by E. D. Baker
“We know,” said Queen Maylin. “Which is why we’re going to have the magic guardians alert us when any humans pass through the gate. We’re also going to tell the animals and birds of the forest to follow anyone who enters Eliasind. We’ve grown more cautious after what happened to you. Your father has already used his magic to make our castle impenetrable. No unwelcome visitors will ever be able to enter again.”
“Why don’t you and your ladies-in-waiting go outside to look around?” Queen Surinen suggested to Aislin. “A great deal will be going on outside right now. It’s a very exciting time to be here.”
“I’d like that,” Aislin said. After kissing her mother and her grandmother, she hurried to her rooms to get ready, sending word to her ladies on the way.
Aislin decided to try on the special clothes that Sage and Parsley had made. The fairy seamstresses had designed the clothes that Lin and Deela had wanted, then had gone a step further and made them for the other girls as well. Not only were the leather tunics and leggings pretty with embroidered vines and leaves, they all bore the mestari emblem that Aislin had wanted and were flexible enough to satisfy even the pedrasi and orc girls.
Twinket was excited to hear that she now had a reason to wear her “fun clothes,” as she called the tunic and leggings. Aislin thought the doll looked very cute in them; Twinket thought so, too.
“Maybe I should wear these all the time,” the doll said as the other ladies joined them.
“And not wear those fancy gowns Parsley made for you?” said Poppy. “Give it some time and you’ll have a chance to wear all your new clothes.”
Twinket looked very pleased.
When they reached the first floor of the palace, they found a throng of fey heading toward the main entrance. Aislin’s mestari gathered around her, escorting her through the crowd and out the door. The princess couldn’t help but pause when she reached the top step. The palace had settled in the center of a large lake with sandy beaches and the forest just beyond. It was a beautiful setting and was becoming even lovelier as the fey used their magic. Color exploded at the edge of the forest where a group of fairies danced. The leaves became a lusher green, and the wild flowers spread even as Aislin watched.
A wide bridge made of the clearest crystal arched over the water, connecting the palace to the shore. As Aislin and her mestari stepped onto the bridge, she looked down and saw nymphs splashing in the lake below. One group was racing through the water, disappearing around the side of the palace. The water itself seemed to be clearer and less murky the longer the nymphs played in it.
Other fey had followed the princess’s group outside. Seeing the lake, three water nymphs cried out in delight and dove off the bridge, plunging into the water to swim just below the surface. When fairies spotted the group dancing in the forest, they became tiny and flew off to join their friends.
“Look at that!” Twinket cried. Aislin glanced at the doll and saw that she was sprawled face down on the bridge, peering through the crystal. “Those nymphs are tickling the fish!”
“What fun!” cried Kimble. “I wish I could do that. Let’s go look around, Twinket.”
The doll and the spriggan girl trotted down the bridge faster than the others and disappeared among a family of ogres. When Aislin reached the shore, she paused to look around, too. A group of satyrs were gamboling in a nearby field of wildflowers. A small herd of deer had stopped at the edge of the field to watch as they kicked up their heels while calling to each other in a sharp, barking kind of language.
Fairy warriors trotted past, intent on protecting the fey. Sprites chased each other through the trees. When one spotted a honeycomb, they all gathered around it, taking turns poking it with a stick and swatting away the bees. Aislin was wondering why the sprites weren’t getting stung when a voice called out, “Your Highness, we just wanted to say goodbye before we go.”
A group of knapsack-carrying gnomes had stopped at the edge of the trees. The princess counted at least thirty gnomes, from infants to an elder with a white beard so long that it was braided and wrapped around his neck like a scarf. Aislin recognized a slightly younger gnome as Bobble, who had stopped her when she was on her way from Mount Gora to Deephold.
“I didn’t expect to see you here,” Aislin told him.
“We decided to return to our ancestral home,” Bobble replied.
“Will you have to travel far?” asked Aislin.
“A two-day walk, according to Gramps,” the gnome replied, nodding toward the gnome with the extra-long beard. “We’re going to see if the old stump is still there. Gramps said he hid it well before he left, so we hope nothing has changed. My brother Gambol won’t be joining us. He sent word that he’s staying at the castle in Eliasind with his wife and children. He loves it there and says he wouldn’t dream of leaving. Please say hello to him for me when you see him.”
“I will,” Aislin replied. “Safe travels!”
As the gnomes disappeared into the forest, tiny fairies swirled around Aislin before flying off. A raccoon shuffled out from among the trees and walked up to Poppy. He chittered at her for a moment, then headed back the way he had come.
“What did he say?” asked Aislin.
“That everyone in the forest is happy that the fairies are back. He said the forest is so much nicer when we’re here.”
“That’s good to know,” Aislin said. “I’d hate to think that the animals didn’t want us around.”
A young male ogre stomped up to Aislin wearing a terrifying expression. Lin and Deela stepped in front of the princess with their hands on their weapons, guarding her until he got close enough that they could see his smile. “Surprise!” Kimble shouted, popping up from behind the ogre’s shoulder. Twinket appeared behind his other shoulder, grinning.
“They wanted to see what it was like from up here, so I gave them a ride,” the ogre explained.
“This is fun!” Kimble cried. “Can we keep him?”
Aislin laughed and shook her head. “I’m sure this gentle-ogre has plans of his own. He can’t spend all his time entertaining you two.”
“We didn’t hitch a ride just for fun!” said Twinket. “We came to tell you that humans have been spotted in the forest coming this way.”
“Then we need to go inside to change our clothes and prepare for their arrival. That means you, too, Twinket and Kimble,” Aislin said when the ogre started to turn, still carrying his passengers. “You do have a job to do.”
Kimble leaned over to whisper in Twinket’s ear. The doll smiled at her and nodded before they both scrambled down the ogre’s back.
“Thanks for the ride!” Twinket called as the ogre lumbered away.
“Any time,” he told them, waving.
Kimble grabbed Twinket’s hand and they ran toward the crystal bridge together.
“I think those two are planning something,” Poppy whispered to Aislin.
Aislin sighed. “I’m sure you’re right, and it’s bound to cause trouble, whatever it is.”
Aislin had just put on the primrose-yellow gown that had been draped across her bed when three fairies flew through her window. “Queen Surinen sent us to fix your hair,” they said, fluttering around her. “Please stand still. She said that we need to be quick about it. The humans will be here soon and everyone is expecting you in the throne room.”
“Can you do my hair, too?” Twinket asked from her seat on the table. She had dressed in a bluebell-colored gown trimmed with tiny silver bells. When she stood up, the bells made a soft, sweet sound.
“We’ll see,” said one of the fairies.
Aislin stood with her eyes closed as the fairies darted around her, tugging out her braids, combing out her hair, then putting it up. They poked and prodded, yanked and patted; it all took less than a minute. When they were done, two of them held up her hand mirror while another said, “Open your eyes.”
The princess smiled when she saw her reflection. They had arranged her hair in soft curls around her fac
e, using primrose-headed pins to hold it up. The rest of her long, dark hair cascaded down her back with more primroses tucked into the curls.
“Now me!” Twinket cried. “You have time. I can run really fast if I have to.”
The fairies laughed, and the sound was even sweeter than Twinket’s bells.
“We’ll do it!” two fairies exclaimed. Zipping around so fast that they were almost a blur, the fairies rearranged the doll’s fine yarn hair on top of her head, adding even more silver bells.
“Hurry!” the fairies told the princess.
Aislin picked up Twinket and ran to the door. Her other ladies were waiting for her in the chamber just outside. They were all wearing dresses that complemented the princess’s gown, in shades of cream and blue with mestari emblems on their shoulders. Aislin thought they all looked lovely. After pausing just long enough to greet them, she led them out the door and down the corridor.
“Use the magic door!” Poppy suggested, and the princess nodded.
The magic door was one of the fairy queen’s creations. Located near the royal suites, it took one directly to the throne room on the opposite side of the palace. Only a member of the royal family could open it, though once it was open, anyone could pass through.
The girls waited while Aislin opened the door, revealing a sparkling light just inside. Stepping over the threshold, she found herself facing the raised dais made of moss-covered boulders where the thrones made of arched and curled living branches stood. A chipmunk peeked out at her from among the rocks, while a wren twittered from the back of the king’s throne. As the princess approached her family down the aisle through the throng of waiting fey, her ladies came through the door one after the other.
“Good, you’re here,” said Queen Surinen. “Your parents have been waiting to say goodbye to you before they leave.”
“Your mother and I have to take Timzy back to Eliasind,” Aislin’s father explained. “We’ve received word that a person everyone refers to only as ‘She’ has been spreading rumors that King Darinar is abandoning them and that no one will protect them now. Even worse, a small group attacked the Big Foot, Fluffy, who was on her way to our castle. They pelted her with stones and broke one of her fangs, just because she’s a friend of our family. Your mother needs to heal her and I need to find the fairies who did it. I also have to spread the word that all the land between the mountains is now Eliasind and that all the fey who live there are under my protection. When you’ve finished helping your grandmother, come home to us. We’ll have much to do.”
Aislin was horrified that fey had attacked poor Fluffy. To think that anyone could be so cruel! And the fact that “She” was still spreading rumors about her family made Aislin feel sick to her stomach. Queen Maylin saw the expression on Aislin’s face. “Don’t worry, my darling,” said the queen. “Your father and I will take care of it.”
Aislin felt a little better after her mother hugged her, but she needed to tell them what she knew. “Someone they call ‘She’ was spreading rumors about me, too. ‘She’ convinced some of the fey that I’m the reason that everyone has to move, saying that it was because I liked the human world. ‘She’ also told them that they don’t have a choice and have to go, even if they don’t want to.”
King Carrigan looked grim when he nodded. “We need to ferret out the identity of the person making up these lies.” Pulling Aislin into his arms for a hug, he murmured, “Everything will be fine.”
“Come home soon,” said Timzy who had been playing with a toy fairy warrior. “I want to go exploring, but Papa says I have to wait until you can go with us.”
Aislin laughed. “I’ll be as quick as I can,” she said, and gave her little brother an extra-long hug.
Only moments after her brother and parents left, Peri, tiny once again, darted into the throne room. Flying directly to the king and queen, he hovered between them to deliver his message, then darted out again.
“The humans are almost here,” Queen Surinen announced. “Aislin, come stand on the dais with us.”
Leaving her mestari behind, Aislin climbed the rocks of the dais, stepping past the ever-flowing waterfall and skirting the blossoming wildflowers. She loved the scents of the forest that permeated the throne room and thought they were finer than any perfume she’d smelled in the human world.
When she reached the rock just below her grandfather’s throne, Aislin asked, “How did the humans get here so fast? We’ve only just arrived.”
King Darinar leaned toward her to reply. “I had made this forest impenetrable when we left, so no human has been able to enter it in our absence. After your grandmother and I decided to return, I sent word to the humans and told them where to look for us. They have been waiting just outside the forest. When we returned, they were once again able to enter. Even so, the humans arriving now must have ridden their swiftest horses to get through the forest this quickly.”
A bird trilled and the king looked up. “The humans have entered the palace,” he announced. “I thought I’d never see another human here again, but no one can plan for everything.”
The fey turned toward the closed doors to wait. Most of them hadn’t seen a human in hundreds of years, while others had never seen them at all. Some waited with anticipation, some with abject dislike, but all of them were curious to see who would be the first to visit the fairy palace.
As the door opened, Aislin was disappointed when it was just Duke Fadding, the Duke of Scarmander, who entered the throne room. But when she saw the person behind him, she couldn’t stop smiling. Tomas, the duke’s son, had come.
Chapter 11
Although Aislin wanted to call out to Tomas, she knew better than to try. She watched as he approached the throne with his father. At first her friend seemed enthralled with the fey standing on either side of the aisle, gazing warily at the ogres and orcs and curiously at the fairies, satyrs, gnomes, sprites, and nymphs. When a tiny fairy broke protocol and flew higher to get a better look at the humans, Tomas’s gaze followed her to the ceiling, watching as clouds seemed to scud by. His mouth dropped open as he and his father neared the dais, which looked as if it were located in the middle of a forest glade, with a turtle basking on a sun-warmed rock at the edge of the waterfall and hummingbirds flitting between pink and purple flowers at the base of blooming dogwood trees.
Duke Fadding stopped yards from the dais and bowed his head. Tomas walked beside him, but he was staring at the fairy king and queen so intently that he would have kept going if his father hadn’t put out his hand. When Tomas realized what he was doing, he stopped abruptly beside his father and bowed his head as well.
“Welcome to Fairengar,” King Darinar told them. “I trust all is well between Scarmander and Morain?”
Duke Fadding and Tomas looked up. The duke nodded. “Yes, Your Majesty. The accord you helped us reach has held better than any we would have made on our own.”
Aislin glanced at her grandfather. After Poppy had contacted them, he and her father had come to find Aislin and had ended up interceeding in the first battle in what might have been a lengthy war. Because the evil fairy Aghamonda had been involved, King Darinar had felt duty bound to negotiate peace between the two kingdoms. Apparently, the humans appreciated his efforts.
Aislin turned back and saw that Tomas had finally noticed her. He was looking at her with a big grin on his face, too. It made her realize how much she had missed him, and how glad she was to see him again. Eager to talk to her friend about all that had happened since she last saw him, Aislin paid little attention to the rest of the conversation her grandparents had with Duke Fadding.
They were still talking when Peri returned, tiny once again, and spoke to the fairy king and queen, telling them that other humans had arrived and were on their way to the throne room. Before too long, King Markeen of Halugonia, Queen Solange of Soodfriede, and King Arturo of Tamweld arrived. Aislin knew they had come great distances to pay homage to the fairy king and queen.
&nb
sp; Although Aislin thought King Markeen’s pointed hat covered with jingling bells was funny, she didn’t like the way he glanced at the fairies closest to him with distaste. When a fairy smiled at him, he looked dismayed, as if he didn’t know what to do. Queen Solange held herself aloof, trying hard not to look at the fey as she walked between their ranks. She seemed nervous when she approached the dais and found it difficult to meet the eyes of King Darinar and Queen Surinen. King Arturo was a rounded man with a red face who laughed a lot. Aislin thought he laughed too much, including at things that weren’t funny. When he stumbled over his own feet, she thought that he might be nervous, too.
King Markeen had also brought his son with him. The sullen young man looked as if he’d rather be anywhere but there. The doors opened again and King Tyburr of Morain walked in with Prince Rory, Princess Selene and Queen Tatya. Aislin was happy to see Selene, although she would have been delighted if she never saw Rory again. Three of Selene’s ladies-in-waiting entered, too, along with three of the queen’s. They stopped near the back of the room while the royals approached the dais. Aislin knew precisely when the girls spotted her because their jaws dropped and they looked dazed.
Queen Surinen must have seen it, too. She laughed and turned to Aislin. “Are those the girls you mentioned?”
“They are,” the princess replied. “I don’t think they could look more surprised.” Aislin tried not to laugh at the expressions on their faces, so different from the smug disdain they usually wore.
“Tomas hasn’t stopped staring at you,” said King Darinar. “Why don’t you go talk to him?”
“If you’re sure it’s all right,” Aislin said.
When he nodded, she fairly flew down the stones to work her way between the fey to Tomas’s side. Curious, the fey she passed turned to watch her.
