to 12. | Summary: Forced to live in a false happily ever after, Lena and the other giants must live as humans with no memory of their former lives until Lena hatches a plan to thwart the fairy queens’ magic and save the genie Jin.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022053217 (print) | LCCN 2022053218 (ebook) | ISBN 9781665904926 (hardcover) | ISBN 781665904940 (ebook)
Subjects: CYAC: Magic—Fiction. | Good and evil—Fiction. | Giants—Fiction. | Genies—Fiction. | LCGFT: Fairy tales. | Novels.
Classification: LCC PZ7.1.R55 Hap 2022 (print) | LCC PZ7.1.R55 (ebook) | DDC [Fic]—dc23
