“Who did you say created this ship?” Prue’s glittery face sparkles as she waits for an answer. She twirls her long red hair up into a bun and holds it in place with a pencil.
Tara sighs. “Okay, you did. But I gave input.” Prue and Tara grin at one another. “The green camo paint was perfection.”
Prue turns and looks at me. “Forgive me for being so rude. We still haven’t been properly introduced.” She holds out her hand. “Prue Turner, former first-year at Royal Academy. Welcome to the Tree House.”
I falter for a moment and look to my friends. They’ve been transformed too. Heath and Logan are clean and in fresh clothes that look similar to their school-days look, while Sasha is in a short pale-pink dress paired with fitted, dark-pink pants and thigh-high boots. Raina is the only one of us still wearing something formal. She’s so busy admiring the quilted flowers on her new purple ball gown that she doesn’t even look up.
“Devin Nile of Cobblestone Creek.” I shake Prue’s hand. “Nice to meet you too.”
Prue winks. “I already knew you were Devin. I saw you fall from the sky last night. That’s how I landed in the forest as well, but I was alone. At least you had company.”
“You saw me fall?” I say in surprise.
Prue falters. “Sort of?”
“Prue is a witch,” Tara says bluntly. “She sensed you all coming.”
Sasha leans forward eagerly. “So Olivina banished you here too? Why?”
Tara steps between her and Prue. “Probably for the same reason she banished all of you. Everyone knows Olivina doesn’t like being questioned or threatened.” Tara sits down on a giant sack that says MIRAGE MIX: ALWAYS STOCK UP! “There’s no point rehashing how we all got here. What’s done is done.”
Everyone is quiet for a moment, but Sasha can’t hold back her questions. “So how’d you upset her? Did you break into the restricted section in the library, research her origin story, and get caught?”
The thunder booms and rattles the ship, and a curtain behind Tara stirs. I’m suddenly very aware of a strange beeping sound coming from behind it. Tara’s face darkens. She glances at Prue.
“I led a protest in the Royal Underground school mall over the lack of sorcery classes,” Prue blurts out. “I made a big speech about how it was prejudiced to think a girl couldn’t be a princess and a witch. Why can’t a person be both?” She fills a vial with a purple slime-like substance from a bubbling cauldron.
“Agreed!” Sasha says knowingly. “My sleuthing put me on her radar.”
“I was punished for helping students with their hair and wardrobe when that job is supposed to belong to people like Marta, according to Olivina,” Corden tells us. “She felt I should be working in the metal workshop crafting the perfect sword instead of creating a smudge-proof twenty-four-hour lip stain.”
Heath shakes his head. “I’m not even sure how I got here. I didn’t love RA, but I got tossed out with only one warning.”
Raina bursts into tears. “And I only had two, technically. One was from when Devin led a whole group of princesses to illegally exit a tower exercise.”
“They don’t need to hear about all this,” I say hastily, side-eyeing Tara. I’m not sure I want her knowing everything about us and our situation, especially since she doesn’t seem too keen to offer up her own story.
“The tower exercise,” Corden and Prue say knowingly.
“To be fair to Devin, the tower was on fire, and the princes couldn’t get through,” Raina says thoughtfully. “Devin helped us get free and climb down on our own, and then Olivina and her assistant, Hazel Crooksen, got mad…”
“Hazel!” Prue covers her face with her hands.
“I don’t miss her,” Corden agrees.
“I don’t think everyone needs to trade war stories,” Tara says, trying to interject.
“Before that, Olivina was already upset about this creature care class Devin convinced her to offer that my sister, Snow, ran,” Raina continues, ignoring Tara. “It only had one session because a dragon got loose in the school—”
“Your sister is Snow White?” Prue cuts in. “And you still were kicked out?”
Heath raises his hand. “She’s my sister too. We’re twins.” He points to Sasha. “This one is Princess Rose’s sister, and she was also banished.”
“Heath,” I say through gritted teeth.
Tara and Prue look at each other.
“If she’s banishing siblings of the royal courts, she must be feeling threatened,” Prue says to Tara.
“Threatened about what?” I can’t help asking.
Tara narrows her eyes at me. “None of your beeswax.”
“I told you we couldn’t trust them,” I say in exasperation. “Let’s get out of here.” I start marching toward a slide that I assume will lead me down from the tree house.
“Good!” Tara snaps back. “We don’t want you here anyway.”
The deck is quiet except for the sound of wind whistling and rain pattering against an imaginary roof. We stare each other down.
“Guys, this is silly,” says Prue. “We’re all in the same boat.”
“Prue is right,” Logan says. “It’s raining, and we’re tired. Can’t we all just—”
A sound like a whistling teakettle begins to blare, and Tara, Prue, and Corden look at each other in panic.
Prue closes her eyes tight. “She knows they’re here.”
“Places!” Tara shouts, and they rush to the other end of the deck, standing under a green chute that hangs above their heads. Vegetables rain down from above, and Prue quickly passes them out to the rest of us.
“Radishes,” she says, sounding slightly concerned. “Just in case.”
“Just in case of what?” Logan asks, turning as green as Prue’s dress. “Who’s coming?” Logan sneezes violently. “It’s dragons, isn’t it? I should have mentioned this before, but I’m highly allergic to all mythical creatures that might want to eat me. Particularly dragons.”
“Radishes?” Heath turns the small, bright-purple vegetable around in his hands. “Who are we going to fight with vegetables?”
“Gargoyles hate radishes,” I tell him as Lily pokes out of my pocket to see what the commotion is about. “The scent makes them fall asleep.”
Tara jumps into the crow’s nest basket and begins pulling herself up. “Don’t throw those unless we tell you to. There’s a radish shortage in Enchantasia—all the crops are drying up. You know what? Just stay out of our way unless we ask for your help. Which we probably won’t.”
I roll my eyes.
“Gargoyles?” Raina cries. “What do they want with us?”
“Usually they’re out looking for us, but tonight they’re searching for you,” Prue says as she sits down on the edge of the deck with a pile of vegetables at the ready. “Olivina is desperate to know where we all are, but with the spells I put on this tree house, she can’t find us. Which is good and bad, I guess. It drives her mad, but it also means that most days we’re…”
“Trapped.” Corden completes the sentence, and they look at one another.
“But we’re safe, which is what’s most important,” Tara adds.
Raina frowns. “I don’t know. I don’t want to make Olivina angrier. I just want to go home.” She steps backward, and her spiked heel gets caught on the curtain hanging behind her, pulling her to the deck. The curtain comes down along with her, revealing a large gold mirror. Moving pictures show people dancing inside it. “Ooh, what is that?”
We all gather around to look. I’ve only seen one set of mirrors like it in my life, and they were in Olivina’s office.
Raina reaches out to touch the glass. “Is that a live look at Royal Academy?”
Prue flicks her fingers and the curtain re-covers the mirror. “That’s not important right now! Come on! You need to be ready!”
Corden runs to a plank off the opposite side of the ship.
“Line up around the deck!” Tara directs us as Prue starts to mumble incantations. As she chants, a yellow glow that looks like a barrier surrounds the ship.
“Keep quiet! They still don’t know our location, and we’d like to keep it that way.”
I hear the screeching before they come into view. A dozen gargoyles are flying toward us. Logan grabs my arm. I forgot how terrifying they look with their molting, battered wings and weathered green bodies. The stench is awful.
The gargoyles stop in midair, feet from the ship. Their screeching grows louder and more frantic as they hover in the air. I inhale sharply and wonder if they’ve found us. One floats so close I fear it can hear me breathing. Logan is shaking. I raise my arm to toss the radish. Heath appears at my side, his arm raised too. I look at Prue. She motions for us to stop.
The gargoyle lingers for a moment, swaying side to side. It lets out a terrifying screech, revealing a mouth of decaying teeth. Finally, it flies off, taking the rest of the creatures with it. Heath and I lower our hands. Logan slides down onto the pirate deck in relief. Raina plops down on a barrel next to the curtain in front of the mirror. The silence is punctuated by the sound of static, followed by a voice.
“Prue, Corden, Tara, are you there? Come in if you can hear me. Urgent!”
Prue and Corden run to a map on the wall. The map is covered with small X’s as if someone is looking for treasure. Instead, Prue wipes her hand along the map, and it ripples like water, and an image appears. It’s a girl in a hooded cloak. She looks vaguely familiar. Tara drops down from the crow’s nest and runs over.
“We’re here,” Tara says.
“There are gargoyles in the area,” the figure tells them. “They’re headed your way.”
“They were here. They didn’t spot us.”
“Good. That’s the closest they’ve come yet. I picked up their signal on the readiness kit I planted near the riverbank by the set of three weeping willows. When they flew past, I was sure your cover was blown.”
“We’re okay, Red,” Prue says. “But thanks for checking in on us.”
“Red?” I pipe up, rushing to the map. “Little Red Riding Hood?” Tara tries to shove me aside as the older girl removes her red hood, revealing her bright-red hair. She’s wearing her signature red cloak, the one they sell in the village in her shop, Red’s Ready-for-Anything Shoppe. “It’s me! Devin Nile!” I cry. “Professor Pierce sent me. He said to find you. We’re in trouble. We’ve—”
Tara cuts me off. “We found them in the forest. They’ve been banished, but this time feels different. We’re just holding them here till we can figure out what to do with them.”
I counter. “You tried to kidnap us!”
“By disguising yourself as mice,” Heath adds, coming into view. He waves to the map, and Red stares at us all curiously. “Hi, Red. Heath White here. Snow’s brother. We’ve never met, but you were once at the royal court for a self-defense seminar, and I really admired your position on taking a year off after school to find yourself.”
Tara shoves him aside. “Technically, we didn’t kidnap them.”
“They did too,” I insist. “I had to save her from a firebird.”
“A firebird that you called! I was fine,” Tara says.
“Firebird?” Red raises an eyebrow. “You guys tangoed with a firebird? That’s not a good sign.”
“I know.” Logan edges in closer to be seen. He holds up the red feather he’s had in his back pocket. “I keep trying to tell everyone we’re in danger.”
“You are in danger! All of you,” Red stresses. “The growing resistance to Olivina’s charms is putting her on edge. More students have been banished in the last two years than ever before. Before Pierce and me, no one had been ousted, but now—”
“You went to Royal Academy?” Raina cries. “And so did Professor Pierce? But he’s not royal!”
“He is. We both are. Or were. We were in Olivina’s second year of classes,” Red explains. “My grammy was twenty-fifth in line for the throne, but my love of adventure and self-defense put Olivina on edge. Back then, we thought she just had a really narrow idea of how a royal should act. She wasn’t banishing kids yet, but she knew when she didn’t have one hooked. We struck an agreement, and she let Pierce and me go. But we’ve always had to watch our step. Over the years, it’s become clear that she’s up to something more than just running Royal Academy. We’ve bided our time, watching her and waiting for the right moment to catch her in the act.”
“Act of what?” Logan asks.
“Being villainous, of course,” Red says. “She’s no ordinary fairy godmother. You all must know that. She runs this kingdom. She controls the royal court. She ensures her continued influence by molding all of you to do her bidding. And when you don’t…” Red shrugs. “Banishment. It’s easier to get rid of a few rotten apples than ruin a whole bushel. Get rid of you guys, and her secret stays secure. But she’s taken her frustrations out on too many. The number of kids that don’t abide by her Royal Academy rules is growing. We deserve a kingdom free from the threat of evil where those who dissent are not banished to the Hollow Woods. The group of us cheer in agreement.”
Raina pushes her way up front. “Red? I’m Raina White, Heath’s sister. We met at the formerly wicked stepmother’s daughters’ sweet sixteen party? I appreciate your view, but the truth is, I just want to go home.”
“I know you do,” Red says kindly. “We want you to be able to go home too, and hopefully you will, but…” She hesitates. “Olivina shouldn’t be allowed to dictate how you live your life. We can’t continue to stay quiet and live in fear of her wrath. We have to fight back. That’s why Pierce and I agreed you should find Tara and her friends. You need to work together.”
“You sent them here?” Tara asks at the same time I say, “You know who I am?”
“Yes,” Red says in answer to both of us as she pulls her cloak up again. “Pierce and I are doing all we can on the outside, but our names are too well-known to do much on the ground yet. It’s up to you all to figure out a way to expose Olivina so we can change the public opinion about her.”
“But—” Tara and I protest.
“Trust one another. Play to your strengths. You have a lot of them,” Red adds.
“But…” Tara and I say again.
“It’s time we take our power back, but we can only do that if we work together.” Red looks behind her. “Coming!” She turns back to us. “Customers,” she whispers. “I’ve got to go. Good luck. I’ll have my associate touch base with you soon.”
Associate?
The map returns to its original state. We’re all quiet.
“So let me get this straight: Red Riding Hood and Professor Pierce went to Royal Academy? Who knew” Sasha shakes her head. “This would make a great blog post. I write the Enchantasia Insider,” she says proudly.
“No way!” Corden says. “I love that scroll. We read it on the mirror Prue hacked into.” He pulls the curtain off the mirror Raina found earlier. She goes running over.
“I knew it was magic!” she says.
“Don’t show them all our toys!” Tara protests. She seems as unhappy with this unholy alliance Red is asking for as I am.
Prue walks to the mirror. “It’s simple really. A few enchantments, an elixir for cracking the magical codes and hacking into the feed, and voilà! We can watch Olivina and Royal Academy live twenty-four hours a day. I may have sensed your arrival, but this was how we truly knew where you were going to land.”
Raina walks to the mirror and caresses it. “Look! They’re in the Royal Underground doing a dress fitting with Marta.” Her shoulders slump. “I was supposed to have one of those today.”
“You can do one here instead,” Corden suggests. “I’ve got loads of material I’m dying to try out for costumes. I’d be happy to whip you up something.”
“Really?” Raina looks pleased. “Do you think we could work up here by the mirror? I want to watch Clarissa’s fitting to see if she’s trying to copy my dress for the masquerade ball.” Her face darkens. “I bet she tries to get Marta to give her my design now that I’m not there.” She looks thoughtful. “Can this mirror see other places in the castle?”
“It can see everything,” Prue says with a laugh. She punches a few buttons, stirs something into a pot below the mirror, and the screen splits into four scenes—Olivina’s empty office, the dining halls, and the girls’ dorm hall, in addition to the Royal Underground. Raina gasps.
“There’s Hazel!” Raina points to the top left image. “I bet she’s about to give out the superlatives for the week.” She sighs. “I wonder if I would have won if I was there. Do you guys mind if I watch?” she says hopefully. “Please? Just for a moment? This is fascinating…”
I look angrily at Tara. “Wait a minute! If you can see everything going on at Royal Academy, then you must have seen us in Olivina’s office when she banished us!”
We all look at Tara. Prue and Corden appear guilty. I’m more angry than a porcupine that has lost some spikes.
“I can’t believe this! You knew we were innocent, and you came after us anyway?”
“Innocent?” Tara counters. “You’re dangerous!”
“Dangerous?” I repeat, offended.
“Yes,” Tara says emphatically. “We may not get to live in the real world with everyone else, but at least we’re safe here. If Olivina was mad enough to banish you all, she’ll put all of her firepower into finding you. And if she finds you, she finds us. There’s no way we’ll be able to evade her forever.” Tara sits down on a barrel in defeat. “She’s much more dangerous than any of us realized,” she says almost to herself as much as to us. “I didn’t even get to go to Royal Academy the way the rest of you did.”
“Wait, you didn’t go to RA?” Sasha asks. “Because we’ve heard of a Tara who was at RA who had our dorm room before us. I assumed it was you.”
“I never went to class. I was tutored privately,” Tara explains. “Olivina said it was because she had big plans for me that no one else could know about. She kept saying I was a chosen one.”
“That’s what she said to me too,” I whisper, and Tara and I look at one another.
“She said I was meant to help her lead Enchantasia into a new era of harmony where all villains were banished from the kingdom and we could live without fear.” Tara looks at us worriedly. “But when I realized what her vision for Enchantasia meant, I ran.”
“What was her vision?” Sasha presses.
“It doesn’t matter.” Tara’s face hardens. “I wouldn’t let her win, so I got out of there as quickly as I could and came to the Hollow Woods and made my own family.” She smiles at Prue and Corden. “If I stay in the shadows, she can’t use me to hurt anyone.”
“But that’s not true anymore. Olivina is hurting people now,” I argue. “If she’s really in league with villains, she’s put the entire kingdom at danger. You hiding out here won’t stop that.”
Tara shakes her head. “You don’t get it.”
I fold my arms across my chest. “Then explain it to me.”
Prue puts her arm around Tara. “Maybe Devin and Red are both right. It’s time to stop hiding. We can beat her together. Then not only will the kingdom be safe, but so will you.”
“Devin’s right,” Corden agrees. “Do that, and we can all go home.”
“But this is my home,” Tara says softly. “It’s the only one I’ve ever had where I feel safe.”
I love the forest too, but even I dream about a warm bed and seeing my parents again. Why wouldn’t Tara want the same? I don’t press it. For now, I want to focus on what Red said and work together. “You will be safe once we expose the fairy godmother for who she really is—a villain.”
Raina shudders. “I hate that word—villain. It sounds so final, as if her story is finished and there’s no hope of redemption. Why is there a Fairy Tale Reform School if people can’t make themselves over?”
“There are exceptions to every rule,” Prue tells her, looking at Tara. “It’s time we take action.”
“And how do we do that?” Tara asks, sounding exasperated. “You’ve been following her feed on the mirror for months and have gotten nowhere. Red has been keeping her ear to the ground for any word that someone is on to Olivina, and that hasn’t happened either.” She looks at us. “Your group may have gotten Olivina to admit the truth about her plans, but no one knows about it but us.”
“For now,” Heath agrees. “But it doesn’t have to stay that way. I think I have an idea Red would like.” He looks at Sasha with a devilish grin. “How badly do you want to write another blog?”
“Badly!” Sasha moans. “If I could publish one, I’d take Olivina down with my quill. I’d tell everyone what she’s done. People would be shocked, and they’d have to investigate, including our own siblings. I would write the most inspiring, thought-provoking blog ever!”
“So let’s get you published,” Heath says.
“How? We have no way to print or distribute her stories,” I remind him.
“Yeah, it’s not like we can break into Happily Ever After Scrolls and take over their printers with Sasha’s story!” Logan says with a laugh.
We all look at one another.
“Actually, I think I could arrange that,” Prue says, and I can see the wheels in her head already turning.
“What are we waiting for?” I say. “Let’s start planning!”
Everyone starts suggesting ideas to get into the village unseen. A loud whistle startles the group. It’s Tara.
“We’re not doing anything until we think this through,” she says.
“Isn’t that what we’re doing now?” I ask.
Corden and Prue look at Tara, who smiles. “In this tree house, we take a more active approach to thinking things through. Follow me.”