It wasn’t long before the fairies still sticky with pinesap were on their way to the palace to tell everyone what had happened. Long before Aislin and her ladies crossed the crystal bridge, word about Rory’s treachery had spread. Captain Larch met them at the palace gates and had his fairies take Rory into custody. When Aislin and her mestari reached the throne room, King Darinar and Queen Surinen were already seated on their thrones, waiting for them. King Tyburr was there as well, looking furious. Aislin wasn’t sure if he was angry because of what his son had done, or because Rory was being escorted into the room under guard.
When Aislin and her mestari went to stand to the left of the aisle leading to the throne, Captain Larch’s fairies took Rory to the right. The prince just stood there, looking sullen and refusing to meet his father’s eyes or even look in the direction of Aislin’s grandparents.
“I understand that Prince Rory laid traps for my fairies,” Queen Surinen said to Aislin.
“He did, and then when my mestari were distracted helping the fairies, he tried to kidnap me,” Aislin told her.
“Pardon me, Your Majesty, but we don’t know for certain that Prince Rory was involved in any of this,” said his father.
“Would his confession be enough to convince you?” the fairy queen asked King Tyburr.
“It would,” said the king, and turned to his son. “Did you make traps for the fairies?”
“Of course not! I would never do anything like that,” said Rory. “I had gone for a walk in the woods when the fairies tied me up and brought me here for no reason at all.”
“I’m not convinced that he’s telling the truth,” King Darinar said.
“My son would never lie!” protested King Tyburr.
“In that case, a truth spell shouldn’t make any difference,” said the fairy queen. “Prince Rory, I command you to tell the truth for the rest of your life and to answer every question we ask you.” Silver sparkles shot from her pointed finger and swirled around Rory. He batted at the sparkles even as they landed on his head.
“I don’t want to,” Rory cried.
“I’m sure that’s the truth,” Twinket whispered to Aislin.
“Now he’ll know what it was like for Tomas,” Aislin murmured back.
“What do you mean?” asked Twinket.
Aislin realized that she had never told her friends about the christening gift a fairy had given to Tomas when he was an infant.
“I’ll tell you about it later,” Aislin told the doll.
“Prince Rory of Morain, did you lay traps for my fairies and try to kidnap my granddaughter, Princess Aislin?” said the fairy queen.
The prince clapped his hands over his mouth, but the words came out anyway. “I laid the traps because I had to make Aislin’s mestari leave her by herself. Fairies in distress were the only thing I could think of to draw her ladies away. When she was alone, it was easy to knock her out with the sleeping mist.”
“It felt like the same mist that Aghamonda had used on Poppy and Tomas and me in the castle in Scarmander,” Aislin told them.
“No wonder you conked out!” exclaimed Poppy. “That stuff was awful.”
Thunder rumbled over the palace when King Darinar growled, “Prince Rory, why did you want to kidnap Aislin?”
Rory struggled to remain silent, but the fairy queen’s magic was too strong for him to resist. “I said it was because my father wanted me to marry the princess—”
“I never told you to do any of this!” his father roared.
“—but it was really because She told me to bring Aislin to her!” Rory finally blurted out.
“So ‘She’ was involved!” said Aislin.
“Who is ‘She’?” demanded the queen. “Where were you supposed to take Aislin?”
Rory’s face contorted as he tried not to talk, but the queen’s spell was too compelling. “She’s a very powerful sorceress named Gorinda. She said that she’d tell me where to go once I’d brought Aislin to Morain.” Tears trickled down his cheeks as he turned to King Tyburr. “Father, can’t we just leave now? Aislin isn’t going to come with me, and Gorinda’s going to be so angry that we’ll lose her protection.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” King Tyburr said, looking horrified. “Hold your tongue, boy, before you spout any more foolish prattle.”
“No!” said the fairy king. Although he kept his voice low, it had more power in it than the thunder rumbling outside. King Tyburr flinched and bowed his head.
“This boy interests me,” King Darinar continued. “Let him tell us what he knows about this sorceress.”
King Tyburr’s head shot up. “There isn’t one,” he exclaimed. “Rory made her up to excuse his actions.”
Queen Surinen leaned forward on her throne to stare into the human king’s eyes. Her own eyes seemed to burn into him. “I used a truth spell on your son, so I know that he isn’t lying. Must I use one on you as well?”
King Tyburr’s face turned pale and he took a step back. “That would be unthinkable. I am a king. I would consider a spell like that an act of war if you even try to use it on me.”
“That won’t be necessary, my dear,” King Darinar told his wife, setting his hand on top of hers. “I’m sure we can still learn much from Prince Rory.”
The queen turned her gaze on Rory, which made him squirm and look away. “You’re right,” she said. “Prince Rory, describe Gorinda to me. What does she look like?”
Rory looked as if he’d tasted something bad and was about to spit, but all he finally said was, “I can’t say. And now that I think hard about it, I can’t even picture her in my mind.”
Queen Surinen frowned. “Gorinda has used magic on him.”
With a crook of her finger, she summoned one of her sprite attendants to her. A few whispered words and the little man darted off. He was back in less than a minute, holding a pouch to his chest. Handing it to the queen, he bowed and backed away. With deft fingers, the queen opened the pouch and removed a pinch of the dust inside. Holding it before her lips, she leaned toward Rory and blew gently. The dust puffed around him and seemed to disappear as it landed on his skin, his hair, and his clothes.
Rory looked relieved at first when nothing seemed to happen. But after a few seconds his entire body began to vibrate and give off a faint hum that set Aislin’s teeth on edge even from across the room. Rory glanced down at himself in surprise.
Queen Surinen stood and stepped down from the raised dais to examine him more closely. As he began to turn a sickly shade of blue, with a darker color forming around his mouth, she nodded. “It seems that Gorinda has placed a geas on you, preventing you from talking about her. I believe she has also placed a compulsion on you to do something,” she said as the color turned muddy green. “Turn your head and look at Aislin.”
The queen pointed at Rory, then made a swooping gesture with her hand, causing him to turn so that he was facing Aislin. The green flared to a brighter shade and stayed that way until the fairy queen made him look away. “What’s going on?” Rory asked in a strangled voice.
Queen Surinen climbed back up the dais to sit on her throne again. She studied Rory, looking more and more distressed as time passed. “The compulsion she placed on you was related to Aislin,” the queen finally said. “More than likely it was to make you take Aislin from us. The compulsion won’t go away if you leave here. If you were to return home, you would be back again and again until you succeeded. Even if you weren’t guilty of trickery and attempted abduction, we couldn’t let you go with your father, at least not until we learn who this Gorinda really is and what she has planned.
“As it is, Gorinda has layered spells over spells. I could hurt you if I were to remove them in the incorrect order, so at this point I don’t dare try. Once I learn what kind of magic Gorinda uses, I should be able to ascertain what I need to do to counter it.”
“But I swear I won’t come near Aislin again!” protested Rory. “I just want to go home now.”
“A compulsion is meant to make you do something whether you want to or not,” said King Darinar. “Queen Surinen is right in saying that you must stay here for now. We have to keep an eye on you to make sure you don’t act on the compulsion. And compulsion or not, you must be held accountable for your actions.”
Queen Surinen nodded. “You trapped our fairies and attempted to kidnap our granddaughter. No one may do such things without consequences. For trapping my fairies, you must clean all the windows of the palace. And for the crime of treating my granddaughter as you did, you will be turned into a marmoset for as long as it takes you to clean the windows.”
“What’s a marmoset?” Kimble asked Poppy.
“A little kind of monkey,” Poppy replied. “I think they’re cute, but I wouldn’t want to be one, especially not if I had to clean all those windows!”
“That human prince should be grateful that the queen didn’t think of something more permanent,” Deela added.
“But my son—” began King Tyburr.
“Will be safe here until he has served his sentence and we have removed the compulsion,” King Darinar told him. “If you want him back, you must help us all you can. Do you know anything of this Gorinda? Have you ever met her or heard of her before now?”
King Tyburr sighed. “Yes, I know of the woman, but my kingdom’s relationship with her is not a happy one and I had hoped not to make it public. Years ago, Gorinda came to my father and threatened to make our crops fail and our wells go dry if we didn’t pay her a tithe every year. My father was weak. He feared the sorceress and paid the tithe year after year. On his deathbed, he made me promise that I would as well, saying that Morain was not strong enough to stand up to her. I’m ashamed to say that I continued what he had started without considering taking up arms against her. I didn’t know how to fight her magic. When Aghamonda came to me, saying she could help me defeat the king of Scarmander, I foolishly thought to ask her to help us defeat Gorinda. But our conversation never reached that point.”
“Have you ever met Gorinda?” asked Queen Surinen.
“No, I haven’t,” replied the king.
“Did you know that your son had met her?” King Darinar asked him.
King Tyburr shook his head. “I didn’t know until I heard him speak of her just now. I thought he’d heard rumors and wanted to use them to invent an excuse for his behavior. Now I know that I was wrong. I’m sorry, Rory,” he said to his son. “I should have believed you.”
Rory shrugged and looked away.
“Do you have anything to say for yourself?” the fairy queen asked Rory.
The prince made a face, but once again the words spilled out even when he fought to stay silent. “All I can say is that I wouldn’t have tried to take Aislin the way I did if I’d known that I’d get caught. I would have tried something else then. I just don’t know what it would have been.”
“I like that truth spell!” Poppy whispered to her friends.
Aislin took a step forward. “If I may, Grandmother, I have something to say.” When the queen nodded, Aislin turned to Rory. “You still seem to think that you don’t have to be nice to people. I just want you to know that compulsion or not, whether you’re talking about a fairy or a princess, there’s never a good excuse to be unkind to anyone.”
Queen Surinen nodded again. “Very true. And I want Prince Rory to think about that as he serves his sentence.” Pointing her finger at Rory, she announced, “Your sentence begins now!” A ray of sparkling light shot from her finger and hit Prince Rory squarely on his chest. As the light engulfed him, he began to shrink. His clothes disappeared as he became covered in fur. Within moments, he was a monkey small enough to fit in Aislin’s pocket.
King Darinar turned to one of the guards standing at the side of the room. “Take Prince Rory to the kitchen and ask the scullery maids to give him soap and water so he may start washing the windows. Aislin, you and your mestari may go now. I’m sure you’d like to rest after your ordeal.”
Aislin bowed to her grandparents and hurried from the room with her ladies in tow. “What I really want to do is take a bath,” she told Poppy. “Knowing that Rory touched me makes my skin feel dirty.”
“I don’t blame you,” said her friend. “I’ll go ahead and get your bath ready.” A moment later, Poppy turned tiny and darted down the corridor.
“I didn’t like Prince Rory from the first time I saw him,” Kimble proclaimed. “He gives me the heebie-jeebies.”
“What does that mean?” asked Twinket.
“You know—he creeps me out big time,” Kimble explained. “I wouldn’t want him to touch me either.”
“It’s all my fault,” Deela moaned. “I’ll never leave you unprotected like that again, Your Highness.”
“You heard Queen Surinen,” said Aislin. “Rory is under a compulsion. He was going to keep trying until he succeeded. At least now we know what he was up to and who was behind it.”
Tomas had been leaning against the wall, waiting for them. Spotting Aislin, he straightened up and said, “Aislin, may I speak to you alone?”
The princess glanced at her mestari. “You may go on ahead. I’m perfectly safe here in the palace. I’ll be along in just a minute.”
“But I don’t think you should—”
“Please go,” said Aislin.
Her mestari were still reluctant to leave, but once they did, Tomas took Aislin’s hand and pulled her into an alcove where they were out of sight. “Are you all right?” he asked. “I heard about what Rory did. It’s all anyone is talking about now. He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
The princess shook her head. “He didn’t,” she said. “I’m fine.”
“Because if he hurt you I would make him regret the day he was born,” Tomas said, squeezing his free hand into a fist. “I would—”
“I really am fine,” Aislin assured him. “You don’t have to do anything to Rory. My grandmother turned him into a marmoset and he’s going to be very busy washing the palace windows.”
Tomas looked surprised when he said, “A marmoset, huh? Well, good. But compulsion or not, if he ever so much as looks at you funny, I’m going to take him apart.”
“I appreciate your concern, however I’m not a helpless maiden and I can take care of myself!” Aislin told him. “Rory may not realize it, but he has a lot more to fear from me than I do from him.”
“I know that, but my offer still stands,” Tomas said, and let go of her hand. “I may not be one of your mestari, but I am still your friend.”
“One of my best,” Aislin said, and gave him a grateful smile before turning and walking away.
The princess reached her bathing room a short time later to find that Poppy had already added rose petals and lavender to the water and placed clean clothes on the bed. Glancing down, Aislin found red marks on her arms where Rory had held her. Suddenly she was eager to undress, and when she stepped into the pool, she wasn’t sure if she would ever want to wear her jade green gown again.
After scrubbing and rinsing herself three times, she washed her hair twice. She was contemplating washing it again when there was a knock on the door and Twinket peeked in. “I’m sorry to disturb you, but King Darinar and Queen Surinen request that you join them in the courtyard as soon as possible.”
“I thought they said I could rest,” said Aislin.
“I guess they changed their minds. The messenger said that it has something to do with Aghamonda.”
Aislin frowned and reached for a towel. “I wonder what it could be now. They can’t think that she’s had anything to do with Rory. She’s been a statue for weeks.”
When Aislin arrived, the king and queen of the fairies were standing in front of the statue that dominated the courtyard. The king was scratching his chin, and the queen was tapping her cheek with one finger. Aislin thought they both looked worried.
They looked up as Aislin approached. “We’ve spoken to the human royals who are here at the palace,” said Queen Surinen. “They all admit to paying tithes to Gorinda, although none of them seem to have met her. It occurred to me that if Rory used the same mist to put you to sleep that Aghamonda used on you, Aghamonda might have met her and can describe her to us.”
“How can you talk to a statue?” Aislin asked her.
“She won’t be a statue when we question her,” said the queen as she reached into a soft gold-colored bag. “This is the only thing that will release her from the spell. Stand back in case she falls down.”
Opening the bag, Queen Surinen took out a small vial. Aghamonda was tall even for a fairy, so the queen had to stand on her tiptoes to pour one drop onto the statue’s head as she murmured words too softly for anyone to hear. Almost instantly, the gray-white of the statue faded away, becoming the vibrant colors of a living fairy. Aghamonda gasped and staggered, catching herself before she could fall.
“What’s happening?” she asked, her voice rough from disuse. “I feel so odd!”
“That will pass,” said Queen Surinen. “We need you to answer a few questions.”
“Why should I tell you anything if you’re going to turn me back into a statue again?” asked Aghamonda.
“Because if you help us now, we might reduce your sentence,” the king told her.
“What do you want to know?” Aghamonda said grudgingly.
“Do you know a sorceress named Gorinda?” asked the king.
The statue looked away as if she could no longer meet their eyes. “I know many sorceresses,” said Aghamonda. “One may be named Gorinda.”
“Is she the one who gave you the sleeping mist?” asked the queen.
“Maybe,” Aghamonda replied. “Being a statue has made my memory foggy.”
“If she gave you the sleeping mist, you must have seen her. What can you tell us about her?” Queen Surinen continued. Aghamonda’s attitude seemed to annoy the queen whose tone was becoming more insistent.
Aghamonda sighed. “You aren’t going to stop, are you? My head aches and you’re making it worse with all your questions. I’ll tell you what I can about Gorinda so you’ll stop prattling on. She is a very powerful sorceress—with far stronger magic than either of you. She was kind to me when I needed kindness. Small-minded humans in a tiny village were tormenting me, and she came to my rescue. Gorinda was the one to teach me how to deal with humans when I had no other fairy friends or family to turn to. I will always be grateful to her and I won’t betray her, even if you add many lifetimes to my sentence. Now turn me back if you’re going to so I might have some peace.”
“As you wish,” said the queen, pointing at Aghamonda. A few soft words and a sprinkling of silver sparkles turned the fairy into a statue once again.
“Do you think Gorinda put a compulsion on her, too?” Aislin asked.
“No, even the most powerful sorceress cannot place a compulsion on a fairy,” said King Darinar. “They must use other means to convince a fairy to do something. Sometimes kindness can be more convincing than cruelty. I’m not surprised that Aghamonda won’t tell us about Gorinda if the sorceress was so good to her. We’ll have to find another way to learn what we can about the woman behind all this.”