Lilli tried to relax. Thank goodness time stood still while she was in the Land of Shenanigans. She really needed a nap, but she was so overwhelmed she could not unwind. With all the new things she had learned during her trip, plus what she had already known was just too much. She was convinced if too many thoughts could melt your brain, hers would be running out her ears!
Trying to get more comfortable Lilli plumped her pillow and gave it an extra punch in complete frustration and spoke out loud. “Those wizards could not have been very smart or they would not have expected me to end the spell. I’M JUST A KID!”
Lilli thought about what she had just said. Suddenly she smiled, relaxed, placed her head on her pillow and went to sleep.
Lilli awoke to the sound of trucks filled with tents and tables pulling up the long drive to the castle. She had been so preoccupied with her adventure, she had almost forgotten the Summer Festival. Most of today’s activities were scheduled for in the park. Those were the things Lilli thought of as boring. Tomorrow was the day for the children. Now that would be a fun day at the castle!
She jumped out of bed with a renewed sense of confidence and determination. There was a lot to get done and she was just the Princess to do it!
Princess rule: #11:
A princess always believes in herself.
Lilli called a meeting of the Royal Posse, with urgency in her voice she shared the details of her early morning trip.
Princess Kaylyn was the first to speak, she wanted to be sure she had understood what she had heard. “ If a way is not found to end the spell, it will last forever, and it has to be done tomorrow?”
Lilli shook her head and confirmed the terrible fact. “Yes, The Land Of Shenanigans had been waiting three hundred years for this “Special Princess” to end their big time out. Unfortunately, I am that princess and I do not have a clue about how it is to be done.” Lilli continued, “I am sure Ruth would have left instructions some where and I need all the help I could get to find them.”
Prince Ryan mumbled to himself, “Well that’s a new knot in the string.” He and Prince Aidan sat quietly trying to grasp the meaning of this new twist in the puzzle.
Lilli answered her own question as soon as it was uttered “Where would Ruth have hidden that message to insure it would last for hundreds of years?”
The Royal Posse all answered in unison, “The Mural!”
Prince Aidan even produced a magnifying glass to help in the search. In minutes several random words and sentences were found. Prince Ryan carefully made a list but none of their findings fit together. Until Princess Kaylyn spotted a heart in the same shape as the locket. The words written inside linked everything together. The Royal Posse danced around in joy. They had discovered the answer. They now had one problem solved but still had another. How to do it? The gold key Shenanigan had misplaced had to be found. It was a necessary part of undoing the spell.
Lilli remembered the many times her parents, Grammy, and Miss Prudy had promised her they would always be there for her when needed and she certainly needed them now! Lilli knew it was time to put her trust in the adults in her life.
The spell had stated no adult from Zen could enter The Land of Shenanigans, but it did not exclude them from helping.
The Royal Posse made a plan, Princess Kaylyn, Prince Aidan, with help from Kammy, and Ethan would hunt for the key, while Lilli and Prince Ryan would share the story with Miss Prudy.
Lilli gathered all of the evidence and information. Then they knocked on Miss Prudy’s door. By the time they left Miss Prudy was in! Miss Prudy had been dubious about the whole story until Lilli produced her camera and the “Selfies” she had taken with Toodles and Grandpa Shenanigan. Soon Miss Prudy was busy setting up a meeting to be attended by all the other Royals at dinner time. Lilli hoped that meeting would go as well as the one with Miss Prudy.
Next was a visit with the Professor. When the meeting was over the Professor agreed to be there to help end the spell and to never again refer to that period of time as “Decades Of Legends”. Prince Ryan laughed at the look on the Professor’s face as Lilli showed him the pictures she had taken while in The Land Of Shenanigans.
With that behind them, Lilli and Prince Ryan headed back down the hall to Lilli’s quarters.
Princess Kaylyn, Prince Aidan, Kammy, and Ethan were already there, as the duo entered the room they held up the gold key! It had not been difficult to find, they just had to follow the trail of Fig Newton wrappers Shenanigan had left behind!
Now all the pieces of the puzzle would soon be in place, with the assistance of family and friends her mission would be a success. The spell would be ended and The Land Of Shenanigans would be free. Lilli reacted in panic. Yes, everything on the Zen side was in place, but what about the other side? That worry was only a fleeting thought. No, that would not be a problem the O’Toole Dragons were aware of the importance of tomorrow and they would be ready for what ever was to come.
Lilli stood and waited impatiently through all the protocol required to officially welcome home the King and Queen, then it was her turn. Lilli was glad to have time to talk to her parents privately before the scheduled dinner with the other Royals.
All of the times Lilli had been promised their support she was not disappointed. If she said it was true, well it had too be true. They just needed to know what she wanted them to do and it was done. Lilli had never felt happier.
The King, Queen, and all of the Royal Posse walked into the dinning hall together. The King explained the situation and made it clear that everyone in the room needed to be standing outside the castle, facing west towards the mountains and the Land of Shenanigans at noon tomorrow! With that out of the way Lilli sat down and enjoyed her dinner.
It had been a long day catching up on events with her mother and father. Lilli sat on the edge of her bed and stifled a yawn. She laid her head down on her pillow and fell quickly to sleep, she knew tomorrow was going to be an exciting day.
The next morning as Lilli and Miss Prudy walked down the hall Lilli skipped ahead and stopped to pay her respects at the portrait of Flora. As Miss Prudy caught up, Lilli mentioned how much she wished Ruth and Flora could know how close they were to ending the spell. With a glance at each other and without saying a word, they shared the same thought, had they just seen the locket in Flora’s hand move? Lilli and Miss Prudy continued on in silence.
The rest of the royal Posse was already in the carriage waiting for Lilli. She had wanted to join the parade of marchers and walk, but Mr. Coachman had shot down that idea. So their carriage was to lead the parade, followed by the high school band and then the costumed children.
Well it was obvious “Toodles” had been a hit. Almost every child was dressed as a dragon of one type or another. Lilli laughed, “There can’t be another piece of green material left in the Kingdom.”
As the four white horses pulled the carriage up the drive towards the castle, the Royal Posse could hardly contain their excitement. With all of the activities for children, it was going to be a fun day! But they all grew quiet when they remembered there was something more important that had to be done first.
As the parade arrived at the castle Lilli could see everything was in place. Standing there on the large stage were all her favorite people, plus loud speakers, a microphone, the large screen she needed, and every royal in the kingdom.
After stepping out of the carriage, Lilli walked up to the microphone. She introduced herself, and told her story. The words Lilli needed flashed across the screen. She asked for the help of the citizens of Zen, “If our words are powerful enough we can reunite our land with that of The Land of Shenanigans.”
Lilli turned to face the mountains, rubbed her locket for luck, held the gold key up as high as possible and spoke the magic words! “I am the special princess of Zen, it is now high noon on the magical day in June, on the behalf of all the people of Zen, we raise our voices so loud that we make the mountains tremble. The Land of Shenanigans lives in peace so let our people reassemble. After three hundred years we hold this gold key up as a token and demand this spell now and forever be broken.”
Lilli did not know what to expect, but she was sure it would be noisy and contain flashes of light. She closed her eyes and waited for it to happen, a few seconds passed but nothing changed. Princess Kaylyn sensing a problem, quickly grabbed her brothers hands and led them up on the stage. Lilli smiled, the Royal Posse was standing tall beside her.
Together holding the golden key and sharing the microphone they said these words, “We are The Royal Protectors of Shenanigan’s Secret Entrance, from the Kingdoms of Montanzia and The Land Of Zen. Princess Lillian has shown you the token, now we demand this spell be broken!”
Without a sound, and as if it were a stage play backdrop, the mountains parted revealing the beauty of the Land of Shenanigans. As if trying to get closer to the source of all this beauty the castle drive began to unroll like a magic carpet up the side of the mountain, through the new pass and down the rolling hills into the once exiled kingdom!
The land of Zen erupted with cheers almost as loud as the sound of the celebration coming from The Land Of Shenanigans!
The Royal Posse was given praise and thumbs up as they walked off the stage.
Lilli stopped for a moment to appreciate the new look of the mountains before she joined the Royal Posse for a day of fun! She could not have seen anything that could have made this day more complete, than the sight of her big green friend Toodles bounding up the path accompanied by a few of his friends. All were chewing gum and blowing bubbles!
Toodles let all of his new friends know from now on there would never be a day without a few Shenanigans.
At the end of the day as a very tired but happy Princess got ready for bed, she shared her thoughts of the day with her beloved Miss Prudy. “Just think, all these years while we lived on the sunny side of the mountains there was a kingdom of friends living just over the mountain on the twilight side of the hill.”
A very inquisitive Miss Prudy gave Lilli a goodnight hug and asked how had she unraveled such a complicated secret.
Princess Lilli smiled and replied, “Oh, after I found both ends of the string it kind of unraveled itself. I just did what I have been taught, to get things done use Princess rule number one.”
Princess Rule #1:
A princess always follows the Princess Rules!
Princess Lilli snuggled down in her bed and fell asleep to dream about the wondrous adventures yet to come!