A Royal Wedding

by Helen Perelman

  Dash wasn’t sure which way to fly. Should she go right or left?

  Amandine barked orders from the front aisle. “Move along,” she said. “Smile and stand to the right.”

  Dash wasn’t sure if she meant her left or Amandine’s left. She looked and saw Melli and Cocoa standing to the left and Berry and Raina standing to the right. She was stuck.

  “Up you go,” Amandine shouted to Dash. “We need to stay on cue.”

  Dash’s eyes got wider, and she stood with her feet firmly on the ground.

  “Go ahead,” Amandine said. “You are the last gumdrop to fly.”

  Dash flew over and stood next to Melli and Cocoa. She barely paid attention to the rest of the rehearsal. It was only when she felt Cocoa’s elbow in her side that she paid any attention.

  “Look,” Cocoa said. She was staring down the long aisle at Queen Swirl. “What do you think is happening?”

  Dash saw Queen Swirl standing with a few fairy ladies. She didn’t look happy.

  “I’m not sure, but I know our toast will cheer her up,” Melli said brightly.

  After Princess Sprinkle flew down the aisle, Amandine clapped her hands. “Perfect,” she shouted. “Everyone remember your spots. And please, always keep smiling!”

  “And now let’s eat!” Prince Scoop exclaimed.

  Everyone around Red Licorice Lake cheered. After standing and smiling for Amandine, everyone was ready for a meal. As the wedding party flew to Candy Castle, the Candy Fairies thought about their toast.

  “Does everyone know her part?” Berry asked.

  The fairies all nodded. Not only had they practiced, but Raina had written out their parts for them.

  There was a stage in the back of the garden, and the friends flew up to the microphone. “Let’s ask to go first,” Raina suggested.

  Dash looked around at the trays of food and sweets. “I agree,” she said. “I don’t think I could eat a thing until we give this toast.”

  Amandine appeared. “Oh good, you are here,” she said. “Would you five like to go first? I know Princess Lolli would love to hear from her gumdrops.”

  The friends gathered around the microphone. Each one spoke her line.

  “Princess Lolli,” Raina began, “you and Prince Scoop make the sweetest pair.” Raina raised a gummy heart.

  “We wish you the sweetness of chocolate,” Cocoa said, holding up a chocolate.

  “With a splash of a minty good time,” Dash added. She felt her face redden as she spoke in front of all those fairies!

  “We will stick with you and promise to be there to help,” Melli said. She lifted her jar of caramel.

  Berry stepped forward with her basket of jelly beans. “We wish you both all the sweet flavors of the valley.”

  “Sure as sugar,” the five friends said together. “We wish you every bit of sweetness for your marriage!”

  Princess Lolli flew over and hugged her fairies. “That was pure sweetness,” she said. “Thank you.”

  At the end of the night the five friends were getting ready to go home. Dash pulled them aside. “I don’t want to be a gumdrop anymore,” she said. “I can’t fly down the aisle.”

  “You spoke during the toast,” Berry told her. “You were great.”

  “I just can’t do it,” Dash cried out. And she took off with great speed and left her friends standing in the dark Royal Gardens . . . speechless.

  Simply Delicious

  Early the next morning four very concerned Candy Fairies in their pink gumdrop dresses stood on Dash’s porch. They shared worried expressions as Melli rapped on Dash’s front door.

  “Where could she be?” Melli cried. She peered into Dash’s front window.

  “I knew we should have come last night,” Cocoa said.

  Raina shook her head. “Dash needed time alone,” she replied. “She wouldn’t have listened to us last night.”

  Cocoa bit her lip. “I hope you’re right,” she said. “But where can she be? Today is the royal wedding! Of all the days for her not to be here!”

  “I’m right here, silly sugar heads!” Dash called from above. “It’s the morning of the royal wedding. It is not a day to be sleeping late!”

  The four friends all looked at one another with great surprise.

  “You seem to have had a change of heart,” Berry said.

  “What do you mean?” Dash asked.

  Raina flew forward. “Well, um . . . about the wedding? You know, being a gumdrop?”

  Dash hurried inside her house. “Oh, I didn’t change my mind about that,” she said. “I’m excited about the wedding. I didn’t say I was excited to be in the wedding.”

  “Oh, sugar sticks,” Melli said, frowning. She and her friends followed Dash inside.

  Dash was busy sorting her mint candies, which she had just picked from Peppermint Grove. Her pink gumdrop dress was hanging in the corner of the room. The Sweet Stitches wrapper was still covering the dress.

  “Dash, we understand how you feel and that you are nervous,” Raina said.

  “But we don’t want to be gumdrops without you,” Cocoa burst out.

  “Think about Princess Lolli,” Berry said. “She’d be so disappointed.”

  Melli pulled Dash down to sit next to her. “I’ll bet Princess Lolli has sugar flies buzzing in her stomach about today. Imagine how she must feel!”

  Dash tilted her head and looked at Melli. “I never thought of that,” she said quietly.

  “She needs us by her side,” Raina told her.

  “Come on, Dash,” Berry pleaded. “Let’s do this together for Princess Lolli.”

  Dash took a deep breath in and out. She looked at her friends dressed in their gumdrop dresses.

  “A bad rehearsal usually means a perfect performance!” Melli said, trying to sway her.

  “And you know to smile wide,” Cocoa said.

  Dash listened to her friends. She tried not to think about how nervous she was going to feel when flying down the long aisle. She tried not to think about all the fairies in all the kingdoms watching the procession. She nodded. “I’ll try,” she said. “With a wide smile,” she added.

  “Amandine will be thrilled,” Cocoa said, laughing. She rushed over to hug her friend.

  Dash saw the basket at Berry’s feet. “Is that the lollipop bouquet?” she asked.

  Berry held up the basket. “Five rainbow-swirled lollipops,” she cried.

  “So mint!” Dash exclaimed. “Those look royally amazing!”

  Raina smiled. “They came out perfect,” she said, giving Berry’s hand a squeeze.

  “Wedding perfect,” Berry added.

  “We have the bouquet, the canopy, and the twirled poles,” Raina said. “I think we’re ready.”

  “The chocolate dip is done too,” Cocoa added.

  A sugar fly flew in through Dash’s window and dropped a message in Dash’s hand.

  “It’s time!” Cocoa exclaimed, peering over Dash’s shoulder at the note. “We’re being called to the castle.”

  “I can’t wait to see Princess Lolli’s face when she sees the canopy we made!” Raina exclaimed.

  “I have the gift right here,” Dash said. She held on to a beautifully wrapped silver sugar box.

  At Candy Castle there were many fairies getting ready for the grand wedding procession and making sure that every piece of candy in the kingdom was in the right spot.

  The five gumdrops were escorted up to the bridal room on the top floor of the castle. The five friends were bursting with excitement and pride. Princess Lolli had her back to the door when the fairies flew in. When she turned to greet the gumdrops, they gasped loudly.

  “The dress is magnificent!” Berry exclaimed.

  “The dress is so you!” Cocoa squealed. She loved how there were embroidered rainbow-swirl lollipops around the base of the full white meringue bottom.

  “You look simply delicious,” Melli sighed.

  “Thank you,” Princess Lolli said. “I wan
ted a chance to speak to you before the ceremony.” She motioned for the group to come closer. “I was so proud of you last night. You spoke so beautifully and from the heart. Scoop and I appreciated what you said, and we’re thrilled that you are going to be our gumdrops.”

  Melli glanced over at Dash and then squeezed her hand.

  Berry and Raina stepped forward. They handed the bride her bouquet.

  “Oh,” Princess Lolli sighed, “these are gorgeous!” She took the bouquet of swirled lollipops out of the basket and held them up. “Thank you,” she said. “And I am so happy to see that you were able to work things out between you.”

  The two fairies beamed.

  “There will be many fairies watching today,” Princess Lolli went on. “I want you all to have a good time. Do you all know where you need to stand?”

  “One hundred chocolate percent!” Cocoa cried.

  Princess Lolli laughed. “Well, that might be more than I can say.”

  Dash stepped forward and presented their wedding gift to the princess. When the bride opened the box, the five friends helped her unfold the quilt.

  “This is . . .” Princess Lolli couldn’t finish her sentence.

  Dash glanced at her friends. Did Princess Lolli not like the gift? Was she not sure how to tell them?

  “Princess Lolli?” Dash asked. “Are you all right?”

  Princess Lolli nodded. “This is the most thoughtful gift,” she said, wiping her eyes. “I am so touched. You worked very hard on this.”

  “We spoke to your mother, and she said that you could use a canopy for the ceremony,” Raina said.

  “And the poles are ‘something twirled,’ ” Melli told her proudly.

  Princess Lolli laughed. “That is why my mother kept telling me not to worry about the wedding canopy and ‘something twirled,’ ” she said. “She knew I was going to have the most delicious ceremony.” She reached out to hug the fairies.

  “Princess Lolli,” Dash said, “are you nervous?”

  Raina squeezed Dash’s hand. She didn’t want to upset Princess Lolli or make her more nervous than she already was for her big day!

  The beautiful bride smiled down at Dash. “Honestly, I have never been so nervous!” she cried. “But so is Scoop! There are just so many fairies who want to wish us well . . . It is a little overwhelming. We’re going to do this together.” She looked at each of the fairies in front of her. “You are the sweetest gumdrops ever.”

  “Something sweet, something swirled, and something twirled,” Raina recounted the wedding rhyme. She thought about all the things set for the wedding. The bouquet was swirled and sweet rainbow lollipops, Cocoa had handled the chocolate for the dipping, and now the licorice poles for the canopy were the twirled.

  “What about something wet?” Berry asked. She moved over to the window. Her wings drooped down to the ground. It was raining!

  A Sweet Sign

  Sour sticks,” Melli said with a gasp. She raced over to the window and peered down into the wet gardens.

  Cocoa shot her a stern look. “Oh, don’t worry, Princess Lolli,” she said cheerfully. “I’ll bet the rain will pass before Sun Dip.”

  Melli understood right away what Cocoa was doing. She quickly changed her voice and put on a smile. “Yes, yes, the rain will stop,” she said, grinning.

  Princess Lolli leaned her head against the window. “People say it’s good luck to have rain on your wedding day,” she said. She turned around and looked at her gumdrops. “What do you think?”

  “Sure as sugar!” Melli cried. “This is a sweet, lucky day!”

  “Think how lush and shiny all the candy will be,” Berry said, trying to sound positive. “Especially all the bulbs we planted in Gummy Grove.”

  Dash was biting her tongue. What about all the soggy sugar patches and dripping candy? Even though she was thinking that, she didn’t dare say a sour word!

  The doors burst open. “This calls for the backup plan!” Princess Sprinkle exclaimed. She flew into the room with Queen Sweetie and Amandine at her side.

  “Everyone keep calm,” Queen Sweetie declared. She glided right up to the bride. “Lolli, my sweet, your sister and I have already rolled out the rain plan.”

  Princess Lolli took her eyes off the raindrop-covered window. She looked from her mother to her sister. “What rain plan? I am supposed to get married on the shore of Red Licorice Lake . . . outside.”

  “As your maid of honor, I made sure we took care of all possibilities. We had a tent ordered, just in case,” Princess Sprinkle told her. She gave her sister a tight squeeze.

  Raina stepped forward. “You once told me that even if something doesn’t go according to your plan, it can still be perfectly sweet,” she said. She remembered when her crop of gummies were rainbow swirled after a huge rainstorm. Princess Lolli had helped her to see that unplanned changes could make things even sweeter.

  Princess Lolli laughed. “I did, didn’t I?” she said. “That was good advice, yes?”

  “Very good,” Raina said, giving Princess Lolli a hug.

  “Come on,” Raina called to her friends. “Amandine said we have to take our places. The carriage is here to take us down to Red Licorice Lake!”

  Berry took a last glance in the long mirror. “Here we go, gumdrops,” she said. “Are you all ready?”

  “As ready as I’ll ever be,” Dash said.

  Cocoa put her arm around Dash. “Just remember to smile wide,” she said in Amandine’s voice. “Think of what a great job you did with the toast.”

  The friends followed the princess out of the bridal room and down the grand staircase. Princess Lolli peered out the round window in the hallway.

  “Oh, mother!” Princess Lolli gasped as she got outside. “The rain stopped!”

  Queen Sweetie took her daughter’s hand. “This wedding is going to be delicious, don’t you worry!” she said.

  Just as they were all heading out to the carriages, Melli spotted Mogu. Once again the troll had shown up at the castle. He was lurking in the Royal Gardens. Melli noticed that his clothes were not chocolate stained as usual. He actually looked pretty clean.

  “Mogu!” Cocoa said.

  “He is holding a present,” Dash whispered to Berry.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so neat,” Melli said.

  The troll waddled over to Princess Lolli. He extended a gift and bowed his head.

  “You don’t see that every day,” Raina remarked.

  “Do you think all those times we spotted him around Sugar Valley he wanted to give her a gift?” Melli asked.

  Dash watched the troll. “Holy peppermint,” she said. “I think he did just want to give Princess Lolli a wedding gift.”

  Mogu’s gift was a braided red and black licorice bowl. Berry admired the troll’s fine work. The five fairies moved in closer to hear the bride’s response.

  “Why, thank you, Mogu,” Princess Lolli said sweetly. “This gift is incredibly thoughtful and kind. Scoop and I thank you for this gesture.”

  Mogu bowed and slowly lumbered away.

  “We shouldn’t have thought the worst,” Raina whispered to her friends. “I guess Mogu wanted to wish her well like everyone else in Sugar Valley.”

  Six sugarcoated carriages awaited the royal wedding party. A palace unicorn, wearing the finest sugar bridle, flew each of the carriages to the shores of Red Licorice Lake. The royal procession had begun!

  “I can’t believe we’re doing this!” Cocoa exclaimed, staring out the window of the carriage.

  “I know,” Berry said. “I am trying to remember all of Amandine’s instructions.”

  “Look at all the fairies who came out to wish the princess well,” Raina said. She looked out the carriage window at the crowded streets filled with fairies trying to get a glimpse of the royal bride.

  As they pulled up to the lake, they saw the guards taking down the tents. The sky was clear, and everyone could see it was the start of a sweet-tacular
Sun Dip.

  Amandine greeted the gumdrop carriage. “Here are your baskets,” she said, giving them each a shiny candy ice cream cone filled with candy. “The gumdrops were just picked this morning.”

  “Oh, they smell so good!” Dash said with her nose already in the basket.

  “Remember, these gumdrops are for throwing, not eating,” Amandine said.

  Dash laughed. “Yes, I know,” she said. “And we’ll fly—”

  “With wide grins,” her friends all finished together.

  “Gumdrops!” Amandine called to them. “Please take your places! The wedding ceremony is about to begin!”

  Ever After

  The music began, and the five gumdrops flew down the aisle just as they had practiced. When they arrived at their places, the aisle was lined with a rainbow of soft, bright gumdrops.

  The altar was decorated with ice cream cones and colorful candies.

  “Pure sugar,” Berry said. “This is beautiful. I have never seen anything so romantic.”

  “And magical,” Raina added.

  Cocoa was proud that in the center of the platform was a large silver bowl of chocolate. The bowl was on a pedestal under the wedding canopy for the dipping ceremony.

  The musicians changed the tune, and a dozen trumpeters with caramel horns lined the red licorice carpet.

  “Here comes the bride!” Cocoa whispered to Melli.

  Melli held her breath. She was so nervous!

  Princess Lolli was beaming as she flew down the aisle, Queen Sweetie and King Crunch on either side of her. Prince Scoop, with Queen Swirl and King Cone, met them at the first step of the altar.

  The Royal Justice of the Palace Court stood in the center of the altar wearing a grape-colored robe with marshmallow trim. He smiled warmly at the couple.

  “Aw,” Dash sighed when the families met.

  Prince Scoop reached for Princess Lolli’s hand and guided her up the steps to the wedding canopy. They turned and waved at the crowd.

  The crowd cheered.