My Sort of Fairy Tale Ending

by Anna Staniszewski

  I glanced over my shoulder to see lots of fairies crouched down, holding their stomachs and groaning in time to the music.

  “Okay, then what do you suggest?” I asked.

  Karfum glanced around. Then he gently nudged the back of my knee so that I fell forward. “Hey!” I cried, just as he caught me before I hit the floor.

  “Looks like you’re feeling faint,” he said loudly. “Better get you back to your quarters.” He made a big show of walking me to the elevator, politely declining offers of help from the other guards. “I’ll take care of her. Just too much dancing in one night.”

  When we were in the elevator, Karfum finally let go of me, and I gave him a grateful smile. I expected him to launch into the usual screaming as the elevator started to go down. Instead, he leaned in and whispered: “Don’t let the queen control you. I’ve allowed her to trap me, but you have a choice.”

  “So do you,” I said. “What if we got your pot of gold back? Then you could leave too.”

  He shook his head. “I’m not worried about myself. I only care about my children.”

  I remembered him mentioning a son and a daughter, but I hadn’t seen either of them. “Are they here in Fairy Land?”

  He sighed. “I can’t be sure. I have four children, three girls and a boy. One by one, they’ve gone missing since we were brought here. And now my boy, Belthum…” Karfum wiped his eyes. “He’s gone too.”

  “Belthum’s your son?” I said, remembering the leprechaun friend Luken had mentioned.

  Karfum’s eyes snapped up. “You know him? You’ve seen him?”

  “No,” I said. “But Luken is trying to find him.”

  Karfum sighed again. “Those two have been friends for years. I didn’t like my son being around that fairy boy, no matter how different he is from his mother. I thought their friendship would at least keep Belthum safe, but I guess I was wrong.”

  “Do you think he’s been moused?”

  “I hope so.” Karfum rubbed his temples. “Because at least that means there’s still hope.”

  Seeing the leprechaun look so defeated made anger flare up inside me. He had so much more power than I did in this place. How could he just give up? “You’re going to let the queen take your whole family and not do anything about it?” I said.

  “What else can I do?” he said. “Before we were brought here, I was a simple shamrock farmer. I knew nothing of being a guard! Then the queen brought us here and took our pots of gold…and then my children began to disappear…” He shook his head. “I thought being the head guard would give me more access to the kingdom, help me find them. Instead, it has just made me even more under the queen’s thumb. I am powerless!”

  He put his head in his hands and started to weep. I had no idea what to do, so finally I channeled Aunt Evie and patted his head as if he were a kitten.

  “It’ll be okay,” I said. “Even miracles take a little time.” I clapped my hand over my mouth. I was pretty sure I’d just quoted a line from the cartoon version of Cinderella! This place was seriously starting to wheedle its way into my brain.

  Karfum let out a shuddering sigh and wiped his tears away with one of his shamrock handkerchiefs. “You’re right,” he said. “I must be strong. Before he disappeared, Belthum was working with Pryll and others to organize against the queen. I don’t agree with their methods, but perhaps if I help them…”

  I thought back to the warning Pryll had asked Karfum to deliver to the queen. At least someone in this kingdom was trying to stand up to her. “Don’t worry,” I said. “We’ll find out what happened to your son, and we’ll get rid of the queen. I mean, Cinderella isn’t supposed to be the bad guy, right?”

  Karfum just shrugged at me, but I didn’t need an answer. The Queen Fairy had taken my parents; she’d taken Karfum’s whole family away from him; and now she’d even taken Anthony. There was no way I was going to let her get away with it.

  As we got out of the elevator, I realized we were on the lowest level of the palace. The hallway was dark and musty, and the air was eerily still.

  “Where are we?” I said.

  “Oh,” said Karfum. “My mistake. I should not have brought you here.” Instead of closing the elevator door, though, he just stood by quietly. There was obviously something here he wanted me to see.

  I poked my head out into the hallway and squinted through the shadows. One end of the hallway was a dead end, but I spotted a door in the other direction. In front of it were half a dozen heavily armed fairy guards.

  “What’s down there?” I whispered. What kind of place would need to be guarded as carefully as the queen herself?

  “Nothing,” said Karfum, sucking on the end of his ever-present shamrock. “We have stayed here too long.” He herded me back into the elevator like the building was on fire.

  As we screamed on the way up the elevator, my brain was buzzing. The fairies were definitely hiding something.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The rest of the evening passed in a blur of nothingness, and finally it was night. I tried to stay awake so I’d be ready when Luken came, and also to keep from having any other weird dreams. No such luck.

  My eyelids got impossibly heavy, and I slipped into another dream that felt like real life.

  This time, I was in the middle of the very first adventure I’d ever been sent on. I was in a charred forest, trying to convince the dragon king to stop fighting with the pixies over pieces of furniture. Suddenly, Aunt Evie appeared and accused me of hiding my adventurer identity from her. I begged her to forgive me, but she was so hurt that I’d lied to her that she refused to listen to my apologies. Then I got that feeling again, the prickling at the back of my skull that made me think someone was rummaging around in my brain.

  Before I could wake myself up, I heard somebody calling my name and a quiet knocking nearby.

  My eyes flew open. It took me a minute to totally wake up and realize I was in my fairy room, sprawled on the bed, wearing the ridiculous cream-puff dress. Since the guards had taken my regular clothes, it was the only outfit I had.

  I let Luken out of the closet, still feeling shaken by the dream. It had seemed so real, like I’d actually been in the forest talking to my aunt. But that didn’t matter now.

  “Is the leprechaun strike starting already?” I said, fighting back a yawn. It seemed way too dark outside to be anywhere near morning.

  Luken shook his head. “Not until dawn, but this could not wait.”

  “What is it? What’s wrong?” I was wide awake now.

  “There is a meeting in the Magical Village that we must attend. Someone there might have information about your parents’ location.”

  I remembered the cluster of narrow streets we’d passed by on our way into the city, where Pryll had delivered his warning. “What kind of meeting?”

  Luken just shook his head and claimed it wasn’t safe to give me any more information.

  “When the leprechauns go on strike, we need to search the lower level,” I said, thinking of the guarded door I’d seen earlier. “I’m pretty sure the queen is hiding something there.”

  He nodded and waved me into the closet. As we crawled through the hidden panel, I held my breath, half expecting my cuff to go off like it had before. Luckily, whatever Luken had done to disable the tracking device worked, and we got to the hallway near the elevators without a problem.

  Luken felt around in the corner for a minute before a panel popped open. “The tunnel entrances often run alongside elevator shafts,” he whispered.

  I peered down into the panel and chuckled. I’d been imagining the tunnels as actual, you know, tunnels. In fact, they were more like slides.

  “Wait, I know what this is,” I whispered as we climbed in. “We’re in an old water ride.”

  “A water ride?” said Luken.

  “Yeah, i
t’s a—ahhhhhh!” Some kind of magic grabbed me and made me whoosh down the slide, twisting me this way and that, until I thought my stomach might turn inside out. I heard Luken sliding down behind me. My poufy dress tried to blow up over my head the entire way. Fairy fashion was not designed for adventurers.

  Not that I was an adventurer anymore, I reminded myself. The Committee had probably filed all the official paperwork to have me fired by now. That meant I was just a regular girl again…a regular girl who was trying to rescue her parents from a delusional, glowing fairy.

  Finally, we rounded a sharp corner and crash-landed onto a mattress that was tucked behind what looked like an oversized air-conditioner.

  I staggered to my feet and smoothed down my gown, feeling like I’d just been sucked through a tornado. “How come you have to take the tunnels at all?” I asked. “Can’t you just use your magic to transport yourself around the kingdom?”

  “No,” he said flatly. “I cannot.”

  I wondered if I’d stumbled on yet another touchy subject. Apparently, everyone in Fairy Land had tons of them.

  Luken quietly shut a panel in the wall. “The panels that lead to the tunnels are the same throughout the palace,” he whispered. “They blend in easily with their surroundings, but once you know their size and shape, they are simple to find.”

  “Thanks,” I said, hoping I’d never have to locate one of the panels on my own. Luken could claim they were easy to find, but I could barely see the door even though I knew exactly where it was. “Where are we?” The air in the tunnel was so damp that it smelled like seaweed.

  “Deep under the palace,” said Luken, “in a system of passageways left over from the days when this land was a theme park. They have all since been sealed off, but the fairies once used them to go between attractions without being seen by the public.”

  “Oh, like at Disney World,” I said. “I heard that’s how they keep people from seeing Mickey wandering around without his head on.” I smiled, thinking of how terrified Anthony had been of the troll in the headless troll costume.

  Luken stopped and, not surprisingly, pulled out his sketchbook. I was willing to bet whatever ride he was drawing, it had to do with headless creatures.

  Sure enough, when he shyly showed me the drawing after he was done, it looked a lot like the “It’s a Small World” ride at Disney. Except that in Luken’s version, all the little kids were headless. It was totally creepy.

  “This is, um, interesting and all, but didn’t you say we have a meeting to get to?” I asked.

  “Right.” He put away his sketch pad and waved me down a corridor that felt especially damp. I held up my dress to keep from getting slimy water all over the hem. Why, look at that. I was turning into a real lady.

  “So,” I said, finally asking the question that had been hanging in the air between us ever since he’d appeared in my room, “why didn’t you tell me Mahlia was your mother?”

  He sighed. “I knew you would not trust me if I told you her identity.”

  “It’s not that. But it does kind of change things, you know? I mean, how can I be sure you won’t take her side?”

  “Because she is wrong!” he cried. “My mother has turned her back on everything my father believed in. He used our ability to see into people’s dreams to help make Fairy Land the most amazing theme park in the magical worlds. And now all that is gone.”

  “Wait. Fairies can see into people’s dreams?” Honestly, the idea didn’t really surprise me. After all, the dreams I’d been having the past couple of days had clued me in that something strange was going on.

  Luken sighed. “I should not have told you that.” Then he hurried his steps so that I had to run to keep up with his long legs.

  Chapter Sixteen

  We wove our way through the tunnels, passing pieces of old rides and sections of faded theater sets until finally we came to a ladder that ran along the mossy wall. Luken went first and then helped pull me through a manhole. We emerged into the night air behind a bakery that could have been right out of a storybook. This had to be the Magical Village.

  We tiptoed down one shadowy alley after another, until Luken stopped behind a small cobbler’s shop and knocked on the door. Instantly, the door flew open, and Pryll glared back at us with his one eye.

  “What is she doing here?” he said, pointing at me.

  “Jenny is here to help,” said Luken. Then he sauntered past Pryll as if the people eater were a stuffed animal instead of a menacing beast. I held my head high and followed Luken. Pryll grunted in annoyance but didn’t try to stop me.

  Inside the shop, I spotted pixies, trolls, mermaids, a few leprechauns, and even a couple of fairies crowded together. On the other side of the room, Karfum was standing next to another leprechaun guard. He caught my eye and gave me a small nod. I guess our conversation in the elevator had helped to change his mind about helping Pryll and the other rebels.

  I expected Pryll to step forward and start the meeting. Instead, Luken was the one who stood in front of the crowd and said in a strong voice, “Thank you all for coming. Before we begin, I must report that Belthum has gone missing.”

  “Missing?” someone said with a gasp. “Does that mean this group has been compromised?”

  “No,” said Luken. “I am confident that Belthum did not give up any information about us. However, we must act quickly before our plans are discovered.” He cleared his throat. “That is why the leprechauns will go on strike at dawn, and I would like you all to join in. This will be an opportunity for the creatures of this land to stand up to the queen together.”

  “It’s too dangerous,” one of the pixies squeaked. “The queen will punish us.”

  “Not if we team up,” said a leprechaun. “We are her work force. She depends on us. If we all gold on strike at once, she will have to listen.”

  “Perhaps we can reason with her,” one of the fairies said. Her thin shoulders were stooped, and her green skin was old and weathered. “She used to be a great leader.”

  Pryll snorted. “I don’t care how many promises she made after the king died. Now all she thinks about is controlling everything we do. Forget striking. We need to attack!”

  “That’s foolish,” said Karfum, stepping forward. Everyone turned to look at him, obviously surprised to hear him speak up. “Fighting won’t get us anywhere. We don’t have enough magic.”

  “No, we don’t,” said Pryll, with a snarl. “She took ours away, but you leprechauns still have magic. You just won’t share it with us.”

  The crowd erupted in whispers. Obviously, the fact that only the leprechauns and fairies were allowed to keep some of their magic in this land was a big issue.

  Luken raised his hand, and the creatures quieted. He was younger than everyone else in the room, but it was obvious they respected what he had to say. “Even if all the leprechauns and fairies on our side used their magic at once, it would not be enough to bring down the queen. Resisting peacefully is the only way.”

  Pryll grumbled to himself, but he didn’t argue. I guess that meant Luken was right.

  “We have come too far to turn back now,” Luken continued. “The leprechaun strike will start at dawn as planned. If others care to join in, they are welcome.”

  The room erupted in heated whispers again. Beside me, Luken sighed. “I have tried for a long time to encourage everyone to band together against the queen,” he said softly to me, “but they are unwilling to cooperate.”

  “Don’t worry,” I said. “I can handle this.” After all, getting magical creatures to work together was kind of my specialty. Once I got the bickering under control, then I could finally ask if anyone knew where the queen was keeping my parents. “Hey, guys!”

  Everyone turned to look at me.

  “I know standing up to the queen is scary,” I said. “Obviously, she’s pretty powerful. But if
you all work together, it’ll pay off. I know it.”

  Pryll scrunched up his purple face. “How do you know? The leprechauns can strike all they want, but that doesn’t mean it’ll help the rest of us.”

  “It will pay off if you help each other out. Remember, there’s no ‘I’ in team!” I waited for my cheesy saying to work its magic as usual, but everyone just kept staring at me.

  “Um, no pain, no gain!” I tried again.

  Still nothing.

  “Er…you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar?” I said, desperate.

  “What’s honey?” one of the mermaids asked.

  Wow. Tough crowd. Was I starting to lose my touch? Or had all those citywide announcements made the residents of Fairy Land immune to my cheesy sayings?

  Before I could try anything else, pounding erupted at the door to the shop. Bam! Bam! Bam! “Queen’s Guard. Open up!”

  Everyone’s faces turned panicked.

  “We have been discovered!” cried Luken.

  I started to run toward a nearby window, thinking we might be able to climb through it, but someone grabbed my arm before I could get there. Pop! The chaos around me faded, and I was sucked into a whirlpool of glittery green.

  Chapter Seventeen

  When I opened my eyes, I realized that I was back in my room in the palace. Karfum was holding on to my arm with one hand and Luken’s wrist with the other.

  “Thank you for bringing us to safety,” said Luken. “If we had been caught…” He didn’t need to finish that thought. No doubt we would have been swiftly turned into woodland creatures. Or worse, made to reenact scenes from Cinderella.

  Karfum nodded briskly. “Try to get some rest.”

  “Wait,” Luken said. “Will you join the strike in the morning?”

  The leprechaun sighed. “Yes. Not because I think it will help, but because I know it is what Belthum would want me to do.” Then he gave us a tight-lipped smile, twirled the shamrock between his lips, and slipped out into the hallway.