The Bravest Princess

by E. D. Baker

  Liam dove into the water beside the carriage and came up a moment later shaking his head. “The axle is broken. This carriage is worthless now.”

  “Then I guess I’ll ride horseback the rest of the way,” said Annie.

  “Try not to look so disappointed,” Liam said, smiling.

  Unlike most princesses, Annie knew how to swim. She and Liam reached the riverbank at the same time, and climbed out just as Horace came slogging across the shore leading Annie’s mare. “Your Highness,” Horace said to Annie. “Your mare is sound enough to ride—just needs a bit of a rest is all. She was mighty scared, but she’ll calm down in a bit, you’ll see.”

  The mare danced to the side, skittery from the accident, as Horace led her to where the other horses had been tethered.

  “I’m going to send the carriage drivers back to my father to tell him about the bridge,” said Liam. “The first order of business, however, is to get a fire going. We can make camp beside the river tonight and get an early start in the morning.”

  “The carriage!” cried one of the men on the shore.

  Annie and Liam both looked toward the river. Whatever had been holding the carriage in place had given way, allowing the current to carry it bumping and tumbling past them and out of sight.

  “I think my tent was in there,” said Annie. “This day just keeps getting better. How long do you think we’ll have to travel to reach Grelia tomorrow?”

  “If we’re lucky, just a few hours, but there’s no saying how long it will take if we have another day like today.”

  “Great!” said Annie. “Because I’m sure the witch and her crows will do their best to make it perfect.”

  Annie sat shivering on a log, watching a guard coax a flame from flint and tinder while two others kept the crows away. The dry kindling caught, and soon the logs were crackling as flames licked up their sides. From the moment Annie and her companions had climbed out of the river, the crows had pestered them. As the flames spread, however, the birds flew off, landing in trees a good distance away.

  Reaching her hands toward the fire, Annie let its warmth soak into her. Her clothes dried quickly, and soon her face was uncomfortably hot, so she turned around to dry the clothes on her back and warm the rest of her.

  “It seems that someone thought it would be a good idea to store all the tents in the compartment under your seat in the carriage,” Liam told her as he sat down. “The carriage is lost now, so we’ll be sleeping under the stars tonight.”

  “We should be fine as long as we keep the fire going,” said Annie. “The crows don’t seem to like it.”

  “Half of our supplies were in the carriage, too, so we’ll have to make do with what’s left.”

  “Some of the men are fishing,” Annie said, pointing toward the river. “If we’re lucky, we’ll have fresh fish for supper.”

  “Now, Annie,” said Liam, “I know how much you want to help Snow White, but it’s much too dangerous. This witch isn’t going to give up. If you won’t return home, I think you should remain in Grelia when we get there. You’d be safer in King Berwick’s castle than on the road. I’m sure Beldegard’s parents would love to have you stay with them. Let me find a way to take care of the witch, and then you can go home safely. Snow White would understand.”

  Annie shook her head. “I have to go to Helmswood now. Snow White asked for my help, and I’m not about to turn her down. Besides, someone was trying to kill me before we ever left Treecrest. I don’t think I’d be any safer in a castle than I am with you and all these guards to protect me.”

  “I didn’t think you’d give up, but I’m still worried,” said Liam. “By the way, your cheeks are flushed. Don’t get overheated sitting here.”

  “I’m enjoying the warmth of the fire and sitting still instead of bumping down the road,” said Annie. “I think the witch did me a favor when she made the bridge collapse. I don’t know if I could have ridden in that carriage any longer.”

  “You may miss it after a few hours in the saddle tomorrow,” said Liam.

  “Maybe,” said Annie. “But at least now I’ll be able to ride next to you.”

  The three guards who had been fishing came trudging toward the fire, each carrying a string of fish. With so many eager hands to help, their catch was soon cleaned and sizzling on sticks held over the flames. Annie was hungry, but she wasn’t the only one who couldn’t wait for the fish to cool; nearly everyone burned their fingers when the cooked fish were finally handed out.

  The sun had set when they organized the watch, and the travelers who weren’t due to stand guard settled down to sleep around the fire. Annie found comfort in the knowledge that the guards who were taking turns watching over the camp were also going to keep the fire stoked. With the fire holding the crows at bay, she might actually get a good night’s rest.

  Annie had been asleep for only a few hours when the sound of men talking in muted voices woke her. She was half listening, half dozing when she heard one of them say “Wolves.” Suddenly, she was wide awake.

  “I tell you, I saw red eyes watching me from those trees over there,” one of the guards whispered to another.

  “I don’t see anything,” said the second guard.

  “They were there, I tell you. Look! There they are!”

  “I don’t see anything. Were you staring into the fire again? Because if you were … Wait! You’re right! And over there! And there! Captain!” called the guard. “It looks as if a pack of wolves is coming at us from every side.”

  In an instant, all the men were on their feet with weapons in their hands.

  “Did you say wolves?” asked Liam, peering into the trees. “No one has seen a wolf around here for—never mind. There’s one now. Annie, get behind me! And this time, please listen!”

  Annie scrambled toward Liam, wishing she had thought to arm herself before she’d gone to sleep. She glanced back at the twang of bowstrings. Guards were shooting at the wolves, a job made more difficult in the dancing light and shadows of the fire.

  “Save your arrows!” Liam shouted as more than one went astray. “We’re running low, and you’ll need them to fend off the crows tomorrow.”

  Dropping their bows, the guards unsheathed their swords and stood poised for the attack. As the wolves moved out of the shadows and into the firelight, Annie could see that something wasn’t quite right. Instead of attacking, they began to act very strangely. One hopped a few feet and stopped to look around. Another took one look at the guards and began trying to burrow under the old leaves on the forest floor. A third ran to a tree and scrabbled at the trunk as if trying to climb it. The others took a few steps, looking more frightened than menacing. Not one of the wolves actually turned on the humans.

  “What’s going on?” asked Annie.

  “I don’t know,” said Liam. “They look like wolves, but they aren’t acting like them.”

  “It’s another of the witch’s tricks!” cried Horace.

  Liam nodded. “They look as if they don’t want to be here, but something is making them confront us.”

  “Perhaps it’s a compulsion that the witch placed on them,” said Captain Sterling.

  The wolf that had tried to hop toward them made another awkward attempt, but his paws went out from under him and he sprawled face-first in the leaves.

  “Liam, when was the last time you saw a wolf?” Annie asked.

  “I haven’t seen a real wolf since I traveled to the Misty Mountains,” said Liam. “But there was that man the dwarf turned into a wolf. Do you remember him?”

  “Yes,” Annie replied. “He told us that when he first turned into a wolf, he didn’t know how to act like one or even walk like one. It looks as if these wolves are having the same problem.”

  “So you think they’re men?” asked the captain.

  “Not really,” Annie said. “But we’d know for sure if we could catch one.”

  “If they’re not really wolves, I can catch you one, Your Highness,” said
Horace.

  “You’re too old!” cried one of the younger guards. “Just leave it to us able-bodied men!”

  “Hah!” cried Horace, setting his sword on the ground so he could dig in his knapsack for a piece of rope. “I’ll have one of these pretend wolves hog-tied before you can say your auntie’s name three times backward. Get out of my way and let an expert handle this.”

  Four of the youngest guards grinned and reached for their own ropes. In just moments, the five men were chasing the wolves around the fire, trying to snare the animals, which, strangely, were unable to move very fast.

  “Got one!” Horace shouted just as a younger guard tackled another wolf. The two men dragged the wolves toward Annie, who hurried to meet them partway. While Horace held his captive still, Annie laid her hand on the animal’s side. The change began immediately, and in less than a minute, a rabbit lay where the wolf had been, its eyes wide in terror. When Annie took her hand away, Horace let go and the rabbit hopped off into the forest.

  “Can you see what this one is, too, Your Highness?” the other guard asked. “He’s a wiggly fellow, but he hasn’t tried to bite me even once.”

  At Annie’s touch, the wolf faded away as the animal’s true self emerged. It was a chipmunk and was so small that Annie could have held it in one hand. When Annie and the guard both stepped back, the little creature scurried into the underbrush.

  “I don’t think this spell was meant to last,” said Annie, glancing at the other animals, all of which were also looking less wolflike. A moment later a deer bounded toward the woods, a raccoon climbed a tree, and a skunk ran off, its tail in the air.

  “Or the witch isn’t as powerful as we thought she was,” Liam replied. “Either way, that was a close call, but they’re gone now, so I think we should try to get some sleep.”

  “A close call because they weren’t really wolves?” Annie asked as the returned to their places by the fire.

  “No,” Liam said. “Because that skunk could have done some real damage if it hadn’t run off just then!”

  Chapter 8

  They spotted the capital city of Grelia after only a few hours of riding the next day. A high stone wall enclosed most of the city, but Annie could see the castle towering above it when they were still miles away.

  “Beldegard grew up in Grelia, and he told me all about it,” said Liam. “It has one of the oldest castles in all the kingdoms. The wall you see is the newest. It dates back only a few hundred years. There are other walls inside from when the city was older and smaller. There are three or four walls altogether, but the guards close only the outside gates at night.”

  “Do you think King Berwick and his family have returned home yet?”

  “Probably. I think they left the same day we did. The princes who want to court Snow White were traveling with them, so the question is, did all the princes get here yet? Some of them are slow travelers.”

  “Especially Andreas,” said Annie. “Although the thought of winning Snow White’s hand might have made them move a little faster.”

  They rode past prosperous farms for a time, which eventually gave way to cottages and even a market outside the city walls. The guards standing on both sides of the open gate into the city were alert but polite, letting them through as soon as they identified themselves.

  The roads inside the first gate were broad and straight, but when they passed through the second gate, the roads became narrower and angled off in different directions. After the third gate, the roads became a maze they might have gotten lost in if Horace hadn’t known his way around.

  “I was born in Grelia,” Annie overheard him telling another guard. “My family lived here until I was twelve. That’s when they moved to Treecrest. My dad got a job on one of the linder tree farms up north. My sisters still live there with their families, but my aunts and uncles and cousins all live in Grelia. Except my nephew Niko. He lives in … ah, good! There’s the gate,” said Horace, interrupting himself as he pointed to an ornate archway with a room above and a row of narrow buildings on either side.

  They were riding under the arch when Horace gestured to the wall behind the buildings. “That’s actually the curtain wall for the castle. There’s a huge black pot filled with oil kept just above us and logs ready for lighting under the pot should an invader get this far. My dad had buddies in the castle guards, and they let him take me on a tour once.”

  As they entered the courtyard beyond the gate, Annie was reminded of her home. The layout of the out-buildings seemed to be the same, although these were older.

  “Your Highnesses, you’ll want to go up those stairs right there while we take care of the horses and I show the captain to the guards’ quarters,” said Horace.

  The guards rode off as Annie and Liam started up the stairs. “Don’t you get the feeling that Horace thinks he’s in charge sometimes?” Annie asked Liam.

  “True. Especially on this trip. I think he believes it’s his personal responsibility to take care of you, but then I think we’ve all claimed that job,” he said, giving her hand a squeeze.

  A thin man wearing a gold medallion on a chain waited at the top of the stairs. He bowed when he saw them, and immediately began to herd them through the door that led into the great hall. “Welcome to Grelia! I’m Stanford, the royal steward. You are probably hungry after your trip. The royal family eats together in a smaller hall during the day. They just sat down for their midday meal and are anxious that you join them. This way, if you please.”

  “Wonderful!” said Annie. They had eaten very little that morning, and her stomach had been rumbling so loudly that she was afraid everyone could hear it.

  High windows filled the great hall with light, making it a pleasant room. A little boy dressed as a page ran by with a small dog barking at his heels. Two girls dressed in the fine clothes of noblemen’s daughters sat side by side, smiling behind their hands as they eyed a handsome young man at a nearby table. A group of middle-aged women sat gossiping over nearly empty tankards, the scraps of their just-eaten meal in front of them. It was a friendly place, and everyone seemed content. When they saw the steward leading Annie and Liam through the hall, they watched with curious eyes, and more than one smiled and nodded.

  “I liked Beldegard’s parents when we met them before the wedding, but you need to see what a person’s home life is like before you really know them,” Annie told Liam under her breath. “People here seem happy. I think Gwennie married into a good family.”

  “I could have told you that,” said Liam. “Beldegard told me a lot about them.”

  “Right this way, Your Highnesses,” the steward said, leading them into a corridor, where he opened one of the first doors. “Please let me know if I can be of service in any way.” The steward bowed again, but Annie and Liam were already peering into the room.

  Although the room wasn’t nearly as big as the great hall, it was still quite large. Only one of the three round tables was occupied, and even that table wasn’t full. Annie spotted King Berwick, who was as big as his son Beldegard, sitting beside Queen Nara and their two daughters. The princes Cozwald, Emilio, and Andreas were also there, but neither Maitland nor Digby were present.

  Everyone looked up as Annie and Liam entered the room. “Oh, good!” cried Tyne. “Now you can see what we were talking about, Mother. Anyone who gets near Annie starts to look ordinary!”

  Queen Nara smiled weakly, then told her daughter in a quiet voice, “It isn’t polite to point that sort of thing out.”

  “But she was just saying—” Willa began.

  “Willa!” her mother snapped.

  King Berwick smiled indulgently at his daughters, then glanced at Annie and Liam while gesturing to two empty chairs. “Come join us. There’s plenty of room!”

  “We expected you to arrive yesterday,” Cozwald said as Annie and Liam took their seats.

  “We ran into a few … delays,” said Liam.

  Annie noticed that Queen Nara was leaning down
to talk to Tyne. The twins were both looking in Annie’s direction.

  Annie made herself turn to Emilio, who was seated beside her. “When did you arrive?”

  “Yesterday afternoon. We would have gotten here sooner, but one of the twins was carriage-sick and we had to keep stopping. I understand you were going to drop the old witch off at the tower. How did that go?”

  “Not as smoothly as we would have liked, but she’s there now,” said Annie. “Where are Maitland and Digby?”

  A serving girl came by to offer a platter of smoked sausage. “I assume they’re still in bed,” said Emilio. “I haven’t seen either one all morning.”

  Annie forced herself not to turn around when she heard the twins giggling. “Digby was up late again last night,” said Andreas. “I went to ask him if he wanted to join us for breakfast, but he was feeling under the weather. Maitland wasn’t there when I stopped by his room.”

  When Andreas turned toward the queen as if she would know where her son might be, Queen Nara sighed and set down her fork. “Maitland didn’t want it to be general knowledge yet, but I told him I wouldn’t lie for him. He left early this morning. He’s on his way to Helmswood.”

  “He left without us?” said Cozwald. “I thought we were traveling together.”

  “Apparently he wanted a head start with the princess Snow White,” Emilio said.

  Andreas pushed his chair away from the table and stood. “Then we should leave right away. Maitland has already met the princess. He doesn’t need an even greater advantage.”

  “But Princess Annabelle and Prince Liam just arrived. Surely they’ll need time to rest,” said the queen.

  “I’m ready to go if you are, Annie,” said Liam.

  Annie sighed. “We can go, but I really would like to eat first.”

  “You can finish eating while I send word to the captain that we’ll be moving on sooner than expected. May I trouble you for some provisions?” he asked the king.

  “Of course,” said King Berwick. “Annabelle is family now that my son is married to her sister. Is there anything else you need?”