Enchanted Palace

by Rosie Banks

  “Maybe that’s because you’re happiest there,” Ellie said, her eyes lighting up. “Perhaps your palace is the place you love most.”

  “Why, I think you’re right!” the king exclaimed happily.

  Trixi bit her lip anxiously. “But King Merry’s birthday party is being held at the palace today! If the first thunderbolt is hidden there, Queen Malice’s spell will ruin everything! We must leave for the Secret Kingdom right away.”

  Jasmine felt a buzz of excitement go through her. “How are we going to get there? Are we going to use magic?”

  “Hang on, we can’t just leave,” Summer said, suddenly thinking of her mom and brothers, who were downstairs. “What do we tell our parents?”

  “Don’t worry,” said Trixi. “My magic combined with the power of the Magic Box will easily transport you to the Secret Kingdom. And while the three of you are there, time will stand still in your world — nobody will even notice that you’re gone.”

  Ellie’s eyes sparkled. “Then what are we waiting for?”

  She held out the Magic Box to Trixi, who tapped the lid with her ring and chanted:

  “The evil queen has trouble planned.

  Brave helpers fly to save our land!”

  Trixi’s words appeared on the mirrored lid and then soared toward the ceiling. Then the letters separated and descended like a cloud of sparkly butterflies. They began to whiz around the girls’ heads until they formed a whirlwind.

  “Place the Magic Box on the ground and hold one another’s hands,” Trixi called.

  The whirlwind now filled the whole room. Jasmine squeaked in delight as she felt her feet leaving the ground. She looked around and saw that Summer and Ellie had also been picked up by the magical storm.

  She squeezed their hands encouragingly and her friends grinned back. The king had his hands over his eyes, and Trixi was hovering just above his shoulder.

  “Secret Kingdom, here we come!” Jasmine cried.

  Then, in a flash of light, they were gone!

  With a gentle bump, Jasmine landed on something soft, white, and feathery. “Wow!” she squealed. The girls were each sitting on the back of a giant swan, soaring through a bluebell-colored sky.

  King Merry was riding another swan, which was bigger than the others and the tips of its wings sparkled with golden feathers.

  “Enjoying the ride?” Trixi asked Summer, as she zipped along next to them on her leaf.

  Summer nodded enthusiastically. “Where did these swans come from?” she asked, staring at their snowy whiteness.

  “They’re King Merry’s royal swans,” Trixi replied. “They’re taking us to his palace.”

  “They’re so beautiful,” Summer murmured, reaching out and stroking her swan’s downy back.

  “This is AMAZING!” Jasmine shouted as her swan took the lead, soaring through the clouds. “It’s so much better than the SkyRyde at the Honeyvale Fair!”

  “I’m not sure about that,” Ellie wailed, her face pale as she clung on tightly to her swan. “At least the SkyRyde ends after three minutes.”

  “You’re doing really well, Ellie,” Summer called over encouragingly, knowing that her friend was afraid of heights. “But you should look if you can — it’s so beautiful!”

  Ellie peeked over her swan’s broad wing and gasped. Beneath them was a beautiful island, shaped like a crescent moon and set in an aquamarine sea. The shore of the island glittered with golden sand, and in the distance the girls could see emerald-green hills and fields filled with little balls of light on golden stems.

  “They must be sun flowers,” Ellie said to herself, giggling. For a moment, she even forgot how high up they were!

  As they descended through the fluffy white clouds, Jasmine felt her stomach flip-flop as she saw mermaids — real mermaids — sitting on shimmering rocks, combing their silvery hair. She could even hear their voices singing a hauntingly beautiful song.

  “Welcome to the Secret Kingdom,” Trixi said with a grin.

  As they swooped down over the island, a fluttering flock of dragonflies rose up to meet them. A medley of colors surrounded them and Summer giggled in delight as one delicately landed on her hair.

  “It’s the most gorgeous hair clip ever!” Ellie laughed as she admired the dragonfly’s beautiful, colorful wings.

  King Merry proudly pointed out areas of the kingdom as they passed: the fairy flying school at the Windy Weir; Magic Mountain, filled with sparkling snow-covered slopes and ice slides; and Unicorn Valley, with its racecourse and enormous magical tree.

  “Wow! Is that your palace, King Merry?” Jasmine asked, pointing to a fairytale castle nestled between two hills. A deep sapphire-blue moat hugged the castle walls, and magic seemed to glitter on the coral-pink bricks of the palace. The golden spires of the four palace turrets were studded with rubies and shone in the bright sunlight.

  King Merry nodded. “Home, sweet home.”

  The swans landed safely in front of the palace gates and Ellie slipped gratefully to the ground, followed by Summer and Jasmine.

  Trixi flew over to them. “Did you enjoy that, girls?”

  “The kingdom is beautiful,” Ellie said. “But I’m very happy to be on the ground again!”

  “You must be joking, Ellie,” Jasmine exclaimed with a grin. “I thought it was the best thing ever. I can’t wait to ride on a swan again!”

  “And it’s just the beginning!” King Merry boomed. “Follow me.”

  He led them over to the gates. The golden railings twisted upward into the shape of a mighty oak. As the king pushed them open, the branches flowered and a fanfare sounded all around them.

  “The king is here!” Trixi announced as they walked into the beautiful courtyard.

  A group of friendly, green elf butlers, dressed in long black coats and white gloves, all turned and bowed. Then they returned to hanging streamers in the trees.

  As the three girls looked closely, they saw that hundreds of glowing fireflies were clinging to the strings to make little lights.

  “Oh my,” the king breathed. “How handsome the twinkle-twinkle bunting looks. Trixi, my suggestion for the streamers has worked beautifully!”

  “I never doubted that your idea would work, Sire,” Trixi said. She hovered above Ellie’s shoulder. “It just needed a bit of pixie magic to help it along,” she added in a whisper.

  Ellie giggled.

  As the king led everyone farther into the courtyard, they passed a huge fountain surrounded by a cloud of sweet-smelling bubbles.

  “Hang on a minute,” said Jasmine. “That’s not water, is it?”

  Trixi smiled. “No. It’s lemonade!”

  “A lemonade fountain!” Ellie cried, running back and forth, trying to catch one of the fragrant bubbles on her tongue. Summer and Jasmine laughed as they watched their friend.

  Behind them came the clip-clop of hooves, and they turned to see a beautiful blue pony led by an elf butler, which was pulling a wagon loaded with brightly wrapped packages.

  “My birthday presents!” King Merry exclaimed excitedly.

  But Summer wasn’t interested in the gifts. She couldn’t take her eyes off the pony and its aquamarine mane.

  “He’s gorgeous.” She smiled.

  “And he looks really friendly,” Ellie added, staring into the pony’s warm brown eyes.

  Smiling, Trixi tapped her pixie ring and a rosy-red apple appeared in each girl’s palm. But just as they started feeding them to the pony, Jasmine felt a chill suddenly crawl up her neck. A dark shadow fell over the courtyard.

  “Oh no!” cried King Merry. He pointed to the sky.

  Floating over the palace was an enormous thundercloud. On top of the ugly gray cloud the girls could see a tall, thin woman with a spiky silver crown and a mess of frizzy black hair.

  “Oh no,” Trixi whispered. “Queen Malice is here!”

  Jasmine, Ellie, and Summer stared up at Queen Malice on her cloud, their hearts beating fast. Lightning crackled a
ll around, giving the girls the shivers. Thunder rumbled loudly as the cloud stopped above King Merry’s palace just long enough for a burst of rain to pour right onto his presents.

  “Your birthday party is ruined, brother!” Queen Malice shouted at King Merry. “Just you wait and see!”

  “What do you think she did?” Summer asked the others. But neither Ellie nor Jasmine could guess.

  Queen Malice gave a cackle of mocking laughter, then the gray cloud sped off.

  Suddenly the presents in the wagon began to shake and rustle. There was the sound of tearing as little legs pushed through the wrapping paper. Then the gifts leapt from the cart and ran away!

  “My presents!” King Merry wailed.

  Trixi tapped her ring. Although a stream of purple glitter flowed from it, nothing happened to the gifts. “My pixie magic isn’t strong enough to undo Queen Malice’s spells!” she cried.

  Without thinking, Ellie dived forward and caught one of the escaping gifts.

  As soon as she did, the legs disappeared and the present sat innocently in her hands.

  “Quick,” Jasmine said. “We’ve got to catch the rest!”

  Everyone leapt after the fleeing gifts. Jasmine and Summer managed to herd three into a corner and pick them up. One ran straight through the legs of a surprised-looking elf butler. Ellie, who was following it, couldn’t stop in time and knocked him over! King Merry caught one by jumping on it, and then looked sadly at the present, which was now squashed flat.

  “At least I can fix that,” Trixi told him, tapping her ring and repairing it magically.

  Eventually all the presents were caught and changed back to normal. The girls stacked them back on the wagon.

  Trixi blew her hair out of her eyes. “I wish we could find a way to stop Queen Malice once and for all,” she said fiercely. “And her horrible helpers, the Storm Sprites. The queen has all kinds of mean tricks up her sleeve, and we never know where she’ll turn up next.”

  “She is such a bully,” said King Merry. “And she’s determined to ruin my birthday. I just know that cursed thunderbolt of hers is hidden here somewhere, all ready to cause trouble.” The king’s eyes brimmed with tears. “This is going to be the worst party ever — my subjects are going to be miserable, and they won’t have any fun.”

  “Yes, they will,” Ellie said, her eyes flashing. “Because we’re going to find the thunderbolt and stop it from doing any harm!”

  “That’s right,” Summer and Jasmine chorused in loud, firm voices.

  “And I’ll help, too,” Trixi said, floating up to the king’s face and drying his tears away.

  “Thank you, girls,” said King Merry, but his voice was still shaky.

  “Bobbins!” Trixi called to one of the elf butlers.

  The elf rushed over and bowed deeply.

  “King Merry needs a cup of hot cocoa with extra marshmallows,” Trixi explained. “And then he needs to change into his party clothes. His guests will be arriving in two hours!”

  Bobbins led the king away into the palace.

  “Let’s go and find that thunderbolt!” Trixi said as she dusted off her hands. “We should start in the palace gardens, since that’s where the guests will gather later. Remember to keep an eye out for trouble!”

  She stood up on her leaf and sped ahead, leading the girls out of the courtyard and into a maze with twisting and turning paths that seemed to change every time they blinked. Summer, Ellie, and Jasmine looked down every path and under all the hedges, but there was no sign of the thunderbolt anywhere.

  Trixi led them out of the maze and past a beautiful pond that had a rainbow leading down into its depths. Trixi explained that the rainbow was a magical slide that could take you anywhere in the Secret Kingdom you wanted to go.

  Finally, the girls walked into a garden filled with trees made of cotton candy. Bunting hung from the trees, and a group of brownies were busy putting lots of cakes onto a long table.

  “These ones look amazing,” Ellie said, pointing to a cluster of pink-frosted cupcakes.

  “They’re cupcakes,” Trixi explained.

  “Oh, we have those at home,” Jasmine said, sounding a bit disappointed.

  “Really?” Trixi said. “The magical kind? If you eat one, you’ll be able to fly for five minutes!”

  “Wow!” Jasmine exclaimed. “We definitely don’t have cupcakes like that! Can we try them?”

  Trixi nodded. “Just one bite, though, we don’t want the magic lasting too long. We’ve got a thunderbolt to find!”

  Jasmine grinned excitedly and offered the cupcakes to her friends, but Ellie shook her head. “Flying like a fairy? No thanks, I’m happy to have my feet on the ground!”

  Jasmine took a small bite of her cupcake. After a moment’s hesitation, Summer did the same. Instantly, a pair of glittering wings sprang out on each of their backs.

  Jasmine flapped her wings carefully, and then shot upward. Summer was soon beside her and they zoomed through the air, going higher and higher. The wind whipped through their hair as they did loop-the-loops and whooped with excitement.

  Trixi twirled in the air with them, and then came to land on Ellie’s shoulder. “Don’t go too high up,” she called to Jasmine and Summer.

  Just as Trixi spoke, Summer began to wobble. “Uh-oh, my wings are shrinking!” she cried out.

  “Jasmine, look out!” Ellie shouted as her friend’s wings disappeared.

  “Don’t worry, Ellie,” Trixi said. She tapped her ring and Jasmine and Summer suddenly slowed and landed gently on the ground.

  “Whew!” Jasmine said, then grinned. “That was so much fun!”

  Trixi winked at the girls. “Flying with leaves is much safer.” She giggled.

  Summer chuckled, although her legs still felt wobbly. “I think you’re right!”

  At the other end of the table, Ellie pointed to some heart-shaped treats. “Hey, what are these called?”

  “Endless cookies,” a brownie piped up. He only came up to Ellie’s knee. He was covered in soft brown hair and wore a funny green cap. “You can eat as many as you want and never get full. Would you like one?”

  “Yes, please!” Ellie took one and popped it into her mouth. “Yum! It tastes like strawberries and chocolate and ice cream all rolled into one!”

  Trixi and the girls continued to look around the palace grounds, searching for any sign of Queen Malice’s thunderbolt or the problems it might be causing, but there was still no trace of it. Eventually they reached an orchard where party games were being set up.

  They could see a large barrel where seven dwarfs were practicing bobbing for golden apples. Nearby, two tiny pixie girls were busy wrapping one of their friends in glittery pink paper.

  “What are they doing?” Summer asked.

  “They’re getting ready to play Pass the Pixie, of course!” Trixi said. “It’s a great honor to be chosen as the pixie in the package.”

  Ellie grinned as she spotted a cheeky-looking imp drawing a unicorn on a wall. When the picture was complete, the unicorn stamped its hooves and nodded its regal head.

  “Let me guess.” She smiled. “Pin the Tail on the Unicorn?”

  Trixi nodded. “We’ll also have Musical Thrones and Blind Brownie’s Bluff. Then, of course, there’s Musical Statues, but I’ve made the gnomes promise to change the guests back to normal right after the game is finished this time.” Trixi shook her head. “It’s really no fun being a statue for too long — I hate staying still!”

  Ellie and Jasmine laughed, but Summer’s forehead creased with worry. “What are we going to do? The party starts soon, and we still haven’t found the thunderbolt.”

  “We just have to keep looking,” Trixi said. “We know it has to be somewhere around the palace. Malice’s nasty magic will reveal itself soon enough.”

  Suddenly, a loud burst of laughter whipped through the air.

  “What was that?” Ellie asked urgently. “Is it Queen Malice?”

  Trixi cr
inkled her little brow. “No, it didn’t sound like her.”

  The wild laugh sounded again.

  “It’s coming from over there,” Summer said, pointing to an iron gate with ivy curling over the top.

  “That’s the Outdoor Theater, where the king’s royal performers are putting on a show to begin the birthday celebrations,” Trixi said, flying toward the arched entrance. “Come on, we need to find out what’s happening!”

  Ellie, Summer, and Jasmine raced toward the archway and then stopped in horror. There, sticking in the ground next to the entrance, was a jagged black thunderbolt!

  As Ellie, Summer, and Jasmine stared at Queen Malice’s horrible thunderbolt, another loud laugh came from the theater.

  “We have to find out what trouble the thunderbolt’s caused,” Ellie exclaimed.

  “At least someone sounds happy. . . .” Summer said hopefully.

  They stepped through the gates. Rows of marble seats led down to a wide stage. All around them, performers lay in heaps, tears streaming from their eyes.

  “We’ve got the — hee-hee — the g-g-giggles,” a leprechaun managed to squeak between screeches of laughter. “A-a-and we don’t know why!” The little man held his aching sides. “The sh-show — hee-hee-hee — starts in half an hour, and all of our scenery has been covered with black paint.”

  Trixi looked angry. “Queen Malice,” she hissed. “She’s trying to ruin the show.” She tapped her ring and chanted a spell:

  “With this magic, hear my plea,

  Stop laughing and act normally!”