Power of a Princess

by E. D. Baker

  Peri sighed and shook his head even as he opened the pouch. Dumping the contents into his hand, he sprinkled it over Aislin and stepped back. Pale purple dust sparkled around her for a moment, then suddenly she was tiny.

  Although she was half pedrasi and half fairy, Aislin took mostly after her pedrasi side and shared their abilities, which her fairy side only seemed to enhance. For much of her life, Aislin had mourned her lack of fairy skills. She couldn’t turn tiny on her own, sprout wings, fly, talk to animals, or do any of the dozens of other things that she wished she could do. Fairies had used shrinking dust on her a few times before, but it was something she would never get used to. She gulped and tried not to think about her stomach while Peri summoned a dragonfly steed. The dust had worked on both her and Twinket, which gave her mixed feelings. She’d get there faster, but riding a dragonfly made her super sick to her stomach. Darting here and there was not her favorite way to travel. Peri had a special affinity for dragonflies, however, so they were always his first choice.

  Aislin’s family always seemed so sure that she’d be thrilled at the chance to fly that she’d never told them how much it bothered her. She’d just have to hope Peri could summon a good tailwind and that the trip wouldn’t take too long.

  Because Aislin couldn’t talk to the dragonfly, she had to depend on Peri to give the insect directions. After the fairy shrank so he was tiny, too, he spoke to the dragonfly for a moment in a buzzing sound, then told Aislin, “His name is Fizzzit. He’s flown with me before.”

  Fizzzit was beautiful with blue and green wings, but he looked grumpy when she climbed on, as if he didn’t really want her there. When Peri told the dragonfly to hold still, he did, but the moment she was seated he took off, his wings beating just behind Aislin so she had the wind from the front and the breeze from his wings in the back. She was chilled to the bone within seconds.

  “This is fun!” Twinket cried as they left Deephold and darted over the river and the forest canopy.

  “Yeah, loads of fun,” Aislin said, shivering.

  “We’re in a real hurry,” said Peri, “so I brought some special dust that will help us get there faster.”

  Opening a second pouch, he took out a pinch of orange fairy dust. It floated over to the dragonfly despite the wind and settled on the insect’s head. Although Fizzzit’s wings didn’t move any faster, he was suddenly speeding through the air. Peri flew beside them as they passed over miles and miles of forest, his own dragonfly-like wings almost a blur. After a while, Aislin was so enthralled by the scenery zipping past below them that she stopped paying attention to her upset stomach.

  “Wow!” Twinket exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. “I’ve never gone this fast before. Look, I can already see Fairengar.”

  Aislin looked where the doll was pointing. She was surprised to see that the fairy palace lay straight ahead now, glittering in the light of the setting sun. Made of marble and crystal, moonbeams and sunbeams, the palace was something that only the king and queen of the fairies could have created. Nearly everyone thought it was the most beautiful building in the world. Although Aislin had stayed there many times, she always felt a prickle of excitement when she saw it.

  Within minutes, Fizzzit was landing on the palace steps with Peri still beside him. Aislin slid off the dragonfly’s back and staggered as the insect flew away. The world seemed to be moving under her feet and the feeling only grew worse when Peri returned her to her normal size. The moment Peri was big again, he hurried off to his next assignment, leaving the princess behind.

  Though Aislin was happy to have arrived, she could no longer ignore her queasiness. “I don’t feel very well,” she told Twinket.

  “Then put me down!” Twinket demanded. “If you’re going to be sick, don’t do it on me.” They had traveled together so often that the doll knew the kind of effect that flying had on Aislin.

  “I wasn’t going to,” Aislin replied as she set Twinket on the marble step. “At least, I don’t think I was.”

  When she was in the air, Aislin didn’t usually have rock nearby that she could draw on for power. She supposed she could have opened her knapsack to touch the calcite globe, but holding on to the dragonfly had been the most that she could manage. There was plenty of stone in the palace, however, so there was no need to suffer any longer. Taking a seat beside Twinket, Aislin closed her eyes and reached into the marble. Her body was humming with power when she tapped into her healing abilities to soothe her upset stomach.

  Aislin hadn’t been sitting there long when Lady Hyacinth appeared at the top of the wide staircase. Lady Hyacinth was one of the fairy queen’s ladies-in-waiting and always wore a dress of deep-blue petals. She normally looked very regal and reserved, but when she saw Aislin her eyes lit up and she ran down the steps. Like many fairies, she had never had any children of her own and had been delighted to watch over the infant Aislin. She was still very fond of Aislin, who was just as fond of her.

  “My dear, you’re here! Queen Surinen told me that you’d be coming and asked me to look out for you, but I didn’t know that you’d get here so soon.”

  “Peri brought me,” Aislin told her.

  The princess glanced down and spotted some of the orange fairy dust on her shoulder. Wearing a look of distaste, she flicked it off onto the floor.

  “You’re shivering! That rascal must not have used a warming spell or protected you from the wind. I’ll have a word with him later! But let’s get you to Her Majesty’s solar and I’ll send for a hot drink that will warm you up.”

  “No, thank you,” said Aislin. “I don’t think I could drink it right now. My stomach is still a bit off.”

  “All right. We must hurry though. Your entire family is waiting for you.”

  Lady Hyacinth chattered the whole way up the gleaming palace steps and along the corridor to the staircase that would take them to the royal chambers. Aislin glanced back now and then to make sure that Twinket was able to keep pace, but the little doll was always right behind her. They were nearing the next staircase when Aislin saw her other best friend, Poppy, coming toward her.

  “I have to talk to you,” the fairy girl said as she gave Aislin a quick hug hello. “Something has come up and it’s super important.”

  Aislin gave Poppy a closer look, but her friend seemed more excited than nervous or worried. Whatever she wanted to talk about, it had to be something good.

  “You’ll have to discuss it later,” Lady Hyacinth told the girls. “Queen Surinen is expecting the princess.”

  “I’ll talk to you as soon as I can,” Aislin told Poppy. “Wait for me in my room.”

  “Fine, but don’t make any decisions without talking to me!” Poppy called as Aislin and Lady Hyacinth hurried up the stairs.

  When Aislin glanced back, Twinket had stayed behind to talk to Poppy. Whatever they were discussing, they both seemed very excited.

  Aislin was happy to see her family seated in a circle before the huge window that made up one wall of Queen Surinen’s solar, but even more interested in what she saw outside the window. Unlike her mother’s solar, which was bright and cheerful only when it was sunny out, the fairy queen’s solar was always filled with light. Powerful fairy magic made the scenery outside the window change with the queen’s whims. Occasionally the window looked out on the forest that actually surrounded the palace. On other days, the view might be of distant mountains or faraway forests. Today a large lake with tall trees rimming it filled the view.

  Aislin had gotten only a quick glimpse of the lake when Timzy threw himself at her, almost knocking her to the floor. Aislin hadn’t seen her little brother since the human king, Tyburr, took her from Eliasind. Once she was safely back in the land between the mountains, she had been too busy to go to Eliasind.

  “Are you really all right?” Timzy demanded, hugging her like their lives depended on it. “Were the humans horrible to you? Did they hurt you? Because if they did, I’ll hunt them down and—”

  �
�They didn’t hurt me,” Aislin said, kissing the top of his head. “I’m fine. Are you all right?”

  “Of course, I am,” he said, looking up at her, but his eyes were rimmed with red and she wondered if he’d been crying.

  “Let your sister breathe,” Queen Maylin said, coming to stand beside them. She patted her son’s back, then turned to hug Aislin.

  A few seconds later, Aislin’s fairy grandmother stepped up, with her arms open. Although Aislin had more pedrasi abilities than fairy, she and Queen Surinen had always had a special bond. They seemed to understand each other without saying a word, and they had the same sense of humor, laughing at things that other people often didn’t understand. They also resembled each other, with their dark hair and violet eyes, though the fairy queen’s face was more slender and her ears were more pointed. Aislin’s pedrasi skin was darker, having tanned from years spent outside. Her pedrasi blood made her sturdier, too. She wasn’t a mirror image of her grandmother, but the resemblance was enough that everyone saw it.

  “How was your visit with King Talus?” the fairy queen asked as Aislin gave her a hug and kiss on the cheek. Although Aislin treated Queen Surinen with the respect due to the queen when they were in public, she treated her like her grandmother when there was only family around.

  “It was good,” Aislin said as she went to hug her grandfather. “I met some interesting people and learned some interesting things.”

  “Did you learn anything more about your abilities?” asked King Darinar.

  Aislin nodded. “I did. It seems they’re still developing. You’d be surprised by what I can do now.”

  “We were already surprised,” her father told her from across the room. “You’ll have to give us a demonstration sometime.”

  Aislin hurried to greet him. “I will, although I think I’ll need a lot of rock around to do it.”

  Her father looked proud as he reached out to hug her.

  “You should have seen what our Aislin did when we were subduing Aghamonda,” the fairy king told his wife.

  “As you’ve said a hundred times,” she said, smiling gently. Turning to Aislin, she added, “Your grandfather and your father are both very proud of you. You’ve surpassed all their expectations.”

  Aislin laughed. “Mine, too.”

  “Just wait until I’m big like Aislin,” Timzy declared. “I’ll be able to do all sorts of super things!”

  “I’m sure you will,” Aislin said, grinning at him. “I expect you’ll do a lot of things that I can’t.”

  “We finally made our decision about Aghamonda,” Queen Surinen told Aislin as the princess took a seat in the circle.

  The fairy Aghamonda had stayed in the human world when most of the other fey had gone to the land between the mountains. While living among the humans, she had become embroiled in their wars, which was against fey law and was the very thing King Darinar had wanted to avoid. After meeting Aislin, the fairy had tried to imprison her beneath the castle in Scarmander. Aislin’s father and grandfather had returned to the human world where Aislin had helped them capture Aghamonda. The princess really didn’t like the fairy and had been happy to bring her back to Fairengar for sentencing.

  “After much deliberation, we’ve sentenced her to three hundred years in the courtyard as a statue,” said the queen. “If she isn’t repentant then, she’ll receive another three hundred years.”

  “That sounds about right to me,” Aislin told her.

  “If we ever let her go free, we’ll still place restraints on her,” said King Darinar. “Powerful fairies who abuse their power for their own ends are never to be trusted. Once, long ago, we were foolish enough to believe someone like her had become good again and have regretted it ever since.”

  “Did you ever find out why Aghamonda wanted to trap Baibre in the locket?” Aislin asked.

  “We did indeed,” her grandfather replied. “Aghamonda had discovered some of the older, long-forbidden magic, including a spell that would transfer another fairy’s power to her. The spell was strongest if the fairy was a close relative.”

  “And so she chose her sister,” said Aislin. “How is Baibre now?”

  “She’s doing very well,” said Queen Surinen. “We helped her find her parents, and they’re still here in the palace. If you run into her in the corridors, don’t be surprised if you don’t recognize her. Baibre’s mother convinced her to make herself look young again. I’m not sure how long they’ll stay with us, though. Baibre has been talking about taking her parents to live in the human part of the world when we move back.”

  “When will that be?” Aislin asked her.

  “In less than a week,” Queen Surinen replied.

  Aislin’s eyes opened wide in surprise. She hadn’t expected it to be nearly that soon.

  “We want you to go with us and spend some time in the human world. We’ve discussed this with your parents and they’ve given their approval. You already know some of these people and how to deal with them. We thought that having you there might make the transition easier. You can locate the fairies that you met and bring them to court, as well as find others who were left behind who need to be helped. What do you think? Are you interested?”

  Aislin didn’t have to think about it for long. She had returned from the human world only a week before. It had never occurred to her to go back there so soon, but of course she would go if they needed her. When she nodded, a kind of tenseness left her grandparents’ faces and they both smiled. Apparently, they hadn’t been so sure that she would say yes.

  “Wonderful!” said the king.

  “We’ll be with you for the move,” said Aislin’s mother, “but we won’t stay for long. As soon as everyone is settled, your father and Timzy and I will go back to Eliasind.”

  “And that brings me to the reason we wanted you back here now,” Queen Surinen told Aislin.

  The queen studied her granddaughter’s face intently, waiting to see how she’d react as she continued. “Humans will be coming to visit us at court, and you’ll be meeting them when you’re out and around in their world. We recall from when we lived among them long ago that they were easily impressed with luxury and pretentiousness, as well as shows of strength. It is a common practice among them for queens and princesses to have ladies-in-waiting in attendance. I believe that you will need some as well, if only to keep up appearances.”

  “But I don’t need ladies-in-waiting! I like doing things for myself,” said Aislin.

  Though she had thought that helping her fairy grandparents would be exciting, she dreaded the thought of dealing with all the rules and protocol of formal palace life.

  “I understand that,” said the fairy queen. “And in private you need not have them do anything. But when you are in public, you should have your ladies in attendance at all times, just as I do.”

  “Do you have your ladies-in-waiting just to impress people?” Aislin asked her.

  The queen laughed. “I had them when we lived among the humans for that very reason. Later, I’d become so accustomed to having them around, and they’d become so used to the luxurious lives they enjoy in the palace, that I never wanted to make them leave. I’ll let you in on a little secret,” she said, lowering her voice to a half whisper, “I like doing many things for myself, too.”

  Aislin smiled back at her and they both laughed. But then it occurred to the princess that she didn’t know anything about ladies-in-waiting. “How do I find them? If we’re leaving in less than a week, I don’t have much time.”

  “I’ve made a list of suggestions,” Queen Surinen said. With a wave of her hand, a leaf appeared out of the air and floated down onto Aislin’s lap. “You may follow the suggestions or come up with your own list. The choice of who your ladies will be is up to you. All I ask is that you have at least five before we leave. You’ll also have fairy guards to watch over you, but I’ll take care of assigning them.”

  Aislin stifled a yawn. “I’ve had a really long day and I thi
nk I need to go to bed before I fall asleep here.”

  “You must eat first!” cried her grandmother. The queen picked up a bluebell blossom from the table beside her and rang it. A moment later three footmen entered the room carrying platters of fruit, nuts, and small seed cakes.

  Aislin glanced out the window, then turned back to her grandmother as the footmen began offering food. “I wanted to ask you about that lake,” Aislin said, gesturing toward the window and the glistening water beyond. “I think I’m familiar with all the big lakes in the land between the mountains, but I’ve never seen that one. What lake is that?”

  “It isn’t in the land between the mountains,” said King Darinar. “That lake is in the human kingdoms, deep in the forest between Scarmander and Tamweld. Before we moved our palace here, we placed a spell on the forest to keep humans out and the land unclaimed in case we ever wanted to return. That lake is where our palace used to be. We filled it with water so nothing would grow there. Now that we’re returning, that is where our palace will go.”

  “The forest is lovely,” said Aislin.

  “Yes,” Queen Surinen replied, “but not nearly as lovely as it will be after we bring magic back to the human kingdoms.”

  Aislin was struggling to keep her eyes open by the time the family finished their simple meal. Her mother and Timzy escorted her to her suite of rooms and said good night at the door. She went inside, yawning broadly.

  Stepping into her suite in the fairy palace was like stepping into another world. Giant toadstools grew up from the mossy floor providing seats around the sitting room. Large windows framed with flowers looked out over the forest where bats were carrying tiny fairies out for an evening ride. A desk shaped from a living tree held a stack of leaves and ink sticks for writing. A fairy light glowed over the desk while others were scattered around the room.

  Aislin took off her shoes so she could feel the moss under her feet, but had only a moment to enjoy it before Twinket jumped off a toadstool and came running over. “What took so long? We’ve been waiting for ages!”