Princess Before Dawn

by E. D. Baker

  Although the book didn’t say anything about how to get rid of vampires, Annie already knew how she could find out. What better way to learn about vampires than to talk to one who would answer her questions? Regardless of what was happening in the castle, Annie had to go to Greater Greensward to meet Millie’s friend, and she had to do it soon.

  CHAPTER 5

  Annie was excited about going to Greater Greensward, not only because she hoped someone there could help them, but also to see her friends Millie and Audun. Annie and Liam had met the couple while on their grand tour. One of the postcards that Holly, the woods witch, had given them took them directly to the castle of Greater Greensward. They had met Millie and Audun only minutes after arriving, and had become friends while dealing with the nasty wizard Rotan. The only reason Annie and Liam had been able to return home when they did was because their new friends had taken them to the Magic Marketplace to purchase more postcards.

  Now that Annie had a pressing reason, she couldn’t wait to go back. After returning the book to the shelf, she started searching for Liam, but he wasn’t in the great hall or anywhere else she looked. She found Squidge peering into a mousehole with the cat, but when she asked if he’d seen Liam, he shrugged and said, “No, I’ve been too busy.”

  Finally spotting Captain Sterling in the corridor, Annie stopped him to ask, “Do you know where I can find Liam?”

  The captain shook his head. “He left the castle a while ago to look for someone who knows about bats. I have no idea where he ended up going.”

  Annie was impatient to get started, but there was no way to predict when Liam would return. “I guess I have to go by myself,” she murmured as she walked away.

  Annie was thinking about everything she needed to do as she hurried upstairs to the chamber she shared with Liam. Opening the trunk where he kept his clothes, she took out the postcards and riffled through them until she found the cards for Greater Greensward and Treecrest. After tucking the Treecrest card in her pocket, she wrote a quick note to Liam, telling him where she was going and that she’d be back soon, then placed the note on his pillow, where he’d be sure to see it. When she was ready, she held the card for Greater Greensward in one hand and touched the center of the card with the other. A moment later, she was standing in front of the Greater Greensward castle.

  The gray stone towers and the castle moat looked close enough to those in Treecrest that it all felt familiar, even though she’d visited Greater Greensward only once before. When she crossed the drawbridge, she half expected to see Liam or the captain. What she didn’t expect was an adorable brown-and-white puppy that darted up and jumped against her legs, barking and wagging his tail.

  “Why, hello there!” Annie said, bending down to pet the puppy. When she scratched behind his long, floppy ears, his entire body wriggled with joy.

  “Felix!” a woman called from the top of the castle steps.

  The puppy took off running, disappearing behind the stables. Annie turned toward the woman who reminded her of Millie. Although the woman had auburn hair and Millie’s hair was blond, their faces were very similar. “I can help you catch the puppy if you’d like,” Annie told her.

  The woman laughed. “That puppy is actually my three-year-old son, Felix. He was just a baby when a wizard kidnapped him and turned him into a tadpole. My poor little darling spent days in the swamp before we found him. His experience must have freed up the magic he inherited from me, because ever since then he’s been able to turn into any kind of animal. He’s a sweet boy and mostly chooses cuddly animals like kittens or puppies or lambs. He did turn into an enormous spider once, but even that was soft and fluffy and didn’t bite. You can’t imagine how startled I was when a huge spider jumped into my lap wanting to snuggle!”

  Annie wasn’t nearly as surprised as she might have been. She knew that magic was strong in Greater Greensward and that Millie’s mother could turn into a dragon, so hearing that a little boy could turn into a puppy didn’t seem so unlikely.

  “You must be Millie’s mother,” said Annie. “I’m Princess Annabelle, although my friends call me Annie.”

  “Of course!” said the woman. “Millie and Audun told me all about you. They said that you’re the one who told Millie that she was having a baby. My name is Princess Emeralda, but you may call me Emma. I’m delighted to meet you! I’m guessing that you’re here to see Millie. She’s upstairs in the tower. Audun is away right now, so Millie and I decided to see what clothes she’s going to need for the baby. We were looking at Felix’s old baby clothes when he ran off. Ah, I think I hear him again. Wait just a minute while I get him, then we’ll take you up to Millie.”

  Annie sat down on the steps while Emma hurried behind the stable. When she came back she was carrying an adorable little boy with tousled red-gold curls and laughing blue eyes. Emma kissed him and the boy chortled as he laid his head against her chest.

  “Felix, this is Annie, a friend of your sister Millie’s,” Emma told him.

  “Hi!” the little boy said, squirming to get down.

  “Not yet, little man,” Emma said, and held him more tightly. “Not until we’re upstairs again.”

  Annie followed them into the castle, smiling as Felix chattered about all the things he saw as a puppy. They climbed the winding stairs up the tower, stopping once so Emma could point out the sights through an arrow slit. When they reached the top, Emma opened the only door and ushered Annie inside.

  “Millie, look who came to visit!” Emma exclaimed as she stepped aside so her daughter could see Annie standing behind her.

  “Annie!” Millie shouted, and stood up from the window seat to greet her friend. “I didn’t expect to see you!” She threw her arms around Annie, who hugged her back.

  “Is everything all right?” Millie asked, looking into Annie’s eyes. “I thought you were super busy getting ready for the coronation.”

  “We are, or we were at least, but then we got an urgent message from my parents,” Annie told her. “People have been buying the Treecrest postcards at the Magic Marketplace, then going to my parents’ castle in huge groups and holding parties in the great hall. This is all without my parents’ permission, let alone invitation. I got rid of a rowdy group of witches, but I need help with another group. Millie, I think they’re vampires, which is something we’ve never seen in our part of the world before. They took over the great hall last night, then this morning we found two unconscious guards with bite marks on their necks.”

  “And you came to see me because I told you that there are vampires here, didn’t you?” said Millie. “I don’t know how much help I can be, but Zoë might know what to do. She’s half vampire and is married to my great-aunt Grassina’s son, Francis.”

  “I believe Zoë and Francis are home today,” said Emma. “Francis told me yesterday that he was planning to try out a new sword he bought at the Magic Marketplace.”

  “Then we should head over there,” Millie announced. “I’ll take you, Annie. I always like watching Francis practice anyway.”

  “And Felix and I will go visit the kitchen and see what treats Cook is baking today,” said Emma. “Felix? Where did that boy go now? I shouldn’t have set him down before.” When she saw that the door to the adjoining room was standing open, she hurried in while calling her son’s name.

  Millie laughed. “From all the stories I’ve heard, I was a real handful when I was little, but I have a feeling that Felix is going to be even worse once he discovers everything he can do!”

  “Do we need to help your mother find him?” Annie asked.

  “We’d just get in the way,” Millie told her. “If she really can’t find him, Mother can use her magic and she’ll know instantly where he’s hiding. After that wizard took Felix, she cast a locater spell on him and can find him anywhere in the world now. Let me tell her that we’re going and we can head out.”

  Annie waited while Millie went into the other room. Noticing a large, water-filled bowl on a tabl
e, she walked over to get a better look at the fish swimming inside. She gasped when she realized that they were sharks and that a tiny mermaid was chasing them off with a long horn that shot bubbles from the tip. Annie frowned and stepped closer. That mermaid looked awfully familiar.

  “You’ve met Coral, haven’t you?” Millie said, coming up behind her. “The bowl is a shortcut to her castle. She’s a real terror with that magic narwhal horn. Let’s go. Felix fell asleep on my bed and Mother is going to stay with him until he wakes up. He always gets tired when he’s been a puppy. It’s all that running around, I suppose.”

  “May I ask you a question about Felix?” Annie said as they started down the stairs. “You know that regular magic doesn’t work around me. And I know that dragon magic does because it’s the strongest magic there is, which is why you can still turn into a dragon when I’m near you. My question is—does Felix have dragon magic, too? Is that why he didn’t turn back into a human when I touched him?”

  “I’m sure it is,” Millie said. “It’s only a matter of time before he turns into a dragon. When he does, I have a feeling that we’re really going to miss his kitten and puppy phase.”

  Annie looked around as they left the castle. The courtyard was bustling with everyday business, and the people all looked happy, as if they were exactly where they wanted to be. When she crossed the drawbridge and turned onto the road, she noticed the profusion of flowers planted along both sides.

  “It smells wonderful here,” Annie said, and took a deep breath.

  “My mother started planting flowers after she broke a terrible family curse,” Millie told her. “They couldn’t have flowers anywhere near the castle before then. Just touching a flower would have turned a female member of the family over sixteen years old into a nasty hag. Mother refused to marry my father until after she broke the curse. Now she plants more flowers every year.”

  “This reminds me of the path to the meadow belonging to the fairy Sweetness N Light,” said Annie. “Without the babbling brook and the pushy flower fairies. I like this much better. How far is it to Zoë’s house?”

  “Not far at all,” said Millie. “It used to take a lot longer, but we go there so often that my grandfather had a road built to the river. We’ll stay on this road for about half a mile, then turn left when we see the lightning-blasted tree. As my mother says, it’s only a hop, skip, and a jump away. But that makes more sense if you’re a frog. It’s a short walk if you’re a human.”

  The beautiful flowers, fresh air, and sunshine did a lot to lighten Annie’s heart. When they reached the road that ran beside the river, she thought it was one of the prettiest places she’d ever seen. But when she saw a little cottage with a thatched roof and a woman tending her garden, she remembered why she had come to Greater Greensward. “Is that Zoë?” she asked her friend.

  Millie laughed. “No, that’s my mother’s aunt, Grassina. She’s Francis’s mother. Zoë and Francis live just around the bend in the river.”

  Annie realized her mistake as they approached the cottage. While the woman bore a strong resemblance to both Emma and Millie, her hair was auburn shot with gray, and the laugh lines beside her mouth and eyes revealed her age. Rubbing her back as if it ached when she straightened up from weeding, she saw the girls and called, “Millie! What brings you out this way?”

  “We’re heading to Zoë’s,” Millie replied. “Do you know if she’s home?”

  “From the sounds I heard a minute ago, I’d say they’re both home,” said Grassina. “Are you going to introduce me to your friend?”

  “Oh, I’m sorry!” Millie replied. “This is Annie. She’s from Treecrest, a kingdom on the other side of the world.”

  Grassina set her trowel on top of a sunflower; neither the trowel nor the flower budged as she extended her hand. “How nice to meet you,” she said, taking Annie’s hand in hers. The moment they touched, the sunflower bent over, dropping the trowel into the dirt.

  “Annie is having a vampire problem and I thought Zoë might be able to help,” Millie continued.

  “A vampire problem? Oh, dear,” Grassina replied. “I never liked vampires until I met Garrid. I love Zoë to pieces, but regular vampires are a different story. I wish you luck, Annie, and I hope Zoë is able to solve your problem.”

  “Thank you,” Annie replied. “It was nice meeting you.”

  “And you,” said Grassina. “Now, where did I put that trowel?”

  “Sorry,” said Annie. “That was my fault. Magic doesn’t work around me.”

  “Oh, you’re that friend! I remember Millie telling me about you,” Grassina said. “It sounded as if you lead an interesting life.”

  “I think we all do, Aunt Grassina,” Millie said with a laugh.

  “That’s true,” Grassina replied. “So, if my magic isn’t working now, my trowel should be right about … there.” Glancing down, she spotted the trowel and picked it up. “So many weeds, so little time. I could use magic to do this, but I find gardening so relaxing. Blast! How did prickers get in my cucumbers?”

  “She seems very nice,” Annie said once she and Millie had started walking again.

  “She’s wonderful!” Millie told her. “She’s also a powerful witch, although not nearly as powerful as my mother. But then, the Green Witch is the most powerful witch in the kingdom.”

  “And your mother is the Green Witch?” asked Annie.

  Millie nodded. “She has regular magic and dragon magic. A witch can’t get any more powerful than that. What on earth?” she said as a troll roared and stumbled onto the road ahead of them.

  Annie froze, ready to run, but the troll didn’t seem to notice the girls. Instead, he barreled down the road, heading straight for a lovely home set beside the river where a young man stood poised with a sword in his hand.

  “Halt or face the consequences!” the young man shouted.

  The troll roared so loudly that it hurt Annie’s ears. With a mighty swing, the young man brought down his sword, whacking the troll on top of his head with the flat of the blade. The troll staggered, and fell to the ground, stunned. A moment later, he shimmered and disappeared.

  “That was great, Torrin!” the young man cried. “I wasn’t sure if you had enough strength to do that.”

  The sword began to sing:

  I am a very powerful blade,

  And I can do a lot.

  I can cut through the thickest tree,

  And slice off a—

  “He’d better be strong considering how much you spent on him,” said a girl sitting in the fork of a nearby tree. Her hair was such a pale blond that it looked almost white, and seemed to shine even in the shade. “I still don’t know why you needed a singing sword.” Swinging her legs over the side, she pushed off and landed on the ground.

  “That troll wasn’t real, was he?” Annie asked Millie.

  Millie shook her head. “Francis is a wizard and a knight. He often combines the two and fights illusions as strong as the real thing for practice. Zoë and Francis, I’d like you to meet my friend Annie.”

  “You’re the one that Millie told us about!” said Zoë. “Imagine, going through life without magic even touching you.”

  “It can be very useful at times,” Annie told her.

  “I bet!” said Francis.

  “I brought Annie to meet you because she’s having a problem with vampires and I thought you might be able to help her,” Millie said.

  Annie nodded. “I understand you’re part vampire, Zoë. How is that even possible?”

  “My father is a vampire prince who can turn into a vampire bat. He was a bat when he fell in love with my mother, who’s a regular brown bat. A lot of people were surprised when my parents got married, but they’re very happy together. So, exactly what kind of problem are you having with vampires?”

  “A group of them bought postcards from the Magic Marketplace and used them to visit my parents’ kingdom, Treecrest,” said Annie. “They held a dance in the great hall
without my parents’ permission, and bit two of our guards last night. Now we don’t know how to get them to leave, or make sure they don’t bite anyone else.”

  “First of all, someone must have invited them in, or they never could have made it through the door,” Zoë told her.

  “It was one of the witches,” Annie replied. “They weren’t invited, either, but they came in anyway. I was able to get rid of them, but it’s the vampires that have me worried. They were led by a man, I mean a vampire, calling himself the Duke of Highcliff.”

  “Really? I know him and his friends. They can be forceful and intimidating. Francis, how would you like to take a little trip with me? I think we should visit this … what did you call it? Treetop?”

  “Treecrest,” said Annie.

  “If you think we should go there, my love, then we shall,” said Francis. “Just let me change my clothes and I’ll be ready in two shakes of a manticore’s tail.”

  “I’ll change, too. I seem to have gotten leaves in my hair and loose bits of bark on my gown,” Zoë said, picking pieces off her skirt. “Will you be going with us, Millie?”

  “Not today,” Millie replied. “Audun won’t be back from his trip until tonight and he’d be upset if I went on a trip like this without him. He’s been very protective ever since we learned that we’re expecting. I don’t want to make him worry.”

  Annie felt a pang of guilt and looked away. Yes, she had left a note for Liam, but that wasn’t the same as telling him in person. She had taken the postcard with her, too, so it wasn’t as if he could follow her. The sooner she returned home, the better.

  CHAPTER 6

  It was night when Annie and her companions arrived outside the castle in Treecrest. Annie was surprised that it was dark out until she remembered that she had traveled to the other side of the world and things were bound to be different.

  Francis and Zoë looked around as they passed under the gates and entered the courtyard. “I thought everything would be exotic or unusual,” Francis finally said, “but this looks like half the castles back home.”