by Nancy Krulik
“That’s for sure,” Princess Pulverizer agreed. She didn’t know much about Starats. But it was safe to say this was no ordinary place.
Chapter 3
“OW OW OW!” Dribble let out a dragon-size cry and dropped to the ground.
Lucas came running over. “What’s the matter?” he asked his friend nervously.
“It’s my foot,” Dribble told him. “It’s starting to blister.”
Dribble held up his right foot. Sure enough, there was a huge scaly green blister on the bottom.
“That looks bad,” Lucas told Princess Pulverizer.
“We can bandage it up,” Princess Pulverizer suggested.
“That won’t do it,” Dribble said. “I have to rest. My heel needs to heal.”
Lucas giggled. “Good one,” he complimented the dragon.
“But that could take days,” Princess Pulverizer said. “You saw what happened with that gingerbread cookie. There’s something evil going on in this town, and we have to stop it.”
“I can’t move another inch,” Dribble insisted. “That mace is heavy and I—”
“That’s it!” Lucas exclaimed excitedly.
“What’s it?” Dribble and Princess Pulverizer asked at the exact same time.
“The mace,” Lucas repeated. “Don’t you remember what the King of Yabko-kokomo said? The mace can heal the wounds of anyone who fights on the side of what is good and right.”
Dribble’s face brightened. “So all you have to do is wave that thing over my foot and I’ll be good as new.”
“Wait a minute,” Princess Pulverizer said. “The king also said that if we try to use the mace’s power on someone who is deceitful or evil, its magic will disappear.”
Dribble’s cheeks grew purple with anger. “Are you saying I’m deceitful or evil?” he demanded.
“Well, no,” the princess said slowly. “But you aren’t always nice. I just don’t want to lose the magic in the mace. What if we need it for something important?”
“Are you saying my blister isn’t important?” Dribble argued.
“Of course not,” Princess Pulverizer assured him.
“No one can be good all the time,” Lucas pointed out. “But Dribble is kind most of the time.”
“I suppose it’s worth a try,” Princess Pulverizer finally agreed. She picked up the mace. Her knees buckled under its weight. “Whoa, this is heavy.”
“I told you,” Dribble said.
“Okay, mace, do your stuff!” Princess Pulverizer said as she waved the golden apple above Dribble’s blister.
The three friends stared at Dribble’s foot, waiting for something to happen.
Only nothing did.
A dragon-size purple tear streamed from Dribble’s eye. “I don’t get it,” he said. “I’m a good guy. Or at least I try to be.”
“You are a good guy,” Lucas insisted. “That mace must be broken.”
“Look!” Princess Pulverizer exclaimed. “Your blister is melting, Dribble!”
Dribble looked down. Sure enough, the blister had dissolved. “It’s good to know I’m not a rotten dragon, after all,” Dribble said.
“We knew that already,” Lucas told him. “Didn’t we?”
“Sure,” the princess agreed. “Now let’s get moving. I want to find out what’s going on around here.”
But before the dragon could scramble up onto his newly healed foot, the sound of loud, cackling laughter came from down the road.
“Here come those washerwomen again,” Princess Pulverizer said.
“You recognize their laughs?” Lucas asked her.
The princess shook her head.
“I recognize their smell,” she said. “They really need to bathe.”
“Well, hello,” Lily greeted Princess Pulverizer and her pals.
“Fancy meeting you here,” Millie added.
Princess Pulverizer looked at the huge bundles of laundry the washerwomen were dragging. It seemed as though they washed the clothes of everyone in the village. Which meant the washerwomen had to know everyone in the village!
“Say,” Princess Pulverizer remarked to Millie and Lily. “Would you two happen to know a woman with long dark hair who knows a bit of magic?”
Millie and Lily looked at each other.
“Long dark hair you say?” Lily asked.
“Knows a bit of magic?” Millie wondered.
Suddenly the two washerwomen began reciting a poem.
“If two witches were watching two watches,
which witch would watch which watch?”
Lucas looked at them curiously. “I don’t get it,” he said.
“I get it,” Princess Pulverizer said. “They are two different women. That’s why they were wearing two different dresses. And they’re witches, which is why they can disappear into thin air and make cookies dance. They might look alike, but they act really differently. Like one witch gave the boy a cookie, and the other one brought the cookie to life and laughed when it bit that boy. You have to watch them to see the difference.”
“The witches are twins,” Millie explained. “Anna is the kind one. She uses her magic to bring joy to Starats, because she wants this to be a peaceful place. Happy people rarely fight.”
“Her sister, Elle, is very selfish,” Lily continued. “She has no problem taking whatever she wants, no matter who it hurts. The more people fight, the easier it is for her to swoop in and become more powerful. Divide and conquer. That’s Elle’s motto.”
“I think she enjoys making people feel bad,” Millie added.
Princess Pulverizer nodded. Considering how Elle had laughed when the gingerbread cookie bit the boy, that was probably true.
“Doesn’t anybody ever fight back against Elle?” Lucas asked.
Millie shook her head. “Everyone is too afraid of her,” she explained.
“Anna isn’t afraid,” Lily disagreed. “She tries to fix the messes Elle makes. But their powers are equal. There isn’t much Anna can do.”
“I guess there isn’t any real way to defeat an evil witch,” Dribble said.
“Well, there’s a rumor that if Elle were to look in the reflecting pool near the bell tower, she would turn to stone,” Millie said. “That would stop her.”
“Right in her tracks,” Lily agreed.
“The reflecting pool doesn’t show what a person looks like on the outside, it shows their true inner being,” Millie explained. “Elle already has a heart of stone. One look at her inner ugliness and the rest of her would turn to stone as well.”
“So why hasn’t anyone tried that?” Princess Pulverizer asked.
“Elle knows the legend,” Lily pointed out. “She won’t go anywhere near that reflecting pool.”
The princess nodded. That made sense.
“We’d better get going,” Millie said as she fished a wet sock out of her bucket. “See this guy? He’s looking for his sole mate. And it could take a while to find it.”
“Don’t you two ever get tired of washing?” Dribble wondered.
“Nah.” Lily shook her head. “We’d never throw in the towel.”
“It would just mean more laundry to do,” Millie added with a laugh.
As the washerwomen wandered off, Lucas shot Princess Pulverizer a nervous look. “Maybe we should look for an act of kindness to do in a town where there are no evil witches.”
“Are you kidding?” Princess Pulverizer replied. “Ridding Starats of an evil witch would be an amazingly good deed. And every good deed brings me one step closer to getting enrolled in Knight School. You know how tired I am of waiting for that to happen.”
“Oh, we know, Princess,” Dribble assured her.
“Hey, did you hear that?” Lucas said nervously.
“Hear what?” Princess Pulverizer asked.
“There’s something rustling in those bushes,” Lucas said. “Someone’s hiding in there.”
“It’s probably just a squirrel,” Princess Pulverizer replied. “Now come on. Let’s get looking for those witches.”
“I’m not so sure that’s a good idea,” Lucas said. “It would be pretty hard for three normal travelers to defeat a witch.”
Dribble looked at the timid former knight-in-training and the princess who longed to be a knight. Then he thought about his own dream: to use his fire to be a chef, instead of burning down villages like most dragons. “I wouldn’t exactly call us normal,” he said.
“We’re better than normal,” Princess Pulverizer insisted. “We’re smart, and brave, and we have something neither of those witches has.”
“What’s that?” Lucas asked her nervously.
“The power of three!” Princess Pulverizer shouted. “When we work together, no one can stop us!”
Chapter 4
“That’s a catchy tune,” Dribble said as he and his friends entered the village square. “Bagpipes always make me want to dance.” The big dragon began tapping his toes. He moved his feet to the beat. The ground shook beneath him.
“Earthquake!” someone in the crowd shouted.
“No! Dragon!” another person screamed.
Everyone in the crowd ran off, leaving the bagpipe player without his audience.
Dribble stopped his toe-tapping. “Why do people always do that?” he asked sadly.
The bagpipe player started to run, too. But Lucas stopped him. “You don’t have to go,” he assured the musician. “Dribble won’t hurt you. He just wants to dance.”
The bagpipe player didn’t look so certain.
Suddenly a woman with long dark hair, wearing a purple gown, strolled over to the bagpipe player.
“Is that Anna or Elle?” Lucas whispered to Princess Pulverizer.
“I’m not sure,” Princess Pulverizer admitted. “But I think there’s a test we can give her. I heard somewhere that truly evil people cannot look you in the eye when they speak to you.” Princess Pulverizer shrugged. “It’s worth a try.”
“Good sir, would you play a little tune for us?” the witch in the purple dress asked the bagpipe player. “Please?”
Princess Pulverizer walked over to the witch. “Do you like bagpipe music?” she asked, staring her in the eye.
“Love it!” the woman exclaimed. She stared right back at the princess.
Satisfied, Princess Pulverizer smiled and hurried back to her friends. “That’s Anna,” she whispered confidently. “She looked me right in the eye.”
“And she said please,” Lucas pointed out. “A bad witch wouldn’t have good manners.”
Lucas pulled out his fife and began playing along with the bagpipes.
The squeaky fife and the high-pitched bagpipe were really making Princess Pulverizer’s head pound. But she seemed to be the only one who felt that way. Dribble, Lucas, and Anna were all having a great time.
The bagpipe player picked up the tempo.
Lucas played faster.
Dribble twirled in a circle.
And Anna waved her hands wildly in the air.
POP! Suddenly the bagpipe burst like a giant balloon right in the bagpipe player’s face.
“Now that’s entertainment!” Anna let out a scornful laugh.
Except it wasn’t Anna. Princess Pulverizer was sure of that. A kind witch would never make a musical instrument burst. And she would never laugh in someone’s face. The woman in purple had to be Elle.
Lucas must have realized that, too, because he was now hiding behind Dribble.
“Why would you laugh at this poor musician?” Dribble asked her. “How could anyone be so cruel?”
“I was doing you a favor,” Elle snarled. “No one really likes bagpipe music.”
“That’s true,” Princess Pulverizer agreed.
The princess regretted the words the minute they slipped out of her mouth. The poor bagpipe player looked as though he might cry. Quickly he gathered up what was left of his instrument, and raced away.
“I’m sorry,” the princess called after him. “It was just a joke.”
“You’re my kind of girl.” Elle wrapped her arm around Princess Pulverizer’s shoulder. “I bet you have a lot of ambition.”
Princess Pulverizer nodded. “I want to—”
“Shhh . . . ,” Dribble warned. “Don’t tell her anything.”
“I need someone like you to help me out,” Elle continued, ignoring Dribble. “How would you like to come work for me?”
Princess Pulverizer looked at her in surprise. “Why would I want to do that?”
“Because one day, I’m going to rule all of Starats,” Elle replied.
“Who rules Starats now?” Princess Pulverizer asked her.
“No one, actually,” Elle said. “Not since my mother and father died. The next ruler should be their firstborn. But since Anna and I are twins, we’re both the firstborn.”
“One of you must have been born first,” Dribble said. “Even if it was just a minute before.”
“I say I was born first,” Elle told him. “And Anna says she was. But nobody knows. Our birth certificates seem to have disappeared.”
Dribble gave Elle a suspicious look. “Disappeared?” he asked. “Just like that?”
Elle didn’t answer the dragon. Instead she continued speaking directly to Princess Pulverizer. “Anna doesn’t even think Starats needs a leader. She thinks everyone is equal. But we know better, don’t we? Some people are born leaders.”
Princess Pulverizer nodded. That was definitely true. She certainly felt she had been born to lead.
“Don’t worry about Anna,” Elle continued. “I certainly don’t. I will rule this place. And when I do, you’ll want to be on my good side.”
“Princess Pulverizer will never work for you!” Lucas insisted.
Elle ignored him. “I need someone to sneak around town and make sure people aren’t plotting against me,” she told Princess Pulverizer. “Imagine yourself leaping down from trees to surprise our enemies. How fun would that be?”
“The element of surprise is important,” Princess Pulverizer murmured.
“You’re not actually considering this, are you?” Dribble asked her.
“Me?” Princess Pulverizer replied. “No, of course not. I was just saying—”
“Didn’t I hear that you’re tired of waiting to go to Knight School?” Elle continued.
“Where did you hear that?” Dribble asked suspiciously.
“Um . . . well . . . everyone’s talking about it,” Elle said.
The sword of truth shook. The princess tried to ignore it. But Lucas had seen it move. “That’s not true,” he insisted. “You were spying on us from the bushes while we were talking. I knew someone was hiding there.”
“What does it matter how I heard it? What matters is that the princess is right. She shouldn’t have to wait a moment longer. Come work for me, and I’ll dub you a Royal Knight of Starats. Immediately.”
“Immediately?” Princess Pulverizer repeated.
Elle nodded. “No more good deeds.”
“Do you have the authority to do that?” Dribble asked.
“Who’s gonna stop me?” Elle shot Princess Pulverizer an evil grin. “So, what do you say? Do you want to be a knight—right now?”
“A knight?” Princess Pulverizer repeated. Was it possible? She’d wanted this for so long. And now Elle was offering her the chance.
“I know you would never do that,” Dribble insisted, interrupting Princess Pulverizer’s thoughts. “Being a knight at your father’s Skround Table is an honor,” Dribble continued. “But being a knight here, serving her, would not be honorable at all.”
Princess Pul
verizer frowned. Of course she knew that. Every night as she fell asleep, she pictured herself sitting beside the knights of Empiria at the Skround Table, talking of brave deeds.
“A knight’s a knight,” Elle insisted. “It doesn’t matter at what table you sit.”
Princess Pulverizer looked from Elle to her friends. She wasn’t sure what to do.
Elle waved her hand in the air. “To sweeten my offer, I will give you this.” She opened her fist to reveal a golden brooch with a shimmering opal stone in the center.
The princess stared at the pin. The stone seemed to change colors as the light hit it.
“An opal! The stone of tears!” Lucas exclaimed. “Don’t touch it.”
“Go ahead, try it on,” Elle urged the princess.
“Don’t trust her,” Dribble warned Princess Pulverizer.
“It’s no big deal,” the princess told him. “It’s just a pin.”
“I don’t like anything about this,” Dribble said. “If you put that brooch on—”
Princess Pulverizer wasn’t listening to Dribble anymore. She’d already put the golden opal pin on, right over her heart. The stone shimmered blue and pink in the sunlight.
“That looks lovely on you,” Elle complimented her.
Princess Pulverizer looked down at the shimmering stone and then stared vacantly back at Elle. “Thank you, my queen,” she said with a deep curtsy.
“Did she just call her ‘my queen’?” Lucas whispered to Dribble.
“You are welcome, my dear knight,” Elle replied.
“She’s not your dear,” Dribble said. “And she’s not a knight.”
“Careful,” Elle warned him. “Argue with me again, and I’ll turn you into a lizard.”
Dribble gulped.
“Come,” Elle said, leading Princess Pulverizer away. “I have many tasks for you to perform in my name.”
“I shall do whatever you ask,” Princess Pulverizer said.
“What just happened?” Lucas asked Dribble as the princess and witch walked off.
