More Than a Princess Page 6

  After that, Aislin was too caught up in her thoughts to notice where they were until they were actually entering the pass. It was a narrow opening that allowed only one rider at a time, and the horses were skittish about going in. Some were so frightened that their riders had to dismount and walk the animals through. One rider elected to ride through and had to fight for control of his mount the entire way. While the girls waited, Aislin patted the horse they were riding and Poppy murmured soothing words in the horse’s language. When it was their turn, Poppy held tightly to the princess, and both girls were relieved when their horse walked docilely through the narrow pass.

  Even if she’d closed her eyes, Aislin would have known the moment they left the kingdom behind. The forest air that had smelled so fresh and pure in the land between the mountains smelled stale on the human side. When she listened, the sound of birdsong seemed thin and flat to her ears. She looked around and noticed that the foliage wasn’t as lush, or the green as intense as it had been at home. The more she saw, the more she realized that none of the colors seemed quite right, almost as if she was looking through a gray-tinted veil.

  It was dusk when they came to a deep river where a large boat was waiting for them. The boat was big enough to hold all the horses and their riders, and the sailors waiting on board seemed happy to see the king return. Aislin and Poppy dismounted and boarded the boat, running to the rail to look over the side as soon as they were able. The water was murky, unlike the clear lakes and rivers they were used to at home.

  When the boat set sail, the girls remained by the railing. As Aislin tried to gaze into the river’s depths, she saw an occasional fish, but no sign of water nymphs or any other water beings. To her eyes, the river looked lifeless without the sparkle it had at home; she realized that the world of the humans was nothing like the land between the mountains. There was no magic in it, at least not as far as she could tell. Aislin felt truly homesick for the very first time.

  Looking back the way they’d come, it occurred to her that the king had gone a long way to hunt, with a lot of unnecessary effort. Unless, she thought, he hadn’t gone to the land between the mountains to hunt game. Gazing in the direction of the pass, she wondered if he had been looking for game at all, or something else entirely.

  Chapter 7

  Poppy became seasick soon after the boat started moving. Aislin tried to help her, standing at her friend’s side as she was ill over the railing, and bringing water to rinse out her mouth. Although Aislin still had some things to learn from her mother about healing, she knew enough to calm a stomach. If only she’d had a stone to give her the strength … unfortunately, she didn’t sense any nearby, and resolved to never travel without one again. After sailing downriver for the night and well into the next day, Aislin was relieved when they docked in a large, bustling port city.

  As soon as the gangplank was in place, a man led Aislin off the boat and into a carriage. Another man hustled Poppy to a wagon where she was unceremoniously loaded aboard, along with trunks and sacks bearing the royal seal. The wagon took off, but Aislin had to wait in the carriage for another hour before King Tyburr joined her. The carriage had just begun to move when the king glanced at her and said, “Tell me, have you seen much of your father’s kingdom?”

  “I know the north very well, and the land around the castle,” Aislin replied.

  “What about the mountains to the south? Have you ever been there?”

  “No, I’ve had no reason to go to the south,” Aislin said, looking puzzled. “Why do you ask?”

  “Just curious,” said the king, and turned back to the letter he held in his hand.

  Aislin didn’t believe him for a moment. She doubted very much that the king did or said anything without a real reason. There had to be something other than vague curiosity to make him question her.

  When the king didn’t look up from his letter, Aislin turned to peer out the window, trying to take everything in. She had never seen anything like the human city before. Her first impression was that it was dirty and smelly. Stinking refuse clogged the gutters and dirty water trickled down the middle of the streets. A few intersections afforded her views of the gray-stone castle at the top of the hill, but as they drew closer, a high wall built of the same stone blocked her view. Closing her eyes, she reached out to the stone, finding comfort in its nearness.

  After they passed through a heavily fortified gate, the streets were narrower and ran straight to the castle. Now that Aislin could see it better, she thought the castle looked cold and forbidding, as if joy and laughter were unknown inside its walls. She hoped she was wrong.

  They were rumbling up to yet another wall when King Tyburr turned to Aislin and said, “I’ll have my son come meet you as soon as you’ve settled in and gotten a few new things to wear. You will want to make a good impression, after all.”

  Aislin glanced down at her gown. It was simple, but nice. Although she had liked wearing pretty clothes at the fairy court, people dressed up in Eliasind only on special occasions, like birthdays or holidays. Perhaps meeting the prince was more of an event than she’d thought.

  The princess looked out the window again as the carriage rolled to a stop. A group of men stood waiting for the king, and they converged on him as soon as he stepped out. He spoke to one, then another as Aislin waited for them to move aside so she could climb down as well. When King Tyburr finally walked off, one man remained behind to speak to Aislin. “Follow me,” was all he said.

  The man took her to another man, who looked her up and down, sniffing his apparent disapproval. From the way he was looking at her, she wondered if she had a stain on her dress or food stuck between her teeth. He started to walk away. When she didn’t follow him, he turned back and said, “Aren’t you coming?” in an impatient-sounding voice.

  Aislin hurried after him then, certain that he must not be feeling well to be so irritable. The expression on his face had reminded her of her pedrasi grandfather when he had a headache. Aislin thought about it as the man led her up two flights of stairs to a door in a long corridor. “This will be your room,” he told her, and turned to go.

  Although Aislin thought the man was rude, she couldn’t just let someone in pain walk away. She didn’t dare take the pain away herself, knowing that it would reveal she wasn’t human, but there were other ways to get rid of a headache. “Perhaps you’ll feel better if you lie down with a cold, damp cloth on your head?” she said, giving him an encouraging smile.

  His mouth opened and he gave her a dazed look. But before she could say more, the door flew open and Poppy was there. The fairy maid reached out and grabbed Aislin’s hand, tugging her into the room. “Where have you been?” Poppy asked as she closed the door. “Twinket and I have been waiting forever!”

  “I had to wait for the king,” Aislin told her as Twinket ran up. “He told me that as soon as I get some new things to wear, his son would come see me. Where do you suppose I can get new clothes?”

  “Maybe you have to buy them,” said Poppy. “But we didn’t bring any money with us.”

  “I could steal some for you,” Twinket said as the princess picked her up.

  Aislin laughed and set the doll on the bed. “I hope it won’t come to that. Would you look at this room? It’s awfully dark, isn’t it?”

  Although the room was large, it didn’t seem very big. There was a huge bed covered with dark red hangings dominating the center of the space, a big wardrobe that looked almost black in one corner, two chunky, dark wood chairs, a small, matching table, and dark-colored tapestries on the walls. The floor was dark, too, and the two windows opposite the door seemed to let in very little light.

  Poppy nodded. “What it needs is some fairy lights!” she said, raising her hand.

  “Don’t you dare!” cried Aislin. “Absolutely no magic while we’re here! They can’t know who we really are, and the surest way for them to find out is for you to use your magic. And you’ll have to keep your ears covered all the tim
e. Humans don’t have ears like yours.”

  “What about me?” asked Twinket. “What should I do?”

  Aislin turned to her and gasped. “I didn’t even think about what humans would do when they saw you! You can’t do anything, at least not where anyone can see you. You’re only alive because of magic. Most dolls can’t move on their own, so you can’t either. And don’t talk unless we’re alone in the room.”

  “You mean I have to act like I’m dead?” Twinket said.

  Aislin shook her head. “Not dead, just not alive. Be limp and quiet. You can listen, but don’t move anything, including your eyes.”

  “I don’t know how that’s different from acting dead,” Twinket grumbled.

  There was a sharp rap on the door. Alarmed, Aislin glanced at Poppy and Twinket. The fairy maid quickly adjusted her scarf, making sure her ears were covered, while the doll flopped backward and let her arm dangle over the side of the bed.

  “Yes?” Aislin called. “You may come in.”

  The door opened and a tall woman with gray hair piled on top of her head strode into the room, the expensive fabric of her gown rustling. When her gaze moved from Poppy to Aislin, her lip curled and she said, “Which one of you is supposed to be the princess?”

  Poppy pointed while Aislin drew herself up to her full height. Even she couldn’t think of a reason for the woman to be so rude. “I’m Princess Aislin, and you are …”

  “Lady Speely. The king may say that you’re a princess, but I’m not convinced. You don’t look like a princess and no one has ever heard of your kingdom. Ah, well, it isn’t for me to say. I’m here to make sure that you have everything you need. I understand that you didn’t bring many gowns with you and will need more. I’ll see that a seamstress comes to take your measurements right away.” The woman turned to Poppy. “And this is your maid, I assume?”

  The fairy nodded, keeping her eyes down.

  “I suppose you’ll have to do. You’ll sleep on the floor in the adjoining room.” Lady Speely pointed to a door in the far wall. “Someone will bring you a pallet.”

  The woman turned to survey the room and her gaze fell on Twinket. “Is that a doll?” she said, walking over to pick her up. “How odd looking, although it does have nice eyes. Aren’t you too old for a doll?”

  Aislin glared at the woman. “Not for that doll. Besides, the king’s man packed her. I wouldn’t have brought her if I’d had a choice.”

  Lady Speely smirked. “Apparently you aren’t too old. You talk about the doll as if it was a real person. The ladies in the court are going to eat you alive!” She sounded pleased. “I’ll be back soon with a seamstress. See that you’re washed up before then. We’ll throw out the gowns you brought with you as soon as the new ones are ready.”

  The door was scarcely closed behind Lady Speely when Aislin exclaimed, “What a horrible woman!”

  Twinket sat up and made a disgusted face. “Hey, at least she didn’t touch you! I need a bath!”

  “And I’m supposed to sleep on the floor!” cried Poppy. “No self-respecting fairy sleeps on the floor! Inside a flower or on a spiderweb mattress, or curled up in thistledown, or even in a bed if you’re in a cottage or the castle. But never on a floor!”

  “If we were at home, the sprites would know how to handle her!” declared Aislin. “They’d stick her in a washtub and fill it with ants, and—”

  The stone floor beneath them began to shake, making everything in the room quiver and rattle.

  “Uh, Aislin, you need to calm down,” said Twinket. “If you were wearing your necklace, it would be bright red. I wish you’d packed her calming bowl, Poppy. There’s an old clay bowl on the table, but that’s not nearly good enough.”

  “Why don’t you think about something that makes you feel calm, like swimming in Blue Lake?” Poppy suggested.

  “Or lying on a bed of moss in the woods eating blueberries,” said Twinket. “You always like that.”

  Aislin drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Okay, I can try.”

  She walked to the edge of the large, deep red rug so that both of her feet were on the stone floor. Closing her eyes, she drew strength from the stone and thought about pleasant things, like floating on her back in the lake while watching small, fluffy clouds pass over her. As she became calmer, her heart rate slowed and the floor grew still.

  “Thank goodness!” said Poppy. “I’m glad that worked.”

  “Tell me something, Poppy,” Aislin said as she took a seat on one of the chairs. “When Lady Speely was here, why didn’t you look her in the eyes?”

  Poppy shrugged. “I’m trying to act like a human servant. I wanted to look meek.”

  Aislin frowned. “I don’t know why. That woman acts as if she thinks she’s better than us, but I know muskrats that are better than she is. You don’t need to look ‘meek.’ ”

  “Oh, I think I should,” said Poppy. “That way I don’t have to look at her pickled face or her scrawny chicken neck!”

  Twinket fell over, laughing. “Or her beady eyes!” she cried. The doll guffawed until her sides were heaving, but she suddenly stopped and sat up to look at Aislin. “Why did you say you wouldn’t bring me? Don’t you want me here?”

  “No, I don’t,” said Aislin. “It isn’t safe for you here. I wish Poppy wasn’t here either. I have a feeling that this place isn’t safe for any of us.”

  Lady Speely was back only a short time later, ushering in a tiny woman carrying a reed basket. The little woman reminded Aislin of a sparrow with her small steps and quick movements, although her voice was surprisingly deep. While Lady Speely took a seat on one of the chairs, the seamstress set her basket on the bed and pulled out a measuring tape. Even while she jotted down measurements, the two human women kept up a constant conversation.

  “I’ll need more fabric for this one’s gowns,” said the seamstress. “I’ll do what I can to make her look thin, but I can’t work miracles. The styles today are meant for slender girls.”

  “Do you have any styles that would work on her?” asked Lady Speely.

  “A few, and I’ll try slimming colors, of course.”

  “I’ll help you pick everything out,” said Lady Speely. “I do enjoy that kind of thing.”

  “Wonderful!” said the seamstress around the pins she was holding between her lips. “You have such discerning taste.”

  “I prefer spring colors,” Aislin told them.

  Lady Speely laughed. “You would! Don’t worry, dear. We know exactly what you need. Until the gowns are ready, I suggest you stay here. You’ll make a very poor impression if you go out in the gown you’re wearing now.”

  When the two women left a few minutes later, Twinket ran to the closed door and kicked it as hard as she could. Aislin could barely hear the little tap. “I hate that woman!” the doll declared.

  “We all do,” said Aislin. “I just hope they actually know what they’re doing. What do you suppose the gowns will look like?”

  “Nothing like the dresses the fairies make!” Poppy exclaimed. “Or pedrasi, for that matter. Instead of throwing out your old dresses, would you mind if I took them? I could alter them to fit me.”

  “You can have them once I have something suitable to wear. I don’t trust those women to make choices for me. Now I’ll have to make a list of pleasant things to think about. I have a feeling that I’m going to need it every time I see Lady Speely.”

  Chapter 8

  Aislin expected the seamstress to return with a gown or two the very next day. She was used to fairies whipping up a gown in a few minutes, and even pedrasi seamstresses never took more than a few hours. But the seamstress didn’t return, nor did Lady Speely. In fact, no one else came by that day other than the servants who brought her meals and came to clean up afterward. When Aislin didn’t receive word from the king, she began to wonder if he’d forgotten that she was there.

  That evening, Poppy announced that there was no reason she had to stay in the room an
d she was going to go exploring. It was nearly midnight when she returned, bursting with things to tell Aislin.

  “I went all over the castle, even some places I probably wasn’t supposed to go,” said Poppy. “No one seemed to notice me as long as I acted like I was supposed to be there. This castle is big, but not nearly as big as Fairengar. It’s not as fancy either, even if the humans who live here are really stuck up and think way too highly of themselves. When people think you’re a servant, they act like you aren’t even there. They say all sorts of things in front of you that they wouldn’t say in front of each other.”

  “Do you know how to get out of the castle, in case it gets too awful and we have to run away?” asked Twinket.

  Poppy nodded. “I know at least five ways, and two of them aren’t through the castle gates. The humans have built secret passages all over this place, but I can find them as easy as slipping off a buttercup. Their eyesight must not be very good if they can’t see the clues that lead to hidden doors and secret panels. I almost walked in on the king and some men he was talking to in a room behind a secret door. I bet they didn’t even know there was a listening hole in the ceiling above them, or another door in the corner. For people who like to be sneaky, they aren’t very good at it!”

  “Are there any secret doors into our rooms?” Aislin asked, suddenly worried that someone might have been spying on them.

  Poppy shook her head. “I already looked really carefully, and there’s not even a spy peek-hole. I would have told you if there was anything like that,” she said, sounding reproachful.

  “What about the other places?” asked Twinket. “The ones where you’re supposed to go?”

  “I saw those, too. There’s the Great Hall, which isn’t very pretty, if you ask me. And the kitchen and the buttery and the armory and the throne room and the gardens and—”

  “Tell me about the gardens,” Aislin told her. “I’d like to go there.”