Bella rubbed her sweaty palms on her thighs. “I have an idea. What do you guys think about going to my mom after class and telling her that we would like to take Glimmer out in the giant field alongside the road to town?”
Ben rubbed his forehead. “I like it. We don’t have to worry about the guards.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Ivy declared.
“Do you know more about the Dark Forest since the first time we talked about it?” Bella asked Ben.
He shook his head. “I didn’t get a chance to read about it yet. Are there big spiders?”
“I wish,” Bella said. “We might run into bigger problems than those eight-legged creepers. The forest is Queen Fire’s territory. Her guards might be patrolling to keep us out.”
Ben’s eyes widened, and he nodded slowly, as if remembering Bella’s confession about her relationship to Queen Fire.
“My aunt has been stealing unicorns for years,” Bella said. “She uses her evil black aura to make all of the good unicorns become bad. And dangerous!”
“Will we be able to recognize them?” Ben asked.
“Easily,” Bella answered. “They are red with black eyes.” She stopped, her throat suddenly desert dry. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what she would do if Queen Fire had captured Glimmer. Bella’s sweet purple unicorn being turned evil . . .
“Hey,” Ben said, nudging Bella’s ribs with his elbow. “Queen Fire doesn’t have Glimmer. I know it. Think about the way that Glimmer escaped her stall. She’s too smart to be caught by Queen Fire.”
“I hope so,” Bella said. She picked up her silver fork and stabbed at a pile of macaroni-and-cheese noodles. The food tasted like nothing, and Bella put down her fork, pushing her tray away.
The four unicorn detectives spent the rest of lunch talking in hushed tones about how they were going to track Glimmer, play it cool with Queen Katherine, and most of all, avoid the dangers that could pull them into the Dark Forest.
* * *
“Hi, Mom,” Bella said. After school had ended, Ivy and Clara had waited for Bella to change into riding clothes. Then they found Queen Katherine in the downstairs library.
“Hello, sweetie,” the queen said, looking up from the book in her lap. Queen Katherine smiled at Ivy, Clara, and Ben.
“Mom, is it all right if we cross the drawbridge and go into the field across from the castle?” Bella asked. She saw a frown begin to form on her mother’s face. “It’s Ben’s idea,” she added quickly. “He said taking Glimmer to a different setting to ride would be good for her. It will help prepare her for Wednesday, so she won’t be so shy or frightened when we take her into town.”
“Ben,” the queen said, “is Glimmer comfortable enough with Bella to be riding so far away?”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Ben answered. “I spoke to my uncle Frederick about it, and he said okay. I promise that Bella will be safe.”
“Please, Mom?” Bella asked. She tried not to notice Ben wringing his hands behind his back. “We’ll be very careful. If I need you or Dad, I promise that I’ll send for help via a spell.” The queen looked from Bella, to Clara, to Ivy, to Ben. Her face gave away nothing. The queen placed her hands on her lap and smoothed her gold-and-rose-colored dress.
“Have fun,” Queen Katherine said. “Be safe and come back in time for dinner.”
“Thank you, Mom!” Bella said. “Bye!”
Before the queen could say another word, the friends dashed out of the library, through the castle front door, and toward the Dark Forest.
The guards shot Bella confused looks when she reached the drawbridge, but she waved as she speed-walked by. “My mom knows we’re going to the field,” Bella explained.
The men and women dipped their heads and resumed walking back and forth across the drawbridge entrance.
“See you guys in two hours,” Bella said, checking her watch. “We’ll meet at the Snapdragon Garden unless someone messages the other with their crystal.”
“Got it,” Clara said. “That will give us plenty of time to get home for dinner.”
“Hopefully, we’ll be feeding Glimmer dinner tonight, Bells,” Ivy said, squeezing her friend’s arm.
With that, the friends split into pairs, and Bella and Ben headed for the part of the forest farthest from Crystal Castle. Neither of them spoke. They glued their eyes to the ground, searching for hoofprints, and walked to the edge of the forest.
It was a cloudless day in Crystal Kingdom, and sunlight fell on their backs. One look inside the Dark Forest made Queen Fire’s territory live up to its name. Bella stopped, carefully keeping her toes in the grassy field, and squinted into the forest. It was as if the sunlight didn’t extend to the wooded land.
“I can’t see anything in the forest,” Bella said. “Can you?”
Ben stopped walking and looked into the woods. “Just shadows,” he said. “I don’t want to think much about what’s in there.”
“What if Glimmer is?” Bella’s voice shook a little. She couldn’t stand the thought of her sweet unicorn in the scary Dark Forest.
Ben tilted his head, swiping hair out of his eye. “Let’s just search our section. In a couple of hours, if no one’s found anything, then we’ll think about the Dark Forest.”
“It’s the only place left,” Bella said, looking away from the forest. She started to walk again. The short grass grew tall and weedy. She stepped around a patch of burrs, and the prickly round seeds stretched their spikes as far as they could, trying to latch onto Bella’s pants. “If Glimmer was loose in the kingdom, someone would have seen her and reported a royal unicorn sighting. The Dark Forest is it.”
Bella bit down on the inside of her cheek to keep from crying. She had to stay strong for Glimmer and put her whole heart into searching for her.
And for the next two hours that’s exactly what she did.
* * *
“Are you all right, Bella?” King Phillip asked. “You’re so quiet lately.”
Bella couldn’t help but slump in her chair at dinner. The chef, Joseph, had prepared a delicious-smelling roasted chicken with plenty of yummy sides, but nothing sounded good to Bella. Not even her favorite mac ’n’ cheese!
She and her friends had searched for two hours and met back at Snapdragon Garden. Not even one purple, sparkly hair had been found. Bella’s friends promised they would be back tomorrow and they would go with her into the Dark Forest.
“I’ve been busy with school,” Bella said. “I’ve been spending a lot of time at the stables with Glimmer, too. You know, getting ready for the debut.”
Where I debut myself alone!
King Phillip peered at his daughter with kind eyes. “This society debut is nothing more than a royal formality. Please don’t put too much pressure on yourself.”
“I won’t, Dad,” Bella said. She speared a green bean and forced herself to eat it. “I promise.”
“It’s going to be nothing as grand as your birthday celebration,” Queen Katherine said. “You’ll ride Glimmer into town, and Dad and I will be behind you in the Royal Carriage. At the town square, you and Glimmer will stand next to the platform. You won’t have to do anything, sweetie, if you’re worried about that. This is a very informal event. It’s just to let the townspeople see their princess and her new unicorn.”
“That helps, Mom,” Bella said. “Thank you.”
Unless the event is canceled, the town is going to be staring at me, Bella thought. She tried to shake away the thoughts. We are going to find Glimmer. We will. She repeated the last sentence to herself over and over.
For the rest of dinner, Bella did her best to chat like normal. It felt like hours before the table was cleared and the princess was excused to go to her room. When her door was shut safely behind her, Bella crawled under her covers and cried.