by E. D. Baker
I glanced at the platter holding the boar. The apple was back in its mouth and it was staring fixedly ahead.
“I just … I saw … Never mind,” Adara said.
She seemed a little shaky when she sat down again. The chair immediately became shorter, although the legs were even again. The top of the table came up to her chest, making it hard to reach her trencher. She looked up at me and frowned. “Did you do something to this chair? Queen Frazzela said that you’re a witch.”
“I am indeed, but I didn’t do anything to that chair,” I told her. “Why, what’s wrong with it?”
Adara scowled at me. “I know you did this!”
“Did what?” said Grassina.
“Nothing,” Adara said. She glanced around as if expecting something else to happen. When nothing did, she reached for her mug of cider. Raising it to her lips, she tilted the mug. Cider dribbled down her chin and across the front of her gown. I thought it looked like there was a hole in the mug, but when she looked at it, there wasn’t anything wrong.
Eadric shook his head and handed her his napkin as she inspected her gown.
When I peeked at Grassina, she was trying not to laugh.
A hound bumped into my leg and I glanced down. My father’s hounds were trained to stay away from the tables when we were eating, but they were here now, begging for food. When I saw my father surreptitiously toss a scrap of meat under Adara’s chair, I knew that he was in on Olivene’s plan, too.
Seeing the meat, the hounds scampered under the table, pushing and growling as they tried to reach it first. Within seconds, Adara was surrounded by big, slobbering dogs. “Get them away from me!” she cried as the dogs bumped into her and stepped on her feet.
I pulled my legs out of the way as the dogs got rougher. Eadric started to stand up as if he was about to intervene, but my father tapped him on the shoulder and shook his head. Eadric looked puzzled when he sat down again. A fight nearly broke out between the hounds when one nipped another, but then Bowser, my father’s biggest hound, snapped up the meat and ran off, nearly knocking Adara over again.
Two serving girls brought a huge tureen of eel stew to the table. When they offered it to us, I looked into the tureen at the same time as Adara. The eels were swimming around, gliding over one another in loose and slippery knots. Grimacing, Adara shook her head and waved the serving girls off.
They carried the stew down the table, offering it to Grassina and Haywood, her betrothed. Although my aunt declined the stew, Haywood made little chirruping sounds and said, “Yes! Lots, please!”
I noticed that the eels were limp and looked quite cooked when one of the girls ladled stew into a bowl for Haywood. Adara was watching when Haywood stuck his face in the bowl and began to devour the eels just as he would have when he was an enchanted otter. He had been working on giving up his otter-like ways ever since Grassina turned him back, but it seemed he had reverted, at least for tonight. Making loud slurping sounds, he ate every bit of the stew and licked the bowl clean. When he was done, he wiped the bowl with his fingers and licked them clean as well.
I heard gagging sounds behind me. Apparently, Adara had never seen a former otter eat.
“I spoke to that fairy Maple,” Grassina told me. “She described what was happening to her trees. Haywood and I went to take a look, but everything seemed normal to us, aside from the leaves withering, of course. I didn’t see any sign of blight or an insect infestation, and the surrounding plants seemed healthy, so it wasn’t lack of water. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help her.”
“Thank you for trying,” I said. “I looked through all my books and parchments, but I couldn’t find anything, either.”
“Oh, good, here’s dessert,” said Grassina. “It looks like gooseberry pie.”
“But I’ve hardly eaten anything yet!” Adara wailed.
“You are a slow eater,” Haywood told her. “I’ve had three helpings already. Maybe part of your problem is your posture. You really should sit up when you eat. Slouching like that can’t be good for the digestion.”
“I’m not slouching!” cried Adara. “My chair got shorter.”
“Uh-huh,” he said as if he didn’t believe her.
“Emma,” my mother said from farther down the table. “Why don’t you and Eadric go see your grandfather after supper? Mother tells me that you haven’t visited him lately.”
“We really should,” I said, looking past Adara to Eadric. “It has been a while. And I have a question that I want to ask him.”
“Sounds good to me,” Eadric said. “I really like your grandfather. He tells the best stories! But first I need a slice of that gooseberry pie. I might even have to eat two!”
When Eadric finally declared that he’d had enough to eat, we excused ourselves and started to leave the dais, where the royal family was seated. Everyone was watching when Adara hurried after us. I doubted she was going to make any friends in the castle. Everyone liked Eadric and was glad that he was marrying into the family. Adara’s single-minded pursuit of the man I meant to marry was enough to turn them all against her.
The princess didn’t question where we were going until we started down the stairs to the dungeon, walking single file. “Why are we going down here, Emma? I thought your grandfather must be upstairs, sick in bed.”
“He stays down here,” said Eadric, who was carrying a torch in case the ones in the dungeon had gone out. “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to. It is cold where we’re going.”
“I don’t mind the cold,” Adara told him, forcing a smile.
When we reached the bottom of the stairs, most of the torches on the walls were lit, but their light was feeble and their flames wavered and flickered as if unseen people were passing by. Eadric and I were used to this, but Adara started to look over her shoulder and into the deeper shadows as we walked down the corridor. I went first because I was better able to handle anything we might encounter. Eadric came next, holding the torch high so it illuminated more of the corridor. When I looked back, Adara was walking so close to Eadric that she was almost stepping on his heels. She was pale and her eyes were darting everywhere. Even so, she didn’t say a word.
Although I had been working to clean up the errant magic that had gotten worse while Grassina lived in the dungeon, there was still enough around to keep us from getting too complacent. We were fortunate that we encountered only one patch of magic mist. The moment it reached us, the mist made us look fifty years older.
“What just happened?” cried Adara. “You two look so old now. And my hands! They look like my great-aunt Maude’s! What have you done to me?”
“Keep walking,” I told her.
We had scarcely taken three steps when we left the mist and looked young again.
“Thank goodness,” Adara said, pressing her hands to her cheeks. “That was truly horrible!”
A few ghosts drifted out one wall and through another as we walked past, but they were going about their own affairs and were too busy to talk to us. I heard Adara make a small, strangled kind of sound, but she didn’t say anything.
We had just turned down another corridor when there was a loud crash! and the wall beside us crumbled. Moat water gushed in, rushing past us and rising higher and higher in the narrow corridor. Although I could see and hear the water, I couldn’t feel it, and the torches that were now underwater didn’t go out.
“We have to get out of here!” cried Adara as she pulled on Eadric’s arm.
“Not yet,” Eadric told her. “I want to see this part.”
Footsteps thudded back the way we had come. Soon I heard splashing, and the castle’s soldiers came into view. The water level was already going down, so the men had to swim for only a short time. They were slogging through knee-deep water when I noticed that they wore old-fashioned bucket-like helmets and poorly-stitched-together leather for armor.
“Who are these people?” asked Adara.
“Just watch,” said Eadric.
I turned back to the wall in time to see men from the invading army pour through the gaping hole. After the first clash of soldiers, fighting began in earnest. I backed up as the fighting drew closer. When it was all around us, I happened to glance at Adara. Terror stricken, she was clinging to Eadric, who was too intent on the swordplay to notice the girl beside him. A sound behind me made me look back just as a soldier slashed at his opponent. The sword cut off the man’s head and would have cut off mine as well if the combatants had been flesh and bone. It was a good effect, and I would have to tell the ghosts what I thought. After much hard work, their reenactments seemed very realistic.
As the soldiers carried the fighting out of sight around the corner, I turned toward Eadric. “What did you think?” I asked. “I thought they did a very good job this time.”
“That wasn’t real?” Adara asked, her voice coming out in a squeak.
Eadric looked surprised. “You thought it was real? Didn’t you see their armor and the weapons they were using? That battle took place hundreds of years ago! I’d forgotten that this was the week they were going to reenact the Battle of the Two-Month Siege. We learn about it in Upper Montevista. Of course, my ancestors were leading the invading army.”
“I thought we were about to be killed!” Adara cried.
“The ghosts couldn’t hurt you if they wanted to,” Eadric told her. “Emma, did you see old Ogden wield that sword! I didn’t know he had it in him! He looked like a master swordsman!”
“They all did very well,” I said. “But I think we should keep going. It looks as if Adara needs to sit down.”
“I’m sorry if you didn’t like it,” Eadric told Adara. “But I really enjoy these reenactments. I think there may be another later tonight. Maybe we should try to catch that one, too. We don’t have anything nearly this interesting at my parents’ castle.”
“Thank goodness!” said Adara. “Would you mind terribly if we didn’t stick around for any more? I think I’ve seen quite enough for one day.”
“Whatever you want,” Eadric said, sounding disappointed. “You’re the guest.”
We didn’t have much farther to go before we reached my grandfather’s rooms. “Here we are!” Eadric finally announced, and stopped to knock on a door.
The door swung open, revealing a room so dark that I couldn’t see more than a few feet past the threshold. With a wave of my hand, I lit the candles my grandfather kept for visitors. The vague outline of King Aldrid floated above the floor, becoming more solid-looking as the candle flames grew.
“Grandfather!” I said, blowing him a kiss.
“Hello, my dear!’” my grandfather replied in the hollow, breathy voice of a ghost. “It’s so good to see you again. And Eadric! You’re looking fit! Who is this you brought with you?”
“You’re a ghost!” whispered Adara. “At first I thought they kept you down here because you were sick or insane, but you aren’t even alive! Is this castle filled with ghosts?”
“Just the dungeon!” my grandfather said with a chuckle.
The princess moved so close to Eadric that he had to shift the torch he carried to his other hand so she didn’t get burned.
“I’ve been a ghost for many years, as have most of my friends,” said Grandfather. “Who are you again?”
“This is Princess Adara of Lower Mucksworthy,” I told him. “She’s descended from King Snodgrass and Queen Ermingarde.”
“I knew Old Snoddy! He was quite sociable and loved to gamble. No one played dice with him more than once, though. The man was a terrible cheat.”
“You knew my great-grandfather?” asked Adara.
“For a few years. He was old when I was young. He died two years after we met and didn’t stick around as a ghost like I did. When I knew him, he was married to a woman named Phyllius. Very unpleasant woman, as I recall. I can’t remember if she was his fourth or fifth wife. I don’t remember any of his children, but I know he had a few,” said the king. “Come in and sit down. Adara, I’d offer you refreshments, but I don’t eat or drink. So, Emma, how is the kingdom faring?”
“Very well,” I told him, “except two fairies came to see me.”
“Fairies?” Adara said with a scornful laugh.
Grandfather glanced at Adara. “Never be disrespectful of fairies, young lady. They are very powerful and don’t take kindly to ridicule of any sort.” Turning back to me, he asked, “What did the fairies want? They don’t generally come around unless it’s something serious.”
“It seems they’re having problems in the enchanted forest,” I told him. “Maple told me that the leaves on her trees are withering. Water Lily doesn’t have enough water for her lilies. I did some research, but I couldn’t find anything useful. Grassina told me that when she went to see Maple’s trees, everything seemed normal, except for the leaves. I was wondering if you might have any ideas about how to deal with this.”
“None at all,” said Grandfather. “Although I agree that we should look into it. Simple problems are often the first signs of something much worse. Listen! What is that chattering sound?”
“My teeth,” Adara declared. “It’s really cold in here!”
“We should leave,” I said, getting to my feet. “I should probably go to bed early tonight anyway. I have a lot to do tomorrow.”
“Come back when you can,” my grandfather said as we started for the door. “I get tired of talking to the same old ghosts telling the same old stories all the time. It’s nice to see young people, who are still experiencing life!”
Adara was the first out the door. She waited for me to take the lead and insisted on walking next to Eadric. “You’ll have to go behind me,” he said.
“Why?” she asked. “The corridor is wide enough for two.”
Eadric sighed. “Because you never know what you might run into down here. We need room to get out of the way.”
“Out of the way of what?” Adara said. “There’s nothing here. And even if there was, I’m sure you could protect me.”
“If you want me to protect you, you need to walk behind me,” said Eadric.
“I’ll be fine right here,” she said, keeping pace with him.
Eadric grunted, and I knew he wasn’t happy.
We hadn’t gone far before I had the unmistakable feeling that we were being watched. Although I tried to look everywhere at once, I didn’t see anything. The feeling grew stronger until we had almost reached the stairs. Some of the torches had gone out, leaving part of the corridor in shadow. When I heard the scrape of claws on stone, I gestured for Eadric to raise the torch higher. Two red eyes reflected the light back at me.
“Look out!” I shouted as the shadow beast rushed us.
The shadow beast looked like a shadow the size of a week-old calf. What gave it away were its two glowing red eyes. Years ago, my aunt Grassina told me that the beast actually has substance and can hurt anyone who isn’t careful. She taught me how to handle the beast, which seemed to be attracted to visitors in the dungeon. Remembering what Grassina taught me, I stood my ground until the very last second. The beast was almost on top of me when I stepped to the side and rapped it smartly between its eyes. Howling, the beast started to run deeper into the dungeon. Although Eadric jumped out of the way, Adara stood, looking around. With a shout, I grabbed her arm and yanked her to the side. She slammed into the wall and cried out in pain and surprise as the shadow beast ran past.
Adara turned and gave me a reproachful look. “Why did you do that?” she asked, rubbing her cheek.
“Because the shadow beast was about to run you down,” I explained, and started walking again.
“I didn’t see any shadow beast,” grumbled Adara.
“It was there,” Eadric said. “Believe me.”
“Oh, I believe you, Eadric,” Adara said, taking his arm.
“But not me, apparently,” I muttered to myself.
We had reached the top of the stairs when Adara announced that she wasn’t feeling well
and was on her way to bed. She was walking away when a guard approached. He told me that someone was waiting to talk to me in the Great Hall. Eadric and I looked at each other, wondering who it could be at that hour. Following the guard, we entered the Hall and found a middle-aged man wearing the clothes of a farmer sitting on a bench by the door.
“I’m sorry to disturb you so late in the day, Your Highness, but I came right after I saw what had happened and it took me a while to get here,” said the farmer. “I’m Johnson. My fields are next to the enchanted forest. I planted my crops there because of the fairies. They take good care of the forest, and the dust they use runs off into the fields around it, making them healthy, too. I’ve had some of my best harvests ever since I started planting those fields. I would have had a great harvest this year if this hadn’t happened. It’s my wheat, you see. Someone gave it the blight.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, but I don’t know what I can do about it,” I told the man. “Haven’t you ever dealt with the blight before?”
Johnson nodded. “Back before I planted near the forest, it happened every few years, but it was never like this. It’s not the blight itself, you see. It’s the way it hit my wheat. Some wheat has it and some doesn’t. It’s made a pattern like a big circle. Darndest thing I ever saw.”
“Really?” I said. “You think someone might have infected your crop with the blight deliberately?”
“I can’t think of any other reason it would look like that. Who would do such a thing to a man’s wheat?”
“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out,” I replied. “I’ll come look at it tomorrow.”
First Maple and Water Lily, now Farmer Johnson. Something must be really wrong.
Five
Eadric had mentioned that he wanted to go to the enchanted forest with me, so I wasn’t surprised when he brought Ferdy with him to breakfast. Ferdy was the singing sword Eadric had bought at the magic marketplace, and it was the best sword he had ever owned. I was hoping that we could leave Adara at the castle, and was happy to see that she hadn’t come downstairs by the time we started our breakfast. Unfortunately, Eadric had to eat his usual three bowls of oatmeal and stack of buttered toast before we could go anywhere. By the time we started up the stairs to get my magic carpet, Adara had arrived.