Once Upon a Curse by E. D. Baker Read Free Book Online Page A

looked appalled. "Sorry, Your Majesty! Hubert hasn't been the same since guards came down a few months back and opened the trapdoor to the oubliette." The oubliette was little more than a hole in the cellar of the castle covered by a rusty, metal grate. It was where the old kings put prisoners who they wanted to forget. "Hubert was sure that they'd finally remembered him and had come to let him out. A bit late, if you ask me, but he has trouble with his memory even on the best of days. He forgets that only his bones are left in that pit, and the guards weren't interested in those. Hubert," he said, turning to his friend, "this is King Aldrid. You've met him before!"
    "He's not the king!" grumbled the stooped ghost. "King Grunwald the third is the king and has been for as long as I can remember. I've worked in his stables since I was just a lad."
    Sir Jarvis shook his head. "That was many years ago, Hubert! Limelyn is king now. This is his father-in-law, King Aldrid. He wants to ask you some questions."
    "What kind of questions?"
    "Actually," I said, "I'm the one who wants to talk to you, Hubert. I'm Princess Emeralda and I'm interested in King Grunwald the third. Can you tell me anything about him or his daughter Princess Hazel?"
    "That I can. Princess Hazel is lovely, much prettier than you. She has the most beautiful golden hair, with eyes the color of robins' eggs and skin as smooth as cream. She has a green thumb and can grow anything she has a mind to. Why, I've seen her grow a potato vine up the stable wall that sprouted potatoes in less than a day. Lots of talent our princess has; you can be sure of that! It was the little princess who gave me this medallion just before the big party," Hubert said, pulling the chain out from under his tunic. A silver disk spun on the end of the chain. "Said it was for bravery. I never took it off. Had to hide it or many's the time they would have taken it from me." Eyeing me as if I might try to grab his ghostly medallion, Hubert tucked it back under his filthy tunic.
    "It was a lovely medallion," I said. "And it was very kind of the princess to give it to you. What about King Grunwald? What was he like?"
    The aged ghost's shape wavered, his form growing faint, then more distinct. "Why are you asking all these questions? You aren't a spy, are you? The king doesn't take kindly to spies! I'll call the castle guards; that's what I'll do. They'll throw you in the oubliette, and you'll never get out!"
    "That's all right, Hubert," said Sir Jarvis, patting the older ghost's arm. "Calm down now, old fellow. There are no spies here!" Hubert muttered to himself while his friend turned to Grandfather and me. "Hubert spent his last days in the oubliette. Grunwald the fourth had him tossed down there when something went missing. I think Hubert was caught someplace he shouldn't have been, but he certainly paid the price. The oubliette was a terrible place to die."
    "I'm not going back there!" shouted Hubert. "You can't make me!"
    I couldn't blame him.
    "There, there, Hubert. No one is going to make you do anything. I think it's time for us to go. Good day, Your Majesties," said Sir Jarvis, bowing to Grandfather and me.
    "What did they say?" Li'l piped up as the two ghosts faded into blue mist and floated down the hall. "I could understand him all right," she said, waving her wing at my grandfather, "just not those other two."
    "Really? And can you understand Li'l?" I asked Grandfather.
    He nodded. "Quite well, actually."
    "How is that possible?" I said. "I thought that only witches and people who had been turned into animals for a time could understand them when they talk."
    "That's true," he said. "And when the family curse changed your grandmother, and she sent me to the dungeon, she turned me into a rat for a few days. I've been able to talk to animals ever since. I know every creature in this dungeon, living and dead. It was a centipede who first told me about Hubert. I'm sorry Hubert wasn't very