by K. M. Shea
“So do we,” Isotta grumbled as her twin nodded.
“It has certainly lost its luster,” Diana agreed.
“The lot of you are nothing more than uncultured swine.” Cassya lifted her chin up so her gold hair glowed in the light of the fire. “Carril and I are leaving. You may dawdle if you like—I would so love to watch you be yanked into the forest against your will again.”
The princesses grumbled, but they started to gather at the far side of the room and claim a white candle.
Quinn frowned as she puzzled over the sisters’ exchange, trying to piece together their cryptic words and the vast difference in body language. She didn’t bother to guess what the princesses were about to do—she and Roy were going to witness it, after all—but she did find it somewhat confusing that the girls had such varying opinions on their nightly activity.
Clearly the youngest girls hated it—though Cassya and Carril loved it and it seemed that Alena, Brittany, Ellena, and Eva did not object to it.
Quinn was studying Alena with a frown, so she missed seeing what the oldest twins did as they crowded next to the room’s vast fireplace. Whatever it was, it made a hidden door in the wall slide open, revealing a darkened passageway.
Roy bumped Quinn’s side, and together they silently walked across the room, joining the line of princesses as they lit their candles and filed into the passageway.
To avoid the door shutting on them, Quinn and Roy had to follow Isotta and Isudora so close they nearly trod on their heels.
Isudora yelped when they pressed forward, barely slipping into the passageway in time. “Something brushed my dress!”
“It was probably just a spider,” Brittany said.
“A great, big, hairy spider with a bloated body,” Carril added. She and Cassya laughed when Isudora squeaked and shook out the skirts of her gown.
“Carril,” Alena said in a disapproving tone.
Carril sighed. “Fine, fine. It was nothing, Isudora—just a breeze.”
The tunnel merged with a larger pathway and soon opened up into a spiral staircase covered in cobwebs and dust.
The sisters were silent as they followed the staircase deeper and deeper. Quinn frowned as she counted the steps. We must be below the palace by now…
Shortly after her observation, the stairs transitioned from a spiraling path into a straighter line with stretches of flat ground and inclines. The stairs themselves switched from laid blocks and bricks to a choppy stone cut out of the ground.
Are we beneath the hill?
“At least we’ll never gain weight from all the food we eat!” Princess Diana announced from somewhere near the front of the line.
“I’m getting a blister,” Flippa announced.
“We’re almost there,” Alena said.
The stairway turned entirely flat and closed in on itself, shrinking until the path was so tight Quinn and Roy could not walk side by side, but instead Quinn had to go first while Roy, his sweaty hands on her shoulders, blindly followed. It only lasted a few moments, though, before the princesses slipped out of the passageway that had carved straight through the hill on which the palace stood.
I cannot believe there is an unguarded entrance to the castle!
Quinn had to crouch slightly to ease her tall frame through the opening and was forced to pause—placing her hand on Roy’s chest—while half-in-half-out as the princesses gathered in a flock, blowing out their carefully lit candles.
The sisters were still easy enough to see in the night—their dresses were bright smudges that glittered in the darkness. Behind them stretched the King’s Forest—which explained why the entrance had been unguarded and likely forgotten. The King’s Forest surrounded most of the palace hill. It was forbidden to enter by all except the royal family, and nothing got through the woods without the elves’ knowledge as it abutted the Alabaster Forest.
“How much farther do you think we have to go?” Roy murmured in her ear.
“I don’t know.” Quinn waited until the princesses were far ahead before she finished easing out of the tunnel, pulling most of the cloak off Roy in the process.
Roy hurried out after her, rearranging the cloak around him as Quinn peered at the hill they had emerged from, following it up.
As she had suspected, the secret tunnel took them down through the inside of the hill. The palace stretched overhead, glowing from fires and torches, and the city—herded in by its wall—butted against it.
“Come, we need to move on,” Roy whispered, “or we’re going to lose them.”
Quinn and Roy moved together like wolves stalking prey. Though the cloak limited their movements, their strides were perfectly matched as they crept along, easily catching up to the princesses thanks to fatigue of the younger girls—who were still complaining.
“I’m not dancing tonight,” Isotta declared.
“That’s fine,” Alena said. The older princess led the royal procession, carefully making her way through the dark forest.
“No one will notice—or care,” Cassya said sharply.
“You can always eat.” Princess Diana held back a tree branch for her younger siblings and smiled. “There’re plenty of tasty delicacies. Just remember you can’t drink anything.”
“I know that!” Isotta kicked a stone. “I’m not stupid!”
Quinn perked up at the exchange. They can’t drink? Why not?
She tapped on Roy’s side with two fingers—one of the band’s signals to raise caution. Roy tapped her back.
Quinn tried to slightly adjust their shared cloak but paused when they rounded a bend.
Though the forest that stretched around them was dark and shadowed, Alena led them through a small grove of trees that glowed.
The first few trees had round, silvery leaves and white bark spattered with gray dapples. The second group had three-pronged leaves—like a maple—that were bright like freshly molded gold with bark that blazed yellow like the afternoon sun. The last trees, however, were the most impressive. They had fern-like branches that appeared to be studded with diamonds. The bark sparkled and glowed like the moon in the dimness of the forest.
There’s magic in the air. We must be on the border of the Alabaster Forest. Quinn ignored the urge to rub her arms. Though she couldn’t wield it herself, she had been trained as a soldier to detect the sparkling, dew-drop feeling of elf magic. (They couldn’t have soldiers wandering into elf territory, after all. It would break the ancient treaty Farset had with them. And with the ramshackle way the elves’ domain wove through the forest, it was impossible to properly memorize all the boundaries. But if you could recognize elf magic, the difference would be perceptible—though perhaps not as obvious as it was here.)
The princesses didn’t spare the gorgeous trees more than a glance, but continued through the forest. The glow of the sparkling trees had barely faded when they emerged from the woods and stopped at the bank of a wide but shallow river.
Twelve white gondolas were shoved on the shore of the river. A lantern was hooked to the prow of each boat, and a man—or in some cases, woman—was positioned by each vessel and held a long white oar.
Carril and Cassya giggled as they swept across the shore. Each climbed into a gondola, positioning themselves on a seat placed near the prow and fluffing their skirts.
This is going to be tricky. How do we get on without upsetting the boat? Quinn thoughtfully watched the other princesses as all but the youngest twins climbed into the boats.
Roy nudged Quinn. “That’s Lady Llyr with Princess Diana.”
Quinn glanced over in time to see Lady Llyr help Princess Diana climb into the gondola. The noble woman had been a famous adventurer until she disappeared two years prior while attempting to uncover the princesses’ secret.
Are all of the gondoliers men and women who disappeared while investigating? Then the princesses must truly be cursed. Only dark sorcery could capture so many people against their will…
Quinn glanced at the oth
er boaters who helped the princesses climb into the gondolas. It was hard to tell in the dim light the lanterns and moon cast, but she thought she recognized at least two of them as high-ranking military officers.
“Get in, Isudora. We’re going across,” Alena said.
Isudora shook her head. “I want to go home.”
Brittany, who had not yet climbed into her gondola, joined her younger sister. “We have no choice.” She put a hand between her shoulders and nudged her forward, pausing to pat Isudora’s hair when the young princess meandered up to one of the boaters.
Roy grunted. “This should be fun,” he whispered. He started forward, Quinn taking an extra-long step to catch up with him. She winced, disliking the clear footprints they left in their boots, but she followed Roy up to the boat Isudora reluctantly climbed into with the help of a tall, broad-shouldered man.
He held her hand as she shakily stepped into the beached boat. “Your Highness,” he murmured.
“Hello, Reeves,” Isudora said wearily, naming the king’s spymaster with a sigh.
Quinn’s eyes threatened to bulge as she studied the unassuming man. I should have looked more closely before choosing a boat. I wish we had someone less…observant.
Isudora did not sit down but instead dawdled as she staggered across the gondola.
“If you don’t hurry, Isudora, the spiders from the tunnel will get you,” Carril said, her twin laughing unkindly.
Isudora squeaked and plopped down so hard she rocked the boat, giving Quinn an idea.
She flexed her shoulders, making the invisibility spell quiver, then crouched down to pick up a large pebble. She used a few silent taps to communicate her idea to Roy, then tossed the pebble so it hit Isudora’s skirts.
The young princess screamed and shot out of her seat to grip the prow of the gondola, violently rocking the vessel.
Quinn carefully climbed onto the back of the boat—the stern—in a crouch. She kept herself curled in a ball and wedged as far back as she could. She was positioned directly behind the place where Reeves would stand to paddle the boat across the river with his single oar. If he backed up at all, he would knock into her and send her splashing into the river, but she had to crouch there to balance the boat.
Roy sat down across from her on the lip of the narrow boat, his legs hanging precariously over the side and the cloak stretching to cover them even though only their shoulders touched. By the time Isudora finished shaking out her skirts and let Reeves settle her onto the bench, they were precariously situated.
A handsome man who steered Princess Alena’s boat set his white oar in the oarlock. “Pushing off!”
The other gondoliers copied him. Reeves moved to do the same, and Roy shoved off the shore so they would actually move instead of remaining grounded. It got them gliding across the water, but it did rock the boat a little.
Reeves stared at the stern, taking a few steps closer to them as he peered into the river.
Quinn held her breath, and her heart pounded so loudly she feared Reeves might hear it.
The spymaster opened and closed his mouth several times before he returned to the oar and began paddling them across the river.
Quinn relaxed minutely, smiling a little when Roy squeezed her shoulder.
The water chortled and chuckled as the gondola glided across it, aiming for the opposite bank. There was a screen of trees, but the afterglow of light escaped through the branches and painted the treetops gold.
Someone is waiting for them there. A sorcerer, perhaps? But how could he—or she—do this without the elves’ knowledge?
Quinn lifted her nose to the air, sifting through the familiar scent of the forest and the minty smell of the river. (They were now officially in the land of the elves where the water smelled clearer. There was a good chance this very same river flowed through bits of human forest and most likely smelled fishy there.) She couldn’t detect even the faintest whiff of smoke, though the air was heavy with the scent of sweet flowers and zesty herbs.
Over the chatter of the river—and a few of the princesses—Quinn thought she heard the sound of…music.
Before she had the chance to ponder the matter, they arrived at the other side of the river. Reeves hopped out of the boat, grabbed hold of the prow, and dragged it onto the beach. Quinn and Roy had to cling to the stern to keep from sliding overboard, and Reeves (with their added weight) made slow progress.
“Do you need assistance, Reeves?” Lady Llyr asked. She held out a hand to Princess Diana, who waved her off and hopped over the side of the boat, landing in a crouch.
“It’s fine,” Reeves grunted when he finally dragged the prow of the boat onto the sandy shore. “Princess, you may disembark.”
Isudora sighed heavily. “Thank you, sir.” She started to climb out of the boat and would have fallen face first when she stepped on her own dress if not for Reeves catching her and setting her upright.
“Isudora, you are turning out to be as graceful as an ox,” Carril said.
Princess Alena watched Isotta join her twin and clasp hands together. “She just needs a few lessons in elegance.”
“Hardly,” Brittany said acidly as she passed between Alena and Carril. “She’s just growing.”
Ellena fussed with her shoulder wrap. “What does that have to do with anything?”
Gisetta cleared her throat. “The change in body proportions makes it difficult for one to estimate distances.”
“Yes, yes. Thank the gondoliers, sisters,” Princess Alena chided. “We must move on.”
The princesses murmured a thank you and glided across the shore, heading for a small foot path that cut between the trees and led straight towards the source of the glowing light.
The gondoliers slowly fell in line behind them. Quinn and Roy waited until they were nearly to the trees before they climbed out of the boat, scattering a few pebbles when they landed on the shore.
They waited for a moment, but no one turned around.
“There’s something very unsettling about this,” Quinn murmured. “I assumed—everyone assumed—that those who disappeared were dead. If they weren’t killed, what are they doing in the Alabaster Forest instead of reporting to the king?”
“I don’t know,” Roy said. “But we’re about to find out.”
Together they crept across the shore, following the last of the gondoliers through the trees and into the golden light.
The forest opened up into a large meadow that was filled to the brim with elves milling about, chatting, laughing, and dancing. Some of them wore masks, but all of them wore dresses and tunics that glimmered. Only a dozen or so of them wore chainmail or light armor.
Three gazebos made of metal wrought as thinly as spiderwebs were placed in the north, east, and western ends of the clearing. A raised pavilion was placed on the southern end. It was taller than Quinn, and both it and the ornate chairs that cluttered it were made of white wood.
There were banquet tables of food and drink, and pitched canopies that were made of a white cloth finer than silk that twinkled like stars. A herd of four unicorns drank from a small stream that ringed one of the gazebos.
The meadow was not lit by fires or lanterns, but plant life. Flowers ranging from snow white to a brilliant aqua blue ringed the meadow, and all had twinkling centers that served as a soft light. Several trees that were pure white from their bark to their leaves glowed with the quiet majesty of the moon, and golden vines that shed gold light curled around the gazebos, the legs of the tables and chairs, and the pavilion.
It was beautiful, and it was a celebration. A party!
And yet…the air didn’t settle well.
Something isn’t right. The elves disappear without a word because they’re throwing festivals every night? And the princesses don’t tell anyone? None of this makes sense.
“Is this real?” Roy whispered, echoing her thoughts.
Quinn bit her tongue hard, feeling reassured at the pain. She closed her eyes, but
even without the lovely vision the elven party made, she still heard the chatter between the party attendees and could scent out the faintest whiff of the venison roast on the nearest table. “I think so…”
The Farset princesses and the gondoliers joined a clutch of humans who stood by the eastern gazebo. The humans all bowed upon their arrival, and if Quinn had to bet, she imagined all the humans present had disappeared after trying to uncover the princesses’ secret.
Angelique said the elves were cursed…does this have something to do with it? But when she said cursed I imagined she meant some kind of transformation, like Prince Severin of Loire endured; or a cursed sleep, like Princess Rosalinda of Sole…
The sweetest music Quinn had ever heard filled the air, compliments of the cluster of elves standing near the pavilion who played beautiful stringed instruments and sang clearly. The meadow was warmer than it should be on a cold fall night—more magic at work, probably.
The elves standing on the pavilion cleared, and a single elf—male, Quinn thought—sat down in the grandest of the chairs. She squinted, trying to get a good look at him from across the meadow, but the most she could make out was the white mask that covered his face.
A beautiful female elf who had hair so blond it appeared white stood at the base of the pavilion. She cleared her throat and held her goblet aloft. “It is time.”
As Quinn watched, the elves passed around goblets made of a pink-hued gold. The humans made no move to take goblets of their own and instead continued to stand in the shadows.
The beautiful female elf tapped the rim of her cup. “May tonight mark another night of elven celebration and revelry,” she said with no enthusiasm. “May our drink ease our burdens and our hospitality not be found wanting.” She glared openly at the Farset princesses before continuing. “Let the celebration begin!”
The meadow was silent as the elves tipped back their goblets and drank to the female elf’s words. Before they even finished their drink, Quinn could see a change take place over them.
Gone were their solemn expressions and their elegant but slow way of moving. Instead, they tilted their heads back with loud laughter and began a mad whirl of dancing when the music picked back up again.
