By the time we reached the eastern shore of the Shadow Sea, the princess was as herself as she could be, and the crew of the ship was entirely at her service. Never have I heard so many apologies. I could see fear in many of those faces, elf and dwarf and goblin alike, as they wondered what the queen might do when she learned they had nearly denied her daughter passage.
His face grim, the captain offered to return Alex’s braids. She looked at them, a pair of fine red ropes lying limp across his outstretched hands, and just shook her head.
From a perch atop the mainmast, a signal elf had sent word to shore of the precious and amazing cargo we were carrying into harbor. So it was no surprise that there was a great crowd gathered at the pier.
At the center of the crowd were the queen’s guards, tall elves in silvery mail, holding back the masses. The guards had a grand cart, drawn by four white horses, into which we were guided. I clung tight to Alex’s shoulder, fearing to fall and be trampled by the crowd, as tall to me as trees would be to a human.
Up the hill we rode, cheering throngs on either side, until we reached the gate of the castle.
There stood the queen herself, robed all in black, with her midnight hair flowing past her shoulders in thick ebony curls. About her neck hung the great ruby. In her arms she carried a robe of glistening white.
For a moment, no one moved. Then I poked Alex. She got the message and poked Bennett. “You’re on!” she hissed.
Bennett swallowed hard, then stepped down from the cart. As we had taught him, he made a deep bow. Then he straightened and said, “Oh, most queenly queen of queenliness.”
I groaned inside. On the other hand, the queen could hardly fault him for this, since it was her own curse at work.
I saw one corner of her mouth twitch.
“I, Bennett Carhart, male of the McGonagall line, have the fruitful honor and luminescent privilege to return to you your long-lost daughter, the Princess of Sunshine.”
The boy was sweating and looked like he was about to faint, but I thought he had done well, given the circumstances and the curse.
On cue, the princess stepped from the cart.
The queen stared at her, then murmured, “Long have you been gone, my child.”
“Longer than I intended,” replied the princess, “and a strange time it has been.”
“Would you do it again?” asked the queen.
“Aye, for love, I would do it again.”
The queen’s eyes flashed. For a terrible moment, I thought I saw a fury rising in her and feared she would once more banish the girl. But she took a deep breath, then nodded and said, “Well, then I guess you made the right choice after all.”