The Lost Kingdom of Bamarre
Page 24
Lady Mother and I parted there. She’d ride on to the battlefront and the future of the kingdom. I’d leave for the Eskerns from here. We stood awkwardly outside my parents’ cottage while Sir Noll and Sir Lerrin waited at a respectful distance. She must have been reluctant to leave, and I could hardly bear losing her forever.
“What would we do if I were a Bamarre?” she asked.
“We’d hug. We’d kiss. We’d weep.”
She held out her arms, and I went into them. She held me for a long minute, stroking my hair, my cheek, my ear. “Daughter, don’t stop being a part-Lakti. It will keep you safe.”
I promised. She mounted her horse and rode off without looking back. I wiped tears away before entering my parents’ cottage.
I donned my tassel again. Poppi introduced me to the village as his stolen daughter, and Mama revealed that I had already lived among them as Aunt Nadira. The greatest source of wonder seemed to be that I had been raised a Lakti and had still been able to cook delicious cheese puffs!
Two weeks later, an hour before sunset, my family, Prince Bruce, Willem, Goodman Meerol (who had recovered enough to travel), and I reached the base camp. On the way, Drualt had won the friendship of Prince Bruce. My merry and bighearted brother, as no one else, could banish the worry stamped on the prince’s face. When they weren’t side by side, Prince Bruce followed Drualt with his eyes, finding comfort in my brother’s robust form.
We’d gathered people as we marched through a countryside that still blazed. At the camp near the pass we found even more Bamarre. In total, we were five hundred. A few had bows and arrows; some had rakes and pitchforks, some butcher’s knives. I’d used the coins and plate from Old Lakti to buy arms, armor, and donkeys on our way here, but not nearly enough. Those with weapons would have to protect those without.
The Lakti soldiers followed Queen Mother’s order and didn’t trouble us. They must have been surprised to see their crown princess wearing a tassel, but no one questioned me.
Night fell. Willem and I sat with the Gavrel Bamarre, some of us on rock outcroppings, some on the ground. I was wondering aloud if the sorcerers had stayed in Old Lakti when I smelled peonies. A whorl of light spun in the center of our circle.
Gasps ran through the throng of us.
Drualt laughed. “It’s the fairy again.”
When she took her human shape, she beamed her brightest smile at me. “You didn’t disappoint me after all.”
Willem bowed low. Along with the soldiers, he was the first Lakti to see a fairy in hundreds of years, but when he straightened, his face was cheerful, not awed. “If you were surprised, you didn’t notice that Perry always does what’s right.”
Oh, my!
He went on. “Will you visit us across the Eskerns?”
“Fairies will visit. I’ll be among them.”
“Can we conquer the monsters?” I asked.
“They still trouble the elves and dwarfs and sorcerers. But you’ll prosper if you’re determined, if you keep fighting back. I wish—”
Willem took my hand. “Will you come to our wedding once we’re settled?”
Oh! I squeezed his hand.
But I wanted to know. “Halina, you started a wish.” It might be important. “What do you wish?”
“I wish you very well.”
Oh. Naturally. She didn’t have to wish. She could kill all the monsters, but I knew she wouldn’t.
“And I’ll preside over your wedding.” She vanished. The peony scent lingered, then dissolved.
I woke before dawn. Annet slept near me, but when I sat up, she woke, too. I gestured to her, and she followed me a few yards beyond the sleepers. We faced the black shape of the Eskerns and whispered together.
A few hours later, we began the ascent, led, as Annet and I had arranged it, by Drualt with Prince—soon to be King—Bruce. Hands joined, climbing together, Annet and I recited in unison:
“Out of a land laid waste
To a land untamed,
Monster ridden,
The lad Drualt led
A ruined, ragtag band.
In his arms, tenderly,
He carried Bruce,
The child king,
First ruler of Bamarre.”
We reached the pass, crossed into Bamarre, and tossed our tassels behind us.
BACK AD
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo by David Levine
GAIL CARSON LEVINE’s first book for children, Ella Enchanted, was a Newbery Honor Book. Levine’s other books include Ever, a New York Times bestseller; Fairest, a Best Book of the Year for Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal and a New York Times bestseller; Dave at Night, an ALA Notable Book and Best Book for Young Adults; The Wish; The Two Princesses of Bamarre; A Tale of Two Castles; Stolen Magic; and the six Princess Tales books. She is also the author of the nonfiction books Writing Magic: Creating Stories that Fly and Writer to Writer: From Think to Ink, as well as the picture books Betsy Who Cried Wolf and Betsy Red Hoodie. Gail and her husband, David, live in a two-centuries-old farmhouse in the Hudson Valley of New York State. You can visit her online at www.gailcarsonlevinebooks.com and at www.gailcarsonlevine.com.
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BOOKS BY GAIL CARSON LEVINE
NOVELS
Dave at Night
Ella Enchanted
Ever
Fairest
Stolen Magic
A Tale of Two Castles
The Two Princesses of Bamarre
The Wish
THE PRINCESS TALES
The Fairy’s Return and Other Princess Tales
The Fairy’s Mistake
The Princess Test
Princess Sonora and the Long Sleep
Cinderellis and the Glass Hill
For Biddle’s Sake
The Fairy’s Return
PICTURE BOOKS
Betsy Red Hoodie
Betsy Who Cried Wolf
NONFICTION
Writing Magic: Creating Stories that Fly
Writer to Writer: From Think to Ink
POETRY
Forgive Me, I Meant to Do It: False Apology Poems
CREDITS
Cover art by Lisa Keene
Cover design by Erin Fitzsimmons
COPYRIGHT
THE LOST KINGDOM OF BAMARRE. Copyright © 2017 by Gail Carson Levine. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2016949989
ISBN 978-0-06-207466-9 (trade ed) — ISBN 978-0-06-207467-6 (library ed)
EPub Edition © April 2017 ISBN 9780062658210
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FIRST EDITION
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