Princess Between Worlds

by E. D. Baker

  “Speak for yourself, Septicimia!” said Hennah. “I’ve been tossed in more lakes and ponds than I can remember. One old coot tried to drown me in a cesspool!”

  “Not that we ever had treasure for anyone to steal,” said Cadmilla. “I wonder why the wizard thought we did.”

  “Back to the vote,” Norelle declared. “Who hasn’t voted yet?”

  When the last two witches voted against tossing them into the ocean, Annie gave Liam a look of relief.

  “I don’t agree,” said Hennah. Raising her arm, she pointed at Annie and Liam. Annie grabbed Liam’s hand and held on tight. The old witch muttered something under her breath, and a sickly green light shot from her fingertip, hit Annie and Liam, and bounced back. The light slammed into the witch with such force that it knocked her off her feet. She struggled to stand even as a long rope appeared out of nowhere and tied her up from head to toe. Shrieking, Hennah flew into the air and landed far out in the ocean with a splash.

  “You see something new every day!” exclaimed Norelle.

  “You might, but I see the same old stuff,” Rugene griped. “Except today. I liked that! Which one of us did it?”

  The witches all looked at one another, but no one claimed responsibility.

  Annie cleared her throat and they all turned to her. “Um, that was me, actually. Magic doesn’t work on me. My mother’s fairy godmother cast a spell on me for my christening gift. Magic can’t touch me and it fades when I’m around.”

  “Really?” said Cadmilla.

  Norelle stayed where she was, but the rest of the witches backed away.

  “That’s very interesting,” Cadmilla continued when she was standing behind Norelle. “It’s so interesting, in fact, that we should have heard of it before. Why do you suppose we haven’t?”

  “Probably because we’re not from around here,” said Annie. “I’m Princess Annabelle and this is my husband, Prince Liam. We just got married and we’re on our grand tour. I’m from Treecrest and Liam is from Dorinocco.”

  “I’ve never heard of either place,” said Cadmilla.

  Rugene shook her head. “Or either of them.”

  “How did you get here?” asked Septicimia.

  Annie glanced at Liam, not sure how to answer.

  “I know how they did it,” said Rugene. “They have postcards. I saw the girl put them in her pocket.”

  “Aagh!” shrieked a voice as something shot through the air and landed on the beach with a loud splat! Hennah had returned, no longer tied up with ropes. She sat up and got to her feet, spitting salt water. Reaching down the neck of her gown, she pulled out a jellyfish and tossed it back into the ocean. “That was fun!” she declared. “But I think I’ll lie down for a little while.” Staggering, she made her way to one of the huts and went inside.

  “Let me see the postcards,” said Cadmilla.

  Annie was reluctant to hand them over, but she didn’t see any way around it. She glanced at Liam, who shrugged and nodded. When she carried them over to Cadmilla, the witch snatched them from her hand, obviously leery of touching Annie. The witch moved away then and began to look through the cards as the other witches gathered around her.

  “The top three are the only ones we haven’t visited yet,” Liam told them from where he stood beside Annie. “We’d like to go home now, but none of the cards would take us there.”

  “This one is a picture of Nastia Nautica’s ship. It’s right over there,” Rugene said, pointing at the water. “I once made a bubble and went down there to look around. Big mistake! That sea witch is even nastier than Hennah. Nastia Nautica isn’t there anymore, but I still wouldn’t use a postcard to go down there unless you were a fish or could breathe underwater.”

  “Her ship is at the bottom of the ocean,” explained Norelle. “She isn’t there now because a friend of ours sent her to an ocean on the other side of the world.”

  “I recognize that ice castle,” Septicimia said, pointing at another card. “The Blue Witch used to live there. She’s moved to the enchanted forest, so she isn’t there anymore. Last I heard, the abominable snowmen who used to be her servants took it over. Nasty creatures that got even nastier after she left with her magic.”

  “We all know this place,” Cadmilla said as she turned to the last card. “That’s the castle in Greater Greensward. We used to live in a retirement community there before we were tricked into coming to this island.”

  “If you want help getting home, that’s where you should go,” said Norelle. “The royal family is very nice. They helped us out when we needed it.”

  “Are you sure?” asked Annie. “We’ve heard some not-nice things about Greater Greensward.”

  “Don’t believe a word of it,” said Rugene. “They’re all do-gooders, dragons included.”

  “Dragons?” Annie said to Liam.

  “Hey,” said Liam. “It sounds like the best of the three.”

  CHAPTER 12

  Annie had to admit, the castle in Greater Greensward was lovely. Tall towers rose above the weathered gray stones, while green banners fluttered from the spires. The drawbridge was open across the moat, where water lilies bloomed and small fish darted just below the clear water’s surface. It was so much like the castle at home that a lump formed in Annie’s throat and she felt truly homesick for the first time since leaving Treecrest.

  “No dragons yet,” Liam said, studying the sky and the land behind them.

  Annie cleared her throat and said, “They probably live in caves. I’m sure I would if I were a dragon.”

  The postcard had brought Annie and Liam to the road at the end of the drawbridge. Although they had appeared in full view of the guards standing on either side of the portcullis, neither one reacted to their sudden arrival. When a witch flew by on a broomstick, landing inside the castle wall, neither the guards nor the people crossing the drawbridge looked up. Annie wondered if magic was so commonplace in Greater Greensward that people barely acknowledged it.

  Liam took Annie’s hand as they joined the people entering the castle grounds. They were partway across the drawbridge when they heard a sudden loud whooshing overhead. People cleared the courtyard, but no one panicked when two large dragons landed in front of the castle steps. One of the dragons was white tinged with blue, the other was green and more delicate looking than the first. Even from the other side of the courtyard, Annie could hear their magic. Unlike most of the other magic she had heard, this sounded like music with its own complex melody.

  “Get back!” Liam shouted, shoving Annie behind him.

  She stumbled on the uneven surface of the drawbridge and landed on her knees. “Ow!” she cried.

  Liam had already reached for the sword on his hip when he remembered that it wasn’t there. Even so, he stood between Annie and the dragons, prepared to fight. He was as startled as Annie when the light around the dragons shimmered and they both turned into humans. The green dragon was now a beautiful young woman with blond hair and vivid blue eyes, while the blue-and-white dragon had become a handsome young man with silvery white hair.

  A woman passing by was helping Annie up when the two dragon people stalked toward Liam. Annie could still hear their magic, which grew louder as they approached.

  “Why did you push that girl?” the young man asked Liam, sounding angry.

  Liam was so surprised that he didn’t seem to know what to say. “I, uh . . . what?”

  “You knocked her down for no reason. Why would you do such a thing?” demanded the young woman.

  Liam glanced behind him to see who they were talking about. When he saw Annie brushing off her knees, he turned back to the dragon people and said, “That isn’t a girl. That’s my wife. I was trying to protect her from, uh, well . . . you.”

  “That’s true,” Annie said, coming up to join him. “My husband works under the mistaken belief that I can’t take care of myself.”

  “Really?” said the girl. “I know someone just like that.” She turned and cast the
silver-haired young man a look that made him shrug and give her a rueful smile.

  “How did you turn from a dragon into a human?” asked Annie. “Are you both powerful witches?”

  She could hear their magic more clearly now. One of them had a sweet melody with another, simpler melody running through it. The other’s music was more strident and had a harsher tone. The dragon-people also had distinctive scents, although the girl’s was fainter than the boy’s. The girl’s scent reminded Annie of burned toast, while the boy’s was sour, like a piece of fruit that was starting to decay.

  “Neither of us are witches,” the girl said with a laugh. “My mother is a witch, though, and can turn into a dragon whenever she wants. I can, too, because she turned into one so often when she was expecting me. My husband is a dragon who had to learn how to change into a human. All dragons can do it if they learn how.”

  “We saw dragons like you in East Aridia,” said Liam. “They were attacking the city in pairs; one exhaled gas and the other lit it with a flame.”

  “The dragons are at war with King Beltran. They’ve learned that they’re much stronger when they pair an ice dragon with a fire-breather,” said the girl. “I understand why they do what they do, but I could never try to hurt someone. It makes me ill just to think about it. You must be new around here. I’m Millie and this is my husband, Audun.”

  “Princess Millie, if you really want to know,” Audun added.

  “This is my wife, Princess Annabelle of Treecrest, and I’m Prince Liam of Dorinocco.”

  “Where are Treecrest and Dorinocco?” asked Millie. “I’ve never heard of either one.”

  “No one has lately,” Annie said with a sigh. “We’re far from home and want to get back, but we don’t know how.”

  “We just got married and are on our grand tour,” said Liam. “A woods witch gave us—”

  “There you are!” cried a voice from the top of the stairs. A little woman with white hair waved to Millie and Audun as she hurried down the steps. “I went inside to ask where I could find you. I need your help. I have to go back to my castle to fetch something I left behind, but my eyes still aren’t very good, so I can’t go alone. I’d ask Mudine, but she’s been having tingling in her fingers and toes, elbows and nose lately. She doesn’t mind, except the tingling in her nose makes her sneeze, so she’s gone off to find the witch doctor who treated her the last time she was ill. Oculura and Dyspepsia are away as well. Their cousin is getting married in Soggy Molvinia. She’s holding the wedding in a swamp at midnight, so of course Oculura and Dyspepsia want to be there. Her bridesmaids are will-o’-the-wisps, and you know what they’re like!”

  Annie turned to Liam with a surprised look. “Dragons and will-o’-the wisps are real here! I wonder what else is real that isn’t at home.”

  The little white-haired woman glanced at Annie and raised one eyebrow. “And who, may I ask, are you?”

  “Princess Annabelle and Prince Liam, I’d like you to meet Azuria, the Blue Witch,” said Audun before turning to the white-haired woman. “They aren’t from around here. As far as I can tell, they aren’t from any of the known kingdoms. They were telling us how they came to be here when you arrived.”

  “You were on your grand tour . . . ,” prompted Millie.

  “Oh, right! We were going to go by ship until we heard that a nasty wizard was after us. A woods witch gave us some postcards . . .” Annie glanced at Liam, who seemed surprised that she’d mentioned the cards. “We might as well show them, Liam, if we want them to help us. Anyway, she gave us the cards to use for our grand tour, then my mother’s fairy godmother said we should use them while she took care of the wizard. The only problem is, the woods witch didn’t give us a card that will take us home, and the wizard has been traveling ahead of us, trying to turn people against us!”

  “I guess the fairy wasn’t very successful at getting rid of the wizard for you,” said Audun.

  “If the wizard was traveling ahead of you, he must know where you’re going. Are you sure he wasn’t in disguise and gave them to you himself?” asked Azuria.

  “We thought of that,” said Annie. “We had never met the woods witch before. But I don’t think so for a number of reasons. And looking back, I didn’t hear any magic when we were talking to her, and I would have if it was the wizard in disguise.”

  “You can hear magic?” asked the Blue Witch, looking surprised.

  Annie nodded. She noticed that while Audun looked interested, Millie just smiled.

  “Annie has a special talent,” Liam said, sounding proud. “Magic doesn’t work on her. If anyone is near her, their magic fades and goes away if they touch her. She can also hear magic, good or bad.”

  “I’ve never heard of such a thing!” cried the Blue Witch. “Imagine, magic can’t touch her. I’m tempted to try a spell on her just to see what happens, but that can wait until later.” She turned to Millie and Audun. “If the wizard is going ahead of them to talk to people, has he come to see you?”

  “It’s possible,” said Millie. “Audun and I were out, and Mother and Father took my little brother, Felix, to visit my grandparents in Upper Montevista, so someone could have stopped by when no one was here.”

  “There’s another problem,” said Liam. “If we do find a way home, what’s going to stop the wizard from following us there and causing even more trouble?”

  “Good point,” said Millie. “Maybe we can help you with that. I wouldn’t want to confront him here with so many innocents around, but we could face him at Azuria’s castle. There’s no one there but some eagles.”

  “And the abominable snowmen,” said Liam. “Didn’t we hear that they took over the castle after the Blue Witch left?”

  “They did indeed,” Azuria replied. “Which is another reason I need your help. I still have a problem seeing white, and they are snowmen.”

  “We’d be happy to go with you, wouldn’t we, Audun?” said Millie. “What did you forget, Azuria?”

  “My map to the Magic Marketplace. I didn’t notice it was missing until I wanted to go. I’ve run out of supplies for some potions and I need to stock up again. When I couldn’t find it, I remembered that I’d left it on my bedchamber wall in the castle. Oh, dear! I just thought of something. What if the snowmen get their mittens on it and go to the marketplace? I’ll be responsible for whatever havoc or mayhem they wreak. I could get my witching privileges revoked, and then where would I be? I need to get the map back as soon as possible!”

  “Then we’ll leave right away,” said Millie. “Annie, Liam, the wizard is probably keeping track of what happens to you on each stop. If he finds out that you’ve gone to the castle with us, he might follow.”

  “But how will he know where we’ve gone?” asked Liam.

  “I’ll write a note and post it on the front door,” Millie told him. “Just give me a few minutes and we can go. I need to tell the captain of the guard and then find you some warm clothes. Audun and I can carry you and Azuria. It shouldn’t take more than a day to reach the Icy North.”

  “We could use the postcards,” said Annie. “We have one for the castle and we’d get there in seconds.”

  “You have a postcard for my old castle!” said Azuria. “Well, I’ll be! Imagine that! I’ve never traveled by postcard before. I wonder what they’ll think of next!”

  CHAPTER 13

  Despite the warm clothes Millie had given them, Annie and Liam shivered as they stood in front of the ice castle. The wind coming down from the mountains dusted them with snow while reddening their cheeks and noses. Annie blew into her mittened hands as she listened to Millie and Audun debate where they should enter the castle. When Liam scooped up snow and started to make a snowball, Annie shook her head. “Don’t you dare! I’m cold enough as it is without melting snow trickling down my neck.”

  They had arrived at the foot of the castle, which was intact as far as Annie could tell, but the others weren’t so sure. “I’ll look around,” volunteere
d Audun. “We left the castle from the far side. Unless the snowmen did major repairs, it should still be in bad shape. Before we go in, I want to make sure it’s not going to fall down around our ears.”

  Annie gasped when Audun turned into a dragon before her eyes. Although she’d seen him turn from a dragon into a human earlier that day, somehow this seemed even more amazing. She watched him beat his wings and rise into the sky. It was thrilling, especially since she’d never seen a dragon so close before.

  The white dragon circled high overhead before flying back to rejoin them. When he landed, everyone crowded close to hear what he had to say. “The snowmen are working on the back of the castle. It looks as if they’ve already done a lot. When we left, it was nearly half-ruined, but they’ve fixed most of the roof and outer walls. We can try going in through the front door. We’ll just have to be as quiet as possible. Sound really carries in this castle. When I was frozen in the wall, I could hear everything.”

  “Frozen in the wall?” Annie mouthed to Liam, who raised an eyebrow in response.

  “Um, Audun, aren’t you forgetting something?” Millie asked as her husband started toward the door.

  “I don’t think so. Were we supposed to bring something with us?”

  Millie shook her head, then pointed from Audun to herself. He glanced down, only to look up and smile. “Sorry! I forgot.” Light shimmered around him and once more a handsome young man with silvery white hair was standing in their midst. “The door is too small for a dragon, but fine for humans,” he explained to Annie and Liam.

  Everyone followed Audun to the door, which was only a few inches taller than Liam. Audun opened it without any trouble, and they all filed inside.

  “I’ll take it from here,” whispered Azuria. “My room is back this way. Remember, be as quiet as you can.”