Although Aislin wanted to call out to Tomas, she knew better than to try. She watched as he approached the throne with his father. At first her friend seemed enthralled with the fey standing on either side of the aisle, gazing warily at the ogres and orcs and curiously at the fairies, satyrs, gnomes, sprites, and nymphs. When a tiny fairy broke protocol and flew higher to get a better look at the humans, Tomas’s gaze followed her to the ceiling, watching as clouds seemed to scud by. His mouth dropped open as he and his father neared the dais, which looked as if it were located in the middle of a forest glade, with a turtle basking on a sun-warmed rock at the edge of the waterfall and hummingbirds flitting between pink and purple flowers at the base of blooming dogwood trees.
Duke Fadding stopped yards from the dais and bowed his head. Tomas walked beside him, but he was staring at the fairy king and queen so intently that he would have kept going if his father hadn’t put out his hand. When Tomas realized what he was doing, he stopped abruptly beside his father and bowed his head as well.
“Welcome to Fairengar,” King Darinar told them. “I trust all is well between Scarmander and Morain?”
Duke Fadding and Tomas looked up. The duke nodded. “Yes, Your Majesty. The accord you helped us reach has held better than any we would have made on our own.”
Aislin glanced at her grandfather. After Poppy had contacted them, he and her father had come to find Aislin and had ended up interceeding in the first battle in what might have been a lengthy war. Because the evil fairy Aghamonda had been involved, King Darinar had felt duty bound to negotiate peace between the two kingdoms. Apparently, the humans appreciated his efforts.
Aislin turned back and saw that Tomas had finally noticed her. He was looking at her with a big grin on his face, too. It made her realize how much she had missed him, and how glad she was to see him again. Eager to talk to her friend about all that had happened since she last saw him, Aislin paid little attention to the rest of the conversation her grandparents had with Duke Fadding.
They were still talking when Peri returned, tiny once again, and spoke to the fairy king and queen, telling them that other humans had arrived and were on their way to the throne room. Before too long, King Markeen of Halugonia, Queen Solange of Soodfriede, and King Arturo of Tamweld arrived. Aislin knew they had come great distances to pay homage to the fairy king and queen.
Although Aislin thought King Markeen’s pointed hat covered with jingling bells was funny, she didn’t like the way he glanced at the fairies closest to him with distaste. When a fairy smiled at him, he looked dismayed, as if he didn’t know what to do. Queen Solange held herself aloof, trying hard not to look at the fey as she walked between their ranks. She seemed nervous when she approached the dais and found it difficult to meet the eyes of King Darinar and Queen Surinen. King Arturo was a rounded man with a red face who laughed a lot. Aislin thought he laughed too much, including at things that weren’t funny. When he stumbled over his own feet, she thought that he might be nervous, too.
King Markeen had also brought his son with him. The sullen young man looked as if he’d rather be anywhere but there. The doors opened again and King Tyburr of Morain walked in with Prince Rory, Princess Selene and Queen Tatya. Aislin was happy to see Selene, although she would have been delighted if she never saw Rory again. Three of Selene’s ladies-in-waiting entered, too, along with three of the queen’s. They stopped near the back of the room while the royals approached the dais. Aislin knew precisely when the girls spotted her because their jaws dropped and they looked dazed.
Queen Surinen must have seen it, too. She laughed and turned to Aislin. “Are those the girls you mentioned?”
“They are,” the princess replied. “I don’t think they could look more surprised.” Aislin tried not to laugh at the expressions on their faces, so different from the smug disdain they usually wore.
“Tomas hasn’t stopped staring at you,” said King Darinar. “Why don’t you go talk to him?”
“If you’re sure it’s all right,” Aislin said.
When he nodded, she fairly flew down the stones to work her way between the fey to Tomas’s side. Curious, the fey she passed turned to watch her.
“Welcome to Fairengar,” she said as she joined her friend.
The fey near Tomas leaned closer as if to listen in.
“Thanks,” Tomas said, his face lighting up. “I hoped you’d be here. It was the reason I asked Father to bring me.”
“I’m here to help the fey settle in, then I’m going back to Eliasind.”
“I hope it takes a long time for them to settle in,” Tomas said with a grin.
Aislin laughed. Her heart felt lighter now that Tomas was here. Even when they were stuck in Morain, he’d had a knack for making her feel better.
“King Ozwalt didn’t come?” Aislin asked him, looking around.
Tomas shook his head. “His health is failing and he doesn’t go far from his bed anymore. Father has been taking on more and more responsibilities lately.
“So this is Fairengar,” he said, looking around, his eyes wide in awe. “I thought that was the kingdom in the land between the mountains.”
“The royal palace of the fairies and its surrounding land is called Fairengar, no matter where it is,” Aislin explained. “This area actually used to be part of Fairengar once before, and now it is again.”
Another voice broke into their conversation. “Aislin, I’m so happy to see you!” Princess Selene cried as she slipped between the fey.
The last time they’d seen each other was when the two princesses had been traveling together. Soldiers had mistaken Aislin for Selene and taken her away. So much had happened since!
“I was so worried about you,” said Selene. “I’m sorry to have put you in danger. I should have been the one to go with them.”
“It’s all right,” Aislin told her. “It wasn’t your fault that they took me instead. It turned out that they were Tomas’s men and everything worked out in the end.”
“I’m so relieved to hear you say that,” Selene cried. “I was afraid that they’d been horrible to you and that it was all my fault. I couldn’t bear to think that my first real friend might have suffered because of me.”
The three girls who trailed behind Selene had been nasty to Aislin when she’d stayed in the castle in Morain. Seeing Aislin now, they clustered around the half-fairy princess and gave her ingratiating smiles.
“It’s so good to see you again!” Laneece gushed.
“We’ve all missed you!” cried Joselle.
“You look wonderful!” Merrilee exclaimed. “That color is so slimming on you.”
“Merrilee!” Joselle said, scowling at her friend as she nudged her.
The three girls turned and smiled coyly as Rory walked up. “There’s my betrothed!” the prince said, shouldering a nymph out of his way. Aislin shuddered. She knew that King Tyburr had wanted to set her up with his son, but as far as she knew, Rory disliked her as much as she disliked him.
If this hadn’t been a formal event, Aislin would have told Rory exactly what she thought of him. Instead, she knew she had to be polite, or as close to it as she could come with Rory around. But it didn’t mean that she had to let him touch her, as he clearly planned to do. When he continued to approach, and leaned in—as if he was going to kiss her!—Aislin held up her hand to fend him off.
“I’m not your anything,” she replied. “And don’t come any closer.”
Rory’s expression flicked sour for a second, but then turned back into a smile. “But I thought we had an understanding,” Rory said, opening his eyes wide as if that would make him look innocent.
“You’re not fooling anyone, Rory, so cut it out,” Tomas told him. “Neither Aislin nor I have forgotten how you treated us in Morain. You lost your chance to be our friend back then.”
“People can change,” Rory said, looking belligerent.
“You haven’t changed one bit,” Selene told him.
The fey around them started to turn toward the exit. Aislin realized that her grandparents were no longer on the dais; the royal audience was over.
“I need to go freshen up,” Selene said, glancing down at her rumpled dress. “Two days in a carriage didn’t do me any favors.”
“We’ll see you at the ball tonight,” Rory told Aislin.
Aislin nodded and tried not to show her surprise. When she thought about it, she decided that she should have expected that her grandparents had planned a ball for that evening; it would explain why she needed that beautiful gown. The ball itself would be so much fun. Too bad Rory was going to be there.
Although Aislin had owned many beautiful gowns, the moonbeam dress Sage and Parsley had created was something special. Only fairies could weave moonbeams, and only the very best fairy seamstresses could gather them from a full moon and create a fabric that shimmered with its own special light. Sage and Parsley were in fact the very best fairy seamstresses who had ever lived. And to make the gown even more dazzling, they had added thousands of diamonds, letting it sparkle and shine.
The two fairies had come to help Aislin put on the gown in case it needed any last-minute adjustments. When she slipped it over her head and smoothed it over her hips, she already felt beautiful, but when Sage produced a mirror in front of her and flicked her fingers to dim the fairy lights in the room, the princess gasped. While the gown would have been lovely in the daylight, it was beyond extraordinary now that the sun had set. This dress had been crafted especially for her and fit her perfectly. It had already been glowing when she put it on, but her pedrasi side took strength from the diamonds themselves, and sent it back into the moonbeams, making the light even stronger. Aislin looked like a celestial being come down to earth.
The gown was more than just beautiful. Aislin had never worn a gown embellished with any kind of stones before. As she stood there gazing at her reflection, she could feel power from the diamonds leaching into her, making her blood thrum as it coursed through her veins. The power from each kind of stone was different. A diamond’s was pure and clean. It was one of the most invigorating stones she’d ever felt.
“I feel wonderful!” she told the fairy seamstresses. “Could you add diamonds to all my clothes?”
“That might be a little extreme,” said Sage. “You don’t need to wear gowns this beautiful all the time.”
Aislin brushed the diamonds on the gown’s bodice with her fingertip. It was enough to give her another surge of power. “I don’t want them for the way they look. I want them for the power they give me. They wouldn’t even have to be anywhere you can see them.”
“Ah, this would be for your pedrasi side,” Sage said. “I understand. I’ll see what I can do.”
Aislin was still admiring the dress when the same fairies who had fixed her hair before flew through the window to create an even lovelier hairstyle, only this time they tucked diamonds into her curls instead of flowers. When they had finished, the princess cast one more glance at her reflection and turned toward the door. If her grandmother wanted her to impress the humans, this dress was perfect.
Aislin stepped into the corridor and found all her ladies waiting for her. They were wearing their very best gowns and the bodice of each gown bore the mestari emblem in silver, which seemed to glow of its own accord. Deela’s and Lin’s gowns had lots of pleats and folds, some of which concealed the weapons that they insisted they needed. Poppy’s dress was made of newly opened buds and smelled wonderful, while Twinket and Kimble were dressed in spidersilk gowns with matching leggings, just as they’d requested. The mestari all looked lovely, though none could compare to Aislin and her moonbeam gown.
“Wow!” Deela exclaimed. “I’ve never seen that many diamonds in my life!”
“I’ve never seen such a beautiful gown!” said Lin.
“You don’t look real!” Poppy said in a half whisper.
“Will those stones come off if I touch you?” Twinket asked. “I don’t want to knock any off if you pick me up.”
“No, they won’t come off,” Sage assured her. “Not even if someone tried.”
“I don’t know what the big fuss is about,” said Kimble. “It’s just a dress. Let’s go get this thing over with. I hate wearing dresses and this one itches.”
Aislin stepped over the threshold of the door leading into the great hall, but the room wasn’t at all what she’d expected. Instead of the vast room where everyone ate supper, it felt as if she was outside in the forest. Twinkling stars surrounded the moon shining overhead. A gentle breeze caressed her cheek, smelling of loam and leaves, pine needles and wildflowers. Waist-high red mushrooms with white polka dots surrounded the perimeter of the moss-covered dance floor, making it look like a fairy circle. Closing her eyes, she sensed rock still cooling from the day’s heat. She heard an owl hoot and mice scurry into the safety of holes in the ground.
“Her Royal Highness, Princess Aislin of Eliasind, Fairengar, and Deephold,” announced the herald in ringing tones.
There was a gasp as the fey spotted Aislin in her diamond and moonbeam gown. Fairies descended on her before she could take another step. The colors of the ladies’ gowns and the gentlemen’s tunics reflected off her diamonds, dazzling in the light of the corridor.
“You look so beautiful!” some cried.
“You look amazing!” cried others.
Aislin was pleased to see that her mestari were also receiving admiring glances. And then the music started, and the fey headed off to find partners for the first dance.
When the herald announced the next arrival, the princess walked farther into the room.
“Fairies sure can decorate!” exclaimed Kimble as she followed the princess.
Aislin didn’t have time to answer as Selene and her ladies-in-waiting descended on her. Merrilee, Joselle, and Laneece curtseyed so deeply that they looked as if they were about to sit down.
“I love your gown!” Selene cried. “What is it made of?”
“Moonbeams and diamonds,” said Aislin.
“Real moonbeams?” Merrilee asked.
Laneece gasped. “Those can’t all be real diamonds! It’s just not possible.”
Tomas had just walked up behind Selene’s ladies-in-waiting. As he moved to stand beside Aislin, he gave the human girl a withering look. “You’re talking to a fairy princess. Anything is possible for Princess Aislin. Show some respect, Laneece.”
“We never guessed that you were a fairy princess,” cried Merrilee. “I mean, you look beautiful now, but you looked so dowdy and uninteresting back in Morain. None of us had any idea that you were anything special.”
Aislin turned slowly to look at the girl, but couldn’t decide if she was intentionally rude or did it without thinking. Either way, Aislin didn’t want to have anything to do with her. The look the princess gave Merrilee would have chilled her to the bone, if only she’d been looking at Aislin’s face and not her gown.
“Walk away now, before I turn you into a toad,” Poppy told Merrilee. “And don’t say another word to Aislin.”
Merrilee looked outraged. She asked Aislin, “Are you going to let her talk to me like that?”
Aislin shrugged. “I don’t know why not. These are my mestari, so they outrank you in every way possible. They may talk to you however they please. Poppy has every right to turn you into a toad.”
“What’s a mestari?” asked Laneece.
“It’s like a super special lady-in-waiting plus the queen’s champion and guard,” Kimble said, holding her head high. “I’m one, too.”
“I’m an honorable one,” Twinket boasted.
“Is that a talking doll?” Merrilee said, her eyes huge. “How very odd!”
Aislin looked at Poppy and said, “Just make sure you turn her back before the night is out.”
“No problem,” Poppy replied. “Although I can’t promise that there won’t be any aftereffects.” She pointed at Merrilee, her finger surrounded by purple sparkles. There was a puff of purple dust and a toad squatted where the lady-in-waiting had been standing.
Selene’s other two ladies-in-waiting gasped and turned pale, but Selene just said, “It’s about time someone stood up to her. I told Merrilee that she had to learn to be nicer to people.”
“We don’t want her to get stepped on, now do we?” Deela said. She bent down and scooped up the toad, then carried it toward one of the mushrooms that edged the dance floor.
“Is that thing an orc?” Joselle croaked. “I’ve never seen one up close before. And it’s wearing a very pretty gown. Why would you dress up a monster like that? Is it one of your mess … whatevers, too?”
“Selene, it seems your ladies never change,” said Aislin. “Do you mind if Poppy takes care of her, as well?”
“Please do,” Selene said. “They all need to learn to be nicer.”
“No!” cried Joselle. “I didn’t mean … I was just …”
Once again purple sparkles surrounded Poppy’s finger and a lady-in-waiting transformed into a toad. Deela came back from moving the first toad in time to see it happen. “Not another one!” she said. “What did this one say?”
Lin leaned toward her friend and whispered into her ear. The orc’s face got darker and she glared at the toad. “I’m not moving this one,” she said. “It can take its chances with the dancers.”
Music began to play and Aislin glanced toward the side of the room where fairies, pedrasi, satyrs, and a gnome played drums, pipes, and bandolinos. It took two fairies to play a long stringed instrument that she’d never seen before.
Fey and humans drifted into the middle of the dance floor as the musicians began the music for another dance. Aislin was looking around when she felt a tug on the back of her gown and heard a crackling sound, and then Laneece cried out.
“That hurt!” Laneece exclaimed, looking indignant. “Your dress shocked me!”
“That’s a great anti-theft system you’ve got there, Princess!” exclaimed Kimble. “I saw the whole thing. Lady Sticky-Fingers tried to take one of your diamonds, but it sparked and turned her fingers red. Just look at them!”
They all glanced at Laneece’s hand. The fingers on her right hand were now bright red, as if they had been dipped in paint. She examined them, turning her hand front to back. Aislin thought the girl looked more puzzled than hurt.
“This color will come off, won’t it?” she asked Poppy.
“Don’t look at me,” the fairy replied. “That wasn’t my spell. But I’d guess that it’s permanent. You were a thief who was caught red-handed and now the whole world will know it.”
“I just wanted to see if it was real!” Laneece wailed. “I wasn’t going to keep it.”
“Yeah, right,” said Deela.
Clutching her hand to her chest, Laneece ran back into the corridor.
“Your ladies need to learn that you shouldn’t insult or try to steal from the fey. Every unkind thing they do has consequences among our people,” Poppy told Selene. Tomas grinned as he glanced at the toad hopping toward Selene’s feet. When he looked back up, his face was serious again. “Pardon me,” he said to Aislin, “but I notice that you have yet to dance. Would you do me the honor?” He held out his hand, palm up.
“I’d love to,” Aislin said, placing her hand on his.
They waited by the edge of the dance floor until the next dance was about to begin. Aislin was familiar with the dance, and Tomas was not, but he managed to catch on quickly. They twirled around the fairy circle to the music until they were both out of breath. The next song was slower and they were actually able to talk.
“Did I tell you that you look amazing?” Tomas asked her. “You have to be the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. You literally took my breath away when I saw you come in.”
“Thank you,” she said, smiling up at him. Aislin knew that a fairy had given Tomas the gift of truth at his christening, which meant that he always told the truth no matter what. It was nice to know that he really did mean what he said.
“So, you have mestari attending you?” said Tomas. “You never mentioned them before.”
“I didn’t have them before,” Aislin said, glancing between the dancers as she looked for her ladies. Poppy was dancing with a fairy knight with dark green hair while Deela was twirling around in the arms of a satyr. Twinket and Kimble were both dancing with sprites and seemed to be having a wonderful time. She didn’t see Lin dancing, but she finally spotted her friend on the side talking to a pedrasi warrior. Aislin was happy to see that her mestari were enjoying themselves and that the fey were treating them with the respect that they deserved.
Suddenly the music demanded that Tomas twirl her. When he was holding her again he said, “This place is unbelievable. I know we’re still in the palace, but it really feels as if we’re outside. I know that fairies can make glamours that look like the real thing. I just never imagined that they could be this good.”
“My grandparents are very powerful fairies,” said Aislin. “They can do some amazing things.”
“I didn’t see your father in the throne room today. Is he here now?” Tomas asked.
Aislin shook her head. “My parents had to return to Eliasind. Not all fey are happy about the move and some are causing trouble because of it.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Tomas said. “I like your father, and I was looking forward to meeting your mother.”
Aislin smiled. “You’d like my mother. She’s a wonderful person and—”
“May I cut in?” asked a pedrasi warrior named Kivi as the dance ended. “I understand that’s allowed among humans and I thought I’d give it a try.”
“Yes, it is a custom in some places,” said Tomas. “But not one I like,” he added under his breath.
He looked disappointed as he stepped away from Aislin, but then the music started up again and Kivi whirled her away across the fairy circle and she lost sight of Tomas. “You look amazing,” Kivi said in a loud voice. “We met in Deephold a few times, but you might not remember me. I was training to be a guard and …”
Aislin tried to listen while the pedrasi talked about himself, but she couldn’t stop looking for Tomas. She danced the next dance with Captain Larch, the captain of the fairy guard. A satyr asked her to dance after that, and then a male fairy courtier whom she had seen around but never met. After that, Sycamore, Captain Larch’s second-in-command, asked her for a dance, as well.
The dance had just ended when King Darinar approached and held out his hand. Aislin smiled up at her grandfather, relieved that she didn’t have to make small talk with someone she didn’t know very well.
“Are you enjoying yourself?” asked her grandfather.
“Very much,” said Aislin. “This is a lovely ball and your musicians are outdoing themselves. And the glamour you created for the ballroom is amazing.”
King Darinar laughed. “That was all your grandmother’s doing. I saw you dancing with Tomas and now he can’t keep his eyes off you.”
Aislin felt herself blush, but all she said was, “We’re just friends.”
“And what about King Tyburr’s son? He’s been watching you all evening as well.”
“That’s Rory and he is not a friend,” said Aislin.
“Ah, yes, I remember now. He’s the one who was so rude to you. Would you like me to turn him into something small and quiet for the rest of the evening? I haven’t turned anyone into a mouse in years.”
Aislin laughed and shook her head. “That won’t be necessary, but thank you for the offer.”
The dance ended a few minutes later and a fairy courtier named Rye came to ask for the next one. He was sweeping her around the circle when she spotted Tomas dancing with Selene. When Rye twirled her around, Tomas and Selene disappeared among the other dancers. As Aislin was looking for them a few minutes later, she saw Rory watching her from the side. Feeling his eyes on her was enough to make her uncomfortable. She really didn’t want to dance with him, but when he approached during the next not-so-fast song and asked to cut in, she couldn’t be rude and refuse.
Although Aislin didn’t want Rory to touch her, she also didn’t want to make a scene, so she took his hand when he offered it and let him twirl her through the dancers. To her surprise, Rory took her past the mushrooms so that they were outside the ring.
“What are you doing?” she asked, pulling away from him.
“I just wanted to talk,” he replied. “I couldn’t think of any other way to get you alone.”
Aislin sighed. “We don’t have anything to talk about, Rory. I don’t like you and I know you don’t like me, despite what you said earlier.”
“That’s not true!” Rory exclaimed. “I do like you and I think we could have a real future together. I was a fool to treat you the way I did in Morain and I’d like to make it up to you.”
Aislin didn’t believe him, no matter how sincere he was trying to look. She let him ramble on while she glanced back at the dancers inside the fairy ring. It struck her as odd that none of the flower fairies had gotten small so they could dance in the air the way they usually did. Everything seemed incredibly real, too. The glamour was so perfect that she could have sworn she heard animals rustling in the forest around them, even though she knew she was standing in the great hall and—
“If you won’t listen to me, maybe this will get your attention,” Rory said, pulling her into his arms for a kiss.
It was the first time a boy had ever really tried to kiss her and she wasn’t at all happy about it. She’d thought her first kiss would be something special, not forced on her by someone she didn’t even like. It was unpleasant, too, kind of squishy and greasy, like he’d just eaten something fried and forgotten to wipe his mouth afterward. Putting her hands on his shoulders, she pushed him so that he fell back and sat down heavily.
“Don’t ever touch me again!” she told him.
“I just wanted to show you what you’d be missing if you keep turning me down,” Rory said, sounding sullen.
Something above them made a sound, drawing her gaze. A giant rabbit loomed over them, twitching its nose and whiskers. Aislin let out a small shriek; it was enough to make Rory tilt his head back to look up. “What is that?” he whispered to Aislin.
“A rabbit,” she told him.
Looking around, she noted how impossibly tall the trees looked, how cushy the moss felt underfoot, and that a fallen leaf seemed unusually huge. She knew her grandmother’s glamours were exceptional, but she doubted that even the fairy queen could create one that was this detailed and complete. Besides, if her intent was to make a glamour of a fairy ring, why go so far as to include the forest around it? That didn’t make any sense, unless it wasn’t a glamour at all.
Suddenly, Aislin realized that her grandmother must have done something even more impressive than create a realistic glamour. She had turned the door to the great hall into a magic portal that took anyone who stepped through to a real fairy ring. Not only did the portal transport them, it also shrank them down to the size of a tiny fairy. No wonder the fairies didn’t try to get smaller! They were already tiny, although this time they didn’t have their wings.
“Wow!” Aislin exclaimed. “This is amazing.”
“What?” asked Rory. “None of this is real.”
The rabbit crouched lower to sniff them. Its breath stirred Aislin’s dress and ruffled Rory’s hair so that it fell into his eyes.
“Actually, I think it is,” Aislin told him. “This isn’t a glamour.”
“You mean that’s a giant rabbit?” Rory squeaked.
“No,” said Aislin. “I think it’s probably the normal size for a rabbit. It’s just that we’re tiny.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Rory snapped. “I’m the same size I’ve always been.”
Aislin glanced from Rory to the rabbit, to the mushrooms to the trees. “So, you’re the same and everything else became huge?”
Rory shrank back as the rabbit snuffled his hair again. “I might be wrong,” the prince said even as he inched toward the mushroom ring. “Tell me, are we stuck like this for good? Because I never gave my permission for any of this. My father is going to be furious when he finds out.”
“Your father is at the ball, so he’s small now, too. And this isn’t permanent,” Aislin assured him. “Once you go back through that door, I’m sure you’ll be your old self again.”
“Good,” Rory said. “We’ll talk again later.”
Aislin watched him dart back between the mushrooms and head straight for the door. She was sure that most people would enjoy the chance to be tiny for a while, but apparently Rory wasn’t one of them. Regardless of the reason for his sudden departure, she was glad that he was gone.