Chapter 1
“Mother, they’re here, they’re here!”
“Whose here?” Lady Shaylee shouted from Lady Ellen’s office across from the castle’s kitchen. She and the Castle Mistress were going over preparations for Shaylee and Lark’s son, Lord Ryden’s thirteenth birthday.
“The king and queen,” Lord Ryden tried to catch his breath as he entered the small chamber.
“I should go and greet them,” Shaylee told Lady Ellen as she rose from her chair to join her son.
“I need to put some pies in the oven.” Lady Ellen knew that after being away for several months, King Edric would be looking for an apple pie.
“Do you think they remembered that it’s my birthday in two days?” Lord Ryden asked as he walked with Lady Shaylee to the Great Hall.
“When have your aunt and uncle ever forgotten your birthday?” Shaylee smiled. Having no children of their own, Elizabeth and Edric doted on their niece and nephew.
“Do you think they brought me back a present from Faelyndra?” Lord Ryden hoped they had.
Elizabeth and Edric had spent two months visiting their southernmost ally and then another month visiting Mardylla, the kingdom directly across the sea from Elnara’s southern tip.
“Why don’t you ask them yourself?” Shaylee told her son as they entered the Great Hall where Elizabeth and Edric stood talking with Lark and Lord Warren.
“Uncle Edric! Aunt Elizabeth!” Ryden shouted as he ran across the expansive chamber.
“There you are,” Elizabeth opened her arms to give her nephew a hug. “Have you gotten taller since I saw you last?” He was almost as tall as Elizabeth and she was on the tallish side, even for a fairy.
“Well, I will be thirteen the day after tomorrow.” Ryden figured that it couldn’t hurt to throw in a reminder.
“Is it really your birthday already?” Edric asked as he gave Elizabeth a slight smile.
“There’s to be a festival in the village and a party here at the castle.” Ryden couldn’t believe that they had actually forgotten, but maybe they had lost track of time while they were away.
“We didn’t forget,” Elizabeth decided not to prolong Edric’s ruse.
“We brought you back something from Faelyndra and Mardylla,” Edric confessed.
“Can I see now?” Ryden asked, a hopeful expression on his face.
“It’s not your birthday yet,” Lark reminded his son. “Now go find something to do while we meet with the king and queen.”
“What should I do?” Ryden looked at his grandfather.
“If your quick you might catch Vika and Quill,” Lord Warren told his grandson. “They’re riding to Knight’s Hall.”
“Can I?” Ryden quickly looked at Shaylee. He knew from experience that whatever his mother decided would be the final answer.
“If you’re going to catch them you’d best hurry,” Shaylee smiled as she watched him bolt across the hall to the doorway in the direction of the castle courtyard.
Lord Warren chuckled. “Now that he’s turning thirteen, he’s hoping to start training at Knight’s Hall.”
“Are you going to let him?” Edric turned to his sister.
“Yes, we’re going to let him,” Lark replied, slightly annoyed that everyone always directed questions concerning their children to Shaylee. “We’re going to tell him on his birthday.”
“You can count on us to keep it a secret,” Elizabeth assured her brother as the group headed toward the front hallway. They planned on meeting in the private chamber off of the Grand Chamber.
“Brilliant idea, Knight’s Hall,” Lord Warren spoke as the group walked. “Not only do the trainee’s get further education as well as weapons and riding training, they get to know other trainees from all the castles in the kingdom.”
“And Kellmorgen,” Shaylee added.
“And Mardylla,” Elizabeth didn’t want to leave out their one Mardyllan trainee. Prince Talbot had been training at Knight’s Hall for five years now and from what she had heard, if he wasn’t heir to the throne of Mardylla, he’d be in the running to become First Knight in the Order of the Dragon Sword.
***
Lord Maymar stood on the castle wall observing the sword practice. Prince Talbot was fighting Prince Ellery, both had a wooden practice sword in each hand. Prince Ellery was quite good but he was quickly losing ground against the superior skills of Prince Talbot.
“Finish him off!” Lord Avery yelled to Prince Talbot as he watched the pair closely. Avery was undoubtedly one of the best swordsman in all the kingdoms and Maymar was grateful that the Noble Lord of Castle West spent so much of his time at Knight’s Hall. Of course, Avery was Maymar’s best friend, the pair considering themselves brothers despite the fact that Avery was a fairy and Maymar an elf.
After watching Prince Talbot knock one sword out of Prince Ellery’s hand and give him a blow to the side which would have been fatal with a real sword, Maymar glanced at the road just in time to see riders approaching. He smiled and hurried down to the courtyard to greet his wife and youngest son. They had been gone most of the winter with the king and queen and he was anxious to have them both in his arms.
“Maymar!” Vika shouted as she jumped down from her mount and hurried over to embrace her mate, the pair immediately kissing.
After a few moments, Maymar released Vika and turned to his youngest child. “Did you enjoy your trip?” This was Quill’s first trip away from Elnara. His two siblings had both gone with Vika on previous trips. Maymar and Vika felt it would enhance their education to see the world outside of their own kingdom.
“Lord Nolan took me to see the original Pixie Bridge and Lord Cormack took me to the cave with all the dragon skeletons.” Quill was obviously very excited to talk about his trip. “Uncle Aden helped me with my riding while we were in Mardylla.”
“I could see the improvement when I watched you approach the castle,” Maymar told his son, much to Quill’s delight.
“Where are Willow and Tristen?” Vika was anxious to see her twins.
“They’re inside the castle in Kartymin’s class,” Maymar informed her.
***
“Who can tell me how the Kingdom of Kellmorgen originated?” Kartymin asked his class. The middle aged elf had been a teacher at Knight’s Hall since its inception. He had taught Elf Studies at Village South until he had been called to assist with the visitors from Moondylla years ago. He had traveled north at that time and had stayed on, now teaching history and geography to the trainees at Knight’s Hall.
“Lord Archer,” Kartymin could tell by the excessive hand waving that the future Noble Lord of Castle West was anxious to answer.
“The Queen of Elnara offered the King of Marmorgen the lands north of the Great Mountains in return for giving the displaced elves of Moondylla land to rebuild their kingdom. The King of Marmorgen sent his son with supplies and settlers to start a new human kingdom which was named the Kingdom of Kellmorgen.” Lord Archer smiled, satisfied with his answer as he turned to his best friend Tristen seated next to him.
“I don’t know why we need to learn all this old stuff,” Tristen commented.
“I’m sorry Tristen, I couldn’t quite hear what you said,” Kartymin looked sternly at his student.
“I said that I don’t understand why we have to learn all this old stuff,” Tristen repeated more loudly.
“Can anyone tell Tristen why you have to learn all this old…stuff?” Kartymin now asked the class. He looked on as only one hand shot into the air. “Someone beside Lord Archer?”
“Lord Jarrett, how about it?” Kartymin called on Noble Lord Duncan of Gateway Castle’s son.
“So we know how some of the plants and animals got to places where they didn’t really belong?” Lord Jarrett guessed.
“Not exactly,” Kartymin told him with a smile, appreciating his thought and effort.
Kartymin looked about the chamber and sighed. “Lord Archer.”
Lord Archer put down his hand and smiled. “We need to learn history so that we understand the connections and dynamics between the different kingdoms. Like why is Lord Maymar’s sister Queen of Mardylla.”
“Queen Magda is Lord Maymar’s sister?” Lord Finlay, of Dragon Castle interrupted.
“Idiot,” Tristen threw a piece of paper at Lord Finlay. “She’s my aunt.”
“I can see that we have a lot of work ahead of us,” Kartymin told his class. He was about to continue when an arrow narrowly missed his head and hit the wall behind him. Kartymin never even flinched, instead he turned and looked at the hole that the arrow had made in the map hanging on the wall before turning his attention to the figure standing in the doorway. “Must you do that every time that I’m running late?”
“I thought that it might help you remember not to take up my time,” Princess Clara told him as she stood with bow in hand. “Everyone grab your weapons and report to the archery range now!” she yelled.
All the trainees were quickly out of their seats and hurrying to the chamber doorway, happy to be out of Kartymin’s class and on to something that they really enjoyed.
As Kartymin pulled the arrow out of the map he turned to see Lord Maymar and Vika enter the chamber with Quill and Lord Ryden in tow.
“Class ran late again?” Maymar guessed as he chuckled. He didn’t totally agree with Princess Clara’s tactics, but he did find them amusing.
“Someday she’s going to put an arrow in me,” Kartymin waved the arrow that he had pulled out of the map.
“Only if you make her mad,” Maymar smiled.
***
“So, how was your trip?” Lord Warren inquired as the group settled into their chairs in the private sitting chamber.
“Very busy,” Elizabeth told them as she sat in the seat that Edric held out for her.
“How is King Akir?” Lark inquired after the elder commander whose kingdom they had help build.
“The man is amazing,” Elizabeth replied as she held up her goblet for one of the staff to fill with cider. “He is constantly looking for ways to improve Faelyndra.”
“Not ready to retire yet? Lord Warren knew that at sixty years of age, King Akir was quite on in years for a human.
“Not yet,” Edric told his father, “although he has given Lord Cormack a lot of responsibility.”
Lord Cormack had been with King Akir since King Akir had taken him under his care when Cormack lived among the street urchins in the capital of the Kingdom of Vrotus far to the south of Faelyndra and the northern kingdoms. He had grown to be King Akir’s most trusted commander and was now heir to the throne of Faelyndra. King Akir had no children of his own and had officially adopted Cormack and elevated him to the rank of Lord. Lord Cormack had married one of Lord Elgyn’s daughters with whom he now had three children.
“King Akir gave us some books that they found in the Castle Library that were in a fairy language so old that even Lord Elgyn couldn’t read them,” Elizabeth told Shaylee.
“Interesting,” Shaylee knew that they must be ancient if Lord Elgyn couldn’t decipher them.
“Welcome home!” Lady Ellen now entered through the staff entrance. She was carrying a tray holding three steaming pies.
“Oh, Lady Ellen!” Edric grinned. “You certainly know how to please your king.”
“They don’t have apple pies in Faelyndra or Mardylla?” Lady Ellen asked as she set one of the pies in front of Edric.
“Not like yours,” Edric gave the Castle Mistress a smile and a wink.
“How are Queen Magda and King Aden?” Shaylee asked Elizabeth knowing that she’d get no answer from her brother while he was occupied with his pie.
“They’re anxious to come to the Transformation Ceremony so they can bring Prince Talbot home,” Elizabeth told her. “Speaking of which, where is Ellyann?”
“She’s letting Lady Brook practice on her hair,” Shaylee smiled.
***
“What do you think?” Lady Brook asked as she held up a mirror for Lady Ellyann to view the intricate braids that she had done with Ellyann’s long dark hair. Lady Brook was the daughter of Prince Percy and Lady Milley. Both she and her mother were princesses of Kellmorgen as Prince Percy was a member of the Kellmorgen royal family, but her mother had decided that Brook and her twin brother, Bristol, would use their Elnaran titles when in Elnara and their Kellmorgen titles when they were in Kellmorgen. They spent most of their time in the Fairy Kingdom as Lady Milley had remained on Queen Elizabeth’s staff at Castle North after she married Prince Percy who was the Kellmorgen ambassador to the Kingdom of Elnara. Both Brook and her brother took after their fairy mother, having her dark hair and pointed, elegant fairy ears.
“It’s wonderful!” Lady Ellyann smiled as she turned her head back and forth to get a good look at Lady Brook’s creation. “You certainly have your mother’s talent for hair.”
“Maybe you’ll consider me for your staff when you become Fairy Princess of Elnara,” Lady Brook looked anxiously at Ellyann for her reaction.
“You’d really like to be on my staff?” Lady Ellyann hadn’t even thought about choosing a staff of her own. It had never even crossed her mind that Lady Brook, or anyone for that matter, was hoping to be chosen to be on her staff.
“It’s a great honor to be on the staff of the Fairy Princess.” Lady Brook had hoped that Lady Ellyann would have noticed how adept that she had become with not only hair, but all aspects of personal care.
“I would love for you to be on my staff,” Lady Ellyann told her longtime friend. “I guess that I thought because you are a princess and all that you wouldn’t want to be on anyone’s staff.”
Lady Brook chuckled. “I’m only a princess in Kellmorgen and that’s just a curtesy title because of my father. It’s not like I’m even in line for the throne. Besides, who do you think has been taking care of you for the past year?”
Lady Ellyann thought for a moment and realized that Lady Brook was correct, she had been the one always on hand to help with her bathing and dressing, plus Lady Brook had been doing her hair almost exclusively for months now. “You’re right! I’ll speak with my mother about officially making you the first one on my staff.”
“Thank you!” Lady Brook couldn’t wait to tell her mother.
“Let’s go exploring,” Lady Ellyann jumped up from the chair at the dressing table. “I saw some armsmen carrying trunks up to the attic. Let’s go have a look at them.”
“I need to clean up,” Lady Brook didn’t wish to leave the bathing chamber in disarray.
“Come on,” Lady Ellyann grabbed Lady Brook’s arm and pulled her toward the doorway. “You can pick up later.”
***
“I want you to divide into two teams,” Princess Clara announced to her class. They were using the archery range outside the castle wall as Lord Avery was using the courtyard for a beginner sword class. “The winning team will be going to the festival tomorrow in Village North and the losing team will have stable duty so the stable staff can attend the festival. There were audible moans from the class, many having been on the losing team in the past. “If you’re moaning that means you need more practice,” Princess Clara smiled. “Prince Talbot and Lord Forest will be team leaders.”
Prince Talbot and Lord Forest stepped forward, both carrying their bows and quivers. Princess Clara squatted down and quickly scooped up several stones in her hand. She held her hand in front of Lord Forest. “odd or even?”
“Even,” Lord Forest decided as he stared directly at Prince Talbot.
Princess Clara opened her hand to reveal five stones. “It’s odd,” she announced to the class and then looked at Princes Talbot. “You pick first.”
Prince Talbot smiled. “Prince Ellery,” he announced as he stared at Lord Forest.
Lord Forest frowned and turned to Princess Clara. “The two best archers shouldn’t be on the same team,” he complained.
“Your saying that I should make Prince Ellery team leader and not you?” She scrunched her nose at him. Lord Forest of Lakeland Castle was one of the top trainees. He worked hard, but the future Noble Lord of Lakeland was a poor loser and Princess Clara did not like his whining.
“So you think that I’m a better archer than Prince Ellery?” Lord Forest wanted to make Princess Clara admit it in front of the entire archery class.
“Attention class!” Princess Clara shouted. “We’re having a shoot off for team leader between Lord Forest and Prince Ellery.” Princess Clara turned to Lord Forest. “Here’s your chance to show that you’re better in front of the entire class.”
“Can I shoot for team leader?” Lord Archer asked Princess Clara as she walked toward the target range.
“You’re not old enough to be a team leader,” she reminded him.
“I can beat them both,” he assured her.
Princess Clara stopped and turned to her son. “I know you can, but you can’t try for team leader till you turn fifteen.”
Everyone in the class crowded around, all of them intensely interested in the outcome of the contest. Although he was fairly skillful, most disliked the arrogant Lord Forest. He always thought that he was better at everything, including attracting females. Prince Ellery had every reason to be boastful as he was exceedingly talented and by far the best looking male at Knight’s Hall, taking after his fairy father, King Evan, who was indisputably the handsomest male in all the kingdoms, but he was easy going and never tried to use his looks or talents to his advantage.
“You’ll each get five shots at your target,” Princess Clara told the pair. “Best score is team leader.”
Lord Forest and Prince Ellery moved into position to take their shots. “Prince Ellery, as the challenge was Lord Forest’s idea, you have the option to shoot first or last,” Princess Clara announced. She glanced over at Lord Forest who looked as if he wanted to protest, but to his credit, he kept quiet. He had gotten himself into this shoot off with his complaining and now he would have to live with the result.
“I’ll shoot first,” Prince Ellery decided.
Lord Forest was all smiles. “That was a mistake,” he grinned at Prince Ellery.
“We’ll see,” Prince Ellery smiled back.
“When you’re ready Prince Ellery you may shoot,” Princess Clara told the Kellmorgen royal. She was anxious to see how each of the two trainees handled the pressure of the shoot off.
Prince Ellery pulled an arrow from his quiver and made ready to shoot. He looked at the target and in one fluid motion he pulled back his bow, aimed and then let loose the arrow.
“It’s in the center ring!” Lord Archer yelled excitedly. He was cheering for Prince Ellery to win.
“Lord Forest, you may take your first shot when ready,” Princess Clara announced.
All the trainees seemed to be holding their breath as they looked on. Lord Forest’s style of shooting was much different from Prince Ellery’s. He drew back his bow and held it for several seconds as he took aim. He then let the arrow fly.
“Center ring,” Lord Archer announced with disappointment.
The next three shots were all similar with the contest coming down to the final shot. “Prince Ellery, you may shoot when ready,” Princess Clara announced.
Prince Ellery made ready and glanced at Prince Talbot who gave him a slight nod and a wink. Prince Ellery smiled and turned to Lord Forest. “Let’s take the last shot blindfolded,” he suggested.
“What!” Lord Forest stared, “Are you crazy?”
“If you don’t think you can do it,” Prince Ellery shrugged and made ready to take his shot.
Lord Forest quickly looked around at the crowd of trainees watching. “I can do it if you can,” he decided.
Prince Ellery turned back, a satisfied smile on his face. “Wonderful! We’ll do the last shot blindfolded.”
Princess Clara shook her head. “Blindfolded it is.” She waved to a pair of trainees to run and get something to use as blindfolds.
“Have you ever done this before?” Lord Forest asked his opponent.
“No, I haven’t,” Prince Ellery admitted.
“Get ready to lose,” Lord Forest attempted to act confident.
When the trainees returned with a strip of dark cloth, Princess Clara stepped over and tied it securely onto Prince Ellery. “You may take your shot when ready,” she told him as she stepped back.
Prince Ellery took a moment to place his feet where he wanted them and then quickly drew his bow and took his shot.
“Dead center!” Lord Archer announced as the entire crowd of trainees cheered and applauded.
Prince Ellery took off the blindfold and turned to Lord Forest. “I’m afraid that you’ll have to hit the center as well if you wish to tie me.”
“Just watch me,” Lord Forest told him as Princess Clara placed the blindfold on him. “You may shoot when ready,” she told him
Lord Forest took a moment to ready himself and then pulled back his bow. Even though he couldn’t see anything, he held back the arrow as if he were aiming and then he let the arrow fly.
When the crowd started to laugh, Lord Forest ripped off his blindfold to see that he had completely missed the target. “How did you do it?” he demanded of Prince Ellery as he stomped toward him looking as if he might punch his opponent. Princess Clara hurried over but stopped as she realized that Lord Forest wasn’t picking a fight.
“Every time I shot I put my right foot up against this rock sticking up slightly from the ground so I knew that I was in the same position,” Prince Ellery explained. “When I was blindfolded it didn’t take much to feel with my foot and find the rock. Other than that, I’m afraid that my style of shooting is more suited to this sort of thing. You rely totaling on vision where I shoot more by feel and instinct.”
Lord Forest looked at him and sighed. “Can you teach me to do that?”
Prince Ellery smiled. “Actually, it was Prince Talbot who taught me to do it.”
“How about I let Prince Talbot teach today’s class and both teams split stable duty in the morning so that both teams can go to the festival,” Princess Clara looked at the class. “What do you say Team Leaders?”
Prince Talbot and Prince Ellery looked at each other and smiled before turning back to their instructor, both nodding in the affirmative.
“Great!” Princess Clara smiled. “Everyone goes to the festival!”
***
“Are you sure it’s okay to be up here?” Lady Brook both loved and hated Lady Ellyann’s adventurous nature. It was exciting to follow her into the unexplored areas of the castle, but at the same time she found it somewhat scary.
“Nobody cares about anything up here. That’s why it’s here.” Lady Ellyann told her companion as she looked around for the new items that the armsmen had brought up. She had been exploring the attic all of her life and could easily spot something new.
“This one isn’t dusty.” Lady Brook pointed to a wooden chest near where she stood.
Lady Ellyann hurried over to have a look. “That’s it!” She knelt down on the floor to have a good look at it.
“That’s the trunk that was in the queen’s chambers,” Lady Brook told her.
“Really? I never noticed it,” Ellyann said as she examined the chest.
Lady Brook rolled her eyes. “How could you not notice it? It’s been in the queen’s chambers since before you were born.”
“I guess I’ve just always looked at the crystal prisms and the rainbows they make on the walls and ceiling,” Ellyann confessed.
The queen’s chambers at Castle North had originally been occupied by King Edric and Lady Shaylee’s mother. She had hung crystal prisms from the ceiling in the bedchamber so that the sunlight streaming in from the balcony doorway would make rainbows all over the chamber. Queen Elizabeth had loved them and had left them up.
“This trunk is the one that was found in the mountain cave,” Lady Brook now informed her. “It was placed there by Lady Nara’s daughter thousands of years ago and was guarded by a gold dragon.”
“What’s in the trunk?” Ellyann started to lift the lid to look inside.
“Nothing now I would imagine,” Brook guessed.
Ellyann lifted the lid and discovered that Brook was correct. The trunk was empty. “That’s no fun.”
“The trunk originally contained old books and charts as well as enchanted gold dragon leather armor,” Brook told her.
“Well it’s empty now,” Lady Ellyann began to rise, ready to look for anything else new.
“Wait!” Brook grabbed her arm and pulled her back down.
“What? It’s empty,” Ellyann protested.
“I know, but look at how much space there is between the inside bottom of the chest and the actual bottom,” Lady Brook said as she examined the chest more closely.
Lady Ellyann took a good look. “You’re right. But a lot of these old chests have double thick bottoms.”
“Not this thick,” Lady Brook was certain that something was up with the old chest.
“You may be right,” Lady Ellyann was trying to figure out how to pry up one of the boards at the bottom of the trunk. “Help me look around for something to use as a tool.”
After rummaging through areas in the attic both returned to the trunk with various discarded kitchen utensils and fireplace pokers. “Let me see if I can pry up a board,” Ellyann grabbed a poker to make the attempt.
“It would be easier if we just pried off the fittings and took the trunk apart,” Lady Brook told her. “That way we won’t damage whatever’s under the floor.”
Lady Ellyann nodded and the pair began to go to work on the old trunk.
***
“I’m riding to the Pixie Forest,” Vika yelled to Quill and Lord Ryden who were sitting in the courtyard watching Lord Avery’s sword class. “Want to come?”
Quill and Lord Ryden looked at each other and then turned back to Vika and nodded. “Let’s go then,” Vika waved for them to follow her to the stable. “After I’m finished at the Pixie Forest we’ll take Lord Ryden back to Castle North.” When they reached the stable, they waited while the stable staff readied their mounts. “We’ll stay overnight at Castle North and meet up with your father, brother and sister at the festival,” she told Quill.
Vika smiled as they reached the Pixie Forest. She had been Queen Elizabeth’s personal secretary for many years now but she still considered herself a pixie and always felt like she was home when she entered the Pixie Forest. She stared lovingly at the Guardian Trees that towered over the rest of the forest. Even though they no longer contained magic, the pixies still guarded and cared for them. The forest had been their way of life for untold centuries and the pixies or forest elves, as they were also called, would always be a part of the elf society.
“Where are Robb and Lady Nara?” Vika asked one of the pixies who was helping with their unicorns.
“They’re working on their new cottage,” one of the pixies informed her.
“New cottage?” This news came as a surprise to Vika as she knew that Lady Nara loved the cottage that she and Robb had built when the pixies had moved their village to Elnara after leaving the old Pixie Forest in Faelyndra years ago. “Where?”
“Over near Robb’s workshop,” the pixie told her.
“Let’s go,” Vika told Quill and Lord Ryden as she strode in that direction.
As they approached the workshop, Vika could see that a new platform had been suspended between two Guardian trees high above the forest floor. The cottages that the pixies lived in were all suspended on platforms hung between trees above the ground. There was a series of suspended walkways that connected the cottages and several hidden stairways carved inside of the huge Guardian trees that led up to the walkways. Vika hurried over to the nearest stairway and then followed the walkway to the new cottage being built where she found Robb and Lady Nara.
“Vika!” Lady Nara greeted the pixie.
Vika began to smile but ended up frowning as she was bumped from behind. She turned to find Quill and Lord Ryden. “Go somewhere and play until I call for you.” She gave them both a stern look as she pointed toward the tree with the stairway. The pair looked at each other and shrugged, both hurrying toward the stairway back down.
“You’re building a new cottage,” Vika looked at Lady Nara for an explanation.
Lady Nara was beautiful. Vika was amazed at how ageless the fairies seemed. Of course it was common for fairies to live two hundred years, so a couple of decades did not affect their appearance. Vika loved how Lady Nara kept her red hair short in pixie fashion and that she had adapted to wearing pixie style clothing.
“We need more room,” Lady Nara smiled as she put her hand to her abdomen.
“You’re pregnant!” Vika couldn’t be happier for the leaders of the Pixie Village. The couple had a daughter who was twelve but they had given up hope of having another child after all these years.
“Yes!” Lady Nara beamed. “We’re building a bigger cottage with an additional bedchamber. We thought it best to make it closer to Robb’s workshop.” She took Vika by the hand and led her inside the cottage. “Robb, Vika is here,” Lady Nara shouted to her husband.
“Vika!” Robb hurried over to greet his favorite pixie. “How was the trip?”
“The trip was wonderful,” she smiled at the blacksmith. Robb had been left behind in the original Pixie Forest by Lady Nara who had led the fairies and dragons from Faelyndra to their new kingdom on the Great Island. She had made Robb immortal so that he could protect the pixies and the Guardian Trees from her evil sister, Aranell. Finally, after five thousand years, they had been reunited by the efforts of Elizabeth. Robb was no longer immortal and he and Lady Nara were happily living out their lives together in the new Pixie Forest.
“How is the queen?” Lady Nara worried about her descendent.
“The queen is the kindest, wisest, and most gracious ruler in history,” Vika proclaimed.
“I know that,” Lady Nara frowned. “I want to know how she’s really doing.”
Vika sighed and sat down on a wooden stool near where someone had been carving a design on the inner wall. “The king and queen are always happy together,” Vika began.
“But?” Lady Nara knew that Vika was holding back something.
“The Transformation Ceremony is in several months and every time we talk about plans for the ceremony and ball, I can see this sadness in the queen,” Vika told them.
Lady Nara put her hand to her stomach. “Of course she’s sad. It should be her and King Edric’s daughter becoming Fairy Princess.” Lady Nara had hoped that something would change to allow Elizabeth to have children even though deep down she knew that it was impossible. “I hope that every subject in all the kingdoms understands what a sacrifice that our queen made to protect her kingdom and theirs.”
Vika and Robb both nodded, sad looks on both of their faces.
***
“Just one more,” Ellyann said as she used an old, two pronged serving fork to pry off the last metal fitting on the bottom of the trunk. “There!” she announced as the piece of metal went flying across the attic floor.
“Let’s take it apart and look.” Lady Brook was anxious to see if all of their labors had yielded any results.
The two began to separate the pieces of wood that had made up the floor of the old trunk and were immediately rewarded when they saw that there was a hollowed out area inside the layers of floorboards. Inside the secret nook was something wrapped in a piece of blue dragon leather.
“What is it?” Lady Brook waited while Ellyann lifted the long forgotten object from its resting place.
Lady Ellyann unwrapped the piece of dragon leather to reveal an unusual necklace. She held up the necklace to find that it was a metal chain that connected to a ring. From the ring hung four chains of various lengths. At the end of three of the chains were pieces of a blue mineral unlike anything that either Ellyann or Brook had ever seen. The fourth and longest chain, held an ornate key.
“I wonder what this opens?” Ellyann wondered as she looked at the key.
“It’s very lovely.” Lady Brook reached out her hand to touch the blue minerals.
“Don’t tell anyone about it,” Ellyann told her companion.
“I won’t tell,” Lady Brook promised. She didn’t see why they needed to keep it a secret but she didn’t see any harm in it either.
“Hand me the piece of leather,” Ellyann told Brook. She wanted to wrap the necklace back up to put in her pocket.
“Look,” Brook held up the piece of leather. On the inside of the hide was a drawing.
“What is that?” Ellyann tried to make out the faded image.
“It looks like a dragon’s eye,” Lady Brook decided.
Suddenly the pair heard footsteps coming up the attic stairway. “Quickly,” Ellyann took the piece of leather and wrapped it around the necklace before shoving it into her pocket. “Hide!” she told Lady Brook, the two hurrying to crouch behind a pair of dusty, stuffed chairs.
“Lady Ellyann and Lady Brook I know that you’re up here,” Lady Ellen announced as she looked around the attic for the hidden pair. “Lady Ellyann, the queen is looking for you. Lady Brook, you best clean up the mess you left in Lady Ellyann’s bathing chamber before your mother sees it.” Lady Ellen didn’t wait for a response, she just headed back down the stairway.
“We better get going,” Ellyann told Lady Brook as the pair made their way to the stairway.
Before heading down, Lady Ellyann stopped. “Did you have fun?” She was never really certain if Lady Brook enjoyed their outings.
“I did,” Lady Brook smiled. “We have a real mystery to solve.”
Lady Ellyann’s face brightened. “Yes, we do.” Life was getting a little more exciting with this new find and the festival in the village tomorrow. “I’ll see what the queen wants and I’ll meet you back in my chambers to make plans.”
Lady Brook nodded and the pair hurried down the stairs and went their separate ways.