by E. D. Baker
“Tamisin isn’t up to anything!” Jak said, getting to his feet. “She’s a good person with a kind heart, and I don’t want to hear you talk about her like that!”
“Aha! The truth is out!” Lily cried, clapping her hands. “You’re in love with her. That’s why you came to court! Just wait until I tell everyone that a goblin is madly in love with our beautiful princess and she doesn’t love him, so he . . . Wait, could I be wrong? She does love you, doesn’t she?” Lily asked, seeing Jak’s expression. “That’s even better! Tamisin has a secret that she doesn’t want anyone to know! I think at this moment that I love you myself, just a little bit. Come here and I’ll give you a kiss.”
“No, thanks,” said Jak, turning his face away.
“You’re saving yourself for her, aren’t you? Well, we’ll see about that. Tonight at the dance you’ll dance with me. Everyone will be there, including your precious Tamisin. I can’t wait to see the look on her face when you choose me as your partner. And you will choose me, or I’ll tell everyone that you’re a spy. Understand, goblin?”
Jak nodded, feeling miserable. He was certain that Tamisin probably wouldn’t even remember him or care if he danced with every fairy girl there. When he turned to Lily again, she was doing a little happy dance; Jak couldn’t bear to talk to her any longer. There had to be some way to get her to leave him alone, even if it was just for a while. “If there’s a dance tonight, shouldn’t you be getting ready?” he asked. “The sun is already going down.”
Lily laughed and shook her head. “I don’t need to get ready. I’m always dressed for a dance!”
“Really?” said Jak. “Because you might want to take a brush to your hair and powder your nose or whatever girls do before a dance. I like your freckles, by the way.”
“Freckles!” shrieked Lily. “I don’t have freckles! Let me see . . .” Reaching into a fold in her dress, the fairy pulled out a small wooden box shaped like a lily blossom. She pressed a latch on the side and the top sprang open, revealing a rabbit-tail powder puff.
Jak was about to slip away when he noticed that the powder wasn’t powder at all, but bright pink fairy dust that covered the fairy’s freckles and faded to the color of her skin. It was the very dust he needed. Now all he had to do was get it from her.
“Let me see,” Jak said as he approached the fairy girl. Taking the box from her hand, he swiped the rabbit’s foot in the dust, then patted it on Lily’s nose. “That’s much better,” he said, and tucked the box in his pocket. “I’ll see you at the dance.”
Jak was already walking away when Lily called out, “Aren’t you forgetting something?” He turned around to see that the fairy was holding out her hand. “My powder?”
Pulling the wooden box from his pocket, Jak strode back and handed it to her. She tucked it in the fold in her dress and said, “The first dance is mine.”
Jak was smiling as he walked away. Sticking his hand in his pocket, he rubbed the pink fairy dust between his fingers and laughed. Now all he had to do was find Tamisin, and avoid going to that dance.
Chapter 20
Jak had hoped to find Tamisin before the dance, but once the sun went down, he realized that he didn’t know his way around Oberon’s forest and was in danger of getting lost. He asked a passing nymph where the dance was going to be held and followed her directions to a large meadow between a stream and a wall of briars. The edge of the meadow was already crowded with milling fairies; a table made of split tree trunks had been set up at the far end. When Jak didn’t see Tamisin anywhere, he wandered over to the table, hoping to get something to quiet his grumbling stomach.
A woman with a smiling face presided over the table where nymphs were already serving drinks in tulip cups. Jak was surprised when the woman turned around and he saw another smiling face on the back of her head. She gestured to him and handed him a cup and a piece of crunchy brown bread slathered with squashed raspberries. “You’re Princess Tamisin’s friend, aren’t you?” she asked, leaning close so no one else could hear. “Malcolm told me about you.”
“Do you know the princess?” Jak asked, his mouth watering at the nutty aroma of the bread.
“Go ahead and eat!” said the woman. “My name is Irinia, by the way. I like your Tamisin. Just about everyone who isn’t a fairy does. She’s nicer than most fairies. I’m not surprised she has a goblin boyfriend.”
Jak swallowed the food in his mouth. “I thought that was supposed to be a secret,” he said, searching the crowd for Lily and hoping he wouldn’t find her.
“If you mean that unsavory piece of work, Lily, she doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Everyone knows that you’re here because of the princess—everyone who isn’t a fairy, that is. We have eyes and ears everywhere, we just don’t advertise it. Look, there’s your princess. You won’t be able to get near her for a while, not with those warriors around her. The fighting must be heating up. I suspect they think Titania will try to take her daughter back now. I hope that doesn’t happen. There are always innocent casualties when fairies fight fairies, and with all the fairies around here who don’t like Tamisin, an accident is bound to happen regardless of who wins. It would be a lot better for both sides if she just disappeared. With a good friend maybe. One who really cares about her. Tonight.”
“Why don’t they like Tamisin?”
“Jealousy mostly. Or they don’t like her mother. Some think the princess is here to spy on Oberon. They think you might be a spy, too, so leaving as soon as you can would be best for both of you.”
Jak smiled at Irinia. “You know a lot about a lot of things, don’t you?”
The woman chuckled. “Must be because I can see things coming and going.”
“Why are they holding this dance when there’s fighting going on?”
Irinia shrugged. “Because they’re fairies. They dance every night regardless of what else is happening. Listen, the musicians are tuning up now. The dance will start in a few minutes.”
Jak glanced at the little group of beings holding instruments. A satyr was playing pan pipes beside a brownie and gnome, both of whom were tooting flutes. Another gnome sat on a stump on their other side, thumping away on a small, round drum. After a minute or two of discordant notes, the little orchestra began to play bright, cheerful music and the fairies drifted into the center of the meadow.
“I’m over here, Nihlo!” Lily called to Jak as she waved an orange flower in the air.
Jak glanced from her to Tamisin, who was standing between the blue boy and a fairy warrior. Tamisin looked unhappy as the blue boy gestured toward the meadow.
“He’s trying to make her dance,” Jak said to himself.
“Well, of course he is,” said Irinia. “It is a dance, after all.”
“Yes, but she shouldn’t dance. Not here, not now. There’s a full moon tonight. Her dancing will draw Titania’s warriors. Excuse me!” Jak said as he started toward the meadow.
Lily latched on to his arm, smirking as she strode beside him through the fairy throng. The music changed, becoming faster and more frenzied. Apparently the blue boy had had enough of Tamisin’s protests, because he shook his head, grabbed her hand, and hauled her across the grass. Tamisin looked around, a frantic expression on her face. She may have forgotten me, thought Jak, but she knows what’s about to happen.
Jak glanced at Lily, who was still holding on to his arm as she chattered away, waving to everyone she knew. She seemed to enjoy the shocked looks on the other fairies’ faces, clinging to Jak’s arm more tightly when she saw them staring. He tried to hurry to Tamisin’s side before she began dancing, but Lily finally noticed and pulled back on his arm.
“Oh no, you don’t,” she said, giving him a sharp pinch with her fingers. “You’re dancing with me!” Jak realized it was too late; they were in the midst of all the fairies, who carried them along in a swirling, dipping romp of a dance.
Jak watched as Tamisin, too, was dragged into the crowd. He hoped that the dance and the
music were enough to keep her from the steps she always did on the night of a full moon, but when her feet faltered and began to move to their own tempo, he knew that she was helpless to stop herself.
At first the fairies around her laughed when they saw that the princess was out of step. The blue boy tried to force her back into the rhythm, but gave up and stepped aside when she escaped from his grip, twirling across the grass as fairies moved out of her way. Then the laughter stopped and the space around her grew as the fairies realized that something special was happening. This was no ordinary dance. This was the dance that showed what it meant to be a fairy, exulting in their grace, fluidity, and freedom in a way no other dance could. It was as if Tamisin had gone beyond what ordinary fairies could do, and tapped into the purity of what a fairy could be. The dance showed them a vision of what no fairy had seen for many long-lived generations—since before the wall that separated the worlds existed; fairy and human blood mixed could produce something far greater than either one alone.
The music faded as the musicians saw what was happening, and the fairies of Oberon’s court stood entranced as Tamisin danced, her mind far away in a place they couldn’t reach. Jak was surprised when he noticed that tears of joy trickled down more than one fairy cheek.
And then the fluttering beat of thousands of fairy wings filled the meadow as Titania’s warriors arrived. Tamisin was still dancing when the fighting began. Fairies cried out as swarms of hornets and bees shot from the newcomers’ reeds. Green dust wafted across the meadow, making the grass grow with amazing speed, tripping some of the dancers and trapping others. Pulling free of Lily’s clinging grasp, Jak ran after Tamisin, wrapping his arms around her so that she had to stop dancing. She struggled for a moment, but then her eyes focused on his face and she grew still.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Saving you,” said Jak even as he swung her off her feet and carried her from the meadow.
Fighting raged around them as Jak struggled to break free, darting past combatants as he tried to avoid the magic that they were using on each other. This was nothing like the battle between the goblins and the fairies that he had witnessed before. This was more vicious as fairy fought fairy, using every tool they had. Warriors tossed sparkling bubbles that exploded on contact, sending fairies flying backward through the air. Reeds shot dust of red or black, making the air burn or become a thick barricade. Ice spread across the ground when one fairy tried to freeze another. Vines wrapped around bodies and throats at another fairy’s gesture. Two warriors cast statue spells at each other; they were both turned to stone. More dust wafted through the air when fairy warriors aimed their reeds, and it was all Jak could do to avoid being turned into a slug or growing feet longer than his legs.
“This way!” the brownie who had helped him shouted, pointing in the direction of Irinia and an ogress. Holding Tamisin close to protect her, Jak dashed across the grass to join them as they ran away from the fighting.
At first Jak made no attempt to be quiet; getting away from the fairies was all he could think about. After splashing across the stream, he followed the women and the brownie through the forest. Jak wasn’t happy about putting his trust in people he didn’t know, and he almost turned back when they entered the meadow where the warriors had been loading their weapons. The meadow was empty, however, so he didn’t question them as they continued on through thickly growing trees to a clearing at the base of a rocky outcrop.
“Are you all right?” Jak asked Tamisin as he set her on her feet.
“I’m fine,” she said, brushing her hair from her eyes.
Although her hair was in disarray, and her clothes were rumpled, Jak thought she had never looked more beautiful. He paused for a moment just to gaze at her, but when she looked puzzled, he remembered what he needed to do. “Just a minute,” he said, and reached into his pocket. Taking out a large pinch of pink fairy dust, he sprinkled it on her and said,
Undo the spell
That someone used
To change her worldly view.
Allow her now
To clear her sight
And see that which is true.
When he finished, he watched her closely, expecting a dramatic change, but nothing seemed to be happening.
“We have to go,” said the brownie. “I’m sure they’re already looking for her.”
Irinia nodded. “Malcolm is right. We need to climb over these rocks to the other side. Narlayna has a boat that you can use to get far away from here.”
“I know where the boat is,” said Tamisin. “I was there when your father left it for you, Narlayna. Are you sure you won’t need it yourself someday?”
“I’m sure,” the ogress replied. “You helped me when I was in trouble. Now it’s my turn to help you.”
Tamisin rubbed her forehead. “My head feels funny. I can’t seem to . . .” She glanced up at Jak, her eyes growing wide. “I remember you now! Your face . . . I kept trying to see it . . . Oh, Jak, what did they do to me? How could they make me forget you?”
Jak staggered when she threw her arms around him, but then he was holding her and he couldn’t stop smiling. Maybe everything would be all right now. Maybe she’d forget how angry she’d been with him and things would go back to the way they’d been before.
“It was nectar, I bet,” said Irinia. “Oberon is known to have a way with nectars.”
“He isn’t my father, is he?” said Tamisin, lifting her head to look into Jak’s eyes. “He had me convinced that Titania was lying, only she wasn’t.”
“The worst fight they had before this was over Dasras, and neither Titania nor Oberon could claim him as a blood relation,” said Irinia. “This fight is already so much nastier than that. Oberon has wanted to be a father for years, so hearing he had a daughter that his wife hadn’t told him about was bound to stir up trouble.”
Malcolm nodded. “And nothing he could do would make Titania angrier than kidnapping her daughter.”
“Who is Dasras?” asked Jak.
“That blue boy I was with,” said Tamisin.
“Well, it’s over now,” said Jak. “And I want to get you out of here.”
Tamisin pulled away from him, and Jak knew right away that she’d remembered how things had been between them in the human world. For a moment it looked as if she wanted to say something to him, but then she changed her mind and turned to her other friends. “I have to tell Oberon that he’s wrong about me. Maybe then he won’t want to fight Titania.”
Malcolm snorted. “He wouldn’t believe you.”
“Maybe not,” said Tamisin, “but I have to try. Do any of you know where I can find him?”
“He’s probably with his officers, telling them what to do,” said Malcolm. “They could be anywhere now.”
“Why don’t you ask him?” Irinia said, pointing behind her. “Dasras has been watching us from those trees ever since we got here.”
Chapter 21
Tamisin couldn’t see anyone among the trees, but Jak began to growl as soon as he glanced in that direction. With one bound, he reached the trees and knocked a shadowy figure to the ground. “What are you doing here?” he snarled.
“I followed you from the dance to make sure you weren’t going to hurt the princess,” Dasras told him.
“We weren’t hurting her; we were rescuing her,” Jak said. “If you had a little more backbone, you would have tried to help her yourself.”
Tamisin hurried to Jak’s side and set her hand on his shoulder. “You can let him up now. There’s something I want to ask him.”
Jak stepped back and watched with narrowed eyes as the blue boy got to his feet.
“Are you leaving with him?” Dasras asked Tamisin as he moved farther from Jak. “What about me? Don’t you love me even a little? Don’t you want to stay with me?”
Tamisin’s cheeks turned pink. Obviously this boy really hadn’t listened to her. “I told you before that I don’t love you. I thought I did, ma
ybe a tiny bit, but I didn’t, not really. You did something to make me think I loved you, didn’t you?”
Dasras looked away as if he could no longer meet her eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, you do,” said Malcolm. “You’ve been Oberon’s little helper for years. You have to know all about the nectar he uses to change people’s minds. What did you do, steal some from him?”
“I never stole anything from Oberon,” Dasras said, glaring at the brownie.
“But you did use nectar on Tamisin, didn’t you?” asked Jak.
“I didn’t,” Dasras said.
Irinia took a step closer and peered into his eyes. “Maybe you didn’t, but someone did. Were you there when Oberon used it?”
Dasras shrugged. “It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I guess I didn’t move fast enough. If I had, she might really have loved me.”
“What do you mean?” asked Tamisin.
Dasras still couldn’t look at her. “I waited until he’d used the nectar. After he left, I might have made a small suggestion of my own.”
“What did you tell her?” growled Jak.
Dasras’s face turned a darker shade of blue. “Nothing really.”
“Tell me or I’ll make you tell me,” Jak threatened, raising his fist.
“And I’ll help him,” said Narlayna.
“There’s no need for that,” Dasras hurried to say. “I might have said something about being Tamisin’s one true love.”
“And?” said Irinia.
Dasras shrugged. “She’d been nattering on about her friend Jak. I could tell from the way she talked about him that he was more than just a friend, so I told her to forget him. That’s all,” he said, casting a worried look at Narlayna. “I left right after that.”
“I don’t get it,” said Jak. “Why would you tell someone you just met that she was your one true love?”
