“I am listening, but this time around I have something to say too,” I reply.

Olivina looks mildly amused. “Do you now, young princess?”

“I do! You’re a bully, a liar, and a lousy fairy godmother. I won’t let you control me anymore.”

“Ooh! Listen to that fire in your belly!” Olivina says with a laugh. “I suspect with proper training, you could have been the greatest princess I ever mentored.”

If there’s any chance Prue was able to hijack the feed, I need to keep Olivina talking. “Why do you think that? Is it because you trained the royal court to do exactly what you want them to do?”

“Of course! Don’t you see? I did all of this to help Enchantasia,” Olivina tells the room. “I did it to protect us. And to get the power I couldn’t attain on my own, of course. If I hadn’t helped Ella get her glass slipper, she’d still be a commoner! If I hadn’t found the prince to wake up Snow, she’d still be asleep! Just like Rose! And Rapunzel in that tower… How do you think she was found?”

“But you didn’t just help them,” I say calmly. “First you twisted their tales by putting them in harm’s way so you could be the one who figured out how they could be rescued! And you did it all so they’d think they couldn’t manage ruling without you. Isn’t that right?

“Do you think a lowly lady-in-waiting like myself could have risen to power if I didn’t have the right connections? No!” She glares at me. “It’s all about the royals in Enchantasia, and once I knew I could never become one or marry one, I set my sights on the princesses who could help me climb the ladder of power. They can’t make a move without me now. And as the next generations of royals ascend, I make sure they, too, lead the way I want them to lead. To make the agreements I want them to make. To make sure they fear the things I want them to fear so that they never lose sight of how much they need me. And, when the day comes, they will need Tara.” She looks at her granddaughter. “She can never escape her destiny and survive in this kingdom. I’m helping her!”

Olivina looks at all of us. “Want to come back from banishment?” She looks at Raina pointedly. “Then promise you’ll fall in line. If you do, I can make all of your troubles disappear just like that.” She snaps her fingers, and Logan and Sasha’s bindings unwind. The armoire lifts off Raina. “You just have to trust me.”

But I don’t want to be someone’s prisoner. If the royal court really knew they were puppets on a string like Pinocchio, they wouldn’t want to be either.

“Never,” I say.

“Never,” Raina agrees. One by one, my friends all say the same thing. It’s only Tara who is still quiet.

Olivina’s smile fades. “What a pity. Tara? Finish them.”