Power of a Princess

by E. D. Baker

  “Oh, for flowers’ sake!” Twinket cried. “Now what?”

  Unlike the gnomes, the fairies didn’t look happy. As they all changed from tiny to human-sized, a fairy dressed in blue petals scowled. “We heard you were coming this way, and we wanted to talk to you. We’re not at all happy that King Darinar and Queen Surinen have declared that we’re moving back to live among the humans. We like it here! We don’t want to move, but nobody asked what we want.”

  “You royals think you can play with our lives as if we don’t matter,” said a fairy in a cap made of daisies. “We were perfectly content in our old home when your grandparents made us move here. And now just hundreds of years later you want us to move back again. We might as well not unpack if you’re going to make us move around so much!”

  Aislin was surprised. She hadn’t known that anyone felt this way. Of course, some fey would want to stay, but no one had said that they couldn’t! Long ago, the king and queen of the fairies had ordered all the fey to go with them to the land between the mountains. Now that they were returning to their ancestral home in the human lands, they were letting the fey decide if they wanted to stay or go.

  “That’s right!” declared a fairy with fuzzy green hair. “We’ve heard that it’s all your fault. If you hadn’t gone to the human land to check it out, we wouldn’t be moving back there!”

  Shocked, Aislin’s eyes grew wide. True, she had gone to the human lands, but only to protect her family from curious humans. While there, she had investigated what was going on. Though the things she had learned had influenced her grandparents’ decision to return, Aislin was sure that it hadn’t been based on what she did or didn’t like.

  “Don’t answer them,” Twinket told the princess. “They shouldn’t talk to you that way.”

  “They can talk to me if they want to,” Aislin told the doll before turning back to the fairies. “Don’t you see—you have a choice now. You can stay here or go back. Whether or not you move is up to you.”

  “We need to go,” said Twinket. “We’ll never get to Deephold at this rate.”

  “I’m sorry this whole thing upset you,” Aislin called to the fairies as her guards pushed them to the side and ushered her down the path.

  “You can never make everyone happy,” Twinket declared.

  “You don’t need to be rude to them, though,” Aislin told her.

  “Hey, I’m only trying to protect you!” said Twinket. “I think I should be rude more often.”

  “Please don’t,” Aislin replied. Dealing with fey complaints was hard enough without Twinket butting in and being less than civil.

  The guards refused to let anyone else approach the princess as they made their way through the valley. It didn’t stop them from trying, though. More fairies came by, demanding to know why they had to move; a satyr called Aislin unkind names, and a sprite dropped down from the treetops to berate the princess. Each time, the guards chased them off and hurried the princess away.

  Eventually they reached the spot where two other streams joined the first, forming Sweet River. Aislin and her guards had just turned south to walk beside the river when a blue-haired nymph popped up in the swiftly moving water. “Hi, Princess!” she called. “How you doing? I heard that you showed real courage around those nasty humans. Great job! We’re all really proud of you.”

  “At least this one is being nice,” said Twinket.

  The nymph frowned. “Has someone been unkind to you, Your Highness?”

  “It seems that some fey aren’t happy that my grandparents plan to move the castle back to the human lands,” Aislin said as the nymph kept pace with them.

  “And they have the nerve to blame Aislin!” cried Twinket.

  “Well, I never!” the nymph exclaimed. “The king and queen have every right to move if they want to, like anyone else. I change rivers every few years just to keep life interesting. And I don’t understand why they’d blame you. All you did was save your family and all the fey in the castle. Then you found out what was really going on with the humans, which someone needed to do. You didn’t do anything wrong, and anyone who says differently is a two-headed frog.”

  “Uh, thank you …” said Aislin.

  “That was very well said,” Twinket told the nymph. “If only the knuckleheads who keep wanting to complain to Aislin would leave us alone.”

  “Maybe I can help with that,” the nymph told her and disappeared into the water.

  Aislin wondered what the nymph could possibly do, but forgot about her offer when she didn’t reappear right away. As they walked along the river, the princess couldn’t help but wonder how many fey blamed her for their unhappiness. Suddenly, a loud splash drew her gaze to the water where she spotted a group of heads bobbing close to shore. The nymph was back, along with her friends, and each one was dragging a bundle of reeds or some sturdy pieces of driftwood. Dumping their finds on the riverbank, the nymphs quickly assembled a raft big enough to carry Aislin and her guards down the river.

  “Now you can ride the river all the way to Deephold,” said the blue-haired nymph.

  “That’s so kind of you,” Aislin told her as the guards piled on.

  “It’s the least we can do for the hero of the land between the mountains!” another nymph declared.

  Aislin took a seat on the raft while the guards used long poles to keep them floating in the middle of the river and away from the shoreline. Some of the nymphs followed to the first bend in the river, where they waved goodbye before disappearing underwater.

  “This is fun!” Twinket announced from her seat on Aislin’s lap. “The last time you went on a boat, I had to stay in a satchel. Have I ever told you how much I hate traveling that way? Tiny spaces scare me. I really like traveling this way, though. It’s a lot faster than walking, and we can see so much! How long will it take us to reach Deephold now?”

  “We’re moving at a good clip,” said Deela. “We should be there before nightfall if we keep this up.”

  “That’s too bad,” said Twinket. “I could float like this forever.”

  Aislin enjoyed floating down the river, too. Not only was it fun to see everything from the water, but it meant that they could drift past the fey who had gathered along the riverbank. By the time the party finally approached Deephold, Aislin was more than ready to avoid any more confrontations.

  As the guards landed the raft at the base of the mountain, Aislin climbed off with Twinket in her arms. She didn’t notice the pink-haired fairy waiting just outside the main entrance into the mountain until the fairy called out to her.

  “You’re breaking up my family!” the fairy shouted as the guards tried to keep them separated. “My parents want to go back to their old home, but my husband wants to stay here. I don’t know what to do. If you hadn’t gone to the human world and gotten all nosy, your grandparents wouldn’t have even thought about going back. This whole thing is your fault!”

  Aislin sighed. Here was someone else who blamed her, when all she’d been trying to do was help. Didn’t they know enough about her grandparents to realize that they were doing what they thought best for all the fey? And why in the name of all that blossomed couldn’t they leave her alone?

  “Can’t you stay here with your husband and visit your parents once in a while?” Aislin asked the fairy. “It’s not as if King Darinar and Queen Surinen are moving their palace to the other side of the world.”

  “I suppose,” said the fairy. “That would be like a vacation, and we’ve never taken a vacation before.”

  The fairy looked more thoughtful than angry when Aislin turned away.

  The pedrasi were happy to see the princess return, even though she hadn’t been gone for long. A footman escorted her through the tunnels to the throne room deep inside the mountain where her grandfather was still holding audience with the last petitioners of the day.

  Aislin was glad to be home. She actually had three homes—Deephold; Eliasind, where she lived with her parents and little
brother; and Fairengar, the palace where her fairy grandparents lived—and she was just as comfortable in all of them. To ensure that no one felt cheated of her time, her parents had made sure that Aislin had spent equal amounts of her childhood with her pedrasi grandparents and her fairy grandparents. Adept with languages after learning so many from the visitors to the three royal homes, Aislin was comfortable talking to just about anyone and knew a great deal about all the fey.

  The gathering hall was only a short distance from the king’s throne room. As Aislin passed through the hall, she saw an orc mother bouncing her toddler on her knee. The princess returned the mother’s wave hello and smiled when she saw a minotaur calf talking to a pedrasi boy. There were more orcs and minotaurs here than in either of the other royal residences; both species preferred dark corridors over light and airy spaces.

  “I need a clean dress,” Twinket announced as they left the hall. “This one smells like campfire smoke.”

  The footman called to a passing maid and told her of the doll’s request. “I’ll take care of that,” the maid replied. “Come with me.”

  Aislin handed the doll to the maid and tried not to smile when Twinket began demanding everything else she wanted. The princess felt sorry for the maid who was about to become very busy.

  As Aislin reached the door to the throne room, the footman who opened it bowed and backed away. When the few remaining petitioners saw her, they excused themselves and left the room. King Talus looked worried as she approached the throne. “You’re back so soon!” he cried and got to his feet. “Is something wrong?”

  Aislin shook her head. “It didn’t take me long to make the map. I had some interesting encounters in the mountain, but that ended well and then we had a little help from some water nymphs on our way back. They made a raft so we could float down the Sweet River. The raft saved us a lot of time and helped us avoid the fey—who, by the way, aren’t happy that King Darinar and Queen Surinen are moving their palace back to the human lands. For some reason, the fey seem to blame me.”

  “How odd,” the king said as he descended the steps and took a seat beside her at the bottom. “Why would they blame you for anything? You’ve done nothing but help the fey.”

  “I have no idea,” said Aislin. “All I want to do is keep everyone safe and help make the move as smooth and easy as possible and now people are accusing me of ruining their lives! I don’t understand what I did to get so many fey to turn against me.”

  “I doubt very much that you did anything wrong,” her grandfather said. “Some people are going to be unhappy about the move no matter what, and they want someone to blame. You were able to study Mount Gora. Has it changed much since the last map was made?”

  “Yes, in a number of ways. I have a lot to tell you; some things you’ll like and some you won’t.”

  “Why don’t you start from the beginning?” suggested the king.

  And so Aislin did. She told him about the crystal cave and how she had drawn power into herself. She described writing the names with crystal flowers, which he found amusing. When she mentioned hearing knocking, he nodded and said, “Spriggans. I didn’t think that anyone lived in Mount Gora. Did you talk to them?”

  “I did,” said Aislin. “Until I sensed a disturbance in another part of the mountain. That’s when they told me that trolls had been visiting the mountain, but they didn’t know why. So I went to look.”

  Her grandfather frowned. “You should never go near trolls.”

  Aislin tried not to smile. The first time she’d run into trolls, she’d been frightened and had run away with her friends. The second time she’d been alone, and the third time Kimble had joined her; both of those times, the trolls had been the ones to flee.

  “I kept my distance,” Aislin told her grandfather. “There were three of them and they were heading to a lower level. There’s a lake in Mount Gora; an enormous, blind creature lives in it. The spriggans call him Old Grumpy. They’ve been staying away from the lake ever since the beast ate a spriggan.”

  Her grandfather’s eyebrow shot up. “And the trolls went to the lake?”

  Aislin nodded. “They were collecting dragon eggs, which they call dregs. A female dragon was there, and she ate one of the trolls. Her name was Singea. She seemed nice enough once she stopped trying to fry me.”

  Her grandfather looked worried when he said, “I never would have sent you there if I’d known there were trolls and dragons. I’m so sorry you had to deal with all this.”

  “I told the spriggans that I was going to ask you to start sending patrols to Mount Gora. I think we need to keep a better eye on it in the future.”

  “That’s a very good idea,” said the king. “I’ll tell the captain of the guard to start sending a regular patrol. Do you know if the trolls took any dragon eggs? Angry dragons won’t be easy to deal with.”

  “Not even one. And they didn’t want the eggs just to eat. They said that ‘she’ wanted some, so they couldn’t eat them all.”

  “Interesting. I wonder who ‘she’ is. Go on.”

  “Two trolls got away. I followed them back to the lake where a spriggan girl named Kimble showed up. After she tossed my fairy light to a troll, Old Grumpy jumped out of the water and ate the troll, light and all. It seems that the beast is attracted to magic. Old Grumpy is swimming around in the lake with the light glowing inside it now. Oh, and I found these in that cavern.” Aislin took out the calcite globe and handed it to the king. It wasn’t glowing, so she said, “Shake it.”

  The king shook the globe and chuckled when it lit up. “Cave slugs! These little things, when put in water, can grow to be quite dangerous. I believe they were the reason that my grandfather moved the pedrasi out of Mount Gora. Cave slugs are generally rare, but Mount Gora seemed to have more than most mountains.” He handed the ball of calcite back to her. “Did you make this?”

  “I did. I also discovered a way to clean smoke damage off rock walls. The spriggans cleaned up the rubble that the trolls had left behind. Kimble was a big help. Don’t be surprised if she shows up here one day. She told me she’d like to visit Deephold.”

  “She’s welcome any time,” said the king. “Now, what about the map? Are you prepared to draw it?”

  “Yes,” said Aislin. “I think I can give you some decent details, too.”

  “Then follow me,” the king said, getting to his feet. “I have a gift from King Darinar that I’d like you to try.”

  He led the way through another door into his private study. Taking a box off a shelf, he set it on the table that dominated the room. The box was intricately carved with a map of the mountain range that included both Deephold and Mount Gora. Setting his hands on either side of the box, he pressed two fingers and the lid lifted on its own. A shining silver ball floated out of the box and hovered in front of the king.

  “Come stand here,” he told Aislin as he stepped out of the way. While she moved to take his place, the king carried the empty box to the far end of the table.

  “Now take the ball between your hands and think about the mountain,” said the king. “Think about the outside first, then level by level.”

  Aislin nodded and took a deep breath. The map in her mind was as clear as if she could see it already drawn in front of her. As she thought about the mountain, a three-dimensional model a few feet tall appeared to float above the table. Depth and color filled in the image as the princess thought about the levels. When she was finished, it was so detailed that she could even see the writing on the wall above the tunnel entrance.

  “Excellent!” the king announced as Aislin let go of the ball and stepped back from the table. He walked around the image, admiring it from all sides.

  “That’s the lake where the creature lives,” Aislin said, pointing. “And that’s where the dragons placed their eggs. This maze isn’t at all what it used to be. I rearranged the walls when I chased the last troll out of the mountain.”

  “You did?” said the king. “I’m ve
ry impressed. It sounds as if your abilities are greater than I’d even imagined. You also have a remarkable memory for details.”

  There was a knock on the door. “You may enter,” said the king.

  The door opened and a fairy wearing the leaf emblem of the queen’s service on his tunic stepped into the room. Ailsin knew him well. Periwinkle, or Peri as everyone called him, was the head messenger for the fairy king and queen. “Your Majesty, Your Highness, Their Majesties King Darinar and Queen Surinen request the presence of Princess Aislin at Fairengar,” he said. “I’ve been instructed that the princess needs to go as soon as possible.”

  King Talus nodded. “I was expecting this, although not quite so soon. King Darinar told me that they’ll be moving back to the human part of the world in a few days. All right, my love. Go see Queen Amethyst first. Your grandmother would never forgive either of us if you didn’t say goodbye. Then get ready to go to Fairengar. You’re about to see history in the making.”

  Chapter 6

  “But I have to go, too!” Twinket cried as Peri led the way to a balcony overlooking the valley far below.

  “I have just enough fairy dust for one,” the fairy told her. “The dust the queen gave me to use for the princess is hard to find. I don’t have enough for two separate sprinkles.”

  “But if I’m holding Twinket, won’t she shrink with me?” asked Aislin.

  The fairy scowled, as if deep in thought. “I guess so,” he finally said. “But if it doesn’t work and I can’t shrink you, you’ll have to ride a mountain pony instead of a dragonfly. It will be your fault if you’re late.”

  “I’ll take all the blame if I don’t get there as quickly as Queen Surinen wants, but I don’t think you need to worry,” said Aislin. She adjusted the doll in her arms, then looked up at Peri. “I’m ready.”