Although I was sure I’d visited every part of the enchanted forest, I was surprised when Nightshade led us to a place I’d never seen before. After passing through an unfamiliar grove of alder trees, we came upon a beautiful, secluded lake. Trees surrounded three sides of the lake, while a wildflower-filled meadow nestled against the other side. The only tree standing on that part of the shore was an ancient willow growing at the water’s edge. Its heavy arching branches swept the ground and reached down to caress the water of the lake itself.
“The queen makes her home in that tree,” Nightshade announced, pointing at the ancient willow. “I doubt she’s there now, but it’s worth a try.”
I had tucked Adara in my pocket so I wouldn’t lose her. She peeked out, twitching her little mousy nose. “The queen lives in a tree!” she exclaimed. “I thought it would be a palace made of crystal or gold. How disappointing!” A moment later, she disappeared back into my pocket as if nothing there was worth seeing.
Nightshade and his friends looked around while Eadric followed me to the willow. Brushing the branches aside, I slipped under the arching canopy. The long, slender leaves filtered the light, giving the space a pale green glow. When I didn’t see anyone, big or small, I called out, “Queen Willow! Are you here?”
I didn’t really expect an answer, but before I could call out again, flickering lights descended from the upper reaches of the tree. Four tiny fairies fluttered around me, the lights from their wings bright spots of color in the green of the willow tree.
“Who are you? What are you doing here?” asked a fairy covered in curly leaves.
“I’m Emma the Green Witch,” I told them. “I’m looking for your queen, Willow.”
“So are we! Do you know where she is?” one of the fairies replied.
I sighed and shook my head. “No, that’s why I’m looking for her. Who are you? Do you live around here?”
“Of course we live around here! We live in this very tree,” a fairy wearing a dandelion-puff hat said, looking scornful.
A fairy with fluffy pink hair hurried to say, “We’re the ladies of the queen’s court. We keep the queen company when she’s in residence.”
“When did you see her last?” I asked.
“Oh, my. I’m not sure. I suppose it was after breakfast,” said a fairy wearing a gown of blue petals.
“You saw her this morning,” I said, excited that my search might be almost over.
“Of course not, silly! It was ever so long ago,” declared the pink-haired fairy.
“How long ago, exactly?” I asked.
“I’m not sure. Ages and ages, I think.”
“It was hot out, wasn’t it? I seem to remember fanning my face with a leaf when we said good-bye,” the fairy wearing the blue petals said.
“Did the queen tell you where she was going?” I said. “What did she say before she left?”
“When who left? Dandelion? She didn’t leave. She’s right there!”
I wasn’t getting anywhere with the ladies of the court. After thanking them, I slipped out from under the willow branches and returned to the meadow. Nightshade and his friends were there, talking to some other small fairies. When I looked his way, Nightshade shook his head. Apparently he wasn’t having any better luck.
I had thought that Eadric was right behind me when I first slipped under the willow branches. He hadn’t joined me, however, making me wonder where he had gone. I looked around, finally spotting him at the edge of the lake. He was talking to someone in the water, but I couldn’t see who it was. A moment later, Eadric bent down to take off his shoes. Curious, I started walking along the shoreline. Eadric was wading into the water when I realized that he was talking to a water nymph with long green hair.
“Eadric, stop!” I called, and started to run.
He turned toward me and waved.
“What are you doing?” I asked when I was close enough.
“This nice girl invited me to see her underwater palace,” he replied. “I’ve never seen one under a lake before. She says that the water is much deeper than you’d think.”
“Shame on you for lying like that!” I told the nymph.
“But it is quite deep,” she told me, trying to look innocent.
“That’s not what I mean, and you know it,” I said. “Eadric, she’s a water nymph, not a mermaid like our friend Coral. There is no palace under the lake. She’s lying to get you in the water so she can drown you! That’s what water nymphs do!”
“How do you know there’s no palace?” Eadric asked, looking skeptical.
I glanced at the lake. The water seemed clear, but I couldn’t really see more than a few feet below the surface. For all one could tell by looking at it, an entire city might lie only ten feet down.
“Look, I’ll show you,” I said, and hurriedly made up a spell.
Murky water
Become clear
So we can see
What’s far and near.
It wasn’t much of a spell, but it did the job. The water became as clear as crystal, revealing a rock-strewn bottom, a snapping turtle chasing a school of minnows, and not much else.
Eadric’s eyes grew round as he gazed into the water. Shaking his head, he picked up his shoes and stalked back to the willow tree.
“My Eadric is a good person, but he’s far too trusting,” I told the nymph. “I’m surprised Queen Willow let you lure men to their doom right under her nose like this.”
The nymph shrugged. “She didn’t, but she’s gone now. Who’s to stop me from doing whatever I like?”
“I am,” I said, starting to lose my temper. “I’m the Green Witch, and until there’s a new fairy ruler, I guess it’s up to me to keep people safe. Leave this lake and don’t come back. And if I ever hear that you’re lying to people like this again, I’ll turn you into a minnow and introduce you to the snapping turtle I just saw. Do you understand?”
The nymph swallowed hard and nodded. “I understand. I’ll just get my things,” she said, and slipped back into the water.
“You know she’ll be back before the week is up,” Nightshade told me. He had walked over when I was talking to the nymph, but I hadn’t noticed until now.
“I’m sure you’re right,” I replied. “That’s just another reason why we need Willow back.”
We were gathered by the magic carpet, trying to decide where to look next, when I noticed a woman dressed all in white coming toward us from the forest. Ignoring me and the three fairies, she strode straight to Eadric and stared him in the eyes. “Are you a hunter?” she demanded.
“Huh?” said Eadric.
“Are you here to hunt?” she asked, prodding his chest with one finger.
“No, he’s not,” I told her, knowing full well that he hunted every chance he got when we were at home. That wasn’t in the enchanted forest, however, which was what the Vila really cared about. I’d never met a Vila before, but my aunt Grassina had told me about them. Protectors of the forest and the animals that lived there, Vili were known to hate hunters who dared enter their forests.
“If you’re not here to hunt, why are you here?” the Vila asked us.
“We’re looking for Queen Willow,” I replied. “Have you seen her?”
“Of course I’ve seen her. I live here, don’t I?” the Vila snapped.
“Let me rephrase that,” I said. “When was the last time you saw her?”
“Let me think,” said the Vila. “Oh, I remember! It was when the dragons were holding their Olympics. Queen Willow told me that she was on her way to watch the contests. She’d received a special invitation and was very excited. I didn’t see her again after that. Oh, my! Do you think the dragons did something to her? Maybe they cooked her! Or maybe one of them stepped on her and squashed her flat. They might have covered up the incident so they wouldn’t get in trouble!”
“I doubt very much that the dragons hurt the Fairy Queen,” I told her. “But it does give us somewhere else to look. Thank you!”
“My pleasure,” said the Vila before turning to Eadric. “Are you sure you’re not a hunter? You look like one.”
“We need to go,” I said, and hustled Eadric to the magic carpet.
We were just getting on when a fairy landed on the grass beside me and became full-sized. He was the handsomest fairy I’d ever seen, which means a lot, considering that most fairies are very attractive. He had thick, dark brown hair, and eyes the color of cornflowers. Tall, with more defined muscles than most male fairies, he was enough to turn any girl’s head. I heard a little gasp coming from my pocket, so I knew that Adara had seen him, too.
“I hear you’re looking for Queen Willow,” he said in a voice that would have made a minstrel proud.
“We are,” I replied, aware that Eadric was glaring at the newcomer. “Most of the fairies seem to think she faded away, but we don’t know that for certain. The fairies need her. We’re hoping to find her and bring her back from wherever she’s gone.”
“Have you had any luck with your search so far?” he asked, glancing from me to Eadric to Nightshade and his friends.
“I told them about the Dragon Olympics!” said the Vila, who I’d thought had already gone. “I think a dragon might have eaten the queen.” She smiled at him as if he was the best thing since the discovery of fire, but he didn’t seem to notice.
“We’re going to see the dragons next,” I told the fairy. “I’m Emma the Green Witch, and this is my betrothed, Prince Eadric. Nightshade, Oleander, and Persimmon have been kind enough to help us look.”
“I see,” the fairy said, eyeing our companions. “Then perhaps I can be of assistance as well. I, too, am looking for Queen Willow. My name is Acorn, and I’m an old friend of the queen’s.”
I nodded, having already noticed that his tunic was made of overlapping oak leaves. “We’d be delighted to have you along,” I said. “Nightshade, I’ll lead the way this time. I know exactly where to go.”
“I wouldn’t have used the word delighted,” Eadric whispered in my ear as we took our seats on the carpet. “You could have said, ‘No thanks!’”
“Why?” I asked. “He said he’s already looking for her and he’s an old friend of hers. He might have the insight we need to actually find her.”
“Maybe,” grumbled Eadric. “But I don’t like him!”