by E. D. Baker
The dance had just ended when King Darinar approached and held out his hand. Aislin smiled up at her grandfather, relieved that she didn’t have to make small talk with someone she didn’t know very well.
“Are you enjoying yourself?” asked her grandfather.
“Very much,” said Aislin. “This is a lovely ball and your musicians are outdoing themselves. And the glamour you created for the ballroom is amazing.”
King Darinar laughed. “That was all your grandmother’s doing. I saw you dancing with Tomas and now he can’t keep his eyes off you.”
Aislin felt herself blush, but all she said was, “We’re just friends.”
“And what about King Tyburr’s son? He’s been watching you all evening as well.”
“That’s Rory and he is not a friend,” said Aislin.
“Ah, yes, I remember now. He’s the one who was so rude to you. Would you like me to turn him into something small and quiet for the rest of the evening? I haven’t turned anyone into a mouse in years.”
Aislin laughed and shook her head. “That won’t be necessary, but thank you for the offer.”
The dance ended a few minutes later and a fairy courtier named Rye came to ask for the next one. He was sweeping her around the circle when she spotted Tomas dancing with Selene. When Rye twirled her around, Tomas and Selene disappeared among the other dancers. As Aislin was looking for them a few minutes later, she saw Rory watching her from the side. Feeling his eyes on her was enough to make her uncomfortable. She really didn’t want to dance with him, but when he approached during the next not-so-fast song and asked to cut in, she couldn’t be rude and refuse.
Although Aislin didn’t want Rory to touch her, she also didn’t want to make a scene, so she took his hand when he offered it and let him twirl her through the dancers. To her surprise, Rory took her past the mushrooms so that they were outside the ring.
“What are you doing?” she asked, pulling away from him.
“I just wanted to talk,” he replied. “I couldn’t think of any other way to get you alone.”
Aislin sighed. “We don’t have anything to talk about, Rory. I don’t like you and I know you don’t like me, despite what you said earlier.”
“That’s not true!” Rory exclaimed. “I do like you and I think we could have a real future together. I was a fool to treat you the way I did in Morain and I’d like to make it up to you.”
Aislin didn’t believe him, no matter how sincere he was trying to look. She let him ramble on while she glanced back at the dancers inside the fairy ring. It struck her as odd that none of the flower fairies had gotten small so they could dance in the air the way they usually did. Everything seemed incredibly real, too. The glamour was so perfect that she could have sworn she heard animals rustling in the forest around them, even though she knew she was standing in the great hall and—
“If you won’t listen to me, maybe this will get your attention,” Rory said, pulling her into his arms for a kiss.
It was the first time a boy had ever really tried to kiss her and she wasn’t at all happy about it. She’d thought her first kiss would be something special, not forced on her by someone she didn’t even like. It was unpleasant, too, kind of squishy and greasy, like he’d just eaten something fried and forgotten to wipe his mouth afterward. Putting her hands on his shoulders, she pushed him so that he fell back and sat down heavily.
“Don’t ever touch me again!” she told him.
“I just wanted to show you what you’d be missing if you keep turning me down,” Rory said, sounding sullen.
Something above them made a sound, drawing her gaze. A giant rabbit loomed over them, twitching its nose and whiskers. Aislin let out a small shriek; it was enough to make Rory tilt his head back to look up. “What is that?” he whispered to Aislin.
“A rabbit,” she told him.
Looking around, she noted how impossibly tall the trees looked, how cushy the moss felt underfoot, and that a fallen leaf seemed unusually huge. She knew her grandmother’s glamours were exceptional, but she doubted that even the fairy queen could create one that was this detailed and complete. Besides, if her intent was to make a glamour of a fairy ring, why go so far as to include the forest around it? That didn’t make any sense, unless it wasn’t a glamour at all.
Suddenly, Aislin realized that her grandmother must have done something even more impressive than create a realistic glamour. She had turned the door to the great hall into a magic portal that took anyone who stepped through to a real fairy ring. Not only did the portal transport them, it also shrank them down to the size of a tiny fairy. No wonder the fairies didn’t try to get smaller! They were already tiny, although this time they didn’t have their wings.
“Wow!” Aislin exclaimed. “This is amazing.”
“What?” asked Rory. “None of this is real.”
The rabbit crouched lower to sniff them. Its breath stirred Aislin’s dress and ruffled Rory’s hair so that it fell into his eyes.
“Actually, I think it is,” Aislin told him. “This isn’t a glamour.”
“You mean that’s a giant rabbit?” Rory squeaked.
“No,” said Aislin. “I think it’s probably the normal size for a rabbit. It’s just that we’re tiny.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Rory snapped. “I’m the same size I’ve always been.”
Aislin glanced from Rory to the rabbit, to the mushrooms to the trees. “So, you’re the same and everything else became huge?”
Rory shrank back as the rabbit snuffled his hair again. “I might be wrong,” the prince said even as he inched toward the mushroom ring. “Tell me, are we stuck like this for good? Because I never gave my permission for any of this. My father is going to be furious when he finds out.”
“Your father is at the ball, so he’s small now, too. And this isn’t permanent,” Aislin assured him. “Once you go back through that door, I’m sure you’ll be your old self again.”
“Good,” Rory said. “We’ll talk again later.”
Aislin watched him dart back between the mushrooms and head straight for the door. She was sure that most people would enjoy the chance to be tiny for a while, but apparently Rory wasn’t one of them. Regardless of the reason for his sudden departure, she was glad that he was gone.
Chapter 12
After a late night at the ball, Aislin had looked forward to sleeping in. She’d told her ladies about her plans, so she wasn’t expecting to have Poppy knock and walk into her bedchamber early the next morning.
“I hate to disturb you,” the fairy said, “but the guards want to know what they should do with Twinket and Kimble.”
Aislin opened her eyes to peer at her friend. “What do you mean?” she asked.
“The captain of the guards told me that Twinket and Kimble were caught painting pictures of fairies in the great hall. On the walls. Life-sized. I’ve seen them. The pictures are actually very well done; you can tell exactly who they’re supposed to be. The fairies they painted are furious.”
“Where are Twinket and Kimble now?” Aislin asked, suddenly awake.
“They’re under guard in the great hall,” said Poppy. “The captain won’t release them until he talks to you.”
“Then I guess I’m getting up,” Aislin said, and slid out of bed.
She was about to throw on an old dress until she remembered that there were visiting humans in the palace. Looking anything but her best wasn’t a good idea now. Although it took her longer than she would have liked, she washed her face and brushed her hair before putting on a jade green dress with vines embroidered on the sleeves that Sage and Parsley had left for her. Except for the two culprits, all her mestari were waiting in her sitting room. They followed her as she hurried down the corridor.
“I had a feeling Twinket and Kimble were planning some sort of mischief,” Aislin told Poppy. “All that whispering and giggling yesterday had to mean something. I ignored it though, because I was glad they’d become frie
nds.”
“I’ve never seen Twinket this happy before,” Poppy replied.
“I know, but she’s never done anything like this before either. I’m starting to think that Kimble may not be a good influence on her.”
Aislin heard voices as she approached the great hall; the fairies who were gathered outside the door scattered as soon as they caught sight of the princess and her mestari. She found Twinket and Kimble seated at the side of the hall with three fairy guards watching over them. They were all laughing when she walked up and grew quiet when they saw her. Two of the guards stepped away from the wall, revealing the paintings.
Aislin knew she should be angry, but she couldn’t keep from laughing when she saw what Twinket and Kimble had done. The paintings were more caricatures of the fairies than realistic likenesses, emphasizing their more obvious traits. The fairy who smiled in response to everything wore an enormous grin. The tallest fairy had bean tendrils wrapped around her as if she were an actual beanpole. The quietest fairy had her finger in front of her lips, shushing everyone. The most boisterous fairy had her head thrown back and was laughing in a way that made anyone who saw it want to laugh, too.
“I’m sorry for disturbing you, Your Highness,” said Captain Larch, “but I wanted you to see this. The paintings were already here when my men came through before dawn and we’ve had complaints all morning. Your ladies shouldn’t have painted these and they need to be punished. They are your ladies, however, and you should be the one to decide how to handle this.”
“Are they in trouble because they painted these particular pictures, which I think are actually very nice,” Aislin said, “or was it because of where they painted the pictures?”
The captain glanced at the pictures again. He chuckled when his eyes fell on the laughing fairy. His eyes were still shining when he turned back to Aislin. “It’s the location, Your Highness. This isn’t an art gallery.”
“I see,” said Aislin. “Thank you, Captain. I’ll take care of it. If I might have a moment to speak to my mestari alone?”
“Of course,” he said. Gesturing to his guards, they all left the hall.
“Whatever were you thinking?” Aislin asked Twinket and Kimble.
“That it would be fun,” Twinket told her and grinned at Kimble. “And it was!”
Aislin sighed. “You should never paint pictures where it isn’t allowed. The great hall is definitely one of those places.”
“How were we supposed to know that?” asked Kimble. “I painted the walls in the cave where I lived with my parents and everybody liked it.”
“That’s different,” said Aislin. “This palace belongs to the fairy king and queen and you can paint only if you get permission first. Your paintings are very good, but you didn’t ask first, so you have to clean them off the walls.”
“But we put a lot of work into them!” wailed Twinket.
“And we stayed up all night to do them,” Kimble added.
“Even so, you should have asked before you started painting,” Aislin replied. “Poppy, can you give them soap and scrub brushes that will take this paint off and leave the walls as good as new?”
With a flick of her fingers, Poppy made everything they needed appear on the floor in front of them.
“If she can do that, why can’t Poppy just wiggle her fingers and clean the walls?” asked Kimble.
“Because Poppy didn’t paint the walls and it’s not up to her to clean them,” Aislin told her.
“Poppy, Lin, and I will stay to make sure Twinket and Kimble don’t miss anything,” said Deela.
“Good,” Aislin replied. “I have something to take care of now. Bring them to my chambers when they’re finished.”
Twinket and Kimble were already scrubbing the wall when Aislin hurried back to her rooms. She knew what she wanted to find; she just didn’t know where to start looking. Her fairy grandparents were aware that she loved to read, so they’d given her lots of books that they thought she might enjoy. Although the books were neatly stored in niches in her walls, they weren’t in any order, so it took her a while to find the ones she wanted.
Aislin’s arms were loaded down with books when she returned to her sitting room. She stacked the books on the table, then took out a leaf and a writing stick. She was still working on her notes when her ladies knocked and walked in.
“Are you finished?” she asked Twinket and Kimble.
“Yeah, although it was a real shame,” Kimble told her. “That was some of my best work!”
“It was very good,” said Aislin. “Which is why I want you to do some painting for me. These are my rooms, and my grandparents told me long ago that I can decorate them however I please. I’d love for you to paint murals on the walls. I have some books that might give you ideas of the scenes I’d like you to include.” She patted the stack of books on her table. Small leaves stuck out of the books to mark the places she wanted them to see. “I made notes of everything I want. It’s all right here.”
“Do you want us to start now?” asked Twinket.
“Not this minute,” Aislin said. “I thought we could all go outside for some fresh air and see how the fey are settling down. Maybe we’ll get more ideas for the murals, too.”
Her mestari were just as eager as she was to see how magic was changing the world around them. This time when they crossed the crystal bridge to the shore, they stayed by the lake instead of going into the forest. Kimble was excited about the murals and kept pointing out trees and water views that she’d like to include in her paintings. Twinket spotted a jack-in-the-pulpit that she wanted to paint.
The little doll was bending down to examine the plant when the rest of the mestari noticed that Selene and her ladies were only a short distance away. “Look at that!” Poppy exclaimed, pointing at Merrilee and Joselle who were both making jerky, hopping movements as they followed the human princess. “I told you that there might be side effects!”
“Once a toad, aways a toad,” said Deela.
Kimble started grinning when she saw Laneece. “She’s wearing gloves to cover her red fingers. I bet she wears them all the time now. Maybe that will teach her not to try to steal from the fey!”
“We’ll have to tell Sage and Parsley just how well their anti-theft spell worked!” said Lin.
Aislin laughed. “I’m sure this is one trip that none of them will ever forget.”
“Come on, Twinket,” Kimble told her friend. “You’ve looked at that jack-in-the-pulpit long enough. We have places to go and more plants to see.” Aislin and her mestari had walked partway around the palace when they suddenly heard the shrill shrieking of tiny fairies in distress coming from the forest. “Stay here, Your Highness,” Deela said, setting her hand on her sword. “I’ll go see what’s happening. Lin, protect the princess.”
The pedrasi girl nodded and took her war hammer from her belt. As the orc ran off, Lin scanned the forest on one side and the water on the other, looking for anything unusual.
“I found the problem!” Deela called from among the trees. “It’s safe to come here now.”
Aislin and the other ladies ran into the forest to join her. They found the orc bent over three tiny fairies on a moss-covered boulder. Buttercup was sitting down, Dandelion was kneeling, and Cornflower was crouched with one hand on the moss. All three of them were holding fragrant honeysuckle blossoms in their free hands, and their eyes were red from crying.
“Please help us,” cried the fairy named Buttercup. “We’re stuck and our magic isn’t working.”
“The moss is covered with sticky pine sap, even though there aren’t any pine trees in this part of the forest,” Deela explained. “We’ll have to pry the fairies off.”
Aislin was confused. There didn’t seem to be anything special about the boulder—certainly nothing that would attract a flower fairy.
“Why did you land here?” Aislin asked them.
“We followed the scent of these luscious honeysuckle blossoms,” said Cornflower
. “They were lying right here on this rock.”
“There aren’t any honeysuckle vines near here though,” Aislin said as she looked around. “Someone must have done this purposefully to trap fairies.”
“What a horrid thing to do!” cried Poppy.
“Can’t you turn big and get free yourself?” Kimble asked the fairies.
Buttercup shook her head as tears trickled down her cheeks. “We tried, but our magic doesn’t work at all now.”
Poppy held out her hand. The air around it began to sparkle, but when she sent her magic to the tiny fairies, the sparkles died away as soon as they got close to the moss. She pursed her lips and concentrated. When nothing happened, she said, “We can’t use my magic to help them either.”
“We’ll have to find some way to free them before whoever did this comes back,” Aislin told her mestari.
“If you take a piece of bark, you can work it under the fairies into the moss and scrape them off the rock,” said Lin. “We use pieces of slate to scrape algae off the rocks back home.”
“Good idea,” said Aislin. “Then we can take them back to the palace and Queen Surinen can find out why the fairies’ magic doesn’t work. Just be careful, we don’t want to hurt them.”
They had all started looking for pieces of bark big enough to use when they heard the high, shrill scream of more tiny fairies. “I’ll go this time,” Lin announced, and took off deeper into the forest. Aislin watched her remaining friends for a moment, glad that she’d chosen ladies who really cared about others. She doubted that any of Selene’s ladies-in-waiting would have even tried to help the fairies.
They were still trying to free the original fairies when Lin came rushing back. “I found more fairies just like these,” the pedrasi girl told them. “Twinket, Kimble, come with me.”
The three of them ran off, leaving Deela and Poppy with Aislin. When they heard more screaming start in another direction, Poppy said, “I’ll go,” and hurried away, taking a piece of bark with her.
