by Becky Biggs
Emerald ran all the way to her room and slammed the door. Her heart was pounding in her ears. Her parents had betrayed her. Why else would Prince Eustace be so certain she would marry him? Forget her duties as heir to the throne, if becoming queen meant betraying friends and being forced to marry against her will, she would just let her cousin have the throne. She would go and live with Maple in Eseland. Together they would overthrow the evil king and then be free to go on whatever adventures life threw at them.
Yes, she could do that.
The time had come for her to run away.
Chapter Ten
THE JOURNEY BEGINS
Emerald sobbed angrily as she pulled out clothes from her armoire to throw in her little travel satchel. She eyed each dress critically as she did so. Even the simplest of her dresses were still clearly those of a royal princess. She’d never get far looking like royalty.
A knock on the door startled her. She quickly wiped at her eyes and hid the satchel under her dresses.
“Yes, enter,” Emerald called, her voice wavering a bit. She hoped whoever was there wouldn’t notice. The door opened a bit and the small form of her friend Maple entered the room.
“Oh, Maple,” Emerald breathed, relief saturating her voice.
“I’m so glad to see you.”
“Are you okay? I saw you went for a walk with Prince Eustace and then I couldn’t find you.”
“He asked me to marry him—and told me I had no place fighting as his future wife.”
“Too bad. He was actually kind of cute.” Maple twirled a purple curl around one of her fingers.
“Was he?” Emerald said offhandedly, but she could tell her face was getting warm. She quickly changed the subject. “My parents betrayed me! Prince Eustace assumed I’d marry him because my parents told him I would!”
“Wow,” Maple responded, her eyes wide. “What are you going to do?”
“I have to leave. If I stay, I’ll be forced to . . . to marry that prince!”
“Where are you going to go?” Maple began to pace, tugging at her purple curls as she always did when she was worried.
“I’m going with you. We can defeat that evil king and live in Eseland and do whatever we want for the rest of our lives.”
Maple nodded. Suddenly her silver eyes lit up as an idea struck her.
“What if we went to find your godmother first? Maybe she could help us! She did say you should come to her when the time was right—maybe that time is now!”
“Maple, that is a perfect idea!” Emerald’s eyes twinkled excitedly before she realized one small problem. “I just don’t know where to find her.”
“That’s easy,” Maple responded with a grin. “Before your godmother left after that fight with your mother, she gave me this guiding stone.” Maple pulled a small leather pouch hanging on her neck from under the top of her dress. She dumped an unremarkable stone into her hand. The friends stared at it. “She told me to keep it until you needed it. You rub the surface and whisper the name of the person you want to find and it’ll take you there!”
“You are truly amazing. Thank you!” Emerald lifted Maple up and spun her around, the two of them giggling excitedly. After she put Maple down, the imp tucked the stone back in the pouch and handed it to Emerald. The princess slid it over her head.
“Now I just need something to wear. These dresses will never do.” Emerald wrinkled her nose at them. “I wonder what Queen Ellyn wore to battle. She probably had her own suit of armor.”
“Let’s ask Porter for some of his old clothes! He’ll probably try to convince you not to run away, but he’s always a pushover when it comes to you.” Maple batted her eyelashes at Emerald, but her insinuation went unnoticed.
“Oh, Maple! You’re a genius, as always!” Emerald grinned. Together she and Maple slipped into the secret passageway to make their way to the stables. They stopped in the kitchen briefly where they stuffed a ripped petticoat with bread, cheese, and dried meat. Maple found an abandoned pair of maid’s shoes in Emerald’s size, which Emerald gratefully swapped with her own pretty but completely unsuitable shoes.
They then scampered across the lawn behind the castle to the stables. The late afternoon sun was warm on their backs. Leaving after dark would have provided more cover, but they wanted to make some headway in the forest while they could still see. Fortunately, they didn’t run into any of the castle staff, everyone probably still off enjoying the celebrations.
When they arrived at the stables, Emerald and Maple poked their head in the door. Porter was checking each of the horses and giving them an afternoon apple snack.
“Porter!” Maple hissed, then called again a little louder when he didn’t hear her the first time. “Porter!”
He looked up in surprise, but an expression of suspicion quickly crossed his face. Porter gestured that he’d be there in one moment and then turned back to the horse who was nosing his face and hands, impatient for its apple.
Emerald and Maple ducked into the shadows behind the stables to wait for him. They didn’t have to wait long. He soon stomped around the corner, a cross look visible on his face.
“What are you two doing here?” he asked grumpily. “Aren’t you supposed to be getting wooed by your future husband, Emerald?”
Emerald looked at Porter in surprise. She’d never heard him talk to her like that. “What’s wrong?” she demanded.
“Your little shenanigans, that’s what,” Porter spat back. “I knew it was a risk. Never should have gone along with your schemes.”
“What happened?” Emerald asked, an uneasy chill settling low in her stomach.
“Your parents know I’ve been helping you—training you,” Porter answered shortly before sighing. “They told me to leave. I have to be gone by morning.”
Emerald and Maple looked at each other, horrified.
“Oh, Porter, I’m sorry,” Emerald cried. “I didn’t mean for that to happen. I told them about our lessons, but I didn’t think they would punish you. I asked them not to.”
Porter shrugged. “What’s done is done.”
“Where will you go?” Emerald asked, feeling very guilty.
“I have an uncle that lives down near the sea. Maybe somebody in his village needs help with their horses. Anyway, it’s nothing for you to worry about.”
“You should come with us!” Maple suddenly piped up.
“Come with—what are you two up to?” Porter gave the two friends a sharp look.
“We’re leaving,” Emerald said simply. “My parents think they can force me to marry Prince Eustace. I won’t marry someone who thinks he’s going to rule my kingdom while I . . . while I sit home and play dutiful wife.”
“He was kind of cute, though,” Maple pointed out again. Emerald glared at her and Porter snorted. Maple responded with a nonchalant shrug.
“Emerald, you can’t just run away from your problems,” Porter began, but Emerald cut him off.
“What do you know? You have freedom! You can make your own choices—decide what you want to eat for breakfast or whether you want to marry.” Emerald stamped her foot childishly to make her point.
“I’m also not a prince,” Porter remarked, but quickly continued before Emerald could fire back a retort. “Look, I just think it’s better to confront your problems. Besides, where are you going to go?”
“She’s coming to Eseland with me. She’s going to save us from the evil king!” Maple bragged.
“I see.” Porter sat on a bale of hay and put his head in his hands, rubbing his temples. “And just how are you going to do that?” He sounded tired. “You are a fair hand at the sword and you can hit a bullseye with the best of them, but you’ve not practiced on a moving target—or someone who’s trying to kill you.”
“I’ll figure it out,” Emerald said stubbornly. “Besides, we’re going to see my godmother first. She believes in me even if no one else does.”
“I do!” squeaked Maple indignantly.
“
Besides you,” Emerald said, smiling at her friend. To Porter she said, “Believe in me or not, I need your help. Just a small favor. I know I shouldn’t ask after I got you in so much trouble. But I need a pair of clothes from you. Please.”
Porter sat silent for what seemed like an eternity, and Emerald was sure he was going to refuse. He finally sighed and stood up. “Come on,” he said gruffly. “I think going to see your godmother is a very smart idea.” Hopefully she can talk you out of fighting the wizard, he thought. Out loud he said, “We’d better hurry, though. They’ll probably start looking for you soon. You’d better get out of here while you can.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Emerald said. She felt horribly guilty that she was once again putting Porter at risk of getting in serious trouble. This was the last time, though. As sad as she was that Porter was going away, and as dearly as she would miss him, he would be much better off without her.
Chapter Eleven
TRAPPED
After Emerald quickly changed into one of Porter’s old shirts and a pair of pants that he’d grown out of years before, Porter escorted her and Maple to the boundary between the castle woods and wild forest beyond. The border was marked by an ancient, crumbling wall that was missing big chunks, making it easy to scramble over. The southern kingdoms had been at peace for so long that no one really worried about fortifying the castle grounds in this area.
The three friends didn’t talk during their walk—all were wrapped up in their own thoughts. Emerald was imagining charging in and destroying the evil king. Maple was thinking about when they were going to eat dinner. Porter was having doubts about letting the princess and her imp friend go off on their own. When they reached the dilapidated border wall, they stopped to say their farewells.
“Thank you for everything,” Emerald said as she fiercely hugged Porter. “I’ll miss you.”
“I’ll miss you too, Princess,” Porter said, his voice oddly tight.
“It’s not too late to come with us,” Maple said as Porter turned and kneeled to give her a hug. He didn’t respond for a moment as though he were considering it. Emerald nodded encouragingly, but Porter shook his head.
“No, you’ll need someone to cover for you,” he said, decidedly. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but if they ask me where you went I’ll tell them you said you were planning to head south.” A thought suddenly struck him. “Do you know how to get to your godmother’s house?”
“No, but we’ve got this,” said Emerald, pulling out the guiding stone. It was surprisingly ordinary looking. The stone was a muddy brown color and had a smooth surface as if it had been polished or handled a lot.
“What’s that?” Porter peered at it.
“It’s a guiding stone.” Maple seemed inordinately proud of it. “You tell it where you want it to take you and then, bam!”
“Bam?” Emerald and Porter said in unison, exchanging anxious glances.
“Well, I don’t know if there’s really a ‘bam,’” Maple said.
“Maybe a poof? Elyria didn’t exactly tell me how it works.”
“Well, I guess we’ll just have to try it.” Emerald held the stone near her mouth and said, “Take me to my godmother.”
All three companions held their breath and looked at the stone. At first nothing seemed to be happening, then Emerald could feel her hand tingling a bit under the stone. A slender golden arrow lit up on the stone’s surface. It pointed slightly to the right.
“Aww, no poof?” Maple said, her shoulders sagging and her mouth drooping with disappointment.
“Looks a bit like a compass,” said Porter, peering at the stone over Emerald’s shoulder. Emerald took a few steps in either direction and the arrow responded by changing the way it pointed.
“Seems to work like one too,” murmured Emerald. She looked at Maple, who nodded, then spun to give Porter one quick and final hug.
“Good bye and good luck!” Emerald whispered.
“You too,” Porter said. He quickly kissed Emerald on the cheek then turned and walked away without looking back.
“He seemed pretty broken up about you leaving,” Maple observed as she and Emerald scrambled over a few fallen stones from the wall and walked deeper into the forest beyond the castle.
“Of course. We’re friends.”
“Hmm,” was all the imp said in response. They lapsed into silence as they made their way over the uneven ground. Vines threatened to trip them every few feet and bushes grew thickly in the shade of tall trees, making the light fade even more quickly as the sun set.
“We sound like a herd of cattle,” Emerald mused, listening to the crunch of yet another stick beneath her foot.
“Have you heard a herd of cattle?” Maple asked, surprised. She was a bit lighter on her feet being so small.
“Well, no,” admitted Emerald, “but it’s what I imagine they would sound like. Maybe we can have a farmhouse and our own herd of cows.”
“Oh, I like it,” Maple said, grinning. “You can milk the cows and I can churn the butter. And we’ll have all the yummy cheese we want! We’ll be regular farmwives—without the husbands.”
Maple and Emerald laughed at the idea.
“Why not?” Emerald said. “We can do whatever we want to!”
“Yeah,” cheered Maple. “Maybe we could start by eating dinner, though.”
Emerald looked thoughtfully at the thick canopy of leaves above them. The light was waning, but there was still enough to see where they were walking.
“Let’s go a bit farther,” she said. “We can make camp before dark. I just want a good head start in case Mama and Daddy send the guards after us.”
Maple sighed dramatically but kept walking. Emerald glanced down at her stone as they continued their journey. She hoped she was reading the stone right—she’d never actually used a compass before. She also hoped that, when they reached her godmother, Elyria would understand why Emerald ran, and that she wouldn’t send her right back to her parents.
“Do you know how to make a camp?” Maple asked, interrupting Emerald’s thoughts. “It’s a bit embarrassing not knowing how to survive in the wild, being a wood imp and all, but I’ve lived in castles all my life. Guess I’m not that great of a sidekick.” She added the last comment with a sheepish look.
“Oh, Maple, you’re the best of sidekicks!” Emerald stopped and kneeled down to give her friend a quick hug. She then stood back up and looked around them. “I’ve read a few books that talked about what to do. They recommended finding a water source. And we’ll have to make beds from leaves. I don’t know how to make a fire, though.”
“Neither do I,” Maple said. “But at least we don’t need to cook our food.”
Just as the last streaks of light filtered through the leaves of the trees and as the shadows grew so long they threatened to swallow up the entire woods in darkness, Emerald and Maple came upon a small clearing that edged a babbling brook.
“Looks like this is our spot,” Emerald said.
“Oh good, now we can eat!” The imp jumped up and down for joy.
Emerald laughed. “Just a few more moments,” she said, looking around for the best spot to set up camp. “We should make our beds first. How about . . . there?” Emerald pointed to a fallen tree on the other side of the stream. Branches from some younger trees hovered about eight feet above it like an umbrella, giving a bit of shelter in case of rain.
“Works for me!” Maple said, bounding across a few stepping stones in the river to the opposite bank. Emerald followed her and together they gathered as many leaves as possible to build makeshift beds. Both the princess and imp took long, deep drinks of cold water from the brook and then sat down on their beds to eat. They enjoyed their simple dinner of cheese, bread, and dried meat in companionable silence. As they did, the last of the light faded and darkness swept across the forest. The sounds of crickets and night peepers filled the air and stars began to dot the sky visible above the clearing.
It took a little getting used to sleeping on the hard ground after growing up with soft mattresses and fluffy quilts, but Emerald found she enjoyed the fresh air and freedom. The leaves were cool and smelled so lovely and fresh that they instantly put the princess at ease.
“Do you ever imagine stories for the stars? Like those, for example.” Emerald dreamily raised her arm and gestured at the sky. “I like to think they are seven dancing princesses. They spin around in their pretty dresses and have no cares in the world. What do you think, Maple? Maple?”
Emerald pushed up on her elbows to look at her little friend. Maple was sound asleep, snoring softly in her bed of leaves. Emerald smiled fondly and settled back into her own bed. She patted the small leather pouch under her shirt to make sure her guiding stone was safe. Satisfied, she closed her eyes and relaxed. Lured by the sweet smell of the leaves and the lullabies of the night forest, she was soon asleep too.
***
“Emerald. Emerald, wake up!” Emerald opened her eyes groggily to see Maple crouched above her, urgently but quietly trying to wake her up. The sun was barely peeking through the trees and it took a moment for Emerald to realize that she was in the forest and not in her four-poster bed.
“Emerald,” Maple whispered frantically. “We need to leave. I hear noises. We might have followers.”
Emerald listened as hard as she could, but she couldn’t hear anything. She wasn’t going to disagree with Maple, though. Wood imps had very sensitive ears and could hear much better than humans. Together they quickly dismantled their camp, dumping the leaves from their beds into the water to try to cover up their scent. By the time they were done and Emerald had picked up her pack, the princess could hear the noises too.
“Hurry,” Maple whispered.
Emerald hastily pulled out the stone. It was pointing north.
“Let’s try walking in the creek for a bit,” she suggested. Maple looked at the water dubiously. It wasn’t deep, but Maple only came up to Emerald’s knees so would probably be underwater in parts of the stream. Noticing her glance, Emerald said, “I’ll carry you. Jump on my shoulders.”
