by Becky Biggs
Emerald gulped and knocked on the big wooden door. It swung open and the princess stepped timidly into the room. “Mama? Daddy?” Emerald nervously uttered. To her surprise, the king and queen jumped from their seats and rushed to her.
“How are you feeling, darling?” the queen asked, putting a hand to her daughter’s forehead.
“Are you feverish? Do you feel weak?” The king held his daughter’s chin, looking into her eyes.
“I feel, uh, fine,” Emerald responded, confused. Why were her parents acting like she was dying? Suddenly she noticed the royal physician in the room. He gestured for Emerald to sit in a high-back wooden chair and began peering into her eyes and feeling her forehead as soon as she sat.
“Master Percy told us he had to end your lesson early,” explained the king, plucking at his robes as he watched the physician’s examination.
“Oh, well, yes,” Emerald admitted. “I fell asleep and had a strange dream that Master Percy was a lizard creature.”
“Strange dreams . . . is that a sign of the sickness?” Queen Willow demanded of the physician who looked back up at her, his grey eyes thoughtful.
“It could be. Normally that would be accompanied by fever, though,” the physician responded, placing the back of his hand on Emerald’s forehead. “The princess doesn’t seem to be feverish.”
“Wait, it’s not! I mean, no—I didn’t have the dream last night.” Emerald’s parents and the physician looked at her as if she wasn’t making sense. “I mean, I had the dream—daydream? Daydream during my lesson,” the princess explained.
Everyone stared at her. Finally, the physician cleared his throat.
“The princess doesn’t seem to have any outward signs of the sickness going around,” he stated. “She does appear a bit fatigued, though. Perhaps an earlier bedtime is in order.”
He collected his bag and the king dismissed him. After he left the room, Emerald’s parents turned back to her.
“Emerald, what is going on?” the queen gently asked.
Emerald shrugged. “I was up late reading.”
“Is that all?” The king was visibly relieved.
“What were you reading?” Queen Willow prodded.
“Um, just a history book,” Emerald responded vaguely. She felt the sharp look from her mother’s green eyes boring into her.
“Really?” Queen Willow asked, her voice tinged with suspicion. Emerald usually wasn’t very interested in history.
“What is the subject of this history book?”
Emerald could feel a guilty look creeping across her face. She wasn’t very good at hiding her emotions. “Medina.”
Queen Ellyn cocked a graceful eyebrow. “It must be fascinating. Shall I ask Viola to bring it here? I would love to see what history book finally captured my daughter’s attention.”
Uh oh. Emerald wished she’d brought Maple with her. Her friend was always quicker about talking her way out of situations. For what felt like hours but was only seconds she felt her mother’s stubborn patience and her father’s bewilderment as they waited for her response. Finally, she said in a small voice, “It’s about Great-Grandmother. Queen Ellyn.”
The king looked even more confused, but Emerald’s mother went pale and sat down abruptly in a second high-back wooden chair near Emerald.
“Godmother gave me the book,” Emerald said in a small, submissive voice, then added more passionately, “Mama, why didn’t you ever tell me about Queen Ellyn? She was a hero!”
“Yes,” Queen Willow responded slowly. “A hero who threw propriety out the window and became the laughing stock of the kingdom.” “Is that what you think of her?” Emerald asked, shocked.
“That’s what my mother told me about her,” the queen admitted. “It’s why we don’t talk about her. And it’s why I don’t want you running around with these silly notions that you need to be different. Because you don’t. Your job is to marry a prince, have babies, and act as peacemaker for our kingdom. Not to fight dragons.”
The king, who had been looking back and forth between his wife and daughter during this exchange, felt his wife’s glare and quickly jumped in.
“Yes, as your mother says,” he said. “You have a duty!”
Emerald was about to protest when the door to the royal couple’s chamber burst open.
“Your Majesties,” said a heavily armored guard, dropping to his knees. “I’m very sorry to interrupt. I thought you should know that there’s a brawl going on between Master Blacksmith and a centaur. We are trying to control the situation, but other little fights between our people and the, um, others are breaking out.”
“Yes, we’ll come right away,” King Argos said. Both he and the queen moved to follow the guard but were stopped by Emerald jumping up.
“Let me come with you!” she cried, then added as an afterthought, “Please.”
The queen’s voice was firm. “No, Emerald, you are too young.”
“Your mother is right,” the king said kindly. “A fight is no place for a child, especially a princess.”
“What will you do?” Emerald inquired.
“I think it’s time the citizens of Eseland went home,” the queen said softly, looking thoughtfully at the king. He nodded in agreement, though his shoulders slumped at the idea. The royal couple swept out of the room and Emerald stared after them, petrified. What would happen to Maple?
Chapter Seven
A DIVISION IN MEDINA
“So, are they locking you up and throwing away the key?”
Emerald jumped at the sound of Maple’s voice as she left her parent’s chamber in a daze. She had forgotten her friend was waiting for her. She looked around for Maple who jumped down from the shoulders of a large ivory statue posing in an alcove in the hallway. It was a nymph draped in flowing garments and playing a harp. Funny how magical beings are good enough to decorate our hallways but not good enough to live in our kingdom, Emerald thought grumpily.
“What’s eating you, Princess?” Maple prodded her friend. The imp was eating a buttery roll she must have snagged from the kitchen. “Wait—are they sending you to live with your grandmother?”
“No, it’s not that,” Emerald said, her eyes welling up with tears. “Maple, they’re sending everyone from Eseland away.”
“What?” Maple’s large eyes grew even bigger. She swallowed the last of her roll loudly.
“It’s the sickness and all the fighting,” Emerald started but Maple interrupted her.
“That’s not our fault! It’s just a stupid rumor. We can’t even get the same sicknesses you humans can!”
“I know, I know!” Emerald cried back. “But the people who want you—the refugees from Eseland—gone are saying the magical creatures are trying to wipe humans out with disease. It’s ridiculous, but they’re shouting loud enough to make others believe it.”
“Are they going to send me away too?” Maple looked as frightened as Emerald felt. Emerald pulled her little friend into a tight embrace.
“I don’t know, but I’m going to do my best to stop them.”
***
Hours later, the king and queen found Emerald and Maple huddled together asleep on the bed in Emerald’s room. Their faces were streaked with tears. The girls had plainly exhausted themselves crying. The king and queen hesitated to wake them up, but they had to. A decision had been made.
“Emerald, Maple,” the queen said softly, gently rubbing their arms. They stirred and groggily opened their eyes to look at her. At first, Emerald felt like she was trapped in another nightmare, but then she shot up straight in her bed realizing that, this time, the nightmare was real.
“What’s going on?” she demanded.
“I’m sorry, my dears, but we’ve had to make a very difficult decision,” Emerald’s father responded with a deep sigh. “To keep the peace in Medina, we must send all citizens of Eseland home.”
“No, but Maple can’t . . . she’s family!” Emerald cried. She and Maple clung to each oth
er for dear life.
“She is,” the queen said sincerely, turning to look into the imp’s eyes. “You are, Maple. You have been like family to us from the moment you came to live with us.”
“Then how can you send her away? You fight for family; you don’t turn them out!” Emerald shouted.
“I’m sorry, my love, but we have no choice,” King Argos said, clearly unhappy to be delivering such heartbreaking news. “I wish there were some other way.” The look on his face showed just how much he wished he had an alternative solution.
“If I were queen I’d never let this happen!” Emerald bawled, and she and Maple collapsed into tears. Emerald could feel her heart shattering into a million pieces. Maple was the only one who truly understood her.
The two friends clung to each other sobbing as the king and queen looked on sadly. King Argos wrapped his arms around Queen Willow and they held just as tight to each other as the girls did. They knew there was no point in arguing with or trying to further explain things to Emerald. She’d find out one day that ruling a kingdom often meant making difficult decisions.
When the girls’ tears finally quieted to sniffles, the queen extracted herself from the king’s embrace and moved next to the bed, extending a graceful hand to the imp.
“I think it’s best if you gather your things,” she murmured, helping Maple off the bed. Maple nodded dejectedly but pulled out a small travel bag from under the bed. She moved around the room as if in a trance, collecting shoes, clothes, and a few personal items. Emerald jumped down from the bed too, glaring at her parents as she moved to help her friend.
“We’ll give you two a few minutes, but I think it’s best if you say goodbye here,” Queen Willow said as she and the king made their way to the door. They glanced back at the girls briefly before closing the door softly behind them. Once they were alone, Emerald turned to Maple who was slowly stuffing what she could of her clothing into a small bag. Her tiny hands were trembling.
“You don’t have to do this,” Emerald whispered urgently, putting a hand on her friend’s arm to stop her from putting a petticoat into her bag. “Just act like you packed. Or do pack. We’ll just hide you away. Make them think you left.”
Maple looked thoughtful for a moment but finally shook her head. “No, I don’t think that’s safe. If we were ever caught—Emerald, your people hate mine. I’ve seen what happens when those in power lose their minds. If they found me, I don’t know that they would wait for an explanation.”
The imp continued packing her dresses, tears streaming down her face. Emerald stared for a moment, feeling hot anger welling up inside of her. She clenched and unclenched her hands, understanding how that bottle of apple cider she and Maple had stowed in the loft of the barn must have felt before it overheated and exploded loudly into hundreds of pieces, sending the animals into a panic. It had taken Porter all afternoon to round up the escaped horses and restore calm to the stables.
“ARRRRGH!” Emerald screamed. “No, no, no, no, no!” She began pulling out the dresses Maple packed and throwing them on the floor. “I command you to stay!”
Maple looked simultaneously shocked and heartsick.
“Emerald,” she began in a tentative voice, which was very unlike the confident imp. This caught Emerald off guard and she froze, her hands gripping the bag that she was preparing to rip up.
“Emerald,” Maple began again, hugging the princess around her legs. “I don’t want to leave. Not being with you is like not having one of my arms. I’m scared, though. For both of us. If I stay, what would I do? We certainly couldn’t run around together like we do now.”
“You could hide. You’re good at hiding,” Emerald tried, but she knew her attempt was weak. The realization that if Maple stayed, she wouldn’t really have a life anymore, was slowly dawning on her.
“And what kind of life would that be?” Maple said, echoing Emerald’s thoughts. “No, it’s better if I go. At least until things calm down.”
“It’s so unfair! I promise, I’ll come for you when I am queen. No one will ever tear us apart again.” Emerald collapsed to her knees and wrapped her arms around her friend, shaking and sobbing.
“I hope you can,” Maple said. Together, the girls put all of her belongings back in her bag. When they were done, they embraced as though they would never let go. Finally, Maple broke the hug.
“You know, as much as I’ll miss you, I think I’ll miss the baker’s hot cinnamon rolls even more.” Maple gave Emerald a crooked smile and kissed the princess on the cheek. “Good bye. I’ll see you—and those cinnamon rolls—again.”
Emerald watched with a blotchy, tear-streaked face as Maple left the room. Once the imp was gone, she collapsed back on her bed. She felt hollow and empty inside, like a pumpkin that had been cleaned in preparation for carving. She didn’t know how she was going to live without Maple.
***
The next morning, the sun was shining as Emerald strode out to the stables. As bright as it was, she couldn’t feel its warmth or light. She was on a mission.
“Porter!” she called loudly as she walked into the stables. The smell of fresh hay and horses enveloped her as she stepped from the brilliance of the outdoors and into the soft light of the horse stable. Her own horse, Allegra, a beautiful gray mare, nickered at the sound of Emerald’s voice. Emerald stopped at her stall and the horse greeted her, happily nudging Emerald’s hand as the princess petted her.
“Beautiful Allegra,” she said softly, stroking the mare’s velvety nose. “I’m going to tell you a secret, but you can’t tell anyone.”
“A secret? This stable has ears, you know,” said a deep, gentle voice.
Emerald spun around to find the stable boy she’d been looking for standing behind her. He smiled kindly at Emerald, but there was sadness in his eyes. “I heard about Maple,” he said softly. “I’m sorry, Emerald.”
“Th-thank you,” Emerald responded. She paused a moment to swallow back the emotion that started to choke her up and sent tears into her eyes. “Porter, I need your help.”
“Your servant, Princess,” Porter said, bowing slightly from the waist. He wasn’t mocking her. Emerald could see the sincerity in his brown eyes. She pulled the stable boy closer so she could whisper her plans to him, just in case the stable really did have ears.
“I need you to train me,” Emerald whispered. “Really train me. I want to know how to sword fight and shoot with a bow and arrow. And I want to ride my horse like a boy.”
Porter considered her carefully. “What about your parents? Won’t they be angry if they find out you are training with me?”
“I don’t care!” Emerald exclaimed loudly. She glanced around quickly, hoping no one else had heard her. She dropped her voice again and said, “They sent away Maple. I don’t care if I never talk to them again!”
“I’m sure that’s not true,” Porter said gently. “I don’t know, Emerald.” He sighed. “If we get caught, we’ll both be in a lot of trouble. And I don’t really like the idea of disobeying your parents.”
“Please,” pleaded Emerald, tears pricking her eyes again. “I promise we’ll be careful. I . . . I need this. Without Maple, I’m nothing.”
“That’s definitely not true!” Porter exclaimed. He regarded Emerald silently for a few moments before he sighed deeply once again. “Fine. I’ll help you. But the rest of the time, you have to behave like your parents want you to. No grief for them. Understand?”
“I understand,” Emerald said, grinning at the stable boy and throwing her arms around him in excitement. “You’re the best, Porter!”
Chapter Eight
EMERALD’S FIFTEENTH BIRTHDAY
Emerald stared at herself in the mirror. She couldn’t believe she was looking at her own reflection. She was wearing her new, long, green silk gown that matched the color of her eyes. Sparkling diamonds and emeralds bedecked her bodice, making Emerald shimmer like a star in the night sky. The young woman in the mirror was so dignified a
nd actually quite pretty.
“Beautiful!” exclaimed Viola. As Emerald’s nursemaid since birth, she’d watched the princess grow from a feisty little girl into a lovely young woman. She couldn’t be prouder of the princess if she were her own daughter. “Absolutely beautiful. I tell ye, there’s not a prince out there who won’t be clamoring for your hand!”
“Thank you,” Emerald said, flushing. As much as she was dreading her birthday celebration, she was kind of excited about her grown-up wardrobe.
“Now, let me go get your mother,” clucked Viola. “I’m sure she’ll want to inspect ye before ye go down.”
She bustled out of the room, leaving Emerald to continue considering her reflection and the upcoming events of the day. It was customary in Medina for princesses to get betrothed on their fifteenth birthday. Though they wouldn’t marry for a couple more years, the betrothal solidified the union between Medina and the kingdom into which the princess was marrying.
Princes from near and far were invited to the weeklong celebration where they all competed in various feats of strength, trying to impress the princess and her family. Emerald had attended her cousin’s birthday betrothal celebration a few years earlier and found the jockeying by the princes for her cousin’s attention just ridiculous. She’d begged her parents to let her forego her own fifteenth birthday competitions—and to even let her pick a husband later. They refused. Tradition was tradition.
Sighing, Emerald smoothed a loose hair back into her elaborate hairdo. As she did, she felt prickles on her neck, as if someone were watching her. She spun around but didn’t see anyone in the room.
“Hello?” Emerald called, uncertainly. Silence answered her. Even though she didn’t see anyone there, Emerald couldn’t shake the feeling that she wasn’t alone. She didn’t have time to think about it, though, because her bedroom door suddenly flew open and her mother strolled in.
