The Fae Princess (The Pacific Princesses Book 2)

by Ektaa Bali

  Bob swished his tail in irritation, and Vidya saw that he was hitched up to her bubble so that he could pull her through the water.

  “Bob is a bit annoyed”. Meera’s voice came again. “Usually, I use our seahorses to pull a Bubblepad, but I don’t want my mother knowing what I’ve been up to just yet. I’ll probably get in trouble.”

  Meera rolled her eyes as if very annoyed by this.

  Vidya raised her eyebrows. “Where are we going exactly?” she asked nervously. “What did you find?”

  “I think it’s best I just show you,” said Meera. “Let’s go, we have a long way to go.” She turned and swam down and forward, Vidya squinted to try and see her through the darkness of the cave.

  Bob swam forward, and Vidya rocked on her ‘Bubblepad’ as they began to move through the dark water.

  “Here we go, Pancake,” said Vidya, as the Quokka clung onto her shoulder, watching around in awe. “We’re in a new world now. I bet you’re the first quokka to go under the sea like this!”

  Pancake nodded proudly.

  Vidya sat down, crossed legged on the Bubblepad, and Pancake settled on her lap for the ride.

  She took some Bilberry essence from her bag and gulped it down, then gave some to Pancake.

  “This is why Willow’s eyes are so sharp. Billberry helps us see better in the dark,” she explained to him. “There’s not much light down here.”

  The bilberry sharpened their eyes so they could make out the shapes in the dark ocean.

  “Oh, sorry,” came Meera’s voice in Vidya’s ear. “I’ve forgotten that merpeople can practically see in the dark.”

  “It’s okay,” said Vidya. “Are we travelling through an underwater cave?”

  “Yes,” said Meera.

  As the bilberry juice kicked in, Vidya could just make out the shadow of tail ahead. It was an eerie thing to be moving through an underwater cave through the dark like this.

  “Just up ahead,” continued Meera. “There is some glowing seaweed I use sometimes. Oh, here!”

  They must have entered a section of the caves where it opened up suddenly because they were all at once surrounded by a cave full of swaying seaweed that glowed green and purple.

  “Now you’ll be able to see me!” Meera said, happily waving at them. She had tied a bunch of the glowing green seaweed and placed it like a headband on her head and used another length to circle the lower part of her tail.

  “That’s brilliant,” smiled Vidya. “Thank you.”

  “Alright, Bob,” Meera nodded. “Let’s make it snappy. This part of the cave is…” her voice trailed off.

  “What was that?” asked Vidya nervously.

  “Oh nothing, nothing,” waved Meera, swimming ahead. Bob pulled them forward, and they moved into a dark corridor once again. The only thing in the mass of black water was the glowing seaweed on Meera’s tail.

  By the way they moved through the water, Vidya could tell that somehow, Bob pulled them through the water at a rapid pace, and she vaguely wondered what on earth the little fish ate to give him so much energy. On and on they travelled through the darkness, with Bob swerving left and right through the maze of the cave system, following Meera’s lead. Meera had clearly been down here before, and Vidya wondered how the mermaid princess travelled around this place alone without being scared.

  Before long, Meera’s voice came again.

  “Hey you! Out of the way!”

  Vidya jumped, but she realised Meera was not talking to her. Bob paused in the water, Vidya and Pancake strained to see through the water, but it looked like Meera had turned a corner.

  “I’m Princess Meera, you fool, submit to me or submit to my sword! Out. Of. My. Way.”

  “Meera, what’s going on?” asked Vidya nervously.

  There was the sound of a grunt, and then—“Oh, it’s fine, Vidya, I dealt with him. Bob come on.”

  Bob turned the corner, and they passed Meera floating to one side, her sword drawn. She waved them forward. “The exit is just there, Bob, go on. I want to make sure we’re not followed. These idiots think they can outsmart me…”

  Vidya and Pancake exchanged a look as Meera waved her sword angrily through the water as they passed. Bob pulled them forward and suddenly, the darkness opened up to wide blue water. They were down by the sea floor, and looking up, they were so far down, Vidya couldn’t make out the surface. A couple of fish swam past her, and Pancake squeaked excitedly.

  “Let’s go!” Meera rushed forward, moving her tail powerfully, and Bob had to hurry to catch up.

  They watched their surroundings as Bob swept them past coral, rock, and seaweed.

  Soon, the seafloor became rocky, and as they travelled, the rocks grew bigger and became boulders. Then the boulders grew bigger and became rocky hills. Then the rocky hills became mountains of rock, soaring high above them.

  “The world in the ocean is much the same as the world above it”, Meera said as she swam. “We have mountains here too.”

  “I never knew,” said Vidya in amazement, craning her neck to look at how high they went. They were really far below the surface. Then a thought struck her.

  “How much air is in the Bubblepad?” she asked.

  Meera glanced back. “It should be just enough. When the air runs out, the bubble pops open. Oh! We’re almost there.”

  Vidya could not help but notice that this part of the ocean was strangely quiet. It had the same sort of sinister lack of life that the Fae forest had just this morning. The type of quiet that meant there was something dangerous nearby. She clutched onto Pancake firmly and surveyed the dark blue water around her. She wondered how much protection the silver Bubblepad would give her if a shark or unfriendly sea creature tried to get at them.

  Meera came to a stop in front of them. She pointed to a towering mountain.

  In the rock was a gigantic, gaping hole. A black mouth in which Vidya could not see inside.

  “Are we going in there?” Vidya asked, looking side to side.

  “Unfortunately, yes”, Meera unsheathed her sword again. “Bob, stick close.”

  Bob pulled them inside the cave, and Vidya cringed internally. But her first view of a threatening sea monster was not as she had expected.

  A giant creature lay on the cave sea floor. It was leathery and rough, with long tentacles and half covered in sand. It wasn’t moving or breathing.

  “Did you kill this creature?” asked Vidya, wide eyed.

  “No”, Said Meera. “I killed that one.”

  As they passed the creature, the head of a gigantic shark became visible.

  “Creatures gravitate toward this place. When one dies, another comes to replace it.”

  “Who killed the other one?” asked Vidya.

  Meera remained silent and continued to swim forward. They turned a corner, and Vidya's heart jumped when she saw a familiar golden light pouring out of an opening in the rock.

  It felt and looked exactly like the light from the Bunyip cave, just a bit softer.

  Meera led them into the gap in the rock, and Vidya could see the golden glow came from the cavern floor. Vidya squinted at the floor to get a better look and found the source of the glow were tiny objects scattered about the sand.

  “They’re petals”, said Meera. She beckoned Bob to bring the Bubblepad closer. “Look”, Meera pointed in the centre of the cavern.

  A large dent was in the sandy-soil, as if it had been newly dug up and something had been removed.

  “The petals,” Vidya whispered.

  “Petals from a golden flower that glows with its own light”, said Meera. “A flower that no one knew was here. That was heavily guarded by fierce creatures since the dawn of time.”

  “No one believed me,” whispered Vidya. “I told them, but no one believed me.”

  Meera turned her blue eyes to gaze at Vidya with seriousness.

  Vidya felt it in her bones. These petals… they called out to her. She knew, she just knew what it was. />
  Meera picked up a petal and held it up to the silvery bubble and pushed it through. The bubble bent, then admitted Meera’s hand with the petal whist not letting any water in.

  Pancake reached out and took it from her, Meera pulled her hand back out.

  “Flower of Awakening,” Pancake whispered.

  Vidya almost jumped ten feet in the air.

  “Pancake, did you just speak?” she asked, shocked.

  Pancake looked at Vidya, then looked at the petal he was holding and dropped it, covering his mouth with his claw.

  “Wow!” came his muffled voice.

  Realisation dawned on Vidya.

  “This is how they’re smart. This is how they grew wings! It changes creatures,” breathed Vidya, looking at Meera with wide eyes. “They’ve found it.” Her knees felt weak, she thought she was going to be sick. “They’ve taken it.”

  Meera came toward them right up to her bubble. “You’ve seen it?”

  “I saw it,” Pancake raised his hand. “Same petal.”

  Meera shook her head. “And it’s not they. It’s Him.”

  “Who?” asked Vidya, frowning.

  “The kraken lying out there in the entrance told me before he died. The creature that took it called himself the Bunyip King.”

  Vidya swallowed a couple of times. Her mouth felt incredibly dry. Things just kept getting worse and worse. Pancake reached up and patted her cheek.

  “Answers, we have now,” he whispered.

  “We have answers now,” she corrected him absent-mindedly, gazing at the golden petal on the floor of the bubble pad with wonder. She bent to pick it up, feeling its softness in her hands. A warm, fuzzy feeling spread over her chest, and she couldn’t but help smile at the petal. Tired, it seemed to say. So tired. And a flash in her mind’s eye made her lose her breath. The image of a magnificent golden flower, like nothing she had ever seen before, appeared to her. Golden, glowing, ancient and spectacular. Help me, Vidya, came an ethereal, whispering voice. She gasped.

  “Is it saying something?” came Meera’s voice.

  Vidya’s head jerked up in surprise, the image fading away, and Meera’s pale face peered at her. She had forgotten where she was for a minute. “What did you say?”

  “You were looking at it like it was saying something. Fae talk to plants, don’t they?”

  Vidya shook her head. “No, only our guardian plant.”

  “What’s a guardian plant?”

  “All Fae are born with one plant they can talk to specially. We become keepers of that species of plant. Look after it, and it gives us powers back.”

  “Oh, so what’s yours?”

  Vidya looked back down at the golden petal and frowned deeply, then shook her head. “I—um, don’t know yet.”

  “Oh. Could it be this flower?”

  Vidya immediately shook her head as a reflex. That was impossible. Why would she have the Flower of Awakening as her guardian plant? The thought was ridiculous. But, she thought, just yesterday, the thought of the flower even being real was ridiculous. Had she heard the petal speak to her? Or did she just make it up in her head? Maybe the flower spoke to everyone?

  “I don’t know.”

  “Well, we should get out of here,” said Meera. “This is one of the most dangerous parts of the ocean.”

  Vidya nodded, and Meera pushed through a couple more petals for Pancake to collect. Chances were, they might be useful, and Vidya knew she could never come back here again.

  Meera led them out of the cave, and Bob followed with Vidya and Pancake deep in thought.

  The Flower of Awakening was real, she had evidence. The others would have to believe her now. But being real made their situation all the worse. The Bunyip King had their prized possession in his keeping, and it was clearly giving him power. The thought of him hurting it was an awful thought, more than Vidya could bear. He just couldn’t hurt it, he just couldn’t!

  No, thought Vidya, he’s not hurting it. They’re using it. That must be how they had gotten their wings, and their smarts, no doubt about it. The Flower sang and had awoken the Fae from the earth. It was capable of incredible magic. Who knows what it could do?

  “Let’s get out of here”, came Meera’s voice. “We should get you back.”

  As they began their journey away from the underwater mountains and back the way they had come, Vidya felt the back of her neck prickle. How long had they been under the ocean? It felt like hours, definitely. Crossing her fingers, she hoped it was still daylight by the time they made it back. She willed Bob to swim faster, but the fish was only a little guy, and it was clearly taking a toll on him to be pulling both her and Pancake through the water for so long.

  “It must be late, Pancake,” she said.

  He nodded his head in agreement.

  After what seemed like forever, they entered the familiar cave where the Fae pond was located. Meera slowed down ahead of them, and as Vidya looked upward, she saw the small dark circle that was the Fae pond.

  Oh no, she thought, seeing that there was no light coming through the patch. It was definitely night.

  She watched as Meera swam right up to the Fae pond entrance and knocked her head right into it as if it were made of solid glass.

  “Ow!” she cried, rubbing her head.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Vidya, panicked.

  Meera swam back up to the glassy surface and tapped it with her finger. “The Fae pond is shut. It won’t let me through.”

  Vidya’s heart froze in her chest. “How can it do that? I don’t think I have much air left in here.”

  Meera put her hands on her lips and looked around them. “We could find another Fae pond, I guess…”

  To Vidya’s horror, the silvery bubble faded around them. She shouted a warning just as water flooded around them on all sides.

  “Don’t panic!” came Meera’s shout in her ear.

  Vidya flailed in the water, kicking her legs so she didn’t sink. She grabbed Pancake, who was flapping his arms and legs around in terror.

  “Maybe we can break it!” Cried Meera.

  Vidya and Meera swam up to the glassy underside of the Fae pond and pounded their fists against it, but it felt like solid ice against their skin. Vidya’s lungs burned, heart pounding fast. She needed air. Badly.

  But she was stuck, and there was no way out.

  Pancake released the air he was holding in a cloud of bubbles. Then he went limp.

  10

  The Fae Queen

  In the home of the Old Ones, one speaks with a voice leaden with the reverence of he who knows he was about to receive information of utmost import. In the home of the Old Ones, one sees with eyes that glisten from the sight of something granted only to them. In the home of the Old Ones, one treads with feet heavy with the weight of what brought them there.

  —The Book of the Fae, Queen Mab the First, 3333 B.C.

  * * *

  Vidya clutched Pancake to her chest. She could feel her heart pounding in her ears, her throat burned, she wanted to breathe so badly.

  “Hold on, Vidya, please!” Came Meera’s cry from the conch shell earpiece in her ear. Meera was thrashing around in the water, fists banging again and again on the glassy underside of the Fae pond.

  “Let us in!” She cried.

  In an explosion of white bubbles, something long and hard burst through the portal above them. A barky arm grabbed Vidya around the waist, and she was pulled upward through the water.

  Cold night air stung her face, and she gasped and spluttered, water streaming out from her nose as something thumped her on the back.

  “Oh, for Earth’s sake, Vidya!” cried a familiar, rude voice.

  “L-lobey?” asked Vidya, as something released her onto the ground. She rubbed at her eyes to make out the dark shapes in the clearing.

  “Yes, it’s me, you crazy Fae,” Lobey said angrily, a little further away. “Oh wake up Pancake!”

  Vidya scrambled to her feet as her
vision cleared. On the other side of the pond stood a tall Devil’s Finger Tree, swaying softly, and beneath it, Lobey was on her knees over the soggy round of fur that was Pancake. As Vidya watched in shock, Princess Meera leapt out of the water and came to sit on the side of the Fae pond. She leaned over, pinched Pancake’s nose, and blew into his mouth. The little quokka reacted immediately, coughing, water pouring from his mouth. But that wasn’t all that came out. A golden, glowing petal of from the Flower of Awakening stuck out of Pancake’s mouth, and Meera exclaimed. She pulled it out with her fingers as Pancake wheezed.

  Once it was out, Lobey rolled him on his side, whacking him on the back.

  “You’re alright,” cooed Meera, placing the petal on a rock. “That was a close one,” she said, looking up at Lobey. “What is that?” she asked, pointing at the Devil’s Finger.

  “That,” said Lobey with her nose in the air. “Is my guardian plant. This one I call Jimmy.”

  Vidya gaped at the Devil’s Finger tree, standing calmly at Lobey’s back, then at Lobey’s brown face. Lobey nodded knowingly. “I know,” she said quietly as Pancake scrambled over the rocks to Vidya. She picked him up and squeezed him, trying to wring the water out of his coat.

  “That’s sure something,” said Vidya. “Thanks, Lobey, without your help, we were goners.”

  “I know,” she said curtly, patting Jim’s rough bark. The tree leaned into her hand like a puppy wanting a scratch. “Luna told me that a couple of the kids out in the city said they had seen a Fae pond freeze over, like it was a human pond in winter! I knew you’d be in trouble then. I flew over here and tried to break it open with a stick, but it wouldn’t work. Then this guy showed up.”

  She patted Jimmy fondly. “And I could hear him, Vidya, like actually hear his voice in my head. What’s the problem? He asked, and I said, ‘I need to get through this thing.’ Then I saw you three hovering like shadows underneath. I saw Meera’s fist, and then Jimmy broke through.”

  “Well, thanks, Jimmy,” said Vidya gratefully. “What a time to find out your guardian plant, hey?”