The Wide-Awake Princess Page 6

  “Right, and I’m a tree who’s been turned into a man.”

  “Really?” asked Annie. “I’d like to see that.”

  “No, not really!”

  “This is funny,” said the bear prince, “because she’s a girl who looks like a boy.”

  “Your eyesight must have been affected. She doesn’t look anything like a boy. What’s your name, Prince?” the voice asked.

  “I’m Beldegard, heir to the throne of Montrose,” called the prince, who was looking more and more like a man every minute. By now his ears had moved down to the side of his head and his teeth were only slightly too big for his mouth.

  “A greedy dwarf cast a spell on him,” Annie called, then turned to Beldegard and whispered, “That isn’t the dwarf’s voice, is it?”

  The prince shook his head just like a bear might have done. “The dwarf sounds a lot whinier than that.”

  “Are you all right, Princess?” said the voice. A figure stepped out of the darkness into a patch of moonlight. Annie could see it was a young man with his cap pulled low over his forehead. Even though he was talking to Annie, he kept his sword pointed unwaveringly at Prince Beldegard.

  “Do you know this man?” asked the bear prince.

  “I don’t think so,” said Annie, “although his voice is kind of familiar.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll keep you safe. A prince-turned-bear can still have enough honor to protect a fair young maiden, even if you aren’t as beautiful as your sister.”

  “Thanks, I think,” Annie said, pulling her hand away.

  “That was rude,” the young man said. “You should never tell a young lady that she isn’t as pretty as her sister. Now, about that dwarf... He wouldn’t happen to have a long white beard and a mustache that looks like it’s growing out of his nose, would he? I saw one by the creek back there carrying a leather bag that jingled when he dropped it.”

  “That’s him!” roared Prince Beldegard, pushing himself to his feet. “Just let me get my paws on that knobby-headed little...”

  Annie didn’t hear the rest of what he planned to do, as his words were lost when he crashed through the underbrush. “So much for keeping me safe,” she muttered, listening to the bear prince’s passage through the forest. Glancing up at the young man, she decided that she was too stiff and sore to stand. “This has been a very long day and I’m too tired to even think about running. Are you going to whack me with your sword or are you going to put it down?”

  “Huh?” said the young man. “Oh, this!” He moved the sword to the side so that it was no longer aiming in Annie’s general direction, then yanked his cap from his head and bowed. “It’s me, Your Majesty. It’s Liam. You do remember me, don’t you?”

  CHAPTER 6

  FORGETTING ALL THE LESSONS in decorum she had ever received, Annie shrieked, jumped to her feet, and threw herself at Liam. Surprised, the young man staggered and dropped his sword in the dirt.

  “I am so happy to see you!” Annie exclaimed, wrapping her arms around him.

  “Uh, yes, I’m happy to see you, too.” Liam didn’t seem to know what to do. He stood there, stiff and uncomfortable, looking down at the princess’s face beaming up at him.

  It took a moment for Annie to notice just how uncomfortable he looked. Suddenly self-conscious, she let go and took a step back, grateful that it was too dark for him to see the blush reddening her cheeks.

  “How did you find me?” she asked, straightening her rumpled clothes.

  “I came across your trail in the woods outside the castle.”

  “So you came after me?”

  Liam nodded. “I have a knack for tracking. I couldn’t just let my princess go wandering around in the woods all by herself.”

  “I’m your princess now?” Annie asked, a warm feeling starting in the pit of her stomach.

  “You became my princess when I took an oath as a royal guard. Nothing can change that,” said Liam. “What happened back there, anyway? I’d gone into town on an errand for Captain Sterling, and by the time I came back a thicket of roses had grown up around the castle. I tried to hack my way through, but it was impossible.”

  “It was Gwendolyn’s curse. She touched a spinning wheel even after we were so careful to keep them out.”

  “I thought it was something like that. From what I could see, the guards weren’t patrolling the parapets or standing by the gate. I don’t know much about roses, but those were obviously the magical kind. Were you inside when it happened?”

  “I was in the room with Gwendolyn and her ladies. Everyone is fine, but unless we can break the curse, they’ll be asleep for a hundred years.”

  “You’re still awake because of that whole thing about you and magic, aren’t you? The other guards were talking about it after you found that witch with the spinning wheel. They said that magic can’t touch you.”

  Annie sighed. “No, but it was awful seeing everyone else fall asleep. I didn’t know what to do, so I woke my mother long enough to ask for her advice. I’m on my way to Shimshee to get Prince Digby. He just needs to kiss Gwennie and everyone will wake up.”

  “You do realize that you’re nowhere near the road to Shimshee?”

  “I was afraid of that. I got lost yesterday and came across a cottage where this horrible woman lived.” Annie yawned, covering her mouth with her hand. She was so tired that her eyes were watering.

  “You need to rest,” Liam said. Shrugging out of the straps that held a sack on his back, he pulled out a thin blanket and spread it on the ground.

  “There were two children,” Annie murmured as Liam led her to the blanket. “And a rat. The old woman thought it was a dog. And then there were fairies...”

  “In the cottage?” asked Liam.

  Annie curled up on the blanket and tucked her hands beneath her cheek. “No, in the ring,” she mumbled. “And then they got mad and the bear came …”

  “And then what happened?” Liam asked as he settled on the ground with his back against a tree and his sword on his lap.

  Annie didn’t answer; she’d fallen asleep, feeling safe for the first time since her sister had touched the spinning wheel.

  When Annie woke the next morning, Liam was sitting with his back against the tree with his eyes closed, a knife in his hand, and the sword balanced on his knees. She sat up and rubbed the grit from her eyes, pleased that he was really there and hadn’t been a dream. Although she hadn’t known Liam for long, he was someone from home and therefore familiar. His presence made Annie feel more secure and a little less worried about her trip to Shimshee.

  Moving as quietly as she could so she wouldn’t wake him, she tiptoed away from the blanket, looking for privacy behind some shrubs. She hadn’t gone far when she thought she saw something glinting between the leaves of a river birch. Only a few steps farther and she saw a lake with the early-morning sunlight sparkling on its surface.

  After making use of the shrubs, Annie went down to the lake to splash water on her face. She was still bending over the water when the reflection of a horse appeared behind her. Annie sat back on her heels, surprised that she hadn’t heard the animal approach. When the beast pawed the ground, Annie jumped up and backed away. It was a handsome animal with a long, curved neck and a well-shaped head, but its eyes had a fierce look to them, and she could just make out the faint twanging sound of unfriendly magic.

  The horse reached toward her with its head and bumped her on the shoulder. Annie took another step back. The sound had grown louder with the horse’s touch, and Annie knew that it was trying to use its magic to make her do something. “Oh, no you don’t,” Annie said. Her gaze fell on a big stick and she reached for it even as the horse took another step toward her, its ears flicking with interest. Brandishing the stick in front of her, Annie walked away from the lake, careful to keep her eyes on the horse.

  When it saw that she was getting away, the horse put its ears back and trotted after her. She dodged out of the way when it opened its mouth
and lunged, trying to bite her. In that instant, Annie saw that its teeth weren’t blunt like a horse’s, but sharp and pointed like a carnivore’s.

  “You’re not a horse!” Annie exclaimed, wielding the stick. “You’re a kelpie! I’m not going anywhere with you. Get away from me, you nasty beast. You’re not carrying me to your lake to drown me!”

  “Annie, is that you?” Liam called from farther in the forest. “Stay right there. I’ll come to you.”

  The kelpie’s head swung around at the sound of Liam’s voice. Afraid that the beast would try to go after the young guard, Annie shouted and ran at it with the stick. The kelpie reared and struck out with its forelegs so that she had to back away, then galloped past her, moving between the trees as easily as if on an open road. Annie chased after it, dodging branches and roots. By the time she got there, the kelpie was already facing Liam.

  “Don’t!” Annie cried as Liam reached a hand toward the kelpie.

  Before she could get closer, the animal knelt beside the young man. In one smooth movement, Liam vaulted onto the kelpie’s back.

  “Liam, no!” Annie shouted, still running toward him.

  Liam grinned and offered her his hand. “Come here, Annie, I’ll help you up. I have a ride for us. We’ll get to Shimshee in no time now.”

  “Get off, Liam!” Annie shouted as the animal wheeled around and started back toward the lake. “It’s not a horse. It’s a kelpie!”

  Startled, Liam looked like he was trying to dismount, but before he could swing his leg over the kelpie’s side, the beast began to gallop. Annie started to run after them and tripped over something on the ground. Liam’s pack was lying where he’d left it, along with his sword and knife. He was defenseless, and unless she did something fast, he was going to drown.

  Ignoring the lash of the twigs on her face, Annie followed the kelpie to the lake. She ran as fast as she could, but the kelpie had already entered the lake when she arrived. Galloping through the shallow water, it began swimming once the water reached its chest. Annie could see that Liam was still struggling to get off. The kelpie’s magic was holding him on, however, and both man and beast had begun to sink beneath the surface.

  Kicking off her shoes, Annie waded to the deeper water and dove in headfirst. “Go back!” Liam shouted as he struggled to hold his head above the surface.

  Annie swam faster, reaching out toward Liam with one hand, then the other in sure, steady strokes. She lost sight of him when the kelpie completely submerged, but when she ducked her head and looked around, she spotted the kelpie only yards away. She swam toward it; the kelpie saw her and struck out with its hooves, catching her with a glancing blow that spun her around in the water and left her dazed, disoriented, and out of air.

  Annie surfaced long enough to get a breath before diving again. She saw the kelpie swimming toward the edge of a drop-off. Liam was trying to dismount, but the beast’s magic kept him on its back as surely as if he’d been glued there. Annie could tell that he was struggling for air and was beginning to look frantic. Afraid that she would lose Liam for good if they reached the deeper water, Annie swam as fast as she could, reaching them just as the beast was about to plunge over the edge. A few more quick strokes and she grasped the kelpie’s flowing tail, which she used to pull herself closer.

  The kelpie spun around and snapped at Annie. Grabbing a fistful of its mane, she used the momentum of its next lunge to pull herself up and flip over its back, landing in front of Liam. When he didn’t seem to notice her, Annie feared she might already have lost him.

  It took only seconds for Annie’s presence to affect the kelpie. At first it twisted its neck and tried to snap at her, but then it faltered and shook its head as if something was wrong. Showing the whites of its eyes, it suddenly began to act as if it, too, were running out of air. With two powerful kicks, the kelpie surfaced. It was gasping for air, its nostrils flaring, when Annie pulled Liam from its back.

  Although his feeble flailing made it harder to swim while dragging him, Annie was just happy that he was alive. When his flailing became strong enough to drag them both under the water, however, she began to lose patience with him. “Stop struggling or I’ll have to knock you out,” Annie told him, even though she doubted that she could carry through with such a threat. For one thing, they were too far from shore and there was nothing to use...

  “Let go,” said Liam. “You don’t need to rescue me. I can swim.”

  “I’m sure you can,” said Annie, “but you’re weak as a kitten now. I told you, stop flailing.”

  Suddenly Liam went limp and became a dead weight in her arms. Annie shook him, worried that the kelpie might have given him a serious injury that hadn’t been fatal until now. “Are you all right?” she asked.

  “You told me to stop moving, so I did,” said Liam, grinning up at her.

  Annie let him go for a fraction of a second. His face went under and when he came back up, he spluttered and spit out a mouthful of water. “If you’re rescuing me, would you mind not dunking me like that?”

  “Sorry. I had to change arms. You’re no lightweight, you know.”

  “I’m fine now. You can let go.”

  “Okay.” Annie let go and Liam sank, but he didn’t go far. They had reached the shallow water and he hit the sandy bottom as soon as he kicked his feet. She smiled when he gave her a reproachful look, and glanced back toward the middle of the lake. “You can stand, can’t you? That kelpie is looking this way.”

  Liam scrambled to his feet and staggered with his first step. Taking his hand, Annie helped him out of the water.

  Satisfied that the kelpie wasn’t following them, they trudged back to the campsite to collect their things. Although their clothes were dripping wet, the air was already warm and Annie wasn’t cold. “Do you want to rest or change your clothes?” she asked.

  Liam shook his head. “I should be asking you that. Do you have a change of clothes with you?”

  “Just an old gown. I wouldn’t want to try walking through a forest in it. The hem would snag on everything. It’s warm enough that this should dry pretty quickly though,” Annie added, squeezing the water from a sodden sleeve. She glanced up and saw that Liam was scowling down at the ground where his sword and knife still rested. “What’s wrong?”

  “I can’t believe that kelpie fooled me like that. I’ve never gotten on a strange horse that just walked up to me before. And I left my knife! I could really have used that knife.”

  “It was part of the kelpie’s magic to make you want to get on its back. The kelpie tried it on me first, but it didn’t work.”

  “Huh,” Liam grunted. “And that’s supposed to make me feel better? You stood up to it and I hopped right on.”

  “All I was saying was that its magic couldn’t affect me. I probably would have gotten on, too, if I’d been a normal person.”

  “Say, that’s right,” Liam said, his expression brightening. He bent down to gather his weapons; when he stood up he was scowling again. “You shouldn’t have done it, you know. Chasing after a kelpie could have gotten you killed. You don’t have magic to keep you safe.”

  “Neither do you,” said Annie. “And if I hadn’t gone after that kelpie, you would have been killed. You know, instead of being rude, you could just thank me for rescuing you.”

  “Thanks,” Liam said in a begrudging kind of way. “But you still shouldn’t have done it.”

  Annie frowned and turned her back to him as she shouldered her sack.

  Closing the distance between them in three long strides, Liam reached out and gripped her shoulder, turning her to face him. “No, I really do mean it. Thanks. Most people wouldn’t have tried to help me like that.” He flashed Annie a quick smile, which made him look younger and tugged at her heart in an unexpected way. She found herself wanting to see his smile again.

  Annie looked into his eyes and nodded slowly. “You’re welcome.”

  “The road is in that direction,” Liam said, pointing
behind her.

  He led the way into the woods, stopping to hold branches so they wouldn’t hit Annie and offering her his hand when they climbed steep hills or crossed streams with slippery rocks.

  Annie found his thoughtfulness touching; when she was younger she’d often played in the woods with pages and stable boys who treated her like just another boy. It also made her wonder about something he’d said earlier. “Did you really mean it when you said that most people wouldn’t have tried to help you? What about your family?”

  “My family knows I can take care of myself, because... well, usually I can. My father always expected me to, because he made sure I knew how. Most people don’t know a fraction of what he does about weapons. He taught me everything I know about them, and... See this? He gave me this sword when I was eight years old. It was too big for me then, but he was so proud when I finally learned how to use it.

  “My father is old now and hasn’t been able to do much ever since his horse threw him. It was a few years ago, but his leg never healed right and he has days now where he’s in so much pain that he can’t do much of anything.”

  “What about the rest of your family?”

  “I’ve never gotten along with my mother or my brother. It wouldn’t occur to either of them to help me, even if I was on fire and they were standing next to me with a bucket of water. My brother was always my mother’s favorite, and I... Wow! I can’t believe I just told you all that. I’ve never told anyone about my family before.”

  “It’s okay,” said Annie. “You know about my family already. Your family can’t be any worse than mine.”

  They’d been walking for little more than an hour when they stepped onto a hard-beaten path. “Here we are,” said Liam. “This is the road I was telling you about.”

  “It isn’t much of a road. Are you sure it’s not a deer trail?”

  “It gets better farther on. I told you, I’m really good at tracking. Directions, too. I’ve been this way before with my father. It was years ago, but I doubt things have changed much.”