More Than a Princess Page 5

“Oh, they’ll sleep all right. After the last one fell asleep, I cast a spell to make their slumber long and deep,” Larch declared. “They won’t wake before morning unless something extraordinary happens.”

  “You didn’t!” the queen said, alarmed. “I told you to talk to me before you used any magic!”

  Larch shrugged. “You weren’t there and it needed to be done.”

  “No more magic unless I agree to it,” the queen told her. “Do you understand?”

  Larch looked meek when she bowed her head and replied, “Yes, Your Majesty.”

  “I’ve sent Skarly and Kwarel to carry the humans to their rooms,” said the queen. “Aislin, come with me. I want to hear about everything that happened.”

  Aislin accompanied her mother to her solar, passing the ogre footmen on the way. Both ogres were carrying two humans, one over each shoulder. The humans were snoring loudly and didn’t show any sign of waking.

  “Poppy told me that a deer warned you about the humans and that you found them near the pass,” the queen said as they reached the solar. “She also told me that she warned other animals, but Sharp Claw didn’t listen. He was lingering when the king arrived and shot him with an arrow.”

  Aislin nodded. “Then Sharp Claw charged and I told him to stop. The king thought I had saved his life, but I was really trying to protect Sharp Claw. When the king ordered his man to take me up on his horse, he asked me where I live, but I didn’t tell him. The man named Craiger climbed a tree and saw the castle. After that they knew which way to go. I tried to get them lost, but Craiger is too smart. He’s as smart as the king—we have to watch them both. We also have to make sure that no fey show who they really are. The king and Craiger are sure to see it. When I was with the humans in the forest, fey tried to help me, but I told them to stop because I know how important it is that the humans don’t learn the truth about us. The way Craiger was looking around during supper made me wonder if he doesn’t already suspect something. I offered to sing to distract him.”

  “You have helped so much, my darling girl,” said the queen. “I wish you hadn’t had to talk to the humans at all. Thank you for everything you’ve done. Now go to bed and don’t worry. I have something in mind that will make them want to leave.”

  Aislin hurried to her room, wondering what her mother had planned. When she opened her door, Twinket ran to greet her.

  “Princess, I was so worried!” cried the doll. “Did those horrible men hurt you?”

  “Not at all,” Aislin said as she scooped her up. “And Mother has a plan to make them leave in the morning. Thank you so much for helping me!”

  “You know I’ll always do whatever I can for you,” the doll said, and planted a quick kiss on Aislin’s cheek.

  The princess sat on the edge of her bed and sighed. “I’m really tired and I have a feeling that tomorrow morning is going to be very interesting, but I don’t think I’ll get a wink of sleep knowing that humans are in the castle.”

  “I can go watch them for you,” said Twinket. “If you go to sleep now, I’ll wake you if something happens.”

  “I’d appreciate that,” Aislin said, stretching out on her bed. She closed her eyes as the doll climbed down the covers and ran across the room. The princess was asleep before Twinket reached the door.

  It seemed like only moments later that Aislin woke to Twinket patting her face.

  “Get up! You have to come see this!” cried the doll. “There are ghosts in the castle and they’re trying to wake up the humans!”

  “Huh? What?” Aislin mumbled, still half asleep. “This castle doesn’t have any ghosts!”

  “The sprites invited them here. They’re trying to scare the humans away!” exclaimed Twinket.

  Suddenly wide-awake, Aislin slipped off her bed and ran to the door. “Go tell Mother and I’ll try to stop them,” she told the doll before starting down the corridor.

  Aislin was out of breath when she reached the west wing, but she didn’t stop until she spotted the guards at the end of the hall. They were arguing with a group of sprites who were snickering and peering toward the rooms where the humans were staying.

  “What’s going on?” she asked the guards.

  “The sprites invited ghosts into the castle,” said one of the guards. “Do you know how hard it is to get rid of those things? Once ghosts arrive, they never want to leave, and they make so much noise that no one can get any sleep. They won’t give up until they either scare you or drive you batty.”

  “That’s why we invited them here!” cried one of the sprites. “If they scare the humans enough, that king will leave and never come back.”

  “Ooooh!” wailed a ghost somewhere out of sight.

  Aislin scowled and ran toward the sound. When she reached the corner, she saw three pale figures gliding from door to door, moaning. Cold fog drifted across the floor, seeping under the doors. The princess darted behind a tapestry covering an alcove and gave out a muffled shriek when she ran into Bim. The little sprite was peeking at the ghosts, chortling.

  “Why are you doing this? My mother is going to make them leave,” Aislin whispered.

  “We want to help,” Bim whispered back. “Look, one of the doors is opening!”

  Aislin joined him in peeking out from behind the tapestry. Two humans stepped out of a room and looked around. A ghost floated toward them, waving its arms and moaning. The men fell back into the room, slamming the door.

  Other sprites carrying lanterns began to creep along the corridor. Bim reached for an unlit lantern on the floor, whispering, “They started without me!”

  As he was lighting it with his magic, Aislin asked, “What are you going to do with that?”

  “Knock on the doors and lure the humans to the window and make them fall out,” the sprite whispered.

  “That’s horrible!” Aislin said a little too loudly. “Stop this right now! Mother will be furious.”

  “She won’t be mad if we get the humans to leave!” declared the sprite.

  “Bim, I order you to stop!” Aislin said in a fierce whisper.

  The little sprite sighed. “Oh, all right. If you’re going to be like that!”

  Dousing the lantern, Bim stepped out from behind the tapestry and went to talk to the other sprites. They gathered around him as he whispered furiously, pointing at Aislin, who had come out from behind the tapestry, too. The sprites looked disappointed as they put out the flames in their lanterns and started down the stairs. Soon only Bim and his father were left to talk to the ghosts, who seemed reluctant to leave. When the pale figures hesitated outside the doors, Aislin walked toward them. As they turned in her direction, she pointed her finger at the stairs and whispered, “Go, and don’t come back!”

  The ghosts moaned louder than before, but they all drifted past her and around the corner. Bim and his father followed, stopping long enough for the little sprite boy to whisper, “Don’t blame us if the humans stick around.”

  “I won’t, but I will blame you if those ghosts don’t leave!” Aislin replied.

  Queen Maylin and Larch were there when Aislin reached the first floor. “I was waiting until the small hours of the morning, but I think we need to take care of this now,” said the queen. “Larch, please begin.”

  Everyone watched as Larch started walking. “What is she doing?” Aislin asked her mother.

  “Sending a dream to the king that will make him think he is urgently needed at home and make him want to leave.”

  No one moved while they waited for Larch to return. She was back only a few minutes later, looking pleased with herself. “There! That should do it!” she announced. “King Tyburr may not remember the dream when he wakes, but the desire to go home will stay with him.”

  “Excellent!” said the queen. “Now everyone except the guards must go to bed and stay away from the tower. We should be rid of these humans in the morning!”

  Aislin went back to bed, expecting to finally get some sleep, but it wasn’t long befo
re Twinket returned with more news. “One of the humans got up and went looking for the garderobe. A guard told him where it was, but just as he got there, Jasper came out.”

  Aislin gasped. “I forgot that a satyr lives in the west wing. What happened?”

  “The lighting wasn’t very good, so all the human saw was Jasper’s shadow,” said Twinket. “He ran away screaming something about a monster. Now Jasper is upset. You know how sensitive he is about his broken horn.”

  “What did the human do after that?” Aislin asked her.

  “Nothing. He stayed in his room,” Twinket replied.

  Aislin sighed and burrowed back under her covers. “I hope nothing else happens!”

  Exhausted, she fell back asleep, but jolted awake once more when Twinket returned. “Cosmo just had a bad dream. You could hear him roaring in his sleep all the way to the top floor. I went downstairs to wake him. He said he was dreaming that young humans were chasing him through a labyrinth with swords and spears! It sounded really horrible.”

  Cosmo, the Minotaur, lived in the lowest floor of the castle. He often had bad dreams and was very loud when he did.

  “Did the humans hear him?” asked Aislin.

  “They must have,” said Twinket. “I could hear them talking, but none of them came out of their rooms. The sprites are watching them now.”

  Aislin was about to lie down again when a new thought occurred to her. “What do you mean when you say ‘watching’? They didn’t go in the humans’ rooms, did they?”

  “Of course not!” Twinket assured her. “They’re peeking in through the windows.”

  “They shouldn’t do that! The humans will see them!” Aislin cried.

  “No, they won’t,” Twinket said. “It’s so dark out they won’t see a thing. Everyone is just trying to help, Aislin. You can’t blame them for that!”

  Aislin glanced out her window. It would be light soon. Maybe she could get some sleep after the humans left.

  Chapter 6

  The racket in the courtyard woke Aislin shortly after dawn. Springing from her bed, she ran to her window to see the men shouting below as disguised fairies led saddled horses from the stable. King Tyburr was there, giving orders. A moment later, “King” Nurlue emerged from the castle.

  “Are you leaving us so soon?” asked Nurlue.

  “I thank you for your hospitality, but I’m needed at home and we must be off!” declared King Tyburr.

  “If you must leave …,” Nurlue began.

  “Strange things go on in this castle,” King Tyburr interrupted. “Two of my men claim they saw ghosts outside their door last night. Others swore that giants carried us to our beds. I believe them. It rained before dawn and I saw enormous wet footprints inside the door when I came down just now. I slept through the night, but I received reports of strange monsters in the hallways, and beasts roaring in the night. Three of my men saw tiny faces peering at them through the windows. I noticed myself that many of the people here are unnatural. No normal person moves as gracefully as a cat or smells like flowers when they sweat.”

  Aislin was practically hanging out the window, trying to hear what they said.

  “I swear I’ve never seen ghosts or giants inside this castle,” Nurlue told him. “Many of my people wear scented oils to make themselves smell like flowers. Your men must have been dreaming. Perhaps it was the wine.”

  “Your wine was indeed powerful and gave me the best sleep I’ve had in years, but I trust my men’s judgment, and I know that things are not as they should be here,” said King Tyburr. “I’ve half a mind to search your castle and purge it of the monsters before I leave. Perhaps I should stay one more day and make this place safe for your family, since you seem unwilling or unable to do so. I wouldn’t make the offer, but your daughter saved my life yesterday, and I feel that I owe her this much. Craiger, tell the men we’re staying to hunt down the monsters!”

  Aislin gasped. If those men went looking for monsters, they were likely to find her family hiding just out of sight. The humans had to leave and they had to leave now! There was only one thing that would make them go, and she refused to take the time to really think about it. Throwing on an ordinary gown, she ran down the stairs to the courtyard just as the humans prepared to come back inside.

  “Aislin, wait!” Poppy cried when the princess ran past. But Aislin scarcely noticed that her friend followed her.

  “King Tyburr, please save me!” Aislin exclaimed as she ran out the door. “I can’t stay here another minute. I’m so frightened in this castle at night. It’s all right during the day, but at night the monsters come out and I have to lock myself in my room until dawn.”

  “Are you sure, child?” asked the king. “I can stay and slaughter the monsters. I swear we’ll search every inch so there’s nothing left to terrorize you and you’ll be safe here in your own home.”

  “But the ghosts will still be here!” wailed Aislin. “You can’t slaughter the dead. Please just take me with you. I want to leave right away!”

  Aislin was indeed afraid, not of any monsters, but of how the humans could hurt the people she loved. The fairies could use magic to stop them, of course, but then they’d be revealing the very thing they wanted to keep secret. Someone was bound to get hurt if Aislin didn’t put an end to this now!

  The men on the stairs stopped and turned back to King Tyburr.

  “Please, Your Majesty,” Aislin said to the human king. “Please take me away from here.”

  King Tyburr nodded. “Very well, dear girl. Craiger, we’re going now. Have the men mount up. You, over there!” the king called to Poppy. “Go fetch the princess’s things. Enough for two days’ travel. I’ll see that she gets all she needs when we reach my castle. You, go with her to make sure that she hurries.”

  Poppy looked horrified, but she turned and ran back down the corridor with one of King Tyburr’s men behind her.

  Aislin tried not to think about what she had committed herself to doing. But letting these men back inside might very well mean death for her family, who were so obviously not human. According to the old tales, humans often considered anyone who was different from them to be a threat. Who knew whom the humans would consider monsters now?

  The men were leading a horse toward Aislin when Poppy came back carrying a large sack. The scarf covering her head was askew, as if she’d put it on in a hurry. Aislin caught her eye and tucked her own hair behind her ear. Poppy understood and fixed her scarf while one of the men took the sack from her. When no one was looking, Poppy patted the base of her throat. Aislin glanced down. The mood stone was glowing bright red. Turning away from the men, she ripped the chain from her throat and clutched it in her hand to conceal the glowing color; she didn’t want to show King Tyburr even that much magic.

  “The maid should come with us as well,” King Tyburr said, pointing at Poppy. Aislin hated to drag Poppy into this mess, but she couldn’t help but be relieved she’d have a friend by her side.

  But one last thing first. “I have to say goodbye to my father,” she cried, and ran to Nurlue.

  “Here, give this to my mother,” Aislin whispered to Nurlue, slipping the mood stone into his hand.

  “Do you want us to do something?” Nurlue whispered back. Aislin knew that he was talking about magic.

  She shook her head, mouthing the word “no.” “I’ll be fine,” she said out loud. After giving him a quick hug, she headed down the steps to the courtyard.

  “As it happens, my son is looking for a bride,” King Tyburr told her from astride his horse. “You’re brave and have good sense, things that are sorely lacking in most of the young ladies he’s met. You can meet him and see if you’re suitable for one another. Now it’s time to leave. We have a long ride ahead of us.”

  As the men hustled the two girls to the waiting horse, Poppy leaned closer to Aislin. “The man didn’t think I was fast enough when I packed your bag. He shoved some things in, including Twinket.”

  Aislin
nodded. She was leaving her beloved family behind, but at least she’d have some allies with her. A moment later, one of the men picked her up and set her on a horse. A second man plunked Poppy down behind her while another rider took the horse’s reins. Then they started off, barely giving Aislin time to wave to Nurlue before they were passing under the portcullis and across the drawbridge. The king was in the lead again, with Aislin only a few horses back.

  The group was just entering the forest when she turned around one last time to gaze at the castle glowing in the morning sun. She watched it for as long as she could, wondering if she’d ever see it again. Once the castle was out of sight, she rode with her head down, thinking hard. She’d wanted her mother to have the necklace so that the family didn’t need to worry. As long as they could see the colors change, they would know that Aislin was all right. As far as she knew, it would work even from far away. But if she really didn’t want them to worry, she would have to be as calm as possible. She knew her parents well; if she wasn’t happy, her father would use whatever means necessary to get her back—even if it meant ending their centuries-old seclusion and revealing the fairies to the world again. Considering how important their reasons for leaving the human lands had been, she didn’t want to be the one responsible for making them return.

  Aislin turned around when she felt Poppy shaking behind her. “Are you all right?” she asked.

  Poppy nodded even as she bit back a sob. “I’m fine,” she said. “It’s just that I’ve never been away from my family before. What will I do without them? What will they do without me?”

  “We’ll be back someday,” Aislin said, trying to be reassuring.

  “You don’t know that,” Poppy said, wiping her nose with the back of her hand. “We’ve both heard all the horrible things that humans can do. What if they eat us, or worse?”

  “I don’t think they’d do that!” Aislin said, even as she wondered what could be worse.

  “But you don’t know for sure!” Poppy wailed.

  Aislin sighed and turned to face forward again. Apparently, she was going to have to worry about Poppy’s happiness, too.