Buzz!

Bella swatted the air with both of her hands. A basketball-size fly that glowed in the dark zoomed toward her. The Hairy-Scary—a fly native to the forest—had bright-yellow wings and bulging green eyes. It was covered in glowing orange fur.

The Dark Forest was full of gross bugs!

“Go away!” Bella shouted as the Hairy-Scary headed toward her. She ducked before it ran into her, then started running, not even looking at the compass.

Bella ran until she couldn’t hear the fly’s wings. She slowed down, looking behind her. Nothing but darkness and—“Oompf!”

The princess landed on her knees, the compass flying from her hand and landing facedown just ahead of her.

Bella hurried to her feet even though her knees throbbed. She swiped the compass from the ground, blowing dirt off of it. The princess used the compass as a flashlight to see what had caused her fall. A thin tree root was raised just high enough to catch her foot.

“Please stay here, compass,” Bella said. She removed her hand from under the compass, and it stayed in the air while she looked at her knees. Thankfully, the soft forest dirt had prevented her from getting too hurt—there was only a small cut on her left knee.

“Oh, great!” Bella said, pulling the compass closer. Her dress was now streaked with dirt, thanks to the fall and where she had wiped her hands, not knowing that they were so dirty.

Ivy and Clara will help me do a cleanup spell, Bella thought. I’ll worry about Mom or Dad seeing my dress and knees when I’m home safe.

Bella plucked the compass out of the air and found a semi-clear path. She walked for several minutes before the towering trees began to thin out and she finally saw the sky. It was no longer the brilliant blue that it had been when the princess had left home. Full black clouds rolled across the gray sky. Bella’s heartbeat jumped up as fast as a hummingbird’s wings because of what she spotted next. Not far in the distance, smoke billowed into the air. Two black towers with triangle-shaped tops stretched into the sky.

Queen Fire’s castle.

Bella walked toward the smoke, this time keeping a closer eye on the trail.

It could have been minutes or hours when the princess stopped. Fear—and a tiny bit of curiosity—ran through her. This was it. She was glad, no matter how scared she had been, that she had come alone. She didn’t think her aunt would be happy if she brought company—like Ivy or Clara—along on her first visit.

She tried to be brave, but it was hard. Who knew what was in the castle? Knowing her aunt, there could be anything beyond those castle doors. The red unicorn that had almost attacked Glimmer was scary enough. She patted the note in her pocket and swallowed hard. Everything would be okay as long as she had that note. Her parents could rescue her. Bella stopped when the entire castle came into view. It was as big as her own, but made of glass instead of stone. Two red unicorns stood guard on either side of the door.

This is it. I have to save Glimmer, Bella thought.

As she walked closer to the castle doors, she watched colors flickering in the glass, first red, then black, finally purple. Purple—that’s my aura, Bella thought. Why was that? She didn’t have time to think about it, though, because almost all too soon she had reached two unicorns on concrete pedestals standing guard. They had black manes and were more muscular-looking than the royal unicorns.

“My name is Bella. Princess Bella. I’m here to see Queen Fire,” she announced to the unicorn guards. They sidestepped away from the door, their hooves striking the concrete, as the door swung open.

Bella stepped carefully into the great hall, looking around her. The inside was glass, but without the colors swirling, like the outside. It looked like her own castle with different colors. There was a large painting at the end of the hall that caught her eye. In the painting, Queen Fire stood with her unicorns, with one on each side of her. Red and black rugs covered the floor with dizzying zigzag designs.

Not sure what to do, Bella walked into the closest room and sat down on a red velvet couch. It faced an empty fireplace. There were no family pictures on the walls of Queen Fire’s castle. For a minute, Bella actually felt sad for her mom’s sister.

The princess shivered as she looked around the room. Suddenly, with a whoosh of black smoke, a fire appeared in the fireplace and warmed the room up instantly.

“You came after all, dear niece,” Queen Fire said. She walked around to face Bella. Her long, black, wavy hair tumbled down her back. She wore red crystal earrings that sparkled in the firelight.

“I promised that I would come,” Bella said. “I need you to keep your promise and not hurt Glimmer.”

“As long as you hold up your end of the bargain, I will keep my word,” Queen Fire said.

“What does this crystal do?” Bella asked. “Why do you need it?”

“That answer comes in due time,” Queen Fire said. A black leather chair shot forward. Sitting down, the queen looked over at Bella. “Do the king and queen know you’re here?”

“No—”

“Oh, dear,” Queen Fire said. A look of what might have been sadness flickered across her face. “You injured yourself on the journey. Are you hurt?”

“No,” Bella said, shaking her head. “I’m fi—”

Before she could finish her sentence, the queen snapped her fingers. A short man in a white coat trotted into the room, stethoscope around his neck and a black bag in hand.

“Your Highness?” the man asked, looking at Queen Fire.

“Dr. Foster, please tend to my niece’s injuries,” Queen Fire said.

“Really, I’m okay,” Bella said. “Thank you, but—”

“I’ll return in a moment,” Queen Fire interrupted. She disappeared, leaving Bella with the doctor.

The doctor, who had a kind face and thick glasses, placed his bag on the floor.

“I’m Dr. Foster,” he said, holding out a hand.

Bella shook his hand. “I’m Bella.”

“Do you mind if I take a look at your knees?” he asked. His silver hair and easy manner made Bella feel at ease.

“Okay,” she said.

The doctor asked Bella how she had fallen and applied a disinfectant that stung a little. A quiet woman had come with a bowl of steaming-hot water and soap as the doctor treated Bella. She held the bowl while Bella washed dirt and grime from her hands. Then the maid sprayed something that foamed onto the dirty parts of Bella’s dress. In seconds, the foam disappeared, and so did the stains. The servant left without uttering a word. Dr. Foster smoothed a small bandage over Bella’s cut just as Queen Fire reappeared.

“It was lovely to meet you, Bella,” Dr. Foster said. “Safe travels home.”

“Thank you, doctor,” Bella said, smiling at him.

He bowed to Queen Fire and disappeared.

“Are you hungry?” Queen Fire asked. She didn’t wait for an answer from Bella. Two silver plates floated in the air, holding forks and a kind of cake Bella had never seen before. It was a chocolate cake topped with dark-red berries.

Bella was starving after her journey through the Dark Forest—but she was scared to eat it. What if it’s a trick? She watched as Queen Fire took a plate and fork for herself.

“A Dark Forest specialty,” the queen said. “Try it.” She dug her fork into the cake.

Bella finally took a bite of the cake. She was relieved when she tasted a rich dark chocolate. She took another small bite. She sneaked a look toward her aunt. This was perfectly normal. A niece and an aunt eating dessert. Bella’s mind wandered as she thought about what it would be like to have a nice Queen Fire in her life.

“Your castle is really . . . interesting,” Bella said. “Um, thank you for inviting me, but I can’t stay long. My friends are covering for me at home.”

“The fact that this is your first visit to your aunt’s castle is sad. How wrong my sister was to keep me a secret from you. It was quite a pleasure to see you on your eighth birthday. I’m not forgetting your dear friends, and unicorn, of course,” Queen Fire said. Her eyes were dark as coal.

Whatever “normal” niece-and-aunt-relationship thoughts Bella had vanished.

“My mom wasn’t wrong. You’re bad and you steal unicorns.”

Queen Fire smirked.

“Please just tell me anything I need to know about the crystal. The sooner I get home, the faster I can find it.” Bella rested her hands on her lap after her plate and fork floated away. She didn’t want Queen Fire to see them shaking.

“Oh yes, the reason I brought you,” Queen Fire said.

“The special crystal is hidden in a vault. I’m guessing that vault is inside the castle.”

“Guessing?” Bella asked. “Does that mean it could be anywhere?” She felt a bit sick with this new piece of information. It was already enough to have an entire castle to search. But if the vault could be on the grounds . . .

“Not anywhere,” Queen Fire said, scowling. “It’s definitely in the castle, and I wouldn’t waste your time looking on the grounds. The crystal is very important to me.”

“Why?” Bella asked.

“It is”—the queen paused—“personal.”

“I can get it for you. I mean, I can try. I’ll look everywhere for it. Once I find it in the vault, I’ll bring it to you,” Bella promised. What if she wants to be part of our family again?

Queen Fire stared blankly at her, tilting her head a little. “No, princess, you must get me into the castle. You can remove it from its hiding place, but only I can take it from Crystal Castle. The crystal will lose all of its worth to me if you try to take it off castle grounds. I’m the only one who can remove it.” Queen Fire paused. “Well, so can your mother.”

“Only you and Mom?” Bella asked. “Why just you two?”

The queen shot Bella a dark look that made the princess swallow and forget her next question.

“But my dad said that if you ever came to our castle again, he would throw you in jail! We would never make it past the guards, and—”

“Bella, remember our agreement,” Queen Fire pointed out.

Bella looked at her. A vision of Glimmer’s beautiful white coat turning red flashed in front of her eyes.

“I’ll get you into the castle. I’ll do anything!” Bella said. “But you must promise me that you won’t hurt my family, me, or my unicorn.”

“All those precious things will be kept safe. You have my word. Hurry home before your parents discover that you’re missing. And, darling Bella? You have one week to find the crystal and get me safely inside Crystal Castle. Or Glimmer is mine.”

One week?! Bella felt like she had eaten too many pieces of sunray pie. There was no way they could search the castle in just one week. But she had no choice.

“Fine. I’ll do it,” Bella said.

“So you shall. And to show that I’m a woman of my word, I will create a contract for us,” Queen Fire said. She clapped her hands, and with a puff of black smoke, a contract appeared. Bella read the words carefully and saw that Queen Fire hadn’t lied. The paper said that if she helped her aunt, Glimmer was safe.

The contract hovered in the air, a dark black X marking the spot for Bella’s name. Bella grabbed the black pen floating next to the paper. She closed her eyes for a second and then dashed off her name. The ink glowed in red and then turned to gold. The contract disappeared in the same black smoke.

“Excellent,” Queen Fire said. She waved her hand. “You may go. I’ll look forward to hearing about your progress each day.”

Without a look at her aunt, Bella almost stumbled over her own feet as she hurried out of the room. She wanted to be home and pretend this hadn’t happened.

“Bella?”

The princess jerked to a halt, slowly spinning to face Queen Fire.

“Don’t forget. If you fail, Glimmer is mine.”