The Fae Princess (The Pacific Princesses Book 2)

by Ektaa Bali

  Two Devil’s Fingers plants had stretched out their branches to form a hammock, upon which Nani was resting comfortably with her hands folded on her tummy. One of the trees had extended a tiny branch and was slowly stroking her hair.

  Vidya let out a sigh of relief. “That’s lucky,” she said. “Looks like they want to take care of her.”

  Lobey nodded, looking over the trees. “You guys look after our Nani, okay?” she said bossily. “We don’t know how long this thing is going to last.”

  Vidya felt a pit grow in the bottom of her stomach as they turned around to make their way out of the greenhouse. How long? How long would the adults be asleep for? She shook her head. She couldn’t think about that. They just had to follow her father’s orders until they woke up.

  * * *

  They made their way back to the Palace where worried looking Fae children were streaming into the entrance hall. Some of them were crying, others had their arms around each other. Vidya’s heart pounded as she thought about what she should say. As she thought about her parents and Nani, a plan slowly formed in her mind. She knew two things for sure. The first was that the Fae magic was fading. The second was that her father told her to prepare for a war, probably related to the creature that attacked Captain Silver in the Fae forest. One thing was super clear. They needed to know more. And so that’s exactly what they would do. Vidya made her way through the crowd, smiling at those she knew, and made her way up the stairs where she had a good height to speak to everyone standing there.

  Luna and Toad ran up the stairs when they saw her. Luna had leaf-paper and a pen in her hand.

  “We’ve gone around making sure the adults are all okay,” she muttered. “So far, everyone is accounted for. Our parents are fine, Uncle Jula-wil was found in a rose bush, so he’s alright, but no one can find Uncle Billy.”

  Vidya nodded. Uncle Billy was her mother’s younger brother.

  “Just keep looking,” she replied. “That’s the best we can do. He’s probably off in the forest somewhere.”

  The two triplet sisters nodded and ran back down the stairs.

  The scared voices of the kids reached her, and she looked at the children of the Fae gathered in the hall. Some had babies or toddlers perched on their hips, whispering to each other, trying to understand what had happened. As Vidya stood there watching them all, she thought of baby Mahiya, sleeping soundly upstairs. She realised she needed to say something that made the kids feel safe, to make them feel she had it under control. If she were talking to Mahiya as a big sister, what would she say?

  “Everybody!” She called down to them. She saw Lobey and Toad walking around the crowd, telling everybody to be quiet.

  “Princess Vidya is speaking!” said Lobey loudly. “Shut up, everybody!”

  As more than a hundred little eyes turned to look at her, Vidya took a deep breath.

  “As you all know, the adults have fallen into a magical sleep,” she began. “For some reason, for the past couple of days, the Fae magic has been fading. Yesterday, my Nani, the queen’s mother, told me that kids have the strongest Fae magic, so that must be why the grown- ups are asleep and we’re not.”

  Wings fluttered nervously below her, and somewhere, a baby squealed. Fae magic had never been known to fade before. Their magic was as sure as the sun rising every morning.

  “How!” cried somebody she couldn’t see. “How could Fae magic fade away?”

  Anxious talking broke out.

  “Listen!” she shouted. Slowly, they quietened down. “I have an idea why. First, I need the oldest kids to come to me after this meeting. Since the grown-ups are not here, it’ll be up to us to sort this out. Second!” she said loudly as more whispering began. “I need the older kids to look after the younger kids and babies. Do the same things you do every day. Make sure you eat, make sure you feed the babies and change them. Got it?”

  Irritated grumbles came from the crowd. “To make sure,” she called over the noise. “The Lady Lobelia, Lady Lunaria and Lady Linaria, will come around to each of your houses and will check on you all while I take care of our problem. Those who aren’t doing what they’re told will be in big trouble when the grownups wake up. Got it?”

  Vidya scanned the crowd, meeting as many pairs of eyes as she could to show she meant business. She received nods and small smiles in return. Nodding back, she finished. “Okay, the third thing is, I need anyone who knows their guardian plant to collect as much of their herbs, berries, and leaves, as possible, whatever is useful. I’m going to send Lady Lobelia out with a piece of leaf-paper to mark down who has what guardian plant so see if we can use it in some way.”

  Vidya sighed and nodded encouragingly at them all. “We’ll have this sorted, don’t worry. Now, I need the oldest kids up here. You can all go.”

  That was good, Vidya thought to herself. I think father would have done it the same way.

  The crowd dispersed, and she noticed Toad directing the kids out safely while Lobey gathered up the eldest of the kids.

  Vidya waited as Lobey led a small group up the stairs to her. “I’ve sent Luna and Toad down to the city,” she said. “Here are the oldest kids.”

  Fifteen Fae kids, a year or two older than Vidya, lined up in front of her, one of them was Willow.

  “Here’s the thing,” she said slowly, looking them all each in the eye. “I don’t want the little kids knowing this, but the Fae forest has a big problem. There is a… creature roaming around, defying the King’s Law and attacking Fae.”

  Their mouths dropped open in shock, wings twitching anxiously. They knew as well as she did this was a very bad thing.

  “We’re safe on this side of the bottomless sky, of course,” she assured them. “But they seem to think it’s linked to the Fae magic draining. The King… the king told me to prepare for a war.”

  She was met by stunned silence.

  Willow was the first to speak. “We are Fae, Vidya,” he said slowly. “War is something we do not do.”

  Vidya swallowed. “These are the words from my father, the King, Willow. Lobey heard it too.”

  “I did,” said Lobey, lifting her chin. “He said to prepare for war.”

  Willow made a small ‘o’ with his mouth. “Maybe he meant we should prepare for it. As in, defend the palace, right? Not to go out… and hurt whatever it is.”

  Vidya chewed on her lip briefly. Perhaps Willow was right. Her father had said ‘prepare,’ not ‘go and fight a war.’ “We need more information,” said Vidya. “What I need is to make sure you all know what we’re in for. Do what you think preparing for war means.”

  They all looked at each other uncertainly. What did preparing for war mean?

  “Weapons,” said Lobey, thinking out loud. “Bows and arrows.”

  “And food,” said an older girl with yellow wings, “Collect all that sort of stuff.”

  Vidya nodded. “Good ideas, everyone. By the time anything happens, I’m sure the adults will wake back up and tell us what to do.”

  There were nods all around. But in the back of Vidya’s mind, Uncle Jula-wil’s wispy voice sounded in her brain. Darkness approaches. First, the Fae magic was fading. Now the adults were asleep. What came next?

  “Lobey made a good point,” said Vidya. “We are Fae children. If we are harmed, we are allowed to defend ourselves.”

  The group replied with nods. Of course, they all knew this rule.

  “But hopefully we don’t need to,” said Willow.

  “Right,” confirmed Vidya. “So… Willow, you’re the best with an arrow, we need anyone who knows how to start making some bows and arrows and get practising with them. Can you be in charge of that?”

  Willow nodded unhappily, and Vidya looked out at the rest of them.

  “Alright, so what are your names, and what are you good at?” she asked. One by one, each Fae stepped forward and told her their name and if they had any skills yet. One was good at tracking, another was good at boiling potions, ano
ther was the fastest in her class. Lobey wrote them down on a piece of leaf-paper.

  “Great, so we’ll keep all this in mind… and in the coming days, we’ll see what use we have for each one of you. Everyone will need to pitch in. It’s just us, after all.”

  Vidya took a deep breath. She was really just making all this up as she went along. Fifteen pairs of eyes looked back at her. What next?

  She was saved from her thoughts as a magical wind whipped through the air, making all their wings flutter. Vidya turned to look through an open window in the wall to her right where a green leaf spun and danced its way through the air. She stepped toward it and grabbed it quickly. She saw her own writing, then turned it over to read the reply.

  She grinned. Finally, something she could count on.

  “But first,” she said. “Tomorrow at dawn, I’ll choose a couple of you to come with me to escort Princess Sonakshi through the portal.”

  5

  The Unicorn Princess

  “The Fae have many friends in the secret parts of the world; other creatures who sing the same song but with a different melody. When we recognise the song, we know we have a true friend, a knower of the same secrets, a believer with the same heart.”

  —The Book of the Fae, Queen Mab the First, 3333 B.C.

  * * *

  Vidya awoke before the sun the next day and set out to meet the team she had chosen to come with her to collect Princess Sonakshi.

  Her leaf-message had been simple.

  Emergency. Fae adults ALL asleep. Need help.

  Princess Sonakshi’s hurried scribble was just as short.

  I’ll be at the portal at dawn.

  Vidya’s heart had swelled with joy reading her best friend’s response. Sonakshi was coming to help so quickly, without question. Unicorns were special creatures, that was for sure. Since the dawn of time, the Fae and unicorns had been loyal friends. But as time went on and the unicorns decreased, the Fae had been without unicorn friends for over a hundred years. And then Princess Sonakshi had been born, and the Fae wept with happiness.

  Vidya just knew that Sonakshi could help them somehow. A few months ago, they had met on Sonakshi’s quest to save her friend Rowen from the evil witch Mankini. Vidya had been alerted by her people that there was a unicorn trapped in the bush. She had known immediately that the poachers Gary and George would be responsible and set out to save Sonakshi and her friends. Being the only known unicorn in existence, Vidya and Sonakshi became fast friends, writing to each other often. Sonakshi had some wonderful powers as a unicorn, including the power of healing, so Vidya was certain Sonakshi would have some ideas about how to get the Fae magic back and wake up the grown-ups.

  The previous night, Vidya and Lobey had gone through the list of older kids and their skills.

  She picked out three of them.

  “Willow, I already know your eyes are the best, you need to come with me,” she said, tapping her finger against her chin. He gave her a wide-eyed look that said he was nervous, but she continued on and chose a tall boy named Lotus whose muscles had started to take shape already. He must’ve been nearly thirteen. Then she picked out an orange-winged girl named Lily, who said she was the best tracker of the city kids.

  She took Willow, Lotus, and Lily into a side room with chairs and asked them to sit. Confused, they hung on her every word as she laid out the plan for how they would safely escort Princess Sonakshi up to the palace and back out again. She then told them all to get to bed early that night so they could meet bright and early the next morning.

  They awaited Vidya at the front of the palace. Bold Lotus, serious Willow with his bow slung over his shoulder, and the easy-going Lily. The cool morning air blew in their faces, waking them up in the dim light.

  “Right, everyone!” said Vidya, clapping her hands once. “Let’s go. Stay sharp.”

  They lifted off into the sky in a V formation with Vidya at the front, Willow and Lily slightly behind to her left and right and Lotus bringing up the rear.

  They fluttered over the Bottomless Sky quickly, keeping their eyes on the line of trees on the other side, watching for any unusual movements. Vidya was not exactly sure where Captain Silver had been attacked, so in her eyes, any part of the Fae forest could be dangerous.

  The forest was divided into two sections. The tree line all along the edge of the cliff was the safe zone for the Fae. They were allowed to wander freely in this section and in and out of the portal trees that led to the human realm. If they wandered further in for a little while, pretty soon they’d would come to trees with X markings made by the Kings of old. This was the end of the safe zone, telling all Fae that to wander across into that part of the Fae forest meant danger and peril. The most dangerous creatures lived in that section, which was much bigger than the safe zone, but every so often, creatures trundled across, looking for trouble. Just like when Aunty Sandy had her nose stolen by the Yarama. So even though the team would be staying in the safe zone, Vidya was ready for anything. She wouldn’t let any of them, including Princess Sonakshi, get hurt.

  They touched down on the other side, enjoying the shade of the tall trees. The air smelled sweet with a mix of the banksias and eucalyptus that grew in this area.

  Sipping on Ghostberry juice, they trekked through the long grass through the forest, scanning the area all around for signs of trouble.

  “Worms!” chirped a bird high in a gum tree.

  “Fae!” chirped another.

  Vidya rolled her eyes and groaned. Clearly, the birds had not lost the Fae magic that made them speak English.

  “Shh!” she said into the trees, pressing a finger into her lips.

  Next to her, Willow shook his head, navy wings quivering slightly. “At least they’ll announce any strange creature nearby,” he said helpfully.

  “I hope so,” she said as a magpie warbled loudly:

  “Dawn is approaching!”

  They stomped through the otherwise quiet forest for a few minutes, finally arriving at the great portal tree. This portal was made of Eucalyptus and was the closest one to Sonakshi’s secret home in the Blue Mountains. The tall trees shaded them from the rising sun as Vidya touched a finger to the portal tree, making it flash bright gold light. A door formed in the wooden trunk, and it opened, swinging outward toward her, and Vidya stepped through into the human realm.

  “Princess Vidya!” came an excited cry.

  Vidya turned to her left and saw Princess Sonakshi standing there in her human form, her black as night hair swinging as she ran toward Vidya.

  “Princess Sonakshi!” she called, and the two girls embraced each other. “Oh, hello King Deven,” added Vidya, seeing Sonakshi’s father making his way through the bush behind her. A couple of guards waited further away on the path. Sonakshi, being a unicorn, could see her easily, but the ghostberry juice Vidya was drinking made king Deven squint through the dawn light to see her properly.

  “Thank you for coming,” Vidya said.

  “We were so worried to read your message,” said Sonakshi. “What’s happened?”

  “Something has happened to the Fae magic. We’re trying to figure it out. First the plants started dying, then we woke up yesterday morning to find we couldn’t wake the adults. It looks like they’re in some type of magical sleep. My father spoke to me before he slept. He told me to prepare for a war!”

  King Deven gave her a worried look. “This isn’t sounding good, Vidya,” he said in a low voice. “If your father is telling you to prepare for a war, this is serious.”

  Vidya nodded. “We have to fix this, King Deven, I just have to figure out how. I’m sorry I can’t take you through. But my guard and I will return Sona in a couple of hours if that’s okay?”

  He nodded. “I don’t like this, girls. Sonakshi, I don’t want you spending too much time in there.”

  “We won’t keep her long then,” said Vidya quickly. “I just want to see if any unicorn magic can wake my father up or… do anything to hel
p us, really. We don’t know what else to do. It’s just us Fae kids now.”

  Deven nodded, “Be quick and be careful. My men and I will wait here.”

  “Thanks, father,” said Sonakshi, and hand in hand, the two girls walked through the portal tree where the others were anxiously waiting.

  Vidya shut the portal door behind them and quickly introduced Sonakshi to the others, who came forward to shake her hand vigorously, staring at her golden eyes.

  “Lovely to meet you all,” said Sonakshi formally, “I just wish it was under better circumstances.”

  They nodded glumly.

  “Let’s head off,” said Vidya. “I don’t want to spend any more time in the forest than we have to.”

  As they trekked back through the forest, Sonakshi chatted excitedly. “I wanted to fly as soon as I got your message,” she said, magnificent golden unicorn eyes meeting Vidya’s green Fae ones. “But my father said it would be too dangerous. I’m still not allowed to fly out of the castle grounds, really. I’ll be so glad to transform here.”

  Sonakshi looked around the Fae forest and breathed in deeply, frowning. “It feels different from last time,” she said, looking left and right.

  Vidya nodded as they walked at the centre of the group this time, Willow and Lily at the front, Lotus at the back. “It is different,” replied Vidya. “It’s really worrying, but all I can do is try to figure it out one step at a time until the adults wake up.”

  Sonakshi nodded. “I hope I can help. I do enjoy getting your messenger-leaves every week. Is Mahiya still giving away sparks with every fart?”

  Vidya giggled, and Pancake finally woke up and emerged out of her pocket to see where the unfamiliar voice was coming from.