Princess Before Dawn

by E. D. Baker

  “Really?” Annie replied.

  She was about to ask more questions when Zoë said, “We should take off Father’s shoes and make him comfortable. Who knows how long he’ll have to lie here like this. I don’t want him to wake with a crick in his neck.”

  “The doctor should be here soon,” Emma said, even as she helped Zoë. “Audun can fly very fast when he wants to.”

  They were covering Garrid with a blanket when they heard a commotion in the corridor. Annie peeked out and saw a small furry animal skipping beside a short man whose long, dark hair was tied back in a ponytail. His clothes were baggy and looked as if they didn’t quite fit him. “Ting-Tang!” she cried, and ran to meet him. “No wonder Zoë and Emma were so confident that their doctor could help Garrid! I hoped I’d see you again someday. I just didn’t know it would be so soon.”

  The witch doctor set down the drums he was carrying so he could give her a hug. “Princess Annie! I thought you lived in Treecrest.”

  “I do, or at least I did. Liam and I have moved back to Dorinocco to get ready for his coronation. I came to Greater Greensward to ask for help with vampires.”

  “Vampires? And I hear you all brought me a patient who is sick from harpy poison. My, you do live an interesting life,” said Ting-Tang.

  Annie laughed. “Sometimes it’s a little too interesting. Your patient is in here. We can catch up later,” she said, leading him into the room.

  Everyone moved aside as Ting-Tang approached the bed. After looking at Garrid’s pale face, smelling his breath, and listening to his heart, he said, “I’ll need a few things for a potion if I’m going to help this poor man. Get me freshly collected honey made from clover, some lavender, violet blossoms, rose petals, thyme, sweet spring water, bread, butter, and pickles.”

  Emma looked confused. “Does it matter what kind of pickles?”

  Ting-Tang shook his head. “No, Chee Chee isn’t picky. He’s developed a real taste for pickles and loves them all.”

  “The pickles are for your monkey?” asked Annie.

  “Yup, and the bread and butter is for me,” said Ting-Tang. “We haven’t eaten yet today and we’re both hungry.”

  “What about the honey?” Emma asked.

  “That’s for the potion, of course,” Ting-Tang told her. “Why do you ask?”

  Emma sighed. “Never mind. Sweet spring water won’t be a problem. The sweetest spring water around feeds the castle well.”

  “I’ll get the water and the bread, butter, and pickles,” offered Millie.

  “Francis, why don’t you and I get everything else?” said Annie. “Zoë should stay here with her father.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Audun told her. “Sick people make me uncomfortable.”

  “There are roses and lavender in the garden just outside the moat,” Francis said as he started out the door. “We can get those first.”

  He took them out of the castle, stopping only long enough to get a jar for the honey and a basket to carry everything. After crossing the drawbridge, he took them to a lovely garden facing the road. While Annie collected rose petals, Francis found the lavender. Audun was watching them when he said, “Have you found the thyme?”

  “Time for what?” Francis asked.

  “For the potion,” said Audun.

  Francis looked confused. “I don’t understand. We’re spending our time getting the ingredients for the potion right now,” he said, plucking one last sprig of lavender.

  “I think he means t-h-y-m-e,” Annie said. “You know, the herb Cook uses in some of her dishes, and the maids strew on the floor with the rushes to make the great hall smell better?”

  Francis nodded. “Right! Next stop—kitchen garden.”

  “You really didn’t need me along, did you?” Audun asked as they started walking again.

  “Not yet,” said Francis. “But we still might.”

  They found the thyme easily enough in the kitchen garden. Because Ting-Tang hadn’t told them how much they needed, they took a lot, covering the lavender and rose petals until the basket was half full. “Now what?” Annie asked. “All that’s left on Ting-Tang’s list are the honey and the violets.”

  “I know where to find some violets, but they won’t be in bloom,” said Audun. When Francis gave him a funny look, Audun shrugged. “Violets are Millie’s favorite flower and I pick her a bouquet when I can.”

  “Where is this place?” asked Annie.

  “Near the treehouse,” said Audun. “Follow me.”

  Annie enjoyed the walk around the moat where water lilies floated and dragonflies hovered. When they passed the field set up for jousting practice, she liked seeing the knights taking turns charging their horses at the quintain. Even so, she was beginning to wonder how much farther they would have to walk when they finally reached a copse of trees where a ladder led up to a treehouse.

  “That was Grassina and Chartreuse’s treehouse when they were little girls,” said Francis. “It fell into disrepair when the family curse changed my grandmother, but Mother fixed it up when she had me. I played in it a lot when I was little. It’s bigger inside than it looks.”

  They found plenty of the heart-shaped violet leaves growing around the base of the trees, but none of the plants were blooming. “Don’t worry,” Francis told his friends. “I know what to do. Annie, would you mind standing back there?” He pointed beyond the treehouse to a spot where she could stand without affecting his magic.

  After Annie had walked far enough, Francis knelt in the midst of the plants and came up with a spell:

  Violets are pretty,

  Violets are sweet,

  New blooms would be a wonder,

  New blooms would be a treat.

  Your blooming season’s over,

  But bloom now anyway.

  Your flowers are what’s needed

  To help a friend today.

  Although Annie was too far away to see the buds form, she could see the flowers unfurling. When they had all bloomed, she came back and helped Francis and Audun pick them. “Isn’t Garrid your father-in-law and not just a friend?” she asked Francis.

  “Yes, but that didn’t fit,” Francis replied. “I’ve found that when I make up spells, the right rhythm gives it a little more power. What counted was the blooming, not who it was for.”

  “Here, this should be enough,” Audun said, placing a few more violets in the basket. “If there are any left over after Ting-Tang takes what he needs, I can give the rest to Millie.”

  “And now for the honey,” Annie announced.

  “That might be a little harder,” Francis told her. “My dragon scale can help me find the hive, but we’ll have to get the honey ourselves.”

  Audun sighed. “Let me guess—that’s where I come in.”

  “If you wouldn’t mind?” Francis said with a grin.

  “Oh, I’ll do it,” Audun replied. “I just hate getting my scales sticky.”

  Annie took the basket while Francis looked at his dragon scale. “Show me where I can find a beehive filled with clover honey,” he announced. The scale flashed blue until he turned back the way they had come. With the scale leading them, they returned to the castle, then headed down the road to a hayfield rich with clover. A sycamore tree stood in the hedgerow running along the back of the field. As they drew closer, Annie saw bees swarming around a hive partway up the tree.

  Annie and Francis turned to look at Audun. “Get that jar ready; I’ll be right back,” he said.

  Audun turned into a dragon even as he approached the tree. Planting his hind feet firmly on the ground, he reared up so that his head was level with the hive. Bees buzzed around him angrily as he used his talons to break a hole in the hive and dig out a chunk of honeycomb. Annie could hear the faint ping as the bees tried to sting him, but only managed to break their stingers against his scales. Batting at the bees hovering around his face, he sat back on his haunches and turned to Annie. When she held up the jar, he shoved the comb insi
de.

  “That’s everything!” Annie said as she set the jar in the basket.

  A few of the bees were still hovering around Audun, so he remained a dragon as they started back. Finally, when they still wouldn’t leave him alone, he blew a tiny puff of his poison gas at them. The bees immediately turned and zigzagged away, flying erratically. “I’ve never made bees nauseous before,” he said as he turned back into his human self. “Now I feel bad.”

  Annie grinned. She’d never imagined that a powerful dragon could be so soft-hearted.

  When Annie and her friends returned to the room where Garrid was still lying unconscious, they found Ting-Tang seated at a table with a mortar and pestle, a pitcher of water, and a half-filled mug of cider in front of him. Annie set the basket on the table, nearly bumping into Chee Chee, who was sitting on the floor holding an empty pickle jar and licking his fingers.

  “Good!” Ting-Tang declared. “Now we can get started.”

  Setting aside the honey, he sorted through the basket’s contents, then took a pinch of each item and put it in the mortar. After using the pestle to grind them together, he added a dollop of honey, a splash of pure spring water, and a shake of something from a pouch he’d brought with him. When the ingredients in the mortar began to bubble and froth, Ting-Tang carried it over to Garrid. “Prop him up,” he told Zoë and Emma. As soon as they’d raised Garrid’s head, he poured the contents of the mortar into the vampire prince’s mouth.

  Everyone pressed closer to see what happened. When nothing did, Zoë exclaimed, “It’s not working!”

  “It will,” Ting-Tang said as he moved the table out of the way.

  “How long do we have to wait?” asked Emma.

  “Not long,” Ting-Tang replied. He turned to look at everyone in the room. “You might want to leave for the next part. It’s going to get loud in here.” Fetching his drums from the corner of the room, he set them on the floor by the bed. Annie noticed that there were two sets; one big and one little.

  “I would leave now if I were you,” Annie told Emma and Zoë, who had lingered beside Garrid. “If Ting-Tang says it’s going to be loud, it’s going to be really loud.”

  They all hurried from the room as Ting-Tang and Chee Chee sat down in front of the drum sets. Li’l perched on Zoë’s shoulder just outside the door. Annie thought it looked as if they were holding their breath.

  As soon as Ting-Tang hit his drum, the monkey gave his own set two firm raps. And then they started pounding. “Walla walla bing,” Ting-Tang shouted, followed by an extra loud Bang! on his drums.

  Chee Chee started screeching. He pounded his drums as hard and fast as he could, his little monkey paws flying up and down.

  Even from outside the room, the noise was loud. Everyone watching through the doorway stuck their fingers in their ears, but they didn’t stop watching. Annie gasped when she thought she saw Garrid’s finger twitch. When he sat up and looked around, Ting-Tang finished his drumming with a flourish.

  “Father, are you all right?” Zoë cried, running into the room.

  “Garrid!” Li’l shouted, and landed on the blanket covering him.

  “I’m fine,” he said, rubbing his temples. “Except for a pounding headache from that drumming. It was so loud!”

  “It had to be loud enough to wake the dead,” Ting-Tang said as he got to his feet. “Although you weren’t dead, you were close to it. That potion brought you back part of the way, but we needed the drumming to do the rest. You’ll be fine now.”

  “Thank you so much, Ting-Tang!” Zoë cried. “You were wonderful.”

  The witch doctor shrugged. “All in a day’s work,” he said. “I like helping people. Plus, Chee Chee and I got to practice our drumming!”

  “I have to ask,” Annie said as Ting-Tang picked up his drums. “Whatever happened with Liam’s brother, Clarence? He was supposed to stay in the jungle with you and be your assistant. Did he come back, too?”

  “No,” Ting-Tang said, shaking his head. “As far as I know, he’s still in the jungle. He never did like being my assistant and he ran off with a girl from the jungle a few days after you left. I heard through the jungle vine that he ended up with that tribe where you found me and seemed quite content. Sorry I couldn’t keep him with me longer. I know how important it was to you and Prince Liam.”

  “We don’t really care where he is, as long as he doesn’t return to Dorinocco,” said Annie.

  After walking Ting-Tang and Chee Chee to the door, Annie returned to her friends. Zoë was telling her father about everything they had gone through while looking for him.

  “But you didn’t say why you were looking for me in the first place,” he finally said.

  “I think Annie should tell you that part,” Zoë told him.

  “It was because of the postcards,” said Annie. “People have been buying magic postcards at the Magic Marketplace and using them to come to Treecrest, my parents’ kingdom. First there were witches, then a lot of different kinds of people. We thought everyone had gone until we discovered the vampires. They started biting people in the castle and they wouldn’t leave. I came to Greater Greensward to ask for help. Zoë and Francis went back with me and they helped us get the vampires out of the castle, but they refuse to leave Treecrest.”

  “I said we should come ask you to help,” said Zoë. “But you were gone and no one knew exactly where you were, so we started retracing your route.”

  “Do you think you could come to Treecrest and help us?” asked Annie. “Please?”

  “Of course,” Garrid said. “It sounds as if this is my problem as well. If Reynard left his uncle there, dead or not, this whole thing might be a ploy of his to gain control over Highcliff. It’s about time the duke learns what’s going on at home. And if any vampires refuse to return, I might have to teach them a lesson of my own.”

  CHAPTER 15

  “Francis and I are going to Treecrest with Father and Annie,” said Zoë. “Anyone else want to go?”

  “I will,” Emma replied. “I might be able to help.”

  “I’d go if I could,” Eadric said, “but I promised I’d go to Soggy Molvinia today. They’re having a problem with werewolves and their traps aren’t working.”

  “I’m too tired to go,” Li’l told them. “I was so worried about Garrid that I didn’t get a wink of sleep in the horrible cage.”

  “I wish I could, but I don’t feel well,” said Millie. “I don’t think I can go anywhere today.”

  Audun looked concerned when he said, “I’m staying here with Millie. I’ve already been away too much lately.”

  “You have postcards for Treecrest and Greater Greensward, don’t you, Millie?” asked Zoë. “Would you please let me borrow them? I’ll give them back as soon as we get home.”

  “Come upstairs with me and I’ll give them to you,” Millie replied. “Good-bye, everyone, and good luck. Please come see me as soon as you get back. I want to hear all about what happens.”

  They were ready to go less than an hour later. Garrid was covered from head to toe, wearing a long, hooded cape and gloves. “He can’t stay in the sun for long, even dressed like this,” Zoë warned Annie.

  “Is this what vampires wear when they visit the Magic Marketplace?” Annie asked.

  “It is,” said Emma. “I’ve seen a few vampires at the market over the years. Although a lot of people go there dressed in unusual clothes, vampires still stand out like sore thumbs. You never see more than one or two at a time and they don’t stay long.”

  “Vampires go out in the daylight only if it’s absolutely necessary,” Zoë explained. “I think this is one of those times. Father, you stand next to me and hold on to my arm. Francis, you stand over here.”

  While Francis and Garrid held on to Zoë, Emma held Annie’s hand and watched with great interest while the younger princess touched the center of the postcard.

  “It’s just like going to the Magic Marketplace!” Emma cried when they arrived in Treecre
st a moment later. “What will they think of next?”

  It was almost dusk, and Annie wanted everyone to get inside as quickly as possible. She smiled when Emma exclaimed how beautiful the castle looked, but as soon as Zoë, Francis, and Garrid walked up, she hurried them toward the drawbridge.

  Guards were already raising the drawbridge when Annie took her guests into the castle. She was walking down the corridor when Liam stepped out of the great hall and swept her up into a bear hug. He kissed her while Garrid and Emma watched, amused.

  “I assume that this is your husband,” Emma said as Liam set Annie back on her feet.

  Annie laughed. “Yes, this is Liam, prince of Dorinocco and soon to be king. Liam, this is Zoë’s father, Prince Garrid, and Millie’s mother, Princess Emma. They’ve both agreed to help us with the vampires.”

  “I’m honored to meet you and grateful for any help you can give us,” said Liam.

  Squidge’s cat friend, Scarface, sauntered down the corridor. Suddenly he stopped and sniffed. Spotting Garrid, the cat hissed, turned tail, and ran back the way he’d come. A moment later, Annie’s parents appeared in the great hall doorway.

  “Annie, you’re back!” Queen Karolina called. She and the king hurried to greet their daughter and the new arrivals.

  Annie made the introductions all over again, but she noticed that Liam kept glancing toward the door leading outside. When Captain Sterling approached, Liam finally said, “The captain and I have to go on our rounds. We check every door before it’s fully dark out, just to make sure that they’re all closed and locked. If you’ll excuse us?”

  “They do it every night,” Queen Karolina said as the two men joined a group of waiting guards. “I don’t know if they feel it’s absolutely necessary or if they’re doing it to assure us that we’re safe, but it does calm my nerves. Thank you so much for letting Liam stay here with us. He’s been wonderful since you left and knows just what to do.”

  Servants were lighting torches in the corridor and the great hall when Squidge ran up to hug Annie around her knees. “Scarface told me that you were here,” he said. “He told me that you have a vampire with you, too. Is it that guy? Why is he all covered up like that?”