Chapter 1 A Magic Wind

The view from the ship’s bow was breathtaking. In the east and in the west, a calm turquoise sea stretched to the horizon, the perfect flatness interrupted only by diving seagulls and dancing porpoises. But to the south, which was the ship’s direction, the sea met an expanse of jagged white cliffs. Tall trees grew atop the cliffs, forming a dense forest. And rising above the forest, as if trying to touch the cloud-dappled sky, were the turreted towers of Ever After High.

For students who arrived by boat, this first glimpse of the school was a welcoming beacon. To know that the sea journey was about to end was a relief to many. And to know that a new year was about to begin, in the most famous and most prestigious school in all the fairytale lands, induced shivers of excitement. But on this particular day, the girl standing on the bow felt neither relief nor excitement.

Meeshell gripped the railing so tightly her knuckles turned white. She held her breath for so long, she nearly turned blue. There it was. Her school. Her future.

Her story.

Like many before her, Meeshell had traveled from a faraway kingdom. But hers was a land that most had never seen and would never see. It was shrouded deeply in mystery. A place of fable. A place of unequaled beauty. A place nearly impossible to reach, unless one had the correct physical attributes.

She might as well have come from the moon, for that is how strange her world would seem to her fellow students.

She didn’t, however, come from the moon.

She exhaled, then shifted her weight. She’d been standing so stiffly, her knees had begun to ache. Knees, she thought. Such weird, knobby things. Will I ever get used to them? She reached down and gave them each a good rub, then returned her focus to the distant turrets.

“There is no better education than the one you’ll receive at Ever After High,” her father had assured.

“You’ll learn much more than we could ever teach you,” her mother had said.

“You’ll do great!”

“You’ll be fine!”

“You’ll fit right in.”

Ever After High was her father’s alma mater, so it made sense that he was super enthusiastic about his daughter attending the same school. And her mother wanted the very best for her children, so she was excited, too. But Meeshell’s heart ached from leaving family and friends behind. And doubts churned. What if she couldn’t figure out how to adapt to this new world? What if she didn’t understand their strange traditions? What if she stood out, like a crab in a bed of starfish?

As the ship slid gracefully through the water, Meeshell closed her eyes and held her face up to the cool breeze. She liked the way it felt as it tickled through her long, pink hair. The breeze was too gentle to fill the ship’s sails, but she’d remedied that little problem. Using her magic touch, she’d created a little wave and had aimed it at the boat’s stern. The wave never crested; rather, it continued to push them along. The ship’s captain had been grateful for her help. The narwhal he usually employed to pull the ship on calm, windless days was on vacation.

“Lass?” A man’s voice interrupted the silence. Meeshell’s eyes flew open. Captain Greenbeard stood beside her. “You want one of the crew to fetch your coat? You’ll be catching a chill out here.”

She shook her head. Cold air didn’t pierce her, as it did others. Besides, she didn’t own a coat. They didn’t have coats where she came from. It had been difficult enough finding a dress. Luckily, her mother had a vast collection of objects that had fallen from ships, or had been stolen off of beaches by rouge waves. Those objects included the plain yellow dress that fell to Meeshell’s ankles, the white ribbon tied around her waist, and the bag that now contained her few precious belongings.

“You’re certainly a quiet one.” The captain leaned his elbows on the railing and stared straight ahead, toward the white cliffs. He was a rugged-looking fellow, with deep lines around his eyes and mouth. He’d been kind to her during the voyage, as had the rest of the crew. “I’m finding it difficult to believe you’ve never been on a ship before. Never?”

She shook her head again.

“Well, you handled yesterday’s choppy weather like a true sailor. Didn’t turn green or get sick. Takes most landlubbers weeks to get their sea legs.”

Sea legs? She didn’t know what that meant. She’d gotten her legs three days ago and they were supposed to be for land use. Were there special legs for the sea?

The captain glanced at a purplish bruise that glowed on Meeshell’s forearm. “All that stumbling you’ve been doing, all that bumping into things, that’s to be expected. The ocean swells can be as unpredictable as Poseidon’s moods.”

The captain was right. She’d certainly been struggling to walk gracefully. Because she’d been stuck on a ship since getting her legs, she’d had little chance to learn how to use them, other than walking up and down the deck, or up and down ladders. The physical bruises would go away. But what about the bruises to her confidence? Only time would tell.

Though only three days had passed, the journey from her kingdom had felt like eons. Too shy to talk to the crew, and too distracted to focus on a good book, Meeshell had tried to make the hours pass faster by watching for sea creatures. But alas, no matter how many pods of dolphins or seals she spotted, time moved as slowly as a sea slug. Fortunately, her mother had packed her favorite foods. “It will take you a while to get used to what they eat on land,” she’d told Meeshell. So, while the rest of the crew munched on salty smoked herring and dry cornmeal biscuits, Meeshell ate seaweed-and-kelp-berry salads.

“Never seen that kind of food before,” the cook had commented with a shrug. He was a troll, with huge ears and a nose to match. “You should try my fish chowder.” He shoved a bowl right up to Meeshell’s nose. She grimaced at the sight of the fish tails and fins floating in the creamy stew.

“No, thank you,” she politely told him. Her voice came out quieter than she’d intended.

“What’s that you say?” he asked.

She cleared her throat. “No, thank you.” It was very difficult to get the words out, not just because of her shyness, but because something was different about her voice. No matter how hard she pushed the words, they still came out quiet. Hopefully it was just a temporary ailment, and her voice would be back to normal before classes began.

“She said no, thank you,” one of the crew told the cook.

“No fish chowder? But my chowder is famous.”

“Famous for its aftereffects,” another crew member said with a snicker.

The cook dismissed Meeshell with a wave. “Suit yerself.” Then he scratched his rump with his wooden spoon.

Meeshell had eaten the last of her salad that very morning, and she’d been worried that she’d have to eat some of the cook’s food. But now, with Ever After High in sight, there’d be no reason to risk an upset stomach. Fish was not on her menu. Never!

The white cliffs and stone towers loomed closer. “Land ho!” Captain Greenbeard hollered. Commotion arose on deck. Crewmen and women streamed out of the galley, wiping crumbs from their beards, braids, and shirts. Captain Greenbeard took his place next to the ship’s wheel. As the ship sailed around an outcropping, a quaint harbor came into view. A few smaller boats were moored at a dock that jutted out from a white beach. The sand sparkled, as if made from glitter.

“Drop the main!” the captain ordered. A large rope was untied and the billowy sail, with its narwhal emblem, collapsed onto the deck. Without any wind, it must have been some kind of magic that had held the sail aloft. The magic wave that Meeshell had summoned was no longer needed, so she waved it away.

Captain Greenbeard gripped the wheel as the ship glided toward the dock. “Man the lines! Rudder hard over!”

Meeshell stepped aside as a crewman grabbed the bowline. As the ship neared the dock, three crewmen jumped onto the rough planks, ropes in hand, then guided the ship to a standstill.

A sign stood at the end of the dock:

Meeshell took a long, steadying breath. She’d arrived.

One journey had ended, but another was about to begin.