The Bravest Princess

by E. D. Baker

  “What was that about?” she wondered aloud.

  Unable to go back to sleep, Annie dressed and left the room, hoping to find Liam and get an early start to Snow White’s. A page directed her down the corridor leading past the great hall to a room where the king usually ate his breakfast. Unlike Treecrest’s royal family, who ate small morning meals in the great hall when their schedule allowed, Liam’s family had a room set aside for the family to dine in. King Montague greeted her warmly when he saw her and gestured for her to sit next to him.

  “Did you hear those crows?” she asked, taking a seat.

  “I think half the kingdom must have heard those crows,” said the king. “They were loud enough to raise the dead. I’ve never seen a flock that large before.”

  “I don’t know if Liam told you, but two crows followed us to the tower where we left Granny Bentbone. I’m afraid this might have something to do with them.”

  The king nodded to the serving girl standing by the door. “They flew off into the woods after making all that noise. We can only hope that they’re gone for good.”

  “Who is gone for good?” Liam asked as he joined them.

  “We were talking about the crows,” said Annie, looking up as the serving girl set fresh muffins, smoked fish, and porridge laced with honey on the table. They were helping themselves to the food when the queen burst into the room, a pair of guards hurrying to keep up with her.

  The king scowled. “Guards, why did you bring her here? I didn’t give her permission to join me today.”

  “I made them bring me,” said the queen. “I told them that I had something important to tell you and that it couldn’t wait.”

  “What is it?” the king said, his scowl deepening.

  “I’m sure you noticed that a flock of crows came to my tower this morning. They brought me a message from a witch named Terobella,” she said, waving a piece of parchment in the air. “She says that if I do something for her, she will see that I am freed from the tower. Here, you can read it for yourself.”

  The king took the parchment and read the message aloud.

  Queen Lenore of Dorinocco,

  If you wish to be freed from the tower and take control of your kingdom, kill the princess

  Annabelle. When I know that this has been accomplished, my crows will come to your aid.

  Terobella

  Liam jumped to his feet as soon as Annie’s name was mentioned. Putting a protective arm around the princess, he glared at the queen and said, “Get away from her, Mother!”

  “Do you honestly think I’d tell you about it if I were actually going to accept the witch’s offer?” the queen said, sounding scornful. “I came here right away to tell you about it, Montague. I’m not the monster you think I am. You have to see that now.”

  “Perhaps,” said the king. “Do you know this Terobella?”

  The queen shook her head. “No, but I assume that she’s a witch if she can control all those crows.”

  “Perhaps,” said the king. “You may return to the tower. I’ll discuss this with you later.”

  The queen inclined her head and swept from the room, casting an exultant look at Liam as she went.

  “The only reason she told me is that she hopes to get in my good graces,” said the king. “That woman doesn’t do anything unless she thinks it’s to her advantage. She’d probably accept the offer if she thought she could trust the witch to keep her promise, but your mother doesn’t trust anyone. Well, son, I think you have a real problem on your hands. Whoever this Terobella is, she’s obviously strong if she can control all those birds. It might be better if you and Annabelle stayed with me until we’ve found out more about this witch. At least you’re protected here.”

  “I can’t stay,” said Annie. “I need to get to Helmswood and my friend Snow White as soon as possible.”

  “Who do you suppose this witch Terobella is?” said Liam.

  Annie shrugged. “We’ve met lots of witches, but none named Terobella. I do think I’ve heard it before, though; I just don’t remember where. What I want to know is why someone whom I’ve never met wants to hurt me.”

  “That’s a very good question,” said Liam.

  “Do you have any enemies? Do you know if anyone hates you?” the king asked Annie.

  “It never occurred to me that I might have enemies, but I’m sure there are lots of people who don’t like me. There are all the princes who wanted to marry Gwendolyn, then found out they couldn’t because I’d helped Beldegard turn back into a human.”

  “None of them seemed angry about it, just disappointed,” said Liam. “What about the fairies Voracia and Sweetness and Light? I can guarantee that neither of them likes you.”

  “That’s true, but why would they get a witch to help them? If they mean me harm, they would handle it themselves.”

  “And then there’s the dwarf named Cragery, and Snow White’s stepmother.”

  “But Cragery is a squirrel now, and Queen Marissa is locked in her husband’s dungeon,” said Annie. “Even if they were able to cause trouble, I doubt very much that either one could control a flock of crows.”

  “Regardless of who it is, the most important thing now is to keep you safe,” Liam told her. “We should probably stay here as my father suggested, but”—he held up his hand when she began to protest—“I know you, and you’d never agree to that. We’ll just have to take the carriage. I know we were looking forward to riding together, but you’ll be safer in the carriage than on horseback. The crows won’t be able to reach you in there, not with the bars on the windows.”

  “I suppose,” said Annie. “Although the bars make it feel more like a dungeon cell. At least I won’t have to listen to Granny Bentbone ask about my hair.”

  Chapter 7

  The flock of crows started following them the moment they entered the forest. Annie didn’t like riding in the carriage, but she was grateful for the bars on the windows when the crows landed on the roof and began pecking. Some well-placed arrows chased them off, leaving dead crows littering the forest floor.

  The group rode on, heading west toward the bridge that would take them to Grelia, the capital of Montrose. The remaining crows kept their distance for a time, with only two or three flying alongside the carriage. It wasn’t until Liam and Captain Sterling wanted to stop to water the horses that they realized they had another problem.

  “The water’s been fouled,” said one of the guards, pulling a thirsty horse back from the pond.

  Black feathers floated on the water and bird droppings streaked the stones at the shore. “I bet the crows did this on purpose,” said Liam.

  “They probably did,” Annie replied, peering out the window. “Is there anywhere else we can water the horses near here?”

  Liam shook his head. “We’ll keep our eyes open, but I don’t know of any place between here and the River Rampant, and that’s at least three hours away.”

  They continued on, sending a pair of guards ahead to scout for water. Eventually one of the men came back to report that they had found a small stream. It wasn’t far from the road, but they had to unhitch the horses from the carriage and walk them through the trees. Annie stayed in the carriage with three guards standing watch outside. She was surprised when the men came back only minutes after leaving.

  “The crows got there before we could,” Liam explained through the window while the men hitched the horses to the carriage again. “They’re staying upstream, adding to the mess, so it’s not going to wash away any time soon. We tried to fend them off, but there were too many of them.”

  “Either these are very intelligent birds or someone is controlling everything they do,” said Annie. “At least they can’t ruin the whole river.”

  Annie sat back in her seat as the carriage started moving again. The road was so dry that the horses and carriage stirred up a cloud of dust, making it difficult to see anything. She was tempted to close the curtains to keep the dust out, but the day was get
ting hotter and there was little enough air movement even when the curtains were pulled back.

  A shadow flashed by. Nervous, Annie tried to peer out the window. She was afraid of the crows, but she was even more afraid of what their presence there meant. The most Annie could do was negate the magic while she was touching something that had a spell cast on it, like the crow that had brushed against her when she was being lowered from the tower. If only she could see the witch face-to-face!

  Men shouted up ahead, and the carriage stopped suddenly, making Annie slide to the edge of her seat.

  “Annie, stay inside!” Liam hollered.

  Horses screamed and men shouted again, but Annie couldn’t tell what was happening. As the dust settled, she tried to look out. All she could see, however, were glimpses of men struggling with something out of sight in front of the carriage.

  “What happened?” she cried when Horace hurried past.

  “It’s quicksand,” he said, slowing his horse beside the window. “The captain and Prince Liam are stuck.”

  Annie’s breath caught in her throat. The only way there could be quicksand on a well-traveled, dusty road was if magic had put it there. Opening the door, she slipped outside and peered past the horses pulling the carriage. The ground ahead was flat and smooth, yet it glistened as if it was wet. Most of the guards were on one side of the road or the other, using ropes tied to their saddles to pull loose the two mired horses. Liam and Captain Sterling still sat astride their steeds. The captain’s gelding had sunk so far into the quicksand that the horse could no longer move his legs. Liam was trying to calm his stallion, which was thrashing as the men worked to pull him onto solid ground.

  Annie was about to run to the quicksand to touch it and end the magic when it occurred to her that removing the magic might not be such a good idea. Without magic, the quicksand would revert to dirt and stone, and the men and horses might be partly buried in the road. At least the quicksand allowed them some sort of movement.

  “I’ll turn it back into a normal road as soon as you’re free, but I can’t do it until then,” she called to Liam.

  The prince’s head whipped around when he heard Annie’s voice. “I told you to stay inside!”

  “Yes, but I have to do something to help!”

  “I won’t let you put yourself in danger!” Liam shouted. “Go back to the carriage!”

  “We almost have you out, Your Highness,” said Horace as the guards’ horses strained to pull Liam’s stallion free. The stallion’s front legs were on dry ground now, his labored breathing loud enough to hear from where Annie stood. “One more pull!” shouted the elderly guard.

  Suddenly, Liam’s horse lurched from the quicksand to take a few steps on shaky legs. Captain Sterling’s horse was nearly free as well, his only sign of distress his flaring nostrils and the whites around his eyes.

  “Princess, look out!” shouted a guard when a crow swooped toward her.

  Annie ducked as an entire flock darkened the sky, their wings beating so loudly that the sound filled the air. Horace and two other guards sprang to protect her, sheltering her body with theirs as they set arrows to their bows and let them loose at the crows.

  Wrapping her arms over her head and neck, Annie crouched as the guards shot one arrow after another. She didn’t see when the captain’s horse was pulled from the quicksand, nor did she see Liam jump from his horse and run around the quicksand to her side.

  “Are you all right?” he shouted over the noise of the crows as he crouched down beside her.

  Annie cried out and threw her arms around him. “I’m fine if you are,” she said.

  Liam kissed her and held her close, but only for a moment. “You have to get back in the carriage,” he said, and began to pick her up.

  “Not yet,” Annie told him as she wiggled free. “I have to make the road solid first.”

  “But the crows—” Liam began.

  “The guards can fend them off long enough for me to do this. They’ve been doing a good job so far. If we hurry, this won’t take long.”

  “I don’t like this,” said Liam.

  “Maybe not,” Annie told him. “But you know I have to do it.”

  After a moment’s hesitation, the prince let her go. While Annie bent down to touch the quicksand, Liam, Horace, and three other guards stood watch over her. The instant her finger made contact with the glistening patch of ground, it made a slurping sound and became solid once again.

  “I’m getting really tired of this,” Annie said as she climbed back into the carriage. “And I don’t mean riding in this thing. Have you seen any sign of the witch who controls the crows? She must be around here somewhere.”

  “No, and the men and I have been watching for her. She may be working from a distance.”

  “And turning the road into quicksand from a distance, too? Is that even possible?”

  A guard led Liam’s horse to him and held the reins while the prince remounted. “Anything is possible when magic is involved,” Liam told Annie. “Especially for a powerful witch. And that’s exactly why you can’t take any chances. You have to stay in the carriage until we reach Grelia.”

  Annie grimaced and glanced past him into the forest. “I wonder what else the witch is capable of doing.”

  “I can’t imagine, but I’m afraid we’ll probably find out.” The carriage started rolling, and Liam rode beside it so he could talk to Annie through the window.

  “I never thought I’d say this, but why can’t I find a fairy godmother when I need one?” said Annie. “I don’t like magic; I just think that sometimes it would be useful to have some—like right now. I’ve been thinking about this. There are two kinds of magic people can use against you. There’s the kind where a spell is cast at a person and can affect her directly, or the kind that affects something or someone in the person’s surroundings. I can handle the first kind because the spell bounces right off me. It’s the second kind that can cause me problems, and this witch seems to know it. I can’t stop her from using magic when she turns it on someone or something else. It would be handy if I knew someone who could.”

  The thirsty horses sensed the river before the people did. Perking up their ears, they trotted down the last bit of road; it was all their riders could do to keep them from going straight to the water’s edge, where large, jumbled rocks could easily break a horse’s legs. Although the river was turbulent, the horses pawed the ground, anxious to drink from it.

  “There’s a path over here!” shouted the captain. “Bring your horses down one at a time.”

  Annie waited impatiently as the men unhitched the horses and took them to the river. Her back was sore, and her entire body was stiff from spending the day in the small enclosed space. She envied the riders the chance to stretch their legs and drink.

  She was peering out the window when she discovered that if she moved to the other side of her seat, she could see part of the bridge. It was a wooden structure with massive pillars that held it high above the water so that small boats could pass underneath. Annie was admiring the bridge when Liam appeared at the window. “The crows are perched in the trees on the other side of the river. It’s almost as if they know where we’re going. Ah, good, the last horse is finished. We’ll be leaving in a few minutes.”

  When the carriage began moving again, Annie slid closer to the window, wanting to see the view from the top of the bridge. They had traveled nearly halfway across when the carriage shook and lurched to the side. The riders both in front and behind the carriage shouted. Annie grabbed hold of the bars on the window to keep from falling to the floor. She heard the sound of cracking wood, and suddenly the end of the bridge was a mass of splintered logs crashing into the river around the falling carriage.

  The carriage plummeted, turning as it fell so that it landed on its side. The force of the fall wrenched Annie’s shoulder, and she let go of the bars as water poured through the window. Not knowing how deep the water was, she held her breath just as the
carriage lurched again and slammed into the riverbed. The side that was now on top was above the water, so she pushed off from the bottom and shoved the door open.

  Annie heaved herself out of the carriage and stopped to look around. The horses that had been pulling the carriage were floundering in the water, the swingletree that connected their traces to the carriage having snapped on impact. One of the guards who had been driving had already managed to get on the back of the lead horse and was trying to turn it to shore. The other man waved at Annie, then dove into the water beside the carriage with a knife in his hand. Seconds passed before the head of the dappled gray mare burst out of the water, snorting and puffing, her eyes wide in fear. The man emerged a moment later to follow the swimming horse to shore.

  Men and horses were struggling to the water’s edge, singly and together. When Annie looked for Liam, she saw that his horse was climbing out of the river without a rider. Her heart seemed to stop for a moment, but then she saw him still in the water, swimming toward her.

  “Are you all right?” he asked as he drew close enough that she could hear him.

  “I’m fine,” she said, ignoring a twinge in her shoulder. “What about you?”

  “Never better,” he said, but his expression was grim.

  “What happened?”

  “A perfectly good bridge that my father inspects every six months collapsed just as we happened to be crossing it.”

  “It must be that witch again,” Annie said. “How is everyone else?”

  They both turned to watch the last of the horses leave the water farther downstream, where the current had carried them. Men were already gathered on the shore to lead them to the rest of the group. “It looks as if they’re all accounted for. Stay here. I’ll be right back. And I mean it, Annie. Don’t move from this spot.”

  “All right!” she said, holding up her hands. “I won’t go anywhere!”