Aislin was restless that night and had a hard time falling asleep. When she did, images of Rory carrying her off to some faceless sorceress filled her dreams, waking her again. After tossing and turning for what seemed like hours, she finally drifted into a deeper rest, only to have Twinket jump on her chest to wake her.
“Wake up! Something terrible has happened!” the little doll shouted only inches from Aislin’s face. “Aghamonda has escaped!”
“What?” Aislin cried, sitting up and dumping Twinket off her. “How did that happen?”
The princess scrambled out of bed and threw a robe on over her nightgown. “No one knows,” Twinket said. “She was just gone this morning, but there are scratch marks on the floor, so the queen thinks Aghamonda was still a statue when she left. Oh, and a couple of fairies were frozen. Queen Surinen hopes they’ll be able to tell us what happened when they thaw out. She’s working on that now.”
“Where is Queen Surinen?” asked Aislin.
“Both of your grandparents are in the courtyard, looking for something that can tell us what happened. Hurry up! We’re missing all sorts of important stuff.”
Aislin and Twinket ran out the door and down the corridor. “Wake up!” Twinket yelled, pounding on the doors of Aislin’s other ladies-in-waiting as she passed by. “Everybody needs to help!”
By the time they reached the courtyard, a small crowd had already gathered. Tomas was there along with his father. Human-sized fairies clustered together, whispering and looking around as if they expected Aghamonda to return at any moment, while tiny fairies fluttered nervously overhead. Fairy and pedrasi warriors stood at every corner of the courtyard, looking vigilant. Aislin nodded at Captain Larch and Kivi when she saw them. When she reached Tomas, she paused. “Why are you up so early? Were you summoned, too?”
“My father and I got up early to go fishing,” Tomas replied. “This trip has turned into a vacation for us and we’re having a great time, or at least we were until we heard the commotion and found out that Aghamonda had escaped. Now everyone is afraid and doesn’t know what to do. Your grandparents are still trying to find out what happened.”
Aislin glanced at her grandmother, who was gesturing at her to come over. “I have to go. I’ll talk to you later,” she told Tomas.
The princess approached three ashen-faced fairies wrapped in soft, warm blankets. “Were you the fairies who were frozen?” she asked them.
Lilac nodded, making her springy purple curls bounce. “It was awful! We were minding our own business, taking a shortcut through the courtyard, when we heard this terrible grinding sound. You’re probably used to it, being part pedrasi and all, but I’d never heard a sound like that before.”
Potentilla shivered. “We didn’t know what it was at first, so we all looked over there,” she said, pointing, “and saw the statue of Aghamonda—”
“It was Aghamonda, silly!” said Zinnia. “She was walking across the stone floor, and her feet were making the sound with every step she took. It was truly terrifying!”
“She didn’t look our way, but Hydrangea was hovering over her and she saw us. That nasty little wisp pointed at us and cast a freezing spell.” Lilac shivered at the thought. “And to think that she used to be my best friend!”
“Do you think Hydrangea freed Aghamonda from your spell?” Aislin asked Queen Surinen.
Aislin’s grandmother nodded at the three fairies and they scurried off, still clutching their blankets. “It looks that way,” the queen replied. “She left after she freed Aghamonda and froze the fairies. No one has seen her since.”
“From the evidence we’ve found, Hydrangea must have been spying on us when Queen Surinen removed the spell to allow us to question Aghamonda,” said the king.
“Hydrangea must have seen what vial I used, but she couldn’t hear the words I said. The drop of my potion and the words I spoke must take place simultaneously, or they won’t remove the spell completely. Without those words, all Hydrangea could do was allow Aghamonda to move, but she’ll remain a statue and be unable to use her magic.”
“Why would Hydrangea want to do that?” asked Aislin.
“She probably thought that the drop of potion was all she needed,” said Queen Surinen. “I say the words under my breath on purpose so no one else will know them. What I don’t understand is why Hydrangea would do such a thing. She never seemed rebellious before.”
“I might know why,” Aislin told her. “Hydrangea was upset that I didn’t choose her as one of my mestari. I had hoped she’d gotten over it, but it’s possible that she was still mad. I’m so sorry. This may be my fault.”
Aislin felt guilty. She’d expected some attitude from the fairies she hadn’t chosen, but nothing like this! She frowned and ran her fingers through her hair, wishing she’d kept a better eye on Hydrangea.
“Don’t blame yourself. I’m sure Hydrangea didn’t come up with this on her own,” said the queen. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the sorceress Gorinda had something to do with it. No one else has gone against us the way she has for a very long time. Whoever is behind all this, your grandfather and I need to look into it. We were just saying—”
A tiny fairy flew into the courtyard and headed straight for Captain Larch. A moment later, the captain of the palace guards hurried to the king and queen. “Our warriors patrolling the forest around the palace perimeter have reported that someone is shooting darts at all flying fairies, regardless of whether they’re using their own wings or riding on the back of a bird or insect. Three of our warriors have been injured. I’ve sent the order that all patrols be performed on foot, which greatly limits our ability to keep everyone safe.”
“I understand,” King Darinar replied. “No fairy should turn small and fly outside until we find out what’s going on. And I don’t want anyone leaving the palace unless it’s absolutely necessary. If Gorinda is behind this, things will probably get worse until she’s stopped. We need to locate her as soon as we can.” The faces of the fairies in the room had all gone pale. Fairies were vulnerable when they were tiny. The thought that anyone might deliberately hurt them then was unbearable. Although Aislin didn’t think she could help find the assailants, something else was weighing on her mind.
“Did anyone see which way Aghamonda and Hydrangea headed?” asked Aislin.
“The statue’s footprints headed east, deeper into the forest,” Captain Larch replied.
“Baibre lives in that direction!” Aislin exclaimed. “Someone needs to go warn her.”
King Darinar shook his head. “No one is leaving the palace until we can assure their safety. Captain, I want you to double the patrol to make up for the lack of our eyes in the sky. I don’t want any more of our fairies to be injured, so have them wear their armor and travel in pairs.”
Captain Larch bowed his head to the king and hurried from the courtyard. When the king and queen started talking to each other in low voices, Aislin turned and headed out as well. Tomas stepped in front of her before she could leave. “I heard what you said about Baibre,” he said quietly. “I know you well enough to guess that you have something in mind.”
“You heard King Darinar. No one is allowed to leave the palace,” Aislin told him. She gave Tomas a meaningful look, then pointedly glanced at the fairy king.
“Ah,” said Tomas. “I’ll see you soon.”
As Aislin left the courtyard, her mestari followed her. “You’re up to something, aren’t you?” Poppy whispered to Aislin as they hurried down the corridor.
“Baibre told me how vengeful Aghamonda can be and she might be in real danger! We have to tell Baibre that her sister is headed her way,” Aislin whispered in reply. “It’s partly my fault that they got back together in the first place. We have to hurry though. It won’t take long before word spreads that we aren’t allowed outside and the guards will try to stop us. Please tell the other mestari that we’ll be leaving in five minutes.”
They ran to their rooms to dress in the tunics and leggings that Sage and Parsley had made for them. Aislin made sure that Sage had hidden a diamond in her tunic, just in case. She noticed that someone had brought her a basket of pastries while she was in the courtyard. Grabbing the knapsack she’d taken into Mount Gora, she dumped its contents on her bed, planning to leave behind anything she didn’t really need. She found the hardtack and the packet of dried berries that she’d never opened and stuffed them back in. After filling the gourd with fresh water, she put that in as well. She hesitated when she found the calcite globe, then put it back in; it might be useful someday. After wrapping the pastries in the cloth that had lined the basket, she tucked them in and was ready to go.
Her mestari were waiting for her in the corridor. They practically ran through the palace to the door that opened onto the crystal bridge. No one was in sight as they slipped out of the palace and hurried down the bridge. It wasn’t until they reached the forest that Aislin began to think that they might get away unnoticed.
They made their way through the forest, keeping an eye out for patrolling warriors and dart-wielding strangers, and suddenly they heard the whinny of a fairy-bred horse. Aislin had ridden such a horse only once, but she had grown up around them and recognized the distinctive sound. She stopped moving and her ladies did, too. Knowing that fairies on patrol didn’t use horses, Aislin couldn’t imagine who was riding through the forest. She was startled when Tomas, the pedrasi named Kivi, and the fairy Sycamore stepped out from behind some pine trees leading seven fairy steeds.
“When you left the courtyard so abruptly, your grandparents were sure you’d try something like this,” Tomas told her. “They know how determined you can be. They also know how well you can take care of yourself, especially with the ladies you chose. Sycamore and Kivi are supposed to go with you and I invited myself along. We’re riding so we can get there and back as quickly as possible.”
“My mestari are already helping me,” Aislin told the two fairy guards.
“We understand, Your Highness,” said Sycamore. “We wouldn’t dream of interfering. We’re just here to assist if you need us.”
“In that case, you are welcome to join us,” Aislin replied.
Kimble held up her hand and waved it in the air. “Uh, I’ve never ridden a horse before.”
“I have,” said Deela. “You can ride with me.”
“Anyone else never ridden before?” asked Kivi.
Although Poppy looked uncomfortable, she didn’t say anything. “Poppy and Twinket can go with me,” Aislin announced. She remembered how much Poppy had hated it the one time she’d tried to ride a horse by herself. Poppy gave her a grateful look and a half smile. It would make them both feel better to have the other one there.
A few minutes later they were all astride their horses, with Kimble sitting in front of Deela and Aislin sandwiched between Twinket and Poppy. “There’s an extra horse,” said Twinket.
“We’ll take it with us. Baibre can ride it if she decides to come back to the palace,” Sycamore replied before turning to Aislin. “I understand that you know the way to her home.”
“Tomas and I both do,” the princess replied. “We’ll have to head east for a while.”
“It would take us days to get there by foot,” said Tomas. “But nothing takes long when you ride one of these beauties.” He leaned over to pat the neck of the fairy horse he was riding. The steed shook his head and flicked his ears as if a fly was bothering him, but it didn’t make a sound.
Fairy horses don’t make any noise unless they want to, so the party sped silently through the forest while their riders kept watch for Aghamonda. Grazing deer looked up, startled. A wild boar rooting through the underbrush with her babies grunted when the horses surprised her. When the fairy horses passed a unicorn drinking from a stream, it looked up so quickly that water streamed from its mouth. The unicorn ran with them for a time, keeping pace with the fairy horses until it began to tire.
When they finally reached the road and headed south, the horses were able to pick up speed. They crossed a bridge over a rushing river, surprising two gnomes fishing on the riverbank. Less than an hour later, Aislin spotted a set of rocks shaped like a sleeping cat. “Anyone who is carrying a weapon either has to leave it here or stay behind and wait for us,” she told the others.
“I don’t like that,” said Deela. “How can we protect you then?”
“Baibre cast a spell on this forest a long time ago,” Aislin told her. “No one carrying weapons can find her home. The only way we’ll reach her is if you leave your weapons behind. Otherwise we could wander around in this forest for hours.”
“Which isn’t fun, believe me,” Tomas said, shaking his head.
“Maybe one of us should stay and guard the weapons,” suggested Lin.
“That’s a good idea,” said Kivi. “Any volunteers?”
They all looked at each other, waiting for someone to step forward, but no one did. “Oh, all right,” said Twinket. “I’ll do it.”
Sycamore laughed. “I think we need someone who can use a weapon.”
“Why don’t we just hide them?” asked Aislin. “Can’t one of you fairies use a spell so that no one will see them or step on them or something?”
“Why didn’t I think of that?” said Poppy. “Put all your weapons under this tree. I’ll make sure no one will touch them.”
Deela was reluctant to set down her curved, barbed sword, but after she did, Lin placed her war hammer beside it. The others followed their example, and soon they were all weaponless. Aislin was surprised by how many they had been carrying. Even Kimble had been carrying a tiny crossbow and darts.
“Where did you get those?” Aislin asked Twinket when the doll laid some sharp sewing needles stuck in a scrap of cloth on the ground.
“I took them when Parsley wasn’t looking,” Twinket confessed. “I thought they’d be good for poking people.”
Aislin was amused, but Poppy looked horrified. “Remind me to never make you angry,” she told the doll.
“I wouldn’t poke you, Poppy,” said Twinket. “I like you too much for that.”
“How about that spell,” Tomas reminded Poppy.
“Oh, right!” she said, and pointed her finger at the weapons. A patch of thistles sprang up over the weapons, concealing them from prying eyes and forming a barrier that no one would want to touch.
“We’re looking for a waterfall,” Aislin said as they mounted their horses again and started walking them between the trees. “It isn’t very big, but we’ll hear it before we see it.”
They soon encountered a well-defined path, assuring Aislin that they were going the right way. Poppy, Aislin, and Sycamore heard the sound of the waterfall before the others; the rest of their party heard it minutes later. It wasn’t long before they came upon the small lake beneath the falls.
“How far away is Baibre’s home?” Deela asked.
“It’s right there,” Aislin said, looking up. “It’s bigger than it was when Tomas and I were here.”
“I’ll say!” exclaimed Tomas.
The treehouse that had filled the upper branches of one tree now extended to two more huge trees, creating an impressive silhouette in the forest canopy. Birds flew in and out of the open windows, twittering madly as they shared the news that the princess was back. Everyone dismounted, leaving the fairy horses to wait patiently for their return.
When Aislin walked around one of the trees, the rest of her party followed. On the other side of the massive trunk, they found Baibre’s manticore curled up on the doorstep. Yawning, the great beast got to its lion paws so it could bow to the princess. Kimble gasped when she saw the three rows of teeth in its human-looking head.
“Welcome back,” the manticore said to Aislin. “Baibre is waiting for you.”
He stepped aside to let her pass. Twinket, Poppy, and Tomas hurried after her, but when Deela tried to follow, the manticore slunk in front of her and growled. “No orcs allowed,” he said. “And the rest of you can’t go in either. It’s a treehouse, not a fairy palace.”
Aislin stopped to glance back at her friends. “We won’t be long,” she told them.
The steps inside the tree trunk were too high for Twinket, so Aislin had to carry her to the top. Reaching the last step, the princess saw Baibre and an older fairy couple waiting with smiles on their faces. The griffin she had met during her last visit was there, too, perched on a bench made from logs.
“Welcome to our home!” Baibre cried. “Don’t you just love what we did to it? My parents had a lot of great ideas.”
“It looks wonderful,” Aislin replied, looking around. The space was even bigger and airier than it had been before, with more branches holding up the longer ceiling and lots of walls in unexpected places. It was noisier, too, with even more birds and squirrels making their homes inside.
“I don’t think you’ve ever met my parents,” said Baibre. “This is my mother, Dewdrop, and my father, Branch.”
“It’s an honor to meet you, Your Highness!” Dewdrop gushed, curtseying to Aislin.
The fairy woman appeared to be only a few years older than Baibre, with an unlined face and silky blue hair trailing past her waist. The fairy man looked much older, as if he’d never used magic to keep himself looking young. “Hello!” he said, his gaze traveling from Aislin to Poppy.
When his eyes rested on Twinket and Tomas, he smiled again and added, “You have interesting traveling companions, Your Highness. Are you human?” he asked Tomas.
“I am,” said Tomas.
“This is my friend Tomas,” Aislin hurried to say. “He’s the son of Duke Fadding, the heir to the throne of Scarmander. And these are Twinket and Poppy, two of my mestari.”
“I’m an honorable mestari,” Twinket said, looking proud.
“I’m sure you are,” Branch said with a sparkle in his eyes. “Are you sightseeing? This forest is just as beautiful as when we used to live here.”
“Actually, we’ve come with some bad news. Aghamonda has escaped the palace and is headed this way. A fairy used a spell that allowed your daughter to move, even though she’s still a statue,” Aislin said, her worried gaze going from one fairy to the other. “I came to warn you in case she plans to come here.”
Dewdrop’s face turned pale and she reached out to clutch her husband’s arm. “We spoke to Aghamonda right before Queen Surinen turned her into a statue. Our daughter wasn’t at all happy with us. She accused us of abandoning her when we moved and said she’d get even one day. We never meant to leave our girls. We’d thought they’d gone on ahead.”
“She’s mad at me, too,” admitted Baibre. “She kidnapped me so she could take my magic from me. I really told her off. We had a big fight inside that locket and she’s bound to come after me now.”
“Why would a fairy free her like that?” asked Dewdrop. “I’d guess it was one of her friends, but she never had any, at least none that I ever met.”
“We think a sorceress named Gorinda was behind it, but we don’t know that for certain,” Aislin told them. “We don’t know anything about Gorinda, including what she looks like and where we might be able to find her.”
With an earsplitting squawk, the griffin raised its eagle wings, launching itself into the air and out the largest window.
“We can’t stay here,” Branch told his wife and daughter. “Even if we use our magic to protect ourselves, Aghamonda is clever. She’d find some way to break through our defenses.”
“Then you should head back to the palace,” said Aislin. “You can return here after King Darinar and Queen Surinen have Aghamonda in custody again. I’m sure it won’t be long.”
“The queen won’t mind?” asked Dewdrop. “We wouldn’t want to impose.”
“She won’t mind at all,” Aislin told her. “And the sooner you go, the better.”