The Fae Princess (The Pacific Princesses Book 2)

by Ektaa Bali

  They heaved the wardrobe into place as the Bunyips made it to the door, shoving and pushing at it while the Fae kids pushed with all their might from the other side to keep it in place.

  Lobey checked the entrance hall and saw a Bunyip was crouched on the floor, an arrow in either leg. It was the Bunyip King, injured and faint. Another large Bunyip lay on the floor next to him. Was this it? Had they won? But a roar reminded her that ten more perfectly healthy Bunyips were trying to get through the back door. It didn’t matter that their King was injured.

  Lobey reached into her quiver and found it empty. Her heart fell. She was out of arrows. She spun around, looking for her options as the Bunyips smashed the wardrobe from the other side. A broken cupboard sat against the wall, nothing more. She turned to Lily who looked back at her, dirty faced, torn clothed, and tear streaked, panting. Her quiver was also empty. The wardrobe burst and splintered to pieces.

  BOOM!

  A ball of purply orange flame blared into the night sky, making Vidya and Willow cover their eyes. As the light dimmed, Vidya looked around.

  The molten light dispersed in the sky, but it didn’t fade away. Strangely, it hovered in the air, glowing above the two Fae children. Something was holding it in place. Vidya looked around to the Flower of Awakening.

  Beams of purple and orange light were streaming toward the flower. She was drawing the light in like she was drinking water, her petals gleaming brighter with every second that passed.

  Vidya grinned at Willow.

  The Bunyip King froze on his spot on the palace floor. Like a jolt of lightning, a great pain pierced through his body. It hit him in the brain first, then shot down into his heart and belly. It was an awful, stinging sensation.

  On his knees, eyes screwed shut, he came to the stark realisation of what the pain was. The word came to him, matching the sick feeling in his stomach.

  Guilt.

  He opened his eyes and looked up from the floor.

  Around him, the Fae palace was in tatters. Tiles were cracked, walls were covered in dirt and ash. Two Fae children clung to each other toward the side of the entrance hall, one with electric blue hair and the other with orange. They were crying. Three other Fae children were cowering in the corner, screaming. His army poured through an open door, stepping over the shattered pieces of a large… wardrobe. How did he know that word?

  He had done this. He was responsible for these children’s pain. He was responsible for the destruction of the palace. The shock of his new emotions made him tremble on the spot. The backs of his eyes burned. Why was that? Hot liquid seeped out of his eyes and down his cheek. He raised a large claw to his face and wiped it, then examined his claw. As his throat tightened, he knew the word for what the clear liquid was. Tears. To his right, his General rolled around the floor, legs and arms curled in tight. A high-pitched rumble was coming from him, and with a jolt, the Bunyip King realised his General was sobbing. Further up the stairs, another one of the Bunyips was standing as still as a tree, peering around the palace in confusion. A whole swarm of his Bunyips lumbered slowly toward him, their faces contorted with fear and confusion. They looked around their surroundings with wide eyes.

  The Bunyip King suddenly understood what he had to do. He cleared his throat.

  “Retreat!” he roared, his voice not sounding like it was his own. He cleared his throat again. “You all!” he pointed a claw at the Bunyips now gathering in front him. “Spread the word, gather the others, the Bunyips are to retreat!”

  20

  Reunion

  For even the darkest of creatures, when given the light, will choose it, every single time.

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

  * * *

  Behind the secret door in his hiding spot, King Farrion was the first to awaken. He sat up bolt upright.

  “Vidya!” he cried.

  He was met by a red faced Linaria holding baby Mahiya, and Pancake held by Daisy.

  “Toad?” he said, looking around him at the Fae children gathered there, confused. “Luna? Daisy?”

  “Uncle!” Toad cried,

  “Aunty!” cried Luna, looking past him.

  King Farrion shot a look to his left and saw the Queen was stirring in her sleep, blinking her eyes open. He looked around at the stirring adult Fae, all carefully placed on beds, then he looked to his right and saw tiny children and infants, sleeping together in cots. He understood immediately.

  “Tell me everything, Toad,” he commanded.

  The adults woke up around them as Toad, Luna, and Pancake explained what had happened. Farrion and Salote, now awake, calmed everybody down before Farrion the adults and an excited Lotus prepared to step outside the hidden house and see what had become of the war. Farrion had just put his hand on the door handle when someone knocked on it from the other side and turned the handle.

  Farrion pulled the door open and Vidya, Willow, Lobey, Lily and a whole bunch of bruised and dirty Fae kids fell through the door.

  “Oh, mother earth!” came a cry.

  “You won’t believe it!” said another.

  Farrion pulled Vidya to her feet. “What’s going on Vidya?”

  “We fixed it!” cried Lobey, jumping up in the air. The other kids cheered and ran into the room looking for their parents. There were cries and happy tears. Daisy showed her parents one of her cakes, and Toad passed baby Mahiya back over to the Queen. Lotus hugged Willow and Lily, grumbling how he’d missed everything. Vidya grabbed Pancake and swung him through the air.

  “It’s over, father!” she laughed. She set Pancake on her shoulder and rubbed her eyes, explaining how she and Willow re-energised the Flower of Awakening and restored the Fae magic. Lobey explained how just as the Bunyips were about to win the battle, everything changed.

  “And then the Bunyips just… stopped!” exclaimed Lobey, who was hugging her parents and sisters. “They stopped attacking us and just stared around like they were confused by the whole thing. And the Bunyip King said to me, ‘I’m sorry.’ Can you imagine? The Bunyip King said that to me!”

  Vidya laughed as she went over to hug her mother. “Looks like the Flower of Awakening evolves creatures. It makes them wiser. So, when we gave the Flower a boost of power, the Bunyips got a boost of the magic as well. And now, they don’t want war with us. They just…. well… I’ll let you see for yourself.”

  King Farrion and Queen Salote exchanged a look.

  “Where is your Nani?” asked the Queen.

  “She’s already out inspecting the grounds,” said Lobey, disentangling herself from her mother. “There are a lot of Devil’s Finger trees that are injured from the battle. She and I will have to work to patch them up.” The adults gave her a quizzical look, which Lobey had been waiting for. “Oh,” she shrugged. “They’re my guardian plant.” Her parents exclaimed, and the adults shook their heads and smiled, but then Lobey gasped in remembrance. “But you’ll never guess what Vidya’s guardian plant is!”

  The Queen laughed and hugged Vidya tightly. “I’m so happy for you Vidya! What is it?”

  Vidya looked around at the Fae kids. The Flower of Awakening had been a myth just a couple of days ago. “I think it’s best I show you instead. And Bunyips are gathered on the front lawn,” Vidya grinned at Willow. “They’re a little confused by the whole thing. We should go speak to them.”

  They left the hidey house as a big group and made their way back up to the palace. They passed Nani directing Devil’s Finger trees to walk in single file back to their greenhouse. She came over to join them as they passed and put her arms around Vidya’s shoulders.

  “I’m so proud you figured it out,” she said happily. “It’s such a shame I wasn’t there to see it!”

  “Lucky I came across that paper in your hand, Nani,” said Vidya. “It was a close one, that’s for sure.”

  * * *

  On the way to the palace, the Queen did a tally of who was present. Everyone had been accounted
for except Uncle Billy, the King’s bachelor brother, who had been known to go adventuring into the Fae forest alone.

  “We’ll find him, Vidya,” said her father reassuringly. “He’s probably lost in the forest somewhere.”

  Vidya nodded tiredly and everyone, the triplets, Daisy, Lotus, Lily, and Willow, all with their parents, gathered on the front lawn just outside the palace entrance, watching the scene before them. Vidya’s parents moved to the front of the group.

  The Bunyips sat in a great huddle on the front lawn, the Flower of Awakening sat in their centre. They all gazed toward the great golden flower, who now shone with such brilliant gold light that it was impossible to look at her directly for too long. The Bunyips were muttering to one another, discussing the night’s events. Vidya explained that their arrows had done little to permanently injure any of the Bunyips, the brown snake venom and the stink flower sap had very temporary effects on the tough creatures.

  King Farrion surveyed them from the side. The Bunyip King, feeling that he was being watched, looked up to meet the eyes of the Fae king. He rose from his seated position and strode through his people over to the King.

  “Fae King,” rumbled the Bunyip King.

  “Bunyip King,” said King Farrion.

  “I believe I owe you an apology. I will prepare a formal speech to apologise to your people.”

  King Farrion was not entirely sure what to say to this, but he was King after all, so he went for honesty instead.

  “This is most unexpected.”

  The Bunyip King cocked his head. “It is,” he agreed lightly.

  * * *

  The sky brightened in the east, and the two Kings looked over at the canopy of the Fae forest. Pink and orange streaks of light spread across the sky, followed by the tip of the orb that was the dawn sun. The light hit the palace wall first, and as the sun rose into the sky, the light fell upon the palace grounds. Sparks flew from all around them as the magic of the Fae shot out of the trees, the bushes, the plants and even the grass. The sun fell upon the Flower of Awakening sitting in the centre of the group of Bunyips and the closest gasped as a beam of light shot out of the centre of the golden flower. A magic wind whipped through the lawn, and the plants bounced and flurried, leaves rustled in a dancing display of the Fae magic.

  All over the Fae city, plants shot up and grew meters taller, flowers bloomed, fruits ripened, berries grew sweet, and vegetables plopped out of the earth. Fae all over the palace cheered and clapped their hands. The dawn of spring had come, the power of Fae magic had returned stronger than before.

  Vidya turned and grabbed Daisy, standing with her mother behind them, eyes wide. “Dance with me, Daisy!” cried Vidya, and the two girls twirled around in the dawn sun, giggling.

  As they came to a halt, Daisy dizzy with the dance, Vidya gasped at a memory. She turned on her heel, running through the palace and out the back, down the garden path that led to the city. Halfway down, she skidded to a stop. A group of Fae had gathered around a large, glowing tree. There, from the hair she had buried in the soil just yesterday, now stood a beautiful tree laden with… Vidya squinted at the brown-coloured fruits that were growing from the flowers on the thick branches.

  “Is that a… nose?” asked someone incredulously.

  “Dear mother earth,” gasped another. “That’s a nose! And there’s another nose!”

  Vidya could not help herself. The relief of her parents waking up, the Bunyips stopping the war, and now the picture she’d had in her mind’s eye become real… she let out a cackle of wild laughter. A Fae baby saw her from his father’s arms and also began chuckling, and soon everyone gathered around the tree was laughing at what they were seeing.

  “What’s going on?” came her mother’s voice from behind her. Vidya turned and saw her mother carrying baby Mahiya, squinting at the new tree. Vidya pointed at the nose ‘fruits’.

  “They’re… They’re noses,” she said through laughter. “I-I grew it myself, as my Queen’s plant, after Lotus’ nose couldn’t be fixed, I wanted to grow him a new one!”

  Queen Salote chuckled. “My, what a great use for a tree, Vidya. The Yarama will be jealous.”

  Vidya wiped a happy tear from the side of her eye, nodding. “Yes, that was another thought I had.”

  “Do you think…” said a wispy voice from behind them.

  Princess Vidya and Queen Salote whirled around to find Uncle Jula-wil hobbling up to them, cane in hand, eye patches in place. He pointed to the tree with his cane. “Do you think this tree will grow eyeballs?”

  Vidya smiled, “Oh yes, most definitely, it should grow new eyes for you, Uncle Jula-wil!”

  “Oh no,” said the elderly echidna waving his stick. “The eyes are not for me.” And he pivoted to the right and strode right into the rose bushes.

  Queen Salote shook her head at him, the expression on her face made Vidya giggle.

  “Come on, love,” she said, turning to walk back up to the palace. “I believe we have some decisions to make.”

  They joined King Farrion and the Bunyip King out on the front lawn once again.

  “Vidya,” said her father, beckoning her over. “We have an idea, come and hear this.”

  The Bunyip King lifted his now-wiser brown eyes to Vidya’s green ones. “The Fae King has proposed that the Bunyips become the protectors of the Flower of Awakening. She prefers equal parts sunlight and sea water. Since the Bunyips are both land and water creatures, we are well suited to the task.”

  “I have allocated them their own land in the Fae forest with a Fae pond,” explained Farrion. “To call home and live their lives. How does that sound?”

  “As long as I can see her every day, that sounds brilliant!” said Vidya.

  “Well…” said the Bunyip King. “There has been developments in that area.” He pointed to the bottom of the gigantic golden flower where three miniature flowers had sprouted beneath the outer petals.

  Vidya gasped.

  “I do not think you will ever have a problem with the Fae magic ever again,” said the Bunyip King. “Princess Vidya can even have her own flower.”

  Vidya screamed with a happiness she had never known. It took her by such surprise that she flung herself at the Bunyip King, throwing her arms around him in a gigantic hug. The Bunyip King, startled, stumbled back a step before he blinked once, then let out a loud laugh, patting Vidya’s back gently.

  The next day, the King held a ceremony on the front lawn of the castle. The Bunyips were there, standing next to the excited Fae citizens. They watched on with wide eyes and wings twitching with interest, as, standing on a broad platform, the Bunyip King gave an honest speech about how he had thought he had been doing the right thing, but now, with the help of the Flower of Awakening he only wanted a life of peace. He and his people would help to repair the palace and any damage they had done.

  The crowd cheered, and the Bunyip King twitched in surprise and gave them all a toothy smile before lumbering away back into the crowd.

  King Farrion and Queen Salote gave their own joint speech, praising the Bunyip King for his newfound wisdom, and announced their forgiveness and excitement at a new partnership for the future.

  Next, Vidya, with Pancake by her side, presented her parents with her Queen’s tiara.

  Her father took it with gentle hands, bowing. “You have been a worthy Queen, my daughter, and took care of our land with honour and bravery. We will hold your crown in safe keeping until your official coronation day, which is hopefully many, many, years away.”

  The crowd tittered and smiled at their Princess.

  “In its place, we award you with this medal,” the King held up a shining gold and silver medal hanging from a pink ribbon. “Princess Vidya, we award you with the Medal of Excellence for your bravery, skill, and perseverance in healing the flower of awakening and leading your people well.”

  Vidya bowed her head, and her father hung the medal around her neck, she grinned at her parents, who
smiled proudly at her in return.

  “And now,” announced the Queen, holding baby Mahiya. “We ask the children of the Fae to come forward.”

  The triplets, Willow, Lotus, Lily, Daisy, and all the other Fae kids who fought in the battle or helped in any way, stepping in front of the adults, looking up at the royal family.

  “Never in the history have we seen something like this happen. And never have the Fae seen such bravery. Each and every one of you will be awarded the Order of Fae.”

  The crowd cheered and clapped loudly, and the children hugged each other. The Order of the Fae was given only to the bravest of Fae, whose great deeds won them the respect and praise of the entire country. Their story would be told for many years to come.

  The Queen spoke again. “Princess Vidya will now announce her awards.”

  “In the last few days, I learned what it means to be Fae,” said Vidya, stepping forward with six gleaming gold medals swinging from her arm. The backs of her eyes stung as she addressed her friends and their parents, but she cleared her throat and continued. “We had it wrong to start with. I was angry and scared. I wanted to wage war, to fight and protect what I thought was ours. In the midst of battle, I realised that it wasn’t right. Willow had been right all along. The Fae are one with the land its creatures. And where there is a smarter, kinder solution, that’s the one we should always follow.”

  Lotus and Willow hugged and cheered at Willow’s name. His parents cried happy tears in the crowd.

  “To Willow, I award this Medal of Honour, for never swaying from Fae values, and teaching me the meaning of the Fae.”

  Willow came up, and Vidya hung the medal around his neck and hugged him. He came to stand next to her.

  “To Lotus and Lily, I award these Medals of Bravery for standing by my side in the Fae forest time and time again. I will never forget it.”